richNjoisy

Obviously, LA, I was speculating - did I state any of my conjectures as being fact? Perhaps if we were talking over a couple of beers I would have more - in your opinion - adequately expressed myself. To rephrase - I find JP's interviews odd, not standard,etc insert your own term. This "dude" did not simply answer the questions as you put it. Now, you admitted you (perhaps) don't have the same "observing senses" - that is a backhanded compliment to say the least. Not to mention you state my conjecture is "dramatically inaccurate" Oh really? Now WHO is assuming things not in evidence? If you don't perceive things the same as others..that's fine but it is possible, you know, that others see things you don't. Again, that doesn;t mean I have pegged this interview correctly and you may be totally correct. My point(s) were that his interview and interviews are atypical and that this particular interview was "guarded" (not unusual in and of itself) and SEEMED to suggest a very stern approach from Fairchild quite different from what JP had last year. I brought it up in my thread since I found the approach (if true) interesting TO ME. I pointed out how little experience I had as a Bills fan to following the growth (or lack thereof) of a rookie QB. If I offended you, I apologize but I felt your comments deserved a response. -RnJ

Different views of the same interview - suits me fine but we both agree that fairchild is doing the right thing. -RnJ

Thanks Ahh youth and my memory of the years 8 thru 10! I don't remember Shaw at all but Fergy was THE Bills QB for me until Kelly finally arrived. I still remember Fergy playing in the playoffs with an injured ankle. He had to throw every pass off the back foot.

Let me start by saying I have never seen an interview with JP that I would call "standard" (that is, a normal-sounding interview with the "classic" responses to obvious questions). As I watched it, I began to think about how in my 36 years of following the Bills (I am not counting my 0-8 years!), there have been very few rookie or near-rookie starting QB's. Other than Todd Collins?....Darragh, Shaw, Ferguson, - Marangi, Verragamo, Mathison, Kelly, Van Pelt, Johnson, Flutie, Bledsoe. It may be that Marangi (who was drafted by the Bills in 1973 0r 74) might have been the only other rookie or near rookie QB to start for the Bills other than JP. Collins, actually, was in his third year I believe before he was handed the reins. My point is that the Bills (and us, the fans) have virtually NO experience in following a Bills rookie QB. back to the interview....... In response to "how are things going?" and " how are you and OC Fairchild getting along?" JP was hesitant but his responses clearly showed who was in charge of the offense. Fairchild! JP COULDN'T answer the questions because he simply does not know how well he is performing! Wait, you might ask, shouldn't he KNOW he's doing this or not doing that? A vet would but Fairchild, according to JP himself, is jumping over him for every little error and focusing on these mistales apparently to the point where Losman is so focused on getting the little things right that he doesn't have time to assess his overall performance. He did not express ANGER at Fairchild but .....dare I say it.....concern (fear?) over getting tongue-whipped by Steve if he expressed any displeasure. Can you imagine ANY former Bills QB being this way? Can you imagine your YOUNG son? Would this technique work with a veteran QB? Absolutely not. They would tell him to go F himself. But JP , let's face it, is a kid. Fairchild's method may fail but JP's "childish" behaviors have made us all more than a little uncomfortable (temper tantrums, loss of focus, etc) But, jeesh, folks JP IS young and needs to grow up. Now, if he wants to play for the Bills. Otherwise, he may grow up with some other team. As fans we need to be patient enough to let this "child" to grow up. Obviously, none of us want to sacrifice a season or two but we do have to understand that growing pains are inevitable. In any event, the interview did not answer the question: Is JP an NFL caliber QB (let alone if he will even win the starting QB job). But, Fairchild's methods make sense to me. JP needs to not only be instructed, and not only mentored, but also FATHERED - by a strict dad to be sure I still have hope for this kid's potential but I now realize not only HE needs to learn what having a near-rookie QB means but WE FANS TOO need to learn this. Good luck JP. Use the Whip Steve and Go Bills! -RichNJoisy CNJBBB

Hi Mickey, I don't think anyone here cares more about any one player versus having the Bills win. I do think, however, that measuring JP's play last season is too "gray" too make any determination at this point. I doubt you would disagree that he's: 1.) young 2.) Played behind a terrible offensive line Not many young QB's could perform well under these circumstances. This DOES NOT prove JP is any good but for you to feel so certain about his lack of ability is not reasonable. Look around the league and you will see a number of good to very good to even great current QB's who played poorly their first 2 years. I do not want he kid to be handed the job but I do want him to get a fair shot at becoming a quality QB. This means time on the field with time to throw. I remember when Tood Collins took over after Jimbo's departure. He inherited a decent team with a very good offensive line and some outstanding receivers. The Bills lost....regularly. In one Monday Night game, Todd, having all the time in the world to throw, missed a wide open receiver in the middle of the field - TWICE and the Bills lost by ~ 7 points. Todd still started the rest of the season. In retospect, he sucked but he was given the chance to succeed. One final point - did you see an improvement in JP's play when he replaced an injured Holcomb in the KC game? Was it JP's fault the Bills lost to the Panthers later on? if you have a tape of these games - take a look at them, focusing on JP's play. He DID look better than his first four games. And this was against a very good team (Panthers) and a decent team (Kansas City - by the way, the Bils were losing when JP came in off the bench). You aren't suggesting JP played poorly in the second Miami game are you? Winning is the most important goal but JP deserves a chance to succeed since HIS success translates to BILLS WINS not only now but way into the future. Let's see how he plays in preseason and early on during the regular season. Go Bills! -RichNJoisy

I'm a Mets fan The other team I cheer for is any team playing the yankees Let's Go Mets! and Go Bills! -RichNJoisy

Good post H_A I had a longer response for ya but netscape ate it So, here goes again (briefer): My understanding is that Milloy had lost a step or 2 last yr - Whitner may VERY WELL be an improvement. Yes, I do expect a learning curve but he will have lots of quality help around him (McGee, Clements, Vincent) McCargo is a rookie but the D-Line last yr was TERRIBLE. Do you really think the new line with players signed/drafted that exactly fit the scheme can actually play worse? You also failed to consider the return of TKO. He was out for weeks 4-16. Thatsalotta games. The Bills D was #2 in 2004 and something like #29 in 2005. Is expecting them to be #15 hugely optimistic? They won 5 games with the 2005 defense. As to the offensive line, last yr Bennie and Teague simply sucked and Mike Williams was another big tub of lazy goo. Gel/smell - the 2006 O-Line will be better maybe markedly better. Reyes and Fowler are steps up. Finally - Moulds was not playing well last year except for a few games after he got his wish - the benching of JP. before the trouble started with Eric I was voicing my concerns about his lackluster play ESPECIALLY in the Tampa game. Two plays stood out to me at the time (and I was flummuxed by what I THOUGHT I saw) - a dump pass that he failed tostretch out for and a bomb which, although overthrown, was within tipping distance or possibly even catchable but he simply STOPPED running and the INT was made. I AM concerned about the Price signing. I hope he has gas left in the tank. But, with Evans, Reed, Price, AIken, Parrish, Davis plus the reutrn of #3 pick Everett, a thinned down McGahee and the new blocking TE Royals, I see an offense that is better than last year's. THAT plus the favorable schedule should = 8-10 wins. I optimistically expect 10. -RnJ

My point in the various threads over the last 4-5 days has been that there is an overly negative view of the upcoming season amongst the posters to this website. While it is understandable that last year's team performance was way below most fan expectations for the 2005 Bills - and that includes the various "experts" at ESPN, PFW, SI and the like - I have yet to hear sound, reasoned evaluations of the 2006 squad to warrant predictions of results worse than last year. Certainly, it is possible the Bills could go 3-13 or 4-12. But, one cannot assume major injuries, strings of bad luck/bad calls etc. The evaluation has to be based on who is on the squad now, who is coaching, and who they will be playing. Period. If you are predicting - with great confidence - that the Bills will win only 4 or 5 games, then that makes the Bills one of the worst teams in the NFL on paper. It means 26-28 teams are better AND that we will be playing enough of those "better" teams to back the low expectations. The Bills play the Jets twice, Houston, Tennessee, Detroit and Green Bay with 4 of these 6 games at home. The Bills also play Miami twice (when will Culpepper play and how well?) , San Diego at home in December (rookie QB), Baltimore (will McNair be healthy so close to Christmas?), and Minnesota at home. You also have to have great confidence in the ineptiude of the Bills draft and offseason maneuvers (Tripplet-Reyes-Fowler-Royal-Price-Davis-Whitner-McCargo) plus you must be assuming TKO will not return to form. Also, you must feel the coaching is the same or worse than last year. Finally, you also have to be assuming that both JP or Nall will not win the QB job and, if they do, they will suck and that we can expect no improved play from the QB position. My take is that to predict under 7 wins is pessimistic (not "being realistic") . To predict more than 10 wins is optimistic. Thus, predicting 8-10 is reasonable given the skill level and the schedule. Starting from there, you can understand why I am in strong disagreement with the "experts" from the beforementioned rag magazines and talk shows. The Bills do not even have to win 1 of their first 2 games to win 8 this year. I do see game 2 as winnable at this juncture but I'll have a better sense of this in mid August as I watch the QB battle, the line play on both sides of the ball, and the play of TKO. On the other side of it, I will also be watching to see how Culpepper is playing. IF he is not playing or playing poorly, then this makes the Fish vulnerable to the extreme since I see a very poor offensive line on that team (Fat Bennie as a starter???). I'll see many of you in person at Hammer;'s on the 24th. Take a Buffalo wing and remind me of my prediction(s) this day. Go Bills! RichNJoisy CNJBBB

KD - rank the Bills yourself. Look at the players on our squad and then at our opponents. It is a foregone conclusion that the "expert prognosticators" consistently predict "persistence" (the continuation of last year's results). Thus, the 5-11 Bills of 2005 MUST SUCK. Period. These same experts were predicting...surprise! - a 9-7 finish for the Bills last year. Now, included in their blather is continual love for dallas and miami - the experts can't seem to stop worshipping these two teams. BOTH - and I mean both - will be under the experts predicted wins in 2006. Drew and TO will implode in Dallas and Miami is simply nowhere as good as many people are predicting. I don't give a tickers damn how ESPN ranks the Bills. Why do you? Now, if after you evaluate them yourself, you come up with 28 teams better than the Bills, then FINE - then that's YOUR prediction. Oh - you can't use ESPN to rank the other teams either -RnJ

I spent some time (not tons but some) watching Gandy specifically - in preseason and during the regular season. From what I saw, he was NOT the weak link in the line. He played adequately and, at times was quite good at keeping defenders out and occasionally was able to bull rush his opponent. I saw his strength to be better at the pass than the run. To his right, Bennie was a disaster and Teague was not much better. Reyes sounds like he can at least hold his own which will be a huge step up from fat bennie. I am so glad to no longer see Trey being knocked back into the QB at the snap of the ball. Reports out of Minnesota was that Fowler was a huge surprise but the return of a pro bowl center from injury made him expendable. Their loss, our gain. I have not been this hopeful about our O-Line in many years. we'll see....

I hear ya - Like I said in my first post in this thread, there is a plethora of negative views (such as the Coach's) which although he has not made any outlandish statements, he has not clearly outlined WHY teams such as Green Bay will beat us at home and why Detroit and Houston are better teams GUARANTEED to defeat us. I also think a number of people have jumped on the "Wow Miami is SOOO good" bandwagon. I correctly predicted last year the downfall of the jets (big deal yeh yeh) but I also think Miami is WAY overrated. Their QB situation is still questionable (Culpepper was playing stinko before his injury last year, he IS coming back from a MAJOR knee injury suffered at late October AND he is not surrounded by great WR's nor does he have a good offensive line...where DID FAT Bennie Anderson go by the way??). Now, I don't see the Bills beating the Patriots in NE but I CAN see the Bills winning in Miami and then coming home to beat the Jets. 2 - 1 out of the gate. It COULD happen. -RnJ

Ah-Ha!! My point exactly. And, based on what I saw last year, 3-4 seconds would be twice as much time as JP usually had. I seem to recall a lot of, "Hike" (one step back) "Yaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!" Now, we still can't be SURE JP can complete a pass if he's given time to throw and I can't PROVE that he will until he IS given time to throw. I have heard many claim he is an inaccurate tosser but I just didn;t see it. THAT could be my own selective memory I grant ya but I only keep Bills wins.....not losses (on tape). Give him 3,4 or (dare I say it) FIVE seconds, let's see what he does. I think he'll be fine. -RnJ

This got the Dolfelons attention - I am sure a trade is imminent......

HAHA! I have been called a horrible fan in my time too - for speaking negatively about the Bills of course! So, Coach T, you won't hear from me that description of your team loyalty coming from my mouth. You simply, along with practically all non-Bills fans and a majority of Bills fans, have a very negative assessment of the current roster. So, I disagree with you in your assessment but anyone who calls you a "horrible Bills fan" and asks you "why watch the games" is not worthy of a reply. I am CERTAIN that you would be THRILLED if PTR's and my assessment of the 2006 Bills is accurate and yours (among others) is way off base. Right? I would, however, like to ask you two questions: What was your expectation for the 2005 Bills heading into the season? When was the last time you expected a winning season heading into the season? Here's to you eating crow by mid-November Mr. Tuesday! and don't forget to stop by at Hammer's on 9/24 for some buffalo wings from yours truly (assuming you'll be at the Opener?) -RichNJoisy CNJBBB

Promo: I assessed this schedule similarly with the Central NJ Backers - so far, I could practically hear a pin drop. There is SO much negativity coming into this season. I am hard-pressed to find an offseason where the fans are so underestimating the upcoming season. Last year, many of us (myself included) way overestimated the strength of the team and thus were shocked as the season progressed. My lone holdever risky expectation from last year is that I still have faith in JP. Without going through each game as you did (I already did in a mass email to the CNJBBB and came up with an even BETTER W-L record than you did), here are my assumptions/expectations for the 2006 Bills: 1.) JP will WIN the starting QB job 2.) The offensive line will play markedly better than it did last year If I am wrong on #2, the season is over. Period. If I am wrong on #1 then either Nall is better than I think or JP is worse since Kelly will be the starter. IMO: Kelly = starter means 6-7 wins tops regardless of #2. Kelly is a fine backup but a mediocre starter. If #1 and #2 happen as I expect, then several things fall into place: a.) A better run game although McGahee remains a mystery to me skillwise b.) Better play from JP (more time to throw, play actions will work, JP's confidence will increase, and he'll begin to play much better-- the WR core may be a weakness, I am unsure on this) c.) The defense will be on the field less The defense is a big question mark. I DO expect the defensive backfield to be stellar. I like very much the starters that are there and I am excited about the youngsters ready to step in right away. The linebacking core is either great (full return to health of TKO), average (TKO limited in ability), or poor (TKO not able to play effectively). Finally I come to the defensive line. Who knows? They wreaked last year. Can they play worse? I doubt it so I feel it is safe to raise their play to below average to average. After JP, the achilles heal of the Bills. So, it comes down to Offensive Line Play (if improved as I expect then a big jump in the win column) and the play at QB (I expect JP to win the job and benefit from better line play and more playing time). So, like you PTR, I am way more positive about the 2006 Bills than most of the posters here. I like the schedule except for all the cold games I may have to drive 420 miles to attend (brrr). Go BIlls! RichNJoisy CNJBBB

Ahh - but the assumption is that the Bills need the cap room. Do they? What player or players are out there that we want to sign? None? Well, then we need to think about how releasing Holcomb helps the team next year or how filling his spot with another (I assume younger) QB is best for this year and the future. The signing of all the QB's is not costly at all - so the question is there enough footballs around to make having so many QB's in camp make sense? Or does it only mean that they are considering letting one of the top three guys loose? IMO, all three will be on the team at the start of the season (baring injury)

Sorry - no Darwin award. Unless he dies AND we can be certain he had no kids.... gotta respect the gene pool ya know

My wife and I plan to return to Buffalo in about 10-12 years. At one point, it appeared jobs became available for both of us which would have brought us back much sooner, but alas, it was not to be. I am considering buying some land near one of the lakes in the near future Hopefully, the Bills will still be in Buffalo when we return. In the meantime, I am already a season ticket holder (shared with a current resident of WNY) and we visit Buffalo 3-5 times a year. Next visit: Taste of Buffalo (yum) See Y'all at Hammers on the 24th of September! RichNJoisy CNJBBB

Nanker - it is very hard at this juncture to do more than guess how and even if Peerless will contribute. He obviously was a great #2 receiver when he last wore red white and blue but that was 3 years ago. His injury (injuries?) as far as know were "only" to his eye. If that has healed, then why could he not excel again in Dalas last year? As I recall, DB was disappointed and said something to the effect that PP had lost a step or two. Undoubtedly, Lee Evans is the number 1 guy - as he became last year anyways. Number 2 could be Parrish. I doubt Reed will be anything other than a number 3 although he did play pretty well last year as his numbers showed I have heard some good things about Andre Davis - I believe his problem is staying healthy. So, if healthy - I guess my prediction is he will be the number 2 guy. -RichNJoisy CNJBBB

In A followup report, they both stated that any pick that Dallas makes is a steal and that they both want to have Parcells' child.

Jay - Final confirmation for the CNJBBB: 7 tickets. Check is in the mail -Rich

Jay - as I posted at TBD in the thread you started: The CNJBBB is currently at 7 tickets I may get a few stragglers in the next day or so. My deadline is tomorrow. I head out of town on Thursday for a week and 1/2. I will try to get your check out before I go. I am good for the $$ - not to worry! -Rich CNJBBB, pres

Jay CNJBBB is a smaller group this year but I think there wil be more later on - just not sitting with the TBD group I will pm too later on but put me down for 7 tickets RichNJoisy CNJBBB

by the way - it has been announced Hasek will not be playing tonight for game 4

I live in New Jersey so I did not get games 2 or 3. BUT - with my dialup (really!) I have been receiving near perfect broadcasts on: http://www.wgr550.com/sabres/live.php I like the OLN coverage though. In game 3 of the Flyer- Sabre series, the OLN announcer started chanting, "Let's Go Buffalo!" with the crowd. Go Swordsmen!!!! -RichNJoisy