hondo in seattle

Brees doesn't rise to Flutie's level of arrogance. Not even close. Personally, they don't remind me of each other as players or as men. But to each their own.

McCoy is healthy and we still have capable backups even if we don't sign a FA. Our running game will be fine during KW's suspension. Still, it's disappointing to lose the services of a guy who did so well in his rookie year. Not just a capable backup - KW looked like a dynamic change-of-pace complement to Shady. And it's hard not to be amazed at what a knucklehead this guy is. So many boys and young men dream of the NFL. Think about that kid with the sign in front of OBD saying he'll do anything just for a chance. And then you see KW not taking his opportunity seriously.

Diehard, I respectfully call b*llsh*t on this. I'm 57 and have never driven impaired. I'm sure lots of other people have never driven impaired. Driving impaired is reckless. Many, many years ago I was at my older brother's son's b-day party. Around 8pm, my brother's best friend loaded his family into their car. Several minutes later we saw the ambulance rush by. A drunk driver ran through a stop sign and smashed into my brother's friend's car. My brother's friend was killed as were 2 of his 3 beautiful children. After experiencing that, I could never drive after drinking and would never let anyone else drive impaired. I'm all in favor of the "witch hunt" for drunk drivers. None of us has the right to unnecessarily jeapardize the lives of innocent people. I wouldn't feel much sympathy for JW if he was harshly punished for this. I hope he learns a valuable lesson.

Players injured in the off-season is not uncommon. Having starters injured before the season begins is not uncommon. We have a backup RB who's overweight. Another backup RB may receive a short suspension. Our best WR has an injury that will probably be healed before the season begins. And a draft pick - who may or may not have earned a starting position - will miss part of the season. The setbacks the team has experienced this year are unfortunate but I think it's way too early to proclaim the sky is falling.

They may be 'human interest' stories rather than hard journalism but I like this stuff. Dunne is helping us get to know the guys on the roster better than ever before. At least we learn new things from Dunne. I don't recall ever learning anything new from Sully. All you get from him is his negative slant on things already publicly known.

It doesn't seem to me like this off-season is particularly atypical. A guy with a weight problem, a couple guys with injuries, a 5th round pick with police troubles... We have 90 young men on the roster right now. What are the chances that they'd all be happy, healthy, and trouble-free?

"Easy" is a relative term. And it's easier to be safe with the ball when you're not asked to win games, only not to lose them. Clearly last year the Bills relied on their rushing attack and didn't throw a lot. But in the end, I agree with you Erik. Taylor was very good at what he was asked to do as his stats demonstrate: high completion percentage, few picks, great TD:INT ratio. You have to wonder, though, can he do more this year if needed? If we find ourselves in a game where we're unable to run the ball, will we be able to rely on TT to move the ball and put points up throwing on almost every down?

I'm in this camp. I don't think the comparisons to Byrd are accurate. Byrd seemed to be in the right place at the right time - but was certainly not in the right place all the time. However many picks he collected, he was out of position (or just plain beat) more often. Gilmore, on the other hand, is truly good at his position. Him and Darby ought to make an awesome tandem this year. It'll be fun to watch. Losing Gilmore would hurt the Bills far more than losing Byrd.

I agree. I'd be more impressed with TT's six picks if he had thrown for 4,000 yards or more. Tyrod only threw 27 times per game. Brady, in contrast, threw 39 times per game. It's easy to be safe with the ball when you're chucking it 44% less often than your rivals. And it's easy to be safe with the ball when you're playing for the #1 rushing team and not being asked to win games with your arm. I was super impressed with Taylor in his first year as a starter. But this year I want to see him demonstrate the ability to attack defenses - and win games - with his arm.

Stupid thing for anyone to do. Especially stupid for a football player where your livelihood is at stake. Most especially stupid for a bubble player.

Glad to see him doing well. Funny, talented guy.

"Bills Mafia Field" at Ralph Wilson Stadium. I'm in.

I'd like to see the NFL write up a common sense catch rules. Sandlot players have a better grasp of a completion and incompletion than the NFL does.

I'm waiting for "A Look Back at the Daryle Lamonica Trade."

Stevie has a knack for getting open - someplace other than he supposed to be. Fitz and Stevie were a great tandem. Either Fitz threw the ball somewhere in Stevie's general direction and Stevie had a talent for getting under it. Or Fitz could figure out where Stevie was going when no one else could. Since being traded, Stevie has yet to crack 500 yards for a season. His unpredictable route running - being based on guile more than speed - makes it hard for QBs to get the timing right when trying to throw to him. He was fun when Fitz was under center but I don't miss him.

To rank fans, you have to look at W-L record. How much money would NE fans spend (a key component in this study) if the Pats had missed the playoffs for 16 consecutive years? Buffalo has a 393-451-8 all-time record and have never won a Super Bowl. Yet we have the best tailgate parties in the league, typically sell out the stadium (despite our small market), have Bills Backer supporters everywhere, and frequent sites like this religiously. The loyalty of Bills fans is remarkable. The rankings have Packer fans outside the top 10, Steeler fans in the bottom half, Chief and Bills fans in the bottom five. Those results clearly indicate the methodology is flawed.

My prediction isn't all that bold but here goes: I think the Bills will run a well-balanced attack and finish somewhere between #5 and #10 in yards.

I suppose this might be interesting if some math guys with experience in sports-related regression analysis put it together. From the very get-go this thing is purely a click-bate opinion piece with little connection to reality. They have 3 guys subjectively rate each team in five categories. Each category is subjectively weighted by the author, thus giving you a final score. There is zero data to suggest the methodology produces anything but garbage.

Fun exercise, Erik. Thanks for doing this.

I like Woods as a #2 but I don't see him staying beyond the end of his contract. Roman runs a run-first offense and he's probably better at coordinating a run game than a passing game. Shady and our other backs will get a lot of touches. On top of that, we all saw how productive Sammy was during the 2nd half of the season. Sammy's going to be targeted a lot this year. Plus, there's been a lot of talk about Clay not earning his paycheck and maybe not being fully integrated into the offense. I expect him to have more targets this year. That just doesn't leave a lot of targets for Woods. Fully healthy, he'll play well this year. But I don't see him putting up monstrous numbers. Feeling under-utilized and under-appreciated, Woods will find a big contract in a more pass-oriented offense somewhere else.

Eric, nice work as always! One of the great things about football is that the basic ideas are simple enough that a new fan can catch on relatively quickly. Yet football is complicated enough that experienced fans can always find new things to dissect, criticize and/or admire.

Interesting how bad Darby looked in preseason compared to how good he looked when it counted.

I'd ask him what makes Roman so good at coordinating a run game? And I'd ask him what it'll take for him to earn a roster spot with so many talented backs in camp?

Clearly Roman is a good play designer. Here are a few thoughts about that: * We didn't have a great OL last year. Our linemen did not consistently win their one-on-one battles nor did they create a ton of push in short down situations. Yet we lead the league in rushing last year. Roman's running plays didn't always require dominant linemen. They just required competent execution. * Rex is credited with ruining the D last year, and rightly so. I wonder, though, why he gets so little credit for recruiting Roman and encouraging DW to sign TT. A good HC builds a winning staff and helps build a winning roster. On offense, Rex did that. As HC, Rex is required for both sides of the ball. One side improved, the other side regressed. That's Rex's ambivalent record so far with Buffalo. * I don't think we should make too much about Roman designing a passing attack that works around TT's weaknesses. Every OC tries to create a scheme - and call plays - that utilizes the strengths of their QBs and avoids their shortcomings. Let's hope things between Roman and Tyrod click even more this year.

Over the years, I've twice seen articles written by guys who tailgated in all 32 cities ranking Buffalo #1 in tailgating. Then again, I've also seen articles rating the Bills game day experience poorly because of drunken fans.