Dan Gross

Here's what TBD expected to hear as the answers from Mike Mularkey: Mike Parrish (Saratoga Spring, NY): Why is the offense not using the tight end in short patterns to help the QB gain his confidence. It seems to me that with the line still trying to bond, this would help when the wide outs are having problems releasing into their patters. Drew's best years were when he had the luxury of Ben Coates being open 5-10 yards up field. The Pats will be coming hard at the QB and this would be a nice way to slow down the rush. Mike Mularkey: We've tried, but our tight ends couldn't catch a cold. Nathan Auble (Rochester, NY): Is there any sort of punishment that you give to players that commit game-changing penalties, whether it is physical or monetary? I feel like players never mean to do that sort of thing, but will definitely stay away from it if they spend an extra 10 minutes at practice doing wind sprints every time they block in the back or pay $5,000 every time they hold on a kickoff return (that goes for 88 yards). MM: They are usually suspended...from participating in the Madden tournament that we use to draw up the game plan for the next team. Mike Harrison (Amherst, NY): It seems like your "best" players are the ones making the biggest bonehead mistakes: Moulds, Bledsoe, Fletcher, Villarrial. At what point do you bench these prima donnas to send a message? MM: Talk to the boss. He's the one dictating the starters every week. Do you really think if I had a choice that I'd pick these players? Chuck Kman (Buffalo, NY): Every now and then I hear Bledsoe or yourself talk about something called a "sight adjustment". I was wondering what exactly that meant? MM: If the defense blitzes you from the strong side or the weak side, you have to turn Drew's helmet a different way after the play so he can see out it again. Russ (New Port Richey): Don't you think it is time to do something about the offensive line? They haven't been that great for a few years now, and they do not seem any better this year. When Bledsoe gets sacked six times in one game, there is a problem. I have been a Bills fan for years, and I hate to tell you, this is the worst offensive line I've seen. MM: Bledsoe was NOT sacked six times in that game...it was seven. MW is being paid the big bucks so we have to start him. Other than that, I'll see if I can talk Coach McNally off the ledge so he can answer. Bob Silver (Rochester, NY): Why did you not challenge two critical officials' calls in the Oakland game? 1 - The safety no-call. 2 - The Travis Henry touchdown no-call. Hasn't the NFL admitted that they were blown calls? MM: The safety I attempted to challenge but that's not a challengeable play. As for the touchdown, I just wanted to get out of there, and a challenge would have extended the game even further. I mean, have you seen their fans?! They are some scary mo fo's! Andy (NC): Coach, I really am glad the Bills selected you as coach and I like the way you keep running the ball, but I was wondering if you were going to start going a little more vertical in the passing game and take more chances with Drew Bledsoe? MM: Well, we would, but we need to keep Bledsoe vertical first. Besides, for some reason, whenever we send our receivers out, the other guys send guys out to try to stop our receivers from catching the ball. I checked with the league and they said it was legal for them to do that, so now I have to figure out another way. Matt Hagstrom (Bemus Point, NY): How long do you back Bledsoe when he just doesn't seem to be producing? MM: Who says he isn't producing? Oh, you mean on the field. As long as the boss says so. Jeff Taylor (Fairport, NY): Why isn't McGahee being given more reps in the game? Most specifically, why isn't he being used on short yardage and short and goal situations when he has proven to be a better short distance, hardnosed runner than Henry? MM: Did you see what happened to his knee?! I'm not letting him in there until the opposing team agrees to hit him with soft pillows instead of tackling him. Doug Heise (Springfield, MO): The Bills seem to have all the physical tools. Are the problems due to a breakdown in the mental aspect of the game? MM: Yeah, 'tools' would be the word I'd use to describe the team I've been handed, and I know I'm about three stupid plays away from a mental breakdown myself...

Or just say that his final score prediction is 17-13.... As I have said before, the Bills can win. It will take mistake-free ball though, as the Patriots specialize in capitalizing on turnovers. That's how they win, not by completely dominating (it's not like they are beating everyone 51-3), but by capitalizing on the other team's mistakes and making few of their own... My former title forbids me from making predictions, taking bets, etc, but I feel it's a "good opportunity" for the Bills to rebound.

Many in this thread: http://205.134.161.85/forums/index.php?showtopic=4416 say that it's nothing more than excuses.

Is that a Bill Parcells team out there? Coleman gets "Robinsoned," the DB is sleeping, then they have 10 men out there for the 2 point conversion?

That's because he was throwin' 'em too hard/high/low/far out. If Coles catches it, then it was a mistake to throw it, but Coles made the play.... Oh, I forgot, wrong team, sorry...

a.) There are 5 other players on offense besides the O-line and the QB. Maybe it's because the RB didn't pick up the blitzer? Maybe the receivers didn't make the correct "sight adjustment." And, yes, he left room for Drew to be responsible. You quote the direct answer where he says that Drew had a bad game. How about reading the sentence before the "best opportunity to win" sentence: "I think a one-game performance is way too early to start thinking about when will I pull him or when will I not pull him. " That says to me that Mularkey thinks that Drew had a bad game. b.) What did you expect? "Yeah, just between you and me I know that Drew has nothing left in the tank, but the boss says he has to play, so he plays." Or "Yeah, we know he sucks, but do you really think we're going to put in Shane Matthews?" At least those questions are up there, as opposed to the "Mr. Mularky, I have the feeling you will be the best Bills coach ever. How do you expect to celebrate after we win the Super Bowl this year?" type questions that everybody on the Wall figured were going to be the questions "randomly selected."

Losman's progress is reported in the fan Q&A: http://www.buffalobills.com/news/news.jsp?news_id=2760 Jim (Orchard Park, NY): How is Losman recovering and when may he return to practice? TD: J.P. is way ahead of schedule on his rehab. Some point this week he will have another MRI taken and we should know better after that when he might be permitted to come back and actually get back into practice.

Pretty much the way I expected they would, but they do answer some pretty harsh questions.... Tom Donahoe: ask him yourself Mike Mularkey: ask him yourself

Okay, so the "Patsie Troll" is showing confidence about the Bills' near future, while the Bills fans are thinking the Cowboys will be picking up a top 5 pick from us... Though the Patriots have been unbeaten for over a year, they are not an unbeatable team. It takes a near-perfect game to beat them though, as their modus operandi is to capitalize on opponent's mistakes. They have scored points on 4 of 5 turnovers (the 5th was a fumble that the Pats recovered on their own 1 yard line...so the turnover did amount to a 3-7 point swing in their favor). They accounted for 10 points in each of their games, being the difference in the Colts game (where it seemed they were otherwise dominated). Keep the turnovers down, and I think we stand a good chance of beating them.

I'm surprised no one has said Shane Matthews yet...

Did the roof get torn off of Office Depot Center? Oh, and Cablebabe, trust me, I think the combo stadiums suck as well. They just suck more when the players are ankle-deep in water.

and that's football/baseball combo stadiums after a hurricane. Caught the "highlights" at halftime...What a mess!

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead Does Blue Velvet count? Only $8M at the box office...

Yeah, he could come out dancing to his theme song, the "White Guy Rap" "We're white guys, we take no crap when we deliver our white rap. We're white guys, and we're all right we walk real funny with our buttocks held tight!"

..and I've had times where I haven't been home in time for the start of the game. No problem with TIVO. I can start watching from the beginning, FF through commercials (and replay reviews), and, if I'm really interested in catching up to "real time," FF through half-time, or even between plays if I am really desparate. I think I remember sitting down to watch the Eagles game last year at 2:30, watching all the plays, but managing to watch the end live. I've considered the HD receiver route, as I watch most of the stuff I record upstairs on my SD TV, but would like to "experience" HD. Holding out because the HD channel selection on DIRECTV seems pretty thin. I've already seen the two documentaries they show on DISCOVERY HD.

Nice to know all is well!

Hey, I heard this is the thread you're supposed to post in if you want T-Bone to ignore you....true? As to the topic, what I find amusing are the people who obviously "self-filter." I see stuff like "he played like stevestoejam" (slightly exaggerated for effect) an awful lot.

...and I haven't been catching the games....how's Bledsoe doing?

and who says kids these days are lazy and unmotivated.

Beer beer beer I'm going for a beer. beer beer beer I'm gonna drink some beer. I like drinking beer. Lovely lovely beer.

Not fair comparing sacks stats between Drew and Vick. After all, Vick missed nearly half the season from being injured using that valued "mobility." And wasn't it the year before that McNabb broke his ankle using same said "mobility" to avoid a sack?

Man, here I was thinking that people are going too nuts with the dooomed thing talking about next year already. You're worried about what happens in 2007 and 2008? Get a life.

Yeah, I think this about sums it up.

Awwww, come on, it's important to see the projected paths of hurricanes Ivan and Jeanne!

The evil Hobbitssssss has taken my precioussssssss