Bill from NYC

Good post John. I must however admit that the record is not meaningless to me. It feels good to know that games still matter in terms of the division, even if this is fleeting. As much as we and others complain, one good thing about being a Bills fan is the euphoric feeling we get when we actually do win a game. Seeing our top 3 picks play really well is something that I am unfamiliar with. Let's make it 3-2!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wow! This is a rather obscure song in terms of the Dead. And thanks! GO BILLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1) Sure, I know about the punt return where he called a fair catch and was open enough to gain 5 or 10 yards. Yes, I get it. But I want players like Jim Leonhard on my football team every day. I always liked him more than Whitner and people said I was crazy. Whatever. 2) Say any bad things that you want to about Graham. Go ahead, and I will agree. But his move at the end of the 2nd quarter on the end around was just sick. 3) Woods is every single thing that I thought he would be, and even more. Pro ready? This kid gets OPEN!!!!! 4) Glen had a brutal game today. In the 2nd quarter, the sack that caused the fumble was all on him, and he was all alone to recover it but could not. And btw, a he committed a stupid penalty just before this play. Not cool. 5) Shaking in the bedroom, covers on your head Cringing like a baby at the hand beneath the bed. Phantom in the closet, scratching at the door, The latest mystery killer that you saw on channel four, When Push Comes To Shove, you're afraid of love. 6) Do you want to talk about who won us the game today? I love talking about this s%3t. Well obviously, let's go straight to Kiko. He was just awesome. What a GREAT draft selection he was. Seriously. More to come on this..... 7) Gotta give a big time and well deserved shout out to Easley on Special Teams. Man, does he get down the field in a hurry and make sure tackles!!! 8) Sorry to question the coaches after a win, but there seemed to be too many sequences in which we ran on 1st and 2nd down, only to throw on 3rd down. It was as if Joe Gibbs or Vince Lombardi were calling these plays. I don't know..... 9) What happened? When did Aaron Williams turn into a good football player? He was horrid. Seriously, the guy couldn't play at all until now. He played his ass off today! 10) His numbers weren't great, but Spiller played well imo. He was less tentative, and this matters. 11) Getting back to who won us the game, Marcel Dareus played the best game of his life. And yes, I do remember the game against the Redskins in which he put up great numbers against a decimated OL. Today, he was just off the charts great. He enabled the rest of the defense to do great things because he clogged up the middle AND was getting to Flacco. I was just so proud of him today. 12) I want some help here, but on the TD run by FJ, it looked to me as if Colin Brown threw a key block! Wtf??? 13) I am not trying to convince any of you that Searcy is good. I will however maintain that I do want him on my football team. 14) Congrats to all. We really do deserve wins, ya know? 15) GO BILLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And I hear you Simon but it begs the question.....does Marrone have a program that he can sell? Does he have a system in place that is proven? Nick Saban does. He wins, and continues to do so. The Crimson Tide will probably not win the title this year (although they might), but Saban has a system that has worked and will work. So did Parcells, Gibbs, etc. I just feel like this football team is rushing to do things that even the coaches don't really know how to do at the NFL level. Brother, vs. the Panthers they ran the hurry-up before the deuce and gave them an extra time out. They stopped the clock at 2:07. This was 100% insane! My fear wrt Marrone was that he was hired because he was a Brandon (who I wish would be fired) crony. I hope that I am wrong Simon, I really do. I hope that Marrone has a clue.

I can't argue with much of the AJ, but some things are disturbing. We have a rookie head coach, OC, and a rookie qb who missed much of the preseason. What do they do? They play hurry-up, which keeps the defense on the field longer. This makes it tougher for them as well as their rookie DC. What is the rush to hand Spiller the ball and send him up the middle? I am not seeing it. I simply think that the Bills offense needs to be a bit more sophisticated before they focus SO much on the hurry-up.

They also screwed themselves, because salaries are going down for most positions except quarterbacks, who are receiving insane contracts. Gotta respectfully disagree my friend. Walker and Dockery were dogs. Levitre was FAR better than average. They traded back into the second round to get him (I would have been happy with him in round 1), and he did every single thing they asked of him, to include filling in at other positions. He was also quite durable. Sorry, I can't find a valid comparison.

I hate doing so, but I agree with this. At some point they have to stop accommodating players. A poor tone was set, and as much as it hurts, they are doing the right thing wrt Byrd.

You should trade screen names with the OP. This would explain his title.

Makes sense. And btw I don't think that any team would give us a #1 for Spiller. Perhaps a number 2, but I am not positive of this. I agree that the Colts got the worst of the Richardson trade, and I'm a Bama Fan.

Does Greg Jerman count as a starter?

So true. This is one of the toughest things to explain to people on a message board imo. The Bills defense with Bryce, Bruce, and Big Ted could have been one of the best ever imo. I am talking top 10, perhaps less. But the Bills had poor qb play and NO blocking. I mean zero, and this great defense was often gassed in the 4th quarter. Call me old school, whatever. But I cannot picture a place in this football league when it will make sense to let your best blocker walk.

So do I JA, but why do it? The Bills are overflowing with cap space, and Levitre, despite what his naysayers claim, was an exceptional player for us, and certainly the most durable. People harp on the fact that he never made the pro bowl. So what? Whitner did. Which one do you think did more for the Bills? Not only that, our qb is a rookie and our biggest weapon is a small running back. Levitre is even more fit for this idiotic hurry-up scheme than a 330 pound blocker. Why not keep such a solid player?

Absolutely. And as bad as the defense was, they might have been just a little better with a quality blocker helping to sustain drives and keep them off the field.

Perfect summary. And btw, your earlier point wrt the hurry-up is not to be taken lightly. As head coach, if Marrone says, "slow it down" they would have to do so. Given this, I am not going to place all of the game on the OC. Marrone needs to take a more active roll if something isn't working.

No doubt Coach, but we are missing our 3 top corners and a scumbag safety, so I was not surprised at all.

1) I like Kiko more and more every time I see him play. This kid is a true football player. 2) Colin Brown was a disaster today, from what little I could see. I am wondering if those who were just so happy to let Levitre walk because he got a big contract are willing at all to re-think your stances. Just asking. 3) Lawson can play, ya know? He isn't a star, but the guy is involved in the game on every play. Players like Lawson can win you football games. 4) Spiller truly sucked today. 10 carries for 9 yards and 2 fumbles. If anyone who has called him one of the most dynamic players in football and a great draft selection by the Buffalo Bills wants to chime in, please do so. This deserves discussion, so go for it if you will. 5) Last week, I complained about the camera work. This week it was worse. They didn't show the QUARTERBACK on many plays. Maybe this is a method to force fanatics to purchase more from their providers. I really don't know, but it's a disgrace. 6) Going where the wind don't blow so strange. Maybe on some high cold mountain range. Lost one round but the price wasn't anything, Knife in a back, and more of the same..... Same old rat in a drain ditch Out on a limb, You know better but I know him. 7) Manuel truly did display growing pains today. I am not at all down on him, but he played a lousy game. And btw, I think that his knee is still limiting what he can do, especially in terms of running the football. 8) Stevie Johnson looked as if he played through injuries today, and came away with decent numbers. But his stupid, narcissistic penalties are leaving me with very little tolerance. VERY little. Seriously. 9) Fred Jackson is a football player. Make no mistake, his skills are rapidly diminishing, but he plays football in every phase and I am glad to have him on this football team. 10) Let me put this in question form.....was it any different when Dareus left the field? The answer is obvious and sad imo. 11) Moats played a nice game today, and seems to (hopefully) be developing into a good linebacker. 12) The Jets were penalized 20 times. 20 TIMES, and we lost the football game. Should we at least glance at the head coach in terms of how something like this can happen? 13) Woods should get more chances and Graham should get far fewer. Graham is simply a lousy player. Woods can play. 14) GO BILLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for the correction. Other sites that I saw didn't mention the 13 mil. Having said this, the Bills could have tried to do an imaginative deal in which he wouldn't hurt them in terms of the cap if he was cut later on. I notice that his bonus was spread over 5 years, not 6. Again, they are sitting here with a lot of cap room going to waste. And it isn't possible that there will be an equal player to Andy Levitre lining up at LG. Just totally impossible, and that's a shame when your qb is a rookie and your deep threat is a small rb. And the best way to stop the pass continues to be pass pressure.

Correct, and Levitre only got 10 million guaranteed. The Bills could have guaranteed his first year, and every year after that would have been their option. TB did a deal like this with Revis. The thing is, the Bills have a ton of cap room sitting there. It would have made perfect sense to pay a very good guard such as Levitre.

Ya know, I liked the trade for the Browns until I read this about Jauron. I am a huge fan of the Crimson Tide, and I know how good Richardson is but he gets hurt, and running backs matter less and less as we speak. If Jauron has any say, he will make sure to squander this pick on a defensive back. Jauron and Levy wiped out the Buffalo Bills franchise starting with the 2006 daft, and they never looked back until they were both thankfully gone. I am more for discussion and sharing ideas than I am for consensus in terms of this great board. That said, if there ever was a consensus here, it would be that the Bills 2013 draft looks good. In case people haven't noticed, it is good because they ran away from the idiotic, loser philosophy of Levy and Jauron. And yes, I do feel the pain of Browns Fans.

Searcy is not extremely talented but he makes plays, including special teams. As I have said many times, the man gives it all he's got on every play. He would have a roster spot on my team any day, and at some point I expect him to be a coach.

Mine was the one in which Dareus finished it off. Dareus is a very hard hitter when he gets in. Last week he shoved Brady down with one hand and that HAD to hurt. Players like Mario and Bruce are athletic. They make and force plays that other humans are not capable of doing. Theirs is a huge separation from other players. There is also a need for crushers. Other Bills players who hit like a truck were Bryce Paup and believe it or not Phil Hansen. Great athletic DEs such as Mario and Bruce open the window for lesser players to contribute in a big way. And btw, it was great to see you come around and say that pass rush blows away the secondary in terms of importance.

He is a center e-man.

Phil, I am hoping for Pettine to be an NFL version of the University of Alabama Crimson Tide's Kirby Smart. Saban took him everywhere he went, and he is young and literally brilliant. My fear is that soon, Pettine will get offers to be a head coach, but hopefully I am looking too far ahead. Either way, you were right on the money about Pettine.

Badol, I agree, but I didn't want to harp on it. But, thought #9 was driven by this. Imo, there are just so few "PURE PASSERS" in the league today. I count 4.....Luck, Brady, Brees and Manning. Am I missing anyone? Even Rogers relies to an extent on mobility imo. Russell Wilson is small, and RG111 and Kapernick are just gifted. I know RG is hurt, but he isn't killing anybody with his passing skills at this point. Is Kapernick? John C is one of my favorite posters, but he was outraged at my assertion. I think that EJ can be as good as almost anybody, but he will need the threat of the run to get to the very high level. EJ is huge. He stands tall in the pocket, and he REALLY can run. This threat will soften defenses. I don't see how it could not. Imo, the threat of a run can ONLY help his downfield game but again, what do I know lol?

Actually, I was just about to include you in a post about him. You were just so correct about how good this guy is.