Albany,n.y.

The difference between those 2 teams and the Colts is that those 2 teams had the HOF QB come in to play, while the HOF QB on the Colts is the one who is out.

Here it is. He was already going blind when it was filmed.

WGR is really ripping him. Schopp is saying he needs to get a brain in his head.

See New England v Buffalo. For years the Patriots have been the safest suicide pick when playing the Bills. NE: 15 for the last 15 when favored vs Buffalo. I may be a Bills fan, but looking ahead to week 3, anyone who eschews NE because they don't want to bet against the Bills in a week that so far looks very dangerous trying to pick any other game, is not playing to win the pool. In 2001 I won a suicide pool by picking the 49ers to beat the Bills on a Sunday night. There were a couple of upsets in the afternoon & I was the last man standing going into Sunday night. SF won 35-0. There's no room for sentimentality when money is on the line.

In my pool, $10 not $10k, I took Houston to beat the No-Manning Colts. They beat them opening day @ Houston last year with Manning. Other teams I considered: New England-but they always seem to play their worst on opening day (Remember a McKelvin fumble away from losing to Trent Edwards & the Bills 2 years ago and that 31-0 opener in 2003)and they're on the road in Miami where they've been upset before. Arizona-Carolina starts a rookie QB behind an O-line that is picking up opening day starters off the street a week before the game. Tennessee-playing against Jacksonville, who just fired their QB in a cost cutting move and will be using a stopgap at QB until the rookie who will be finishing the season as the starter is ready. Detroit-They're going to surprise a lot of people this year, starting with Tampa Bay & their fans.

It only takes 1 that scouted him in college and has a roster spot open when someone gets hurt in week 1.

Polian thought he had Martin Mayhew stashed away when Washington signed him on Plan B & Sam Wyche had a verbal commitment from Christie when he signed with the Bills about 1 minute after he was eligible to leave Tampa Bay. The bottom line is unless you have a player under contract to the 53 man roster, you never know when someone is going to swoop in and sign him. Whatever the Bills saw when they drafted him, 31 other teams saw the same thing. Playing him out of position in preseason was stupid and accomplished nothing.

You're really going to hate it this year. Here are my calculations based on competition with the Jets, Giants & Patriots: 9/11 @Kansas City: Yes! No competition 9/18 Oakland: No, Jets will be televised 9/25 New England: No, Ch 6 has 1 game & they'll take the Jets @4:05 10/2 @ Cincinnati: Yes! No competition 10/9 Philadelphia: No, Giants will be televised 10/16@Giants: Yes! 10/30 Washington (Toronto): Yes! No competition 11/6 Jets: Yes! 11/13 @Dallas: Yes! No competition 11/20 @Miami: Yes! No competition 11/27 @ Jets: Yes! 12/4 Tenessee: No, Jets will be televised 12/11 @ San Diego: Yes! No competition 12/18 @ Miami: Yes! No competition 12/24 Denver: Maybe, only competition is NE/Mia 1/1 @ New England: No, Jets will be televised It looks like we'll get 10 or 11 games on home TV. Better yet, if you go to the home games like I do, the only sure road game that won't be on home TV is the last game @ NE. Obviously this is subject to change due to any flexing off of night games by the competition

My point is, as a practice squad player the Bills have no guarantee that they can elevate him because he has the final say, not the Bills (see Brian Brohm chooses Buffalo over GB). Why would you play games with a player's development by playing him out of position in preseason just to save a roster spot when you have as much risk of losing him today as you had the second you put him on waivers? The whole idea of doing this clandestine stuff is absurd because as long as he's on the practice squad he can up & leave any time he wants to & Buddy can't do a thing about it.

They could have just played him at OT in preseason & kept him on the 53 man roster. Since they no longer have the right of first refusal if another team wants to sign him off the practice squad, what did they gain other than avoiding him from getting valuable O-line experience if they think he's got a future? Was having some other bum as the 53rd player worth it if he really has potential? What's to stop another team from listening to Buddy's comments & signing the guy off the practice squad. Sometimes these football guys need to stop thinking every roster spot is some covert plot they have to pull off and just keep the best 53.

OK just for fun, what he's really thinking:

Per ESPN

I don't know where it happened since I took the schedule, circled a winner for each game & then put a line for each win and each loss on a sheet of paper. I did this for all 32 teams. I guess I should have spreadsheeted it to prevent errors, but I'm old.

At the same time

Driving home from the Houston game, I handed the Thruway ticket to the guy in the toll booth in Albany & said "We just saw the greatest game in NFL history." I vote for the Houston game.

I hate to do it, but the fat blowhard wins the Super Bowl. For the regular season, I went game to game & added it up. I had the Bills 4 wins as Kansas City, Oakland, Cincinnati & Miami at home. So I have us 3-1 before the season crumbles. AFC East NY Jets 11-5 New England 10-6 Miami 5-11 Buffalo 4-12 West San Diego 9-7 Oakland 8-8 Denver 8-8 Kansas City 5-11 North Pittsburgh 14-2 Baltimore 10-6 Cleveland 9-7 Cincinnati 4-12 South Tennessee 9-7 Houston 8-8 Indianapolis 7-9 Jacksonville 4-12 NFC East Philadelphia 12-4 Dallas 10-6 NY Giants 9-7 Washington 5-11 West St. Louis 7-9 Arizona 6-10 Seattle 6-10 San Francisco 5-11 North Green Bay 12-4 Detroit 11-5 Minnesota 8-8 Chicago 5-11 South Atlanta 13-3 New Orleans 10-6 Tampa Bay 9-7 Carolina 4-12 Playoffs Week 1-Wild Card NFC: New Orleans over St. Louis; Green Bay over Detroit AFC: New England over Tennessee; San Diego over Baltimore Week 2-Divisional NFC: Atlanta over New Orleans; Green Bay over Philadelphia AFC: Pittsburgh over New England; New York Jets over San Diego Week 3-Championship NFC: Atlanta over Green Bay AFC: New York Jets over Pittsburgh Super Bow; XLVI: New York Jets over Atlanta

He can't wait to face the Bills when they play the Jets-In the parking lot when the Bills bus is unloading at MetLife Stadium. Have a good tailgate Aaron.

They'll probably sign some young offensive linemen who they feel they can develop & for now will provide depth. Think guys like Urbik & Reinhart and not some broken down veterans well past their prime.

How can TOPS let this happen? Lost another one to Wegman's.

Steve Jobs has a disease. :wallbash: :wallbash: :wallbash: :wallbash:

There's no chance Thigpen gets cut & Brown stays. None at all. Gailey isn't cutting a guy he brought in as an experienced backup, who he coached before, over a guy he didn't even want on the practice squad last year. Do you really think if there was any real competition that Gailey would have played Brown more in preseason instead of just going through the motions with this guy before his eventual release? You do understand that we see only a small fraction in the exhibition games of what the coaches see every day. We don't see these guys in practice. It's obvious that Gailey prefers Thigpen over Brown by the amount of playing time each has received in preseason. Gailey has seen enough of Thigpen & Brown behind closed doors to make his decision and he has already chosen Thigpen. Brown's mop up duty at the end of yesterday's game will not change his mind. Gailey said guys could lose jobs in the 2nd half, more than win them. Brown has never been in position to beat out Thigpen & couldn't win a job yesterday. What is interesting about yesterday's game involved the other team. Detroit has 4 QBs and the odd man out will get picked up by someone. If Gailey really likes what he saw in the odd man out, that guy could replace Thigpen if Chan is unhappy. But Levi Brown, NO. Odds are another team, not the Bills, will pick up the guy cut by Detroit.

Stands are empty

The way Gailey was talking, Eddins is going to make the team. There's no way they would rave about a player & then try to sneak him onto the practice squad. At least, a competent organization wouldn't do this. If they try, they're going to lose him on waivers.

Just to prove the point, the Bills are going to re-sign Parrish, stop payment on his signing bonus, and cut him before the season starts.

They're definitely hurting. Down to 4 teams with Hartford suspending operation. That 2 year big money TV deal which was signed before the league played a game expired after last season. However, I think the only reason they planned on starting the season in August was to fill the lockout void and be the only game going. Once the lockout ended, the undrafted free agents had a place to go & it was easier for the UFL to do their standard start, waiting for NFL cuts to beef up their rosters.