BenchBledsoe

Huhn? I think much closer to the truth is the article on the home page that says the Ravens committed an RB faux paus. Paying big bucks for someone else's cast off RB rather than drafting a young stud is a mistake, or so the article says.

I am sooooo glad that Dillon won't be a Bill. First of all, he's too old and too slow. Secondly, if they were having a losing year, he'd be a true cancer. Thirdly, against the Pats he'd probably lay an egg. Last year Dillon had a run where it was like 3rd and short and he broke through the line. . . almost any NFL RB would have scored easily as there was nobody back deep to stop him. But, the run became part of fantasy football lore. He ran so slow, like he was trudging in quicksand, that he got caught from waaaay behind before scoring. It was completely comical. Fantasy football owners of Dillon will never forget it! It was talked about all year. Dillon has got to be one of the slowest halfbacks in the league at this point. Thank goodness this hog is headed elsewhere.

I'd be all for it. While we do have holes to fill, RB is a key one. AP could be the next LT, for all we know. I realize people are saying we've got too many holes to fill to do this, but we need an impact player terribly, at this point.

I heard they just signed kicker Jay Feely. Feely hit a whopping 84% of his field goals last year. Just when I thought they'd be hamstrung at kicker with Mare, they do this. I didn't even know Feely was available. How is it that a top kicker is available like that? Feely made the Pro Bowl recently, didn't he? The Dolphins ALWAYS seem to pull off good under the radar signings like this, and it ticks me off.

Addai is good, but the Colts offense makes him look better than he would anywhere else. Need proof? Look at what Edge did in Arizona. He looked terrible, and nobody debates that Edge is much better than Rhodes. Rhodes is a back up RB in the NFL.

Rhodes would look the same for us as he did in the Colts high-octane offense? You are deluding yourself. And Brown is much better as he played on a much weaker offense than Rhodes and still out averaged him. Somebody dig up Brown's 2004 and 2005 stats. One of those years was huge, I remember.

Rhodes is over-rated, over-hyped, has inflated value, and benefited from the Colts scheme. He looked average for much of the season and was clearly inferior to Addai all year. Colts fans were begging for the Colts coaches to feature Addai and shelve Rhodes. If Rhodes looked average much of the time in Indy, what do you think he'd look like for us? Yikes! Chris Brown, on the other hand has shown real ability. True, he runs upright and is prone to get nicked up, but his career avg (not including last year's throw away season) is approx 4.7 per carry, if memory serves me. Can anyone dig up Rhodes and Browns career avg YPC? Marv, please don't be the latest GM to make a mistake and over pay for a guy coming off a Super Bowl. Remember Larry Brown, Neil O'Donnell, Antwaan Randle-El, Damien Woody and countless others. If Marv signs Rhodes to a big contract, my worst fears that he doen't know what he's doing will be confirmed (in my mind, at least).

Has this been touched on yet?

Unfortunately, you are correct. I've seen it every year for the last several years. I was one of the guys who bitched about the hirings of Gregg, and Mularkey, and told that I was wrong by 75% of this board. . . I wish I had been wrong.

Well, I predicted some of this backlash. But, I'm just the messenger. Interesting that nobody liked this post, but aren't coming up with much to dispute the blunt facts of it. Trust me, it doesn't make me happy to see this either. I'm as sick as the next Bills fan, if not more so.

Reminds me of a co-worker I used to have. He said he didn't like Fridays because it brought us that much closer to Mondays.

Okay, I keep hearing the eternal optimists on this board trying to spin, slant, and twist everything that is going on in a positive light. But, folks, let's get realistic. . . Losing Clements, Fletcher-Baker, Spikes, McGahee, K. Thomas with little or nothing back cannot be a good thing. Trying to plug in the Ellisons, Anthony Thomases, Youboutys, etc. of the world is simply not going to work effectively. This is being done to improve the lines you say? Jason Whittle? Huhn? I don't like the trade-off. We likely will have to spend a high pick on a CB and MLB in the draft just to plug holes (1st and 2nd?). How is this improvement? We aren't even treading water. We are sinking. The cash to cap philosophy is going to hamstring this team, as are some very curious FA signings (and releases) Matt Bowen anyone? Whittle's odds of being released next offseason are likely 50-50, based on history. Not to mention the overpaying of Peerless Price, Josh Reed, Kelsay, and Royal. Those guys aren't worth what they're getting. Bottom line is: When you handicap yourself by about 15% regarding the cap (cash to cap), then make bad personnel decisions, you cannot compete. And folks, this team will not compete next year, (barring incredible luck) for any playoff spot. We're now just hoping to get lucky. . . that's what we are resigned to.

If Nate does sign with another team, aren't we entitled a high compensatory pick in NEXT years draft? How high would it likely be?

I was skimming through here a few days ago and some posts mentioned that if Marv places some kind of transitional tag on Nate, it will net us two 1st Round draft choices when he signs with another team. Is this true? Are there any drawbacks? Would the picks be THIS year? If this really is true, to me it would be the mother of all No-Brainers. How could we not get two 1sts for a guy who's leaving anyway?

Just saw this news on the AP wire. . . All former AFL teams, including the Bills, owe this man nearly everything. I'm sure Ralph will attend the funeral. Hunt was only 74 years old. Makes you think about the prospect of football without a team in Buffalo, when Ralph passes. . .

Honestly, It's easy to say now, but how did we ever pass on Charlie Weiss? As far as what we were looking at realistically this past offseason, I was begging for them to go with Mike McCarthy. The Packers made a mistake to fire him. Jauron is a nice guy, and maybe a good defensive coach, but he has proven in Chicago (and even Detroit and here) that he is not cut out ot be an NFL head coach.

You're sounding like I was in favor of Jauron at the beginning of the season. Fact is, I was never in favor of him. My worst nightmares are now just being confirmed.

I loathed the choice Marv made when it became official. I said so on this very board. But, all I kept getting was the same comments that I got when I went off on the hirings of Greggie and Meathead. . . crap like, "Give the guy a chance. . . he'll be fine if he gets the right coordinators. . . I'm willing to give the guy a chance. . . blah blah blah. Folks, you cannot win in this league without at least competent coaching. Also you probably cannot win big without good to great coahing. Not to mention, you need to have good coaching to make up for deficiencies in player talent, which we obviously have. Bottom line is that even IF this team was more talented, it wouldn't go anywhere with Jauron as HC.

Evans and Price hopefully will be as effective as Holt and Bruce were in Steve Fairchild's offense. All four guys are about the same size, about 5'11-6'0 and 190-200 lbs. Obviously, Evans will play the Holt role in this offense. It makes me wonder less about the releasing of Moulds, who was bigger and slower, and not as good a fit for Fairchild's offense. Can JP imitate Warner and Bulger somewhat? He has already had two long TDs in the preseason. I am a pessimist by nature, but something tells me this offense won't be as gross as the national media is making it sound. In fact, Evans is going to be a nice little fantasy pick, I think.

In the first SB against Dallas? Kenneth Davis got stuffed on 4th and goal, I'm certain. I remember the crucialness of the play like it was yesterday. What Jimbo INT are you referring to?

And lets not forget these things too: Bruce Smith unable to make the trip to Pittsburgh for a playoff game against the Steelers in the mid 1990's because of the flu. I turned on the game and said "what?". . . kind of like when I got home from work tonight and found out McKee hadn't made the trip because of an infection? Hun? Hadn't he been playing all along?

Near misses: - Bruce Smith having his hand right on the ball that Jeff Hostetler somehow held onto. It went as a safety, but this near TD would have sealed our first SB as a victory. - Mark Ingram breaking about 8 tackles - Who could forget this colossal play? It was something like 3rd and 18 wasn't it? A huge first down. Likely the most frustrating single play in the middle of a game I have ever witnessed.

In the spirit of tonight, when 90% of all teams leading a game 7 heading into the 3rd period win. What has ripped your inerds most? Here's mine: 1) Wide Right - The grandaddy of them all. I have never truly recovered. I have never had that kind of feeling in the pit of my stomach from a sporting event before or since. 2) Thurman's 3rd qtr fumble in our 4th SB - We were up 13-6 at halftime and had the ball in the 3rd qtr! I felt that this actually could finally be the day. Thurman fumbled and James Washington returned it for a TD to tie the score 13-13. It gave everyone a feeling of "here we go again" and Dallas rolled the rest of the way 30-13. 3) No Goal - Game 6 (double?) OT goal with Bret Hull's skate clearly in the crease. It ended our cup dreams in horrible gut-wrenching fashion. We was robbed Part I. 4) Homerun Throwforward - Any Buffalo fan (and anyone with eyes) can see Wycheck was behind the line when he threw it and Dyson was in front of the line when he caught it. We was robbed Part II. 5) Kenneth Davis getting stuffed on 4th and goal in SB by Ken Norton Jr. - had he scored, would have changed the entire complexion of the game. KD did run a little too upright, and Norton made him pay for it. 6) Goal through the side of the net - Against Philly in the playoffs. Makes you think "only could happen to Buffalo." Hasek knew he had sealed himself to the post on that side and argued vehemently. . . alas, to no avail. Pre- instant replay days in the NHL?? I think I remember they reviewed it and let it freakin' stand?! No? 7) Thurman's losing his helmet - to start SB against Washington. What a bad omen of what would follow that day. Again, "only Buffalo". Have you ever heard of this any other time in your lives? 8) Doug Flutie taking a sack and fumbling - playoffs at Miami, we were at their goalline, time winding down, game on the line. So, What's stronger? Flutie Magic or the Buffalo Curse? . . . I guess the curse. 9) Andre Reed slamming his helmet down and getting 15 yards - Reed was clearly and blatantly mugged on the play. When he looked around and saw no flags, he was in shear disbelief, as were all Bills fans. His 15 yrd penalty compounded the atrocity and wiped out any chance to score before halftime. This play epitomized the days utter meltdown and frustration. 10) Tonights 3rd period - Maybe because it's fresh in my mind. But, 90% of all teams leading heading into the 3rd in a game 7 win. . . er, maybe it's about 89% now. But, seriously this one really hurts. Only an 8th seed that has taken off 9 days (and will therefore lose their magic and momentum) stood between us and sipping from the cup. To boot, we'd have had home-ice. How many times has that scenario presented itself in Sabre history?

I wish I was eating crow right now. This sucks. I would gladly have eaten crow. . . a full plate of it tonight, to see them win.

Give the man a prize for originality, folks!