hondo in seattle

That's what makes me curious. Was Chan a little off kilter last year for some reason and this year he's calling it more like he wants to? Some people were wondering what it meant when Nix/Gailey opened the season with only 4 WRs when we used a lot of 4 WR sets last year and wore out a bunch of WRs. It's still early but I'm starting to think Chan will call more running plays this year than last - and run less 4 WR sets.

We've thrown the ball (or been sacked trying) 54 times in two games. We've run the ball 62 times in two games. Needless to say, we ran a lot in the KC game because we were sitting on a lead. Contrariwise, we passed a lot in the Jets game because we were playing catchup.

Thanks for the link. Interesting stuff. While some of us focused on the inefficiencies of the passing attack, we may have forgotten how well this run plays were executed. Lots of good X's and O's going here with players nailing their assignments. A couple quotes I liked: "His [CJ's] speed and quickness make him indefensible in the open field." "The combination of Buffalo's play-calling and Spiller's ability has regularly resulted in huge gains." (Gailey does deserve some of the credit for our ground success).

I read John Wawrow's article today with interest. Last year, the Bills were a team that passed to set up the run. During the off-season many on this board complained that Gailey passed too much, even when the passing game was ineffective. So I was amused when JW quoted Gailey saying he would run "every snap" if he could. That doesn't sound like the Gailey we know and love - but then again, maybe we don't know him as well as we think. As JW points out, the Bills 62 rushing attempts this year are tied for the 6th most in the NFL. JW continues... "As the Denver Broncos' coordinator from 1989-90, Gailey had Bobby Humphrey break 1,100 yards both seasons. In Pittsburgh, Jerome Bettis enjoyed his two best seasons with Gailey running the offense from 1996-97. Then there was Gailey's stint with as the Miami Dolphins coordinator in 2000-01, when Lamar Smith posted 2,107 yards." Did Gailey favor the pass in his first couple years with the Bills because (1) he knew we would need to score a lot to win given our poor D, or (2) because he thought a quick-passing attack was the best approach with a weak/inexperienced offensive line? Now that we seem to have a solid D and solid O Line - oh, and two dynamic RBs - will the Bills become a run-first team this season?

Thanks eball. That's an encouraging analysis. But if Fitz isn't the problem, what is? A passing attack that only completes 10 in 19 passes isn't as efficient as it ought to be.

The love some Bills fans have for VY isn't matched by NFL GMs.

The grammar, logic and flow of ideas could all be improved but I appreciated your love for our Buffalo Bills!

It's just a weekly feature but it's still nice to see CJ get some recognition. The Bills have an amazing tandem at RB.

You are right. Fitz is struggling to complete a high percentage of passes. And despite those struggles, the Bills are leading the league in TDs. I'd rather have our problems than the problems of teams struggling to find the endzone

People do have a right to boo. But I would hate Buffalo to become Philly where home-team players are regularly booed and some players actually prefer away games. Personally, I will never boo a Bill. Players who feel supported tend to perform better than players who feel unappreciated. I'll trust the coaches to jack up a player who needs it. But coaches usually encourage their players and build up their confidence to get them to peak performance. So I'll play my role in helping the Bills win when I'm at a game (which, unfortunately, isn't often) by cheering until my voice is gone. I liked it when Gailey told some fans, "When you dog one of us, you dog all of us." I won't dog any Bill who wants to help the Bills win, even if his best efforts aren't good enough. I save my boos for players on other teams. I'm a Bills fan which - to me - means I'm a fan of every Bill.

Inclement weather normally hurts the passing game more than the running game. Since our run offense & run defense are both better than our pass offense and pass defense, we would benefit from crappy weather.

The sky is falling! The sky is falling! Oh, that was last week. Bills look pretty good this week.

We can all speculate but none of us knows whether or not the Bills will be sold to the highest bidder. Certainly Kelly and some others have hinted that there is a succession plan in place and that plan keeps the Bills in Buffalo. But nobody is releasing details so it's hard to know if that plan truly exists and how secure it is. We'll find out when Ralph passes and that's when I'll worry about it.

Given the dearth of quality QBs, some teams with mediocre QBs will make the playoffs. Let's hope we're one of them.

Buying the Bills would cost nearly a billion dollars. You wouldn't raise nearly enough in donations to make a dent in that number.

bienvenidos!

I'm 53. Grew up in Cheektowaga but moved away when I was 18. Before I moved away, I was as much a Browns fan as a Bills fan. The first game I saw on TV was a Browns game and being a Bills fan was too cliche. After moving away, though, my Bills fanaticism grew and the Browns faded from my consciousness. I'm wondering if I'll ever witness a Bills Super Bowl win in my lifetime. If I live another 32 years, the statistical probability is the Bills will win just one Super Bowl. But the Bills have been trending below random chance. I might be doomed.

I saw it on TV but lived in SF later. Even the fans there told me they loved that game - though not the final score of course. Those were two high-powered offenses.

I'm not sure why the first INT this past Sunday is more representative of Fitz than the first 7 games of last season. I'm not entirely sure who the real Fitz is but I know that INT wasn't the best of Fitz. Or even his average/norm.

Sully is like the lone cloud on a sunny day that manages to block out the sun. On a cloudy day, he's the blackest of them all. I don't read Sully because I usually just get upset with his flawed, negative logic. Btw, I didn't watch TV for about ten years. I didn't have a cable-subscription, dish or even an old-fashioned antenna. I didn't want to lie on my death-bed someday wondering why I wasted my life watching crime dramas and sitcoms. I only broke down and got a TV to watch football (Bills) games (going to sports bars got old). Though now that TV has invaded my home, I watch it for other things too.

I wonder if our playbook is more complex than average. I suspect it is. Perhaps too complicated? VY had trouble with it as well. Regardless of the capability and clarity of the coaches, some players just learn faster than others. Maybe TJack is a slow learner.

You actually believe a politician? I don't remember Buffalonians being that naive.

The sabremetric type guys who really study football stats say turnovers are amongst the the most difficult stats to predict. A team with a good turnover ratio one year isn't highly probably to repeat their performance. Other stats are more consistent year to year, or even game to game, than turnovers. This hints that turnovers are more a consequent of luck than skill. (Just look at Jairus Byrd: 9 picks his rookie season; only 4 picks since then). If not for the 4 turnovers, we would have been in this game. We won't give up the ball 4 times every game. Not saying Fitz is in the same league as Brady, but even Brady has had 3 & 4 pick games - even against the Bills. Our passing game and pass defense were both bad. But our running game and run defense were both mostly good. The Jets passing game and pass defense were good while their run defense and run offense both were problematic. The big difference in the game was turnovers. We won't turn the ball over 4 times every game.

We out-gained the Jets 390 yards to 385 or something like that. Rookie mistakes hurt us but rookies learn. Bad refs hurt us (Mario said he had hands in his face nearly every play). The real refs will be return. Fitz has always been inconsistent. He has good days and bad. Now that the bad day is out of the way, a good day should follow.

The mantra for 12 years: "There's always next week."