krazykat

Who knows, maybe you'll end up 1 for 2 in that.

He also added that no one in his family is interested in owning the team after that. Kinda sums it up. Wilson's opinions in the matter are immaterial regardless. He has no more control over where this team lands after his death than Goodell does. The rest of the owners will determine that directly or indirectly.

The team winning under Edwards has nothing to do with the production of the offense. So if you can explain how teams win with poor offensive production, or very little of it, I do believe you will have answered your own question. I mean lets be serious here, the Tampa Bay Bucs didn't win a Super Bowl that year because they lit the league up offensively. They were actually well below average in offense that season. Do people really need to take time out to explain this to everyone that sees only Wins and Losses for a QB? I mean who scored the TD in the second Jets game that Edwards gets credit for winning as the starter? Did Edwards score a TD in that game? Without the Safety in the Skins game that's a Loss too. Did Edwards sack the QB for the 2 points? Apparently he did. Otherwise, how many teams win games without a single offensive TD? I'll bet you it's much less than 10%.

There was nothing wrong with the weather in the Philly game. It was good football weather. In the Cleveland game neither QB did much and Anderson did about the same as Trent. But their rushing game had almost twice as many yards with Jamal Lewis. That isn't impressive. Trent isn't responsible for the entire offense.

If you read around it sounds like the Skins came in expecting one thing and getting another. That's what the Bills need to do on a regular basis. Can we trust Jauron and Co. to deliver that on a weekly basis? TBD Doing it in a preseason game however is one thing, doing it regularly throughout the regular season is another. They looked good because they took risks offensively. Edwards threaded a few needles which can be a good thing and was on that night. Otherwise Losman isn't good and never has been. But he has typically taken those risks which are why the team's offense has put up more points under him. If the team takes the same risks under Edwards, maybe this is what can happen regularly. We won't know until we try it every week and do it more successfully than opposing defenses can shut us down. It's way too early to suggest that this can happen on a regular basis though. We had the hype of playing in Toronto which I doubt the Steelers cared much about, the team got their asses chewed from the week before prompting an a-game from them this week. I would like the first team O to do a little something against the Colts before I start getting too optimistic and getting my hopes up again before having them stomped into the dirt once again.

There's something fishy with a lot of what the Pats do beginning and likely not ending with their Kodak moments.

They've got the best front-three in the business as a group and we don't have a single impact LB like Thomas or anything even close and he turns 31 this year and isn't old for this year. Would I restructure his deal for six years at 50M, no, but if I'm not mistaken we were talking about the present, not three seasons down the road or after Brady stops playing. Mayo looks good too. Their D will still be a top 10 defense this year easily. Some of the reason for that will be the experience with the age although I agree that the age in some of their players is worse than what they gain via experience. But to suggest that the entire unit is aged and over the hill when their entire front is the strongest that they will ever be as a unit doesn't hold much water. Vrabel is like 32 or 33, not 39. Yes, he's on the downside for sure, but with their front guys it will help. And as long as Harrison plays like he has, age doesn't seem to be an enormous factor.

That's just not true. It's Vrabel and Bruschi that are old. After that do they have a starter over 30? Harrison, forgot him, but he's still playing well. Their front three is young and their other DBs are too. Mayo will start at LB this year. Thomas will be 31 but that's not old for the current year.

That's what they say, but look at BB's career before and after Brady. Hell, they started off 0-2 under Bledsoe before going 11-3 with Brady. The year before that with basically the same exact team the Pats were 5-11. Pre Brady BB is 41-57. Post Brady BB is 86-24.

And still, unless you're one of those gotta beat Miami fans wouldn't it be a ton more fun playing against Cleveland and Pittsburgh twice each year? We would also have the option of going to Cleveland or Pitt for games. Sure, tickets would cost something outside, but at least we would have that option. I think it would be far better. I mean honestly, WTF's left in the current Miami "rivalry?" Miami sucks and has for almost as long as we have and doesn't appear to getting incredibly better anytime soon although with Parcells I'm sure they're underway.

Yes, sort of. What I've been arguing is that we haven't made the smartest moves. I never said that would be the difference at all. In fact imo the team would be having these issues anyway. But we won't ever know, will we. It's a tough pill to just say ahh, screw it, nothing would have ever made a difference as we all but pave the way for the team leaving the region when we don't know. TV ratings would have been helped by the addition of Pitt and Cleveland for sure. How much who knows though. Luxury boxes wouldn't have made much of a difference. I think we can agree that Ralph doesn't and didn't know what he was doing though. Anyone that really thinks that Ralph is some great friend of Buffalonians or WNYers is fooling themselves. Ralph is in it for Ralph and his family, which no one can fault him for. But what we can fault him for is the charade that he has perpetuated.

Don't they say that 10% of the past season ticket sales are already Canadian and even more buy individuals? Toronto is huge. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toronto It's the fourth largest city in the US and Canada after NY, LA, and Chicago. They wouldn't need Buffalo fans to follow. I'm also not sure they would want it. they would extend an invitation but will eventually have no trouble selling it out. How the Miami game sells will tell us more but I doubt we'll be hearing reports from WGR on game day about tickets selling out front for $25 then. I mean I just looked at Craigs list for NYC and I found 2 tix plus a parking pass to the Skins Jets game yesterday in which Favre was debuting for $100. Another pair for $100 for $125 tickets far less than the $350 in Toronto. It's stupid in preseason to try to measure the value of tickets. But you're right, it would be up to the Canadians to support their team. But there's also a long long way to drop ticket prices there before they would hit what they are in Buffalo too. Right now they seem to be the highest in the league.

Well, I'm talking about with this schedule this year. They still have a tough D even if it's not a top 5 D and they have good WRs, TE, and adequate while not notable RBs. I still see them going 4-2 in the division and not having too much trouble with the West in either conference. 6-4 or 7-3 otherwise wouldn't be hard. They would probably lose to Indy and San Diego, but after that they just don't have too many tough teams on the schedule. I wouldn't underrate their D though.

Interesting thought about adding Toronto to the league although imo the league if anything should have fewer teams not more. Even so, it's not sellouts that make the difference, it's TV revenues and luxury seating. IMO that will be much easier in Toronto over time. In fact maybe especially in Toronto where they put the kibash on tailgating. I would think that parties in the suites would be even more popular there. I can't imagine that the NFL's not trying to work out a solution to the tailgating thing though. that's pretty big.

Well, and this won't be popular, but Ralph seems to be a pretty brainless guy. His decision to buy the Bills for 25K wasn't really all that risky with huge upside that has played out. It was a no-brainer in essence which is why he made it. I'm sure whatever other business interests he has or had were spun off of that entirely. Otherwise when he's stuck his head into team affairs the results have been bad more often then they have been good. He fired Polian, let Butler and AJ Smith walk, has supported certain players here that ended up not being great and there and by rumor we can only assume more, and really hasn't done much to help this club to winning. He talks a good game about being all for Buffalonians but lives in Detroit and it's not as if Detroit is Palm Springs. But you're right, his childish completely not thought through gotta have the Fins in our division was as stupid as his comments years ago about it being ok if the team were 2-14 as long as the two wins were against Miami. I can't imagine that he's always been that vacuous but he sure is today. It's well past time for a new owner and unfortunately that's when we will know the fate of this team.

Who's going to pay for it? The state is broke. literally. Erie County is in even worse shape as is the City. So a new owner is going to buy the team for what, 700M, if he's lucky, finance most of it, pay the interest on that and then build a new stadium with what funds? his own and finance that too? And then make a profit? Ralph's been crying for years about not making money so either he's been lying through his teeth or the money isn't there. He hasn't had stadium or team financing either. Like I said, if he were smart he would have said screw this fading Miami rivalry and insisted that the Bills be with Cleveland and Pittsburgh. Baltimore could have gone to the East where it would have made more sense. It's too late for all that. WNY isn't going to build a new stadium and neither will a new owner. It will move to LA before they build a new stadium. Toronto will embrace the Bills. Everyone's talking about what a bust a preseason game was, but just go on Craigslist and see what ps tickets are selling for all around the league. They're cheap with maybe one or two exceptions. No one cares about preseason that much. The Miami tickets will go just fine. I doubt they would put the team in Southern Ontario since the Wildcats are the big bone of contention there. Both leagues will coexist and the NFL and its push for international play will accommodate such a move no matter what it takes. The financiers in Toronto have much more leverage.

http://nysjcpres2008.blogspot.com/2008_02_01_archive.html This sums it up. The problem is not student loans though. It's a lack of good jobs that prevent them from paying them off and high taxes that take their money. I mean that's what taxes are, the government confiscating your money. What would a payment be on a student loan at 6% with a principle of $20K? What, a hundred and some bucks a month? 200 maybe? Taxes in NYS take far more than that per month. A small home with 1800 square feet and 3 BRs costs $400/month in taxes. Everytime you fill up the gov takes more. Your phone bill, more. Shopping more. Then the state has decided that we should pay for everyone else's health care. But hey, that's who the people vote in, so what do we expect. We get what we deserve and the people are leaving the state. The ones returning are the older ones only making the problem worse.

No, it's dying. If you look at the statistics you will see that the 18-35 year old demographic is declining hastily. Buffalo, like all NYS cities needs to cut taxes but can't do it because the state has turned NY into a socialist utopia and this is what we get. Albany, Ithaca, and NYC of course are doing fine. Businesses leaving for far more favorable economic climes. With business so goes the people. Casinos and other gambling places are what move in at that point creating further problems.

No argument here, NF's is a s-hole, especially on the Am side. It clearly wouldn't be a geographical decision. Ralph screwed the pooch when he clung to the outdated Miami rivalry back in 2002 when they did the realignment. He should have been clammoring for a division with Pittsburgh and Cleveland. If the NFL started a new team today Buffalo wouldn't get it. The primary marketing demographic is fleeing the like people running from a burning building. Except for the few biggest cities the northeast is dying. All the action is in the South East now.

I don't know about a .500 team, but let's face it, Belichick's never done anything without Brady. I'd say a 10-6 or 11-5 team. I for one would like to see the Pats without Brady for a season. Maroney isn't that good and can't carry the team. Lynch is already better than he is.

Who is going to pay for it and why do you guys think that a stadium is what will keep the Bills in Buffalo?

Well, we can agree, he was very good for two series. If it's all the same to you I will temper my enthusiasm with the fact that it was during the preseason against a marginal secondary missing two starters and without a single impressive starting player otherwise. It was obviously a long overdue and necessary development, but it's unlikely that he's going to play like that consistently from now on. But hey, I hope I'm wrong obviously. In other news, did allowing 138 net yards defensively through three series and not even a full half by the defense on a unit that it supposed to "be a beast" this year impress you? No sacks, not much pressure on Roethlisburger except after many seconds when he couldn't find an open receiver.

Actually, I just looked at their starting secondary and it isn't even impressive at all. Far from it.

lol You nailed it. Trent's only had one such "game" and it was only two series. When he strings three or four games even remotely close to that together then we can start talking about how good he is. Most people here obviously have no idea that most QBs have a few good days sprinkled here and there. RJ did. Holcomb did. Hobert did. Van Pelt did. None of them did it on a regular basis though and that's what's important. Two series in preseason with no other such play is definitely encouraging, but hardly a trend. And Polamalu was out too and where did Trent's two TD passes go, Royal. The guy that Polamalu probably would have had. Who was taking his place. (rhetorical) It's a funny thing though, one game of a couple series like this and it's "see I told you so," and apologies about being wrong, and all kinds of other stuff in a message board lovefest, but four or five games of garbage play means nothing. That's where the amusement kicks in.

OK, he played a great "game" then. I view it as two series and it's unlikely that if he had been in there for 9 more that the Bills would have quintupled that 157 yards on those two drives for 800 total net yards and 70 points. My primary point was that some people have taken the occasion to suggest that he has a deep arm when there was absolutely no evidence of that last night. 30-yards is not considered deep in that sense of the word. I don't want to argue that for a dozen posts, so if you feel differently, fine. I just saw nothing suggesting that he has a deep arm yesterday regardless of how the rest of his game looked, which frankly was great for those two series. Nice needle threading even on a couple plays.