hondo in seattle

I think you are right. Nix has said that rebuilding the defense had to be the priority. Chix knew they had to fix the Offensive Line, too, but they ran out of draft picks and didn't see enough in free agency that they liked. Gailey is figuring ways to move the ball and score despite not having a good line. He'd be a fool if he was doing anything else. Screens, quick timing routes, wildcat... anything to keep the defense on their toes or at least get the ball out of Fitz's hand quickly. Sacks are bad enough by themselves. Sacks & pressure are often accompanied by fumbles & INTs.

This sort of kills the absurd theory put forth by Sully and others that Overdorf traded Evans without Nix or Gailey knowing about it.

Seems like Nix was pretty forthcoming in his statements - saying Lee won't run a lot of crossing routes or that Hangartner lacks the strength to anchor the point or that OL depth is not good. Nix is a straight-shooter, methinks. eball, thanks for the notes and quotes.

Marcel Dareus +1 win Two new ILBs +1 win Shawne Merriman +1 win Dave Wannstedt +1 win Fitz preparing as #1 QB for first time +1 win CJ Spiller and/or Brad Smith +1 win

Both Gailey and Fitz seem genuinely confident in Jones. That makes me somewhat confident. Our Special Teams were great when Bobby April was here. Martin is a nice addition but won't make them great again. DeHaven is getting up in years - starting to wonder if the NFL has passed him by.

Winning can become contagious. If we start with some wins, our chances of winning against the Pats increases even if we exposed everything in the cupboard. Anyway, Gailey has a fertile mind. The success of current offensive options will only give him more options in future games. Our only goal right now should be to beat the Chiefs.

Yeah... I watched this game... What fun! Two great offenses.

I'm going out on a limb here. Go ahead and flame. One breakout player will be Chris Kelsay. He's had a full year as an OLB and played much better in the 2nd half of last season than his horrific first half. This year he establishes himself as a credible starting NFL LB.

Donald Jones - almost inevitable Shawne Merriman - not really a breakout but his first good year in a loooong time CJ Spiller - finally starts to show us why he was drafted so high (though Jackson still the better back) Roscoe Parrish - will excel at PR after his hiatus and have his best year ever as a receiver

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/football/nfl/09/05/peter.king.predictions/index.html?eref=sircrc King says he worries about the back end of the Bills defense as well as the Offensive Line. But also says the Bills should be fighting for .500. Link above shows all his predictions for this season. There you will also find links for his one minute previews of each team.

And besides, the linemen we cut weren't good. Why waste roster spots on untalented players?

If I'm not mistaken, the Pack is also carrying only 3 backup O Linemen. Given they won the SB, I think the Packers know what they're doing. Maybe 8 total linemen isn't such a horrible idea.

Thanks to Flutie Flakes!

Thanks for all the well-wishes. Anything for a fellow Bills fan.

Agree entirely with this but will add one more thing. The addition of Wannstedt to the coaching staff will help the linebacking corps and will also help Edwards develop as a DC. Also hoping CJ contributes more to the offense this year.

I'm not sure which was worst - listening to the game with that heartbreaking ending and enduring the "$&@%" afterwards like you did, or missing it entirely like I did with my ear glued to a cheap shortwave radio set waiting for a sports update. I can only imagine the ribbing you must have received! I guess either option is better than suffering through a decade long playoff drought. At least we were relevant in those days. Funny. Even though we couldn't know at that time if we and our friends would get home okay, that night nothing was more important than the Super Bowl. Baghdad Betty was always good for a laugh. Never heard the "Filipino Monkey" though.

Martin is 6'4" and 220 lbs - a big target. Although Chan likes Roscoe, he does seem to generally prefer big targets. While many of us wanted Naaman to make the squad, Martin got the last wideout slot and could be a competent role player for us. From Chris Brown: "Known as a solid route runner, Martin often uses his size and length to make plays on the ball and is adept at coming down with the ball in traffic. Though he does not have elite speed he has shown an ability to get behind defenses as evidenced by his career average of 15.5 yards per catch." http://www.buffalobills.com/news/article-1/Bills-sign-WR-Martin/7fe6830b-7f02-419b-b00e-24e84393063c From Brewcity Cheesehead: "Ruvell Martin used to be with the Packers a couple years ago (2008 was his last year here I think) and I'm not sure where he's been the last couple years... He's a reliable receiver, not going to blow anyone away with his speed, but he has good size and good hands. The Packers used him in their 5WR sets which they used quite often when he was around. Aaron Rodgers always used to joke that Martin was his favorite target when most of their practice reps were on the scout team as backups. The Packers cut him in 2009 in favor of Brett Swain who is probably a worse receiver, but was better on special teams. The cut was one of the surprise cuts that no one expected, as he contributed to the team quite a bit and was well liked." http://forums.twobillsdrive.com/topic/133585-ruvell-martin-wr/page__st__20

Yep. This funny and what I should have done years ago... I was in Desert Storm when the Bills went to their first Super Bowl. A soldier, knowing I was a Bills fan, woke me up in the middle of the night to tell me he just heard on a BBC shortwave news broadcast that the Bills had won on a last second field goal. But he warned me there was a lot of static on the radio and maybe he understood wrong. I sprung out of my makeshift bunk and kept my ear inches from the radio waiting for confirmation. Deep in the Arabian Desert we could only get one or two English language stations. Once in a while, the Iraqis broadcasted "Baghdad Betty" who played American music interspersed with propaganda messages like, "American Soldier in the desert, did you know that moving sand dunes hundreds of feet high can bury you while you sleep? Go back to your girlfriends and wives in America where you are safe." I didn't think Betty was likely to give me the Super Bowl results. The other English-language radio broadcast was the BBC's version of Voice of America. A propaganda tool for the Brits, the BBC provided periodic news updates. The Super Bowl was not high on their priority list and I waited that night in a dimly lit tent in an endless field of sand for hours only to be crushed when the actual result was announced.

Good job. Something like that would indeed be impressive. Kind of reminds me of Candlestick Park or Husky Stadium with dramatic views of the water. But this is even more dramatic.

I wonder about Haley. Fired Gailey. Weis jumped ship. Chiefs went from 4-12 to the playoffs in one year. Wonder if last year was a bit of a fluke. Seems there are reasons to think the Bills can win this game.

Glad to hear he's doing well. I remember liking his hustle.

I think KC was something like 30th in passing yards last year. They only asked Cassell to manage the game while they ran the ball down peoples' throats. Obviously it means something when the starting QB is hurt, but is less meaningful on a team that doesn't ask the QB to do a lot. (Assuming the philosophy is the same this year as last).

They cut Maybin, traded a guy, put a guy on IR and not sure what else.

The Jets just claimed four off waivers... "The Jets also claimed backup quarterback Kevin O'Connell off waivers from Miami, Mardy Gilyard from St. Louis, offensive lineman Colin Baxter from San Diego, and safety Andrew Sendejo from Dallas." Wonder why we didn't give Baxter a look?

Not sure how "vulnerable" this line is. I don't follow KC and don't know if it's the same line as last year. But they did lead the NFL in rushing in 2010. This will be a good test of our revamped front 7. While KC was #1 in rushing yards, our defense was #32 in defending the rush. I wonder, though, if KC's offense will take a step backwards with Charlie Weis.