hootie1

You ask if the D was better with Ellison. I wonder if it is not Ellison that made the difference, but rather that Spikes return forced Crowell back to the other side, leaving both outside LB's playing positions that are newish to them. If this is so, tincture of time should help- in fact, as I said before, I think they looked better this game than against Detroit- while still clearly not being good enough!

As Greg and Dan said during the game, the BIlls actually did a lot of good things against NE- they just negated all the good with a few plays that were incredibly bad. But the good was there, and I think I'm going to try and cheer myself up by thinking that... 1.) The run defense was much stiffer than week one (OK, so they lost it in the red zone a couple times...) 2.) The pass defense got pressure on Brady (Ok, there were a few breakdowns in coverage, but hey, we're not thinking about that!) 3.) JP had a good completion percentage and was generally more accurate than he was last year (after all, he hit Assante right on the numbers) 4.) The offensive line, to my eye, had a better game than against either Detroit or Chicago (At Villy's age, he really couldn't have done a better job on that block he missed) 5.) The tight end was involved in the passing game. (That catch of Royals was sweet- not even a but on this one!) If the bills could come out and do all of the above but with fewer stupid plays, they could look pretty darn good! Ok, now flame me!

It seems odd to me that with Tutan Reyes out, they used Merz instead of the more experienced Preston. Anyone know what's up with this? I am not awre of Preston being injured. Nor am I awre that Presotn sucked or something when filling in for Vilarial in past..

proper respect?

A good team should be able to beat another good team, and we've flunked at that (see NE and chicago). But a good team should also be able to take care of business and beat the teams it should beat (mixed results to date- see NY jets) as Chicago demonstrably did against us. No letdown there after their big win against Seattle. So yes, the BIlls have a chance to show me something this week against Detroit. But it won't be the same something they would have shown me by competing with the Bears.

A good coach should know his team, and I think this team has clearly shown that they are too young/immature/inexperienced to: 1) execute high stakes plays when the adrenaline is flowing. 2) avoid epic letdowns when the said high stakes play doesn't work.

You know, this is not just an issue with JP, but the whole team. I for one am fed up with the 4th quarter fades we saw too often last year and in NE this year. It had gotten to the point that you almost expected them to find a way to lose, whether through defensive collapse or offensive futility. Flash back to the old teams of the nineties. When they were behind in the 4th quarter, you honestly knew they were going to win. That's the way I want to feel about this year's team- I want to see the killer instinct and it goes way beyond JP.

I still hate Miami too. But I Must admit that the Patriots are closing fast. All the things folks cite as having caused the past hatred of the Dolphins are now in play with the Patsies- the run of losses, the quarterback we love to hate (Brady), and the linebacker you want to just go away (Bruschi). Throw in the referee's love fest for the Patsies, and a rivalry is made!

There seems to be this idea that if we go for it on 4th down, we teach our team to have the killer instinct, like the patsies, who made two of them. But part of me feels like this is asking your team to run before they can walk. For a team that has shown itself to be incapable of the knockdown punch, putting them at 4th and goal is setting them up to fail. why not take the figgie and give them a taste of modest success? On such baby steps, bigger things are built.

Some economist analyzed 3 years of NFL play to determine the stat below: " Romer's research reveals that teams going for it on fourth-and-short situations near the goal line are successful only 43 percent of the time — not exactly overwhelming evidence that coaches are making the wrong call." Particularly telling is Cowher's reaction to this statistic. “Three out of seven from fourth-and-1 or fourth-and-2 at the goal line?” Cowher said. “I don't look at those as very good odds. Momentum plays a very big part in football and when you fail in those situations ... you may put your team in a hole they can't overcome.”

I think we should sit him down and start A-train...

I live in Giants country (NJ) and the scoop from the NY Times prior to Giants pre-season game 1 was that Rob would not get his chance until the second pre=season game.

I would think that if he were less conditioned then those who reported on time, he might be at increased risk of injury.

Listen, buddy, as a female poster, I take exception to being called a whiner. Of course, I can't do anything about it...

I've been a BIlls fan all my life. In fact, at age 14, my first real date was also my first BIlls game. Gotta love a guy with season tickets! And I still consider the Comeback game to be the most exciting day of my life to date. Just don't tell my husband!

Yes, she is. and one of the photo collections (form Rockpile, I think) has a photo of a woman labeled as being Ralphs' daughter. Bet she was the one talking to Marv.

Thanks all.

Hi everyone, Since I have never seen (or participated in) a football practice, can someone please explain which positions are not participating when the team practices 7 on 7? I thought it might be everyone but the lines, though this would work out to 6 v 7, given there are 5 OL. Unless the center takes part? Can an experienced waller please fill me in? Thanks!

A friend of mine sat behind P. Price on a recent flight, and Price was talking on his cell phone prior to take off. Price was dissing Bledsoe and saying that his arm was shot...

So, to take this thread back to coaching, where it started, in today's interview, JP Losman noted that last years coaches were too easy on him. I've heard a lot of excuses for poor play, but this one takes the cake! An adult should be able to motivate themselves.

From Brown's blog- apparently he also sees the veiled crticism of Mularky in Vincent's remarks... "Troy Vincent was very animated in the interview I had with him for this story. In describing how effective Jauron has been in getting the team to buy into to his approach and work hard for him Vincent also hinted about how much different things were last year."

"The men have to respect the leader to perform for him," said Vincent. "If you don't respect the leader you can't get it done. You could say it doesn't matter, but it does. I know." Wonder who he is talking about here? Betcha it ain't Andy Reid...

Holcombs Arm gets a JP Losman tatoo...

What I wonder is how JP looked in camps last year. Did he look good last year on the practice field, then suck in live action? If so, then his good camp performance to date means little. However, if he struggled with reads and accuracy in camp last year, and that carried over to the field, I would be more encouraged about his improved camp performances so far this year... Anyone have any recollection of how JP performed in camp last year?

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2480830 This article says that Ben R is now in surgery and describes his condition as serious but stable. No info on the type of surgery...