nodnarb

What did I tell you? I knew he'd end up there. We just helped them solve a problem - FOR FREE! they had 3 injuries at WR, and now they're fine. Shaw should thank the Bills for giving him a super bowl ring. WHAT A JOKE...

the bewilderment has worn off. now i couldn't care less. Time. she heals all football wounds, too.

the bills staff is going to look awfully foolish. We now have two excellent receivers, one promising receiver, and one massive disappointment. 4 receivers. 4. Haddad doesn't really count as five. If he did, he'd have stuck with a team at least once in his 3 years in the league. We'll see...maybe he's the next Wayne Chrebet, who came out of 2-year obscurity just to kick our ass last week. thanks, wayne.

travis henry for hines ward would be a great trade. but it won't happen.

thanks for adding another bobby shaw thread.

that still means we could sign him back off their pS after week 10, if we sign him to the active roster.

we traded a 7th last year for olandis gary. and we gave up a 6th last year for mark campbell.

We get nothing. The answer for the vacated roster spot? Drum roll.... Drew Haddad. WooHoo! You can't convince me that they couldn't get a FUGGIN 7th rounder for him...

If he ends up in the AFC East, particularly on the Patriots, I'll be pretty fuggin pissed. Who the hell are we going to activate in his place? Jasen Espofugginzito?!

well then I'll just have to say that this was stupid. more questionable moves...i don't get it.

Troo Troo. But I'm biased in favor of any post that uses the word "shills" how's that check engine light?

I hope lawyer sits this one out and comes back for the Ravens game. I don't believe we'll need him against the dolphins. Raaally I don't....

Shaw has some value, even if its a 5th round pick, he has trade value. Some teams like the Chiefs have a ton of injuries at WR and they might be willing to part with a backup guard or center, which we very well might need with Teague out and Tucker moving in. This press conference will be interesting, no doubt. Shaw is sort of a goofball. YOu could see him horsing around constantly at camp, and he has missed an awful lotta hot reads. The ball hitting him in the back was his fault, not drew's.

age means nothing, are you kidding? there are people who are young 40 year olds and people who are old 35 year olds. Bledsoe is old for his age, in terms of the steps lost in his game. He's been hit more than any QB in the league, perhaps more than any QB in league history. he doesn't make decisions quickly. and he often makes bad decisions. bledsoe hamstings this team. i'll never go back on that, and i'll never have to worry about eating crow. Cuz drew doesn't have the ability to force me to.

On Sunday, the 0-4 Buffalo Bills meet the 0-5 Miami Dolphins -- not even the football gods will watch. Note No. 1: Dallas fans continue to gnash their teeth that Bill Parcells traded his 2004 No. 1 choice, and the chance to land promising tailback Stephen Jackson, to bank Buffalo's 2005 No. 1. As TMQ noted in his NFC preview, "Parcells gambled Buffalo will have an awful year, and the 2005 Bills' No. 1 will come near the top of the draft." That gamble is looking awfully good. Stretching back to last season, Buffalo has lost six straight, worst in the league. Note No. 2: Until Miami play improves, TMQ will call them the Ventral Fins. Last week, TMQ roasted the Bills offensive line for the play that cost Buffalo its game against New England -- trailing by seven with three minutes remaining, Bills facing fourth-and-3 on the Patriots' 19, the Buffalo line allowed two Flying Elvii to come through untouched to sack Drew Bledsoe. TMQ was hard on Bills guard Chris Villarrial, who "inexplicably pulled right as if to lead a non-existent sweep," rather than block the man in front of him, who came through untouched. Neil Herman of Buffalo points out that the day after the column, the Buffalo News published an entire article about that one single play, and the article vindicates Villarrial, who was supposed to pull to nowhere to influence New England into thinking the play was a sweep right. Bills tailback Travis Henry was supposed to block in the hole Villarrial vacated, but Henry botched his assignment and trotted into the left flat, blocking no one. Right tackle Mike Williams was supposed to block in the hole Villarrial vacated, but botched his assignment and double-teamed someone else. Meanwhile, left tackle Marcus Price did an "olé," stepping aside as his man went by the way a matador steps aside from the bull. TMQ has watched the replay in mounting disbelief, and considers this a nominee for Single-Most Fouled-Up Play in NFL history. With seven back to block five, two come through never touched; you are not going to win many games with a line so inept that with seven blocking five, two are never touched. Buffalo newspapers note. There's the West Coast Offense, the Run-and-Shoot Offense; Mark Gaughan of the selfsame Buffalo News christened the Bills' cover-your-eyes attack the Root Canal Offense. Oh: By the way guys: The Bills have lost their last 6 games. With the talent we have, how can this happen? I know what the answer is....

yea, we'll beat miami. if we don't, RWS will be as ugly as it has ever been. If the bills can't beat Sage Rosenfels at home, we'll know a lot about the (lack of) heart on this team. We already know a good amount about that. 1-4. whoopie! off the snide. Then we go into Baltimore, who are already planning for us. Two weeks for that defense to heal up their bumps and bruises, practice their strategy, and make our offense look pathetic again. 1-5. "We're close" is heard post-game. In come the Cardinals. The fans fear this game because they know a loss here means a new nadir for the Bills organization. THe Cards are no pushover. And what do you know...Anquan Boldin is back. Lucky us! Bills eke out a win, somehow. 2-5. Big deal. Then we have the Jets. Last Sunday, Bledsoe was pathetic for 55 minutes, and our expectations are so low for him by now that some people are actually claiming he had a good game because he made two passes and beat one blitz. Ludicrous. Bledsoe hamstrung the team all day long. The defense doesn't let Pennington complete every 3rd down and we squeak by. 3-5. "I told you we were close" is heard post-game. Fans sigh. Then we get to travel to Foxboro. Anyone think we're going to beat the Pats? 3-6. Bills know they have to win out just to have a *chance*. THose 6 losses remind everyone about our schitty start, and things get ugly. Rams. Well well...here we get to find out if Jerry Gray is a decent strategist. I don't think he is, considering games like last week's pathetic soft zone. But we'll see. The defense is going to have to win this one, because the Rams can score and who here thinks the Bills offense can score more than 24 points? Let's be optimistic and predict a win here. 4-6. Then we get the seahawks at seattle. Can the Bills beat that team? I'll betting on the Hawks. 4-7. Things get REALLY ugly in the local media, as we're all but assured a lock out. MIami, Browns, Bengals, San Fran, Pitt: All winnable games, although Pitt will likely have a lot to play for. Even if you assume the very best and say we win all five, we finish 9-7, and if you think that's going to get us in with *6* AFC losses, you're high. Conclusion: We can't lose another AFC game. No way in hell can we earn a wildcard with 5 conference losses. Look back thru history and show me a wildcard with 5 conference losses. We can probably afford TWO more losses at most, and they'll have to come against NFC teams. I'd say we have about a 1 in 500 chance to make the playoffs this year. Well done, guys.

that might not be TD's mistake. BB.com's editorial quality control is terrible, and it's likely that tom dicated this to the person putting the page together.

I'll start with an example. Before the season started, what would you have predicted for Drew Brees, considering they have ONE name receiver in Reche Caldwell, who hasn't done much, and a completely REVAMPED offensive line - more revamed than ours...? You would have said he's toast. No one in your fantasy league drafted him. You never would have guessed that he'd be the #1 rated passer through 5 games. He hasn't thrown an INT yet this season. He has been sacked ONCE. Is it their makeshift line is somehow magic? No. But he can move enough to buy himself time, take some pressure off his line, and get the job done when the play breaks down. DEs and DTs are waaaay too good for a truly immobile passer. I'm not talking rushing QBs like Vick. I'm talking MOBILE QBs like Brady and Pennington. Guys who can shuffle and slide and buy themselves second chances. Let me ask you this: How often do you see Bledsoe make a play - even a little gain of 3 yards - when the play breaks down? RARELY is the correct answer, but I'll accept NEVER. You can't win at this level when this is the answer to that question. You just CAN'T. Because this game is about which team makes the fewest mistakes. Every play that an offense or defense makes is basically a mistake by the opponent. Plays break down at least 1 in every 4 snaps avg, league wide. Either an unexpected or unblocked blitzer, a fallen WR, a wrong route, disguised coverage, etc. If your QB can't make something out of nothing, if he can't solve problems on the fly because he's so pathetically 1 dimensional, you can't win at this level. It's all numbers and probability. The math will catch up to you every time. If you have a QB that is INCAPABLE of buying himself time, your OLine will look worse than it really is. Your OLine coach will appear to have no answers. Your WRs will appear to not be able to get open because by the time they reach their timed assignment, the QB has been forced to adjust. But he doesn't have the ability to do that: Sack or worse. (He also doesn't know how to throw the ball away, even after 12 years in the league.) If you want to really know the truth about why the Bills suck with all the talent they have, look no further than a guy I really like: Drew. He forces this offense to do things that put them behind the 8 ball before the game even begins. The math always catches up to you. If you can expect a defense to make a play on your line every 4 snaps that forces your QB to move in the pocket (which is CONSERVATIVE league-wide), that means that the Bills are going to get stuffed or lose yardage about every 4 snaps. So far this year, Drew is getting sacked every 7 times he drops back. To get to this conservative figure of 25% of every snap, all you have to do is count the number of times he throws a terrible ball or tries to run forward for a yard to avoid an official sack (his actual numbers are worse). When does he do these things? Whenever a defense makes a play on our line. Don't take my word for it. Rewind the tapes and count it up, establish the averages, and tell me that Drew's one-dimensional play doesn't hamstring this team. Drew is the worst decision the Bills have made since their last worst decision: Rob Johnson. RoJo was bad because he was made of glass and didn't care about football. Drew is bad because his awareness and feet have deteriorated terribly over the past 5 years. I was pissed and bewildered when we re-signed him. I was quietly hoping that he'd be cut and we'd bring in a journeyman caretaker. Also: 5 offseason moves that I believe could have made all the difference: 1. Tell Bledsoe he's welcome back at 2 million per season and will have to compete with a rookie QB we're about to draft. If he balks, tell him, See Ya. He's simply not worth a cent more than that. There are better arguments that he's worth less. Our cap cost to cut him this past offseason: $0.00. Cap cost to cut him after this season with his new contract: $2 million in dead cap. 2. Sign FA T John Tait to play RT. A big, *smart* lineman who won't forget his blocking assignments pre-snap. 3. Find out what part of the country Big Mike hates most, what team he dislikes most, and tell him he's gonna convert 5 million of his salary to non-injury performance incentives or we're going to trade him there. If he balks, trade him. If he agrees, move him inside to RG. Mike can't be bullrushed but he sure as hell can get beat in space. Therefore, remove the space. GUARD DUTY. 4. Trade Josh Reed for something. Anything. I mean, what has he shown that any 6th round bench receiver can do? He was supposed to be a YAC receiver. What YAC? What *Catch*? What the hell happened to this kid? Well, maybe it's Bledsoe. 5. We tried to trade up with Houston to nab Big Ben. Probably didn't offer enough. Offer more. THis is not a jab at Losman - I have high hopes for him. But Ben was more ready to step in immediately, or at least that's what the Bills are passively saying by having re-signed Drew to a 3 year contract, which I still don't understand. RE: Losman. I hope he's everything he believes he can be. I like his attitude and hope he's one of those gamers who has "it". We have to play in the same division as a future hall of famer and another QB (Pennington) who also looks the part, even if his arm strength is questionable. If we can't compete at their level, the Bills had better hope that there's a re-alignment. This has been brought to you by realism.

you can't draw that conclusion after 3 games. give me a break... big ben might prove to be a hall of famer in time, but you can't say he was the "steal of the draft". Not yet. So far the "steal" was Roy Williams. Big Ben hasn't done things that other QBs can't do. Roy has. As a rookie.

coaching: upgrade in experience and historical achievements. offensive system: upgrade over gilbride (or so we all believed) defensive system: should only have gotten better with no changes ST: is better, for the most part. Heart: should have been better after our changes and a coach that the players can relate to. Or so whe all believed. This offense is bewildering. I still don't believe it's the system or the playcalling. I believe it's Bledsoe and a mediocre line and a starting tailback that everyone knows is not a "complete" back. He can't catch and can't block. He's a one-cut back, which is easier to defend than guys that can make you drop your jock. Bledsoe is the easiest player to defend because you know where he's going to be every time. He has lost all pocket awareness and can't see the field. It's Bledsoe, folks. Watch the tape and count how many times he threw to a second look. I count TWO all day. 10 possessions, TWO attempts to second looks. That is what you call BAD. If the coaches don't start Losman when he's healthy, then I'll criticize them. And they'll deserve it. Drew CANNOT be our starter next year, or we might as well not watch.

I think that would be a great idea. at the beginning of the season, I wouldn't have said so. In fact I would have called it moronic. But neither guy is getting the job done, and we already have our QB of da fewcha.

This is what i've been saying for the past, oh, 28 games. Yes yes, Drew is a good QB when he has no one in his face. The problem is, even a line full of all-pros is going to let some people in his face from time to time. DREW CANNOT MAKE SOMETHING OUT OF NOTHING. DREW DOES STUPID THINGS WITH THE BALL WHEN UNDER PRESSURE. If you're going to win at this level, your QB had better be able to at least shuffle and buy himself a second or two, a la Pennington and Brady, to use two familiar examples. Drew's sack with 50 seconds on the clock is a perfect example of this. With Brady or Pennington back there, we win that game with a FG. The one thing you DON"T DO is take a sack in that situation. But Drew's pocket presence, which used to be excellent years ago, is just not there. Drew Bledsoe is a liability because he's easy to defend, has proven over two years that he cannot beat the things that teams try to do to him, and he simply does not see the field the way a QB should. Watch the tape. Count how many times you see Drew look at just TWO different receivers before he pulls the trigger. You'll be amazed at how few times he does this. He tells the defense where the ball is going every time. Is it any wonder we have such poor YAC? is it any wonder that it seems we can't make a play? The defense KNOWS where Drew's going while he's dropping back! And they slide that way...it's simple, folks. Don't think that Drew "had that game won" because he finally made a couple plays. For 3.5 quarters, it was the same old DB that we've seen for 2 seasons.

not that i subscribe to the 20-20 hindsight school of drafting, but the bills could have had ed reed when they picked mike williams. ed reed is the best FS in football. There are 6th round tackles outplaying big mike.

no, it doesn't draw the flag every time. don't you watch other games? he wasn't holding, his arm was merely BEHIND him while his other arm batted the pass down. He has his head back at the perfect time, and pulled off good technique to make the play. but the refs gave it to the jets anyway. THat's the way it was. The way PP played that, it's RARELY called PI, and when it is, it's the wrong call.

At this point, Travis might not even BE traded. His trade value was at its highest before the season started. What has Travis done? Nothing. No touchdowns, a horrible YPC average, and one decent game versus the Pats. His trade value? NOt much right now.