Mike in Syracuse

I hate to quote Greg Williams but he may have said it best. "Special teams is 33% of the game". If you've got a guy on your team that boots the ball into the first row on the kickoffs is also saves a TON of wear and tear on your guys who play special teams. Anyone remember Kevin Everett? He might be our starting TE if it wasn't for one unfortunately kick-off.

You seem to have an awful lot of very strong opinions! TJ Graham's biggest asset is his ability to stretch defenses. Something that the Bills have lacked since the time when Lee Evans could actually run. Saftety's that cheat this year will sufferabe "humilitations galore". With Graham's deep speed and the Bills running game it's going to change the offense.

If you heard Byrd's interview on John Murphy's radio show tonight you have the answers to a lot of your questions. Here's some of the highlights. 1. They've been focusing primarily on base packages. They want to be sure that everyone understand their responsibilities before they add schemes. 2. They experimented with DB's calling the play in case there was ever a situation in the regular season where they needed to do that. Byrd said that Coach Gailey wants them to be prepared for every imaginable situation and they wanted someone in the secondary to experience it just in case. I think it's good coaching and not "experimentation".

The BEST possible scenario for Bills fans is that Hunter plays just well enough this week to keep his job.

Ok, so I'm watching the first team defenses snaps against the Vikings for the umpteenth time and I'm keying on Kyle Williams. Dude was straight up UNBLOCKABLE! He's literally shoving the Vikes starting center into the QB on multiple snaps. Someone needs to send Kyle a memo and tell him to save something for the regular season!!

Merriman had 3 tackles in two preseason games against predominatly 2nd and 3rd stringers. he didn't take any 2nd team snaps during the Minnesota game as far as I could tell and despite playing almost 2 full quarters he was largely inneffective. If he can't beat guys who'll be on the street in 2 weeks WTF is he going to do against actual NFL players? His burst last year was much better than it is this year. If you have the NFL preseason package go back and watch the 4th preseason game from 2011, he was litterally exploding off the snap. That has been non-existant this year. Give the snaps and the reps to Moore, he's at least go a change of getting to the QB.

I see this differently, the Bills treat players very well and try to give them every opportunity to succeed. He doesn't fit their scheme so they're giving him an opportunity to try somewhere else, much like Jasper. Full story http://www.buffalobills.com/news/article-1/Bills-release-Merriman/71c77ff5-d184-4146-9dee-659b2f4e96c4

Three things: 1. Merriman wasn't exactly lighting it up against third stringers 2. Kyle Moore has a much bigger upside 3. The money they were going to spend on Merriman this year can now be used on Levitre That said, watch Merriman go to the Jet's and turn back into "Lights Out"!

Per Jay Glazer Jay Glazer ‏@JayGlazer Bills have informed Shawne Merriman that they are releasing him today. Full story: http://www.buffalobills.com/news/article-1/Bills-release-Merriman/71c77ff5-d184-4146-9dee-659b2f4e96c4

It's somewhat amazing that they're relying on the super amazing fantastic defense to bail them out when it was proven that their best CB cannot cover Stevie. I think the Stevie/Revis matchup is going to be much like the McGahee/Jets matchup. We all have to hope that Hunter plays just well enough next week that they go into the opener with him. If they do there's no way that Sanchez survives the first half. If they keep Hunter that's great for us. If they replace him that's even better for us because no one they pick up is going to solo Mario. A double on Mario means one less blocker for Marcel, Kyle or Mark. Hopefully they'll use Keller to help Hunter thereby negating one of their better WR's.

I disagree, I belielve there is very much a "throw the switch" ability, at least as it pertains to the physical nature of the game. I thank anyone that's played a sport at a higher level knows there's a massive difference between a practice, a scrimmage and a live game. NFL players are professional athletes and have the ability to dial up the physicality at will. I agree that mental mistakes and execution mistakes shouldn't happen in practice or scrimmages but the intensity with which they're carried out can vary greatly. Footbally players are used to 16 weeks of regular season game planning where they specifically plan for offensive and defensive plays and and formations. That's what they're conditioned to do and they do any of that during the preseason with maybe the exception of the third game. It's also the reason that the playoffs take on a whole different level of intensity and execution. I dont' think any veteran NFL players are going balls to the wall during these glorified practices. As to the pre-season. Last year one of the negotiation points was a reduction in the number of pre-season games. If they were vitally important that conversation would never have taken place. Remember all the talk about an 18 games season? Unfortunately what the NFL lacks right now is a way to evaluate younger players and undrafted players. The pre-season allows the coaches, GM's and owners a way to see the rookies and young players in a game day type of format. All of the guys that got drafted were stars in high school, may have been stars in college but are now playing with essentially a college all-start team. Some can make the jump, others can't. For veteran players, the pre-season is nothing more than a 3/4 speed warm up with no game plan or adjustments. Their biggest concern is avoiding injury.

Dr. You can also show the specific plays on the right side and the player will take you right to those plays!!

I just watched it again, you are correct. One thing that does comfort me, I trust Wanny to make adjustments with the LBs as needed.

You're right on McKillop. He tends to be the lost man for me and I often forget about him. I think Barnett back in the middle makes a lot of sense but I think they hoped Shep would work there because of his size. Honestly, if something doesn't change with Shep fast I'd Bradham and weak and let him smash into people. Sure he's likely to make some rookie mistakes but with size and speed he's likely to blow up some plays as well. Morrison just doesn't do a lot for me although some have said he did a great job at the Mike when he was in Oakland?

What I'm attempting to point out is that it isn't as dire as some would like to claim. Missed tackles, blocks and assignments can be corrected. I would have preferred that the Bills looked amazing but then we would've heard people scream "yeah, well pre-season doesn't mean anything". On #1, I agree with you that it's a mismatch made in heaven to have Barnett on Harvin but he still had a shot to make the tackle and missed. On #7, Ponder did everything he was supposed to do but outside of one play the vast majority of his yards were YAC. II never said he didn't play well. The bigger point was that the Vikings weren't able to keep him upright for a traditional 7-9 step drop. If we can put that kind of pressure on with our base that's a good sign. On #9, you simply can't ignore the fact that the Bills did not deviate from their plan to run the ball. They came into the game saying they were going to try to run and the Vikings came into the game determined to play better against the run. On several plays Vikings showed run blitz and the Bills ran the ball anyway. If FItz had audibled at all it's possible that the Bills are 2-2. Again, yes there's room for improvement but no panic.

I share your concern with Shepp. I think Wanny was pissed last night and left him in late into the 3rd. I'm suspicious that he's a bit slowed by the injury but if he doesn't pick it up and fast I wouldn't hesitate to put Carder in the middle. At least he's not a complete liability in coverage. The slants do make me as crazy as the WR's running 6 or 7 yard outs when we need 8 yards.

Not exactly. I have no use for the rollercoasters who throw out all sorts of doom and gloom nonsense without objectively analyzing what really happened. There's no contribution in the endless streams of "OMG fire Gailey", "OMG our LB's suck", "OMG or secondary is terrible", "OMG Fitz sucks". People are claiming that Ponder was all world last night yet the vast majority of his passes were less than ten yards. Fitz does the same thing and people are call for Vince Young to start. It's nonsense. My post wasn't meant to blow smoke up your ass and make you feel like the Bills are amazing. The intent was to break down the offensive and defensive plays and point out what went right and what went wrong. Simon is one of the most knowledgable football guys on this board. He puts up a fact based post on what he saw last night and the Jr. Madden's on here have the audacity to tell him he's wrong. If you want to B word, step up and support your argument with actual play based evidence and not your meaningless opinion.

I'm getting really tired of reading all these posts breaking down the Bills play last night with absolute no relation to reality. There were a number of things that can be improved on but the situation is no where near as dire as a lot of the amateur Madden's haere make it sound. A lot of folks are whining about how awful the Bills were last night but they're either not looking at the entirety of the play or they're just flat out making stuff up. Sure there were things that could have gone better but it was FAR from the disaster that some are making it out to be. One of the nicest things about the NFL Preseason package is that you can replay specific plays and actually WATCH what happened or where the breakdown occurred. You armchair analysts are either running with an agenda, really uninformed or really lazy. If you're going to say they sucked, back up your positions with some actual relevant proof. Let's point out some things that are OBVIOUS if you actually look at the plays: 1. Harvin's first HUGE gain was the result of a missed tackle by Barnett on what was essentially a 1 yard pass. Followed by an absolutely awful unnecessary roughness call. 2. Simpson's huge gain (33yds) was the result of Anderson being 1/2 second slow getting his arms up. Made worse by Gillmore giving him the inside and an absolutely hideous, if not embarassing, tackle attempt by Wilson. Shades of Eddie Robinson! 3. Gerhart's 16yd run up the middle was because Sheppard seems more interested in taking on a block than tackling the runner. It was this play that led to him still being in the game in the 3rd quarter. 4. On that very same offensive series we had two sacks. These sacks weren't the result of some amazing blitz package. The first sack happened because Kyle Williams basically shoved the Viking's starting center into Ponder. Straight up bull rush and Williams brought his lunchpail! The second sack I'll also credit Williams with because he straight up ran around his man. 5. On our opening series, two of our run plays were run into an oncoming (and obvious) run blitz. No audible 6. Fitz was spot on with his passes. If someone picks up Harrison Smith on his blitz that drive likely continues. 7. ALL OF PONDERS PASSES WERE EITHER SHORT DUMPS, ROLL-OUTS OR QUICK SLANTS. That's right, ALL OF HIS PASSES, with one exception, of the broken flea flicker that Kelsay sniffed out. Every pass attempt that wasn't a roll out or quick pass was a sack. Those sacks came almost exclusively out of our BASE defense. 8. If you're going to claim that the Viking's played a "vanilla" game plan I'm going to call you an idiot. The Vikings were VERY aware of Buffalo's pass rush capability and Fraser was not going to let his QB get killed. 9. Despite the contention of some that the BIlls were getting waxed, the score t was 10-7 when the starters began rotating out of the game. 10. Cordy Glenn went up against one of the best DT's in the game and didn't get embarassed. So if you're going to B word about how the Bills looked, I challenge you to put up the specific plays and just break it down so you'll actually have some !@#$ing credibility.

Running a base 4-3 no less. Everyone wants to talk about how awful the Bills were last night but they're either not looking at the entirety of the play or they're just flat out making **** up. Sure there were things that could have gone better but it was FAR from the disaster that some are making it out to be. One of the nicest things about the NFL Preseason package is that you can replay specific plays and actually WATCH what happened or where the breakdown occurred. You armchair analysts are either really uninformed or really lazy....back up your freaking positions if you're going to cry. Let's point out some things that are OBVIOUS if you actually look at the plays: 1. Harvin's first HUGE gain was the result of a missed tackle by Barnett on what was essentially a 1 yard pass. Followed by an absolutely awful call of unnecessary roughness 2. Simpson's huge gain (33yds) was the result of Anderson being 1/2 second slow getting his arms up. Gillmore giving him the inside and an absolutely hideous, if not embarassing, tackle attempt by Wilson. Shades of Eddie Robinson! 3. Gerhart's 16yd run up the middle was because Sheppard seems more interested in taking on a block than tackling the runner. It was this play that led to him still being in the game in the 3rd quarter. 4. On that very same offensive series we had two sacks. These sacks weren't the result of some amazing blitz package. The first sack happened because Kyle Williams basically shoved the Viking's starting center into Ponder. Straight up bull rush and Williams brought his lunchpail! The second sack I'll also credit Williams with because he straight up ran around his man. 5. On our opening series, two of our run plays were run into an oncoming (and obvious) run blitz. No audible 6. Fitz was spot on with his passes. If someone picks up Harrison Smith on his blitz that drive likely continues. 7. ALL OF PONDERS PASSES WERE EITHER SHORT DUMPS, ROLL-OUTS OR QUICK SLANTS. That's right, ALL OF HIS PASSES, with the exception of the broken flea flicker that Kelsay sniffed out. Every pass attempt that wasn't a roll out or quick pass was a sack. Those sacks came almost exclusively out of our BASE defense. 8. Despite the contention of some that the BIlls were getting waxed, the score It was 10-7 when the starters began rotating out of the game. So if you're going to B word about how the Bills looked, I challenge you to put up the specific play and just it break down so you'll actually have some !@#$ing credibility.

If you're going to throw up a post breaking down the weaknesses in with the secondary and LB's it might be a good idea to actually get the positions of the players right.

THIS! If you have the opportunity, go back and watch the first few defensive series and specifically watch Mario Williams and Marcel Dareus. Mario looks like he just woke up from a nap and there are plays where Marcel flat out quits. Anyone trying to convince themselves that the starters give a **** is wasting their time. I will say though, there is one guy who has the throttle down. Kyle Williams is going to be a one man wrecking crew this year.

I'm watching the replay right now and there are literally plays where our DL stop pushing and stand straight up. Mario Williams is at about 50% effort. I wouldn't read a whole lot into this. Of note, did anyone see Fitz audible out of a run play when the Vikings were clearly showing a run blitz? Me neither.

I'm not sure who's worse, the delusional Aaron Maybin or the douche bag that was doing that interview. He's make Chris Brown look like Mike Wallace. Maybin is built like a freaking safety and I just don't see how he ever plays DE or LB in the NFL. He's got the frame of a hight school tight end.

Ocho oh noes. Say it ain't so Ocho.

Unfortunately I don't see that happening. One party feels that the government needs to be involved in legislating behavior and the other feels that's it's the government's right to legislate morality. It's a no win. That's not really an apples to apples comparison though. Eighteen year olds who are drafted don't usually take their M16's to the sidewalk and mow down a family of four. Eighteen year olds who go to a Bills game, get hammered and try to drive home do. Draftee's aren't usually a menace to society. That said, it does seem to be a rather inequitable position.