starrymessenger

What was it exactly he was supposed to be doing? Was that part of the play design. Was he trying to hide? Gotcha. He was being small or smaller or inconspicuous. Except I was worried somebody shot him dead.

My guess is its $. And there is nothing wrong with that. He's at or close to the top of the food chain as far as DTs are concerned given his age and more consistent play, but the character concerns are real though a lot less than somebody like Haynesworth who landed a huge contract. I know I takes a few years for DTs to fully come around but my impression has always been that he's a guy who can pretty much flat out dominate whenever he makes up his mind to do so. Is his spotty play in prior years just a question of development or motivation. Important question.

Thanks for posting this.

Isn't that what got Spikes in the doghouse. Was 5minutes late in a driving snowstorm. Bill is nothing if not consistent.

No Rob. The point is 4 firsts and a second is still not enuf.

Woods is quite capable of having a big game. Our receivers are really pretty good. That's really what separates of from the Jets. True they have Percival but he's not acclimated and, who knows, he might punch Geno in the mouth before the first half is over. Now if we can just fix that pesky O-line.

All the better. Rex will try and take Sammy away. I'm beginning to think (hope) that maybe Hogie can be a lot better than I thought. KO seems to have good chemistry with him. QB always gets the kudos but in reality that was a heck of a catch last week. Just a lacrosse player I know but who could have known that a guy from Coe College was actually a great player.

Bold prediction: Hogie has a monster day on Sunday.

For similar reasons we're lucky Orton is here. Never understood the Locker love. Always seemed just another athlete pretending to be a QB. Works in college but not where it needs to. Actually in his case didn't even work in college.

And they did the right thing. I'd do it but only if they threw in k. Sheppard

Is Godot a junior or a senior?

Ok. He's not the answer. Now you know.

So he's no good because others have thought so. Well, he might not even be the same guy he was then, not to mention that we don't know for sure what all the circumstances might have been. Frankly, I'd rather not rely on someone else's opinion and prefer to make up my own mind. Right now I don't think any of us know what it is exactly we have in Orton. We all need to see more before offering an opinion that can claim to hold water. What I think I've seen is a guy who is capable of making big time throws and who can do it frequently enuf to dispel the notion that it was not an accident (I used to get that feeling with EJ sometimes). He's a pure pocket passer with zero mobility/escapability. But so are some soon to be HOF'mers. He sees the field well, of able to go thru his reads/progressions when given time and can find the open receiver. He is smart and experienced. He is capable of making good line calls. He can execute under pressure. He's best in the clutch and leads by example when the going gets tough. That also proves he has leadership skills, something much needed on this young offence. He is a serious, well spoken person at this stage of his life and career i.e, he is not a jerk. Contrary to popular opinion, he is not old. He should be entering his prime as a QB. As long as his arm is lively I really don't see where age should factor into any decision affecting his future with the team. He's had a few bad turnovers but he's been trying to make things happen in an O that was designed for another QB, is talented but young and therefore itself error prone at times. If the past is any indication ball security (or the lack thereof) has never been a defining negative of his game. I expect the O-line problems to improve if only because everybody now knows that is job one and it just can't go on like this. I also expect him to get better support from the run game now because Boobie and Brown are better suited to the kind of offence favored by Marrone and his sidekick. So I actually expect more and better things from Orton as we move along. It's just possible that the Bills have gone from having, in effect, no QB to having a good QB. By the end of the year I expect we will all have a better handle on this. In the meantime he's been giving me good value for my entertainment dollar. It's been a long time since I've seen anything like that game winning drive he authored yesterday from a Bills QB.

I guess you didn't watch Peyton last night. It was like "just put your arms around me Baby".

Try and tell Aaron Rodgers that.

Correct. The reason there are rules of the game is largely to ensure that both teams receive equal treatment (as well as player safety). The officials are charged with enforcing those rules largely to validate the results of the action. This practice, and it extends to other items, such as sometimes telling wideouts to line up properly (and sometimes not) makes the outcome a discretion of the official- which is exactly what the outcome of games is not supposed to be. Let's assume that the Jets had previously been penalized for the same infraction and that the penalty had allowed the Pats to kick a field goal, with three or fewer points being the margin of victory. I'd love to have attended Rex's post game presser. If the overriding consideration in this case is player safety, then blow the whistle and kill the play when a defensive player lines up this way. It's not just the amateur officiating that sucks but the professional management of the officiating as well. NFL is really thick between the ears at times.

Lynch gets great holes to run through from the Seahawks O-line and it is one of the lightest in the league. I share your concerns regarding this coaching staffs ability to shore up the run blocking. If Marrone as a reputed O-line guru can't do that I begin to wonder if he can do anything.

True. Only reason they were any good on O was because they had the best O-line in football, not because of Schotts play calling. Except in the first half Monday night for some reason he's running neck and Neck with Hackett for the honour of least creative OC. He's got big receivers. Where were the quick 7-8 yard slants in the second half? Why not help out your child QB? And what has he done with T. Austin? Same as we do with CJ. Can't get him in space. Saw him twice run him off tackle, all 160 pounds of him lol.

He should be calling all of the plays.

I thought he said "it was a damn close near run thing" tho I think your quote better summarizes yesterday's events.

They have plenty of talent on defense. What it boils down to IMO is whether their o-line is as good as really it looked against the Bungles. If they can establish their run game like they did Sunday night we are in for a lot of trouble. Of course the matchup is entirely different with the Bills. We now have a good run D unlike Cinci. And hopefully we will have a better defensive game plan too. I expect the game to be a close run thing between the two contenders for the Division title. Lots of excitement.

If you have to wait for a Luck or Rodgers you may have to wait a long time, possibly forever, especially if you don't know how to evaluate QBs, thus making the whole process even more of a crapshoot than it already is. If he's good enuf to win that's good enuf. People used to say things like that about EJ ie he just needs to be a game manager etc... Bottom line however was that, game manager or not, he wasn't good enuf to win However, even if KO lights it up, the Bills obviously need to avoid the errors of the past. They need to draft a QB. Right now they don't even have a reliable backup on the roster if Orton goes down.

I suppose we will find out by now having the opportunity to see all of his games whether the likes of Evans, McGinest (and I might add Tom Jackson) are right about his tendency to be spotty is accurate or not. Based on what I've seen over the years I would agree he seems pretty much always to be the same guy. A lot of what these guys say sounds to me like conventional wisdom and received notions. We are I suspect legit as contenders for the AFC East crown with him under centre, which certainly we were not before he got the nod. They could have had Russell Wilson for a third. The Bills just don't know QBs. If Kyle Orton does well in Buffalo I'm inclined to think its because he was the only guy available, not because they know how to pick 'em.

Sounds like you are not familiar with Evan's obvious attachment to the Pats. Part of his presentation/introduction as an analyst often includes references to his being someone in the know about their organization, in particular how they go about their business based upon his acquaintance with it. He is frequently introduced in a NFLN segment as an ex Pat, just as McGinest is. Somehow nothing is said about his having played for other teams. Whether the connection is actually meaningful is irrelevant. By his comments it's apparent (at least to me) that he is partisan, favorably inclined to that team, and therefore it is not unreasonable to speculate that he is not so favorably inclined towards that team's competitors. Exactly the same thing can be said about McGinest, who BTW also played for the Browns, but is, you know, a Pat. I don't have a problem with their affection for their team. It's hardly unnatural.

And Heath Evans says he may have a good game or two and then revert back to the norm, which I assume means not good. Of course both these guys are Pats after all so maybe they are concerned that Orton will be a major equalizer in considering just who gets to win the Division. That's what I suspect actually.