dubs

Luckily we are only discussing one game (hopefully) that we'd need someone to step in for Manuel. I guess what I'd like to know is if we'd be in better shape with Leinart than Tuel. I know Leinart sucks, but I would imagine that his NFL experience might be better in week 1 than feeding Tuel to the Pats on a silver platter.

what are you talking about?

Ha!!

I looked through the discussion list and didn't see anything out there (please feel free to close or merge as needed). I can't believe I am asking this, but has anyone gotten an indication of how Matt Leinart is doing in practice? I know we are all hoping EJ is back and if not, Tuel can step in for a game, but I'd have to imagine that Marrone and Hackett are taking a hard look at Leinart in case EJ is out and they don't want to start an UDFA rookie against the Pats in week 1. Thoughts?

I think we all should be prepared for a brutal season, and hopefully pleasantly surprised if they do well. As much as I wanted to believe Manuel would come in and help move this team into the right direction, it was more likely going to be a tough season in which we witnessed the team playing hard, staying close in games, and finish about 5-11 or so. With Manuel possibly out (and at least missing the back half of training camp/preseason), Kolb out, and Gilmore out for at least the first quarter of the season, it's likely we are closer to the 1st pick in the draft than the playoffs. I just hope Marrone and Co. are building a good culture around OBD and we see vast improvement in the second half of the season, which might set us up well for a good 2014.

Agreed. This is terrible. Any other fan base would react the same way to these circumstances. Basically makes the chance we finish in the bottom 10 in the league almost certain again this year. Hope I'm wrong, but it's not looking good.

This is going to be ugly. Tuel + No Gilmore = Leaving the game as soon as they stop serving beer to go back to the tailgate

The issue I have with the Byrd situation is the fact that the Bills have so much cap space. If you are not going to spend money on a pro-Bowl caliber player in an area of need, where will you spend the money. I know...anytime you can overpay for a bad DB, you gotta do it.

Well, unless you are privy to inside information or were at the camps, it's hard to assess Rogers attitude. My point is that we are not winning Super Bowls with a team of Fred Jacksons and Stevie Johnsons without a few real standouts. My impression is that Rogers had the potential to be that good, but needed some work on being a pro receiver and likely his attitude. I think you can get away with giving a kid who's been at a D1-AA college one year to step up. Maybe witnessing how a professional team operates will help him realize what he needs to do. If not, cut him. I think it's no risk because we are not winning the Super Bowl this year anyway and those other guys aren't likely to be more than "guys". I guess I just have to trust that Marrone and co didn't think he was going to pan out and made the move.

I really was hoping that they kept DaRick on the roster. I was looking at it like this, we aren't winning the Super Bowl this year no matter what. That is really all that matters to me. I can't see how a guy like Kaufman is going to get us closer to that goal. Down the road, Da'Rick is talented enough to be a potentially be a difference maker on the offense and the type of guy that can drastically improve an offense. It's worth the small risk of keeping him on the roster and trying to develop him. Hopefully, Marrone just thought he was a lost cause. If that's the case, I hope he's right.

Gross.

That's a cool stat. Chances are very small actually. Even if you take out the loss, the chance of playing the NFC Super Bowl rep each of the last 7 years is less than 1% I believe. My stats 101 memory is bad, but think you multiply 0.25 by 0.25, 7 times and then multiply that by 100 and that's your percentage chance. Perhaps? It's similar to putting 4 numbers in a hat and pulling out the same number 7 times in a row.

I thought that when it came to suiting up an emergency QB, you could have him on the sidelines but not count against the gameday roster limit. Anyway, glad Tuel is with the Bills. Nice pickup, hopefully he continues to develop and we can see what trade value he has 4 years from now. It's EJ or bust

While correctly stated the Bills have the third lowest value in the league, it's also true that the rest of the metrics look better. We were one of the faster growing teams, have a 2nd quartile debt to income ratio, have a good revenue and EBTDA. Bottom line is that they are a sustainable, profitable franchise and in better shape than many other teams.

I don't think people are cheering for him to get hurt. It already happened. I won't mind one bit if he's out for week one. The better the chance we can beat the Pats the better for the Bills. Starting 1-0 (which is certainly no guarantee even if he's out) is all I care about, Brady or no Brady

Is this conversation a real thing? We are not even halfway through the PRE-season and people are already calling for the third string UDFA to be the starting QB? Wow. How about we see how our first round pick who looked pretty good works out before we start picking up the torches and pitchforks?

Awesome post and topic! Two overs: Cleveland New Orleans Two Unders: Oakland Jets If I had to take just one, I'm tempted by the overs. I think cincy is the class of the AFC north and that's about it. I think the steelers and ravens are both down this year and the Browns are improving. Might challenge for a 6th seed. Go with the browns.

When you're a big time exec in Maryland you can just buy a snow machine and create winter when you want. Then you hire assistants to push you around on skis when you go skiing. It's really the only way to ski when you're wealthy. I think it was on The Housewives of Just Outside DC in Maryland once

You forgot to sign your post as Managing Director of Smug, Inc.

I am not familiar with the labor situation, but that sounds about right from what I've observed. Put that in the category of what needs to change. I hope some ambitious and thoughtful leaders can come in and change the city. Maybe we can trade Scott Walker for Byron Brown and future considerations...

That Cost of living calculator can be misleading. To be sure, there is far more very high end homes and properties in Dallas that would increase the average. Buffalo is definitely less expensive than Dallas, but not by that much. Look at some of the suburbs around Dallas on Zillow, you'll see what I mean. I am not trying to convince you to move to Buffalo or anything. It sounds like you have a great career going and you are extremely satisfied and happy. That's all that really matters. What I would say is try to avoid discussing the city in such black and white terms and try to balance some of these drawbacks with what I think most people would consider many positive attributes. Overall, i agree with many of your comments that things could be improved. I hope that things continue to improve and make Buffalo an even better place to live. But it's a different animal than DC, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, etc...and I think that's what draws many people there (and conversely keeps many people from staying). I think it's a city that should be based on a balanced lifestyle and high quality of life.

yup. I would never say these cities are terrible or terrible places to live, but it definitely makes me question when people say in absolute terms that Buffalo is a terrible place to live. What I would agree with is that its more difficult to find a good job there. That's extremely important and a very valid reason why many people can't live there or choose not to. If I were Mayor of Buffalo or the County Commissioner, my first priority would certainly be attracting new businesses there. That only comes with tax breaks or other incentives, but it's gotta happen. There is no doubt in my mind that businesses would move there if it made financial sense.

When I've been to DC, it's been absolutely the worst. Chicago is on Par. Boston was slightly better because you can at least predict when it will be bad and in what direction. NYC is train or GTFO.

ha ha... I was questioning that commuting estimate. Maybe it's true, who knows. I think he means that he walks to the commuter rail and is in town within 10 minutes. Definitely reasonable. From my experience, the trade off is a smaller house and living in very close proximity to other (i.e. Condo or somthing akin to South Buffalo homes). What I do know, having lived in NYC, Chicago and Boston, is that rush hour traffic is absolutely terrible for people who drive into work. I used to travel for work for a living and lived in the city of Chicago. It would take me at least 45 minutes to get from O'Hare to downtown. Usually it would take an hour. It's a commute that distancewise, should take about 20 minutes.

Look, it's really difficult to talk about a city, any city, in absolute terms. Is Buffalo for everyone, no. If a person would like to inflate their self-worth by being able to say they live in NYC or Los Angeles, then Buffalo isn't the place for them. Your point about property values doesn't make any sense and is wrong. Is Dallas a dump? You can buy a gorgeous, huge house in the Dallas suburbs for about 500k. Very similar and in some ways less expensive than Buffalo. You can' compare Buffalo real estate values to Coastal Cities. It's apples to oranges. Is Buffalo a perfect place? Of course not. Just like every city there are trade offs and frankly there is a lot more the city can do to make it a better place than it is. But I think for people who want a place to raise a family surrounded by good people, a great community, good schools, affordable, and enough entertainment and things to do, it's a very good choice.