Koufax

Why not Brad Smith here? Isn't he our best 3rd and 1 guy?

Need seven points out of this. Huge 3rd down.

Spiller is a bust!

Another trip to Revis Island for Stevie. And good help in pass protection by CJ (who usually is not in in pass protection so we don't get to see if he has gotten better).

I'm not saying he is going to make the Pro Bowl after this week, but I think the "Spiller is a bust" stuff will give way to "Fred is good, but nice to have CJ". 9 Yards on Revis Island. Is Stevie the favorite castaway on that island this year after the big play last time?

That was about two inches from an 80 yard TD pass to Nelson. Would have been a nice way to start and get the confidence back.

I like Bell LT Harriston RT better than Harriston and Pears, but play the guys who can play the best. Bell is still having some shoulder issues, and I don't think he has enough of an advantage to be inserted back in when he isn't 100%, so let's see what happens when he is 100% first. I think he has performed well when he has played, and I am not going to make any judgments about Chan's plans until he is 100%. Troup is another thing. He hasn't shown ability to play well when healthy or stay healthy. And I think we will next year mostly be 4-3 with Dareus and Kyle as the tackles, so he can be a specialty player in short yardage or if the 3-4 has more of a future than I think. At least today we get to see that Spiller isn't a bust like people think...just a really talented player who has to learn some things about holes and blocking, and hasn't done that behind Freddie so far. I think he shows some good things today, and we realize we are happy to have him since 30 year old running backs (as much as we love Freddie) don't typically go on Cal Ripken streaks over the long hall. Now that the pressure is off, I'm excited about the Bills surprising people today and going to 6-5.

Guys, not to be the voice of reason, but we were done pretty much when we got blown out against the Fish. Can't lose that game and be a playoff team, while had we won it we would have been in the hunt. Now we can sit back and see what this team can do with the pressure off. With our best OL, our best DL, our best LB, and now our best skill (and overall) player on IR, things are pretty bleak, but we are still a 5-5 team with a chance to play some football, win some games, and have the best season we have had in a long time. Now that the playoffs are out the window this can get back to being a building year, and I want us to hurry and get our 6th win so we can get our 7th, 8th, and maybe 9th before we run out of games. Huge injuries across the board and we are in place to have our first 500 season in a long time? Name one team that lost its two best offensive players and its two best defensive players (Merriman might be a reach) and then went on to its best finish in seven years and ended the longest head to head losing streak with its archrival? I'm also excited to see CJ, and get a clearer idea of what we have. Sitting behind Freddie is understandable, but if he can't take advantage of this opportunity to show his value he will lose the support that me and a few others have held on to. So let's sit back, and enjoy exceeding the low expectations people have of us, just like we did in the first quarter of the season. Not the season I was hoping for a month ago, but can still be a positive overall if they play hard, win some more games, and continue to grow towards the 2012 season.

I'm with you on George Edwards. Two seasons of being pretty terrible and performing worse than the talent on the field I am still thinking that Spiller at #9 was the right choice (not the revisionist history choice, because there are other players I would want, and Tom Brady would be a first rounder). I don't see anybody in the 10-20 range that I say "That is the guy we should have known to pick on draft day". Referring to the Ngata over Whitner and Orakpo over Maybin. I think Bulaga was by reasonable estimations less talented at what he did, and Spiller was the most talented guy out there with the hope of getting a CJ2K type player. Also remember we had Freddie and Lynch splitting time, and neither looking like the answer that Freddie is proving to be this season. Not sure on Poz or Whitner. I'm pretty happy with Barnett and Wilson (and Sheppard), and I think Poz got too many dollars, but I always liked him, and wouldn't mind him on our roster if it weren't a financial decision. I don't agree on Evans. I definitely liked him, but he is not an impact guy, over the next few years a 4th rounder and that cash will be worth more. I don't agree on Hang. If it weren't a financial decision, maybe, but talent wise I thought he was pretty weak. You need to have a #2 center on the roster, but I don't think Hang was the right fit for that. We need to keep doing whatever we can to improving the talent at all 53 places, and get our D coached a lot better.

Money, bad choices on retaining our players, bad choices on free agents, bad choices in the draft.

We understand you don't like Spiller. We get it. I'm sure you would rather have Bulaga starting at tackle, and right about now I would too. But Spiller opened with a nice play at WR, not his position, as well as an important punt return. He is not going to get a lot of touches in the backfield with Freddie playing above EVERYBODY's expectations, but that won't be forever, and injuries happen. Like Whitner at #8, he is never going to live up to his draft position in the eyes of many, but I think he is going to be a good football player, and am glad he is on our team. The first month of the season was lots of fun, especially beating New England, and the last month has been pathetic. But we are a rebuilding football team without depth, and 5-5 is not the end of the world. We just have to find a way to make it 8-8 or 9-7 and not 5-11 or 6-10, and that isn't going to be easy how we are playing. We are a young team without depth, and we have lost our best DL, our best OL, our best LB for the season. Injuries happen to everybody, but the bottom of our roster is too weak to pick us up. Clearly our D has also been a wreck at a coaching level, and I think Edwards leaving and Wanny taking over as soon as possible, with a possibly return to the 4-3, would be a good thing. I like Sheppard and Williams and Dareus, but we are just not that talented and not playing that well, and I don't see us getting it fixed in the next six. Our offense needs to be able to adjust much better, and I've been very disappointed with Chan and Fitz not being able to find a way to get more done the last few weeks. But I think they will, and we will get back to scoring points. I said before the season that this is an 8-8 team, and good breaks could take that to 10-6 and bad breaks to 6-10, and we have had good breaks early and bad breaks lately, and are right on track for that. I really wanted this 8-8 team to find a way to 10-6, and I'm now concerned we won't get to 8-8 and will underachieve for the season as a whole, but we are an 8-8 team at our essence, and to let a few good games make us think we are a 13-3 team or a few bad weeks have us feeling like a 3-13 team is pretty silly. Go Bills.

This is terrible and terrible football on both sides of the ball since halfway through our first drive. Frustrating, maddening, pathetic football. Somebody has to shake themselves, because getting blown out by the Dolphins would put an exclamation point on the recent implosion. The Pats, Jets, etc have all had bad losing stretches this season so far, and winning this game keeps our hopes of getting back on track alive. But this is so far as disappointing as any moment of 2008 when we turned 5-1 into 7-9. I am our resident optimist, but this team has almost spent all of its early season good will and has to start playing good football whether the can come back in this game or not.

If we finish 10-6, I think the tie breakers are likely to come out in our favor, and I have a tough time seeing the Ravens and Bengals both getting to 10-6 (especially with two head to heads), with most likely guessing the Bengals stumble and finish 9-7. I think things really pivot on the Jets game, which if we win, we are in good shape (need to finish 3-2) and if we lose we will be in very tough shape. But that game only matters if we beat the Fish on Sunday. I don't think seven weeks out is much of a calculate percentages situation yet, it is still just win your game and hope for some losses among your competitors, but this gets interesting more and more each week that goes by. And it is amazing to be in a control your own destiny 10 weeks into the season.

We are one game behind Baltimore and one behind the Bengals for the wild card, Tied with the Titans, and with everybody else with 5 losses already. None of our schedule is easy, but there are no impossible games on our schedule either. We still control our own destiny in the division, but I don't expect that is very likely and I think New England finishes strong. The Ravens have two games against the Bengals, one against the 49ers, and one in San Diego, so that is not a very favorable schedule, but they also have two gimmes against the Browns and one against the Colts. Still with how bad their offense has been, they have some more losses coming. I don't see them going 3-4 and finishing 9-7, so we would be shooting for a 10-6 tie breaker with them most likely. The Bengals have the tie breaker, so we would root for them to finish 9-7 which means a 3-4 finish. With two games against the Ravens, one in Pittsburgh, and one against the Texans, that seems like it could happen with a young team playing above expectations. The Titans are tied with us and have a relatively normal schedule. If we beat them they won't finish ahead of us. If we lose to them we won't get to 10-6, so I don't see them as a threat. Denver is behind us and not likely to go 5-1 with New England, Chicago, and San Diego on their schedule, so while they are fun to watch, I don't think they make it to 10-6 (but it could happen). The Jets have a pretty easy schedule, and like the Titans it will be a must win for us, and if they beat us we will have a hard time getting to 10-6 and they will have a shot. If we beat them they could still win out and finish 10-6, and it could be a tie breaker, but having to go 5-1 is a tall order in the NFL for a team that is 5-5 with Mark Sanchez. If the Chargers get to 10-6 it will mean the west and Oakland doesn't, so they aren't going to get a wild card. KC has New England, Pitt, and the Packers, so no way they can go 6-1 to finish at 10-6. So realistically the Bengals have a shot, the Ravens look likely, and I don't see anybody else likely to get to 10-6. If the Bills can find a way to stay on track for 10-6, I think they have a very good shot of making the playoffs. 9-7 is pretty unlikely but possible. I don't think we are a 10-6 team, and I don't think it is likely, but with two games against the Dolphins, home against the decent Broncos and Titans, and a potential rest week game for bye-bound Patriots, I think could be in good shape if we can beat the Dolphins and Jets. If we can't beat the Dolphins this week we have no shot, that is clear, but if we do, I think our season turns on the Jets game. I don't like our chances too much after our last matchup, and with them having a long week, but if we do get to 7-4 I like our playoff chances, and i think it is fairly likely we go in to NY in 10 days with a chance to make that happen. So right now we should probably just try to beat the Fish, and make our playoff chances look pretty decent with six weeks to go (with Ravens/Bengals facing off this weekend). If we play like the last two weeks that won't happen, but I Billieve we will rebound on Sunday with a good game and a W. Go Bills!

One week a time. Seven weeks is too soon for playoff scenarios. One thing is certain, we control our own destiny, and if we win out we are the AFC east champs. Now we all know we aren't going 12-4, but I guarantee nobody here thought we would control our own destiny for the division 9 games into the season. Right now, we hope that the shell shocked Jets after scoring only 16 against a pathetic banged up Pats D, now prepare for Tebow-mania on a short week and lose any usefulness of Revis Island in the process. If we beat the fish we come out at 6-4, hoping the Jets are 5-5, with Cincy or the Ravens dropping to 6-4. That's a better way to head into Thanksgiving than being 5-5, so let's just beat the Dolphins and realize we aren't as good as we thought at the top and not as bad as we think here at the bottom. Although it would be cooler if we had our best O-Lineman and our best D-Lineman on the field instead of IR. Go Bills!

Except for the Patriots, and the first place Raiders, and the first place Giants and the Bengals. Four games against first place teams and we were in all four until the last play, winning two. Add two ugly losses, and two ugly wins, and beating the Eagles in a normal football game. The Bills are playing badly right now, Like New England did dropping their last two, or the Jets did when they lost three in a row. They are not as good as we thought at 4-0, and they are not as bad as you might think now. But we are tied for second place, and control our own destiny for the division with seven games left (not that I expect us to go 12-4, but 12-4 wins us the division no matter what). If we beat Miami (not a gimme) we move to controlling our own fate six weeks from the end and get our Jets rematch. A very disappointing 2 weeks, and we are not a top team in this league, but a lot of exciting football ahead of us. Step back from the ledge, let today's ugly loss hurt for a while if you want, and then let's get ready to take on the Fish with a lot to play for.

I'm not going to counter your pessimism party overall, because it was a depressing day. We are not an elite team yet, and we got our asses handed to us today. It is not as bad as it seems right now, just like it wasn't as amazing as it seemed at 4-0. This is a team on the upswing that will still take some lumps. Not a fun two weeks at all, but we are 5-4 one game out of first, and ready to go play Miami next week and try to get to 6-4 and stay in the hunt. One item I will counter is Spiller. He is behind the current best RB in the NFL, and he is not going to get a lot of chances. A huge huge weakness (if anybody can let me know otherwise) is anytime he is in the backfield he gets the ball. He won't be there to block, etc. So pretty easy for the opposing D to key on that. I think he still will be a playmaker in this league, despite how disappointing his first two seasons have been. Amazing to think that before the season Chan wasn't sure if Freddie was the starter or not. To now say with limited opportunities behind a great player playing at the top of his career that he is a bust and worth a conditional #7, etc. is the unrealistic drama I wouldn't expect from you Bill. He is closer to McKelvin than Maybin at the moment, but that isn't cause for celebration. Party is not over yet. Let's go squish the fish, and then see what happens. I am 100% focused on making the playoffs somehow right now, but can see a lot of positives in 8-8 or 9-7 if we get there. Stepping stone from drafting #3 to winning a SB.

Not a good 8 quarters of football, but your bleak assessment is way off base. This team could go 7-9, but to put Denver, @Miami, and a Brady-less week 17 in Foxboro in the loss column right now is unrealistic and pretty pathetic. I haven't had any fun since the Washington game, but this is a team that for the first 8 weeks of the season went 5-2 with the two losses 3 point last minute on the road against teams currently 6-2 in first place. This is a better team than it feels like right now, but at 4-0 we were never on track for 12-4. Being in the playoff contention until the end and maybe sneaking in means this team is ahead of schedule on the rebuilding process. We are still a year or two away with big defensive problems, but that doesn't mean we can't overachieve and have some fun this year.

Yeah, tied for 2nd one game back after week 10 is a good start for the season. Two bad games in a row after getting to 5-2 is a little hard to stomach, but the overall result is good, an we have two Dolphins games and a Broncos game ahead of us. I'm just happy we took a kickoff out of the end zone, and don't care that we got tackled inside the 20. I'll take that -2 yards for a chance at good field position once in a while.

Nice job Chan. Can't risk Spiller being tackled at the 14 for a six yard loss of field position! Take a knee and rely on the offense to 80 yard it every time to make up the 21 points. I will sound like a broken record on this until they get it right! We are the worst return team in the NFL because we are scared of losing a couple yards, despite having great return talent.

What a terrible first quarter. Good thing (or bad thing) we get three more. Now I would like to go on record to say I would LOVE to see a ball deep in the end zone run out and have us tackled INSIDE the 20. I'm okay with that. I'm okay risking 5-10 yards on the negative and getting bad starting position to see the chance of maybe getting a start other than from the 20. Chan is WAY to conservative with that and it has to change.

+1 on Ozymandius There is one game that matters. The Cowboys. Win this game and things start looking up in a hurray (then Fish to move to 7-3, etc). Lose this game and the clouds start to darken. And besides it is the only game that we play this week. Go Bills (and Go Pats today only!)

Not sure what "Playoff contender" means. It would seem to be meaning a team that contends for a playoff spot (being in the chase until the end of the season), whether they get there or not. I think by that definition this is a playoff contender. Not so optimistic that they make it, and this team is still a year or two away from where we expect our peak to be. This is not supposed to be The Year, so being in the hunt and trying to find a way in (the definition of a playoff contender) is a great achievement. On your actual points backing up your logic: 1) beat a team 23-0 with 10 sacks on the road, picked off Brady 4 times. Not going to be confused with the Ravens, especially after losing Kyle and Merriman, but better than the Pats and some other top teams. 2) What does "needed to go all the way" have to do with being a "playoff contender". I'm not sure if maybe you mean the more specific "Super Bowl Contender", and I might agree with you there, but Fitz is good enough to take us to the playoffs several times during his new contract. 3) What does Fred's age have to do with whether we are a "playoff contender" which just involves how we play over the next 8 games? Also, he is lower mileage than most 30 year olds. 4) Neither has Maybin. Having first round busts or underachievers on your team is never fun, but it doesn't have anything to do with what this team can do for the next 8 games. And Spiller has been playing well, but is just stuck behind Jackson right now and not going to get big reps without an injury (like he did at WR after an injury). 5) Stevie caught a bomb against Revis. Donald Jones is a deep threat as well. Just because we aren't playing the JP to Lee Evans scheme with Chan, I don't think a lack of a deep threat has any impact on what this team can do for the next 8 games. 8 Games to go, two against the Fish, one against the Broncos, one against a Tennessee team that has only beaten the Colts in the last five weeks, on against a Chargers team that is struggling. I don't think one bad game against the Jets crash lands this season. Go Bills!

The issue isn't how close the losses were and that they were only the road to teams now 6-2. Not that we have had a chance to win 7 of 8 games with even the Jets game 3-0 at halftime as badly as we were outplayed. What matters is after a 4-0 first quarter of the season which included beating the Patriots, we just finished a 1-3 second quarter (which is a 4-12 pace). Now it is how we deal with this adversity that matters. We are in great position in a first place tie to make a run. We are also in great position to drop a couple games and fall of the pace pretty quickly. All that matters right now is finding a way to beat the Cowboys and move to 6-3 and not fall to 5-4. Taking advantage of the Jets/Pats head to head, we will either be tied for first, or tied for second after this week. Being 6-3 tied for first and heading into a winnable Miami game is a great place to be.

Have Maybin and McIntyre been on the field for any down and distance in common this year? I'm pretty sure Maybin is not going to be playing on running downs, so the chance of him getting contact with a non QB ball carrier are a 3rd and long 1) draw (when he will have gone too far up the field to be a factor) 2) Screen pass, trying to chase it down from the back side. What we need to make sure is that he doesn't get his speed move around one of our tackles and leave us with egg on our face after the play. I think he will be a non factor and am very amused by the amount of coverage a relatively unimportant player is getting in a crucial game between big teams. Nobody is talking about how Sanchez got picked five times by the Bills back before they were a take-away machine, or how running with Washington was unable to run the ball.