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And Cincy is pushing hard to keep TJ. Looks like Coles is going to be stuck with us. Also, reports are starting to suggest that he will make his decision sometime during the day tomorrow. Best I can tell, there's only one offer out there that he can be considering. I'm as pessimistic about our chances as the next lifetime fan, but I would say we are a better than 50-50 to get Coles on board. If we do that, we'll be a much better passing offense next year. No longer would defenses be able to key on Evans and take their chances.

This site is also reporting that the Bills have contacted KC about a possible trade for guard Brian Waters. I hope these reports are true, but this looks like a pretty good website.

Sorry, but we never could have gotten Cassel from NE for a 2nd Rounder. No way they would have traded him within the division for such a cheap cost.

Also, while I like this signing, wasn't the biggest complaint about Fowler that he wasn't big enough to handle the massive NTs we face in the division? If that's true, Hangartner isn't much of an upgrade in terms of size. Fowler was 6'3" and 310. Hangartner is listed at 6'5" 301. I realize that leverage means a lot on the line of scrimmage in terms of size, but he's basically the same build as Fowler. Does anyone else see this as a problem? Either way, I think Buffalo must still get another OL in FA, and certainly should draft a G or C in the third round as this class is pretty deep for OL.

Simmons seems like a real possibility. Apparently the Bills put him through a physical to test the achilles that he ruptured last year and he passed with flying colors. I think the Bills could sign him in the next day or two, as there are no reports that he is supposed to be heading anywhere else. As for Coles, I think he's going to land in Miami, unfortunately, unless Buffalo can offer him a significantly better deal than he'll get from the Dolfags. Pennington and he are supposed to be pretty good friends, and even though Pennington said he's not trying to pressure Coles into anything, we all know they wouldn't mind having another weapon opposite Ginn down in Miami. If Buffalo wants Coles they better make a move in the next 24 hrs before Parcells has a chance to make him an offer.

Not to be technical, but didn't the Bills make it clear that they were going to play him at center? That seemed to be the pretty clear message from OBD and on all the major reporting notes that came out on the trade.

I think this is interesting, but really unlikely, and in some circumstances, I would say questionable. First, Buffalo should not be trading Peters. By the end of the season he was playing very solid football, and finding LTs who can really play is no easy task. I could see Buffalo trading him IF and ONLY IF they could get Jordan Gross signed from Carolina. That being said, I don't see that happening. The best move for the O-Line would be if Buffalo decided to try and draft Alex Mack C from Cal in the first round. I could see Buffalo taking a DE at #11, then trying to get back into the later first round and trying to grab Mack at #22 or #23. Leave Kellen Winslow in Cleveland. The guy is never healthy and is an accident magnet. He'll never live up to his potential and will require and ungodly sum of money to sign. No thanks. Let him be a problem child for someone else. Buffalo can find another FA TE who would be better than Winslow, though it is a bit early to speculate on exactly who will be hitting the market. Last I checked, the Chiefs hadn't resigned Gonzalez and Buffalo had been interested during the season, so we'll see what they decided to do. Gonzalez would be a much better option. I like the idea of going after Canty from Dallas and/or Tank Johnson to shore up the O-Line. Those were the two guys I was looking at as well, considering their production for their present teams, and frankly, I think that Canty's size as is, is exactly what we're looking for. He wasn't exactly slow in Dallas. I still think that Buffalo also needs to draft a DE at #11, seeing as how Chris Ellis didn't show much of anything in the moments he played during the season.

There are going to be a number of pretty decent FA TEs on the market, including, I believe Gonzalez from KC. You know, that guy everyone thought we should have gotten in the middle of the season. Either way, the TE situation can be addressed in FA. Buffalo needs to address the problems on the offensive line (both really, but this was an offensive oriented thread). Alex Mack would be a great draft choice, and is considered one of the best center prospects to emerge in several years. He would be an immediate upgrade, allowing us to give Melvin Fowler the boot and move Preston to back up guard. Buffalo would likely have to take Mack with the 11th pick, because after Buffalo picks there will be a number of teams that are looking for big upgrades at the C position as well. That being said, Buffalo needs to draft at least one pass rusher in either the first or second rounds, so we'll see what they do. The lines are the top need this year on both sides of the ball. I think there can be little dispute about that.

Yes. We make the playoffs. We will go 10-6, losing only one more game. I think we win all of our remaining Division games, including at NYJ.

The guy has started 18 games. Sorry, but this is basically the second game of his second season. You can say people are rationalizing all you want, but 18 games ain't much. The fact is, you are the same type of folks on this board who change opinions about QBs the same way the winds change direction during a lake effect snow fall. When Trent had this team 5-1 and had a 10-5 record as a starter, nobody had anything bad to say. Now, we lose a few games and he's worse than Joey Harrington. Some folks need to get a grip. As for Matt Ryan and Flacco, the Falcons play in perhaps the second worse division in football and have lost to some ify teams as well. As for Flacco, the Ravens are winning with Defense, the same way they always have. Both Ryan and Flacco have played well so far, but I don't think that either has played exponentially better or worse than TE. Every QB has rough patches. Certainly I can remember when Kelly had stretches of poor play. The key is, whether or not the QB in question comes back from those. Trent seems to. He certainly looked much more confident today. So, before we all jump off the cliff and start crying for a 1st round QB, try to keep some perspective. No one is saying that Trent hasn't made mistakes or played poorly. He has looked pretty bad the last couple of weeks. That being said, my point remains accurate. Screaming for the benching of a very young QB before he has really had time to get all the mistakes and kinks out, is ludicrous. Benching Trent would have been the worst thing that they could have done. When players are starting to struggle, that's when they need to play the most at the QB position. They need to have opportunities to get their confidence back. Yanking the chain on a young QB when they start to struggle is the worst thing you can do for a QB's confidence. Trent will get better and I think we will finish 10-6 or maybe 11-5, but only if the team sticks with the type of gameplan they had today. We didn't get blown out by any of our AFCE opponents and could have won two of those games that we lost. Have a little confidence in Trent. He's good and I think his mistake-prone days for this season are over.

I hate to rain on your already apparently drenched parade, but the Bills are not out of it by any stretch. We play everyone in our division and have two games remaining against weak non-AFCE opponents in SF and Denver. If Buffalo wins four of their last five, or all of them, we make the playoffs. If we beat the Jets, and they slip one other place, which is possible considering their remaining schedule, we could still actually win the division, if not make a wild card. Our positioning is much better than it has been the last couple of seasons going into the final few weeks of the season. I'm not expecting us to win all those games, but we are far from finished. Still, the team that showed up today is the one that is going to have to stick around if we are going to make a run.

I would guess that we get Schobel back next week so that he can get back into the swing of things before that stretch of AFC East games that are truly critical to our success. Buffalo must win all three of those games if we are to have any chance to get in and and we have to beat the 49ers next week. If we can do that, and go 10-6 or 11-5, we should make it in. That being said, I think the toughest two games are at Denver and at NYJ. One or both of those games are likely to be flexed to Sunday Night, so Buffalo is going to have to be on their game. Here's to hoping. As for Whitner, he'll be back for the Miami game, no sooner.

Anyone who thought that Trent wasn't going to have a stretch of bad games this season must have thought that he wasn't still basically a rookie QB. Every Rookie struggles. If the Giants had done to Eli what many here have been clamoring for with Trent, that is, tossing him out on the street, where would they be now? Certainly not a SB winning team. It takes some time for a QB to really get under control in the NFL and TE is going through that rough patch. We needed this one and we need next week as well. Put us at 7-5 with three games left in the Division and we'll see how things turn out. Cut Trent a little slack. He's still better than the alternative, and better than many of the QBs out there.

Should this be confirmed, I would think this gives us a chance to dictate more with the running game and take some pressure off of TE. Let's just hope the O-Line can hold up this week and not allow Trent to get eaten alive in the Fourth Quarter again.

But...but... they have the "Wildcat" Offense.

Not exactly. I see those as the positions where we have the most need in the draft, and assuming that the talent pool and quality of player is there, I would like to see them draft this way. But what I would like to see them do and what they will be able to do on draft day are two totally different things. Frankly, I've been very pleased with the talent the FO has gotten during the last two drafts and I am pretty confident they will do an outstanding job again this year.

Buffalo's D will have a solid challenge keeping their "Wildcat" offense at bay, but we're up for the challenge. Solid pressure and good play at the LB position will keep Ronnie Brown from breaking any big plays, and I see a three or four sack game against Pennington. Miami needs a lot of trick plays to win football games. Buffalo will be ready, and with a solid effort on offense, we should be able to handle the limited plays Miami can throw at us. At least we don't have to worry about Pennington beating us with the deep ball.

He's reported as practicing Friday on ESPN and as questionable for the game tomorrow. Frankly, I don't care either way. Preston is likely to start at Center and he handled a fully healthy top-5 DT last week. If Ferguson plays, he won't be 100% and the Bills line looks like it is finally clicking. Either way, I don't see the Dolfags getting to TE more than once, if at all tomorrow. Another side note, the gametime temp is supposed to be pretty reasonable and the humidity is supposed to be pretty low, so the normal advantages for the home team down there aren't applicable on the weather front. All in all, I expect a good game from our bunch. The key, not getting burned by any trick plays.

I agree that Center needs to be the top priority. We need to sign a solid center and get rid of Fowler. He is serviceable, but just doesn't get the job done. We also do need improved depth on the OL at the G position. DE is also a position of need, though I would like to see what Chris Ellis can do before we start spending first rounders on DE. You forgot about Ko Simpson at the Safety position and he has played well back there, though far from perfect. He has been injured, which is why Scott was primarily in the lineup last week. QB is the last position we need to draft. We can sign an FA. Buffalo has needs, but most of them are no longer at skill positions. I think the Bills should draft as follows. 1. C 2. TE 3. DE 4. LB 5. OL 6. LB 7. DL If Buffalo can add some picks to the lineup, we should concentrate on building up the LBs and the OL and DL with solid depth.

Looks like the same bologna you were spouting here with some incorrect facts backing it up. The fact is the TOP battle killed us last season and that was the making of the problems in the second half against the Cardinals. Edwards manages the game a lot better than JP and keeps the offense moving and the Defense off the field. Whether you want to admit it or not, a well rested defense plays better and makes more plays over the course of the game than a tired and worn out D. The difference is clear and the QB who is out there makes a difference. One clearly knows the game of football and knows how to manage the offense, the other, even after four seasons, still doesn't get it.

When the time of possession is 35:29 to 24:31, for the Bills because we have a solid QB running the offense and not making mistakes, that does in fact make a difference for the defense. A well rested defense is a defense that plays better. Perhaps that is why the defense does in fact play better when Trent is in there. You make statements that the d playing better when Edwards plays is a fallacy, but you don't back it up with any proof or evidence to show why. That's because anyone who can competently look at a team in the NFL knows that Defenses play better when their offense can control the clock and keep them off the field. Perhaps that fact slipped your mind. The only game where we didn't win the TOP battle this season, was the one we lost. That's not a coincidence. Keep in mind that our TOP last year was one of the worst in the league.

Sat in 143 just below the Rockpile and the atmosphere was electric. The Fans were in it the whole game, and in some ways not having the power on was a bit fun. It was like watching old time football. The crowd was great, and the crowd cheering during the blackouts was pretty intense. Those were some of the loudest moments in the whole game.

Back at you.

I completely agree, though I might be willing to give up a second rounder if that were required. We likely would use that pick on a TE next year anyway, as that is clearly a position of need. Better to get a proven commodity with three or four years left than worry about grooming a new young unproven player.

And to think I used to enjoy reading your posts. That being said, you would have been just as happy had Phil Rivers been out during one of those seasons where we were regularly kicking your butts in football. As for the "does just about everything better," there's room to disagree on that as well. All that being the case, at least we can agree that the Bills are looking better this year. Maybe we can win a championship that both of us can be happy about.