MattM

What do you guys expect about the garbage calls--I predicted that last week. If it's close, the refs will find a way to give New England* the game. It's as simple as that. Something is really rotten in Denmark about that team.....

Have you forgotten who we're playing? Come on, we'll see plenty more of that garbage from the refs tonight, mark my words.....

Ask yourself a really simple question--does crap like this and the horrible officiating happen against anyone else on a regular and repeated basis? I'm not saying that Belicheat or the Pats* are behind this (who knows anything for sure), but when you start getting enough data points pointing in the same direction.....

? What game were you watching? He threw several directly to the Packers and several more that should have been picked, but weren't. That was a horrible outing by anyone's measurements....

Plus 1

Remember, too, that the Jets are doing this without either Ellis or Pace. Pretty impressive performance by both their D and also Sanchez, IMHO.....

Ask anyone besides Pats* fans, League-wide. Your team and its accomplishments are suspect by all, not just a minority of Bills fans. Don't kid yourself. Don't believe me--go ask on other team's boards and you'll find that most people think Belicheat and the Pats* are cheaters. Here's but one example for you of them being suspected of more than Spygate: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/11/sports/f...ting&st=cse I'm apparently not the only one who suspects them of more than they've been caught doing--looks like some folks who are in the NFL for a living do, too, as would anyone who's ever watched the officiating in their games.....

And all drafted by Polian--that's pretty impressive. I don't believe the Colts have a starter who has played for another team (I know that was the case a couple of years ago and I think it may still be true). That's just amazing, IMHO, in this day of FA.....

Fair enough, John, but notice something about the teams you quoted? All of them play in markets that are multiples of the size of WNY population-wise and many multiples when you figure in the level of disposable income. In fact, they're all in the top 10 in the US I believe (Philly is the one I'm not sure of, but suspect they're at least in the 8-10 range). The NFL is fast becoming an uneven playing field and you really can't expect the lower tier teams to compete year-in, year-out with the big boys in the major markets. Those competent people you talk about cost money, whether they be players or coaches or GMs. There's a competitive market for their services. In an increasingly unbalanced NFL, you can't expect the Bills to pay the same as other markets, it's as simple as that. People like to rip Ralph for "not spending what it takes to win", but I don't think they quite understand the economics of the situation. It's only going to get worse in the future, since the large market teams were basically the ones who chose Goodell and they're the ones he's going to listen to in terms of crafting the next League-wide CBA, if there is any. As you may have noticed, jackasses like Jerry Jones, Danny Boy Snyder and Bob Kraft don't exactly like to share....

Uhh, no, actually, Matt Walsh himself had a whole bunch apparently at his home in Hawaii. Who knows how many the Pats* had? Goodell destroyed them all after all, right, so we'll never actually know. My favorite part of all of this was that Goodell made it initially sound like the taping only went back a year or two and only after Walsh came forward did the League state that the taping went way, way back. Makes you really wonder what else they're aware of. The guy is very smart, no question about that, but with the cheating he's been convicted (to use a loose legal term) of and the whole bunch more his organization is suspected of takes quite a bit of the bloom off the rose, IMHO.....

That was $78 million gross, IIRC, in total over 5 years or so. Not sure how much he has to pay Rogers for things like renting the stadium, but even so, he's probably clearing at least $8-10 million a year net off of that deal. Some folks may not like it, but regionalizing the team is the only way the Bills stay in the general area realistically, particularly after Ralph's passing. It's also the only realistic way for this team to compete in the soon to be MLBization of the NFL once Kraft, Snyder and Jones get their way with help from other owners like McNair and Lurie. WEO, didn't realize you were a Roch guy--we may have something in common after all. I grew up a Roch guy myself--great place to grow up.....

The G-Men were playing the Pats* second teamers, but that said, those second teamers did truly look awful. Patrick Chung, their top pick this year, got torched on two of those TDs.....

What I'm saying is simply that people here are crucifying our offense for not performing well during preseason. However, if you look at the defenses played, most of them are elite D's and not simply average D's. Many thanks to the poster above who did the research on this which bears out my original thought even more. The Pats* have, IMHO, an average D, particularly after losing Seymour. Beyond Wilfork, Warren (banged up this preseason), Thomas (a bit of a disappointment and 32 years old, but HGH is a helluva drug) and Mayo (overrated, but still a good player), I'm not really impressed by anyone else on that D. That said, they still have Belicheat as a coach, so they shouldn't be discounted too heavily. In years past it's almost as if the Pats* have had someone on our staff feeding them our game plan (which wouldn't shock me one bit if we find that to have actually had a mole sometime in future years considering what else those guys have done and been accused of). In terms of last year's games and not taking advantage of their DB's shouldn't we give our O a bit of a pass (pun intended) for the hurricane-force winds game?

That 2006 opener was also the game that the refs robbed us blind. If we get that same crew or another similar "Bob Kraft special", you can kiss this game goodbye before it starts.....

If we do beat your team on Monday night, do you promise never to come back?

In the immortal words of "Tonto", "What's the "we" stuff, kemosabe?"..... That aside, let's see, they had one possession against the Titans, moving the ball well until a bad throw by Edwards for a pick and then against Chicago, again they moved the ball well, but didn't get it in the end zone. That's the first team O, of course. They didn't play vs. Detroit and then got stoned against the Steelers and Pack. That about sums it up. Not great results, obviously--pretty crappy, really--but the sample size is also relatively small, in particular the sample size against more average D's, which is what I suspect the Pats* will have this year, particularly without Seymour. Good thing they have Brady/Moss to cover that up, but I still suspect that against better/elite teams that's not going to be enough this year to give them W's. If something should happen to any of Brady, Moss or Wilfork, that team is done, IMHO, and will be lucky to finish with 9 wins, but that's just me. I've been wrong about them before and may be again, we'll see.....

Especially on O. The Steelers and Titans D's just bashed each other last night--a great game, but a defensive game nonetheless. Those looked like two of the top D's in the League. Add in GB, who looked dominant in pre-season at least (enough that I took them in my fantasy league). Our O looked decent against more average D's like Chicago and Detroit. New England's talent level on D, particularly after the Seymour trade, is nowhere near that of the Titans or Steelers, IMHO, but they do have Belicheat as coach. Dare I say it, but Monday night may not be quite the blowout folks think. Not saying we win, but do think we'll show better than we did in August.....

Wouldn't they have had to guarantee his salary then? From the article it sounds like the game is to wait until after Week 1's games have been played because you don't have to guarantee salaries of anyone not on the team at that point. So if correct, and Walker was still on the team, the Bills would be on the hook for his salary even if they cut him if I'm following this correctly.....

I'd put the line at closer to 13-14, but that said, I think we all need to remember that there's a reason they play these games. The loss of Seymour takes their D down a few notches and our D is a better than average one, IMHO, especially if Maybin and Schobel can get some pressure. If Brady has an off night, or isn't fully recovered, then I think our D helps us keep this close and it's up to the to this point lifeless O to put some points up, ideally with some help from ST, where we do excel. That said, I can see why the spread is as high as it is easily. I'll just end by saying what I usually say before every Pats* game--I just don't want the refs to decide it. Too many times that team* seems to get a little "too lucky" in close games vis-a-vis largesse from the refs. They haven't needed it often against us in the past, but the times they have (the most recent being game 1 of the 2007 season when we got completely jobbed) they seem to get it.....

I think I read elsewhere that the personal matter is an operation on his daughter, so I hope she's alright. Kelsay gets ripped a lot on here (even by me on occasion), but let's keep things in perspective before people start ripping him for taking time off for something that might be a lot more important than football.....

Oh yeah, I forgot to add the obvious--this will weaken New England* this year mightily. Their secondary is suspect, half of their linebackers (if they stay 3-4) are "meh" and now they've gone from having perhaps the best D-line in football (behind maybe the G-Men and Stillers) to only an above average one. I suspect that above average O's may put up 30 points a game on these guys. A couple of breaks on D and ST in such a case and the Pats* will probably lose those games, even with Brady and Co. God help them if Fat Vince* were to ever get injured. Good teams would be putting 40 up on them is my guesstimate in such a case. Too bad we don't have the O to take advantage of this opportunity.....

Interesting move. While no one can predict the future and the future is when winners and losers from this trade will ultimately be determined, on balance I'd say this is a good move for the Pats*. They couldn't have afforded Wilfork and Seymour and the ton of other folks whose contracts expire after this season, including Mankins. Something like a third of their roster's contracts are up after 2009, IIRC (that number may change depending on whether 2009 is indeed uncapped and you get the 6 year rule for free agency, but even so they still had Fat Vince, Mankins and Seymour among others). This way they get something for the guy they were going to let walk. The saving grace is that (a) the Raiders may be a team on the rise, believe it or not, with youngsters like Russell, McFadden and Heyward-Bey on O and an always decent D and (b) the Pats* have pretty much sucked at the draft the last few years, even with Pioli and Dimitroff, both of whom are now gone. This week's cuts further confirmed that last part, as a number of former high to mid-level draft picks have been released or IR-ed (Crable and O'Connell, two 2008 third rounders come immediately to mind, as does Dave Thomas, who was also a 3 and who they got a bag of balls for this week). Still, it's hard for someone of Belicheat's stature to screw up the first round. All I can say is "GO RAIDERS!"......

The problem is that the big market owners (which also includes guys who bought recent expansion teams like the Texans and Browns since they paid such a high price for them) who think like Jones does (like Kraft, Snyder, Lurie, McNair, etc.) seem to have been the ones who chose Goodell and who have his ear. He knows where his bread is buttered and I strongly suspect who he'll side with here, to the detriment of teams like Buffalo, Jacksonville, Minnesota, New Orleans, etc.....

None did, but their second round pick Chung (who Pats* fans are talking up on their boards, or at least "were" talking up on their boards) looked pretty bad in coverage, getting burned for at least two of those TDs. Chung, as you may recall, was Byrd's secondary-mate at Oregon.....

After watching him get absolutely burned by Chris Cooley Friday night, I suspect he was told he'd be cut and given the chance to go out on his own terms before that. The Pats* are arseholes, but even they would probably give him that at least.....