TheBrownBear

Wall of Fame? Come on. Fred's a nice player. Maybe an above-average NFL running back but he's only had one half-season that you could call elite. Aaron Shobel or Moulds are far more deserving WOF candidates from the turd era.

I'd say that first huddle is even more important. If EJ goes out there with his visor on he won't be able to look at his teammates eyes and they will lose all confidence in him. I could definitely see a strip sack in that scenario.

I live in San Diego and I've grown to become a casual fan of the Chargers. Not a rabid fan of the team, but I watch the games and root for them so long as they're not playing the Bills. My wife's family and most of my friends are big Chargers fans, so it's kind of come natural for me to root for them. I would never become a fan of a natural rival like the Dolphins, Pats or Jets/Giants. Definitely die-hard Bills fan for life.

I can't wait for 2016 to roll around. Should have a competent head coach and a first round draft pick then.

Thought the same thing. Passed the eye test to me. Made me wonder why he never made more noise in the NFL.

Looks like we are going to be treated to another year of Buffalo Bills football!

I know it's a small thing, but has anyone else noticed the way he holds his gatorade cup on the sideline? About 50% of the time he holds it with his pinky sticking out to the side. A worrying sign of his arrogance and inability to connect to the common man.

Too late. Should have drafted him when we had the chance. Now we'll get to watch him make the playoffs for the next decade, while we cycle through our next losman/edwards/fitz. Regarding race, I don't buy it. The EJ haters are typically the same folks saying we should have made a play for Vick or Jason Campbell in the offseason, and are also chronic should have drafted Russell Wilson handwringers. Their criticism stems from their impatience and their belief that Manuel actually sucks.

Oliver looks great. Actually looks a lot like Sproles in 43. He will make the roster and Grice will be the odd man out.

Mallett looked rough. Cousins, Colt McCoy and Weeden looked good tonight. To be honest, they all look way ahead of any of our guys.

I'm a Fitz fan and I voted no. Fitz had his chance and he couldn't get it done. I don't like what I've seen from Manuel so far but I'm willing to give him (or Tuel or Thad) a chance to develop in the hope that he can become a quality NFL starter.

Nah. 65 QB rating. There were more than 10 worse performances. Just look across the line of scrimmage at Steve McNair's numbers that day. 24 pass attempts for 76 yards! Best game I ever saw Johnson play was in our loss at San Diego in 2001. Took an absolute beating, but still threw for over 300 yards and had the team in position to win on a couple of occasions before our special teams failed him (that was the year of Jake Arians and like 10 return TDs against our ST). I gained a lot of respect for RJ that day. I always viewed that game kind of like his last stand. Pouring his guts out and losing like that seemed to suck the life out of him and he was terrible the next two weeks before getting injured again and giving way to AVP.

I absolutely hated Rob Johnson when he was with the Bills. Blamed him for pretty much every failure from '98-01. Looking back now I can admit he got a raw deal. The one season where the team was finally his (2001), the management goes and completely guts the roster. That was a truly terrible team that was going to lose many games regardless of the quarterback play. And in 2000 he was playing ok, the team was at 7-4 (yes, Flutie did win them three of those games) and we went to Tampa and lost like 5 of our defensive starters to injury in one game. After that, the team took a major nosedive until the season finale against Seattle.

He beat out Loebbestael in both 2010 and 2011. Loebbestael received extended playing time in 2011 because Tuel was hurt and Loebbestael had strung together a bunch of impressive games in his absence. Really can't pin that on Tuel other than the fact that he is injury prone. I'm laughing at myself for defending Jeff Tuel, a guy who I don't even really like or want to see as our starter. I just feel he's getting unfairly attacked because our prized investment (Manuel) isn't paying off as quickly as we'd hoped.

I can't answer your question, but in Tuel's defense, those WSU teams were historically bad Pac-12 teams. I'm a West Coaster and caught a lot of those games and WSU had very little talent and even worse coaching (under Wulff). Tuel was constantly battered by the opposition. I always thought he looked pretty good and he put a little fear in me as a UCLA fan. I still have trouble ever seeing him as an NFL starter, because he never really closed out games and he seems to be injury prone. He's kind of like Trent Edwards with more of a gunslinger mentality. I think he could be a quality backup.

Don't be an idiot. I specifically said I don't like Tuel as a starter for our team right now, but rather as a backup option.

Exactly. Let's just burn to the ground the guy that's shown the best grasp of the offense so far. I don't like the idea of Tuel as our starter, but he's shown enough flashes to hold on to as a developmental/backup type of guy. I actually have the most faith in Tuel to get our offense down the field, but I don't trust him to make the right decision in the goal line area.

it's the QB and the Patriots.

Tuel looks like a decent backup but the fans will be clamoring for him by week 5 because of Manuel's play. I predict Losman/Edwards part 2.

Darick Holmes, RB. Guy was a 7th rounder and not expected to make the team, but he had a killer preseason and even had many fans calling for him to supplant Thurman as the starter. Had a good rookie year as the #2 back and gained 600 or so yards. Hit the wall in season 2 and was out of the league by 1998. Think he's in prison now. I thought he was going to be our next great running back.

Awesome awesome post. 35 here, going on 36, moved away from Buffalo in the late '90s, family was season ticket holders from '86 through '96, and every single word of your post resonated with me. It was a special feeling tonight. First time in a while I felt 100% unbridled pride in my Bills fanhood. Definitely felt like we were witnessing the end of the line tonight, the official end of an era. And as you said, one of the last two true dynasties in NFL history. Thanks for sharing.

I like Spiller but I can't see him re-signing here unless we have a good year and make the playoffs. I'd trade him for a first round pick if I could get it. RBs continue to decrease in value and as good as he's been at times, we've never won more than 6 games with Spiller on the team.

Out of games I actually attended: Jets '88 - when we locked up the division with a late Norwood field goal and the posts came down Rams '89 - Monday night. the first Frank Reich comeback I remember. Great 4th quarter. Broncos '90 - Place was nuts in the 4th quarter Comeback game Dolphins '02 snow game games i didn't attend: Dolphins '89 SF '91 Houston '89 Cleveland '89 (whoops make that '90 (playoff game)) SB XXV NE '11 Homerun Throwback Fins playoff loss '98 Minn '02

Apparantly the photo was taken in Austin - not sure if that matters, but it makes it seem less salacious than Vegas. I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt here. When I was young, my friends and I did all sorts of stupid things. I even recall rolling up bills just as a joke and sticking them behind our ears and just idiotic stuff like that. Sure, this picture is a bit of smoke, but if he's rolling a bill right there with the intent to snort coke, then where's the picture with the coke?

Pretty simple. I love football and I was born and raised in WNY. Also have always associated with the underdog, and what greater underdog than the Buffalo Bills?