MDH

Although I'm tired of seeing both the Cowboys and Broncos I won't complain about what's available in primetime as long as the game is a good one. What I don't want to see are these teams playing bad teams (like, say Oakland or Green Bay). At this time of year I want to see games which have playoff implications for both teams, not just one.

Since most of the big market teams are NFC teams you're likely to see more of the same. They're not that interested in putting quality football on in primetime. They're interested in grabbing a few big market teams.

Is this the 4th and inches from the Bills own 27 yard line you're referring to? If it is then it's not even a question, you punt the ball. The pluses don't outweigh the minuses in that situation. If you get the 1st down you're not guaranteed of points but if you get stuffed (and the way the Bills were running yesterday it was a distinct possibility) you pretty much give SD points. That is something the Bills couldn't afford to do. If the refs say Price was pushed out of bound or actually call the PI on Reed the Bills have a real shot at winning (well, until their D comes up small again, like they always do). The Bills have a bad O and a bad D yet somehow have played both the Colts and Chargers tough. That, my friends, is all solid game planning. I wasn't a fan of the Jauron hire to begin with but he understands this team's limitations and pretty much always has them in games at the end. There are only 2 games this year in which the Bills weren't in the game at the end. With the lack of talent this team has that's pretty miraculous.

The Bills D has had multiple coordinators, multiple schemes and lots of different players. The one thing that it's had in common in the past 7-8 seasons (even when they were ranked #2 in the league two years running) is that they consistently come up small at the end of games. They allow teams to score, run out the clock, pick up first downs...whatever the other team needs to do to win the D allows it to happen. At some point this team needs some players that know how to come up big in critical situations.

Sapp was right around 300 when he played in his prime in Tampa. McFarland was, and still is, right at 300.

Stats can't tell you everything about the game but they do shed some light on some things. A QB can not complete 48% of his passes in the NFL and be successful on a consistent basis. He has to improve his passing dramatically in the next 15-16 starts or, he will, be a bust.

I wonder what he thinks the score would have been had the Bills not "given" SD the ball 3 times?

So I guess once a season we can expect positive results from his tippy toe running style? I loved Wills the first year he got on the field for the Bills. He made quick decisions and hit the hole hard. He'd lower his head and plow through defenders or lay them out with a nasty stiff arm. Too bad he got "healthy" and now thinks he has the same speed/moves he had in college. The only way he is going to be a really productive back in this league is to realize he's a power back. Otherwise we're going to see a lot more of what we saw yesterday.

Yet "Pro Football weekly is retarded" is somehow insightful.

I think a lot of people would be surprised, and impressed, with Sharp if they ever heard him do color commentary of a game. I agree, he's horrible in the studio, but he's good in the booth.

The problem is that Willis still isn't 100% and Thomas is nursing an injury as well. Unless they give Williams a heavy load I'm not sure the Bills can run a lot this weekend.

Unless they've changed things recently NFL Films shoots everything on Super 16 film, not HD video cameras. Super 16 is easily transfered to HD after it's developed but there is no way of broadcasting live in HD using Super 16 film cameras.

I didn't see a single quote from Moulds in that article, how exactly is he whining?

I'm not going to excuse the guy for letting go but I understand why he did so. This is what happens when you over-protect the QB. If Young had thrown the ball and the guy tackled him it would have been a 15 yard penalty and an automatic first down. The DE had no way of knowing if Young had released the ball or not and he made a really bad assumption. As it is I don't really get why the play wasn't blown dead for being in the grasp. If he thrown him down he could get a penalty but the officials don't blow the whistle so he doesn't have to throw him down? It's almost a lose/lose situation for the D.

You have to be around the ball to miss tackles. Spikes is never there to have the opportunity to miss one. It's going to be a tough decision in the offseason on whether to give him another year (with his huge salary) to recover or not.

What do you think about Michael Vick?

Yeah, I feel the same way. Even though the Bills are 3-1 since the bye I still see them finishing 6-10 (perhaps 7-9). That being said I do like coming to the wall and seeing some optimism for a change.

Cutler would be one of a select few rookies QBs in ths history of the NFL if that happens. I think Cutler will be a very good QB (I thought he was the best QB in the past draft) but I don't expect him to light the world on fire the moment he steps onto the field. Unless the Denver D resorts back to early season form I don't see them being a factor come playoff time.

Eli is going to end up being the worst QB from that draft. He is just so inaccurate and careless with the ball. I guess that shows how much I know about football. I thought Rivers would be the worst and Eli the best.

If you take 7-1 and reverse the numbers it becomes 1-7. Take out the dash and it's 17. 17 looks like "IT". Obviously, Leinart has "IT".

Yep, there wasn't much McGee could do there and he certainly didn't totally misplay it. He actually had very good coverage and his only mistake was not turning around a split-second sooner. It wouldn't have mattered though, the pass was perfect and Jones is 9 inches taller than him. As for needs I'd go OL, DL and WR as the Bills greatest needs right now. If Clements is gone come the offseason then that might change things. The Bills need to make sure they ink both Fletcher and Clements. They can't afford to lose two of few productive players they have on D.

By "came up big when it counted" do mean allowing the game tying TD drive on the Jaguar's last posession? The DL was solid rushing the passer today but they were horrid (once again) against the run.

Yep, that's been the biggest improvement the past few weeks. The OL is finally pass protecting well. I'd like to see them do a better job in the running game but I'll take the better pass protection for now.

It's not a matter of just bailing him out with the dump off, it's a matter of match ups. How do you defend SD with both LT and Gates on the field? Are you going to play a dime? Nickel? Base? If you go with your base D (3 LBs) that leaves a LB to cover both LT and Gates in the passing game. If you play a nickel you still have a LB on one of them. You can't play a dime because they'll just run the ball down your throat (that pretty much applies to the nickel too). The D HAS to concentrate on stopping LT in the running game which means that SD isn’t going to see that many blitzes and also means that those LBs are going to be on the field to stop LT and Gates in the passing game. If the D plays predominantly a zone (which they’re almost forced to do since they can’t win the man to man match ups) that makes it so much easier on a QB as he’s less likely to face serious pressure from the pass rush and makes his reads easier. You really couldn’t give Rivers a more ideal situation in which to be learning the QB position.

How is Denver a lock to make the playoffs? If they make the move to a rookie QB I'd toss their playoff chances down the toilet unless Cutler turns out to be one of the few rookies in the history of the game that plays very well from the get go.