hondo in seattle

The Bills were last in the league on 3rd-and-2 and 3rd-and-3. With or without the wildcat, my recollection is that we were pathetic at 3rd-and-short. I know lots of people like to point out how high our yard-per-carry were or how little we were sacked as evidence of a good offensive line. But an O Line ought to be able to create some push. Ours didn't in obvious run situations. The sack and rush metrics are a result of Chan's play-calling and Fitz's fast release. The poor 3rd-and-short conversion rate, though, exposes just how poor our O Line was last year. I think Chan used the wildcat in obvious run situations to give us an extra blocker to compensate for our weak O Line. But it just didn't work out that well. Maybe will a full off-season and Coach Lee to help perfect it, we'll see a better wildcat this year.

I think Chan will use Freddy on some series and CJ on others. Down-and-distance may also dictate a change. I think Chan likes that opponents will have to defend these backs differently. There backs are not clones of each other and last year we saw the play-calling changed when CJ was in the game. Preparing for the Bills, opposing DC's will have to breakdown what the Bills tend to do when CJ is in the game versus Freddy. In other words, they'll spend less time focusing just on what FredEx likes to do or what plays we like to run with him. Defensive players will have to keep track who's in the backfield. The more weapons we force the opponent to prepare for, the less effectively he can prepare for any one of them. The more confusion and uncertainty we create, the more likely we are to gain positive yards. For all these reasons, I really see Chan using a lot more of CJ than we saw at the beginning of last year. Yet, after all that, I still think he'll give FredEx more carries to allow him to establish a rhythm.

While I'm optimistic about the Bills this year and expect them to be in the playoff hunt: yeah, there is some doubt! * The Bills haven't made the playoffs since Wooly Mammoths were getting their feet stuck in the La Brea tar pits. * LT is a question mark. In fact, the O Line in general makes me nervous. * Fitz looked great for the first 7 games then bad thereafter. Was it really because of the rib injury? Will he regain his form? * FredEx is 31 and coming off a major injury. Will he be as effective this year? * The defensive front four look impressive on paper. But will they gel and live up to their potential? * Wanny used to be a solid DC but that was some years ago. Has the game passed him by? Will he be successful in Buffalo? * Will Shep step up at MLB? * Will our young corners play as well as we hope? I've been predicting 10 wins this season and hoping for more. But there's always doubt until a team proves it can win.

The NFL is a business but running a county is business too. Both sides will give reasons why the other side ought to ante up more. It's all part of the negotiation process.

How about these three X Factors - all starting with "F": 1. Fitz. Will he play like the first 7 games of last year? Will Coach Lee improve his mechanics? 2. FredEx. Is he fully recovered? Will he regain his form? Can he put together a Pro Bowl season? 3. Front Four. Will our new D Line live up to expectations? Will they both stop the run and harrass quarterbacks?

Fair enough. Personally, I think 8 games is a big enough sample to prove the theory. Not that I think the Bills will average 28 ppg this year. I do expect maybe 22-24 ppg from this offense and a big improvement on the defense.

I doubt if Fitz will ever be talked about as an elite QB in the same breath as Brady, Brees and Rogers. But I do believe he can lead an elite offense that strikes fear into the hearts of defenders. During the first 8 games of last season, the Bills averaged 28 points per game. Compare this to the K Gun Bills offense of the Kelly, Thurman, Reed Super Bowl years... 1990 26 points per game 1991 29 points 1992 24 points 1993 21 points Whatever you think of Fitz, the Bills were really rolling for half a season. The impact of the injuries to Wood, FredEx, Fitz's ribs, the WR Corps, and so on is undeniable.

Yep. I live in Seattle and know that Tacoma is not the size of Rochester but the point is valid. Seattle has all of Washington to itself. Denver has all of Colorado. Green Bay may be a smaller city than Buffalo but they enjoy the support of the whole state. Buffalo shares NY with 2 other NFL clubs in the more populous part of the state. If we don't regionalize into Canada, we're in trouble.

According to WGR: Thurman also talked about the running back position and remarked how the presence of both Fred Jackson and CJ Spiller reminds him of when he and Kenneth Davis were partners in the backfield. As were many Bills fans, Thomas was impressed with Spiller’s performance last season after Jackson went down with a season ending injury in week 11.

Dr. House, thanks for the link. I don't usually learn much from the national media types who seem to know a lot about the NFL in general but little about the Bills specifically. However, I thought Bucky's analysis, clips and screen grabs about how Chan uses CJ and FredEx differently were interesting and illuminating.

It seems like Chan likes players who bring unique gifts. Brad Smith isn't a Fitz clone, for example - his skill set allows Chan the Mad Scientist to play with different ideas. CJ and FredEx have very different running styles and are used somewhat differently thus making the Bills hard to prepare for. Etc. But maybe you are right in that TJ (and Easley) give Chan all the speed he needs outside making Clowney and his quick feet (not to mention his tweeted AIDS tests) expendable. It remains to be seen if the Bills have a valid #2 but we do seem to have a lot of depth. Some good WRs won't make this roster.

My argument may not be overwhelmingly compelling but it goes something like this. When Nix/Gailey cut Lee Evans I wondered if they didn't value speedy outside guys either because of Chan's offensive scheme or Fitz's weakish arm or the fact the Bills QBs didn't have a lot of time to throw deep. I now think differently. We've drafted a couple speedy receivers in higher rounds over the last few drafts, clearly needing someone to stretch the defense. It seems to me Chan does indeed value outside speed and Clowney has it. As I recall, he runs the 40 in something like 4.3. And btw, I think Hagan was the late season desperation pickup. We didn't sign Clowney until January to compete for a roster spot this season. Hagan won't beat out Jones for #2 but could be a competent back-up (nothing more or less). Clowney won't be a starter either but his elite speed will have situational value. I don't know Hagan very well but he seems to me just another guy. Clowney is a speedster and brings something special to the table.

I'm a Chris Kelsay fan for the same reason I'm a Vince Young fan - he wears a Bills uniform. I hope Chris proves all his detractors wrong this year.

I picked Clowney to stay instead of Hagan. Otherwise the same. Didn't we keep 5 WRs (plus Brad Smith and a couple on PS) last year? Considering the 4 WR sets we run - and the talent we have at WR - it seems like we ought to keep 6 + Brad.

Thanks for joining in... I appreciate your point of view. However, while Tim certainly didn't morph into Sully and wasn't entirely negative, he was more Negative Nancy than usual in his Florio interview. Tim's predicting 8-8 or 9-7... says playoffs are possible but doesn't seem optimistic.

I would say this is optimistic but then the Senator has 90 Bills being named to the Pro Bowl!

BuffaloBills.com asks a good question today: Who will go to the Pro Bowl this season? (Assuming, of course, there is a Pro Bowl). We haven't sent a lot of players to Hawaii over the past decade partly because we've been devoid of talent and partly because players on losing teams don't get noticed. But I think we solve both those handicaps this year. We have some elite talent this year and I think the Bills will finally post a winning record. Some guys I think might be candidates are FredEx, Stevie, the Williams twins, and Marcel. And our front four could help some of our LBs and DBs tally good seasons. Who would you add to the list?

I like Berman for all the times he predicted the Bills to win the Super Bowl. The guys alright with me.

One of the reasons that Buffalonians are die-hard football fans is because we don't have a major league baseball or basketball team to cheer for. For some reason, NBC Sports decided to rub a little salt in that wound today. Sadly, I'm old enough to remember when we had an NBA team and MLB dreams... Buffalo’s MLB team that wasn’t Craig Calcaterra Jul 10, 2012, 2:31 PM EDT 16 Comments Buffalo NY Great article about Coca-Cola Field – formerly known as Pilot Field — in Buffalo. The ballpark that, back in the late 80s and early 90s, was constantly outdrawing a couple of major league teams every years. Forgotten now was that the park was built to be expanded, with the specific intent of luring a major league team. But, as Mark Byrnes explains in The Atlantic, it was never to be: Ownership and the city did everything it was supposed to do. It built spectacular facilities and filled it up each game those first three and a half seasons, even outdrawing two Major League teams. So when June of 1991 came and Denver and Miami were given the two expansion franchises, the city’s pursuit of big time baseball ended as deflating heartbreak to a population just months into coping with ‘Wide Right.’ It was the right thing done at the wrong time, as the economics of Major League Baseball were on the brink of a fundamental shift, and smaller cities without major media and corporate power were no longer welcome at the big boy’s table. It’s a dynamic that, had it existed earlier, would have kept Pittsburgh, Milwaukee and a host of other cities out of Major League Baseball. http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/07/10/buffalos-mlb-team-that-wasnt/

Well, yep, he is. Why else would we be $7 million under the cap????

When I grew up in Cheektowaga, I was as much a Browns fan as a Bills fan. The first NFL game I watched maybe 40 years ago was between the Browns and the Cowboys. The Browns were losing by double-digits when I turned on the tube so - being a kid - I naturally rooted for them as the underdogs. And sure enough, they came back to win. In my high school days, I wouldn't care much who won in a Cleveland vs. Buffalo contest. But when I went out-of-state for college, I noticed that I started following the Bills more closely. It was my way, I think, of staying connected with my Buffalo and the people I left behind. Over the years, I've lived in Missouri, Indiana, Kentucky, Georgia, Korea, Saudi Arabia, California and Washington. And, instead of dissipating, my loyalty to the Bills has only grown stronger. Even after all these losing seasons, I've never abandoned the Bills for the local favorite. And when I first moved away, I was desperate for news about the Bills. When I did get any, it was usually pretty general. Now I'm on TBD virtually every day and can name more players now than when I lived in Buffalo/Cheektowaga. So thanks to everyone here for keeping me informed and connected!

If I was invited, I probably would have gone. And, then I suppose, someone would ask "Who the hell does he think he is?" And I wouldn't care as long as I had fun.

The way Buddy and Chan have talked since drafting Glenn, I expect him to start at LT. Obviously, they say it's a competition. What else would they say? And I'm sure it actually is. I just think both Buddy and Chan expect Glenn to win that competition.

+1

This reminds me of the late 80s when good things were starting to happen and many fans had that feeling we were heading in the right direction. I like this coaching staff. I like the FO. We're assembling a lot of talented players who leave it all on the field. I don't think we're quite ready for Super Bowl run yet but the playoffs seem realistic for the first time in geologic eras.