MRM33064

Fitz just lost his Jeopardy! partner for Wonderlic Score week. At least CJ's still around ....

The "1-10 Ryan Fitzpatrick" comment works, though it could obviously go either way. Good Ryan = playoffs. "That team had such a terrific season despite the terrible QB play ...." isn't a quote that's heard too frequently.

<Fart> "And that gentlemen, is my last comment." - Hank Bullough, circa 1986 EDIT: Add - "If you don't like it, get out of town." - Bill Polian to the legendary (!?) tiny-tot-of-the-kilowatt, Art Wander.

"Why certainly Judge Smails, I'd love a Fresca!" BTW, you know it's serious when Buddy releases the biege. That is some serious Jedi negotiation mojo.

That ^^^^^, plus a fairly long-running losing streak, a small market, a destination that is still (unfairly, but regularly) the punchline to jokes, a recent history of letting talent go elsewhere, and some good evidence of what the team will do when actually presented with a decision between whether to prioritize short-term cash flow or prioritize winning (take your pick of examples here: selling home games to another city, "cash to the cap", etc.) And ... all of these same recruiting issues must run organization wide. Case in point: you've got to BILL-ieve that neither Buddy's job nor Chan's job was coveted by any candidate that was being actively targeted for other opportunities. That same kind of thing must run to virtually every position available; that is, do we think the top candidates for any position dream about perfecting their skills with the Buffalo Bills? It's heart-breaking, but if this team wins again while Ralph is in charge, I think it'll require some serious, sustained luck - the kind that helped launch the team out of the gate at the beginning of this year.

Peyton Manning was asked about playing for Buffalo. He was promptly rushed to the hospital with a near fatal case of the giggles.

Stevie craves attention and now, after the team allowed a 49-0 run (in basically 3 quarters of football), STEVIE is the big story of the game. He got his wish. It's such a drag, because he's a good - not great - player with potential. I could only imagine how his act would go over in a bigger market, where the press is slightly tougher than Jerry Sullivan and there's more than one paper in town.

Either that, or he's got the intellectual muscle of a jelly doughnut. Either is equally plausible.

If we had a real team, with a real winning culture, Stevie's act wouldn't fly. He'd be one talented player among many, and the others wouldn't go for the childish/costly stupidity. Of course, we're not a real team, we have no winning culture, and we don't have a roster of talent players. So - what to do? IDK, it feels like debating which way to rearrange deck chairs on the Titantic.

IDK, I think this stuff with the radio show is quality due diligence, just like his on-field behavior, his propensity to come up short in big situations .... AND his ability to essentially take the best DB in the league to the woodshed. Stevie strikes me as a young guy with a lot of football potential who needs some serious guidance and grooming from a veteran player. I don't have a problem with the guy having a burning desire to be noticed, it's just that he should try to focus on being noticed for the right things ... like smoking Revis on the field .... not the bush league antics or the pseudo-celebrity act.

The offense, because it comes with the superstar QB which is, by a longshot, the most important position in the NFL. Not even close.

This, with a little less anger. :-) When Chan mysteriously started moving away from FredEx and more towards Fitz, things went south in a big way. When Fred got hurt, the bottom completely fell out. Fitz couldn't handle shouldering the entire offense, he was much, much better when Fred was the centerpiece. Fred is a good personality, well-liked by the fans, and a leader that has another good couple years left in him. I like that Fred has played with a little chip on his shoulder, and am a little afraid of giving him a big contract for fear of that chip disappearing, but that wouldn't stop me.

I certainly hope Moorman is healthy, but gosh, after over 10 years of missing the playoffs I think we could do worse than resolving to never punt again. Nobody executes the "voluntary turnover" better than the Bills. Evidently we can't even say that anymore.

Our fingers are crossed today for a big performance. Having lost 5 in a row now ... let's make sure that no matter what happens, we keep this one close. Don't do anything silly. No "going for it", no aggressive playcalling, forget about playing it by the numbers. 4th down in enemy territory? Please, just punt it. It's hard to win in the NFL, but we have the secret weapon. The golden toe. Let's keep using him.

I guess it's kind of off-topic, but here we've got a site filled with people who are passionate enough about the Bills to sign up, post, share opinions, and the team is so freakin' lousy (AGAIN) that we start turning against each other for sport. Man, it just ain't fair. We (fans) deserve so much better.

Funny ... I don't think Uncle Ralph sheds too many tears when he reviews the annual financials. We're cranky customers, we bi*** and moan, we (including myself) issue empty threats ("I'm done with this team!"), but come July it's a different story. Every year. We're addicted.

On behalf of the entire Brian Moorman fan club, a sincere "thanks" goes out to the coaching staff for abandoning that crazy, riverboat gambler, "go for it" attitude that was tested earlier this season. Seriously, did we really think game-management tactics suggested by scrawny, pimply math nerds would ever pay off in FOOTBALL? Laughable. Yesterday, down 10 points in enemy territory, with time running out in the 3rd quarter (and having ... let's say ... a "marginally reliable" defense), there's nothing like marching out our beloved, golden-footed Adonis to execute the perfect voluntary turnover. If there's a single stat line that embodies the winning attitude of the Bills over the last several seasons, it's this: 3rd Quarter 4-6-TEN 42 (:36) 8-B.Moorman punts 25 yards to TEN 17, Center-65-G.Sanborn, fair catch by 83-M.Mariani. A thing of beauty. Our President (we call him "DJ") was thrilled, but being the tactical wizard that he is, still managed to suggest a potential improvement: introducing some real surprise and punting on 3rd down. Go Brian go!

Johnson's interview with S&B yesterday made things about as clear as they could be vis-a-vis where Stevie Johnson's head is, or isn't. Sully's post-game question as to whether or not Stevie pre-planned his "celebration" was laughable - is there anyone who is "so serious" (pun intended) to think he didn't? Of course, all of that has nothing to do with his potential or raw talent, but as previously pointed out in this thread, there is most certainly a very large, deliberate, "i" in Stevie - and it's getting in the way. He's young and has time to mature, and I think that's his biggest upside, though unfortunately this roster doesn't seem to have the kind of veteran leadership or experience that might really be able to make a big, big, difference in this player's future.

The Bills have been awful, and are injured, and the entire world is fading them. That said, a line of "20" would last about 15 seconds so, regrettably, none of us would even have a chance at thinking about it. If anyone personally wanted to underwrite a line of Bills +20, I'm sure there will be a very long line of takers. Hopefully ESPN, Cowherd, and all the other talking heads will continue to "pile on" the Bills all the way up to gametime.

You look at the guy and wonder .... what exactly does he do? On a college team, I can see how he could be a fantastic weapon - passer, receiver, returner. On a pro team, he's a "not-too-good" version of each one of those things. Strikingly similar to .... #28. What is Buddy's thought process on these guys, given all the obvious critical core needs?

It's far from our only problem, but when FredEx gets 7 carries the whole game - 4 of which were on the first drive - it's not going to be good. The injuries are just redonkulous, which is another classic Buffalo Bills trademark, but using the few assets we DO still have would be a nice start. Also, a rhetorical question to ponder: How many bad snaps ought it take for a coach to realize that his backup center (or more fairly stated, the guy who gets stuck playing center) can't shotgun snap?

The first drive looked easy because, in part, one of the top RBs in the NFL was heavily involved.

Oh McLovin .... In many ways he reminds me of a faster, younger, male version of my ex wife. Always around, always drawing attention, always in the picture, costing me every week, yet never really contributing anything.

FredEx was being discussed as an NFL MVP candidate, and then all of a sudden he's not featured. Fred was the key to the pace and success of the offense. For some reason, everything has been put squarely on Fitz's shoulders, and we all know that's a dicey prospect. Yes, he'll get stopped now and then - especially when we're facing a defense like the Jets - but that's not a reason to take the burden off of him and dump it all on Fitz and his cadre of mostly mediocre receivers.