2003Contenders

I'd also like to see more running plays designed to go outside. Even when Willis isn't making it to the perimeter and getting tons of yards -- the extra running and lateral movement required by the defenders has a way of tiring them out. This would also be a good week to get the TEs more involved in the passing game.

Oh -- and a major cutdown on penalties.

On any given Sunday... I think having Fewell on our side may help in terms of picking up on Chicago's tendencies. It also helps that JP will be playing against a Cover-2 defense that he's used to seeing -- although this one is the real deal. I think the following things all need to happen for us to win... 1. No turnovers by JP and company 2. Jump out to an early lead 3. Win the field position battle via Special Teams

Let's just all agree that we won't jump off the wagon if he lays an egg on the road this week against Chicago...

True... And you indirectly hit on another point. I think part of the problem with the way that the last coaching staff dealt with JP is that Meathead bullied him in a somewhat degrading manner. That NE game is the perfect example. JP had just come off the injury list -- and was designated as the #3 QB. You know he had taken very little in the way of snaps in practice. So what does MM do? He throws the kid to the wolves -- that is, the defending and soon-to-be-repeat Super Bowl champs -- in a game where they were dominating and pinning their ears back to come after the QB. Now, Fairchild is supposedly very hard on the young QB as well. However, there is a fine line between being demanding (i.e. "forcefully patient") and being a bully. I can't get these visions out of my head of stupid Meathead walking around making fun of JP and creating an environment where he was fair game by the veterans. This may have been an environment that made it plausible for Troy Vincent to give him that gentle nudge, even though he was wearing a red shirt -- and provided Moulds with the flexibility to do what he did last year.

There are plenty of misconceptions about JP out there. One of my favorites is that he's cocky and selfish. I really have seen NOTHING during his time here in Buffalo that would lead me to believe that is the case with him. In fact, I think a real defining moment for him may have been after the Cinci game in the preseason, when he accepted full blame for the interception that was intended for Josh Reed. I wonder if it is any coincidence that Reed has been so reliable in the early goings? JP has also been very quick to give credit to his line and to the receivers for making things "easy" for him. Ironically, one of the guys who bad-mouthed JP at Tulane was M Moore... The same classless guy that knocked the sound engineer guy over on the sideline -- and didn't even offer to help him up. (It was up to Jimbo to extend the courtesy hand and at least ask the dude if he was OK.)

Actually it was a good call. Denney, I believe it was, mugged the receiver.

Recall that signabilty was also an issue. Some scouts felt that BM was the best player coming out of the draft and, thus, BM made it clear that he wanted to be paid as such. Let's not forget that he sat out most of the 2002 season with the Vikings threatening to go back into the 2003 draft. Truthfully, it wasn't until early last season that the worm turned and the experts started to agree that BM was a superior player to MW. Did the front office screw up? Yes, in hindsight. But there was no real way of knowing that Big Mike would turn out to be such a wuss... Believe it or not, he was considered the "safe" pick at the time. Supposedly GW was begging for defensive help -- and especially liked Roy Williams. TD, who was working out the deal for Bledsoe at the time, wanted more OL help... Ironic, don't you think?

In this world where there are no real absolutes, suffice to say that TD had good points as well as bad points. I do think that his drafts were mostly pretty good for this team. Even the 2002 draft, which we all point toward as his low point, is beginning to look better. Obviously, the miscalculation on Mike Williams hurt bad -- but sometimes those things just happen. (See Gallery in Oakland.) The Reed and Denney picks are starting to look better and better too. Maybe both were just late bloomers. This 2006 draft reminds me a lot of our 2001 draft. The common denominator is that both years coincided with a new regime at the top. If you recall, we got a number of instant impact players in that draft: Nate, Schobel, Travis, Jennings... There were also guys like Spoon and Edwards that contributed early on, but failed to make long-term contributions. I wonder how many of the Class of 2006 guys will be around for years to come -- and how many are playing out of necessity... Anyway... I'm starting to move off topic... The point is that TD wasn't completely vile. He left this team in much better shape with his 2004 and 2005 drafts than Butler did with his 1999 and 2000 failures. Of course, we all know about his shortcomings: head coach hires, single-mindedly overlooking some of the team's weaknesses, and disdain when dealing with our own free agents. I've always felt that his head coaching weaknesses stemmed from the battle he lost with Cowher in Pittsburgh. At least on a subconscious level, he probably never wanted to hire a coach that would ever be a large enough personality to overpower him. TD never did what he needed to do to fix the OL. Maybe he simply kept out hope that MW would amount to something. Even worse, each year he'd become so focused on the team's weak areas that he'd simply neglect the other areas. We remember the 2002 team as being an offensive juggernaut -- but with a horrible defense. TD did a great job during the 2003 free agent market addressing the defensive problems -- but in the process tore down the offense, as Price, Riemersma and Centers were all allowed to leave. We know what's happened to the offense since... After 2004, TD seemed to believe that the source of all of our problems was with Bledsoe, so he gave him his walking papers and threw JP to the wolves. In this case, the wolves were as much MM and his goon coaching staff as it was the opposing defenders. Big Pat represents the perfect example of how TD dealt poorly with our free agents. The attitude was more surly than a simple "Take it or leave it" as TD served to alieniate and disrespect these guys. After that great 2003 free agent class, the word got around to the point where it was hard to attract top free agents to come here. Despite all of our mutterings about high-priced athletes, it isn't always about money. Marv and DJ's "we are family" approach means more than you can imagine, especially if this season ends on a positive note.

I wouldn't limit to the red zone but short distance in general. Take a look at our 4th down conversion rate. I'm not sure if we're missing some beef up front (on both sides of the ball) -- or if it is an attitude issue.

I hope you are right, but the Vikings are certainly a better team than the Jets. Like Pennington, Johnson is a heady QB with a better arm (Not saying much, I know). In the first 3 games, the Vikings have been patient with the run -- and Taylor has been a workhorse. He may not bust any long runs, but he'll eat our defense up with plenty of 4-yard carries, which should set up the play-action pass. Contrary to your assessment, the Vikings do have a very good defense, starting up front with 3 of their 4 starting defensive linemen being former first round draft picks. The only one who wasn't a first rounder is the one who may be the best: Big Pat Williams, remember him? The Vikings have also improved their secondary and linebacking corps. As for what has happened in the first 3 weeks, the Vikings have had a very tough schedule having to start 2 tough road games against the Redskins and Panthers. Last week they lost a heartbreaker at home to the Bears. I've been very impressed with Brad Childress through these first 3 weeks. He clearly out-coached Gibbs and Fox in those first two contests. He will undoubtedly use the same gameplan that the Jets exercised last week against us -- and may mix in an occasional deep pass or two to try to keep out safeties honest. This won't be a cakewalk, but I think we can win a nailbiter if the DL can penetrate. The Vikings' WRs don't scare me, so I think our DBs can afford to be more physical than they were last week against the Jets, which should prevent Johnson from making completions on the quick 3-step drops as Pennington was able to do last week.

I agree. In fact, I remember specifically after that fist pass that Willis was exposing the palms of his hands and shaking them as if to point out the obvious... that they were wet -- and, hence, why he was unable to come up with the ball. The second pass was clearly a bad one by JP.

I'm by no means a JP apologist, but I do get a kick out of some of the jabs he's received after this game. He certainly made some mistakes, but he also made some big plays -- and at times showed very GOOD instincts. I am guessing by the "football instincts" comment, you are worried by the fact that he didn't "feel" the blind-side pressure that resulted in the 2 sacks and strips. I can see that maybe on the first one, because I think he did hang onto the ball too long. However, on the second one that -- gulp -- resulted in the NON-TD, there wasn't much he could do there. There were SEVERAL times today where his mobility and ability to "feel" the pressure allowed him to escape and at least have the opportunity to throw the ball away -- or even make a play downfield. That near-Peerless connection came on such a play as did the Reed -should-have-been-a-catch play. There were times were he bought so much time, that I figured that there had to be someone that broke open, right? That may be a testimony to our receivers' routes. I think a game like today magnified a couple of things, especially in relation to a savvy dink-and-dunk QB like Pennington. From a talent perspective there really is no comparison. In fact, in the future, bad weather situations like today could prove to be a tremendous advantage, as most NFL QBs will not be able to slice through the winds as JP did several times today. The mobility (as I mentioned) is also a clear advantage. Meanwhile, if JP playes mistake free football (as Pennington did), the Bills probably win. I've resigned myself to realizing that this year will be spent finding out whether or not JP has "it". 3 games into the season, we still don't know, and we probably won't know until closer to the end of the season.

We've heard all about the turnovers ad naseum. How about a couple of other things: 1. Red zone inefficiency on both offense and defense. Jets go 3 for 3. Bills go 1 for 3. 2. Peerless had some nice grabs -- but also some costly mistakes. The bomb that went through his fingers as well as the offensive interference call.

Well, he did keep an important drive alive with a senseless and obvious trip.

It's what happens when you have a journalist -- someone who is a good writer and has important contacts around the league -- but has absolutely no idea about the game of football itself. Given the inaccuracy of some of his recent predictions (not just about the quality of the Bills' football team), I have to wonder how valid his contacts actually are. To a certain extent, the same applies to Mort, although he seems to have more reliable sources and a greater integrity for when he reveals the information that he has received.

I hear ya, and this game scares me because it really could be a come-down for this young team. Hopefully, with it being the home opener, everyone will be stoked. Interstingly enough, Pennington lives and dies by the running game. He just has such darn good ball-handling skills that he can eat us alive with the play-action pass. Of course, the defense doesn't have to respect it as much if the running game isn't working. As bad as the Jets' running game has been, our run defense has been equally bad. And that does worry me. If we can get ahead early and/or shut down the Jets' running game, this could be an easy win. Otherwise, it could be a lo-o-o-ong day.

While Chicago fans may have a botched memory of more losses than wins, they should also remember that DJ had to deal with the cards he was dealt. My recollections of DJ's tenure in Chicago are tied to the research I did on him when he looked like a viable contender for the Buffalo HC job back in 2004. Everyone remembers the 2001 Coach of the Year stint. However, 2002 was more than just a coming back down to earth situation for the Bears. They had to deal with a ridiculous number of injuries that season -- and played 16 road games that year. Recall that Soldier Field was being ronovated, and the Bears had to play their home games in Gary, Indiana I believe -- which isn't exactly 10 minutes from Chicago. DJ was touted as an overachiever in 2003 for getting a severely undermanned unit (as a result of injuries and poor decisions made by Angelo in free agency) to finish 7-9. For comparison's sake, think about how our very own Bills underachieved under Gregg Williams to the tune of 6-10 that same year.

It's worth noting that both of Brady's TD passes on Sunday came with LBs defending -- and in both situations it was TKO's replacement that got beat. Also, remember that Crowell hs spent all spring and preseason playing WLB. With TKO out, they move him to TKO's SLB spot and put Ellison at the WLB position. In essence, we downgrade two spots.

I agree. I remember my reaction at the time was that I was glad that he protected the football and didn't turn it over down there. It wasn't like he held onto the ball too long or ran out of the endzone (like he did against TB last year) either. He had a defender in his face before he could set up, slid to his side, avoided that defender -- and then got slammed by another. Maybe he could have thrown the ball away after missing that first defender (I believe it was Warren), but he probably would have been flagged for intentional grounding and would have given up the safety anyway. For whatever reason, the national media simply does not want to show JP any love. Maybe that will change if we start winning some games.

I read somewhere that the Jets brought him in today for a look-see.

I actually found the comment very telling. Remember, that at the time of MM's resignation, Ralph said that MM told him that the main reason he was leaving was because he didn't like his family being subjected to the criticism of the fans in Western NY. Remember the teacher that supposedly asked if his kid was related to the "Soon to be Ex Bills coach"? The comment that Chambers was parroting from MM shows that MM bears some grudge against the fans in Buffalo. While Buffalo fans may be more rabid than those of other cities (i.e. Miami fairweather fans), the truth of the matter is that every NFL coach (and unfortunately his family too) is going to have to deal with this at some point or another. Clearly, MM hasn't got over this and probably never will. It's almost like he blames the city and fans for his own inadequacies. Talk about being thin skinned... Seems like he's happy in Miami hiding behind Saban.

If memory serves me correctly, he was a Supplimental Draft pick a couple of years ago. I think they actually forfeited a 2nd rounder for him.

Remember that the role of DTs in the Cover-2 differs than what the DTs are expected to do in the more traditional defense. Their job is to penetrate and create havoc at the line of scrimmage. It is the LBs that serve as primary tacklers. I think what's missed in what happpened against NE on Sunday is the sheer number of tackles that our LBs and DBs missed. I bet the Patriots racked up more than half of their rushing total AFTER initial contact.

Nah, just let the Raider players sneak up on him in the locker room with their collective bars of soap wrapped in towels...