Utah John

From now on, it's clear which teams we should root for. Or rather, against. When the Chiefs played the Chargers, I had no idea which outcome would be better. From now on, root against Tennessee and Baltimore. Oh, wait, I think we need the Chargers to be tied with us too. What I said about it being clear -- never mind.

If Kyle Williams has indeed played his last game as a Bill, he won't be playing anywhere else. If he wants to keep playing the Bills will keep him, period. What's happened with some guys like Thurman Thomas, Andre Reed, and Bruce Smith is that the Bills cut them before they thought they were done. The Bills will not cut Kyle Williams, at least not next year. And when the time comes for him to retire, he'll do it with class and style. What a great player and a great man.

That someone is the Steelers. Or at least, it's the Steelers who they're going to play. I posted about this a week ago. I said the Pats would overlook the fish and lose a trap game because they were thinking ahead to the Steelers. Now if the Steelers can beat the Pats, the Pats drop to 10-4, and if the Bills beat the fish, we'll be at 8-6. This sets up the possibility of the Bills beating the Pats (dream on, I know) and then we need the Bills to beat a dispirited Miami team in fishlandia, and the Jets who hate the Pats as much as we do have to hit them with the killing stab. If this happens and the Bills and Pats are both 10-6, the Bills win because of their 3-3 conference record as opposed to the Pats at 2-4. I am NOT putting money on this. It's just within the realm of possibility.

Minnesota and New Orleans are two of the top teams. The league likes to make stars out of its top teams and the players on those teams by showing them as much as possible. The Bills and fish are not on the A list. As to the quality of the play and whether it's a competitive matchup, they don't care.

I have to agree with those who like Tony Romo as a color announcer. He just talks without a filter, giving you his true thoughts. And he knows so much. He's like the neighbor you had over to watch a game, who won't shut up, but with Romo it's OK because he has so much good and interesting to say.

So much about the NFL is pre-calibrated. The coaches know everything their players can and can't do, and just about everything the other team's players can do. They figure out everything that's possible to do, and at the 90% level that's what happens. It's the occasional mistake and the rare incredible play that make the difference. If the Bills and Colts had played on a dry field, the Bills win 8 out of 10 times by 10 points. This was a game where there was a great equalizer. Gore and McCoy were the only two who apparently had things figured out. Everyone else was stumblin rumblin bumblin big guy. Anyway, I love it that there was a game when all the pre-packaging went out the window. Two teams slugging it out, trying to impose their will. I thought at halftime that if the Bills could get another TD and go up 14-0, the Colts would lose heart and the rout would be on. But NP got hurt and there was no magic outcome. And then the Colts went on that long drive and seemed to get fired up about their chances, and the Bills D could never make a key stop. And this is what football should be about. Guys trying hard and digging deep for the courage and determination to impose their will on the opponent. No cheap shots, no dirty play, just trying to play as well as possible. I loved it.

Cassel is a good backup QB. That's all he's ever been. He's not starter material on most teams (i.e., any team other than the Pats, where I could play QB and win 3 or 4 games). But he is a guy who can come in and play solid football when he's needed. He's a pro who will be ready with the game plan and will do OK throwing. MM is a much better player but look around the league and every team has a big dropoff from starter to backup. Except, ahem, Buffalo.

Not even close to first. That's the Bills' theme song.

I think it's gonna be the best QB on the board when we get to our first pick in the first round, whether that's ours or KC's. I think we need the other first rounder for ... well, fill in the blank. WR, LB, DL, OL, CB. Basically the only position on the team that doesn't need more good players is RB and even then we should be looking for Shady to start losing it. So I don't think we can package a lot of draft picks to move up a couple of slots. I'm not sold on Mayfield, who seems to be a good cog in a great machine and not necessarily a great QB on his own.

ZJ is not a speed guy or great after the catch, but he does know how to get open and in the past had very good hands. I think in time we'll see we've found the next Bobby Chandler -- and if you don't know who that is, all I can say is you missed a lot of great Bills games before you were born.

OK, here's a scenario no one's mentioned. This could actually happen. Tonight, the Pats overlook Miami. It's a trap game, with the Pats looking ahead to the Steelers. Miami could win. The game is in Miami, no Gronk. It's possible. Then the Pats have a short week to prepare for their matchup with the Steelers, in Pittsburgh, a game they could certainly lose. Very seriously, the Pats could go from 10-2 now to 10-4, while the Bills beat Miami coming off a short week, in Buffalo. I think we need TT or NP healthy for this to work. That makes the Bills 8-6. The Bills are one Tom Brady injury away from being able to go into Foxboro and beat the Pats. (C'mon, Suh, what are you getting paid for??) That would make NE 10-5 and the Bills 9-6. Final week: Pats play the Jets in Foxboro, the Bills play the fish in fishlandia. If Brady is still hurt, the division is ours for the taking. 10-6 for both teams. Bills 4-2 in the division, NE 3-3 in the division. If Brady is hurt, we need the breaks to go our way. If Brady isn't hurt, it will take a miracle. But Al Michaels asked us if we believe in miracles (ok, that was in 1980) so why can't this happen too.

The one thing I can confidently predict is that there will a surprise. Some team that needs to win to help their playoff chances will lose to a spoiler. It always happens. I don't know which team will be the one that loses a game they should win on paper, but if you just look at records you'll miss the possibilities. The Jets crush the Chiefs, and then get shut out by Denver, which had lost 8 straight. Go figure. The Packers, desperately needing to win, almost lost to the winless Browns. Go figure. (I know the bottom line is that a team is as good as its record shows, but the Browns have some play makers and will be a lot better next year.) The Bills need to go 2-1 over the remaining games. Even if they beat the fish here and then lose to the Pats, and then go to Miami knowing a win would get them into the playoffs (could happen under various scenarios) they could still lose that last game. Just ask Drew Bledsoe.

As much as I resent the Pats' domination of the Bills since Belichick and Brady teamed up, my touchstone for rivalries is the Dolphins. We went 0 for the 70s, for Pete's sake, with some of those games decided by terrible officiating (anyone remember Pat Twomey going nuts?) or freak plays. When the Bills finally broke through and beat the fish, the fans tore down the goalposts. THAT was a rivalry against a team that there was no reason to assume would be better than us. We had OJ for a lot of those years, for heaven's sake, and still couldn't get past them. Of course, they had Shula, IMHO the greatest coach of all time, which was a big advantage. Anyway, for me, who's been a fan since I can remember (roughly 1962) the true rivalry is with Miami, not Boston. Pardon me, New England. Since it's in the Bills' interest for the fish to lose, I am not conflicted about this at all. Of course if Brady gets hurt, that will save the need for the Bills to break his bones in retaliation for Gronk's cheap dive on White.

Getting back to streaming: NFL Sunday Ticket has a college student option which is much cheaper ($100 per year) than regular ST. Since my daughter's in college, we qualify. The catch is, you can watch only one game per week, and it's streaming. There have been days like yesterday when the streaming worked well nearly all the time. There have been other days when the only thing you could count on seeing were the commercials -- the game action was chopped up, not all there, and hard to follow. It is really frustrating to see the NEXT play after a big play by or against the Bills, even after the replay is concluded, but miss the play itself. When I had regular ST in the past, none of that happened. So you get what you pay for, I guess. I have cheap service but unreliable service. Expect the same if you use Verizon streaming.

The highlight they'll show will be Vinatieri's missed FG. There will be some people saying they shouldn't have to play like this, which is total BS. Football is an outdoor game and you play in whatever conditions there are. Unless the field is totally buried like a couple of years ago.

This will be a 6-0 game, where a Colt receiver slips out and no one can see him except the QB.

I think the time is now. The Bills are bridesmaids again, not going to the show. The Pats will play Brady because they need to keep up with the Steelers. So the Bills have nothing to lose. I say, the first time Brady goes back to pass, the first Bill tackles him, even after the ball is gone, the second Bill jumps on Brady's head, and the third Bill jumps on Brady's knees. All three will of course be treated just like Gronk: Not ejected. One game suspension. No fine. And that's the last time anyone takes a cheap shot at a Bill. The message is, you do that, you lose your QB.

Look honestly at the O line. Glenn is talented but can't get healthy. We're carrying a huge salary and a roster spot for a guy who's seldom playing. Incognito is still making plays but is also getting stacked up a lot. Age? He'll be old next year or the year after. Wood. Already almost old. Duciller -- either one is bad. I don't know why Ducasse plays while Miller sits, since Miller was showing signs of progress, but maybe Miller misses last year's O line coach. Mills -- I think all the left DEs in football are bribing the Bills FO to keep Mills on the line so they can improve their sack stats. There's no other explanation. We have Dion Dawkins playing quite well, and Roy who has played well when given a chance. Overall, as I've posted before, the Bills O line resembles the starboard side of the Titanic's hull while it was still taking on water. Next year, the entire O could resemble the current Titanic. Now, how many rookie O linemen can you reasonably bring in at once? I think two, max. Cut Glenn, play Dawkins, Incognito, Woods, Groy, and a rookie RT, and keep Miller and a rookie interior lineman as backups. That rookie could be playing center or guard before the year is out. It would be nice to draft another stud O lineman but there won't be room on the active roster and you can't park someone good on the taxi squad. So that's two draft picks, probably rounds 2 or 3, on O linemen. I think we could do that and still make a deal to move up and get a QB. And then try to improve the D line in FA, draft a LB and draft a fast WR.

When McCoy came to the Bills I was worried about the long-term impact, that he'd be a player on the decline and his expensive contract would handcuff the Bills. I'm glad I was wrong. He is a real leader and a strong competitor. He gets stopped in the backfield a lot but that's because the D knows our plays and shoots the gaps when our guys pull. He seldom fumbles (doh! did I say that? blame me for jinxing him) and he really puts forth the effort. A lot like Fred Jackson, but lighter and less able to take on tacklers for an extra yard, but also much more talented and elusive. But the same striving for success, and I admire that. The long-term, cold-blooded approach probably does say to trade him now in the offseason, and if that's to a contender (Philly?) we'd be doing him and that team a favor. But I would hate to see him go. He's the only watchable part of the O this year, and by far (except maybe Hauschka) our best player.

If Lawson had to go on IR, it's too bad it wasn't two or three weeks ago so we could have called up Eric Lee. Lee looked better than any of our D linemen last week. Of course our guys were playing against professional football players. Oh wait, Lawson was lining up over their third string RT. Hmmm. I don't mean to slam our entire O line. Dawkins is playing well, and Incognito still has something left in the tank. The others resemble the starboard side of the Titanic's hull.

I think there are two basic options. One is to put all the chips needed to get to draft 1, 2, or 3, and grab one of the top prospects. Half the guys in that category never make it, particularly when they land on a team with a bad o-line, no WRs, a feisty but lightweight defense, and an aging superstar at RB. The other option is to draft two linemen on both sides, a starting LB, and a starting WR. And bring in one of the soon-to-be-available FA QBs either to start or to mentor Peterman, if Peterman gets his legs under him. Which option is more likely to get the Bills to the playoffs? The second one. Which one is more likely to get the Bills to the SB? Neither one, for the time being. They won't get to the SB until they can get a home playoff game, and Brady is going to keep playing a few more years at least.

Peterman. There is no comparison between Taylor and Peterman as a passer. Peterman is an NFL-caliber passer who throws guys open. Taylor sees a guy open deep and then checks down, and misses some of those throws anyway. Taylor is more mobile, when healthy, which he's not, but that would be helpful with the Bill's rotten O-line right side. So this is a wash. Use a FB or two TEs to help block. Decision making is the big question. Peterman's a rookie with 5 or 6 quarters total under his belt, and 1 1/2 of those were while he was in shock in Los Angeles. He'll make rookie mistakes. He will probably also stretch the field and open up running lanes for Shady. When the opposing D doesn't respect Taylor's passing and why would they, Shady's looking at a box full of defenders every time.

In baseball, if a pitcher on Team A hits a player on Team B, it isn't the Team A pitcher who gets tagged by the Team B pitcher, it's some batter who had nothing to do with the first incident. So, don't retaliate against Gronk. Retaliate against Brady. The first guy takes him down, even after the play is over, the second guy jjumps on him when he's down and takes a shot at his head, and the third guy goes after his knees. And all three of them should (a) not get ejected, just like Gronk wasn't, (b) expect a one game suspension, and (c) not get fined, just like Gronk wasn't. Make it clear that attacking a Bills player doesn't lead to equal payback, it leads to escalation. Make Brady pay, make the Patriots pay, make the league pay. Take out the Patriot's best player, maybe the league's best player. Cost the league some serious advertising money. A one game suspension for that? No, sorry, that's an insult. Gronk's suspension should be at least as long as White is out of action.

Two key differences from last year. No, this year's WRs are much worse that last year. Watkins when healthy. Woods all the time (look what he's done this year). Even Goodwin who could take the top off the defense. This year, no speed, no quickness, no separation. Jones could turn out OK if we get a real #1 (Benjamin if healthy is a #1A, not a true #1). And, the O line which had really good play from Incognito and Wood, and from Glenn a lot, has fallen down. Glenn's been hurt a lot. Incognito and Wood -- are they getting old (yes of course) or do they really miss their O line coach? And Mills and Ducasse, geez louise they're bad. Plus Rico. He knows one song and he keeps playing it even though the band's all wrong, so I'm not letting him off the hook at all. It's just a disaster all around. Despite all the changes and losses, we end up with an average defense, which would have been adequate last year, but a way below average offense which prevented the playoffs.

I think the KC pick is going to keep rising in value through the end of the year. Their defense is terrible, and since the Steelers figured out how to stop their offense, any legitimate NFL defense does the same (including the Bills, not including the Jets). Plus the team seems completely without leadership. Did you see Peters, their DB, pick up the referee's flag after a penalty on the Chiefs, and throw the flag into the stands? Who does that? What professional does that? Peterman got his start in the wrong game. The Chargers have a great pass rush and the Bills' O line is below average. Peterman hit a good looking pass to Benjamin, who got hurt and hasn't been back since. Not Peterman's fault -- he didn't throw Benjamin into the coverage. And the first INT was a deflection off the Bills receiver's hands -- a good pass but a pick six. After that the roof caved in. In that first half, and today, Peterman reminded us what it looks like to have an NFL passer in a Bills uniform. Whether he's an NFL QB to go along with the passing, no one knows.