Rocky Landing

Personally, I suspect that Thad Lewis is as safe in his #2 spot on the roster as EJ is in his #1. (Although, I know at least a few posters will argue that.) So, who will (or should) be our #3? Jeff Tuel, or Dennis Dixon?

I think that whether or not Goodell wants the Bills to stay, or leave, he would have said exactly the same thing. If he had known the Bills would stay, or leave, he would have said exactly the same thing. In offering his verbal support to the Bills staying in WNY, what he is really saying is, "let's keep selling tickets, and air time, and not let the franchise devalue before it gets sold."

I'm not sure if anyone ever trademarked "Functioning Retard." But, if they did, and the trademark is more than 20 years old, it would likely stand under appeal. The term, "functioning retard," was not a derogatory term twenty years ago, whereas, "redskin" has been a pejorative for a long, long time. Just another in a long list of false comparisons in this thread.

I was wondering when the hand-wringing was going to start regarding this interview. I chalk this up to a rookie not knowing that you're not supposed to be entirely honest during interviews.

That's really all they have, is Brady. That's it! Brady... and Gronkowski, of course. But that's it. Brady, and Gronkowski. And, their first round pick, Dominic Easley, he's pretty good. But that's it: Brady, Gronk, and Easley. And their offensive line is pretty good, I guess. Nate Solder's solid. But that's pretty much all there is. Oh, and Derrell Revis, of course. Can't forget him! But, really, who else do they have? Other than Amendola? And, Edelman. OK, their top two WRs aren't bad. Plus Dobson. He's not bad, either. But, THAT'S IT. Brady, Gronk, Easley, Nate Solder and their O-line, Derrel Revis, Amendola, Edelman, Dobson... Well, there's Bellichick, and the coaching staff, of course. That goes without saying. Brady, Gronk, Easley, Nate Solder and their O-line, Derrel Revis, Amendola, Edelman, Dobson, Bellichick, and the coaching staff, and probably a few other people I don't know about. But other than those guys, they don't hold a candle to us!

You know, Andy Kaufman tried something like this when he was on Saturday Night Live, and it didn't work out too well for him...

This has probably been said already (i apologize if it has), but I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that Jim Schwartz should know a wee bit more about their offense than they know about ours. And, he knows all about playing in Soldier Field. That should help.

Yay! We're winning the offseason! Again! (... deja vu...)

And who could forget the time that Jerry Jones sent over all those Dallas Cowboys souvenir blankets infected with smallpox?

There, I fixed those things for you. Now, when you look at EJ, and think, "decent golfer," it won't necessarily preclude him from being a great QB.

Where do we get this psychological insight? It seems to me that we get to watch EJ perform on the field, during games, and a little, tiny bit during practice. And, we get to see him in interviews. Where did some people get the notion that EJ is lacking some drive that hobbles him in being a good QB? And, where did the theory come from that there is some basic, psychological element, common to all QBs, that is recognizable at the end of plays, or in nationally televised interviews, that will determine whether someone has the ability to throw the ball at the right time, in the right direction, with the right accuracy? How do you watch EJ, in the few games he has played in, or the few interviews we have seen, and say, "nah, I don't see it... ?" Ever listen to Joe Flacco? Or Payton Manning, for that matter? I am by no means an EJ apologist. I've even been accused of having some "agenda" against him. But, I would like to analyze his development with some degree of realism. Let's not make things up out of thin air.

As I recall, the coaches were especially impressed with how well Thad knew the playbook, and system when EJ became injured. Thad had clearly done his homework and was ready when he stepped on the field. He had only been signed towards the end of preseason, as I recall. I don't believe he had played during preseason, at all.

I have absolutely zero "vendetta/agenda" regarding Jeff Tuel. None. It's a weirdly dismissive statement. But, "according to his play last year," (as well as the coaches, and anyone paying attention), Tuel was our third best QB. Out of three. Or, if you're really going to try to convince me that Tuel, (with 44.1% completion, 1 TD, and 3 Interceptions, and a 45.1 rating), played better than Lewis, (with 60.8% completion, 5TDs, 4 int., and an 81.0 rating) last season, I'm going to suggest that perhaps it is you who has some sort of "agenda."

No.

You're going to go far on this forum with those sorts of rhetorical devices. Here's another simple concept: Out of our four quarterbacks, where do you think Tuel sits on the depth chart? I would say that Tuel has a better shot at losing his third string position to Dixon, than he has at beating Lewis for #2.

That's more like it-- right on valuation. A safe bet, given the circumstances.

ALL of these predictions have one thing in common: Everyone has the "B"s to rank the Bills above NYJ, and Miami. NO ONE has the "B"s to rank us above NE. Well, I'm going to say it: NE drops this year. BUFFALO takes the division.

A la Kurt Warner.

If the Bills go for this amount, I will see it as a sign that in seven years they will be heading out of town. If this happens, maybe I will start a new thread: "What should the new name of the Bills be, once they relocate to Los Angeles?"

Yeah, guess I have to agree with this, too.

That's very optimistic. But, if (hypothetically, of course) in the back room discussions, it had been decided that the Bills were going to move to Wichita, Kansas, would he be saying anything different? Let's say that he were trustworthy (heh, heh, heh), and copped to the media that in seven years the Bills would be packing it up-- what would happen to the Bills franchise in those seven years? What would happen to their profit margin? If Goodell knew that the Bills were going to move at the end of the Non-Relocation Agreement, he would do everything in his power to keep that a secret as long as legally (or not?) possible.

I think I'm going to agree with this. It reminds me a little of Jauron's woeful no-huddle offense that (imo) destroyed Trent Edwards. At the time, the no-huddle was very fashionable with Payton Manning's brilliant execution in Indy. The problem was that it didn't come even slightly close to matching our team- we had no o-line!!! How do you run an effective no-huddle offense with an ineffective offensive line??? And now we have this next NFL fashion. We read about it all the time in interviews with players from other teams, as well-- how "fast" their offense is. I'm trying to remember who it was in Miami who recently said the same thing. Is Hackett jumping on this wave? The most effective OC will look at their own offense, and build a system based on their strengths and weaknesses. NOT look at another offense, and say "I'm going to model our offense after theirs..." Especially if that offense they are modeling after is in our own division. I want our OC to be an innovator, not someone who follows trends.

No.

Written without a shred of irony... (...i think...)

Who knew?