Bill from NYC

Seriously, stats meant little in this game. Think about it. Kelsay, Williams and Dareus didn't show up big in the recap, but they put pressure all day. Not only that, many Bills starters were graciously pulled. Other than the score, if you want a stat that reflected the game it was the T.O.P. The Bills had the ball approx. 15 minutes more than the Chiefs. This is almost always very indicative of dominance.

It is probably early to call him a bust. But it isn't too early imo to call him a stupid, and even suspect draft choice. We just got Brad Smith, who I expect to be a better player than Spiller (this doesn't mean I will be correct mind you), and we didn't have to burn a number 9 on him.

Absolutely Chan Gailey. Next would be Fitz, but Dareus was great.

Lori, I am so sorry. May God help you and your loved ones through these times of sadness.

LOL, cool! The thing is, she learned so much because she said that for years, I have been telling her what the Bills do, and yesterday they actually did it. And yes, Gailey was superb. There were time I hope he would just run out the clock. He went to the air, and it worked. At half time, I thought that perhaps they should have tried to get into field goal range. He didn't, and it worked. Only a Bills fan can understand what its like to watch inept coaching year after year. Gailey is a teacher, and an offensive mind. What a great freaking game!!!

Joe, he actually did. It's hard not to get excited about what happened yesterday on a very emotional day.

In the first drive of the 3rd quarter, the defender smacked Pears on the head and ran by him. Fitz got hit hard. It worked today John, but he has to improve. John, defensive front 7 got bigger and stronger. We dominated. If we do the same thing on offense we will get the same, if not better results. It's no secret, my long time friend.

1) To the civilians, firefighters and of course my brother police officers who lost their lives 10 years ago: I am glad that your time in heaven is pleasant. You are heroes, and I wish I could haved saved you. I constantly think about you; you are the best thing that ever happened to New York. 2) Andy Levitre threw key blocks today. He was always decent on passing plays but today, he put himself in position and took out his man time after time on FJ runs. So yes, I said before and am saying after this "benching" stint that he is our best blocker. If you disagree, please take me to task. 3) Barnett is twice as good as Poz. That's all I have to say about this issue but do feel free to comment. 4) I was lucky enough to have watched the game with two of my daughters today. My oldest (an ivy league and law school grad) made a striking comment. She said that she learned more about football today that any day of her life. She btw is 27. She said that they actually did things that I have been screaming at them to do for as long as she could remember. 5) If I had to pick just one player who won us this game, it would be Marcel Dareus. He won't show up on the stat sheets but he simply kicked ass. He stretched out runs and pushed back the pocket on pass plays. This, in his first NFL game. Marcel Dareus, at least today, was the exact football player that this team has always needed. OMG it was great to watch!!!!!!!!!! 6) I promised someone named Dan (a TBD lurker) from Buffalo that I would give him a shout out. Here it is. Good game! 7) Sorry, Pears is a huge concern. I won't go into it, but I saw what I saw and it wasn't good. 8) Badolbilz told us about Chandler. His hands were as soft as cotton and he looks as if he can block and get open. Please take this post as an overdue shoutout. Badol, you forgot more about football than most of us will ever know. Sorry to single you out, but please come back to TBD. The problems you had here can be worked out, and this board will never be as good without you my friend. Not ever. 9) I was impressed by Byrd. He looks to be in better condition than last season, and he was getting physical in the first half. 10) OK, more about Dareus....KELSAY was making plays. Spenser Johnson looked like a good football player. This doesn't happen in a vacuum. Marcel was occupying blockers. I am just so psyched about this kid!!! 11) Fitz? He was every bit as good as he had to be. He is a QB who is capable of winning football games (same with Stevie Johnson). He and Fitz are partners. I love that s--t. 12) Chan Gailey really had a set of b%^^s today. I would have been more conservative but his calls worked. And btw, I personally guarantee that Brad Smith will win us at least 1 football game this season. I am thinking 2. 13) We are in first place, an undefeated team! Yeah,us, the Buffalo Bills! I absolutely love it! So world....excuse the f*&k out of me. 14) GO BILLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LOL thanks!!! Ya know, I take credit for the Bills not drafting Peterson this year. I wished him away!!! I did the same thing with Huiff in 06 and it worked, but things apart fell apart right after that!

1) On "Moving the Chains," one of the announcers (not Kirwan, the other guy) called Gailey "one of the best schematic coaches in the NFL." I am inclined to agree. The offense looked decent at times last year, while indeed lacking talent. 2) Todd Haley is a sharp coach. He specifically mentioned K. Williams, Dareus, Barnett, Merriman and yes.....Carrington. He is impressed by our defense. 3) I'm still thinking about e-balls thread about Nix. Not so much mention was made about his comments wrt getting bigger and building a team to suit the climate. Also, Gailey said that "coming into the draft, stopping the run was the #1 priority. My point? Levy/Jauron did untold damage to this team. They littered the roster with small, inferior football players. 4) Thanks to all for a fun offseason. I for one actually like this board most around draft time, when hope runs high. There were some great threads to read as of late. Thanks to those contributing, and thanks for indulging me and my complaints about the way the team was butchered. 5) Let's go 1-0!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 6) GO BILLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What did he say?

This is a Bills board. "Homers" are to be expected, no? But when a team is losing for the same obvious reasons year after year, people who do their homework, or have even a miniscule clue about football are going to be able to see why. As bad as the Bills are, they are mine. It's ridiculous, but being a Bills fan is a part of my identity. I follow the draft, have social "Bills" events, and spend tons of money going to games. It is great to be a part of this because Bills Fans really tend to be cool people. But now, we are in an age where information is readily available. JW and NGU argued, but both spoke of football decisions being made by non-football people. What scares me is that even after we got rid of Levy and Jauron (two totally incompetent men), we continued to waste a HUGE pick on Spiller. Doing so followed suit. And, how good must this second round corner be to justify spurning numerous trade down offers (according to Nix)? Personally, I am OK with the "homers." But, a poster like Bills Vet is more likely to nail it than one who is starry eyed. As Bill Parcells said (paraphrasing), you are as good as your record.

But when they drafted MaGahee, they had to wait 16 regular season games for him to even take the field. and they KNEW he was hurt. Sorry, but imo, he was yet another dumb selection, especially with Steinback sitting right there.

>>>>>Q about ever being told by Ralph not to spend -- "don't know where stuff like that comes from" "it's the other way around" "i talk him out of [going after high dollar guys]" "that's happened more than once"<<<<< Do you believe the above? >>>>>OL -- "nobody will believe this, but we're much better in the OL, and better than people think we are" "depth is not good" "we're good in the middle" "only one backup T and he's a rookie, and that's tough" "[we hope] young will be backup at RT, hairston at LT"<<<<< Or this?

Good post Dave. Maybe this stuff is partially linked to the global economic collapse, but one would think that the people who would be least affected by it would be the rich NFL owners. And at his age, how could economic conditions matter to RW? The man is guaranteed a profit from the TV contract alone, no? And, WNY was already having tough times. I'm sorry to edge off topic. I'm still a bit dazed form the JW/NGU threads. And did you read the summary of the Nix interview that eball posted? It directly contradicts what these guys said. Who are you (and of course others) inclined to believe more, Nix or NGU/JW? As for me, I lean towards believing JW/NGU as far as the Evans trade being an economic decision, and the meddling by Mr. Wilson.

Good work, thanks!

Very good post and I do understand. I am hoping for big things from Batten. I liked the pick a lot last year and he was obviously hurt. I don't know how long you have been a Bills fan, but I am hoping he is not the new version of Dan Brandenberg. DB was an olb who in preseason looked like a fast Bryce Paup. I don't have his preseason stats but he was sacking qbs at will. In real games, he was absolutely terrible. He couldn't even play special teams. It was just that frustrating. I mention Batten because I actually expect a dozen or more sacks from a healthy Merriman. The Bears game was all I had to see. He was the real deal, of this I am as certain as one can be. If Batten is for real they can rush on some plays from both sides, and have Kyle Williams and my man Dareus up the middle. Offense is imo a much sadder story. I think that the player most capable of stepping up is Fitz. He is very smart and very mobile, and might survive behind our sub-par OL. If they actually decide to devote resources to the OL next year, the Bills could conceiveably field a respectable football team. It's possible.

Do you trust listed heights and weights? I have seen Pat Williams and Big Sam Adams listed at 340 lbs. Both of them were closer to 400.

I think that it is safe to say that I pay as much attention to blockers as much as anyone in the history of this board. The absolute worst player I have seen on this consistently sickening unit was Greg Jerman. In fact, he really might have been the worst player in the history of the NFL, and the Bills actually had him lined up for a few games at Left Tackle. This poor bastard was small, weak, slow, and had no balance and awful footing. He would get shoved to the turf, stomped, and the qb would get absolutely crushed from the blindside. On runs, he couldn't block a soul. He was so bad that as angry as I have been through the years about the Bills neglect of the OL, I remember feeling sorry for this particular player. I explored the possibility that I was being too harsh, but my thoughts were confirmed by Badolbilz, Lori and R.Rich. And these are people who I consider actual football experts and defer to in terms of their knowledge about the Bills. The players who made me the most angry were Ostroski and Spriggs. Ostroski sucked. He couldn't get out of his stance until after pass rushers were by him. He WAS strong, but it made no difference. He completely sucked at every phase of the game. Slow, no balance, just terrible. So what happened? He played out his option and got a big raise! He even demanded to be switched from OG to center, where he was simply awful and wound up getting cut in one of the better moves by TD. Spriggs? He made me the sickest of all. In a game against Tampa (we lost 3 or 4 players that game), a defender hit RJ a couple of seconds after he threw. RJ was laying on the field bleeding. Spriggs was right there and not only did he not retaliate, he walked away from RJ and didn't even lend a hand to pick him up. He had no talent nor any desire. He was completely worthless and yes, he too lined up at left tackle. One last thing.....Corey Hulsey was flat out awful. But, he was a man, and a great teammate. He too was small and slow, but if a player roughed our qb, he would attack him even if outweighed by 40 pounds or so. Corey, if you are out there, thanks for being a tough guy and backing up your qb and your football team!!! Sorry to ramble folks. I DO devote way too much time th ths s*#t.

Maybe it's me, but I am unable to set such a lofty standard for a part time player.

You might want to include Fitz in his first full season as a starter. Also, we could get lucky with Batten, Carrington and some others.

This makes me sick.

I want to give big time thanks to JW and NGU, and I do hope that you men can symbolically shake hands. The truth is, you have both validated claims that were being made on this board for many years. The inside info on Lynch, Levy, Mr. Wilson was priceless, and I believe every word of it.

John, he did say that the decision could have come from the owner. If so, Ralph wouldn't do it himself. In this sense, could you and NGU both be correct about the trade?

Agreed Dave. What should we discuss? Hey.....what's your favorite color?