Koufax

I would check my caller ID, and verify that it was the Patriots of the NFL, and not the New England Revolution or some other second round pick. I have no trouble trading him within the division. The other 14 games count too, and we have to get better. I hope he has a good season for us, but if we can get better by trading him that is cool too.

I would be a little disappointed, but overall not too unhappy. I just don't see us really addressing O-Line or QB with a pro bowl free agent, which is what Jamal is, so he could be our BIG signing, and then sign role players and draft well. Of course if we could have a big money spree and land ourselves O-Linemen the caliber of Dockery and L. Walker all our problems could be solved

No cap in 2010, but I agree it is a financial decision as AJ Smith tries to continue to turn over his roster, which he usually does pretty proactively and occasionally a year or two too soon. I don't know what kind of 2012 Jamal will have, but I have no reason to doubt his ability to perform in 2010. Remember also, in terms of the wear and tear, he came into last season in better shape and a little lighter than usual, and last season he took the whole season off for a freak injury to the triceps that should not be affected by his size/weight. So his body got a full season off from the hits and wear and tear and everything other than his triceps (which the physical would check out pretty aggressively) I would expect would be BETTER than at the start of 2009 when he was a recent pro bowler penciled in as a key part of the D for everybody's Super Bowl darling. If we lose Jamal because another team is more appealing to him, nothing we can do about that. But I don't see any reason we would not be one of the most interested teams or have performance/usefulness questions about him.

This would be a tremendous signing. As a San Diego resident who has to sit through local news reports, all the Chargers talk and Chargers games (okay, I don't mind the games) year round, I can tell you he is a top performer, and San Diego was really disappointed and worried when he hurt his arm last year to end his season. Triceps strikes me as just about the least worrisome injury to recover from, and he has already had lots of time. I am also not worried that SD is letting him go means he is done. They let a guy named Brees go, and that worked out, they just let a guy named Tomlinson go, and I think he might have some gas in his tank. Some Seau guy played a few snaps after he was done in SD. My worry here is that he will get interest from more appealing teams and not be willing to sign with us. With our move to a 3-4, he would be my top priority, even though we obviously need to address a lot of other areas, notably O-Line.

If you can get a Peyton Manning then there is some value to 1-15. But here is my math: 7-9 team + #11 pick is more likely to make the playoffs than 5-11 team + #5 pick or 3-13 team + #3 pick I also don't see anybody who we need to have to compete, I don't see a Manning here. I would rather find our Haynesworth (15), Freeny (11), Ed Reed (24), Polamalu (16), Dallas Clark (24), Wolfork (21), DeMarcus Ware (11), Merriman (12) than lose to get our sure thing franchise qb Alex Smith, Carr, Herrington... And no matter how much house cleaning is done by the new coach, 30+ guys will be back next year from this roster, and I would rather have them learn how to win than be doormats. I am definitely rooting for the teams close to us to win games to help our draft position, but rooting for the Bills to lose and thinking it will help seems dumb. So Go Raiders! Go Panther! Go Redskins! Go Seahawks! Go Bears! But also GO BILLS!

Hmmm...while I am disappointed with Maybin's 2009 contributions and he would not have been my pick, he was considered the better prospect compared to Orakpo by many, and more importantly, in judging any player you have to look at their 5 year contribution, not their rookie year. Which is also why drafting inferior players to fill needs will keep you inferior because they might not be your need in year 3 or 4 or 5, but they won't be as good as the better player. Don't get me wrong, year 1 counts among what their 5 year contribution is, but it is usually the smallest and not ever what I think a draft should be about. I know it is a different position, but Carson Palmer, Philip Rivers, and others sat their entire first year. I would love to have some more Orakpo and Patrick Willis, etc. from our first round picks, and don't defend at all our front office's handing of things, but I am quicker to judge the drafts from previous years than decide whether Maybin was a mistake 12 games in. If you continuously have smart football guys (we don't) making decisions about which players they think will contribute the most over their first five years draft after draft after draft, everything works its way out, and you fill in needs with free agency.

I think no news other than the passing "back in buffalo" is good news at this point. The only news in the next six months would be regular boring progress (which I would love to hear) or bad news. He has a long way to go before anything specifically encouraging would come out (other than the absence of complications and setbacks). I think we still have the full range of possibilities from back for training camp to misses 2010 to career over, and nothing will come out this week or next week that will be able to shed any real light on it. I'm most interested to hear about things to know how he is holding up and how he is handling the adversity than for how his actual leg bones are doing.

I was rooting for us to lose games for the purpose of getting rid of Jauron, not for draft position, and I think this is valuable. Had we won 6-3 against Cleveland and beaten Tennessee, he would still be our coach and we would risk not getting the talented coach we need because Ralph wouldn't make a move. So those losses really did help our team. But, as I have said many times and many others have said as well: The experience of winning one of your 16 regular season football games for the 35+ players who will return the following season is more valuable than the positions gained in the crap shoot draft with an additional loss. I am certainly rooting for other 3 and 4 win teams to pick up some extra wins so that our winning doesn't hurt us too much, but there have been so many impact players taken in the teen picks and so many busts in the top 10 (plus the money issue) that I don't think there is as much value as is perceived in being higher in the draft order. But there is definitely value to teams pulling out victories and working together and feeling good about things. So while some 1-15s lead to getting an Aikman or a Manning and righting the ship and winning a super bowl, many lead nowhere. Tonight's quarterbacks Brees and Brady were taken lower then the UFL champion we used to follow. As long as Ralph doesn't decide Perry is better than Shanny because of a strong finish, winning will help this team's future much more than losing would.

I think this is fun. But first of all. We will NOT make the playoffs, and my participation in this thread in no way implies that I think we will make the playoffs. What is exciting is that with an emotional win at least a small group of fans has gone from "who do we take with the #1 pick in the draft?" to "maybe playoffs?". Even if this team effectively has no real shot at the playoffs, it is more interesting and valuable to our players to be thinking about that chance still being alive one week at a time and not who has to win a game for us to get the #1 pick. I think Shanahan would rather have us at 8-8 with the #13 pick than 3-13 with the #5. The main reason I thought losing was ever good was to finally get rid of DJ, and now that that has happened my one concern is as others have stated a strong finish being enough to think Perry is a valid head coaching candidate. I think he earns respect, goes back to being the DC and we live happily ever after. I am certainly rooting for the 3 and 4 win teams to win games and help our draft order, but still thinking winning football games is more valuable than a couple positions in the draft, and you can fail from 1 to 10 and you can succeed from 11 to 20 and I care much more about who is making draft decisions than which pick he has. So let's see if a Thursday win can keep this hope alive one more week. Tennessee turned it around quickly and is keeping hope alive, and even though I think both Buffalo and Tennessee will fall short, knowing you have something to play for (another week of hope) is cool enough. Go Bills.

Slightly off topic, but what makes Ralph tick? I don't quite understand how he values different things and makes his decisions. His franchise is worth hundreds of millions and he has more money than he and his entire family could spend in many generations. More power to him, but why is the highest bidder and estate taxes among his key considerations? Why does saving a couple million on an inferior head coach make sense to him? I'm just wondering where the total lack of Jerry Jones / George Steinbrenner / Mark Cuban / Art Moreno comes from. I guess he has made himself a small market advocate and that probably is a source of joy for him more than winning or competing each year would be...

Yes, to be perfectly clear, the City of Industry is in LA as much as just about any other place considered, and it is like talking about an Orchard Park stadium vs. a downtown stadium. A little background for those who have not been following, Industry is a weird place with a tiny electorate which has complete control and is able to shape things in terms of taxes, etc. without dealing with any Los Angeles politics, and they have been aggressively trying to get a team, with a lot of interest and coverage relating to the Chargers. They are serious as a bidder and a stadium builder / tax incentives / etc. and are a legitimate candidate for a team and to bring football back to LA. It will remain to be seen if they will be the TOP candidate when a team is ready to move, but at the moment they are very organized and prominent. I don't buy the rumor as a whole, and I don't think the LA Bills or the Toronto Bills is an inevitable thing, but certainly the unfortunate possibility floating out there for after Ralphie runs out of borrowed time.

I'm not paying too much attention to next year's draft yet, but I don't know that being #1 is a huge benefit. Getting top five would be nice. 2007 Top 5: Russell, Calvin Johnson, Joe Thomas, Gaines Adams, Levi Brown 2007 Not top 5: Adrian Peterson #7, Patrick Willis #11 2006 Top 5: Mario Williams, Reggie Bush, Vince Young, D'Brick, AJ Hawk 2006 Not top 5: Cutler, Ngata 2005 Top 5: Alex Smith, Ronnie Brown, Braylon Edwards, Cedric Benson, Cadillac Wiliams 2005 Not top 5: Pacman, Aaron Rodgers, Luis Castillo 2004 Top 5: Eli Manning, Robert Gally, Fitzgerald, Rivers, Sean Taylor 2004 Not top 5: Kellen Winslow, Roy Williams, De Angelo Hall, Roethlisberger 2003 Top 5: Palmer, Charles Rogers, Andre Johnson, Dewayne Robertson, Terence Newman 2003 Not top 5: Terrell Suggs, Polamalu, Larry Johnson So consistently there is someone in the top 5 who is not worth it, and often the #1 isn't the best player, and there area always stars available after the top 5. In my heart of hearts I would love to see us get a top 5 pick, but this year is setting up to make that not necessarily that likely with some teams really struggling. But I would love to hand our new high paid Head Coach/GM some good picks to rebuild this crapfest. I think healthy we have more talent than it seems, and with a new coach, some high draft picks, and players hurt right now getting healty things could turn around pretty fast. I know it is never the right thing to do, but right now I'm hoping for 2-14 instead of 7-9. We have zero shot of making the playoffs now, especially with the injuries piling up, and a fresh start will be better than overachieving and finding a way to 6-10 or 5-11.

Games are not won or lost in the interview room. I'm not so concerned about what Edwards or Owens are saying, I am interested in how they play on the field on Sunday.

I agree with the initial post. The Saints are a good team, but they are overrated right now and while being a high flying offense, they are not a dominant team. I also think our pass defense actually matches up well against them, especially as our kickers give us good field position to work with. Brees can move the ball half the field as much as he wants, and he can get 2-3 touchdowns as well, and we still win this game. We need to get some pressure with our front 4 (he is smart against the blitz) and not worry about Brees's fantasy numbers, but instead just the football scoreboard.

Yep. But most importantly, we don't try to beat Brees this week. We beat the Saints. While going 2-6 on the road last year, Brees put up some pretty amazing numbers in losses, going over 400 yards once. Let the fantasy football people get excited about their offense, let's hope for some rain, and play good D, get a couple picks out of his 50 passes, and score some touchdowns instead of field goals. I can see this game going 30-28 Bills pretty easily (two offensive TDs, three FGs, one ST TD for example, and Brees getting four touchdowns and passing for 330 with an INT). Either way I can't wait and like our chances. Right now the Saints might be a better team than we are, but they are overrated, and allowed 27 points to Detroit, and scored big against Philly with McNabb out and some points off turnovers.

Vegas doesn't show respect to teams. Vegas tries to get even dollars on either side and make money on the vig. So the 6 points represents Vegas' estimates of the betting world's opinion. The spread is not predicting results...it is predicting bettor sentiment. So that said, Vegas doesn't think that the Saints, 2-6 on the road last year despite a similarly high powered offense, are enough of a favorite among bettors to get more than the 6 points on the road against a Buffalo team that has played two very good games with rain likely. I happen to think that making NO a 6 point favorite is a representation of fans misguided Saints enthusiasm. The Saints can lose with Brees passing for 400 yards (they did it last year), and Buffalo has a good shot of winning this game. Go Bills

No, it is a Power Rankings, not a standings. To view the standings with us above Miami click the link at the top that says "Standings". I thought it was funny that we stayed where we were, but beating a bad team at home vs, almost upsetting the #1 team on the road...I'm not sure that adds up to a huge move in terms of what analysts expect from the Bills. A win this week would certainly change things though...

Don't have to stop Brees. He lost last year with 300+ and 400+ yards. It is about beating the Saints, not about having Brees have a bad fantasy football week. You have to get some pressure without the blitzes, get a pick or two, and limit his scoring to 2 or 3 touchdowns and make sure you score 4. I posted some more details of the Saints losses in another discussion, but winning 30-24 is very reasonable. I don't think the Saints are much better than Tampa on defense, so don't have a problem seeing us get to 27-35 points, so the key is not allowing the fourth and fifth Saints touchdowns, not feeling you need to stop Brees and not allow any points.

Obviously it is a new year, but this was a high powered offense last year too, and here are some of the results: Lost @WAS 29-24 week 2. Washington held the ball for 34minutes, intercepted Brees twice, ran 15 more plays, but only had two sacks. Lost @DEN 34-32 week 3. Despite 421 yards passing for Brees with no INTs, and Denver losing ToP 27 to 33, Denver won a normal shoot out sacking Brees only once, but just having the little things go their way and putting up points. Lost @ MIN 30-27 week 5. Brees threw for 330, but only 1 TD and two INTs. Only sacked once, and MIN won the ToP 32 to 28. Despite Peterson rushing for only 32 yds on 21 carries and giving up a Reggie Bush punt TD, Minnesota had the little things go right to win. Lost @ CAR 30-7. Brees only 21/39 for 231 and no TDs, 1 INT. Carolina only sacked him once, but won ToP 33-27 and managed to force a lot of incompletes. Lost @ATL 34-20. Brees passed for 422, but was picked off 3 times including first play from scrimmage, only sacked once. 31-29 ToP for ATL. Lost @TB 23-20. RAIN!!!, Brees picked off three times, sacked once, even ToP. Lost @CHI 27-24 Overtime Brees only 232 yards and 2 INT, Bears win even though Orton is terrible and the team doesn't run the ball. Brees sacked only once, NO wins ToP 26-36, but KO Return for TD helps Bears stay in it. Lost at home against CAR, 33-31. Brees goes for 386, 4TDs, 1INT. Car gets a TD of a fumble return to build an early lead, and wins ToP 37-23. Brees throws three 4th quarter TDs to almost rally from down 30-10 to start the 4th. DeShaun Williams rushes for 178 in building that Carolina lead. So as you can see, most of their losses were 30-27ish on the road, and in many Brees got his yards, but the opposing teams managed to pick him off or hold him to FGs a few times. Sacks were not part of the losses, and he clearly knows how to get rid of the ball, but interceptions were almost always a factor. Based on that, I think we play our game offensively, hope for some good special teams, a pick or two, and don't cry if they get in the end zone a couple times, just try to make it 2-3 times and not 4-5. I think this could be the kind of game that has fans worried and mad during the game, blaming Jauron for doing dumb things, and then we find a way to come out on top 30-27. Rain would be nice too...

Yep, the expectation is to have him around the bye, and if it were not possible he would be on IR already. Expect him back and able to play at a top level.

Don't root for it, because the football gods will give you sunshine just to show you who is in charge, but I think bad weather favors the Bills.

As a football fan I always like going for it. And if we make it it is a dagger in their hearts. But the smart choice in improving our chances of winning is kicking. They had just stuffed us, and while if we get a 1st we win, we probably win if we kick it anyway. Their best chance of winning the game is stopping us on 4th, getting that momentum, and realizing that they need just one big TD drive and a field goal. So keeping them away from that best chance to win in my mind is the best thing to do. Going for it and failing is a little worse than people are saying here.

I don't think we are a better team with Stevie Johnson over Roscoe right now, and am concerned about the punt return game which he is generally pretty damn good at. I think as was pointed out he might be overrated because he is quick to let one bounce and roll back 20yds that Welker might have fielded and gained 5, but he clearly is a weapon. However with our current offense, I don't see a way to get him the ball much, and that has been the problem in his career. I wish that our coaches could come up with a way to use him a little more like Welker for short quick passes, since I think he would be able to turn those into productive offense but more importantly have defenses have to adjust and make more space for TO and Lee.

How many did Detroit score against them? I'll take my chances playing our game that their offense comes back down to earth on Sunday, and the way their D plays and the way Freddie is going with TO and Lee starting to get Trent throwing downfield that we can stick to our game an play our football and do fine. Now as mentioned, running down the playclock a little further in our no huddle will probably make sense, but the key will still be scoring points when we have the ball and stopping them from scoring when they have the ball. Reinventing our offense to try to cut a couple possessions off their end doesn't seem to make much sense.

Yep, Bell got beat with the game on the line, had a bunch of penalties, and overall played like it was his first game and he had just missed a whole lot of practice snaps to injury...OH WAIT...THAT'S BECAUSE IT WAS AND HE DID! I don't think anybody was going to confuse us on Monday for the 80s Redskins, but this line exceeded everybody's expectations for the game at hand, helping us put up 17 points, but also more importantly showed a lot of promise for what can unfold over the next 15 games and the next several years.