Dan

Well, with the successful installation of the no huddle attack, Trent calls all his own plays. So I'm guessin' they just realized we really don't need an OC anyways.

Quality over quantity. One post. One win. Thank you, good night.

Not that it'll effect the Pats* but when do teams have to start listing injuries? I know during camp and preseason they don't have to. But doesn't the injury report kick in prior to the first game?

Can anyone confirm this? NFL TA reported he has an undisclosed injury but neither Welker or the Pats* are talking.

No word on when or exactly how the weight clause kicks in, but on NFL Network's TA they said the clause was inserted at the last minute when he came in for the signing. So I imagine they're giving him some amount of time to get into shape.

So they ask for 1 starting WR and 1 draft pick, and you counter with 2 WRs and 1 draft pick. ? ok.

Maybe he thinks Buffalo is in Canada?

All looks good to me.

Actually, seeing as the starters will play at most one series it means... we'll probably win easily.

And if I may add, the players and coaches seem to be perfectly content with all that. If you listen to them, they're right on track and everything is progressing according to plan. Why get emotional? Why show any desire to win on or off the field? They look good in practice and that seems to keep them all happy.

The Bills haven't done this in 3 years. Why would they start now? I think they should blitz the heck out of Brady, but I fully expect to see our LBs backpeddling in space watching the play while the CBs backpeddle to keep things in front of them. While our front four get easily handled by their 5 linemen and Brady has all day to pick us apart. Offensively, Trent will get blitzed heavy until he proves he can beat it. So, he'll take what the defense is giving him... alot of underneath dumpoffs for little gain. I want to be wrong, but this team has given me no reason to think differently.

So you're in the "Jauron's been sandbagging it" camp? Essentially, we've been doing the opposite of what we will do. Although I'm highly doubtful, it's a nice thought seeing as how what we've been doing has failed so miserably. I'm sure we'll see some more screens, deep throws and such, but I'm not sure I'll call it a game plan just yet. What wouldn't surprise me is to see less no huddle. Not that they scrap it all together, but that they only use it occasionally. Considering how little its been used in Buffalo, it would make sense to use it exclusively in the preseason just to get it down as much as possible prior to the regular season - even if you only intend to use it for 3-4 series per game.

Nope last year they were 2-2 in the preseason, beating the Steelers and Colts (losing to the Skins and Lions). However, they scored at least a few touchdowns and appeared somewhat competitive. Trent was 10-16, 122 yards, 2 TDs, 0ints. JP was about the same 24-33, 200yds, 1 TD, 0int. I'm not sure I'd call that playing great. But, they seemed better than this year. Source: Internets.

It's interesting you say this. I recall when Losman was here, thinking the same thing. JP seemed to always look to throw deep and was rightly criticized for not making more (and better) short passes. Then Trent comes in and the short, intermediate passing game picks up. And I remember thinking... are they calling different plays for Trent? All these years later, and after seeing Fitz and Hamdan in comparison, I'm more and more of the opinion that the same plays are being called. Its just that the QBs are executing them differently. Currently, our starter prefers to throw short, dump off style passes. Hence, that's the offense we have. Either Trent grows a set of balls or we're in for a really long season, IMO.

Yes, the WR getting open has something to do with it. But, you regularly see all top QBs (Brady included) throw to their WR even though they're very well covered. Some of those are incompletions, some are even interceptions, but some are completions. And all help to slow the defense down by making them defend the whole field. Trent has to throw to his WRs down the field and forget about his completion percentage. To this point, he's showing a gross reluctance to do that. Until he does, this offense will always suffer regardless of the line or WRs.

Yeah, pretty much. It's preseason. The defense held its own for the most part. Of course they wore down and gave up the points eventually. Yes, it was concerning to see them routinely give up the 3rd and long conversion. But, it's preseason and they did almost no blitzing or stunting. Yes, there were a lot of penalties on ST. But, it's preseason and those are mental mistakes that can be worked on and improved, especially as the young players get more practice/playing time. Trent, however, didn't even attempt a pass down the field to a WR. That's the one thing he has consistently had problems doing. I could have cared less about the score. But I thought it was imperative to get the team some confidence by moving the ball on offense, at least once, and get a touchdown. To do that, Trent needs to pretend to be a QB and actually throw the ball. He didn't. The offense looked miserable. He even got a crack in the 3rd quarter with 2nd stringers beginning to sub in, still nothing. That, to me, is disturbing.

What you fail to understand or acknowledge is that Welker eats us up with those 7 yard passes because the defense has to defend the entire field. Brady readily throws to Moss deep down the field, so you've typically got 2 guys deep with him' perhaps even a 3rd guy on the other side of the field that relatively deep as well. That leaves a lot of room underneath for Welker to catch and run with the ball. When you QB refuses to throw the ball beyond 10-15 yards. The defense plays closer to the line and all that room underneath disappears. So the odds of routinely catching dumpoffs and turning them into big gains is greatly diminished without a long ball threat. This is exactly what we've seen for years and is largely responsible for why our offense is inept.

The only disturbing thing about the game, IMO, is that Trent did not even attempt a pass more than 10 yards down the field. Not even an attempt. It's one thing to not have any downfiled completions. But, to not even try? I mean there's really no excuse. It makes me wonder can we even call him the QB if he's not willing to throw the ball?

He certainly had a few opportunities in the game and failed in each instance. Johnson can't be any worse, can he?

Do you really think Trent hasn't had enough time to throw the ball? Granted the protection hasn't been super great, but he's had enough time on enough pass attempts to move the ball. Trent just refuses to throw the ball.

Edwards going to get himself killed if he doesn't start throwing the ball downfield. He's got more than enough time to drop back and throw it downfield. The problem is... he drops back and looks indecisively about before dumping the ball to the closest guy to him. He's' got to stretch the field and slow down the rush. To this point, for whatever reason, he looks scared and hesitant back there. Watch the game. Half of Big Ben's throws were to receivers that were well covered. But, Ben threw it without hesitation and guess what... his receivers made some great plays on the ball. Trent, on the other hand, refuses to throw the ball.

...the next one.

Again, I don't really dispute any of that. However, as eball stated, "3 of the top 4 picks this year were on the lines". In the last 2 years, the FO has brought in a couple of quality players AND drafted for the lines. So perhaps Brandon is starting to get it? To simply write Owens' acquisition off as a marketing move is to ignore the fact that the FO was actively seeking a FA WR long before Owens was released. So, obviously the move was not all about marketing. Perhaps its a nice side effect, but by no means was the genesis of the idea for bringing him here. And, yes, I agree Stroud was not a FA; but the results are the same. Whether the FO makes a trade for a player or signs a FA (restricted or unrestricted) the end result is the same - they sought out and acquired players from somewhere else. So, I agree, Stroud shouldn't count in the strictest sense as FA signing, but I still think the FO should get some credit for bringing in a good player to help the team.

I don't disagree with any of that, but you said you'd just like to see them bring in 1 or 2 quality players each year rather than the usual bums (I'm paraphrasing). So, I pointed out that they've done exactly that each of the last 2 years.