enlightener Posted July 28, 2013 Share Posted July 28, 2013 (edited) 2010 It has only been 3 years since we saw the last game by a rasputin of bills football...Kieth Ellison. A guy who was a 5 year stop gap for the injured above average Angelo Crowell, who actually was a replacement for the pro bowler takeo spikes (who played as a starter oh just another 8 years as a so called "shell of himself") we then replaced ellisons tackles through the years with the likes of...get ready...reggie torbor, akin yoduleeheehuuu, Bryan scott and of course, Kelsay. With the safties always being the number 2 and 3 tacklers on the team and these outside linebackers always far below with between...get ready again...20-40 tackles per season! Oh had we just kept Takeo all those years. And now for middle LB Just three years ago we saw the last of Poz, who, when wasnt too busy breaking his arm, replaced the "awful" London fletcher ( still playing at a high level today with both arms I might add) We let Poz go for Sheppard who couldnt average 50 tackles a season for 2 years and for Barnett who couldnt sniff 80 tackles a season for two years as the teams top tackler!. (Poz at least broke 100 his last season rather than the usual radius or ulna) Today I actually see a serious attempt to have linebackers that can play. Alonzo was taken virtually in Poz' draft spot but looks more athletic, Bradham shows promise and speed, the colts guy has at least the potential to get sacks, what did sheppard do well? Our DE playing LB this year will be mario, not kelsay or worse, Spencer Johnson. What a joke that experiment was. Lawson I dont know about but could he be worse than Barnett or Kirk Morrison ? the only holdovers I see are Moats(good pass rusher) and Scott who has quietly chipped in around 50 tackles every season as a sub package player. I finally like our LBs! Edited July 28, 2013 by enlightener Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Optometric Insight Posted July 28, 2013 Share Posted July 28, 2013 So are you saying that the only thing that kept us from a winning team was our linebackers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PromoTheRobot Posted July 28, 2013 Share Posted July 28, 2013 If we make better use of CJ Spiller and our D improves to middle of the pack we have a shot at a decent season. PTR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kemp Posted July 28, 2013 Share Posted July 28, 2013 So are you saying that the only thing that kept us from a winning team was our linebackers? QB and receiver and LB and DB all stinking at once was not a good winning formula. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DANCOCK Posted July 28, 2013 Share Posted July 28, 2013 Hmm good points actually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
transient Posted July 28, 2013 Share Posted July 28, 2013 QB and receiver and LB and DB all stinking at once was not a good winning formula. With a dash of abysmal coaching for good measure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KDIGGZ Posted July 28, 2013 Share Posted July 28, 2013 The Kool-Aid is really flowing now! Super Bowl? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. WEO Posted July 28, 2013 Share Posted July 28, 2013 What was the OP's annual rationalization last year? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Best Player Available Posted July 28, 2013 Share Posted July 28, 2013 What was the OP's annual rationalization last year? Maybe, that some thought we had a top 3 D-Line? Well on paper anyways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3rdand12 Posted July 28, 2013 Share Posted July 28, 2013 2010 It has only been 3 years since we saw the last game by a rasputin of bills football...Kieth Ellison. A guy who was a 5 year stop gap for the injured above average Angelo Crowell, who actually was a replacement for the pro bowler takeo spikes (who played as a starter oh just another 8 years as a so called "shell of himself") we then replaced ellisons tackles through the years with the likes of...get ready...reggie torbor, akin yoduleeheehuuu, Bryan scott and of course, Kelsay. With the safties always being the number 2 and 3 tacklers on the team and these outside linebackers always far below with between...get ready again...20-40 tackles per season! Oh had we just kept Takeo all those years. And now for middle LB Just three years ago we saw the last of Poz, who, when wasnt too busy breaking his arm, replaced the "awful" London fletcher ( still playing at a high level today with both arms I might add) We let Poz go for Sheppard who couldnt average 50 tackles a season for 2 years and for Barnett who couldnt sniff 80 tackles a season for two years as the teams top tackler!. (Poz at least broke 100 his last season rather than the usual radius or ulna) Today I actually see a serious attempt to have linebackers that can play. Alonzo was taken virtually in Poz' draft spot but looks more athletic, Bradham shows promise and speed, the colts guy has at least the potential to get sacks, what did sheppard do well? Our DE playing LB this year will be mario, not kelsay or worse, Spencer Johnson. What a joke that experiment was. Lawson I dont know about but could he be worse than Barnett or Kirk Morrison ? the only holdovers I see are Moats(good pass rusher) and Scott who has quietly chipped in around 50 tackles every season as a sub package player. I finally like our LBs! i am big on the potential turnaround throughout the LBs and hybrid safety/ linebacker ability. One of my pet concerns as last years play was so abysmal the only place left to go is up. Okay some nice plays by Scott and Bradham but still . I am not sure about Moats making the team as much as i respect the kid. Hope they coach him up for versatilty (some pass coverage skill ) Morrison i have no way to critique him. Previous to Nix landing him on theBillshe was pretty darn good player by stat and reputation. That ones is still a mystery why he never saw the field, even when Sheppard was getting destroyed with the run game. Morrisons purported strength. Go Bills. go Alonso bradham lawson hughes mario etc ! With a dash of abysmal coaching for good measure. you beat me to abysmal whilst i pecked. damn you !But it is the word that correctly sums it up doesnt it ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leelee Phoenix Posted July 28, 2013 Share Posted July 28, 2013 Moats will be lucky to make the team, but credit to the kid for making the most of his opportunities. What a strange thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
transient Posted July 28, 2013 Share Posted July 28, 2013 Moats will be lucky to make the team, but credit to the kid for making the most of his opportunities. What a strange thread. He'll forever be remembered as the player who ended Favre's streak, and that's about it. And, yes... upon re-reading, it is an odd thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enlightener Posted July 29, 2013 Author Share Posted July 29, 2013 (edited) So are you saying that the only thing that kept us from a winning team was our linebackers? no but the OP was about this years biggest reason I see hope for a winning record. We all know we lacked at QB and WR and thats been addressed but when people discuss our bad D they dont say much about specifics. I saw us beef up the line quite a bit going back to dwan edwards, Spencer Johnson etc. I think the real problem (aside from wanstache) was really bad Linebacking. Just about every outside guy had only about 20-40 tackles per season with both safties getting around 60 a season, is that normal in pro football? I also am tracing back 3 years, where we had 3 of the worst seasons on D. We let Poz go who was about average and ellison was always below average, but replaced them with even less productive players! also I found another interesting fact. As bad as we were at LB since well forever, aside from poz, we drafted only 5th or 6th round LBs from 2004-2010. thats 7 drafts and 3 different regimes! the LBs were alvin bowen, nic harris and Arthur moats and Ellison. How did buffalo ignore LB for so many years? Maybe this is why we couldnt ever "fit it up". Finally we have a staff that I think said something like this.."hey I know, lets draft a QB, WR, and a LB for this team." instead of the usual DB,Lineman,DB that we see year in, year out with the occasion first round surprise RB. What a strange thread. why is it strange exactly? Edited July 29, 2013 by enlightener Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enlightener Posted July 29, 2013 Author Share Posted July 29, 2013 What was the OP's annual rationalization last year? good question, Last year I saw the easy schedule, Mario, new DC, TJ graham, and Fitz healed rib as all positive turnarounds from the 6-10 season we had in 2011...who knew the DC could be worse, mario would play average, and fitz still wouldnt get the ball down the field. He went deep quite a bit in his first two years here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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