GaryPinC

Sure, but he would have called straight runs up the middle and would have had to kick the FG. Brady and co. would have gotten the ball back and gone end zone for the W.

Thanks for the great thoughts Bill and everyone else. I saw a stuttering version of the game over the internet and wanted to throw a few "big picture" points in here. -Validates having trust in Nix and Co./Gailey. Remember "sticking with the guys we have" in off-season/preseason? This, IMO, is the biggest thing to come out of this win and the team's performance so far. These guys have a plan, they've stuck to it, and it's a good one. It all starts with the front office. -O-line is no longer a concern (barring injuries). Not saying they're perfect but they've showed flashes of dominance, great push, pass protection and now we can work towards improving our depth. Love the fact that we can punch it in from the goal line now. -When Evans was traded Gailey/Nix talked about giving the younger guys a chance. They were obviously referring to Donald Jones and he's coming along nicely. -Fred Jackson! -Dareus is a great player but does seem a little undisciplined at times. Just needs more experience. -Amazing that we could beat the Patriots without getting pressure on Brady. Almost unheard of. -One negative that really bothers me. Letting Welker/Gronkowski run wild down the seams. Can't we chuck one/both off the line and try disrupting timing? Seems like the safeties were slow to react and this is inexcusable as it's Brady's bread and butter. Seems like we got caught pants-down too many times. Couldn't see details well over the internet. Anybody like to comment on defensive play/adjustments to all these seam routes? TIA Fantastic win, wish I could've been at the Ralph. You guys were rocking. I think it's been upgraded to category 1 as of yesterday evening.

I realize penalties are not subject to replay review but they should make an exception for helmet-to-helmet hits. It's a huge penalty, there should be strict guidelines and subject to review since it can occur so quickly.

Fred's more than earned a new contract. Give him a four year contract (including this year) with a nice signing bonus to cover his dissatisfaction and the guaranteed $$ front loaded. That would cover this year and next year. After that, if age has caught up with him we can cut him no biggie, but if he's still good he stands to make proper $$. IMO proper allocation of guaranteed/non-guaranteed $$ should make everybody happy. I think Fred is one of those rarest of players who gives his all no matter what, everytime he takes the field. Hell, he's proving it right now. Bills mgmt needs to make this happen.

From the Bills official twitter page and Jeff Russo: RT @jeffrussowkbw: #Bills Kyle Williams on Patriots streak "No matter how it goes down (on Sunday), we are going to give them Hell" As if Kyle isn't popular enough, he goes and says this. Can't wait till Sunday!

"The new strap-on dual action Puss-Pomm 2000. Even the pros can't stop."

That's cool, I was going to suggest the same thing. I guess in my perspective if you forget that Dick Jauron is involved, ANY new coaching staff in its first NFL game will have issues with timely substitutions and playcalling. The diffence-maker in my mind is that Jauron prohibited his on-field players from calling a time out without his permission. That, to me, is the real Jauron failure here. That's cool, I was going to suggest the same thing. I guess in my perspective if you forget that Dick Jauron is involved, ANY new coaching staff in its first NFL game will have issues with timely substitutions and playcalling. The diffence-maker in my mind is that Jauron prohibited his on-field players from calling a time out without his permission. That, to me, is the real Jauron failure here.

The only thing I could come up with about the balloon hats is that maybe there's a rule about wearing non-licensed NFL material. It's a weak as hell rationale but it's all I could come up with. It is garbage they'd make the kids throw out the hats. Certainly kids these days seem to have an inflated sense of entitlement, which (to me) means they whine, piss, moan, or throw a tantrum over things they "want" . The kids had the hats made for them and given to them. Then some security guy tells them they have to throw it away. I think it's okay for a child to feel that hat is "theirs" since its already been made for and given to them.

Actually you are the one who is confused. I'll try and summarize for you. 1. Dick Jauron calls in the play to D'Qwell Jackson then Jauron proceeds to look down at his playlist to plan what he wants to call for the next play. 2. D'Qwell Jackson starts to call the play to the rest of the Browns defense while Cincinnati quick-snaps the ball before he can finish the play call. As a result, Cinci scores the touchdown while the Browns are still in a loose huddle trying to get the play called. This is why the article says the defense didn't have it play called and why Jauron missed the quick snap because he was trying to plan his next move. Here's a longer excerpt from the Plain Dealer article I referenced in my first response about the situation: BEREA, Ohio — In the briefest of moments, Dick Jauron glanced down and focused on what his next move would be in the game against Cincinnati. And in that same moment, the Browns lost the game, the defensive coordinator said Thursday. Jauron accepted blame for the defensive gaffe that resulted in a 41-yard quick-snap touchdown Sunday that meant the difference in a 27-17 loss to the Bengals, and he confirmed that Browns cornerbacks will no longer huddle during games to prevent such a mistake from being repeated. "I didn't see it," Jauron said. "After making the call, I was back on my game-plan sheet and thinking about a call ahead, and I missed it. There's nothing else I can say about it. I just missed it." What Jauron didn't see was Bengals players lining up a bit more quickly than usual, snapping the ball faster than anyone realized and backup quarterback Bruce Gradkowski tossing a touchdown pass to A.J. Green -- all before the Browns defense had broken its huddle

I think the "Amish Rifle" rocks but if someone called me that I'd immediately shave my beard and never allow even stubble on my face

No, he had called the play. D'Qwell Jackson hadn't finished calling the play in the huddle when the Bengals went ahead and snapped the ball quickly. Here's Dick's own words from your PFT article: "That's one thing you can do and that'll help us clearly," said Jauron, in his 27th season as a coach in the league. "We just have got to be aware. After making the call, I was looking down at my gameplan sheet, thinking about the next call. I missed it. There's nothing else I can say about it. I should have been able to help." Here's a link to Fujita's explanation after the game: http://www.cleveland.com/browns/index.ssf/2011/09/cleveland_browns_had_ample_tim.html And here's Fujita's explanation: "Typically, in a situation like that if I would've noticed, I probably would've just called it," he said. "I should've called it. Generally we're supposed to get permission from the sideline before we can call a timeout on defense. But me being the crusty old bastard I am, I should've noticed it and I should have called it." We're in agreement that this is ultimately Jauron's fault but my point for belaboring all this is that I've long suspected Jauron was very controlling of our offense while he was here. People have blamed Trent Edwards and the various offensive coordinators but I think Jauron ultimately sabotaged the offense with his controlling conservatism. Now, it seems preposterous that Jauron would not allow any Cleveland defensive players on the field to call time-out without permission. And Jauron's first solution to this quick-snap problem was to keep the DB's out of the huddle and hand signal them the calls! A Plain Dealer reporter today claimed Jauron relented and will allow only Fujita and D'Qwell Jackson to call time outs if absolutely necessary. The truth of this story interests me because it points to the real reason Jauron is such a lousy game-day coach.

I don't think that's true. What happened was Cincinnati quick-snapped the ball before the Browns D had lined up, ie. the play had been called but the defense hadn't lined up yet. The Browns D should have called a timeout but Dickie J had looked down to figure out his next playcall so he didn't see the Bengals trying to quick-snap. Here's the article with Dickie J taking responsibility for it: http://www.cleveland.com/browns/index.ssf/2011/09/cleveland_browns_defensive_coo_7.html We all know Dickie J is good at taking responsibility with no accountability otherwise he'd fire himself. The perplexing thing about this entire situation is that in a previous article Scott Fujita (LB) took responsibility for not calling the time-out but he did mention defensive players are not allowed to call time-outs unless the coaching staff on the sideline approves or signals it in. That seems a bit unbelievable to me and harkens back to when our QB's weren't allowed to change the plays at the line of scrimmage. Good luck with Mr. Jauron, Cleveland!

If it's a heart condition, I don't like the sound of things. "Minor illness" going into the weekend, on the IR by Tuesday. Sounds like follow up testing/analysis revealed a bigger problem. Cardiology is a huge field and as just one example there's a lot of arrhythmias and PVC's that can seem minor (ex. caused by excessive sympathetic tone) and upon further testing/analysis be deadly serious. I pray it's not too serious and that Marcus just needs time to rest and recover. Obviously the chicken wing story is just stupid. It'd be nice if all the jokesters put a sock in it until we actually know how serious it really is. Get well soon Marcus.

I entertained thoughts of punishment when Gailey said he'd be out against Oakland. But to IR the guy as a punishment? Why wouldn't Gailey just cut him if he felt that strongly about it?

I prefer to think that good coaches don't allow their teams to let up.

From what I remember, their larger runs were on misdirection running plays which we were overpursuing on and got caught. That should be easily correctable.

Great points Bill and everyone else. Saw most of the game via computer which makes it difficult to distinguish jersey #s but wanted to add the following: -This was the first game in many years where I see the Bills having the potential to dominate on both sides of the ball. No predictions on the season but I never had this impression even during the 7-9 years. -OL looks competent, they are still a work in progress but I was definitely encouraged today. -As well as Dareus played today, he's just scratching the surface and I can't wait till he gets comfortable and really starts kicking *ss. -Defense was vulnerable to misdirection plays as they were over-pursuing. Should be easily corrected though. -Fred Jackson was an absolute monster today, he was a smaller, smarter version of what Marshawn aspired to be. Give Spiller more (playing) time before passing judgement on him. -We may finally have a tight end. And he looks young and should fill out over the next couple years. A bit of a liability blocking though. -Fitz is clearly our leader, excited to see how he does this year. I think he'll always be a bit inaccurate but he seems able to overcome it. -Lastly, thanks to the coaches and the players for a great game. I'm hoping this year reminds me of 1987 season. Edit: Favorite play of the game -Chandler's second touchdown. Buffalo had 3rd and goal inside the five. Consecutive false start and delay of game penalties push it out beyond the 10. &@*%$*%^$@ great, here comes a field goal. Ryan and Scott had other ideas though. Fantastic.

I definitely agree that with time he might be molded into a D-lineman. But I personally don't think there's physically much difference between an O-lineman other than the O-lineman has to be able to run well in open space whereas the D-lineman needs to be able to use his hands/arms effectively to gain space. While Jasper is a bit large for an O-lineman if he is athletic enough it should be ok. Mentally it's quite a bit different with a D-lineman looking to hold space and get off blocks while an O-lineman is trying to get to his assignment and neutralize them. In seeing Jasper he seems like he has more of an O-line mentality. Certainly he may get better with coaching but he might be closer to being an O-lineman so I understand and agree with the switch. The big equalizer here is that mentally he may not be able to play at the NFL level no matter which side of the ball he is.

He's kind of an interesting guy. When he played for the Browns his teammates knew him as the guy who could get expensive electronics for dirt cheap prices.

I respectfully disagree. From what I saw of Jasper he has a lot of problems using his hands to gain separation and his field awareness wasn't very good. Put him at guard or tackle give him his assignment and let him run people over. That's why they're thinking OT with him, and at this point I agree. BTW, Jasper played OG and NT and Tennessee-Martin and later he was exclusively offense at Bethel. He did a couple interviews after being drafted and sounded like he preferred D-line over offense so that's where the Bills coaches put him. Figure the Bills coaches put him where he wanted to be, Jasper wasn't good enough and now they can give him a new appreciation of the offensive side. I'd be interested to hear why you think he's so much better suited for NT over OL? When I saw his style of play the first thing I thought of was OL, especially with his athletic ability. Keep in mind even his final college coach felt he was better suited to OL.

I always thought the charging buffalo stands out much better on the white helmets. Love the standing buffalo best of all and I am over 35 (41) also...

I'm with you except I think they'll actually begin serious negotiations after the season starts. Fitzy's in a unique situation of a career backup just being given the starter's job so I think right now it's difficult to set the value of his contract and it makes sense to me to give him 4-8 games to see how he does this year. I'm just praying the O-line plays decently so that Fitz gets enough time to show what he's worth. It also seems to me that most players take it as an insult if they don't get a new contract offer before their old one runs out, so I don't think they wait until after the season. We'll see. Got my fingers crossed for Ryan.

I agree with you to a point, but rather than another allegation, it simply makes me question the validity of his source. It is obvious Moran believes his source, but does anyone else at this point? I certainly don't.

Straight from the article: "Regardless of anything else, I’m sorry to Merriman for causing him unnecessary grief, forcing major media outlets to investigate him further and causing anyone to question his character due to an inaccurate report. He’s worked hard to get ready for this season and deserves the unwavering support of all Bills fans.... For what it’s worth, I also apologize to the Buffalo fans.... Lastly and most importantly to me, I want to apologize to media members and some Bills players themselves that I know were let down." They were near the bottom of the article and I count 3 apologies in there.

Yea, great, just state the correction and write that he "regrets" the mistake/situation like every other reputable publication trying to avoid responsibility. I know nothing of Pat Moran except from this article. He's really bad as a writer (as others have pointed out) but I have to give him credit for at least trying to be accountable/responsible for his mistakes. It is at least refreshing to see, regardless of his motives.