Orton's Arm

Some lines are better at run-blocking, while others are better at pass protection. Forget reading the defense, Philly's line gives McNabb time to read War and Peace.

Terrell Owens would take him in place of Donovan McNabb.

Agreed about the oline and TE. Holcomb has played beyond expectations though. His 92 QB rating is hard to achieve in general, but especially when you're playing behind that kind of line, and when your receivers drop too many passes.

Even if Anderson is the road grader you make him out to be, his missed block caused that fumble, which basically cost the Bills the game. Hopefully he will improve as he learns the system.

You hit the nail on the head.

I don't like the idea of Jason Peters at RT because you want your offensive linemen to be smart. While Peters has abundant physical talent, the I.Q. just isn't there. Nor am I crazy about the idea of moving Mike Williams over to LT. The man is a prototypical RT: very big and powerful, but less than ideal for stopping edge rushers. Geisinger may be a solution at offensive guard, at least according to LaDairis's convincing posts in this thread: http://www.stadiumwall.com/index.php?showt...35entry494235 The Bills shouldn't be afraid to franchise and trade Clements to get an extra pick or two. They should really focus hard on improving both the offensive and defensive lines during the draft. No, this doesn't mean that I want TD to use a 2nd round pick on another white, high motor DE.

Excellent post. It's nice for the NFL to get a break from the Pats' domination.

LaDairis's descriptions of Geisinger are quite encouraging. I'd like to see him get some playing time to see how he handles the transition to guard. Not that Anderson has done anything to get himself benched.

I voted for the 5-3 record. The Falcons and Saints games were close enough that a good QB could have made the difference between winning and losing. The Tampa game was more one-sided. On the other hand, the Bills offensive line and running game were no more dominated in Tampa than in Oakland. Yet in Oakland the Bills' offense, with Holcomb at QB, was able to put up 17 points. It makes you wonder, but I still think the Bills would have lost in Tampa even with Holcomb.

Please, don't bring up a QB's individual level of performance (as measured by QB rating). Hold him accountable for things outside his control, like whether the defense all but ensures a loss by giving up 38 points to Oakland. Tom Brady's career passer rating is the 6th best ever, at 88.1: http://profootballhof.com/history/release....release_id=1264 But don't worry. I'm sure there's no connection between his high QB rating and those Super Bowl wins. It's just a coincidence.

I read an article about Carson Palmer and his work with the scout team. During his rookie year, he earned the respect of his teammates by gradually learning to do an incredible job with the scout team. He still had his first-year starter struggles, but ultimately his good performance with the scout team carried over to game day. If Losman can't consistently complete a simple pass to a player like Moulds in practice, the Bills can safely assume he won't be able to do it on a consistent basis when playing for keeps. The Bills need to evaluate Losman by how well he does in practice, while also seeing whether Holcomb can maintain the gaudy QB rating he's achieved so far this year.

Let's take a closer look at the two losses. The defense gave up 38 points, so it's less than clear to me why they bothered making such a long plane trip. The same could be said about the offensive line. McGahee produced little. That wasn't his fault so much as it was the fault of the line, and the result of the playcalling. On a team with no defense, no line, and no running game, it doesn't matter much who your QB is. Even if you found a QB who combined the toughness of Johnny Unitas, the accuracy and touch of Joe Montana, the mobility of Michael Vick, and the arm strength of Terry Bradshaw and plugged him in as your QB, that Oakland game would still be a loss. Holcomb had a solid overall performance in the New Bruschi (We're not worthy!) game. His numbers, while good, would have been even better had it not been for drops by players like Josh Reed, the pass interference penalty against Moulds, and other penalties and mistakes. Holcomb alone threw for more yards than that against the Patriots. No mention of the offensive lineman whose ole block allowed the blindside rusher to arrive so quickly? If plays like that are the fault of the offensive skill position player rather than the offensive lineman, maybe TD should draft more offensive skill position players, and fewer offensive linemen. Oh wait . . . nevermind. You are good at ignoring things which don't support your point of view. Holcomb is currently the 7th rated passer for 2005. Not bad for a guy who is in his first year in the Mularkey/Clements offense, who didn't get the snaps in training camp, and who hasn't had much chance to develop chemistry with his receivers. Aren't you at least curious about whether he can continue this level of performance?

I say keep JP off the field until he starts to exhibit the same kind of dominance in practice that Carson Palmer showed his rookie year. When (or if) he's mastered practice, it will then be time to throw him to the wolves. If Losman isn't practicing well by the end of the year, and if the Bills aren't sold on Holcomb, TD might want to take a long, hard look at the QBs available in the first round of this upcoming draft. If there's a way to get out of using yet another first round pick on a QB of the future, I'm all for it. That's why I'm eager for Holcomb to be given a chance. Losman gets his chance too: if he looks dominant in practice in the second half of this season, the Bills should give him next year to prove himself.

In other words, the two wins were the result of the players and coaching staff coming together and doing things right. The two losses were all Holcomb's fault, because everyone else played perfectly.

Of his 13 pre-Buffalo starts, two were 400 yard performances. His QB rating while with the Bills is 92.0, good for 7th in the league. With numbers like those, your implication that he embarrassed himself every time he touched the ball is . . . difficult to take seriously.

Angelo Crowell. We've heard for years how great he was. Now that he has his chance, he's doing nothing to live up to the hype.

In other words, he does put zip on some of his passes. Which means he's capable of putting zip on a pass. I can only speak for myself, but when I'm throwing the football around with people, it's easier for me to catch a soft, touch pass than a bullet. You don't always want your QB to try to take the WR's fingers off with every throw.

Very good article. I agree we'd be much better off with Tucker at LG than Anderson.

The same professionals that let Kurt Warner bag groceries before going on to win Super Bowl MVP honors? The same professionals that let Montana slip to the third round, and Brady to round 6? The same professionals who banished Flutie to the CFL for most of his career? I'm not saying these professionals are wrong all or even most of the time. But clearly they are wrong some of the time. Were they wrong about Holcomb? Let the man play, and we will find out.

That's not something you'll continue to hear if Sam Adams enters the FA market! You could use many phrases to describe that man, but "paper thin" isn't one of them!

Maybe your possession WR needs to at least be 4'5", but if you can find an exciting player with breakaway speed, you can draft a guy who's a little shorter.

I noticed both this statement, and the caption under your avatar. Interesting . . .

Considering Holcomb just broke the 200 yard barrier by getting about 260 against New England on the road, he's obviously doing something right. I remember a few years back, I kept hearing that Peyton Manning was the more polished QB, but Ryan Leaf had more "upside" because of his stronger arm. It's easy to place too much emphasis on arm strength.

I'm skeptical of Peters as a LT. Yes, he's got the size and the athleticism. But you want your offensive linemen to be smart, which Peters is not.

Well, I'm a litttle skeptical of draft guides. Dwight Freeny was considered a reach, while Erik Flowers was considered a reasonable pick. But assuming the draft guides are right about the players you mention--which they may well be--it would be very, very hard to pass up a guy in the same class as Ogden.