Whites Bay

Oh, I hear you. Please, please, please, Jesus, get us to Saturday. Bring us the next level of inanity, but please deliver us from this one.

I agree. Graham's point was that the secondaries are pedestrian; nothing was mentioned about the pass rush. I don't think anyone's going to claim that Wilfork and Jenkins are pedestrian. My bone of contention relates more to the quality of the players in Buffalo's secondary, not the overall performance of the pass defense....which, frankly, sucks...because there IS no pass rush (to your point). Give the Bills a decent pass rush this year, and Buffalo will have a very STOUT pass defense. Because the Bills' secondary - the quality of the players manning those positions - is definitely NOT pedestrian. I maintain that Buffalo's secondary could be in the Top 5 in the league, certainly in the Top 10. To your point about Interior versus Exterior, I guess that's going to come down to Edwards' maturity. It takes some serious cojones to step up into the pocket when the world is collapsing around your ears. Assuming the interior of the line holds, I'm more comfortable if the Bills' tackles are middle-of-the-road....SO LONG AS Edwards has the confidence to snuggle up behind the guards and center. Not every quarterback is comfortable doing that. Either they lack the confidence in their linemen, or they're just not brave enough to hang in there, step up, and find shelter where shelter shouldn't logically exist.

Madden has an interesting take on "Who's Your Pick for the Super Bowl?". He always says that you have to pick the team that won it, until someone comes along and knocks them off. I'm not always one of Madden's biggest fans, but the logic does seem to hold in the early part of the season. If I use that logic, therefore, I'm picking the person that took the nickel spot coming out of camp last year. It's Yobouty's to lose. If that guy shows what he showed last summer, he'll be a lock for nickel. He simply played lights-out, and pushed everyone else aside. Cripes, there were discussions during last year's training camp where people were wondering if he was going to supplant Greer as the Number 2 sometime during the season. Then came the plantar fascitis. It depends on how he comes back from the surgery, but if he's back to where he was last August, you have to pick the guy who won the spot last year. And I'm sticking with it.

Tim Graham raises some good points in this article, and a lot of story angles to ponder. I have two minor disagreements: 1) "AFC East secondaries matching up with Drew Brees: The Saints' bombardier will go up against four generally pedestrian pass defenses. Each AFC East team will have at least one new starting cornerback this season and could have a new starting safety, too." Okay, Tim, you're technically correct in that the Bills' starting CBs were McGee and Greer in 2008, while this year they're likely to be McGee and McKelvin. But it's not as though McKelvin is a raw rookie, and didn't get plenty of playing time last year. The nickel will likely be Yobouty, whom many on this board were running out of town on a rail last year...only to watch him play his brains out in training camp to start at nickel. Whitner is solid, as is Scott. The only question is whether Byrd supplants Scott. My point? I don't consider the Bills to have a "generally pedestrian pass defense". I consider the Bills to have a generally pedestrian pass rush. I think you're going to be looking at one of the better secondaries in the entire league this season. 2) "The Bills' dynamic passing attack against NFC South secondaries: Teams can't double cover Lee Evans anymore; not with Terrell Owens on the opposite side of the field." Having just pumped up the home squad, let me temper the enthusiasm. Let's not go overboard. The Bills DON'T have a "dynamic passing attack" YET. As I've said 100 times already this off-season, it's going to come down to the interior of the offensive line. If that group holds, then, yes, the Bills COULD have a dynamic passing attack. I'm not ready to get my popcorn as I sit here in July. Maybe by October. I want to see it happen first. Overall, a good article. Having read Tim's Point #4 ("Brady against Carolina's pass rush), I'm bummed out that we won't see that matchup until Week 14. I'd like to see him face that action in Week 1, and put a little doubt in his mind.

This thread is a moot point. The Bills will scare the Pats* on MNF but lose. And my heart will be broken again. They will then go 3-0. Tampa? Get serious. New Orleans? Not so much on the road. Miami? Close, but the Wildcat isn't anyone's surprise anymore. Here's what will REALLY happen if the Bills go 1-3. This board will EAT ITSELF ALIVE. I plan NOT to be here when THAT happens. This place was intolerable last November. If I want suicidal tendencies, I can go to work every day. Sheesh. "But I Might Die Tonight" - Cat Stevens

You're dead-on with THAT comment. My brothers and I have twice had season tickets on the visitor's side, and it's AGGRESSIVE early in the season. Great for watching the "scenery", if you know what I mean. 92 degrees F has a way of forcing the layers off in a hurry.

Mine is not "expect to". Mine is "better have"... John McCargo, for both his sake, and for the sake of the Buffalo Bills. As for "his sake", this is it for his contract, or he's another JP Losman. As for "the sake of the Buffalo Bills", as for the interior of the D-Line, I'm not among the Kyle Williams love fest. The Bills need a real blue chipper alongside Stroud, or it's 16 weekends of pain.

Just starting. Your point is ceded, kind sir. The Antichrist was promoted from DC to HC, and he went 5-11 and was shown the gutter. I still have memories of His Pompousness being led to the sidelines after Kelly and Crew shredded them. But what's the point? Is the point the fact that a coach can go from DC to HC to Failure to Success, or is the point that a HC could go to DC (or OC) back to HC to Success? What counts in this league, other than Success? It must be the offseason. I see a lot of angels dancing on the heads of a lot of pins.

Ask Ocho Zero how it felt to be carried out on a stretcher......

Thanks, Lori and BillsVet. I'm not trying to be a "Richard" with these questions. I find it really helps when someone lays out the diagrams. Because of this, I find myself focusing more on positional players like a SS or WLB than simply watching the opposing ball carrier shredding through our line. I can then scream "You missed the gap, you inbred moron", and THEN throw something at the TV, rather than just being pissed off. "Why don't we get drunk and screw" - Jimmy Buffett

...and Belichick really sucked in Cleveland.... "Too Far Gone" - Todd Rundgren

Wow, SJBF!! Comparing Maybin to Kearse? I don't know one way or the other, but...wow. If we end up with as much as Son-Of-Kearse on the DL, I might start being an optimist about this bunch. Really? "Baby it's you" - The Shirelles

Responding in order to the last two posts: 1) Well, I believe that. Count me in your minority. 2) Per the post: "The SS position seems to be going the route of the FB. Teams need two safeties that can cover with the pass-happy offenses springing up all over the league. I would not be surprised to see both Whitner and Byrd on the field more frequently than some would imagine. A lot of the safety pairings has to do with opponents. Against the Jets, I could see Scott getting plenty of PT. Conversely, teams like NO, NE, and IND might mean more of Whitner/Byrd." Back to the "x" and "o" thing. Does that mean the Bills would be fielding (e.g.) 3 safeties and 2 CBs? Whitner, Byrd, and Scott in the box for the short pass? Is that what you're implying? "Crippled Inside" - John Lennon

I hear you. It's like my own personal Ground Hog Day. My guess is that we'll get to the "Whitner Sucks Dong-o" within the next five posts. Buffalo Blood, for what it's worth (not much, I guess), I just posted this identical piece about 10 days ago. The Whitner hate-fest ran for 4 days. Run while your legs will still carry you.

I agree with you regarding the castoffs and scrubs. I could Google it, but Tutan Reyes and Bennie Anderson come to mind. What a decade from hell. What did OBD do? They fired Donohoe, the architect of disaster. Mort may never forgive OBD, but it had to happen. As for the LT, the Peters saga is going to be one of the Bills' "Fish that got away" conundrums that will last for another couple of decades. Should OBD have kept a blue-chip LT, one of the most difficult positions to fill? Or should Peters have manned-up and started to play for the big contract KNOWING that OBD had a history of tearing up EXISTING contracts to award TEAM players? The knife cuts both ways, Spartacus. Either way, Peters is not here anymore, and howling about it is about as inane as the incessant "Should have drafted Ngata instead of Whitner" (I wanted Ngata. We got Whitner. The difference between me and the rest of the Ngata camp is that I've learned to let it go, because I can't do a fuggin' thing about it). What did OBD do? They moved Walker from RT to LT. I'm not thrilled about it, but Walker DID perform admirably against Seattle last year. I don't think I started exhaling until the middle of the second quarter, but Edwards looked like he had plenty of time. Am I ready to annoint Walker to Canton? Hell no. I can't wait until OBD gets his replacement. But to simply throw one's hands up and scream "We're doooooommmmeeeddd".....just not in my personality. Maybe yours, I guess. As for the amount of $$ they would have to spend on a new LT, my GUESS - and it's only a guess, is that the Bills are going to go 8-8. 9-7 at BEST. At 8-8. they'll be picking somewhere around 15 or 16, meaning they're going to get the 2nd- or 3rd-best LT still on the board. Will that person be as good as Peters in the year that he departerd? That's debatable. Peters was an underperforming oaf last year, and he knew it. Will the new person be as good as Peters was WHEN THE BILLS SIGNED HIM AS A FUGGIN' UDFA TE FROM ARKANSAS?????? My GUESS, and it's only a guess, is that the Bills will be getting a better LT with that #16 pick than either Peters was for his first 2 years, or than Walker is today. The odds are exceedingly high that they are able to sign this person for a LOT LOT less than they would have had to spend to sign Peters. My GUESS, and it's only a guess, is that they had a healthy, chunky offer on the table for Peters, but he didn't take it. My GUESS, and it's only a guess, is that they'll be able to sign their 16th overall LT to considerably less than that which they would have paid Peters. But I'm just playing the odds here. Easy for you and me to B word about player signings, but we don't write the checks. As for replacing every scout and talent evaluator on the payroll, that might be a BIT drastic. What did OBD do? Didn't they just bring in Buddy Nix? I think Buddy Nix was the guy who found Travis Henry. I don't care about Travis Henry's personal issues. He was a damn good ball player. Glad I don't have his life at the moment. The point is that the FO, believe it or not, IS making changes. I don't want to sound like an employee of the FO - trust me, they'd fire my sorry ass within a week of showing up there - but.......God, Spartacus, do you ever have a good day? "Headhunter" - Herbie Hancock

Keep things straight. Men are not here for procreation. They're here for recreation. Procreation will follow recreation nine times out of ten of its own accord, so you may as well enjoy it while you can. Mortgages and beagles come soon enough.

Question, Mickey, and I have no straw-man argument here. Is it better to build the line from the Inside-Out, or from the Outside-In? I realize this discussion could go a few directions, and believe me, I have no answers. But my question seems to go to the heart of your point. The Bills seem to have watched the way the pocket collapsed over-and-over-and-over since 2007 and had friggin' had enough of it, so they drafted two arguably Blue-Chip guards, and signed a very intelligent center whom most of the posters on this board seem to believe will be an upgrade over Fowler. They've chosen the "Inside-Out" route. Naively speaking, the last time the Bills tried to rebuild from the Outside-In in a BIG way (big pick in the draft - clearly a "statement" move) was Mike Williams. Maybe people in the front office are still schit-scared from that disaster. Or maybe they think that what they have (Walker at LT) is serviceable enough to get them through the season, keep their jobs, and pluck one of the top LTs in next year's draft. Provide your evidence. Inside-Out, or Outside-In. Or just B word.

I'm missing the point as well. Because I've been on one-too-many of those buses that carry you from the remotely-parked plane to the terminal after having traveled all night to Europe. Me, with 90 of my closest friends, 20 hours since everyday bathing. It ain't workin', yadig? The only flocking the women are doing is racing towards the barf bags.

Easy now, cowboy. Let's not grind him into dirt today. Perhaps tomorrow, but not today. I must say I say I'm in the same camp vis-a-vis the front four. My "Must-make-it-happen-NOW" player in 2009 is McCargo. I'm VERY nervous about the Bills' push up the middle, and I've BEEN very nervous about the Bills' push up the middle since the Williams/Washington days. I can't believe the Bills have pulled all they can pull from Kyle Williams over the years, but....SHEESH! The guy's a 5th rounder DT! Come On! I'm grateful for every down he plays, but I live with nightmares of 3rd-and-5 and 3rd-and-7 being converted over and over and over ad nauseum. Nail the new poster if you must - we've all been there. But it doesn't take away from the fact that the center of the D-Line is NOT Pro-Bowl calibre. I wanted Wendell Bryant. Call it desperation. Fine. But until the Bills can stop the fuggin' Pats* in the fourth quarter when they start inhaling the clock like my Hoover sucks up dog hair on the carpet, get used to blaming DJ, the FO, and the antichrist. Except the culprit is going to be the D-Line.

I'm a dope. I don't understand your "Dime" thing. 3 DLs, 3 LBs, 4 CBs, 2 S = 12 players on the field. Or did you mean.....urghh, I don't know. I'm sorry. You're right about the activation on game days though. That raises another point. If a team is going against the Bills, one would think that teams would have to juggle their respective rosters, wouldn't they? I mean, I suppose they do anyway, but that adds another wrinkle.

Thanks for playing. What else? I'm not trying to be a dick. I want to know what I'm watching on Monday Night Football other than "They're going to pressure the QB and create mismatches". I know they're going to pressure the QB and create mismatches. That's why they're paid a LOT more than I'm paid. That's why they suit up, and why I'm in a hotel room posting on a web board.

I'll start by saying that I'm not an "X and O" geek. I've learned a lot about football from this board (as well as how to better deal with children, but that's another post), so rather than to spend time on Football 101 and read THAT idiot's ideas, I thought I'd look for ideas from OTHER idiots. Here's a question that's been kicking around the three or four functioning synapses in my brain. Defending against Evans has been, well, fairly easy. Roll another safety over that direction, and you've eliminated 75% of the deep threat the Bills could muster. (Probably closer to 100%). OBD has now added Owens to the other side. I personally don't care WHICH one of them is the Number 1 receiver! The Bills now have two legitimate threats on the outside who can out run almost...well....no...let's say "anyone" in the league. I understand the Pats* trolls on this board will posture accordingly, but in their respective hearts-of-hearts, they must know that this is going to be a problem. How does the opponent defend against a combination like that? 1) Does the opponent double-cover both outside WRs? Do that and Fred Jackson, Josh Reed and/or Roscoe Parrish in the middle are singled up on a LB. THAT would be hell, particularly if Edwards drops the ball behind the LB. To repeat, THAT would be hell. 2) Will the Bills be seeing more Nickel? That would be the obvious choice. Since all the AFC East opponents are 3-4 teams, however, doesn't that leave them with 3 DL, 3 LB, 2 CB, 3 S? Fairly easy on which to run? 3) Will the Bills be seeing a predominance of Dime? Once again, in a 3-4 formation, wouldn't the Bills be seeing 3 DL, 2 LB, 2 CB, 4S? If this is the case, don't we have to ask how many teams are actually CARRYING that many DBs? (And, before you start, I don't fuggin' want to hear about Jauron having so many goddamn DBs, blah, blah, blah). Additionally, wouldn't a Dime package be shredded by a solid running game? I mean, a lot worse than the nickel, I would think, right? Or possibly susceptible to the short pass? I'm not trying to be a gushing "homer". I'm studying the chess board, and it looks like - against all odds - OBD has actually put a decent offensive package together. Apologies if this is too cerebral...or if it's too naive. I could start another post that would allow us all to say "You Suck", followed by replies of "No, you suck", followed by replies of "Stop calling me names". And, who knows? Maybe this post will end up there. But for those of you who actually have played the game, and who actually know your subject matter, I throw the post open. Because I'm just obsessing on this stuff. ASSUMING THE INTERIOR OF THE OFFENSIVE LINE HOLDS, a guy like Trent Edwards could be a kid in a candy shop. If I'm a Defensive Coordinator, I'm paid to make sure he gets cavities. How does one game plan against it?

I had to scratch my head on that one for a few minutes. Let's think about this. The odds are that NO ONE, not even the Pats*, are going to put more than five (5) receivers on the field on any one play. As such, even if the Bills DID have 10 cornerbacks, one would assume that half of them would be picking splinters out of their collective backsides on even the most pass-happy of formations. Is this musclehead thinking, therefore, that the Pats* are going to run a 10-receiver set? I mean....Brady* and 10 receivers? I'm a patient man who views things in the long term, but I could see death occuring within seconds. I would, of course, be happy. How do these homers keep drawing a paycheck?

You've missed the point. It isn't what happens when the Bills are DOWN by 7 just before the half. I actually believe they'd be scrapping along as hard as they are able if they're put in that position. They have to. They're competitors, and they're on national TV. The POINT is.....what are they doing when they're UP by 7...or 9...at the end of the half. That's what you should be asking. What will DJ/TS be attempting? Question - What would Parcells attempt? Question - What would (may he rest in peace) Walsh attempt? Question - What would Johnson attempt? Per another thread, I'm looking for a killer instinct this year. Because if it's not here...well, I'll still be looking for a killer instinct. DJ and TS will be looking for employment.

Further to your point, will there be a "killer instinct" on the part of the coaching staff? I'm not advocating that the Bills go to the extent of the Pats* two years ago and rub everyone's collective nose in their respective feces, but I would like to see a little less gentlemanliness. If the Bills actually get up on an opponent this year (that's an optimist!), I sure hope the coaching staff doesn't see fit to half-heartedly run the ball in hopes of burning up the clock. Note to Jauron and Schonert - putting more points on the board and extending a lead is probably a more effective way to win a game than simply keeping the ball out of the hands of your opponent. To answer my own question, I doubt it. Sadly.