MDH

Yeah, getting mauled for 180+ rushing yards is a performance to be proud of. I haven't heard any comments from the players yet, but I'd bet that nobody on the D is "happy" or "proud" of their effort. Now, don't read this to mean I blame the D. They played much better than the O, but this is a team game and the D should shoulder some of the blame.

The Bears and Ravens' Ds you speak of wouldn't have let this Tampa O pile up first downs on them. They would have forced 3 and outs too, which would have evened up the time of possession. Time of possession isn’t just an offensive stat, it’s a D stat too. Both of them are to blame for losing the TOP battle this badly.

A big part of the problem was JP's Vick like accuracy. Moulds was open quite a few times and he missed him badly each time. Even on Moulds one reception Losman made was should have been an easy completion into a highlight catch for Moulds. I'm impressed with Losman's ability to sense the rush, but there are two things that worry me. The first, which isn't a big deal at this stage on Losman's development, is that he panics too quickly. The moment he sees the blitz he gets happy feet. The game is just moving too quickly for him at the moment and he doesn’t make the quick decisions he needs to. Give him a season and this will (hopefully) change once he gets more comfortable. The second is that his throws are way off target. He looked like Bledsoe out there on the short to intermediate throws. This is a major concern as QB’s that aren’t accurate don’t tend to do very well, even if they have everything else going for them.

I knew somebody would bring this up, and while its kinda-sorta true, the D wouldn't have been on the field that long if they did the same thing Tampa's D did to us. Shut that crappy Tampa O down and they get off the field and get to rest. Going into the 4th quarter Tampa was something like 5 of 10 in converting 3rd downs. That's just horrible. I'll admit that the Bills' O didn't help matters with their performance, but the D still has to step up to the plate.

I hate it because I have to wait until Sunday or Monday night to watch the game. The waiting f'in kills me.

How many threads can we discuss this exact same subject? Brady rules! Brady sucks! He's overrated! He's one of the best ever! There, I just covered all the angles in 12 words. There's no need for the 3-4 threads a week on the topic.

I'll agree that Tampa's smallish D is susceptible to the power running game. However, I'm concerned about WM's penchant for bouncing stuff outside instead of taking the 2-4 yards he could get back banging it between tackles. Against Tampa's incredible pursuit McGahee won't be getting many yards bouncing it outside and won't wear down the D as much either. I don't see our running game being successful this week unless Willis changes his game a little bit. He'll see 7 in the box most of the game, so if he runs where the play is designed I see him eventually having some success as the D gets worn down.

Sounds like he wasn't talking about the dropped ball to start the second half but the play where he and Josh and a miscommunication and there were words exchanged afterwards.

Pure genius. Somehow the guy thought he could leave that message on a writer's voice mail and the reporter wouldn't report it? If I were the Rams I wouldn't fire the guy for inappropriate behavior, I'd can his ass for being an idiot.

Derrick Brooks? Simeon Rice? Anthony McFarland? Ronde Barber? Those guys are some of the best at their positions in the NFL. Just because they only won 5 games last year doesn't mean they don't have some game breaking players.

I'm more worried about Lindell hitting FG's in this game than I am with Losman making game altering mistakes. This will be a close, low scoring game. Lindell better not shank any "gimme" FG's...

And everytime I see this clip I get annoyed that the officials didn't throw a flag at the most blantent clip I've ever seen in my life than launched Dante's 99 yard return.

I didn't see the story in question, but in my experience the BBC's news coverage is far superior to anything our major networks offer. Anytime somebody has something critical to say about anything that people love (be it America, the Bills, etc.) people B word about some "media bias".

Yep, and I'd lay money that if we released Josh Reed he'd be picked up very quickly. Yet, people on this board somehow think Haddad is better than Reed. People love rooting for the underdog.

That, my friend, is not a bad movie.

I'll jump in here and say it before Hollywood Donahoe does: The Raiders didn't get robbed. The way the rule is written, the right call was made. It's an odd rule, I'll admit, but it was the correct call based on that rule.

Not that you're wrong, but this would be a pretty boring place if people just agreed with everything the organization did. I like hearing people's opinion's, even if I don't agree with them. And talent or not, I'd trust Tucker to produce in a pinch more than these untested players. Perhaps he doesn't have the "upside" of these guys, but if someone goes down this year (and it will happen) I'm going to be pretty nervous with who we have in there.

Of all the sports writers I read, Dr. Z is the last one I'd call "lazy". He puts more work into his job than just about any writer out there.

That's going a bit far. Cowart was a dominate player before the injury, almost on the level of Ray Lewis. Calling him a "loser" because he got injured (on a cheap shot none-the-less) is pretty pathetic.

How about the guys getting paid a ton kick in 10k and the guys just hanging onto a roster spot who will be lucky to see a check after this year keep their 5k and donate something they can afford? People think that every pro athlete is a millionaire which isn't the case. While they do make good money, alot of these guys don't have enough job security to be throwing out 5k just because some millionaire said it was their obligation.

Those examples suck. Williams was on the wrong side of 30 and only played 1/2 the D snaps, Ruben wasn't worth the cash and neither was Jennings. Gash was a FB, it wasn't like he was going to break the bank, I don't think it was a matter of not wanting to pay him, but that TD thought he couldn't be productive for much longer. Cowart wasn't the same after his injury. Paying Jennings what SF paid him would have been idiotic. I'll give you Winfield. Just look at what these players did AFTER they left Buffalo, only Winfield has done a damn thing worth mentioning. That's a pretty good track record. But for every Winfield there's a Takeo who got paid to come here, TD managed to get Fletcher in here as well...and Vincent...and Milloy. In fact, our D has been primarily built with Free Agents. So much for asking "why would anybody ever come to the Bills?" TD has made plenty of mistakes in his time here, but his decisions on who to pick up in FA and who to keep have been pretty good choices and one of the last places one should look to question him.

Yeah, but like it or not JP is our guy. He's got to start at some point so we can see what he's got. Pulling the plug on him because of a few bad pre-season games just isn't an option. I like winning as much as anybody, but at some point you have to look at the long term goals of the organization. A team can only get so far with a guy like Holcomb at the helm.

Sadly, my first thought here is, "a minor injury might just scare Nate enough for him to sign a long term deal before the season starts..."

I agree, we need to take our lumps. If he sat this year we'd just have to take our lumps next year. Let's just swallow our medicine and hope in the end it works out in the end.

They can hide JP's deficiancies just as easily as they can hide Holcomb's, behind a solid running game and a D that allows less than 17 points a game. If you think Holcomb would light the world on fire you're mistaken. The guy is a career backup and has never looked good for any stretch of time. He was BARELY better than Couch and Couch was horrible.