faderphreak

I would not pick him up. He is an underachiever with character issues. Not that he might not have a few gallons in the tank, I just don't see him as a a good fit for the team.

I had the same feeling based on the same reasoning. I'd also throw the fact that Willis is a Rosenhaus guy from the U, he wants that huge payday. He has to know that if he wants that he is going to have to blow people away. After all, as you pointed out he didn't appear to try at all in the second half of the season. No one wants a guy who quits trying regardless of the motivation that led the player to quit. If he wants the big payday he will have to show he can pick a franchise up and carry it on his back. Otherwise when he hits free agency his value is that of a decent back with a history of serous injury. A back with serious mileage after having been beat up behind what has been a bad Buffalo line to this point. If he doesn't play lights out he can't renegotiate his contract or get the big day when he leaves. This kid is about the :bling: and some of the statements Wills has made show that he is a mercenary. He is going to do his best to jack his stock and cash in to the highest bidder. If we get lucky the team does well and he matures. If he realizes that with the cards falling into place he, Lee, and JP could become the "triplets" that lead to a monster team with a few serious runs in it he could stick around for a little less. The more likely outcome is that he will run as far as he can as fast as he can when he gets the chance but I digress... BTW That is a great line.

Mr. Royal

I was thinking abut this earlier today, it can be argued that this is not true across the board for every position, it appears that all the different competions in camp led to a more talented roster this year. I think it is a good sign of moving in the right direction when the Pats are picking up our cuts. While I don't suggest reading too much into it it is a cheerful thought.

I got him off of waivers by dropping my 15th pick in a 14 team team league. So if I get lucky and get two or three touchdowns from him in relief duty it is a steal.

Thank you. I saw your post and now if I'm lucky I'll be able to double dip in my Fantasy league. It seems when fast reciever goes to a team without the benefit of training camp and does not know the offense they send them on simple go routes and the like. I just don't want to see Brady and gabriel develop chemistry until week two. Gabriel was fun to watch at UCF. He wasn't so fun to watch when he had our number that one game.

Actually, I am not suggesting that he consulted the players at all, nor am I suggesting that he should let the news make a decision on it. I am merely suggesting that they have had the time to look at the tape prior to today. Everyone has seen the writing on the wall. Hell, JP has been taking the majority of snaps for two weeks now. They could have made it any time but they happen to be made after Willis was quoted as saying he was much better this year and Lee Evans was quoted saying that he thought he earned the right to be the man. If you think Jauron is not the least bit worried about team chemistry. Look at what happened with last years team as a result of the team chemistry being an issue.

Anyone else notice the timing of the announcement that JP will be the starter? After reading some of Lee & Willis' statements in the press over the last few days, along withs some other starters it seemed like they thought that JP was clearly the guy. It appears that Jauron was waiting until Losman had the clear and public support of the key players on at least the offense to make it official. If so that is a great idea to alleviate some of the animosity that was seen in last years locker room that was the result of JP not earning it. Good psychology. Very shrewd. I am really starting to like Jauron.

2900 - 3200 passing, 57-60% completion, 22 TD, 17 INT, 175 rushing w/ 2 rushing TD as well. I think donahoeisgod in on point on the "Tale of Two Seasons" theory as well.

You are right about the pessimist and sorry it was a long post but I got off on a tear. I agree with issue you have with the evauation of data. By the way I did not write it I quoted it, but it is documented fact that you can look up. It was not simply a day but the whole summer. Still, we all know that anyone can make stats and research that could be (or is knowingly) flawed work to back an argument. Ask Bill Clinton, Dick Cheney or the guys at Enron. The point I am making is that if people are positive positive things can happen. I am not saying we all need meditate either, just to try and change to a more positive outlook. I was using the quotes as a qualifier for the line of thought that suggests we impact the world around us becuase there is research that indicates that we do. Not just by some quacks either, by competent educated professionals. Yay quantum physics!

Bills by one. 21 -20

I was originally going to post this on the predictions thread but I saw where I was going and decided I wanted to share this with as many as possible. If you look at the way this board has evolved over the years it seems there is a lot of negativity. Oh there were some people back in 96 & 97 that were pretty bad, but it seems more rampant these days. Now I know we have had a lot of bad luck. I know that even when things look good, we as Buffalo fans tend to be on the edge of our seats waiting for the wheels to come off. Seriously, think about it. When we were beating the Pats last season only to have them come back, did you find yourself wondering when something bad was going to happen? You have to start to wonder how much of this we bring on ourselves? Let me share a little bit about the power of positive thought "In Washington DC, the so called murder capital of the world, there was a big experiment in the summer of 1993 where 4000 volunteers came from 100 countries to collectively meditate for long periods of time throughout the day. It was predicted in advance that with such a sized group you would have a 25% drop in violent crime, as defined by the FBI, in Washington that summer. Well, the chief of police went on television saying that 'look it is going to take two feet of snow to reduce crime by 25% in Washington DC this summer'. But by the end the police department became a collaborator and author of this study because the results in fact showed a 25% percent drop in violent crime in Washing DC, which we could predict based on 48 previous studies that had been done on a smaller scale." - John Hagelin, PhD, Professor of Physics and Director of the Institute of Science Technology and Public Policy at Maharishi University (long title I know) "Do people, are people, affecting the world of the reality they see? You betcha they are. Every single one of affects the reality that we see, even if we try to hide from that and play victim We all are doing it" Fred Alan Wolf, Ph.D UCLA Physicist, lecturer & writer Both quotes come from a movie called "What the Bleep Do We Know" ( Check it out) that I would recommend every single person to watch particularly fans of the Buffalo Bills or Sabres While you may not agree with everything it has to say, it will make you think. (Yes, I know this will preclude some on this board from getting into it) Anyway... While I am not saying we have to try and see the world through rose-colored glasses I am suggesting trying to visualize the team doing good things. Visualize how the Bills can turn it around and bring joy back into our Sunday afternoons. Try and focus on the good things that need to happen for us to do well rather than the negatives that will surely make us fans of a losing team for sure. Hell if the F'd up city of Washington can get a 25% drop in violent crime as a result of people meditating on it, the Bills nation should be able to affect some games in a positive way by thinking positive as well, right? Just close your eyes for a minute here and visualize the things that we need to happen for the Bills to be what we want them to be. With that thought in mind, here is how I visualize the Bills turning it around this year. While I will be the first to admit this may not happen, it could and if it does I will be happy in a way I've not been in a while. It starts with the Pats. Here is how I visualize the game... NE opens the game with a strong drive and scores. After this the Bills defense stiffens. A couple of three and outs for both teams. Late in the first half, what looks like a play in which Brady is going to make a great pass to an obviously open TE, is at the last minute it is knocked down by one of the D-Line. NE is held to a field goal. Without much time the Bills mount a drive in which both Willis and JP play key roles in keeping the drive alive and the Bills score a touchdown to bring them within three with the score 10-7. The pats score on the opening drive of the 3rd extending the lead to ten. They then get a field goal, going up 13. Nothing much happens until late in the fourth when the Bills put together a drive and score cutting the NE lead to six. The pats respond and mount a drive quickly getting to the Bills 26 or so. Brady drops back and hits one of his young receivers in stride, cleanly beating Troy Vincent. Whitner hits the receiver to take him down at around the ten and forces a fumble. Billicheck has his challenge overruled and with three minutes or so left the Bills find themselves down by six. After getting stifled on the first two downs, Losman steps up to avoid a strong rush and hits Parrish for 16. That sparks a drive that appears to stall out at around the NE 36 when JP is sacked with 48 seconds left. On third and a mile, he and Evans hook up on a great play to get to the 12. With 12 seconds left JP finds Royal in the end zone. They successfully cover the kickoff Brady has one shot. The receiver runs the route wrong and the pass is incomplete. Game over. This brings us to my final prediction for opening day Bills 21 Pats 20 It could happen and it could go further if we believe it can. Going into week two, the Phelons high on their week one victory talk a lot of smack but make a couple big mistakes early in the game that allow the bills to play with an early 10 point lead. The Bills hold off a late rally by Miami and pull off the win. Now the Bills start to develop some confidence. They open at home on a high and destroy the Jets. With three divisions wins things start to snowball. Of course they make their share of mistakes as young teams do, but as is the case with good (and lucky) young teams they respond and make a playoff run. With fortune and confidence in their favor it could happen. Who knows how far it could go with the power of positive thought of the Bills Nation. Yeah I know it may not be likely, but it could happen so next time you see something going on in the game instead of envisioning what could go wrong for the Bills try envisioning what could go right. What do you visualize? The consistency of the line could lead to a much better line? Losman could improve into a great quarterback? Whitner could offset rookie mistakes with big plays? Peerless could be the factor he was when paired with Moulds? Takeo could get back to where he was? Etc. Etc. Etc? So what do you think? Should we give it a try? We have nothing to lose but our negativity. Think positive! Believe! The Bills can achieve.

I was thinking the exact same thing as I was reading that

You're right I would have been very happy to have seen a long TD pass on either of those plays. You are also right that there is no excuse for the fumble. I'm glad to know I was right on about them not planning on taking chances like that in the regular season. That it was a chance to to "give JP a few plays in that situation" My line of thought here is that JP has shown the ability to find things has is doing wrong and correct them. I think that the fact he had the opportunity to make those mistakes now, he can learn from them, and it will pay off later in the season. Sullivan had a good point this morning when he said: "Losman will make big plays. He'll make mistakes. But he'll make it interesting. If you're going to follow a rebuilding team, all you can ask is that it not be boring. As gruesome as it sounds, this debacle left me even more convinced that Losman is the right guy for the situation." Article At least it won't be boring. I finally got to see the highlights this morning and the scoring plays were sweet. Evans first catch was all kinds of exciting. The bomb to Evans was pretty too! I thought it as funny that Marshall Faulk called out Josh Reed on the pick. He said that Reed "has to make a decision"

I am confused. I thought JP was responsible for 13 points off of turnovers. One from the interception and two field goals as a result of the fumbles. Not to be an apologist, more just to make an observation, but do you think in a real game they would have called the plays they were calling, when JP had the fumbles? I mean less that two minutes and only down by four? Why not run the clock down, go in and make the adjustments, come back in the second half? I suspect the staff was treating it like a drill to win a game in the last two minutes rather than the way you would manage the end of a half, when you are within four points. While I could be wrong, I don't recall Jauron's teams being that aggressive in the past.

If I did not know any better, I would say Marv is setting up to build a team like the ones that beat the Bills under Jimmy Johnson. The Cowboys fielded fast D-Line men that rotated in and out coming at you in waves. Combine that with what we have heard about using power running to set up the vertical passing game and trying to get the tight end more involved. Of course our O-Line is the weak link to that theory because I can't really see how we compare to that line Aikman played behind in his rookie season.

Oh nice. Thanks fo the song bomb. Now the melody won't go away!

I hope Jimbo sits JP down and says something like "I hear you are working extra with the receivers and Willis after practice. Good start. Now you need to take on even more leadership. If Peerless ever gives up on a play the way he did on your scramble you do to him what I did to Andre when he F'd up.

Great report! Thanks so much for the update. Down here in FL I have shut off the sports radio because I'm already sick of the Bucs & Fins.

OK just to make sure I have this straight? You said "it seems to me that there are scant few examples of a second-year QB performing as badly as Losman did last year and going on to good things..." Now there are a ton of others who have recently taken their teams to playoffs after seasons ranging from less than stellar to absolutely horrific. I'm sure that the the definition of good things is subjective but whatever... few examples of a second year quarterbacks performing as bad and going on to good things. OK then, here we go... <BTW> you can look up the stats yourself. I'm not taking the time to try and format them to look nice. They don't come in fields when you pull them off the Hall Of Fame website HOF George Blanda the first four years... HOF Troy Aikman the first two years (and he started his whole rookie season) HOF Terry Bradshaw the first five years HOF Len Dawson the fisrt four years (there was one aberation) HOF Dan Fouts the first three years HOF Bob Greise the first three HOF Bobby Lane the first SIX years HOF Warren Moon the first three years HOF Joe Namath the first two years HOF Bart Starr the first four years HOF Roger Staubach the fisrt two years HOF Fran Tarkenton the first two years HOF YA Tittle the first three years HOF Bob Waterfield the first two years HOF Steve Young the first two years. Sorry I was too busy at work today to do your research for you. Fortunately the thoughts of football, and looking into history are a nice way to wind down the day. So here is the breakdown. Of the 23 Hall of Fame quarterbacks, only Otto Graham, Sonny Jurgenson, John Elway, Montana, Johnny U, Norm Van Broklin, and our own Jim Kelly had good second seasons. In fact at least five guys I listed had worse 2nd years. Aikman barely gets the nod with a rating of 66.6 in his second year. If you don't believe me you can check for yourself. HOF By the way, I took you to mean as bad a second year QB. If we just want to with a year that was statistically that bad early in their careers we can add a couple more of those Hall of Famers to the list. Now before you get your panties in a bunch, I want to point out that I am not in any way, shape, or form, comparing JP to those Hall Of Famers. I am saying that quarterbacks take time to develop. I am not saying that JP is or will ever be great. There may, I did say may, be potential but we need to see a full season under his belt. Not a season where he missed most of training camp and the regular season. Not a season in which he had no line, a weak running game, and recievers that dropped a lot of passes. Not a season in which he has a coach that is so scared of the GM, players, and owner that rather than let the kid take his lumps and properly develop, instead chose to pull him to "win now" which only set back his development and gave him an even greater hurdle to overcome. My point is that it is too soon to tell. I hope he does play well, believe me, down here in the land of the Bucs, Fins, and Jags, I'd love to be able to smile alot more on Monday mornings. If he gets a year to start and have the game slow down for him, maybe next year I will. This year the whole team needs to grow. If they grow together maybe we will be lucky enough to regain some of that lost magic. If we get a miracle and the light goes on for JP and about four other key players, the special teams stay as good, and the defense regains it's old form, maybe we compete for the playoffs. We don't have any better options so we may as well hope for the best. If all you look for in life are the negatives, thats all you'll ever find. Life is too short. Your point, from what I gather, is that JP sucks. Yes? Your alternative this year?

BTW - If you actually do the research, you will find you have to revise your statement significantly. I'll understand if you don't, there might be too much truthiness to handle.

Fair enough. I am not asking you to buy anything. Pennington sat two seasons and had an offense around him, Palmer sat one and also had alot more talent around him. Also keep in mind that Palmer and Pennington both had a full training camp and season prior to their first year starting. If you really wanted to bring out the big guns you would have probably said Leftwich or Big Ben who in are abberations of most of the first round QBs this decade. If you don't want to compare a second year player, who gets the start on an absolutely crappy team with bad coach, to a rookie who got a start with a better team and a coach that let him play through the problems, that is fine. I guess by that math you assume JP should do better in his first eight starts. Well he did. Not by much, but he did. I don't have any false illusions that he is the next great savior but it is too soon to tell. If you look back at some of the most successful quarterbacks in history you are not likely to find anything but hall of famers who were great right out of the gate, without a few years development. The quarterbacks who have been most "successful" were on teams that chose to sit them for a full year or two so they could mature and/or who had good coaching staffs. For instance, Vick, Pennington, Palmer, Hassleback, Mcnair, Farvre. All of whom were on much better teams the year they became full time starters. You may be right on Losman but the jury is still out. If you think that Holcomb or anyone else who is likely to become available, could get us to the playoffs this year, then I would say fine go for it. As there is noone the Bills have, that is any better and we are highly unlikely to make he playoffs this year, there is nothing to lose by giving the kid a full season as a starter. We either determine he is the QB of the future or he is not. If not, we pick up a decent FA QB and draft a QB to groom under him, as was done with McNair and O'donnell or Chandler & Vick. On the other hand if it clicks, the game starts slowing down for him, and Losman gets rid of the jitters there is legitimate hope for a good playoff tun next year. Want proof? Here are the stats for all of the playoff quartrbacks first year as starters with the career year they started full time. Year Team G GS Att Comp Pct Yards YPA Lg TD Int Tkld 20+ 40+ Rate 2004 Palmer 13 13 432 263 60.9 2897 6.71 76 18 18 25/178 34 8 77.3 Starter in 2nd yr. 2005 Big Ben 12 12 268 168 62.7 2385 8.90 85 17 9 23/129 35 12 98.6 1st year starter 2001 Brady 15 14 413 264 63.9 2843 6.88 91 18 12 41/216 32 6 86.5 Starter in 2nd yr. 1998 Indianapolis Colts 16 16 575 326 56.7 3739 6.50 78 26 28 22/109 42 8 71.2 1st yr starter. 2001 M. Hasselback 13 12 321 176 54.8 2023 6.30 64 7 8 38/251 26 4 70.9 - Starter in 3rd yr. 2003 Delhomme 16 15 449 266 59.2 3219 7.17 67 19 16 23/168 46 9 80.6 - Starter in 5th yr. 1998 jake Plummer 16 16 547 324 59.2 3737 6.83 57 17 20 49/280 48 6 75.0 Fulltime in 2nd yr. 1995 Brunell 13 10 346 201 58.1 2168 6.27 45 15 7 39/238 23 1 82.6 Starter in 3rd yr. 2003 Leftwich 15 13 418 239 57.2 2819 6.74 84 14 16 19/90 33 7 73.0 1st yr starter. 1999 Kitna 15 15 495 270 54.5 3346 6.76 51 23 16 32/198 45 5 77. Fulltime in 3rd yr. 2005 Sims 11 10 313 191 61.0 2035 6.50 78 10 7 29/205 21 3 81.4 - Fulltime in 3rd yr. 2005 Eli 16 16 557 294 52.8 3762 6.75 78 24 17 28/184 49 8 75.9 Fulltime in 2nd yr. Man, after doing all that research I have even more hope! Thanks for helping me keep the glass half full.

I was thinking the same thing. He didn't run for the sake of running and he was looking downfield. That was a sweet paly that shows glimpses of what could be with the proper development.

The first year was a wash. He lost better than half the season to the broken leg. Effectively, last year was his first. Compared with another #1 pick after roughly, the same amount of games started, he is right on par… Year G GS Att Comp Pct Yards YPA Lg TD Int Tkld 20+ 40+ Rate 2004 9 7 197 95 48.2 1043 5.29 58 6 9 13/8 11 4 55.4 VS. 2005 9 8 228 113 49.6 1340 5.88 58 8 8 26/197 15 6 64.9

Never quite looked at it that way but that is funny.