Mickey

They all looked good for 4 weeks and have all looked bad since. Walker is no solution and it just opens another hole on the line. Fire up the DVR and take a second look at virtually any play, especially screens, that required Walker to get to the outside in front of a back. Have tissues with you because you will blubber like a baby when you watch that whale consistently being 5 yards short of where he needed to be to block the guy that stopped the play. We have a lot of higher priority holes to fill and I just don't think we can afford to create even more. For example, we don't have a defensive end on the roster worth a start save an aging, marginal, overpaid veteran with a serious injury. I am no expert but I have heard it said that defensive end is a relatively important position to a defense. So lets replace that crew of total stiffs before we give up on a two time pro bowl OT despite the legit questions about his abilities.

I don't think its a shot as much as a statement of fact and his attempt at explaining why, in his opinion, he made the pro bowl despite not having as good a year this year as he did last year. I think there is so much anger about how this year went that we, myself included, are predisposed to negative judgments, especially with Peters who lost most of the good will he had with fans during the hold out. The future of the team is really up in the air right now until we know if Jauron is coaching next year. Until then, I think its premature to predict whats going to happen with Peters or what should happen with him. For what its worth, I think we should keep him and I think there are a number of players on the roster who need to go. I think Kelsay and Denney are next to useless, for example. Royal really needs to be thanked for his team effort, first class conduct and such and then cut. I would have no problem looking for a replacement for Lindell. I would also like to see a project type QB to back up Trent and/or a veteran insurance policy there. Our centers, all of them, should be sent to VESID for occupational retraining. If a team is to have building blocks, foundation as it were, I think our core group is Lynch, Mitchell, McGee, Peters, Evans, Roscoe. Poz, Jackson and hopefully McKelvin in time. I'd be hard pressed to come up with many more names that should be considered almost irreplaceable.

"Pretty much saying F the fans" ???? Where do you get that from? You guys are reading just a bit too much into a short interview and some off the cuff comments. What do you want him to say? "Yeah the fans who hate me and have been calling me a moron for the last 10 months are right, I really don't deserve this, I am a jack ass, shucks, I am so very, very sorry I made the pro bowl, I will go home now and hang myself in the basement." What confuses me is all those who say he sux and is worthless, also think we can get boatloads of first round picks for him. How does that work?

You are not saying that performance on the field is more important than how daintily they fold their napkins are you? Heavens to murgatroid.

Frankly, character is what I am looking for in a boyscout troop leader, I could care less about it when it comes to an NFL player. I feel sorry for anyone looking to professional athletes for moral guidance. That is what my priest is for. If a guy has enough control over himself to avoid being suspended, that is good enough for me as long as he shows up and gets the job done on Sunday. My problem with a lot of our players is that they aren't showing up on Sunday. Apart from an occasional play or fortuitous bounce, guys like Whitner, Poz, Denney, Kelsay, Royal, etc. have done little to distinguish themselves on the field. I know, I said something less than adoring of Poz and thats blasphemy but its too late, I said it.

I like haynesworth but I don't know. Given the appalling set of defensive ends we have, maybe the worst platoon of DE's in the league, upgrading there might be more important.

that still makes him the best lineman on the roster

Your calm, measured and objective analysis of the Crowell situation aside, establishing that Crowel acted like an idiot does not justify the team doing the same thing by deprining the team of one their better players. Best LB? I don't know but better than Ellison, yep. The goal of a coach is to win football games, not teach morality and ethics. The sooner we stop focusing on nice guys who can't play and put up with some jerks now and then who get it done on the field, the better off we will be.

The man is an NFL head coach, not a cheerleader. The team needs to play balls to the wall because they are professionals paid to do just that. What Jauron needs to do, is to figure out how to play offense against a 3-4 defense. He needs to figure out how to defend on 3rd and 18. He needs to enter the 4th quarter with 3 time outs. He needs to know that we can't throw a screen pass that requires our lumbering right tackle or left guard to pull to the other side of the field because they will never, ever, ever get their in time to make a freaking block. This team's problem isn't a lack of spirit or even talent. The problem is in the play book and teaching these guys how to play. Really, how many times this year did you see us run a play in a key situation that totally fooled the defense? A play where execution and talent didn't matter because it was the right call against the right defense? How many times have we been on the other end of that? Take Bill Walsh, that guy was about as inspirational as an adding machine. But he knew football, he could see the defenses coming before they were there and had the plays in hand to beat them. We need a new coach, preferably one who doesn't give a damn about how Schobel's motor is always running, that Denney is always on time for meetings or that Kelsay and Williams play beyond their limited physical abilities. We have a roster full of Phil Hansons with no Bruce Smiths. No offense Phil.

I think being spared seeing that game live in Buffalo was a gift.

Laugh of the day for sure, thanks for appreciating the value of self deprecating humor. Bravo sir, Bravo.

If we throw the ball 35 times, it will have to be because we are getting killed. Funny thing, even QB's who never get sacked seem to get sacked a lot when their teams fall far behind. With Jauron running the show, he will stick to the ground and very short passes as long as we are within 10 points and there are more than 7 minutes left in the game.

Upside, chemistry, level head, give good press conferences, people like him, etc. All of that is meaningless, useless and worthless. What matters is completing passes, getting first downs, scoring TDs and winning football games. Lately, he isn't doing any of those things so I could care less about how he draws people to him or that Kelly wants to take him hunting. I get why people like him, we all like him but big whoop. This isn't a popularity contest, performance matters and he flat out is not performing. He needs to get his act together or at some point, this offseason, half way through next season, whenever, he is going to be out of a job despite all the chemistry and wonderful touchy-feelyness he inspires.

I don't think Jauron has any interest at all in building an "explosive" offense. He likes to play with extreme caution and hope to be close in the 4th Q, win it with a field goal. He has no interest in track meets. Take his comments about limiting Lynch to save on wear and tear. Absolutely ridiculous. Our goal is to win freaking games, not to make sure Lynch is fresh 4 games from now when the season is all but over. There is no reason for Lynch to ever be out of a game other than to catch a breath after a big play. It takes the best you have to win a game in this league. Sure, I love Jackson but if I need 2 yards for a critical first down, the best man on the roster to get those yards is Marshawn Lynch. Teams that are 11-1 can rest their starters with a game on the line, not teams that are 6-6.

If he play well on Sunday, even in a loss, I wouldn't be shocked if they started him the following week. Nor would I be shocked if they started Trent when he was healthy even if JP played great. My own view is you don't lose your starting position due to an injury. When healthy, Trent starts but if he plays poorly, I would have no problem with his being benched. The goal is to win on Sunday, not to turn the rest of the regular season into an extended audition for JP or a practice session for Trent.

Yes, all Turk needs to do is to figure out how to do something we have not been capable of doing all season. And Jauron just needs to stop being Jauron. And we just need to get through a season without any injuries at all because that is a totally realistic requirement. Then we just need an all pro center and tight end, who, despite our inability to secrure one over the last 10 years, pretty much grow on trees. Then we start Hardy because simply by starting him, he will instantly develop the skills which he lacks and which have kept him on the bench. And we just have to hope that there is some magical force working against our QB, rather than a lack of ability, that will just as magically disappear next year. If all that happens, yes , we could rise to the level of a "not bad team". I like your hope, unrealistic though it may be. I am glad I am not Russ Brandon who is going to have to figure out what the freak to do with this team.

I think there is plenty of talent. Not checking away from a 6 man front and just handing it to Lynch hoping he can dematerialize his mass, diffuse through the defense and then rematerialize 5 yards down field, was the problem, not the talent. Then not giving the ball to the best guy on the team at picking up 2 yards on 4 critical plays over two series in the red zone was the problem, not talent. Not checking away from a pass when they were rushing only 4 and putting 7 in to coverage on a red zone shortened field was also a problem. Of course, getting the offense to the LOS with 6 seconds left on the play clock doesn't leave a lot of time to check away from anything. Either neither of our QBs are capable of checking to the right play at the right time or our offense and its desing just doesn't promote those opportunities. Asking our lumbering right tackle and left guard to pull out in front of sweeps and screens to the far side is a problem but they have talent at straight ahead blocking and trapping to one side or the other. I think we have talent but so do our opponents. Turns out that few of them are so bad that we can be as predictable as snow in Syracuse and still expect to be successful.

Actually Bill, I recall a lot of drops by Roscoe and some great catches too. No "key" drops though. I think the reason he hasn't been on the field more in his career despite having only Josh Reed in front of him is because his hands aren't the best. Otherwise, I can't really understand why, with his ability to turn a routine play into a big gainer, he has never been a starter. On that particular play though, the defender made a nice play. I think the only way that pass could have been completed was if JP threw it low and outside where Roscoe would have to have gone to his knees, the kind of thing Kelly and Andre used to do all the time on 3rd and 7. They weren't trying to beat the coverage, just put the ball where only Andre could get to it, even against solid coverage. If its timed and thrown right, its pretty much unstoppable. Its also the kind of pass, as much as I like JP, that Losman has never been very good at.

I see your fried bologna sandwich and raise you two chilli cheese fries. Be loud and have fun

I have a direct tv receiver from my brother who has two homes, one in Pittsburgh and one in Va (long ugly story beginning and ending with family court). He sent me an extra one and he also has the sunday ticket package so I will be watching the game here in Syracuse, on my new Panasonic Plasma with the ladies making the nachos. Eat your hearts out bitches.

Really, tell me exactly what Turk can do to "make" him throw it? Yell at him? Why would that work if seeing a wide open WR down field isn't enough? Turk calls the plays, the players make the plays. If he calls the right play and it doesn't work because our QB is weak at the knees, you don't blame Turk, you send the QB to the freaking bench until he grows a pair. This is the NFL, if you have to be "made" to throw to an open receiver, you need sign up and audition for the Jills. I think this game was just an anomaly, a freak and Trent just couldn't process all those mistakes so soon in the game, on Monday night no less, in a big game and so early in his career. So he gets a pass from me but just this once. If he turns tail and runs like that again.....gawd I just hope it never happens. That was simply embarassing. Cowardice under fire. Ugh.

If you call a play with a long route as the primary and the WR is open and he doesn't throw it, and he keeps not throwing it, you introduce him to the bench and I don't care if we end up with Freddie playing QB. We are paying Lee Evans 9 million bucks to run windsprints all night while our QB has a nervous breakdown over a couple of picks. Trent HAS to snap out of it, I think he will.

They are calling the long balls, he just isn't throwing them. All they can do is call a play with a deep route being the primary route, they can't make him throw it rather then checking down. He was literally a scared rabbit out there. I am hoping that was just a fluke, a one time only thing we will never see from him again. An NFL QB simply can't play this game scared.

That was the one thing that shocked me about last night. I have seen plenty of QB's have really bad days but I am not sure I can ever recall seeing a QB lose their courage that badly. Scared rabbit. Never thought I'd see that from a Buffalo QB. I certainly never thought I'd see that from Trent. It has to be some sort of anomaly. No doubt in my mind that JP would never have folded his tent like that. I guess I can concede Trent one game like that, one. But if he ever does that again, he needs to be benched until he finds his balls. You can't be a QB in the NFL and play scared like that. How could the rest of the team believe in a QB like that? He is young and he has shown plenty of talent so he gets a do-over here but man, I hope never to see anything like that again.

Gee, I am so flattered, you are making me blush, all this personal attention from you any time I post anything, anywhere. How come there was no homoerotic imagery this time? Usually I can count on you for that. Must be your already suspicious wife was too close to the computer screen while you were typing that one. Its always warms my heart to see someone using the board as a vehicle for their personal animosities. Bravo.