tennesseeboy

yeah...I'd really like to see Drew Brees knocked on his ass over JP knocked on his ass, over Holcomb knocked on his ass. Bad idea.

This all begs the real "smash mouth" football idea. Smash mouth football is the existence of a very effective trench game on defense and offense. Kelly had time to pass (he also had Thurman running, by the way). McGahee may not be a good runner and Losman may not be a good passer, but we'll never know until we have a quality offensive line. We won't have a good pass defense until we have a good run defense. Its all about the trenches...passing game or running game. The plain fact is that the running game eats the clock. With the offense on the field, it doesn't matter if you have Jim Brown, Gale Sayers, Otto Graham, Joe Namath or Peyton Manning on the sidelines. They aren't doing anything on the sidelines. See our first Superbowl experience for the Parcells/Belichick lecture on clock control through the running game.

My Christmas hope for the Bills was that they would draft linemen, and TD's apparently told the drafting crew "nothing but linemen." I think that will prove to be exactly what we need. It is possible that TD may be around if he follows through on that plan. MM is still on the cusp, but yesterday looked pretty good. Let's see what happens in the final game. Merry Christmas everyone!

I think TD drafts good players. However he doesn't, or at least hasn't here in Buffalo, successfully drafted or negotiated what we need to win, nor has he found good coaches, when plenty of good coaches were available. Finally, and most important, he hasn't gotten us to a playoff game. There are certain jobs where the proof is in the pudding, and for a GM over a five year period, there is a need to show real results in the win loss column.

It will be sold to the daughter, and I suspect sold to the highest bidder. Hopefully it will stay in Buffalo, but who knows what the highest bidder will have in mind. Would the Colts ever leave Baltimore? Would the Browns ever leave Cleveland?

He might have noticed that the big fat guy named Williams who played defensive tackle wasn't there and he didn't have a lot of studs on the defensive line. He might possibly have considered that there was a paucity of quality linebackers and in the extremely unlikely situation where a linebacker might get hurt we would really be in trouble. Those are two things that might have crossed his mine as far as the defense goes, Chris.

If I were to make an exception to my belief that everyone we draft this year should be an offensive or defensive lineman, weigh over 300 lbs, and have an attitude that makes Conrad Dobler look like a sissy (I don't want guys who bite fingers, I want guys who bite them OFF and swallow them!) it would be for a tight end. If however he happens to weigh over 300 and bites fingers off..that would be even better.

Mike Stratton walloping Keith Lincoln in the AFL championship game. Watching Calvin Murphy at Niagara Watching Bob Lanier at Bennet High School and Bonaventure Joe Ferguson limping his way through a playoff game (guts personified) Bob McAdoo, Gar Heard, Randy Smith (of Buff State) and the Braves. The French Connection (A line of its talent or beauty has never been seen before or since) OJ..(awful human being, but an unbelievable running back) The superbowl, no-huddle great Bills teams...

I never thought it was Norwood's fault. I really think Shane Conlan's injury is what killed us as he was a very effective run-stopper, and we would have had that offense on the field more than 19 minutes. Of course the injury isn't anyone's fault. Norwood's field goal was no gimme, and Norwood played a huge role in getting us INTO the superbowl to start with.

Our rebuilding is off to a great start with the naming of Moorman as our lone pro bowl player. We have to build around our ability to punt better than anyone else. Forget the run game, pass protection, an anemic defensive line. I really think this could be the offensive strategy for next year. Punting is the most under-rated part of the game. I think our first pick should go toward a strong back-up punter to play behind Moorman and take us into new levels of play!

Bingo

LOOK OUT FOR WOLF One of the NFL's finest general managers could be getting ready to take the plunge again. Word is that former Packers general manager Ron Wolf, one of the most respected talent evaluators in the league, is getting ready to return to the game. Very quietly, Wolf has been looking into potential fits for him, and there's no doubt there will be any number of suitors for the man who helped return the luster to Titletown, U.S.A., helping the Green Bay Packers win Super Bowl XXXI. Wolf has been living in Annapolis, Md., since he retired in 2001, but more and more, it's looking like his next home will be back in the NFL. With some lucky team. green bay guy

Maybe its just me, but I suspect its easier to get JP to throw a five yard out pattern than it will to get Kelly Holcombe to throw a 40 yard pass to Evans. JP will be fine. Our problem on offense is our offensive line, including the tight end position. Period.

The way we've been playing it'll probably be like Riverdance out there. He's probably been training with the Russian Ballet, Tommy Tune, and Chita Rivera all week!!!

Come on down. The barbecue and the bluegrass are waiting! Actually I spent many years in Rochester (worked at SUNY Brockport and lived in Hilton) Son played football, hockey and baseball for Aquinas. I used to run in the race at the Lilac Festival, and their was a great art show in the summer. Had a lot of involvement in the founding of the International Museum of Photography. I liked Rochester. Not Buffalo, of course, but a nice city.

I think its a cosmetic job. He'd look better with FIVE 300 LB MEAN OFFENSIVE LINEMEN in front of him. Would probably fix our receivers and McGahee as well.

Given the present condition of the Buffalo Bills we should probably worry about the potential coaches scratching Buffalo off their list of potential cities to coach in.

Look, a GM shouldn't be judged on his draft choices and trades as if each one had to be perfect. The question is whether he produces playoff teams. TD hasn't done it here and this is HIS team which will finish the season with 4 or 5 wins. We can argue all day, but the fact is his record has been unacceptable by almost any standards. MM in part has the same problem, but hasn't shown any real upside that would justify keeping him. I don't think MM's performance as a game day coach week in and week out would justify any hope that he could coach a playoff team.

And given the way the Bills have played this year being a buffalo bill this season may be no comparison to playing for an NFL team.

Almost forgot, Hardy...coached hockey!

up until 18 months ago I ran in 5, 10 and 15k races, played intramural basketball and racquetball.

6yet another bad MM coaching decision. JP should get all of the reps he can in the remainder of the season, in order to improve, to develop more familiarity with the receivers ("JP..that number 80 guy is eligible to receive passes as well, and he isn't all that bad at that sort of thing.") and to allow the powers to be to assess his development to see if he is the long term guy at the position. Starting Holcomb does nothing for us. I suppose a real justification might be that the offensive line is so bad that we don't want to hurt our developing quarterback and Kelly is expendable in a hopeless situation. If so, what a comment about our Bills.

Very interesting thought...but I have to agree. Schobel is too good a defensive player not to take advantage of, and he plays best in the 4/3. I think we will be able to get one or possibly two high quality defensive tackles. A guy I would watch for in the second or possibly third round is Jesse Mahelona of Tennessee (god awful season for the team, he's always been outstanding though). He and our first or second round DT would be the basis for a four man defensive line. I was a big fan of the three-four, but I think you have to play a defensive that your talent gives you. I don't think we have enough quality linebackers to go with the 3/4 right now anyway.

I like east tennessee. Blue Ridge Mountains, breathtaking beauty, fantastic TVA lakes for boating and fishing, Great Medical Center, Skiing in the mountains half an hour away, but 41 degrees and perfect golf weather today. Live in the town where Davy Crocket grew up, Andrew Jackson and Sam Houston practiced law and a few miles from where President Andrew Johnson was a tailor. 6 hours from the ocean and 90 minutes from Knoxville. No income tax. Very little crime, housing cheap, nice quality of life. Almost heaven... Last year I lived in Kyiv Ukraine. Great metro system, great and inexpensive opera two blocks away. A revolution (I don't think they do that every year). Lots of history.

If you believe in a power running game, why on earth do you have those powder puffs on the line and why don't you have a big blocking 300 pound tight end. I remember reading an interview of JD Hill, a Bills receiver in the OJ era. Saban told him, the tight ends, and everyone else in the organization were advised that it was an OJ running game that they were going to play and to get with the program. They did...and they put together the Electric Company to turn on the Juice. That's how you put together a running game...not jabbering on about how you're going to play "smash-mouth" football and drafting wide receivers.