stony

There's one player on our roster that is the difference between playoffs and not. He plays on offense. You're right, Byrd isn't that guy. But he's the guy who gets the most important player on our roster more chances to put points on the board. He's arguably the best in the league at what he does. No reason to be a cheapskate here.

Pretty true. I hope you're wrong too, but Marrone and Carroll are on opposite ends of whatever chart we're using here.

I know there's a million rankings out there, but ESPN has the Browns 9 and the Bills 10. That means we are elite. I don't know if I'd call us elite.

True, recent trends have shown the league is indeed shifting towards a running-league... But, they would be good for protecting EJ, so it's a win, win.

Are they really an "elite" defense? Some nice pieces no doubt, but elite? I don't know why, but Haslem just doesn't seem like the type of owner I'd want to work with either. Seems like he led a lot of that staff on before doing an about face and firing the HC. Never mind the possible threat of a a federal investigation being re-opened.

We drafted him because he was considered one of, if not, the top kicker in the entire draft. He has not kicked in a regular season game yet!!! He won the training camp battle and got hurt. All those guys you mentioned were on the roster for years before the team decided to cut ties with them. I'm fine with this. Hopkins won the job outright in camp last year, seems to have the talent. Makes a lot more sense to me to keep a cheap investment instead of paying a vet 3 mil per season. Especially when we have a certain safety who is gonna want a lot of money.

Really like the guy, but gotta go with Hopkins given we drafted him. I don't feel bad for Carpenter though, he's kicked his way onto some roster with this year's performance. Seemed like a class dude too.

...personal appearances are not show fodder...

Eh, like Jim Rome says...the minute you think you really "know" anything about your favorite player they end up doing something horribly wrong reminding us that they live in a different universe than the rest of us.

It's hilarious. Don't let the hipsters bring ya down. Just hate on them like they do to 99.3% of everything else.

Thought some of these were great, especially the Bills. http://kissingsuzykolber.uproxx.com/2014/01/nfl-logos-hipsters.html

Yup, yet we spend all year posting on message boards defending our team and lambasting others outside of the region who "don't even know who's on our roster." I think it would open up some eyes to the talent on our team to these uninformed people. I'd rather be the lovable loser than the pathetic loser many paint us to be.

This pretty much sums up all my feelings on the show. HBO is so class, everything they do is so well done. I can't imagine how cool it would be see the Bills on the show. You don't think the coaches would be even more vigilant in making sure the team are grinding during camp with the "threat" of "distractions" present? Honestly, I think Hard Knocks puts pressure on the coaches. It makes them even more accountable as their actions are broadcast to their coaching peers. I like this.

He's right, I hate em all. Seriously though, the NFL is so ahead of every other sport it's not even funny. Yet, internally and most certainly by myself, I've reasonably concluded I would probably stop following the league with the one exception being my fantasy league that keeps me in touch with my old HS buddies.

Look at Norv's work with QBs. Look at how River's fell off the face of the football earth until McCoy "resurrected" his career this year. I want to give Hackett his chance, but Norv is a hell of an OC and great w/ QBs.

Not to go overboard on the whole stats thing, but they do provide some tangible evidence regarding his impact on the defense instead of your sweeping overgeneralized analysis of "the guy holds every WR."

I remember that he turned down the Bills first contract offer earlier in the year. It was right before he got hurt.

Carrington has no body of work to entice other teams to give him more money than the Bills. I'm guessing the money he was offered by the Bills was a direct result of Pettine really liking his play all off/preseason.

I would still like to resign him, but this would appear to give the Bills the real negotiating power now. If he continues to ask for too much, perhaps the saved money could go to that guy named Byrd.

Yeah, they were bigger than they are now lol. I get what you're saying, I just wouldn't say he's been perfect. Keeping the GM was a horrible move as you point out. But...in regards to the Bills situation, much better. Just kinda funny the results have been the same.

Man, I know this has been said before, but the board can be just as bad, or worse, after the Bills win a game instead of lose.

I was gonna say, I thought they ran tough/just fine today.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

Agreed. One of my favorite memories as a young kid going to the games was the sight throughout the stadium of little yellow jackets descending upon an area within the stands. I've had friends from college, all fans of the opposing team, comment on the "atmosphere" at the games. The reputation is out there and probably deserved.

True. Pretty accurate description of my "maturation" as well. I'd like to think I was better, but who knows. I can't remember.