smokinandjokin

...he's at about 5'6"?

I can't believe you're up to date. I'm still dissecting the 10-6 loss to Dallas in the 2003 season.

Congrats! Frank the Tank: "You know I was thinking we could go back home... have some dinner and pop in the Sisqo CD... no?" Funny story- I may have told it before- My girlfriend and I were at my uncle's house for Easter dinner a few years back, and there were a lot of people there, including few couples who I didn't know. I end up sitting next to this guy who is hilarious, he's the life of the party. Well, it comes up in coversation that this guy and his wife just celebrated their 10th anniversary. Everyone says "Awww" and "congratulations" and the like. This guy looks like he gets serious for a second, and he puts his arm around his wife and he says, "Ahhh yes, honey...Ten years. Wow, just amazing. I'll tell you what, it's felt like ten minutes." And then he turns his head in my direction and says, "Under water!" The whole table just started dying laughing, and I almost lost it. It looked as though this jokester was having a sweet moment with his wife, and then he bursts out the "under water." His wife was a good sport and looked embarrassed, but even she was laughing. Classic- one of my all-time fav's.

It was a big kick no doubt, but I think you know what I'm sayin. The kick yesterday gave the Bills a comfortable cushion, but the game was definitely not hanging in the balance. I'm talking JP leading us down the field to the 28-yard line with the Bills down 23-21 and Lindell trotting out there to attempt a 45-yarder. He has not been in that spot yet.

No doubt! I can't wait to see this guy lined up for a huge kick. That's all he needs to add to his arsenal at this point. A 44-yard game winner, just to prove he can... Whoever that offseason core/leg strengthening coach is that he has trained with the past two years should be on the speed dial of every special teams coach...

1. Ohio State- Troy Smith is the truth. It will not be a cakewalk though- they have Iowa and Michigan as potential hiccups. 2. Auburn- I considered USC here but I went with the stronger conference. A win over LSU, no matter the score, is better than a win over Nebraska at this point. 3. USC- Booty looks to be settled in at QB. The announcer the other night said they have a better receiving corps than the Titans. Opportunistic defense forces mistakes, but they'll have a true frosh starting at safety for the rest of the year. 4. West Virginia- Rushing attack is relentless. Definitely the weakest schedule and the weakest defense of the top-10. 5. Michigan- Huge win. Henne, Hart, Breaston, and Manningham will put up some points. The defense came up HUGE against what was supposed to be the nation's top offense. 6. LSU- They should've beaten Auburn on the road, and got jobbed on a late pass interference call. I still think they are the better team. 7. Florida- I can't put two one-loss teams ahead of the Gators. I'll rank the senior Leak ahead of the freshman McCoy for now. 8. Texas- The Oklahoma game should be a doozy. We shall see at that point what McCoy has learned in his young college career. 9. Virginia Tech- In the down ACC, their special teams and defense alone should lead them to the conference title game. 10. Notre Dame- On Friday they were the #2 team in the country, with the best offense and the Heisman-winning #1 pick QB. It was a bad loss, at home, but I think they are still a force. I'd like to see more from Michigan before I bury ND down in the teens. The Wolverines could be the real deal. Just missed: Georgia- How good is the SEC that I have to apologize for leaving a 4th team out of my Top-10? Louisville- Second string RB, and now second sting QB...A win over pathetic Miami does not equal Top-10 Oregon- Nice comeback vs. OK but video shows it was a missed call Iowa- Scraping by Syracuse and Iowa State does not have me convinced about the Hawkeyes.

Nothing to lose...Score a TD and hold Auburn under 50 and it's a victory. It will all be small steps for UB. An interception, or a forced fumble, or a long kickoff return would all be good small steps. Any one of those would be something to build on. Over/under on Kenny Irons rushing yards? 225?

You could be right, I'm far from a rule expert. I heard John Murphy on WGR this morning, and he said he asked the NFL head of officials for an explanation. What I posted was the explanation John Murphy received. Basically, it was interference as the defender was trying to make a play on the ball that was a forward pass. Behind the LOS had nothing to do with it.

If the pass is behind the LOS, ineligibles (offensive lineman) can get downfield to block without risking the Illegal Man Downfield penalty. However, since it is a forward pass (even though it's behind the LOS) pass interference can still be called while the ball is in the air, which is what happened.

Losman had some pressure right in his face as he wheeled around to throw that pass, and he seemed to float it off his back foot just a little bit. That may have affected the timing as Reed was assuming the ball would've already been in Parrish's hands by the time he started blocking. I agree, a penalty under the rules, but they let WR picks go all the time. Maybe if Reed just obstructed rather than engaging the CB, it would've been let go. But probably the right call if taking a literal read on the rule book. Either way, nice burst by Parrish to squirt into the end zone. The dude is a waterbug.

McCargo has been quiet, as has Mario Williams. The other 1st-rounder from NC State, Manny Lawson, had 2 sacks yesterday for the 49ers. I'm not sure what we expected from McCargo. DT is a very tough position to come in and be an impact player immediately. It typically takes a year or two to figure out the schemes, get used to NFL strength, and figure out what you can and can't get away with. Even then, a DT can have a huge impact on a game but go largely unnoticed. On the other hand, I'm sure Houston at this point would rather be handing off to Dominick Davis, but I know they'd prefer Reggie Bush over Ron Dayne and Samkon Gado. That's just more unneeded pressure on Mario.

Daunte Culpepper's extreme suckage.

I can't wait till it gets cold to see if Mangini wears a soiled, homeless man's sweatshirt like his mentor Billy Boy.

Jets have two rooks starting on the OLine. Two very talented high picks, but rooks nonetheless. I assume, after the win in Miami and it being the home opener, it's going to be VERY LOUD in the Ralph. I'd look for a few false starts and some nervousness out of their OLine, which could result in another long afternoon in OP for Pennington. They played one away game in Tennessee and took the crowd out of the game early. I'm not sure they know what they're walking into this week. On the flip side, I'm very excited to see how our rooks on defense respond to the home crowd for the first time. They should be gassed up.... By the way, did anyone see Pennington heave the last pass of the game yesterday? He was standing on his own 38 when he threw, and launched what seemed like his full-strength hail mary, to have it fall into the arms of three Patriots on the 20-yd line. I know all about his arm to begin with, and the two shoulder surgeries, but that is not good....

Clements let a guy get a first down on a 7-yd slant on 3rd and 5. Otherwise they would've had to punt and the Bills would've had another chance on offense.

Holy schit man, the guy caught a pass. Big deal. I think the only name I heard less than Clements' was Booker's.

Their incredible record of development thus far speaks for itself. Thankfully they acknowledge their own incompetence.

No matter how early into the season it is, the Phins in the basement looks pretty sweet to me! Sorry Puhonix, Daunte doesn't have it, and Shelton is going to get ABUSED all season. I'm looking forward to seeing your squad cuddling on the heated benches in those manly teal stadium parkas when Saban drags those clowns up here in December. One early score and they'll be running for the bus....

Similar to Bill Simmons' pick in his ESPN Page 2 column. Quote: DOLPHINS (-6.5) over Bills Sorry, J.P. Losman isn't covering two straight games on the road. That's ridiculous. Keep it up, boys. I LOVE it.

She'd get it.

I believe Simpson's sack was the one time Culpepper was bumrushed and really had no chance. On the majority of the others, he was scanning the field for a LONG time, and even rolling out to buy more time, when our DLine finally got to him. Great game by the secondary. Only an INCREDIBLE catch by Chambers spoiled what was a dominating performance.

You can't say money wasn't an issue because you just don't know. Neither do I. Can't say it was, can't say it wasn't. All you can do is look at the history and see that the Bills are ALWAYS in the bottom 5 as far as head coach salary. I agree, Gregg was the wrong man at the wrong time. But you can't really blame TD for that hire...He was a successful coordinator in demand. You CAN blame TD for basically making the exact same mistake by going out and hiring another coordinator with no HC experience. That's where he hitched his wagon to Mularkey and lost. As for the others, like Fox and Lewis, it's pure speculation as to why they didn't come here. Lewis supposedly didn't want to be here because his wife didn't like the school system or some junk like that. Perhaps they had quite a few interviews lined up, and knew that Ralph liked to low-ball his offers. Perhaps TD just didn't like them. Who knows? Bottom line, TD went 0-2 with his coaches and it ulitmately got him fired.

Ultimately TD was in charge of hiring the coach, and the decision falls on him. But Ralph has a long history of not wanting to dish top-dollar to a coach, and has said so publicly several times. You can say TD let Fox and Lewis slip away, but it may have been the case that Ralph gave TD a salary range, and those two scoffed at their offer.

That's true, Seattle did not know up from down in that game. They beat a talented team with a solid coach in their house, which is supposedly a tough place to play. Similar to the game yesterday (with Miami being a tough place to play because of the heat, not the lame-ass crowd.) All of the Mularkey staff's cluster!@#$s after that game kinda clouded that one over for me. I think this Bills team will show up prepared and play hard every week, which (sad to say) is refreshing. I don't think you will see this team completely give up in tough situations on the road, like they did in San Diego last year. They may lose games due to a talent difference on the field, but I don't see the coaching costing them 7-10 points per game as it has in the past.

Great job this week by the staff. Jauron seemed to handle a potential mid-week scandal of 'cutting' Vincent and having his marquee player call out his decision. The team came in and looked as prepared as any Bills team I can remember. Even the playoff teams under Wade in the late-90's had to overcome some dubious coaching decisions. I love the straight shooting to the media, not hiding the fact that we would be starting two rookie safeties and playing five rooks on defense most of the time. It is true, they say, "Here's what we're going to do, beat us if you can." I love Fewell's gameplan with the d (getting pressure with the front four and not having to blitz makes a HUGE difference) and Fairchild had a simplistic approach which allowed JP to feel comfortable. I thought the play calls were indicative of the game situation. There was a point in the first half where they ran eight (!!!) straight times! And they went for a few big plays when they thought they had 'em. Special teams, like usual, kept the field position in the Bills' favor. The blocked punt was gravy. Overall, I feel great about the win and this staff. I love the Miami fans booing, I love the boy-genius Saban looking like he wants to cry, and I most of all love the confused, head-scratching look on Mularkey's face. Beautiful.