Dr. K

Rivers was the smartest college QB I ever saw play,a dn the best in the clutch. That doesn't mean he's going to be a star, but I wouldn't bet against the guy. I don't know where anyone got the idea he "has bust written all over him."

One other factor to mention--the Bills lost some close games last year, in particular the Jets and Miami games, the Carolina game, and even one of the New England games. Given the disarray on last year's team, it might not take much--some better teamwork, some better coaching decisions, some marginally better play at crucial moments--for the Bills to win such games. In other words, I agree that they may not be as far away as we fear. But then I am such a diehard fan that I can't stand going into the season expecting them to fail. Like Charlie Brown, I always hope Lucy won't jerk the football away this time, no matter how many times she has in the past.

I just want to suggest a possibility. Last season the Bills performed better on their first drives of the game than then ever did in their history (I believe they scored 11 times on their opening drive). We all know that this did not mean the offense played well for the rest of the game; in fact, they stank. However, it does suggest to me that the team was not lacking offensive talent. When prepped well enough for those first quarters, they could carry out a game plan initially. Perhaps this is an indicator of two things: 1) The game coaching was not up to snuff (surprise). Once the other team made adjustments, the Bills could not counter. 2) There is enough talent on this team (even with the loss of Moulds) for them to score much more consistently than they did last season--with the right game plan and proper coaching. Anyway, I raise this possbility to suggest maybe the O won't be as bad as it was last year. We may be surprised, assuming Fairchild and Jauron can install an offense that makes best use of the players' abilities, and can adjust to adversity within the game. One more possibility that I am sure will warrant rebuttal (this is not my main point, it's just a footnote that I'm not sure I believe but will throw out there): 3) Mularkey (aka "Meathead") was not a total loss as an offensive coach. He took a team that started 0-4 in 2004 and led them to a 9-7 finish, and got Bledsoe to more or less play within himself. He could script an opening drive (or at least someone on the team could). But, given a defense that slumped badly, he was not a good enough game coach to provide an offense that would compensate.

I've always been convinced that Anderson missed those kicks in pre-season on purpose. It does not make sense that he would miss EVERY kick he attempted. And I seem to recall him saying publically that he did not want to be drafted by the Bills, before they drafted him.

Just to give this some perspective, what percentage of top-ten draftees end up as pro bowlers by their third year? I ask this sincerely, since I don't know. I suspect the number is nowhere near 50%. I would be surprised if it goes past 30%. I think the bar is being set a little too high.

I think they will do better than 3-6 wins, though I very much understand those who pick them for last in the division. But I think that is based too much on the underachievements of last year than the potential for this one.

Yep. The song was written in the 1844 and it was indeed about young girls from Buffalo, NY. It is mentioned in the "Little House on the Prairie" books by Laura Ingalls Wilder and makes an significant appearance in Frank Capra's "It's a Wonderful Life", which is set in upstate New York.

"As flies to wanton boys are we to the [hockey] gods, They kill us for their sport." W. Shakespeare

So sad. RIP.

I'm sorry I raked up all this old stuff--it was not my intention. I do not understand, Bill, what this has to do with JP Losman. Losman may be the worst QB on the planet, but that does not improve Bledsoe's record. I was skeptical of Bledsoe when we got him, mostly because we hated Rob Johnson because he took too many sacks, and I figured Bledsoe would only take more. But I also was generally his supporter while he was here. My attitude about Bills players is that I want them to succeed, even if my judgment may not be the same as the coaching staff's. You seem to have an obsession with hating JP.

Losman may not be the answer, but Bledsoe wasn't going to get any better. 49 sacks, 17 (!) fumbles, 17 interceptions in a "good" season for him. And in the second half of the season an overall QB rating of 72.1, inlcuding games rated 53, 42, and 36.

I saw that Peter King has made the Cowboys his early NFC Super Bowl pick. That got me thinking about Bledsoe's 2005 season, and wondering if she played any differently than he did in Buffalo, for better or worse. So I wasted some of my Memorial Day looking up his stats and breaking them down for the two halves of the season. In the first half of 2005, Bledsoe was the QB we saw in Buffalo in the first half of 2003: Attempts 244 Completions 156 Comp % 63.9 TD 13 INT 6 Sacks 20 Fumbles 10 In the second half of 2005, we had the classic Bledsoe fall-off, and the QB most of us were happy to see leave: Attempts 255 Completions 144 Comp % 56.4 TD 10 INT 11 Sacks 29 Fumbles 7 I suppose adding Tyrell Owens could help him out, but it ain't going to change a patter that has been established over his entire career. I do not see this quarterback taking The 'Boys to the Super Bowl. FYI

If it weren't for Lamonica, Kemp would never have played in a title game for the Bills. He never in his entire career here copleted 50% of his passes. He could not throw to a receiver before the receiver made his break. He was a leader, but not a great quarterback, even for that less demanding time.

My ranking: Calvin & Hobbes Far Side (very close second) Bloom County Doonsbury . . . . . . . Garfield (unreadable)

I'll be there. Section 308, Row K, Seat 5. Want to meet up beforehand?

Well said! This is EXACTLY my judgment of what happened last season. The bet that Donohoe and the rest of the coaching staff made did not pay off, and the team did not handle itself well once it became clear that the plan wasn't going to work--thus the vacillation between JP and Holcomb. It wasn't a bad plan, in my opinion, and it's not workign cost a lot of people their jobs. That's probably as it should be. The page is turned and now there's a new plan. We'll see how it works.

Just bought my ticket for game one, whenever it is. I'm in the nosebleed section, but I'll be there!

Thanks for saying this. I have thought these things silently for a long time, and I think TD and the Bills fans treated TH shamelessly. No one worked harder than Henry. Willis, despite his obvious skills, doesn't seem like a team player to me. I expect him to be out of here once his contract runs out.

Amazing game. I could not believe how many times the Sabres came back. And the last two minutes were surreal. When the Senators were on the power play I thought, this is probably over. Then the sabers score short=handed and I'm thinking, overtime. Then the Senators score less than half a minute later, and I'm crushed. Sabers pull the goalie but lose the puck and again I'm thinking it's REALLY over now. Then Connoly scores with 10 seconds left. Then the Sabres score 16 seconds into the OT. Complete roller coaster ride. I was wrung out just watching. Just unbelievable.

Ran across this blog posting today, with a link to an academic paper that analyzes on economic terms when, in terms of field postion and yards-to-go, it makes sense for an NFL offense to try for the first down on fourth rather than attempting a kick. The paper concludes that coaches are too conservative--that an analysis shows that it makes sense to go for the first down about twice as often as NFL coaches typically do. Here's the link: http://www.marginalrevolution.com/marginal...otball_coa.html (PS: This is a political blog, but you can ignore the politics)

Get a grip, people. Who cares what Mortenson thinks about this? It bespeaks a lack of self-confidence that we need to have outside observers validate our opinions, and we get our panties in a knot if they disagree. Mortenson doesn't hate the Bills. He probably doesn't care one way or another about them. He just expressed an opinion.

McCargo was very well regarded here, and the defense was the strong suit of this NC State team. But I am no expert and can't say whether he will pan out in the pros. He was a smart kid and took his classes seriously, which we professor types like and which can't be said for a lot of scholarship athletes. I did have three football players in my undergraduate fiction writing class last Fall. But they were underclassmen and did not play that much. Miguel Scott was a defensive back who played more as the season went on. He was very handsome. Bobby Washington was brought to NCSU to be a running back, with star expectations. But he did not pan out, and transferred after the season. I was not impressed with his dedication to his writing. DeMario Pressley was a DT. He sat in the back of the room with Bobby but took the class much more seriously. He also laughed at my jokes, which means of course he is NFL material. I could have asked him about McCargo but did not. But by far the best athlete I had as a student last fall was K.D. Whittinton, starting strong forward on the women's basketball team. If she wanted to, she could have snapped my neck like a pencil . She also was a good student, and played basketball with great heart. My 12-year-old daughter and I became big fans of hers.

Remember the 2000 Bills draft? Probably the worst in the team's history: 2000 Rd Sel# Player Pos. School 1 26 Erik Flowers DE Arizona State 2 58 Travares Tillman FS Georgia Tech 3 89 Corey Moore OLB Virginia Tech 4 121 Avion Black WR Tennessee State 5 156 Sammy Morris FB Texas Tech 6 194 Leif Larsen DT Texas-El Paso 7 233 Drew Haddad WR Buffalo, N.Y. 7 251 Dashon Polk ILB Arizona I seem to recall that the Bills got a high rating by many observers for that draft. They found an unnoticed gem in Erik Flowers and managed to snatch him ahead of the rams, who also wanted him. Guys like Peter King (?) were talking about what a steal Corey Moore was in the third round, the guy who broke Bruce Smith's sack records at Virginia Tech. Sammy Morris was rated as another steal. The only criticism I remember is the suggestion that Tillman was a reach in the second round. In retrospect, we (except for those who still pine for Drew Haddad) see this draft as a disaster, the last draft of John Butler and sealing the end of a decade of winning Bills teams. I cite this just to remind those of us who need it that instant evaluation of a draft is stupid. I guess it gives us something to talk about, but anyone who obsesses about how outside observers rank a draft class is wasting their emotional energy. Make up your own opinion and then wait and see how it works out. That should be part of the fun of being a fan. I was shocked this year at the Bills' picking a safety I had never heard of first, but it seems clear to me now they have a rational plan and followed it quite well. I don't know if it will work out, but i am going to be very interested in seeing how it plays.

"Last night I shot an irrelevant in my pajamas. How he got into my pajamas I'll never know." Groucho Marx

Tim McVeigh was a Bills fan.