metzelaars_lives

You and me are on the exact same page. My first game was opening day '85 also when I was 6! Went to every game through about '95 and then we sold our seasons. My claim to fame though is that I have been to at least one game every year since 1985.

Agreed on all accounts. For some reason when I was kid in the 80's/early 90's, the drunks were kind of funny and seemed harmless to me even as a kid. And I'll tell you one thing, they were serious Bills fans. It seems like now, there are just so many d-bags that go just to cause trouble and get as drunk as humanly possible. Dawn of the technology age -> death of the industry age -> mass exodus of people out of the rustbelt -> high school dropout : college graduate ratio increases -> supply/demand economics dictates that tickets be less expensive if you want to fill the stadium -> d-bags are able to afford tickets

I'm a Bills fan for life and I can't wait to go to the last two home games as much as they suck, but you will not hear me say we have the best home fans. Go to a game and tell me how many people you can find that are a) wearing either a Lynch or a McGahee jersey, b) have a chinstrap beard, c) are under 23 years of age and have never heard of Kent Hull, d) funnel beers, e) curse at opposing fans for no reason and look to fight, e) have never moved out of their parents' house and f) are cranking new school hip-hop out of an SUV before the game. Now go to Lambeau Field sometime. Or Arrowhead for that matter. You will gain a lot of perspective as to where we stand.

He has given no indication that he has any interest in football whatsoever. That being said, I think he really wants the approval of the WNY fan and enjoys the attention he has gotten so far. I'm not criticizing him, but I think he likes the role he's playing right now. If he really wants to be seen as a hero, he could do it. Hey, he could continue being cheap w/ the Bills and w/ the revenue sharing, still make plenty of money every year to make up for all the money he's going to lose w/ the Sabres. Consider it hedging his bet. But yes, it would be like Mogilny defecting X the LaFontaine trade X The Cornelius Bennett trade X The Sundowner X the chicken wing.

He did an impression of one of the best punt returners in NFL history and got no yards? OK, gotcha. This post is all over the place. Pisses me off too because I started an intelligent thread yesterday about Fitz's mechanics and got like three responses and this stupid thread is still going... http://www.pro-football-reference.com/leaders/punt_ret_yds_per_ret_career.htm

???

I don't live in Buffalo so I don't listen to the call-in shows (maybe people have said this a million times), but the more I watch Fitzpatrick, the more I think his issues could be fixed somewhat easily. For one, I don't think he's that bad like some of you may, but do you ever notice that every pass he ever throws, he winds up, his head, it seems, is looking straight up to the sky and he guns it as hard as he possibly can? It doesn't matter if it's to a RB in the flat or a WR way down field. Now if you watch a guy like Aaron Rodgers, he knows when to gun it, if he's trying to thread a needle, but he also knows when to put touch on the ball and even- gasp- loft it sometimes. Even watching Tebow yesterday, he sees guys with space and he puts touch on the ball. Fitzpatrick guns it so hard every single time that if it's not a perfect throw, it's difficult for the receiver to make an adjustment on the ball- especially the shorter throws. Someone needs to teach Fitzpatrick to put some touch on the ball!

Shaud Williams is fantastic in his cameo on the Ali G show.

Your avatar is out of control.

OK, close your eyes and think of how pathetic the Bills' pass rush has been this season. They have 16 sacks. Now consider this: the Bills have given up less sacks than that- 15. Now guys like Dorkington, who has claimed that the Bills "probably" have the worst offensive line in all of football will laugh at that figure and say, "Metzelaars, what you fail to realize is that Fitzpatrick gets rid of the ball faster than anyone in football and he is simply masking the ineptness of the OL with his mechanics and quick delivery." OK fine. I don't buy that, but then if that is the case, people insisting that are basically saying that Fitzpatrick is an unbelievable QB. 19 TD's through 11 games, good solid QB rating, 2nd highest completion % in AFC- and mind you, he only has half the time to do this stuff as a regular QB! So one of two things HAS to be the case: either our offensive line is good (this is my contention) or Ryan Fitzpatrick should definitely be a pro-bowler. Which is it?

Phew! And I was still worried about our long-term viability. Thanks for settling that one!

I'm with ya dude. What I found to be more inappropriate than anything SJ did on Sunday was that stupid lineman even referencing 9-11. Talk about a stretch. Give me a break.

I get that everyone is micro-analyzing why the sack number is low. But will just one person other than myself say, "ya know what, the offensive line has played pretty tough this year?"

I hear this but I'm not sure I understand what it means. And was play-calling responsible for Jackson averaging over 5 yards a carry? Or is he the best running back since Barry Sanders? Or is the offensive line better than you think it is? And if you mean that the offense is designed for Fitz to get rid of the ball quicker, then he must make his reads quicker than any QB in the league and his numbers at this point are even more impressive considering his coach doesn't allow him to wait as long as anyone else to throw the ball. Maybe we just got a steal with that new contract. Or maybe the offensive line is better than you think it is.

Of all the regular QB's who have played pretty much all season, two are tied for the fewest sacks with only 14- Matt Hasselbeck and none other than Ryan Fitzpatrick. I just wanted to say that despite the shuffling and the inexperience, that the OL has had one hell of a year. Not to mention they were blocking for the leading rusher in the league before he went down. Re-sign Bell (at a reasonable price), let Hairston and Pears duke it out for playing time at RT and keep the other one for depth. This is a good unit and thankfully one that need not be addressed in the first few rounds. When is the last time we could say that?

It's bad enough the Bills lost, but I waste my time coming on here and responding to a post like this? It's posters like you that make me question why I spend so much time on this website. Go away.

I think you could certainly make an argument for McKelvin being one of the top 3-4 CB's in the league.

I don't see you being called up from the practice squad anytime soon after this post. Bucs are also my 2nd favorite team.

Why fly a kite when you can pop a pill?

No. There are lots of picks you cannot blame the Bills on. #1 on that list would be Mike Williams. Leodis McKelvin went where he was supposed to. I loved the James Hardy pick at the time. Even Maybin went about where he was projected. But Rob Gronkowski was the most blatantly obvious pick just sitting there, staring us in the face in the 2nd round. We could've gotten Troup in the 3rd round for Christ sake. Before his junior season when he got hurt, Gronkowski was projected as a top ten pick in the entire draft. The guy is- right now today- one of the top 20-25 players in the National Football League. It is absolutely inexcusable that he is not on our football team.

Agreed. Every other franchise has one or two guys you hold in great reverence- Tom Landry, Mike Ditka, George Halas, Vince Lombardi, Chuck Noll, etc., etc. Ours is Marv Levy. respect him. I can't believe some of the things I've read on here. He made some sort of comment about hunting 25 years ago and a bunch of rednecks are talking s*** about him? are you guys insane? This a freaking Buffalo Bills website. It's like you're talking s*** about my Grandpa. Now I'm fired up!

Actually I disagree with the OP. I love the Bills like an immediate family member and always will, but I'm not nearly into the NFL as much as I used to be. Like after the game on Sunday, I turned the TV off and didn't pay any attention to the late games whatsoever. Instead I cranked some Neil Young in the backyard and raked leaves for three hours. As a league in general, I am way more interested in the NHL right now. I used to love football so much, but the constant over-analysis, hearing people call into call in shows to ask the radio host who they should start at receiver on their fantasy football team, Jon Gruden saying that he likes to call Peyton Manning "The Sheriff," hearing people at my work who don't know anything about football talking about their 3rd and 4th fantasy football rosters, I just can't take it anymore. Although I wouldn't miss a second of any playoff game.

I'm not saying we have a great D-Line, but I can tell you that a healthy Kyle Williams plus Dareus in his second year and I'm telling you right now, Carrington starts next year, plus you still have Edwards, Johnson, etc. = not a priority relative to OLB. Now if they switch back to a 4-3, which they should, that's a different story.

I think it's time this team had a monster at WR. Lee Evans had a nice year in '06, but I want a physical specimen like Moulds. Too bad Justin Blackmon is out of the picture. Remember that this team is going to ride out their picks- Carrington will start next year- so Aaron Williams will get ample time to prove himself as a starting CB. In fact, I'd be shocked if he's not starting opening day next year. But I think that everyone can agree that WR and a pass-rushing OLB are our two biggest priorities.

The D-Line will not be a priority going into next year. Neither will the safety and running back positions. Everything else will need to be addressed.