Whites Bay

Neither of us can state with certainty what the offense was supposed to be doing at any given point. We aren't on the sidelines, and last year's play calling carried with it an element of randomity that bordered on F'ed-uppedness. Not all of it related to the play of the quarterback, whether it be J.P. Losman or Trent Edwards. In general, a quick release assists an offense by (a) keeping a quarterback's bones in one piece, and (b) wearing down pass-rushing defensive ends. Dan Marino, dick that he is, was notorious for frustrating all DEs - including Bruce Smith. How will it help Edwards? If the line keeps pass-blocking as well as it did last year, and if he's actually allowed to audible, you might see (a) a higher completion percentage as the primary receiver on any given set could now change at the line, and (b) a greater tendency for the team to actually be able to hold on to a lead at the end of the game by dint of the fact that the opposing pass rush might be lacking the "high gear" in the fourth quarter. Time will tell. Maybe he'll suck.

I can't speak for "everyone", and I can't say that my views are entirely "objective", in that I've never had the time, energy, interest or capability to sit down and watch endless tapes on Trent Edwards' performance last year. Given these provisos, however, the primary strength I could discern in Edwards' technique is his quick release. This is particularly true when compared to Losman, who, while not exactly Bledsoesque, did have a tendency to hold the ball too long behind a suspect offensive line while waiting for the double-team on Evans to turn into a triple-team. I can't tell you whether Edwards has a natural instinct to get rid of the ball in a New York Minute, or whether the play called for it, or whether he was running around out there like a bug on crack. The ball DID seem to get out a lot faster. Related to that point, it seemed that he had the presence of mind to throw the ball away (sidelines, back of the end zone) rather than take a sack, or thread a needle that wasn't there. Again, these are not "objective". I'm not an ex-coach or X-and-O geek. I'm stating these as a fan of the game who watches the game through goggles that get increasingly fogged by Molson by the fourth quarter.

No. That's crap, and I'm calling you on it. Enough of this! Riddle me this, Batman - where's Asante Samuel playing today? Even if he wasn't a first-round pick (and I have better things to do with my time than to figure it out), he was a franchise-level player, and he was playing for a team with.....oh.....$5.00 extra dollars in their savings account that COULD have spent that $5.00 on his paltry salary demands. Look, a top-flight player in today's league is going to laser-lock on the "cha-ching", and I can't blame them. And it doesn't matter whether you're playing for a "farm team", or whether you're playing for the World Chumps*. Stop whipping the front office for mistakes that aren't mistakes. This same thread exists on 31 other bulletin boards. Enough.

You got me thinking: James Corner Cox Yobouty Wilson Wendling Who else? I know there are others, but I'm working off an Air Card and the damn thing's too slow to dig around on the internet. That IS quality depth. I'm not meaning to stir your ire with this post, Bill in NYC, but all excluding Corner and Cox have SOME playing time, and Corner was a 4th rounder. I think the secondary is going to make itself known in the league by the second half of the season (assuming they don't get torched in the first half). You're right, KO, Tom Brady probably isn't shaking in his boots at this point. Talk to me sometime in the week before the season finale..........

I acknowledge that: 1) This is the time of year when there's NOTHING to subtantiate ANYTHING 2) This is the time of year when I get sucked into this team....Jesus, over-and-over-and-over.... 3) No one with the IQ higher than sheeps dags should give a rats hairy ass about these rankings This having been said, I'm starting to like this secondary. A lot. There's going to be a boatload of heat on McLovin' to perform to the level at which he was drafted, but you have to look at: Whitner Simpson (coming off injury, I know) McGee McLovin' Are you serious? Step into the wayback machine, set the destinometer to 2005, and tell me you wouldn't have given up a couple of body parts to get that line up. These guys start playing on the same page and that's going to be a tough nut for any quarterback.

Who do I BELIEVE will be the most pleasant surprise, or who do I HOPE will be the most pleasant surprise? I HOPE the most pleasant surprise will be Turk Schoenert. (I apologize to all if I've misspelled his name.) Everything else is irrelevant.

Not worth contemplating.

While it's difficult to nail an entire season down to a single joint in a single player, you're right to a significant degree. If that B-mofo is healthy, good heavens, it changes the entire equation. By the way, the offseason bites the big green weenie.

There's a reason for the dearth of worthwhile posts during the offseason. There's nothing worth discussing. Trust me on something. Once things get rolling in about 5 weeks, no will talk about this offseason. They won't talk about it in the future. They won't talk about it in the present. They won't talk about it in past imperfect. It just won't be talked about at all.

For what it's worth, being from Rochester DOES count for something! My family was one of the original settlers in the area, going back to 1804. That's right - 1804. We once owned the land that is now Inspiration Point, and Bay Road (in a prior iteration) was named for a branch of my family. And I'm damn proud of it. I've traveled the entire world, and have filled three passports. I've moved from New York to SoCal, to New Jersey, to Michigan, to Massachusetts, to Rhode Island, to Salt Lake City and have finally been blessed to move back to upstate New York. For less money. By choice. By choice. Because it was time to give my kids what I had - a great upbringing, a great school district, a cottage on the lake, and the roll-your-sleeves-up mindset that is lacking in the nanoscopic crania found in folks in OC, SF, Tri-State Metro and friggin' every other place I've lived. Thomas Wolfe was an idiot. An inbred. A cretin. The crudescence that I scrape from my shoes. Perhaps the lowest form of life. Because you CAN go home again. F. U. Let me say that again. F.U. Thomas Wolfe. I can, and have, come home again. And I have no patience for the whiners on this board that say they can't. And as has been stated by another poster, thanks for starting this topic. This is something I've been meaning to say for a long time.

In reality, of course, there's no 14-year-old that writes like that. That having been said....well, kid, it's best that you learn these lessons earlier than later. The Bills ARE supposed to win. And they will. Keep feeding the dream, because it beats the alternative. Mr. Spaceman - The Byrds

Look, I don't want to lecture you, yoonyour, but.....think about it. You're contributing ideas in a forum that is based on the written word. It's not based on oral presentation, or on photographs, or on music. It's based on the written word. If you're going to come into a restaurant and slobber all over the table, you're going to have people look at you a little funny. If you're going to ride in an elevator and fart, you're going to have people that will criticize you. If you're going to come to a message board and display your ignorance of your mother tongue (I know, that's a big assumption on my part), you're going to have people bust your stones. Put a little thought into it. It's not that hard. Go read some Hemingway - you'll learn how to write in short, sharp sentences. And you might grow a little bit while you're at it. My recommendation is "In Our Time", a collection of short stories from early in his career. "Big Two-Hearted River I & II" is one of my favorites. Try it.

Not meaning to throw gasoline on a flame, but let me posit a scenario. We're talking about (a) Jauron and (b) Edwards being the key to the upcoming season. Fair enough. Let's stop treating them as though they're separate outcomes, because they're not. Here comes the twister..... What happens if JP simply lights up training camp? What happens if he shows an uncanny ability to get rid of the ball under pressure? What happens if his "short game" improves? What happens if he shows the same laser-lock long bombs he showed LAST training camp? Let's make it MORE interesting. Maybe....just maybe....Trent takes a step back. Not "sucks", just "takes a step back", such that there is a clear, uninterrupted ray of light between the two quarterbacks. (Side note - I know this post will result in the usual vomit of "JP sucks", or "I'll fuggin' kill myself". Serious posters only need apply). JP lit it up in training camp last year. You know it. I know it. What if it happens THIS year? You're Jauron, and you have an "Oh, schit" on your hands. Won't THAT tell you a few things about the coach? About the direction of the team? And, again, please refrain from the "Oh, God, if JP takes the helm there will be a return to world communism, starvation, and locusts". Put some thought into it.

Oh, goodness, I didn't realize this. Thank you for this post. My heart goes out to his family today.

I'm not back pedalling. I'm a conspiracist. Don't believe for a moment that there was no one at the grassy knoll. To quote a line from "Who Framed Roger Rabbit"...."The whole thing stinks like yesterday's diapers". In any case, I'm grateful that the Pats* are finally earning some frequent flyer miles. 'Bout time.

So happy to have "cracked you up". Let me guess....you're going to tell us all that it's the paragon of randomity that the Bills played the Pats* following their bye week for four years in a row. Isn't that ass-spankingly amazing?

This year's upcoming schedule is perhaps a sign that the league is prepared to throw the Pats* under the bus. Don't get me wrong, I wish their punishment was a lot more severe, and with luck the pressure stays on and things do indeed grow more painful. This having been said, however, it was refreshing to see that: 1) The Bills don't play farther west this year than Arizona (Seattle, San Fran and Oakland (do we play Oakland?) are here) 2) While the Pats* are playing all their West Coast games...well, on the West Coast. Two of them back-to-back. 3) And we don't get the requisite "Bills play Pats* following their bye week" ballwashing that had become a league tradition. It makes me think that there is some sensitivity to the pressure after all.

Oh, baby. Talk about dropping a floater into the water cooler. Hope we get McLovin' signed up fast before people start digging in their heels.

That's the point. He made the CHOICE. He went in as an artillery officer, and came out as a recruiting officer. A choice. West Point changed the rules? So what? That's like saying someone opened the door. It is up to the next person to walk through the open doorway. Not all thresholds need be crossed. Apologies. I don't want to get into a diatribe about this young man for whom I'm thrilled is playing for the Bills. But let's cool down on the hero worship. He's not "out there on the line" in some trench with a rifle. He went to a good college, did very well. and took advantage of the opportunities put in front of him, like so many of the posters on this board that ended up doing something differently than they'd envisioned in their first year of college. Good for him. I'm glad he's wearing the Bills colors.

As I've posted on this forum a few times - not that it matters - I had season tickets to the Rams from '87 - '90. (Looking at those dates, I can't believe it's already been 20 years, but that's another issue.) What I certainly CAN tell you is that NO ONE GAVE A SCHIT. You want nasty looks at a Rams game in Anaheim? Try screaming "DEFENSE" at the top of your lungs. Do that at the Ralph, and the guy in the next seat will likely be drowning you out by screaming even louder, or by throwing up on his now-unconscious girlfriend's lap. In L.A.? You'd think I'd have porked the Pope with the looks I'd get. People were incensed that I'd disrupted their sushi and Chardonnay. There is NO market in L.A. for football. None. Nada. Nyet. Zippo. Harpo. Groucho. If you folks want to get yourselves all wrapped up in your Bills thongs about this potential move.....well, hey, enjoy the blisters. Hope you waxed. I have to shake my head with each and every "Bills Moving to Los Angeles" thread. Idiots.

Thanks, Astro. This is a very good post. Thanks for putting it into perspective. I'm starting to feel a lot better about Rounds 4-7; I'd already felt pretty good about 1-3 (I knew - KNEW - they were going to go DE in Round 3).

Stop it. That's a load of crap, and I'm calling you on it. He's not "out there", he's in West Point. God love him for having the brains and initiative to bust his nuts through that program. And he did it concurrently with working his way through a sports program. THAT'S saying something as regards the character of the kid. Truth be told, he's my "feel-good" player on the Bills roster this year. Of course, I'm the guy that picked Kevin Everett last year during the off season, so take my picks with a grain of salt the size of Montana. This all having been said, Viti made a choice - a CHOICE - to step into a little-used program that allows talented athletes in military academies to take advantage of their God-given abilities on the the gridiron/court/rink to pursue a career in professional athletics with the proviso that they act as recruiters for the military. It's good strategy and policy by the Pentagon. It's not an accident. It's the reason people like Ronald Reagan made recruiting films showing wounds made of ketchup/catsup while Joe Lunch Pail was getting his ass shot off in places that people like you couldn't pronounce, much less find on a map. Symbolism sells, and this military needs all the help it can get in hitting its recruting goals. Let's just call it for what it is, and let it rest.

It's nice to get those kudos, and it's a wonderful dreamy ride down the stream at this point in the off season. Before I let myself get sucked into the whirlpool, however, I'll pick a couple of bones with that piece: 1) The Bills' Special Teams are not "incredibly strong". They have a great kicker, an all-world punter, and a couple of smokin' hot punt- and kick returners. But the loss of the "Aikens" of this world in the off season probably reduces the unit from "incredibly strong" to "strong". Sorry if I'm picking nits, but we've all become accustomed to starting on the 40- or 45-yard line, and having our opponents start on the 19. I'll reserve judgement until about Game 4. 2) Along the same line, I'll reserve judgement on the interior D-Line until about Game 4 as well. It all comes down to Stroud's ankle. If he gets back to even 85%, he'll be better than anything WE'VE had up front for years. If not, however, opponents are going to come up with ways to single-team him....and then we're right back to where we started, just without Tim Anderson. And would everyone try a little decaf as regards Hardy? Let's see, what can anyone here do about it......

I've looked through this thread, and, well....I hate them all. Refer to the ongoing thread regarding "Which teams to you hate?", or something to that effect. I'm struggling desperately to come to grips with my visceral hatred of the Pats*, but it's going to take some work. And I'll fail. Pats* suck. And we're going to take one from them this year. Note to Pats* trolls on the board - abuse me if you must. That's fine. But the game changes this year. The horrifying thing in your pygmy minds is that you know it.

THAT'S a name I haven't heard in a long time. "Mad Dog Maddox". I can never forget the tape clip of Darryl Talley leaping over the line in a "Spiderman" outfit...was he about to crush Esiason? A classic from NFL Films.