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In the end I made a whopping $1.76 going 2/4 on my bets. I had the Arizona money line (loss), Hightower to have more rushing yards than M. Moore (loss), Big Ben to throw a pick before Warner (win) and Steve Breaston to have more recieving yards than Nate Washington (win).

Nate Washington absolutely burned him in the first. Only reason he got a hand on the pass was because it was under-thrown by Ben and Nate had to stop and wait for it.

Kinda. IN some ways, it's almost the opposite. The Big Money players that leave the team - Nate Clements, Willis McGahee - go on to have fairly run-of-the-mill careers with other teams. It's just the guys we run out of town or cut in disgrace that seem to catch on. Lord knows we could afford Bannan and Leonard.

Yup...Nate Clements and Jason Peters are cursing out Jauron because he allowed them to become the highest paid players at their positions... Man, it is amazing what trash gets posted when there is nothing to talk about and people have to manufacture things...

So was Pat Williams. So was Nate Clements. So was Antoine Winfield. So was Jabari Greer. So was ... Getting a good next contract isn't a function of acting professional and patient. It has a great deal to do with what the Bills feel like doing.

When I checked on this thread, my first reaction was, Cool. It's up to two pages already. Glad to see things are going well. Then I looked at people's posts, and saw that, with a few exceptions (such as SilverMike and Bill from NYC) no actual content had been added to this thread. But one poster decided to give his hooting a thin veneer of intellectual respectability. To do this, he tried to argue that the Bills are generally reluctant to retain their most successful players at any position. The problem, supposedly, wasn't that the front office valued CBs too highly in the draft (too many first round picks) or too little in free agency (none of those first round picks were extended). Instead, he felt that, had those first round picks been used on players at other positions, and had those players done as well as the CBs did, they too would have been allowed to go first contract and out. To examine that particular argument more closely, let's look at the Bills' first round picks starting around the time of the Super Bowl era: Offensive line: John Fina, Ruben Brown, Mike Williams. Result: every player was either a bust (Williams) or was retained for the bulk of his useful career. WR: Eric Moulds, Lee Evans. Result: both players were successful picks, who have given (or will have given) the majority of their careers to Buffalo. QB: Rob Johnson, Drew Bledsoe, J.P. Losman Result: none of the guys worked out. TE: no one RB: Antowain Smith, Marshawn Lynch Result: Smith was released after a few years, and continued to produce at a so-so level. Lynch is entering his fourth season with the Bills. Defensive line: Erik Flowers, John McCargo Result: Flowers was a bust, McCargo's career looks iffy LB: nobody Safety: Henry Jones, Donte Whitner Result: of Jones' twelve seasons in the league, ten were spent with Buffalo. CB: James Williams, Thomas Smith, Jeff Burris, Antoine Winfield, Nate Clements, Leodis McKelvin Result: Of his six years in the league, Williams spent four with Buffalo. Of Smith's nine years in the league, seven were spent with the Bills. Of Burris' ten years in the NFL, four were spent with Buffalo. Of Winfield's ten years (and counting) in the NFL, five were spent with Buffalo. Clements gave the Bills six years, and is now with the '49ers. The story is clear. From 1990 - 2005, there were five successful non-CBs chosen in the first round. All of them were retained for the majority of their careers. During that same span, four successful CBs were chosen in the first round. Those four players averaged 5.5 years in Buffalo before leaving.

Golly, I wonder what happened around February 4th, 1993 that would cause our drafting to get worse. I can't imagine... But quick and dirty, here's our all-drafted team since that day: QB: Trent Edwards RB: Marshawn Lynch, Travis Henry WR: Eric Moulds, Lee Evans TE: Jay Riemersma OT: Jonas Jennings, Corey Louichey OG: Reuben Brown, Brad Butler C: Dusty Ziegler DE: Marcellus Wiley, Aaron Schobel DT: Ron Edwards, Kyle Williams LB: Sam Cowart, Paul Posluszny, Angelo Crowell CB: Antoine Winfield, Nate Clements SS: Donte Whitner FS: I honestly can't come up with anyone. Ko Simpson? Eric Smedley? That's probably not a playoff team.

So let's see, how often do we keep top picks lately? 2001: Nate Clements - Franchised, lost; Schobel - extended; Henry - extended, traded; 2002: Mike Williams - cut; Josh Reed - extended; Ryan Denney - extended 2003: Willis McGahee - traded; Chris Kelsay - extended; 2004: Evans extended; Losman - left in disgrace 2005: Parrish extended;

I'm pretty sure Nate Clements would go under that category...he was an elite football player when we left him go, one of the best of his position.

There are a lot of things that could be said in that discussion. I'll focus on just one thing--how the two of them did with their first round picks--while recognizing that a lot of other factors go into how one scores them overall. I've assigned each first round pick a grade, as follows: A = exceeds expectations for the pick B = meets expectations for the pick C = falls below expectations for the pick, but still a solid starter D = falls seriously below expectations for the pick, but still someone you'd like to have on your roster F = outright bust Longevity is also factored in. If a player went first contract and out, I'll give him a significantly lower score than he'd have gotten if he'd stayed here his whole career. TD's first round picks: Nate Clements: C (This would have been an A had Clements not gone first contract and out.) Mike Williams: F Drew Bledsoe: D (This would have been a C had Bledsoe lasted longer than three years.) Willis McGahee: C Lee Evans: B J.P. Losman: F Average: 1.5 (on a scale of 0 - 4) Marv's first round picks: Donte Whitner: C John McCargo: D Marshawn Lynch: C (His grade is lowered a bit by the fact that he probably won't have a very long career.) Average: 1.7 (on a scale of 0 - 4) As you can see, there isn't a whole lot of difference between how Marv and TD did in the first round. Between them, the two general managers found no As, and only one B. When you think about the Bills' lack of game changers, their lack of superstar players, it comes back to the lack of As and Bs in the first round of the draft.

This is a great topic. Now that we have a few years of work under Levy/Jauron et al, we can objectively compare how much "better" we are from the dredges of the Donahoe years. Donahoe's 1st round picks, for the most part, were pretty awful. Bledsoe (traded a #1), Williams, McGahee, Losman. McGahee is still a player in this league, and has had some success since leaving, so in a player perspective, he still can play, but for Buffalo, obviously, this is nill. So I think on McGahee its a special case since Williams and Losman simply can't play in the league as it stands. There ARE believe it or not some Donahoe hits in the draft. The 2001 draft was really good, to be honest. Nate Clements, Aaron Schobel, Travis Henry, Jonas Jennings all in the first day. That's pretty impressive. 3 Pro Bowlers, and 4 starters in day 1? OK. Sure, Henry is a felon now, and Jennings is certainly up there, and making a ton of money on bad knees in SF w/Clements, but you can't deny, at the time, the efficacy of that draft. Jason Peters, "the best LT in football" was a Donahoe scrapheep find. As was Jabari Greer who is a starter in this league. Lee Evans, Roscoe Parrish, Josh Reed are still here. How about those Bills Special Teams? Moorman, Lindell, McGee, and Parrish all Donahoe finds. Angelo Crowell is still a starter in this league. Takeo Spikes and Fletcher had a couple really good years here. Despite his many mistakes, and I do credit a lot of our problems to Donahoe's long term errors, but he DID actually get some talent in here, despite everyone's hatred for the man. Levy has his busts too, McCargo is glaring. Whitner is arguable suggestion, especially at 8th overall. You need Ed Reed at 8th overall, not a guy with I still think only 1 INT in his career. They have a good running back when he's not suspended or arrested. I like Edwards, lets just hope he stays healthy. All in all, the above poster with regards to average record put it best. We haven't really had much difference. Average record w/TD 6-10, avg w/Jauron/Levy/Brandon, 7-9. Donahoe DOES have a winning season on his record, and an 8-8. So that does count in his favor. But nonetheless, we're still almost 10 years removed from the postseason, and still a coupel BIG holes to fill if we really wanna compete next year. I actually have to do work now. Out.

Franchise him? That is always the worst way to go, especially with a QB! Look at that trade the Pats had to make just to dump Cassell's one year 12 Mil. contract. They "tossed" in a terrific veteran linebacker with a couple of good years still in him in Vrabel, and still didn't even get a #1 pick back from KC. Why? Because the Chiefs had to deal with that insane contract of course, that's why. Besides, the Bills have not used the franchise tag since.....wow, I don't remember the last time they used it. Have they ever used it? They could have and should have used it on Nate Clements. Not that Nate has lived up to his contract he ended up signing with in SF, the Bills still could have used his talent for at least one more season, and ended up spending less then the 49ers gave him.

bringing the discussion back to Drew Willy, since this thread was originally about him before some disgruntled people brought up Nate Davis and Big Ben.. after the 'Fins released John Beck, he got signed up by the Baltimore Ravens - is Drew Willy still with them? that would add another player int he competition for the backup position.. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/foot...s.ap/index.html

They also thought Nate Clements was worth $80 Million

Hey, they signed Nate Clements!

Am I the only one out here who is terrified that, god forbid, Trent goes down with a serious injury this season? Our depth at quarterback is almost laughable. We picked up Ryan Fitzpatrick who displayed glimpses of mediocrity last year for the Bungles (I'm not impressed). Coming off the bench we have Gibran Hamdan. I know he's good buddies with Trent and that's really sweet........but I'm pretty certain that he would not be able to step up and lead this team. Finally, we have Matt Baker, "the human paperweight." Enough said. My main point being.....why didn't we take a shot on a "groomable" QB in rounds 4-7? In lieu of selecting 3 defensive backs in the latter rounds we could have had a guy like Graham Harrell (went undrafted), Stephen McGee, Nate Davis, etc... I know we had to address a lot of needs in this draft, but I really was hoping we would take a QB somewhere along the line. I like our early round picks. I am really excited about the potential of out o-line. I'm a little confused about what they were thinking in rounds 5-7.

Firstly I would always want to believe and do believe, that Pete Metzelaars and Frank Reich are excellent coaches. We have no way of knowing if that's true but everything we know about them would suggest that they are excellent coaches and not riding some sort of Polian gravy train. And it does seem odd and unfortunate that so few of the men from our Super Bowl teams have any affiliation with the team. Even more curious because Marv was GM for two years and his tenure might have been an opportunity to recruit some alums from our glory years. I think what it might come down to is that few Bills from the Super Bowl years are still in football. That was roughly 15 years ago. On top of that few of the Bills great players (Smith, Kelly, Thomas, Reed, Hull, Bennett, Talley, Conlan, etc) ever went into coaching or administration. Not only did none of the all time greats stay in the game but none of the role players did either. Ray Bentley coached indoors for awhile. You could imagine guys like Rob Riddick or Nate Odomes coaching in the league but they never did. Steve Tasker works in broadcasting. John Butler passed away. The Bills employ one of the few players from those teams still in the NFL, Mark Kelso who's an analyst on Bills radio broadcasts. There actually seems to be very few former Bills players from any era working in the NFL. I think James Lofton might still be in football, and former Bills DB Martin Mayhew is GM of the Detroit Lions. Former Bills QB James Harris the first black QB to start a season opener, (Bills, 1969) was a long time VP Player Personnel with Jacksonville and works with Mayhew in Detroit now. Paul Maguire does college football broadcasts I believe. There's just not that many Bills from that or any era working in the NFL it seems.

While the Ball State alums do bring up valid points, coming from someone who never really "got" college football, last year's UB football season was some of the most fun I had watching football in a looong time. Isn't that what its supposed to be, fun? The players genuinely enjoyed being on the field, playing for pride, and pretty much, nothing else. That's what its about folks, connecting oneself to the bigger picture. Thats what a good sports story is. Was Willy the best QB in college football? Of course not. There is something to be said about A LOT of people that are paid big money to do what we're doing right now, talk about football, that believe Willy to be a pretty talented player. He made some GREAT throws last year, and, actually uses the laces by the way. When Nate Davis got drafted, Jaws was going on and on about his flawed footwork and mechanics. Mechanics can be corrected, but retraining YEARS of muscle memory is going to be a challenge. I'm not an athlete, but I can tell you that much. Was it the best football you'll ever watch? Obviously not, its a mid major conference. But at least it was fun. You can feel that the coaches are in charge of the situation and wont make boneheaded, terrible game-day decisions like professional buffalo football coaches. Take it for what its worth. Tickets are free, or REALLY cheap. The band is good. Some of the cheerleaders are good looking. Oh, and there's not a crowd full of wasted idiots that cant stop shouting incessant nonsense the whole time. At a recent Sabres game, the guy right next to me could not go literally a minute without shouting "FIRE REGIERRRRRRR" Seriously, they heard you, and please just watch hockey and shut up. Ill tell ya what, for free, I'll go to as many UB games as possible.

That's inaccurate. Clements was still under contract in January when Tom Donahoe was let go. It was the new regime that then tagged Clements, so theoretically he wasn't one contract and out. It was the new regime that also struck a deal with Nate, assuring him he wouldn't be tagged again if he agreed to show up to minicamps. jw

Contracts are never what they look like, ie Nate Clemens bogus 8 year 80 mil http://www.rotoworld.com/content/playerpag...NFL&id=4661 7/26/2008: Signed a five-year, $33 million contract. The deal includes $22.5 million guaranteed. Another $18 million is available through incentives. 2009: $385,000, 2010: $983,500, 2011: $1,582,250, 2012: $2.181 million, 2013: $2.75 million, 2014: Free Agent Obviously still a lot of money, but he's not making 10 mil a year. I'm still looking for his signing bonus breakdowns...read on ballhype that the chiefs got a pretty good deal, in terms on no 5 pick money...

Anyone remember the Nate Clements hit on Brady in 2001(?)? Now that was a classic.

Except, he's right. The Bills follow a strange paradigm: Draft a DB, train him well, let him walk. Rinse, lather, repeat. Tell me the Bills wouldn't have been better off if they'd kept both of the below and worked on the OL/DL instead: Nate Clements Antoine Winfield I think they would be.

The story of the Bills since our last playoff appearance… 2008 SEASON 11/18/08 – BROWNS 29 BILLS 27 – The Bills overcome four turnovers, including three Trent Edwards’ interceptions thanks to Marshawn Lynch’s first 100 yard rushing day of the season (119 yards rushing and 1 TD, 10 catches for 58 yards receiving and 1 TD). McKelvin returns his first kickoff for a TD, and the Bills average a whopping 35 yards on seven returns. The Bills trail most of the game, and finally take a one point lead with 2:35 left. On the ensuing drive, Reggie Corner complete misses Brady Quinn after being unblocked on a blitz, Leodis McKelvin drops a difficult interception, and Phil Dawson kicks a 56-yarder with the wind with 1:44 left. The Bills drive down the field, but upon reaching the Cleveland 34 with one minute left, inexplicably run three times – for minimal gain. The ensuing 47 yard field goal against the wind is wide right. 2007 SEASON 10/08/07 - COWBOYS 25 BILLS 24 - Bills turn over Tony Romo 6 times, return 2 INTs and a kickoff for touchdowns, stop a last-ditch two point conversion, and then lose when Dallas recovers an onsides kick with 20 seconds left and kicks a 50+ yard field goal with two seconds left 09/09/07 - BRONCOS 15 BILLS 14 - In a game in which the Bills never trailed, they lose on a "fire drill" field goal with one second left. 2006 SEASON 12/24/06 - TITANS 30 BILLS 20 - In Orchard Park, Vince Young runs wild, the Titans kick a field goal with 2:10 left to take a one point lead. The game ends when JP Losman throwing an INT on 4th and 5 from the Tennessee 28 yard line with one minute left, after the Bills forego the 43 yard field goal attempt due to wind. 12/12/06 - COLTS 17 BILLS 16 - Down one to the Colts in Indy, Rian Lindell misses a 41 yard field with 6:30 left. Peyton Manning never gives the Bills the ball back and runs out the clock. 09/10/06 - PATRIOTS 19 BILLS 17 - On the road to open the season, the Bills return a Brady INT for a TD on first play of game, and lead for most of the game. Then the Patriots take the lead on a *safety* by sacking Losman with six minutes left. After the free kick, Donte Whitner records an INT on the first play. The Bills proceed to go three-and-out from their own 44, punt with 6:20 to go and never see the ball again. 2005 SEASON 01/01/06 - JETS 30 BILLS 26 - In a meaningless game at home, the Jets score on a Kelly Holcomb INT for a TD and then take the lead with a Justin Miller KR for a TD with 6 minutes left. Holcomb takes Bills to the Jets 34 with with 3 minutes left before being sacked on 4th and 10. Holcomb then throws an INT on the desperation drive with 50 seconds left. 12/04/05 - DOLPHINS 24 BILLS 23 - In Miami, Lee Evans scores 3 TDs in the first quarter. Losman only completes one more pass to Lee Evans for the rest of the game. Chris Chambers catches 15 passes for 238 yards, including the game-winning TD as Sage Rosenfels in relief for Gus Frerotte takes the Fish 73 yards with 1:51 left. 11/27/05 - PANTHERS 13 BILLS 9 - Bills take a 9-6 lead at home with 5 minutes left. Future Buffalo Bill Michael Gaines scores the GW TD with 2:21 left. With 47 seconds left, on 3rd and 10 from the Carolina 43, JP Losman throws a game-ending INT. 10/30/05 - PATRIOTS 21 BILLS 16 - On the road in Foxboro, the Bills take a 16-7 lead with ten minutes left. The Patriots take just two minutes and 11 seconds to score a TD to pull within two points. On the next drive, Holcomb fumbles, and the Patriots need just one play to take the lead. With two minutes left, on 4th and 8 from the from the New England 40, a pass to Moulds gets no gain. 10/02/05 – SAINTS 16 BILLS 7 - In San Antonio, thanks to Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans kicks a field goal to go up 13 to 7 with 13 second left in the first half. Terrence McGee returns the ensuing kickoff 82 yards before being tripped up on a weak tackle attempt at the New Orleans three yard line after the clock had expired. Late in the game, Willis McGahee is stuffed on 4th and inches, JP Losman finishes the day 7 of 15 for 75 yards and an INT with four sacks. Kelly Holcomb adds a lost fumble on 3 of 6 passing for 28 yards in a day of complete offensive futility. That Saints team would go on to finish 3-13, and would lose next week to the tune of 52-3 in Green Bay. 2004 SEASON 01/02/05 - STEELERS 29 BILLS 24 - In a home game to secure a playoff birth, the Steelers played their backups, and some guy named Willie Parker ran 19 times for 102 yards. The Bills never even come close to winning. 10/10/04 - JETS 16 BILLS 14 - On the road in New York, the Bills score 14 4th Quarter points to take the lead with 6 minutes left. The Jets' Doug Brien kicks a 38 yard field goal with 1 minute left. The game ends with Drew Bledsoe's Hail Mary being intercepted in a game that ultimately cost the Bills a playoff spot. 10/03/04 - PATRIOTS 31 BILLS 17 - At home and down 7 with three minutes left, the Bills are driving at the New England 17, when Drew Bledsoe is sacked and the Patriots return the fumble for a TD in a game that ultimately costs the Bills a playoff spot. 09/12/04 - JAGUARS 13 BILLS 10 - At home and up 4 points with two minutes left, the Bills give the Jaguars get the ball at their own 20 with one time out. On 4th and Goal from the 7 with four seconds left, Byron Leftwich hits Ernest Wilford in the back of the end zone - who somehow hangs on to the GW TD in a game that ultimately cost the Bills a playoff spot. 2003 SEASON 12/14/03 - TITANS 28 BILLS 26 - Billy Volek has a big game in Nashville. Drew Bledsoe hits Mark Campbell for a TD with 26 seconds left, but the two-point conversion fails and the Titans recover the onsides kick. This ends the playoff hopes in a season that began with the 31-0 thumping of the Patriots in the Lawyer Milloy Bowl. 11/23/03 - COLTS 17 BILLS 14 - Bills take a 14-3 lead into the 4th quarter in Orchard Park. The Bills stuff the Colts on three plays after first-and-goal from the 3. Colts punch it in on 4th and Goal from the 1 with 1:42 left and convert the two-point conversion for a three point lead. From the Buffalo 46, Drew Bledsoe throws an INT with 42 seconds left. Their third crushing loss in three weeks, their second at home. 11/16/03 - TEXANS 12 BILLS 10 - In Orchard Park, the Texans take a 12-8 lead with 3:28 left. On the first play after the two minute warning, the Bills have 1st and 10 from the Houston 31. Drew Bledsoe is sacked and fumbles. The Texans take an intentional safety to end the game, giving the Bills two safeties in the game. 11/09/03 - COWBOYS 10 BILLS 3 - In Dallas, Quincy Carter takes a four point lead into the 4th quarter. With four minutes left, the Cowboys' kicker pooch punts the ball into the end zone from the Buffalo 32 for a 12 yard net punt. The Bills proceed to go three-and-out, including an own-recovered Travis Henry fumble. Getting the ball with 2:50 to play, Adrian Murrell runs the ball down our throats to end the game. 09/21/03 - DOLPHINS 17 BILLS 7 - In Miami, the Bills are down 10 to 3 with 6:43 to play. Getting the ball at their own 34, they run for two yards, have a false start, and a Drew Bledsoe sack. On 3rd and 19, the pass is incomplete. Miami then rips off a three minute drive, when the Bills appear to stuff Ricky Williams on 3rd and Goal from the 1 on the first play after the two minute warning. A booth review is called, and Miami is given the TD and a 10 point lead. Down 10 with 1:48 to play from their own 20 with one timeout, Drew Bledsoe manages to drive to the Miami 24. 2002 SEASON 11/17/02 - CHIEFS 17 BILLS 16 - In Kansas City, the Chiefs take a one point lead with five minutes to go. Five plays later, the Bills have 2nd and 10 at the KC 40 when Drew Bledsoe throws an INT on a deep pass towards the end zone. The Chiefs take the ball with 4:15 to play and proceed to run out the clock. 09/08/02 - JETS 37 BILLS 31 - The Bills tie the season-opener at home with a Bledsoe-to-Moulds TD pass with 26 seconds left. They lose in OT as Chad Morton takes the opening kickoff of overtime for a touchdown, his second kickoff return for a TD of the day. 2001 SEASON 12/16/01 - PATRIOTS 12 BILL 9 - In one of the great ironies of football history, a Bills team that will finish 3-13 takes a Patriots team that will win the Super Bowl to the wire at home, ending up holding Tom Brady to 19 of 35 passing. The Patriots tie the game with 2:50 left. Alex Van Pelt proceeds to lead the Bills on a three-and-out. With 1:50 left, the Patriots get the ball at their own 13. They get to their own 45 with one minute left. The Bills sniff out a screen for -2, nearly get an interception, and finally Schobel sacks Brady to end the threat. With 22 seconds left at their own 16, the Bills unwisely try to make something happen. Alex Van Pelt fumbles, and the Bills recover to thankfully get to OT. In OT, the Bills advance to their own 48, and throw an incomplete pass on 3rd and 2, and punt. With 10 minutes left in OT, the Patriots are at their own 46 when David Patten catches a pass, is knocked silly by Keion Carpenter, and fumbles. Nate Clements recovers, and advances the ball into Patriots territory. On replay review, David Patten’s head rolls out of bounds while his body is touching the football. By rule, the ball is out-of-bounds and New England retains possession. Two plays later, NE kicks the winning FG. Had the Bills won, New England would not have made the playoffs, Bill Belichick would have been a lifetime .500 football Head Coach, and the world would have been a very different place. 11/25/01 - DOLPHINS 34 BILLS 27 - In Buffalo, the Fish score 24 points in the 4th Quarter. The Fish score a TD with 4:15 left, and the Bills proceed to go three-and-out, with an incomplete pass on 2nd down, and a completed pass short to Larry Centers on third down. Olindo Mare kicks a 39 yarder with 1:17 left, and Nate Clements fumbles the ensuing kickoff. Three plays later, the Fish have a seven point lead. Alex Van Pelt gets the ball with 43 seconds and two timeouts, but is unable to seriously threaten. 11/11/01 - PATRIOTS 21 BILLS 11 - Antowain Smith ices the game with a 42-yard TD run with three minutes left. 10/28/01 - CHARGERS 27 BILLS 24 - Doug Flutie scores on a GW 13 yard TD run with one minute left. 2000 SEASON 12/17/00 - PATRIOTS 13 BILLS 10 (OT) - In Foxboro, the Patriots kick the game-winner with 19 seconds left in OT. The Patriots finish 5-11, the Bills finish 8-8. 12/11/00 - COLTS 44 BILLS 20 - In Indy, with both teams at 7-6 with three games left, Wade Phillips says that "both teams are basically out of it." The Colts win their last three and make the playoffs. 10/01/00 - COLTS 18 BILLS 16 - In Buffalo, Mike Vanderjagt hits a 45-yard gamewinner as time expires. 1999 SEASON 01/08/00 - TITANS 22 BILLS 16

PS call-up G Nate Livings - LSU - is not bad. I've been recommending him to Bill from NYC via PM for the past 2 years. Of course, not ever practicing with the starters....

"The Niners are a bad team without a good QB. They simply aren't going to win in Buffalo in cold weather." The Niners might be a bad team, but they're better than Detroit, STL, KC, Oakland, Houston and Cincy, at least. There is talent on defense with 2007 Defensive Rookie of the Year LB Patrick Willis....and the return of CB Nate Clements vs. turnover-prone QB Trent Edwards is an interesting storyline. The 49ers' QB, Shaun Hill, has a 92 passer rating in three games played. Hill shouldn't be bothered by cold weather - he played at the U. of Maryland and grew up in Kansas.