dubs

It's just a different feel. We've been in every game, closed out two, lost three. I just don't see us getting creamed like we did in the past. Physically we are matching up much better (maybe with the exception of the Jets game). IMHO, we play the rest of the year like this and it's a success. Finish somewhere between 7-9 and 9-7 and I will take that as a good year and a team moving in the right direction. Then we have another draft next year similar to what this past one is looking like and all of a sudden we are a force to contend with and have a solid, young core. As much as we'd like to see them turn it around in a snap, it's not realistic. Teams that have done it have done it under much different circumstances. Colts - Lucked into an incredible draft and made the playoffs despite being outscored that year. Seahawks - had a very good team with the exception of QB. Brought in a guy that fit their scheme well and it's looking good. Skins - smoke and mirrors, they look terrible now

If you are referring to the backup QB, I totally agree. It never made sense to me that we didn't have at least a below average veteran come in and stay with the team after Kolb went down the second time. Anything would be better than Tuel. I am not sure if the reason is penny pinching, but whatever the reason, it's a bad one.

hah! Exactly, no brainer!! That would be awesome. Extremely unlikely, but awesome.

Last night was a tough loss, no doubt. That game was the Bills for the taking. To instead lose that game, stings, but I can't feel too bad about it. Then I read Sully's article and I actually can't believe it but I tend to agree with him. This is a team headed in the right direction. It seems to me that every game it looks more and more like we have the right pieces in place to be a good team in this league. EJ continues to improve (hopefully he's learned to step out of bounds now), Woods looks like the real deal, Kiko is playing lights out (that dive over the line was incredible), and while the coaching staff has made some mistakes I think overall they are doing a good job. I know Bills fans want (and deserve!) playoffs right away, but we have to remember we have rookies all over the place. Realistically, next year was our year for the playoffs before the season began and it's looking no different now. If that happens, I can live with it.

It's a good point and that's why I always try to end my posts with the disclaimer that if he is injured and cannot play, then I am on his side. It's just difficult to do that on every post and we are discussing this in the hypothetical anyway. You are right, we don't know the extent of his injury. What's known though make the situation stink and makes him look as if he's making excuses because he's upset about the tag.

Is the NFL a business? I thought it was a not for profit charity? I think everyone gets that point. He signed a contract, he's getting paid, he's (assuming) healthy enough to play, so get out there and play. If he really is injured and can't play, then I am 100% on Byrd's side. I just don't think that is likely the case anymore.

Let me rephrase. I meant upset as in too upset to suit up and play. I would love it this week if the injury report said. Gilmore - OUT, Wrist Carrington - OUT, Quadriceps Byrd - Doubtful, Hurt Feelings

Honestly I don't see how anyone could back Byrd here. Here's the disclaimer, if he's legitimately hurt and can't play, he shouldn't. That increasingly seems NOT to be the case. No one knows what the Bills offered Byrd. By some of the rationale on this board, Byrd should just get his demands and if not, sit. What if he was demanding 11m a year? I wanted them to sign Byrd to a long term deal also. But maybe they just don't value the free safety position that way. Maybe they think Byrd isn't worth top 3 money over 5 years. Maybe they want to see how he does in the new Defense before committing that money to a free safety. Maybe Byrd's demands were totally unreasonable. Bottom line is the franchise tag is there for a reason and agreed to by players and teams. Sucks if it gets used on you, but honor your agreement like a gentleman and play. Or don't sign the franchise tender. But dont collect 7m for sitting on your arse.

I'm not advocating for or against unions. I'm just making the point that there is a governing document in place and this, for better or worse, is part of the agreement. So Byrd, if healthy enough, needs to buck up and play.

Then don't unionize. Can't have it both ways. Can't be part of the union and agree to the terms then b*tch about it when it's not as good for you, individually.

He's part of the players union, no? He's agreed to have the players union negotiate the collective bargaining agreement, correct? Part of the agreement that all the players voted on and agreed to is the franchise tag, right? If so, then he can't get upset when it's used on him and he's getting 7 million bucks to play for 17 weeks.

I'm not asking because the answer is basically no difference. Other than he was probably making triple his 2012 salary in 2013. Look. If players don't want the franchise tag in play, then don't cave into the league when it's time to negotiate. I don't blame the bills at all for using it. It's a valuable tool for teams and smart teams use it.

Hah. Well played

What's the issue? I'm saying the same thing. The 100% is Ridiculous. He shouldn't play if he can't play. A 100% threshold is absurd. Got it. We are in total agreement

You didn't read my whole post did you? I wasn't quoting Byrd, was saying that if he can play, he should.

The bottom line is, if Byrd is legitimately hurt then he should definitely rest and wait until he's healthy enough to play. I gave him the benefit of the doubt the first few weeks of this saga. Increasingly it appears he's essentially "holding out" while getting paid. That's a direct violation of the collective bargaining agreement and he should not collect a dime (if that is the case). And spare me the its a business BS. Byrd is making a ton of money and agreed to work under the conditions outlined in the labor agreement. You can't pick and choose what provisions you like and what you don't. If he got injured, that would be terrible. But if (or any player) isn't making preparations for life after football the day they get to their first training camp, then that's their fault. I have no sympathy for someone starting off life in the real world with millions in the bank.

What's the difference. They are both one year deals and at the conclusion he's got a bigger deal coming. No difference at all. The only difference between a player in the final year of his deal and getting franchised is that in the latter, the player feels disrespected. Disrespected despite the fact that their own labor union agreed to this provision in the collective bargaining agreement. In other words, get on the field.

+1 haha..couldn't have said it better

I would check out a poster named Microscopes analysis of EJ. He's got that on lockdown. :-|

I don't understand how anyone could give EJs ENTIRE game performance anything less than a B+. Any other critique of his is just way off. The kid was good most of the game and great at the end. Everything has to be measured in the context of the fact that he's a rookie playing in his second game.

JP Fitzgerald's on the corner of Clark and McKinley is also great. Ask for Billy Finnerty, great bartender and great guy.

Cool. I think that's maybe where I disagree. To be sure, the Pats are not as stacked as they have been in the past. Part of the Pats sputtering might have been due to wholesale personnel changes to the receiving core in the offseason. I think most objective fans would also attribute a lot of that disruption to how much better the Bills played on defense. We were in the backfield disrupting Brady, A LOT. Certainly a lot more than I can ever remember. Many of those catches Edelman and Amendola made were perfect throws into extremely tight coverage. Brady has always been one of the toughest guys to sack. He's got an uncanny ability to get rid of the ball early, even if he just throws it away.

Jerry, I guess maybe the reason people seem frustrated with your comments is because it's hard to understand what the point is (not trying for that to sound snide). Everyone understands the Pats won and are arguably the better team right now. I think most people would also agree that this team still has areas where they need to improve (not really sure there is a team out there that doesn't need to improve). The main difference I see and maybe this is the point of your posts, I think most people can objectively look at the game yesterday and feel pretty good about two things. 1) This is a much different Bills team than we've seen in a long time. Manuel looked good, especially considering it was his first NFL game. The defense played a LOT better than we have in a while. They looked aggressive, made plays, and in many instances were more physical than the Pats. 2) The Pats are not the team that has dominated the Bills for the last decade. They lack elite playmakers and the defense is definitely beatable. The reason why the Pats won is because frankly Brady is still Brady, the didn't shoot themselves in the foot with untimely penalties, and they made clutch plays on third down. There's a big difference between blind optimism and real optimism. I think for the first time in many years that I feel genuinely optimistic about the future.

Wooks wike wuttle Jerry from Duxbury got a hold of his mommy's AOL password again.

What injury does Hernandez have? How long is he out for? Hopefully he's not a beast next game. Wait...he's in jail for murder and not on the team?? Btw - the bills were missing their two best players in the defensive backfield. Lets not play the injury what if game. It was a good showing except for penalties and turnovers. Headed in the right direction.