DaBills51

I really don't see why everyone felt the need to bash the guy for his post. The tendency of this board to bash 90% of the posters on here is borderline pathetic. Now, I realize that many of the posts, especially after a loss, tend to be overly dramatic and deserve some bashing; however, I don't see how this post could illicit such a reaction. For those who feel that the OP's notion was ludicrous, I would strongly encourage you to check out the following links: http://www.behindthe...amp-mike-tomlin http://profootballta...ar-knee-braces/ http://www.coachings...ear-knee-braces http://boltbeat.com/...-everyone-else/ http://www.betterbra...fensive-linemen I hate to break it to some of you, but almost all NFL teams REQUIRE their offensive lineman to wear knee braces during practice and training camp. And, in college, many schools REQUIRE their offensive lineman to wear knee braces during games, as well. Generally, the Patriots are ahead of the curve on a lot of matters, and things have typically worked out well for them. So, would it really be that bad of an idea to take one of their practices into consideration?

Very quiet there for such a big down.

#77 dragged Williams down from behind.

Locked on to his target and patted the ball about three times. Terrible play.

The Panther's have a ton of backups in on D. Hopefully, the Bills can take advantage of some mental mistakes on their end. Should be some breakdowns with guys getting time who haven't had many reps.

Summers can't get beat by a DB like that.

This defense could be top 10 late in the season when Byrd and Gilmore return.

I thought the NFL was planning to crack down on taunting?? Apparently, the new crack down doesn't apply to Steve Smith.

Are you allowed to throw the ball that far down the field?

Are you allowed to throw the ball that far down the field?

It really drives me crazy when they go with a run out of shotgun on 3rd and short. But, for some reason, a lot of NFL teams do that nowadays.

Breaking up the pick. Good play.

Summers has shown suprising speed for a blocking FB. The return of Larry Centers?

I thought that Hackett was actually one of the biggest liabilities heading into this season. In my opinion, he isn't ready to be an OC. He can be a good OC down the road, but I think he should have spent some time as a positions coach in the NFL first.

At least the first Whaley draft has looked pretty solid. Woods and Alonso have looked good.

Carolina's DEs aren't even hesitating with the read option anymore. Every play they just collapse down because they know EJ isn't going to pull it. I'm not sure if this is on EJ or if he was instructed to give it to the back every time because of his knee, but there is no point in running a read no-option.

56,500

This is a perfect example of how statistics can be misinterpreted to claim that a relationship exists, when in fact, it is not statistically significant. Inferring that Fitzpatrick is a more accurate quarterback than Manning, Stafford or Luck is laughable, and it fails to account for countless variables. First, you fail to account for the offense that the quarterback is in. With the Bills, Fitzpatrick is rarely asked to push the ball down the field, whereas with the Colts, Andrew Luck actually pushes the ball down the field quite regularly. Here is a link to Advanced NFL Stats, which is a site that calculates a statistic they call Air Yards per Attempt. According to their website, Air Yards are "the passing yards forward of the line of scrimmage in which the ball travels through the air. In other words, it is total passing yards minus any yards after catch (YAC) gained by the receiver." Now, for those of us who actually watch the games, Ryan Fitzpatrick is unsurprisingly at bottom of the league in Air Yards per Attempt. Thereby, one would hope that Fitzpatrick would have a high Completion Percentage due to the fact that he primarily throws 3 yards slants, outs, and screens.Once again, even if a QB has a low Completion Percentage and a low Air Yards per Attempt, this does not necessarily mean that this QB is inaccurate. Such analysis would fail to account for drops, a poor receiving corp, quality of opponents, and so on. It is for this reason that people must rely on what they see as much as what they know, and 95% of us see Fitzpatrick as a wildly inaccurate QB.

He means that no NFL team has ever lost games on purpose to get a high draft pick. Whenever Chan, or any other player for that matter, steps out onto the field, they are putting together their resume. If Chan were to just make dumb decisions, even more so then he is now, then he will have to justify that at his next job interview. The same goes for players. So, this topic, like so many others on this board, is pointless.

Hello everyone, For the month of November, I will be growing a mustache to raise vital awareness and funds for men's health issues, specifically prostate and testicular cancer initiatives. The funds raised are directed to programs run directly by Movember and their men’s health partners, the Prostate Cancer Foundation and LIVESTRONG Foundation. I've already reached out to my family and friends, both on Facebook and in-person, however I haven't received a donation yet. So, running out of ideas, I decided that I would turn to some of the greatest fans in the world. Any donation would be appreciated; however, if you don't have the means to donate, you can do your part by just spreading the word about the importance of testing. I'm only 24 and I've already lost a family member to prostate cancer, and more recently, the father of one of my good friends. In both cases, the cancer was not detected until it had already spread outside the prostate, and by then it was too late. Assuming that the majority of posters on here are men, I can not underestimate the importance of regular screening. Lets be honest, while I'm still too young to have had the pleasure of undergoing my first screening, it cannot be much worse than watching the Bills this year. As a matter of fact, it may even be a better way to spend you Sunday. If you would like to donate, please just click on the link below, and then click on the donate to me button. Also, I am currently looking into buying 2 tickets to the Bills-Rams game through my work that can then be raffled off. The plan will be that each donation of $5 grants you one entry into the raffle. So, a $20 donation will give you four chances to win. I should have a definitive answer on if I can use the tickets for charity within the week. Thanks everyone for taking the time to read this, and like I said before, even if you can't donate, please get screened and help raise awareness by spreading the word. http://us.movember.com/mospace/5049261

Why is this notion always brought up? No player or coach will ever just give up as a means to get a high draft pick. The players are essentially putting together their resume every time they step out on to the field. The number one motivating factor for all players is to look good on film so they can increase their value. I feel sorry for anyone who truly believes that players put forth the effort they do for the fans and the club. They do not care about you at all. Stop being so naive. The same can be said of coaches. No coach is gonna bench players or stop trying so they can get a higher draft pick. Coaches are going to do what they think will help the team win, so they can increase their value as well. Not to mention, they need to make the moves that they can justify in their next job interview. This is a big reason why many coaches won't just start rookies to quicken their development. They don't care about 3 years from now because they may not be with the team. Their goal is to win now. So, even if that means starting a veteran QB, who is marginally better, over a rookie with significant upside, many coaches will start the veteran.

Coaches do not tell their players what cushion to give on every play. Once in a while, a coach may get on a player and tell them they want them up in a players face, but for the most part, that is on the player. Now, before people say that this isn't true, there are a couple of plays that call for a jam, but that is mostly around the goal-line. It is the same on the college level. The call is for the coverage, and then it is up to the DB to decide how they want to play it. Here is a Perry Fewell quote from a JW article a couple of years ago: http://www.startribune.com/templates/Print_This_Story?sid=55659587 The play just shows how little confidence Gilmore has in his game right now.

I would agree for the most part, however the MLS has the greatest wage disparity by far. Take the LA Galaxy for example. You have Landon Donovan, David Beckham and Robbie Keane making over $2.4 million per year, and then 1/5 of the team makes less than $50,000. So, with a player like Beckham, he is making 120x more than the lowest paid players on the team. Now, with the league minimum for the NFL being $390,000, that would mean the highest paid player on the team would have to make $46,800,000 per year to match the MLS. It should be noted that a lot of these player don't start, however there are many starters in the MLS that make less $70,000. Which would still be 57x more.

Let me get this straight. Essentially, you believe that if a GM simply makes decisions that are popular with the fans, then that GM should be absolved of any blame. Man, if only the real world worked like that. I'm sure many GM's over the years wish they could just say, "I know the team has stunk, but I did what the fans wanted and we looked good on paper." As fans, regardless of what we think, we do not know more than Buddy Nix. Lets be honest, how many times have we as fans called for a player to be taken in the first round only to see them fall all the way to the second or third?? But, the fact of the matter is, we are fans, and this is not our job. The last time I checked, none of us collect a paycheck from the Bills. We pay for a service, and we have a right to criticize that service. By your logic, if you get a dish that tastes like crap at a restaurant, you better know how to improve that dish or else you shouldn't say anything. However, Buddy Nix doesn't have the luxury of such an excuse. It is his job to put a winning product on the field, regardless of what the fans want. He clearly hasn't done that. Nix hires the coaches and staffs the team, and for that reason, Nix shoulders all of the blame. It's really that simple. Even if you do what you think is right at the time, but it turns out to be wrong, you are still wrong.

#1....Just in case you didn't know.....the Bills actually beat the Patriots last year. It was a pretty crazy game. You should have watched it. #2....The Patriots do not always bring in veteran players who outplay other teams' rookies or first year players. I would recommend doing a little research before you repeat a baseless fact ad nauseam. Now, before you try to start slamming the little keys on your keyboard, please explain to me how the following players have managed to start more than 8 games as Rookies or 2nd Year players during Belichick's era: Name Mat Light Dan Koppen Logan Mankins Nick Kaczur Sebastian Vollmer Nate Solder Jerod Mayo Brandon Spikes Kyle Arrington Patrick Chung Devin McCourty Vince Wilfork Deion Branch Rob Gronkowski Aaron Hernandez Kyle Love Brandon Meriweather Ellis Hobbs Randall Gay Eugene Wilson *Refer to the attached for exact figures* Alright, well now, if you made this far down the list and you still don't realize how wrong you are....let me try to explain some more of the flaws in your statements. Outlandish Statement #1 "Every year without fail he will bring in veteran players who will essentially outplay other teams' rookies or first year players." So, let me get this straight, you means that their rookies were outplayed played by such veterans as: Albert Haynseworth, Shaun Ellis, Fred Taylor, Chad Ochocinco, and Alge Crumpler. Man, those were all great veteran free agent signings. I don't think the Patriots would have been as good if those guys weren't on the team. Outlandish Statement #2 "There will be no rookies blocking for Brady this year." Now, I would like you to advert your attention to the above table which shows that over the years, the Patriots have had six lineman start more than 8 games their rookie year. Furthermore, guess what happened during two of those years in which the Patriots started a rookie....no ideas? They won the Super Bowl!! I know, this must all seem crazy to you, but just take some time, think it over and it will come to you. Finally, this all ties into what others have said, and that is the Patriots are attempting to hold onto dynasty where as the Bills are trying to build one. Heck, just look at the Patriots current starting offensive line, as almost every player expect Brian Waters started for the Patriots during his rookie year. Alright, now before I go I have one more fun fact for you. Kyle Arrington, who was arguably the Patriots' best defensive player last year was cut by Philly and Tampa during his rookie year, and even after being signed to the Patriots practice squad, he wasn't activated to the 53 man roster until after the Browns made an attempt to sign him. Personally, although I know you disagree, I would rather take a chance on finding the next Kyle Arrington, James Harrison, or Fred Jackson before signing a stop gap veteran like Albert Haynesworth or Chad Ochocinco. I apologize for being so sarcastic and blunt, but you reap what you sow.