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Utah John

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Everything posted by Utah John

  1. The fans in Dallas probably feel the same way about Kyle Orton as we do about Byrd. Orton was on their team, then he wasn't, and another team scarfed him up and paid him big bucks but no compensation to the losing franchise. Orton worked the system as a good progressive would approve of, for once showing how labor can beat management in contract negotiations, then signing on where he wanted to work. Byrd worked the system by faking his plantar fascitus or whatever the invisible, undetectable, convenient injury is called. He didn't get injured during the games he stabbed his teammates in the back while not playing, and when he did play enough games for the season to count toward his benefits, he still made it clear to management that no offer was going to be good enough. Or Parker did. The threat of another plantar flareup was enough to keep the Bills from tagging him. Anyway, I would trade Byrd for Orton in a heartbeat, so as things balance out, we came out ahead.
  2. Do the math. The AFC has a lot of decent teams this year, and 10 wins will be needed for a playoff spot. The Bills need to win the next four, plus Oakland, to get to 10 wins. Or, if they lose any of those games, beat the Pats, Broncos, or Packers. Hmmm. The KC game is not a must-win but almost is one. If the Bills lose to KC because Orton doesn't have time to throw, the season is almost over anyway. That Houston game is looming larger every week. Fred Jackson has only a couple years left, max. He wants to get to the playoffs before he retires. He will play if he possibly can.
  3. 1. The Bills have the best starting QB playing now, that they've had since Jim Kelly retired. In 1996. EIGHTEEN YEARS AGO. 2. He is not as good as Jim Kelly, but ... see above. 3. Ryan Fitzpatrick was a serviceable QB who could win some games and who was better than anyone the Bills had since Jim Kelly retired. Orton is better. Let's be happy for Fitz that he's still employed and gets to play sometimes, and be glad we've got Orton.
  4. Why so much hate for a guy who got injured? He's a talented athlete who the Bills took a shot with. They couldn't wait around till he got healthy, but if he's OK now, why shouldn't he sign with another club?
  5. It's gotta be tough to be a really good athlete, almost but not quite good enough for the NFL, always on the bubble, but not willing to give up the dream. Roosevelt must be thinking about calling it quits. Best of luck to him. I think he's always given his full effort, but there are just too many guys a little better. At least he's got his memories of being on the team, getting into a real NFL game, and will have stories to tell his grandchildren.
  6. The 64 team was better. Any team with Cookie Gilchrist was better. My understanding is that it was Saban who got fed up with Gilchrist's antics, and not Wilson, who wanted him gone. Also note that Gilchrist had only one good year left after he was traded so maybe Saban figured he'd sell high.
  7. The fish beat the Chargers because Rivers stunk. The Miami defense helped him stink but it was largely an individual effort. Also the SD defense was getting beat by ordinary players making ordinary plays, not by superstars making amazing plays. This was SD's third loss in a row. Something has come off the rails for the Chargers. Miami is looking good, no question, but they happened to hit a wounded opponent when their own game peaked. It happens.
  8. What a great argument to be able to have. I think all four of them, including Hughes, as well as Wynne and Charles, are all being given the chance to shine, since the guys surrounding them are all good. No weak links, no soft spots. However the other way to read this is that they'd all be less effective if they were the only good lineman on some other team, and the other team could game plan for him. So who would be great in that situation? MW would keep playing hard but would be double teamed to death. KW was actually in that situation with the Bills before MW and MD arrived, and while the league recognized his ability, the fans didn't, because he was negated. Only MD, in my opinion, would hold up as the stud among twigs, if he were in that situation. He can beat double teams and still disrupt plays. He's finally arrived after a couple of years of waiting, and what a force he is.
  9. TJ Graham made TJ Graham worthless... This.
  10. You ready for that pass rush, Bills Mafia? You can take that question two ways. Are we ready to see the Bills pass rush dominate the Chiefs? Or, are we ready to see the Chiefs pass rush against our bad O-line. Either way it will be a good day for the sack stats on both teams. Boy I hope Fred Jackson is ready to return.
  11. The Bills have four winnable games coming up before the December gauntlet. Good teams win the games they're supposed to, and they compete and win sometimes in their tough games. The only letdown so far this year was the Houston game, which I still fear will be the difference. If the Bills are 9-3 at the end of November, which is entirely realistic, they have a very good chance because they'll have beaten their direct WC competition with games against four other teams remaining.
  12. The Chiefs are almost as inconsistent as the Jets. The Jets looked better playing in Foxboro the week before they played the Bills, than the Broncos did last night. Then the Jets went out and were a trash fire against the Bills, in NJ. Then they played pretty well yesterday. It must be an oddsmaker's nightmare to set the line for Jets games. The Chiefs are also up and down. They destroyed the Pats then found it hard to get out of their own way. Last year they were a pick six on a stupid play, and a fumble recovery on a stupid play, away from losing to the hapless Bills while on their way to a great season record. Who knows what team shows up on Sunday. The Bills OTOH are pretty consistent. They were about the same quality the first four games, trending gradually downward to the Texans game. Since Orton took over, they've been at the same B+ level every game, which has been good enough for three wins but not to beat the Pats. If they keep getting B+ play they'll finish 9-7, unless they chance into playing a better team when that other team has a bad day.
  13. The storyline from last night's game will be that Brady beat Manning, which he usually does. But Brady does not play defense. I think Belichick spends days and days in the off-season working up new defensive schemes specifically to stop Manning. Manning is Belichick's white whale, except unlike Ahab, Belichick usually wins. Brady played very well last night. No surprise there, he's a great QB. I don't think Denver does anything special to try to stop him, which is a serious mistake. Also I do agree that the Pats tend to get away with penalties that other teams get called for, but that's not the difference between the teams. The difference is coaching. As much as I dislike Belichick, I have to acknowledge he's a great coach.
  14. Schwartz. Partly because he's a great DC and was a good HC, and partly to take him away from us. I would rather see the NJJs take a coordinator away from the Pats, of course.
  15. Style points don't count. Margin of victory doesn't count except sometimes in tiebreakers. What counts is winning the game you're playing, and positioning yourself to win later games. Also, very few injuries came from this game. Another advantage to the boring, conservative approach.
  16. The point is, they were playing the Vikes and the Jets. I assume Hackett has plays ready to go that he doesn't want to reveal to opponents until he needs them. So he went boring and conservative, and bled the clock away against the Jets, and turned things over to the defense to win. Worked out. The question is, can they raise their game when they're playing a better team? Everyone is assuming that because they didn't do more against the Jets, that they couldn't have done more. Remember back to the preseason when they looked like a trash fire, and everyone was panicking. Then they went to Chicago and beat the Bears. Perhaps we should consider that the Bills are approaching games professionally, as opportunities to win with the least cost and without giving any edge to future opponents.
  17. How many points? Enough to win. Box checked.
  18. Two points. First, the Bills were playing the NJJ in NJ, a week after the NJJs almost (shoulda) beat the Patriots in Foxboro. Tom Brady a week earlier was 20/37 for 261 and three TDs, and he was fighting hard for the win all the way. I think Orton could easily have had 400 yards against that secondary if necessary, but he did enough to win easily, he didn't get pummeled behind our rotten O line against the Jets great pass rush, he didn't throw any picks or do anything to light a fire under the Jets -- let's just enjoy the win. Second, it's the season to talk about coaching moves, and I think the biggest threat is that Schwartz becomes the new HC of the Jets next season. The Bills pulled a rabbit out of their hat when Pettine left suddenly, but who would Schwartz's replacement be? And who's the better coach, Marrone or Schwartz? The Jets will get their personnel situation figured out in 3 or 4 years, and if Schwartz is still their guy, watch out.
  19. Weather determines the outcome. Bills can't run behind that O line, whether Fred is back or not. Chiefs run run run and can't pass. On a snowy field, advantage Chiefs since our D line won't get traction. Dry field, Bills.
  20. The 1999 team was one covered kickoff from a very realistic run to the Super Bowl, where I think they would have beaten Saint Louis. This year's defense has its strengths but let's not get carried away.
  21. So basically this move stashes a guy away for the rest of the year. The Bills still have to pay his salary, but they don't have to cut or waive him where another team could pick him up. Maybe they want to keep him around to compete for a job next year. But, he's not in a situation where he could latch on with another team that needs safety help right now. To me, this sounds like an abuse of the IR category, which I thought was to be used when a player is actually Injured and therefore put on Reserve.
  22. Look not only at current ability but at future cost. Some of the Bills strong D linemen will get big pay raises next year, particularly Jerry Hughes. He deserves it too. But the Bills have a lot of money already locked up on the D line and he will probably not be here next year. I would try to re-sign him NOW and if that doesn't work then trade him. Seriously. Jarius Wynne has been playing well enough to take snaps away from Mario Williams so one of them could switch to the RDE position, with plenty of backups remaining. The Bills have a nice problem with so much D line talent but it's still a problem nevertheless. And the weakness on the O line is appalling. This is the kind of tough, hard-nosed, cold-eyed move that Belichick makes ever year or so, that has kept his team younger and stronger.
  23. Not only did the Bills waste a 3rd rounder on Graham, they actually traded up in the round to be sure of getting him. Not the worst pick in Bills history, by far, but still pretty disappointing.
  24. Under the unspoken rules of the NFL, it would have been disrespectful to put EJ in to mop up. Disrespectful to the Jets. To Orton. Most of all, to EJ, who needs to get past this time and get his head back around the idea that he's a starter, not a mopper-upper. I really think the Bills' plan is to let Orton play this year and next, while EJ sits and watches like Aaron Rogers did, and then let him take over.
  25. The Bills have a better record playing outside New York State this year (3-1) than at home (2-2). This is a good trend. It has a lot to do with the strength of the team being the defense, especially the D line.
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