2003Contenders

I have a feeling that the foot injury may have had something to do with his less that stellar performance in earlier games this year. Hopefully resting it two full weeks will have him ready to roll on Sunday. He's had some career games going after Pennington.

I'm sure that good ol' Joey Porter will provide plenty of bulletin board material. The bottom line is that if this game is played mano y mano, the Dolphins do not stand a chance. The Bills just need to prepared for the trick plays that the Dolphins are sure to throw at them.

For all of those who point out that the Bills have faced teams at the "right" time (i.e. Seahawks with injured WRs, Jags with banged up OL, Rams and Raiders in turmoil, and Chargers looking ahead to the UK), the opposite can be said of the match-up against the Cardinals. The Bills picked the absolute wrong time to play the Cardinals -- coming home after an embarrassing loss to the Jets, where Warner was nailed for 6 turnovers, largely because he held onto the ball too long. Against the Bills, he played a near-perfect game (much like Trent Edwards did against the Chargers yesterday.) The MO for our defense is to disallow the big play and force the opposing QB to be patient and march down the field accordingly. Warner was able to do that -- Rivers wasn't. Some credit certainly has to go to Jauron and Fewell for using the extra week wisely to hatch some new schemes and giving Rivers some looks he hadn't seen before.

Agreed. That actually looked like a pretty good size hole that may have gone for a big gain if Marshawn hadn't tripped.

Yes, he did. I don't recall him making anay plays, but he was definitely on the field for at least a few plays.

Surprised that I haven't seen anyone here comment on his request to be traded. Obviously the trading deadline is over now, so it is moot for this year. Does anyone think he is worth pursuing in the off-season for a late-round draft pick? Or is he too much of a head case? (No pun intended)

I will have to say that the Chargers showed some class yesterday in defeat. Even Rivers was complimentary of the Bills.

Very cogent points. He was far from invisible. In fact, I seem to remember a big third down tackle on either Sproles or LT2 yesterday on what looked otherwise to be a big gain.

It's just shocking to see a mock where we are drafting as late as 29 in the first round!

Now Youboty is listed as a game time decision too: http://blogs.buffalobills.com/2008/10/17/injury-update-2/ Ugggg. That places an even bigger onus on McKelvin and Corner. Maybe stocking up on DBs wasn't such a bad idea after all. Also, what did Brown mean about Simpson's starting job being in jeopardy?

Agreed. I suspect that either Polian/Dungy were less than enamored with McCargo when they brought him in. Or they found out additional information about him after the fact -- and asked the medical staff to find the flimsiest of reasons for failing a physical.

Agreed. Moreover, I firmly believe that the Whitner pick was also a consensus pick on Marv's part. Remember that in the 2006 draft, there was a perceived drop-off after the first 7 picks. Some folks (some of them possibly in the War Room a the time) thought we should go QB with Leinart and Cutler still on the board. Some thought we should go DT with Ngata and Buckner both available. I believe that there were varying opinions not only about the positions but also the players at each position. Whitner was a safe selection that everyone could live with. And I think that may be why -- more than anything else -- Marv elected to go that route.

Oh, come on. That is purely revisionist and a parsing of situations so as to demonize TD. Look, Donahoe made a number of mistakes during his tenure with the Bills, but the 2001 draft was a good one. If you want to blame him for letting Clements and Jennings get away, then so be it. However, both of those guys signed such ridiculous contracts (as did Winfield at the time) that is is unfair to equate their having left the team with whether or not their draft selections were proper. Never mind also that TD deserves credit for handling the trading down aspect of the draft the way he did. Remember, he moved down to draft Clements, when many (myself admittedly at the time included) thought he should have drafted the OT (Kenyatta Walker?) that wound up with the Bucs -- and turned out to be a bust. That move was for an additional 2nd rounder, which TD later traded down again to garner an additional 4th. Thus, the trades netted us the following players: Clements, Henry and Brandon Spoon -- rather than just the OT that proved to be a bust anyway. I wouldn't go so far as to call Edwards a bust either.

I hear what you are saying, but I think there are a number of things to consider here. The track-record for under-drafting OL dates back to the Butler regime, as the only high draft pick I remember him investing was in 1995 for Ruben Brown. Donahoe at least tried with Mike Williams. I will say until my dying day that Big Mike had the talent to be an elite blocker; he just didn't have the desire, heart or ability to withstand pain. TD did spend a day one pick on Jonas Jennings, who played pretty well here before following the money to San Francisco. Duke Preston, a 4th rounder in 2005, remains a question mark. Let's also not forget the acquisition of Jason Peters, who went undrafted. The current regime (and I lump the Levy years in here too) decided to go the free agent route with Dockery and Walker. Neither has been a bust, but neither (especially Dockery) have lived up to the fat contracts they signed. And Butler hasn't played badly for a 5th round pick. So it isn't that they haven't tried. And it also isn't as if they continually strike out. The Mike Williams disaster, I believe, has somewhat magnified the situation. If Peters returns to form, Dockery and Walker play up to expectations, and Preston proves to be an upgrade over Fowler, then everything will be fine.

You know what? Maybe the Bills don't need a loser like this on their team. I mean, how many playoff games have the Chiefs won since Gonzo has been there? He wanted to play for the defending Super Bowl champs, a team that won the big one last year WITHOUT him. Evidently, he did not want to sign with a good, young team and represent the difference in getting them over the top.

I note that the blog doesn't say why he isn't practicing. Brown doesn't even hint that Fowler is hurt. Does that mean that the coaches have demoted him and promoted Preston to the starting center spot? IIRC, it was during the bye week two years ago that they made the switch moving Jason Peters to LT, where Gandy had been struggling. Very interesting...

I still wonder if Polian didn't have some sort of buyer's remorse and begged the medical staff to find something -- anything -- that could conceivably justify McCargo failing a physical.

One thing that I have found encouraging is that -- Arizona game aside -- they have shown a tendency to get better as the game moves forward. Part of that, I believe, is a product of the big men wearing down the defense over the course of the game. Peters has now played in 4 games. That is his preseason. He's had the extra week to help with the cohesion factor. Lets hope he looks like the LT he thinks he is beginning this weekend.

Saw Charlie Cassely on the CBS pregame show yesterday. He said that the Chiefs will indeed settle for a 3rd rounder. When asked why some team hasn't already jumped on that, Casserly pointed out that the 2009 draft class is expected to be the best EVER. That is because so many juniors are expected to declare themselves draft-eligible because the the subsequent collective bargaining agreement is expected to put a heavy cap on rookies.

I will have to say that I have come full circle on this one. At the time I was angry because no flag was thrown. However, after watching all the replays it did appear to me that it was not a deliberate helmet-to-helmet hit. So I do not feel that the hit was illegal -- and the officials were right not to throw the flag. My next bone of contention was that, while the hit may not have been illegal, was it justifiable? More pointedly, was Wilson TRYING to hurt Trent? My immediate reaction was Yes he was. It certainly seemed like he could have at least let-up. For one thing that point is debatable. We are talking about a large, fast athlete who was coming at TE at full speed. Also, Wilson's reaction when Trent didn't get up -- motioning to the training staff -- was not the act of someone intent on causing injury. Also, I had to ask myself, how I would have reacted if, say, Poz or Witner had laid a similar lick on the opposing QB. I likely would have applauded their effort -- and, in fact, did so when Mitchell popped Warner's chin open. For me personally, it was a legal, "clean" hit.

While I agree with the well-analyzed criticisms of the pass defense on Sunday. I have to say that we do have to give Kurt Warner some credit for staying cool, patient and not making any mistakes considering how many time he put the ball in the air on Sunday. That he completed so many passes (over 30) and wound up with only about 250 yards passing tells you that the defensive gameplan of not giving up the big play was working. Indeed, considering how the Cards offense was scoring at will and our offense had really only sustained one long drive, it is worth noting that we were only down by a single TD early in the 3rd quarter. That is why I am not TOO worried about the sub-par performance of the defense going forward. They are not going to face a QB that is in the zone the way Warner was too many times this year. Still, it should would be nice if our front 4 could get consistent pressure on the QB...

The good and bad with this scheme were on full display Sunday. The good is that is that it does effectively prevent the big play. That means that it will take an opposing offense more snaps to get into scoring position -- which ordinarily means more chances for the opponent to make a mistake. Give Kurt Warner and the Cardinals some major credit for playing almost error free. He was patient and took what the defense gave him -- and was also quick to get the ball out of his hand. I think the reason that there were fewer blitzes is because the Cardinals used so many multi-WR sets, and Jauron was frightened of getting burned in the event that the blitzers didn't get there. It's the same failed fear strategy that he always seems to employ against Brady, who like Warner (at least the Warner we saw on Sunday) is patient, accurate and decisive enough to pick the defense apart. It certainly would help if the CBs would occasionally play closer to the line and get a jam here and there to disrupt the quick slants. It would also help if the front 4 could get some pressure WITHOUT having to rely on the blitz.

What could Davis' argument be for not paying Kiffin? Since the end of last season, Davis has done everything he can to provoke Kiffin into resigning -- and no dice.

Actually I believe that we have seen the past few weeks will be somewhat emblematic of what lies ahead offensively speaking. The gameplan will continue to be pound the ball for the first three quarters. If we are ahead (as we were against Seattle) then continue as before. If behind, then unleash the full offense. Remember, we have the biggest OL in the NFL. It was very clear that the defenses in Jacksonville and Oakland both wiltered by the 4th quarter, which gave our offense a considerable advantage. I am not saying I agree 100% with this philosophy, but it appears to be what Dick Jauron believes in.

I know Bruce was probably not far from being correct in his "modest" assessment of himself. I mean he is so CERTAIN that he is a first ballot Hall of Famer (which he obviously is). B part of me would almost like to see the Hall of Fame pass him over for just one year (as they did with Thurman), just to hear him moan and whine about it.