Casey D

To make room for Lynch

Looks like Pennington is out for the year... per ESPN...

Fair enough. That decision by DJ was just another in a series of head scratchers. It was obvious the D was gassed at that point. Down by 2 scores, the O needed to give the D a breather and some hope to get them to play hard. The punt was a white flag. Which is what is most amazing about DJ's decision making. He is neither conservative nor gambling--he is conservative when he should gamble and gambles when he should play it safe. The punt yesterday was an example of when a gamble was in order but he went conservative--but he goes both ways: Game 1, he does not tell McKelvin to take a knee or if he took the ball out, go down when he hit resistance. Instead he gambles for no reason and loses the ball. Last year-- Losman rolling out against the Jets when a knee or handoff would end the game--gambles when he should play it safe. Last Year-- Settles for a 47 FG attempt against Cleveland on a cold and windy night... conservative when a slight risk was required to get an easier kick. Two years ago-- Dallas on Monday night--is passing the ball late in the game when the Bills are within chip shot range of a FG that would sew up the game. Gets picked--Bills go on to lose. Gambles when playing it safe is the right call. There are more of these than I can recall off the top, but DJ makes decisions like this that are just really bad. He's the George Costanza of coaches--every instinct he has seems to be wrong--he should just do the opposite... CD

What are you talking about? NO is a very good team. Brees is some kind of God and he did little passing. It was a 3 point game until late. We have a young and banged up offensive line. A still developing QB, and a coach who makes poor strategic decisions most of the time. We lost, but your breathless hyperbole about it was a "complete laydown is nonsense." CD

Chad Henne will get his first start. CD

MRI must not have been good.

per bb

Why mess up mass hysteria with facts?

You say this because they cut Walker?

Did not say that they rolled this out that well, but most of this was done in the off-season. The only change now is Bell for Walker. I assume they feel Butler is better than Walker at RT. Or at least that any marginal difference is not worth $5M. Recall--the line sucked last year. So now we need to keep these guys? Why? We overpaid for Walker and Dockery. but now we are lost without them? Why? Let's just see what happens. I don't think this team is that good, but at least they are trying to shake things up. The coach will be next...CD

Well after the 2-8 finish to last year, everyone said they needed to blow up things up and start over. Well they have. A new guy at each OL position(4 totally new), TO, and a new coodinator. Now folks say we are a laughing stock for blowing it up. What do you want--change or stay the same? What difference does it make anyway? At least there is hope that these guys can get better. And if they don't then Jauron is gone, which is what everyone wants anyway. So it works or it doesn't, but it can't be much worse that it was, and if it is, we get a new coach. It at least will make for good drama....CD

B+, same as Arizona. Only Green Bay with an A and Jets with an A- got higher grades. He loved the Bills picks, and would have given them an A except they failed to address the OT position. Coming from this guy, high praise...CD

You are correct. The plan is, left to right, Walker-Wood-Hangartner-Levitre-Butler. Others are backups. Things can change, but that is the plan for now, for better or worse...CD

Really, I did not get that impression at all. The exchange with Delhomme said to me they were close because Hangartner came in and protected Delhomme's ass. Between that, and the guy's clear intelligence, he seems like an excellent pick up for a center. Perhaps with him making the line calls, and an upgrade on the line overall(still needing a LG of course), we will see significant improvement. But it is funny how people read the same thing and have totally different takes.

It is for 4 years, but I have seen no numbers. There is an article on the main page from a Rock Hill paper in South Carolina, where Hangartner says it is not a "sick" contract, but it is for more money than I ever thought I'd make. Estimated to be north of $3M/year-- probably $14-16M for 4 years. That article is also interesting in what it reveals about Hangartner. Talks about how much he is liked in Carolina, and about an emotional phone call he had with Delhomme about leaving. Seeing that, and seeing he is real smart--which is critical for a center, as it impacts the whole line as he makes the blocking calls--I am feeling very good about this guy. Now we need a left guard, a linebacker, and someone who can make plays catching the ball(WR or TE) in FA and we would be in pretty good shape going into the draft. I also like Fitzpatrick. I think a smart QB is really good too. Strikes me as a Frank Reich type, not blessed with great physical tools, so he can't be a starter because his weaknesses are eventually exposed, but plenty smart and good to fill in. Brains are underestimated at the QB position, in favor of physical gifts. That's Losman's problem, all the physical tools in the world, but inadequate brain power to harness those gifts...CD

That's good.

Exactly! CD

I agree completely with this observation on Jauron. Super Bowl 25 not so much--there was only 7 or 8 seconds left when Norwood kicked. Another play and the clock could easily have expired. No such excuse last night. Settling for a 47 yard field goal try into the wind on a cold night is utterly indefensible when there is a minute on the clock. While all aspects of the team sucked last night, the game was still winnable but for that final coaching error. Lindell has hit 44 in a row inside the 40. Get to the 23, and you have as sure a thing as you can get in football. But we essentially kneel down at the 30, and so we lose. I can't watch this stupidity for a while...Cd

Marv tried to rebuild this team with character guys--guys who would pull together. You never learn that much in life--or anything--when you are doing well, a test of any person is how they respond when things go bad--when there is adversity. Well the Bills face adversity in bucketloads right now. They now face another soft patch in their schedule. If they dig down deep, there is no reason they cannot get on a little roll--if they want it. I agree it looks grim at the moment, but the hole is not that deep at 5-4, thanks to the fast start. They need to stop digging, and move forward. If these guys have the character I believe they do, things could still get interesting in December...CD

I don't think the seeding works the way you indicate any more. Winning the division no longer seeds you higher than a wild card with a better record, at least I think they made that change in the off-season. The reason was to force teams to continue to play until the end, and not hold back when their seed position was locked up...CD

Then you should bet on Buffalo when the time comes...lol...CD

Frankly, your post is kind of silly, with 9 games still remaining. You are putting way too much stock in yesterday's game, and the next two games(assuming we don't lose all three). Nothing was ever a lock, and nothing is out of the question. Suppose we are 6-3, as you suggest--which may be likely(say beating the Jets and losing to NE). The Bills next four games are Cle, at KC, SF and Miami--all very winnable games(all games in which the Bills will be favored--probably by a touchdown or more). Even if they lose one, that gets them to 9-4 with three games to go at NYJ, at Den and home against NE. If they split the first two of those games, they are 10-5 facing NE on the last game of the season at home. A very good(and fun) place to be if you ask me--and something a playoff caliber team ought to be able to get to given the schedule. If they can't get to 10-5, they don't deserve anything anyway...CD

I think you totally nailed it. The NFL is very even right now--no real dominant teams, and only a few terrible teams. So any given week, teams that just played well play poorly, and vice versa. For example, San Diego loses to Miami and then pounds New England--so they are back. Then the Bills beat them, after the Bills suffered a bad loss to Arizona. New England gets pounded by San Diego, then pounds Denver. Arizona gets pounded by the Jets, then beats the Bills and Cowboys. Miami beats NE and San Diego, then lose to a winless Houston team. It goes on and on. The whole season has been like that--not just with the Bills. If things go according to this roller coaster form, I expect the Bills to do very well against the Jets. I am not nearly as sure that they will beat NE in NE. But after the NE game, the Bills have four consecutive very winnable games(Cle, at KC, SF and Mia). If the Bills go 6-3, and stay reasonably focused, no reason they cannot be 10-3, or at the worst 9-4, when they hit the final three games which are a bit tougher(at Jets, at Den, NE). I like our chances...CD

Peters and Butler both came back and played.

Reading all the comments on the Board--and from the media experts--this seems like a perfect trade. Column in the Baltimore Sun says the Ravens gave up too much. Others ask "are the Bills crazy." So like a settlement in litigation when nobody is totally happy, the deal is usually fair in these circumstances. Time to move on and use the draft pick resources to our advantage... CD