Indy Dave

The ruling was that the ball came out of Leftwich's hand, then he batted it forward...much like a volleyball player spiking the ball. The Jacksonville offensive lineman gets credit for a fumble recovery and a fumble lost, while Sharper gets credited with a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and a touchdown. Two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries (one for each team) on the same play...very rare.

All those guys deserve praise, but not let's not forget Nate Clements, who took on one of the game's best receivers one on one all day long and basically shut him down.

Is CBS doing a feature on the Bills during its pregame show today? A friend told me that he thought he saw a teaser on a story during yesterday's Giants-Steelers game.

We won't sign a receiver. Moulds is our #1, Evans is our #2 and our deep threat. All we need is a great possession receiver to run underneath routes, catch passes and keep the chains moving. We have that guy on the roster...it's just too bad he's a training camp All-American and a no-show when it counts.

I wouldn't say either of them are average. Boston's signing of Clement is a pretty good pickup. Not as good as trading for Mulder, but I think Clement could work his way into the No. 2 spot in Boston's rotation. He can be very good at times, and he has a lot of pitches. He struggles with his command though, and that will get him trouble. Maybe Wells can help him with his control problems. Hope not.

Ramius...I guess my theory that Beane's Moneyball philosophy is a load of crap will be proved one way or another. I always thought that the A's were contenders because of Hudson, Mulder and Zito, not because Scott Hatteberg has a knack for getting on base. We'll see how smart he is now. Did you hear Ray Ratto on ESPN News after the Mulder trade story broke? He said Oakland would win between 55 and 63 games next year. Sounded pissed too.

Of course you wouldn't say that the Cards got a better deal than the Red Sox. Boston could have signed Nick Laloosh and Red Sox fans would think that would be a better move than picking up Mark Mulder. Mulder is a great pickup for St. Louis, Clement is a decent pickup for Boston. He walks a lot of guys, a problem that will likely be magnified in the American League and pitching primarily at a hitter's park like Fenway. Not to mention, he was a No. 4 starter on the Cubs.

Because that's how Red Sox fans are. Even after finally winning the World Series, they still can't see straight. If Boston signed Pavano and Wright and was on the verge of signing Randy, and the Yankees signed Clement and Wells, they would have the complete opposite view. If Boston traded Manny to the Yankees for Enrique Wilson, they would somehow spin it that the Red Sox got the better end of the deal.

You don't see a difference between NFL wildcards and MLB wildcards? 1. 162 games versus 16 games. 2. In baseball, your schedule is basically the same as every other team in your division. Same opponents, same home and away, etc. The only argument here in interleague, but that's a small fraction of the 162-game schedule. 3. In football, you play your division rivals, then the rest of your schedule is based on what happened last year. What happened last year means less and less each year with regards to how tough your schedule might be. You could enter a season with Tennessee or Kansas City on your schedule and think it's going to be a tough one. And you could have San Diego on your schedule and think it will be a breeze. But with parity in the NFL, you really never know. There is no parity in baseball.

It's particularly odd when you consider that CBS is home of the AFC, and yet they rank three average NFC teams above the Bills. So much for a natural bias. Maybe they should look at the scores of the recent games between Buffalo and St. Louis, and Buffalo and Seattle.

Now they didn't. Oregon State did.

Argentina is in Europe, you dumbass.

The NCAA has nothing to do with the BCS and is not responsible for you not having your playoff system in Division I college football. Get your facts straight Gavin. Presidents and commissioners have total control of it. On another note, don't be surprised if you hear John Gruden's name come up with regards to the Notre Dame job.

Your one to talk about people and they're use of correct grammar.

Antonio Gates is a former basketball player at Kent State and played on a team that nearly went to the Final Four in 2002. He is basically new to the game of football, but obviously he is a very gifted athlete. Some thought his stats were misleading early in the year because he sort of came out of nowhere. That argument doesn't hold water now because we are now through 11 games of the season, and he has clearly been the main target all season long, yet he continues to produce. His quarterback is playing at a Pro Bowl level and Tomlinson is the best running back in the league. That helps Gates produce. I don't know if you are knocking Moulds or what. Moulds is a very good receiver. Gates is probably the second-best (or best) tight end in the NFL.

My name is Dave. I lived in Arkansas for several years, found the original wall in 1997 (or thereabouts) and registered as Arkansas Dave. Then I moved to Indianapolis, re-registered and became Indy Dave. Very creative, I know.

Not for nothing, but Kansas City is pretty cold in January and a tough place to play no matter what month it is. Peyton and the Colts went into KC in the playoffs and beat them. So there's the answer to your question, CarolinaBill. That KC win came a week after they destroyed the Broncos in the first round of the playoffs (in Indianapolis). Then they lost to New England 24-14. And GG...you need to get your facts straight. He won in the playoffs last year...twice. And to suggest that Willis is deserving of Offensive Player of the Year is kind of ridiculous. Willis would have to go for 800 yards and eight touchdowns in the last five games (here's hoping he does that), and Peyton would have to have his right arm chopped off.

Did anyone catch the block Willis made on a blitz pick-up in the second quarter? It was on a play where Drew threw an interception, so it went overlooked. But he leveled one of the Seahawks. A thing of beauty.

And blew their chance at the #1 pick in next year's draft in the process.

If someone wants to give up a pick in the first three rounds for Travis, I wouldn't mind that deal. But for a fourth or lower, I'd just assume keep him for 2005. I don't know if losing him to free agency after the 2005 season would get us a compensation pick from the NFL, but at the very least we'd have a solid backup to Willis for next season. He has a low cap number, so I think we should just keep him another year, unless we can get a top 90 pick for him. If yesterday was his last day in a Bills uniform, then I'd like to thank Travis for what he did in a Bills uniform. I am one of his biggest fans. Willis is an upgrade, but that doesn't change what Travis was able to accomplish. Say what you will about the guy, but he played with a lot of heart, and produced too. What he did in 2003, with a lousy offensive line, lousy coaches, a horrible passing game, and an injury that would have kept most guys on the sidelines was remarkable. I wish him well wherever he ends up.

I assume you are talking about margin of victory, correct? Not that it really matters. A road win over a decent team...I'll take it.

I'm going to pull some strings and have the Bills shifted over to the NFC this year. You're all very welcome.

Yep...throw out the New England game and you can definitely see signs of improvement. Winning is nice, but when you are playing as poorly as we were earlier in the year, all I really wanted was an excuse to renew my NFL Sunday Ticket subscription next year. In other words, quit boring me to death and play with some enthusiasm. That has happened, and with it have come some wins. It's too late to make the playoffs, but at least December can be interesting.

He's out.

Useless information: Urban's girlfriend is our intern at the office. And yes, she's hot.