Dan

Sorry, I was referring to his pay in relation to the other offensive linemen. Should he be the top paid guy? Yes. But, not necessarily within a year of the high end FAs signing. The other problem I have with this whole Peters situation is the talk that he's one of the top 3 or even top 5 LTs in the game. He's had one good year. A year, in which, he didn't even finish due to an injury. IMO, starting his career as an UDFA TE, he's got to prove it for a little more than 13 games before he becomes the one of the top 5 LTs in the game. Is that too much to ask - that he play one more year and reproduce his 2007 success while the Bills and his agent are discussing a new deal? If he has another good year, progresses, and stays healthy; then he gets the mega deal next offseason. This whole big hold out just seems a year premature, I guess.

Bill, what's your limit? If Peters is asking for $20mill per year do you pay him? Give him a $50 mill signing bonus? You seem to be placing one player above the entire team. As though you could tell the probowl QB he's not as important as the LT, therefore he can't renegotiate; or the probowl RB, the probowl Safety. You're placing one position and one player higher than all others. And that's when you lose the team. The biggest problem here is that the Bills went on a limb and signed Peters. They paid him plenty while he learned. They put time and energy into teaching him and grooming him. Then they give him a nice raise. All based on the promise of his potential. And at the first sight of that potential, Peters sits out and demands more. WTF?! After the Bills paying him on potential for 4 years, he says I want more after one decent season. I'm sorry but I call BS. Yes, Peters is good. But he's not yet in the HOF. He's not yet a perennial ProBowler. He's not yet the best tackle in the game. He's good. That's it. He's not better than the team. He shouldn't be placed on a pedestal above all others. He should, however, come to camp and play with his teammates and continue to learn and become that future HOF player. Yes, Peters is underpaid. But, lots of players with a 2-3 year old contract are underpaid as top FA's and 1st round rookies are signed. That's the nature of the game. Players all know that, but they don't sulk. They keep playing and cash in when their time comes. There's little doubt that the Bills would have begun negotiations with Peters and given him a big deal next year. They've done that with player after player. Next up is Evans. But, Peters decided he's more important that Evans. Screw Lee, pay Peters now. Is that his attitude? Sure seems like it.

I seem to recall some thoughts that part of the reason our pass blocking was so good last year was due to Kugler being in charge of the pass blocking schemes, while J Mac was in charge of run blocking. Hence there was some optimism that the run game might improve just by virtue of Kugler now being responsible for the run blocking as well. Certainly, we can't discount the value of play calling. Certainly, when the opposing defense knows exactly what play is coming and which side of the line you're running to, your job run blocking becomes more difficult. So, I'd think Turk's play calling is perhaps at least equally as important. Is it possible that our most pathetic offense last year was primarily coaching and not so much the players? Despite all that, I'd still say it's only game 2 of the preseason. So lets not get ahead of ourselves. However, it was darn nice to see the offense perform so well the other night.

Offense: I'd say Langston Walker. He's quickly making the absence of Peters seem less devastating. I wouldn't say the line is great. But, it certainly doesn't seem to be abysmal either. Defense: I'd say Youboty. Maybe it's just a function of him getting a lot of playing time, but he seems to be in on a lot of plays. Special Teams: McKelvin. One near touchdown in the first game. One easy touchdown in the second. Enough said. It'll be interesting to see if they can keep the momentum going in the 3rd game. It could be a blessing in disguise to have several of the Colts stars possibly out. Nothing like a little success to give the team confidence.

Agreed. Until I see different, I would say that cold, wind and snow are as big a disadvantage to our team as it is to visiting teams.

I would counter that Hamdan's position on this team is as safe as Moorman's.

I would disagree with much of this. First of all, at the time of realignment, the Bills/Dolphins rivalry was in full swing. That was, by far, the biggest draw each year. There were a very small few that wanted the Bills/Dolphins rivalry to be over at that time. I'm not sure how that can be considered a bad move, let alonoe his worst move. The problem with the Bills in the region has never been fan support or attendance at games. Even in the leanest of years, the Bills have been in the top half of the league in ticket sales. The problem with the Bills stems from a lack of corporate support. Corporations provide all the expendable cash that allows teams to be highly profitable and acquire the high-priced free agents. TV ratings will go up if, and when, the Bills become a playoff team. Imagine if the Bills could seriously contend with the Pats* for the AFC East every year, they'd have 2 prime time games a year, if that were the case. But, how many people want to watch a bad team get rolled over another? Even if we were playing the Steelers, Browns or Detroit twice a year, those games wouldn't get big TV audiences. Do you really think a Detroit/Bills game would be worthy of a national audience? I would disagree completely with your comments on Ralph. He quite clearly knows what he's doing. He's owned an NFL franchise for quite some time and done nothing but guarantee that team stay in Buffalo as long as he's alive. To even suggest that he doesn't know what he's doing or doesn't care about Buffalo, is to utter laziness of thought. It's kinda like watching Phelps win his 8th gold medal rather easily last night and concluding that he's not really that great - without any understanding of how he got to that point, the history of the sport, the history of the Olympics, or any understanding of his competitors. To say that Ralph has not done enough to ensure the Bills stay in Buffalo, completely ignores everything he's done for the last 40+ years. Think about that for a second... the Bills have been in Buffalo longer than many posters have been alive. Why? Because of one man. But perhaps you're right. Ralph should have just given up on this charade of pretending to want the Bills in Buffalo back in the late 60's. The last 40 years have really sucked knowing that he really hates Buffalo and can't wait until he dies so the team can be sold and make billions for himself. What's the difference in playing a bad Miami team or a bad Cleveland team? How is playing the Browns any more fun? Personally, I'd rather play the team with a history between us. You can still go to Cleveland and Pittsburgh for games. If that's your idea of a great time... seeing Pittsburgh and/or Cleveland play, then you have plenty of oppurtunities each year. In fact, they play each other twice a year. You could see both of them in the same week. How great would that be?!

If Hamdan mailed a letter without a stamp... it would still get there. It was just reported by NASA that you can see his Chroise from space. Cutting Hamdan would be ill-advised.

You do realize that you just negated the majority of what you've been arguing in this thread with that one statement.

I think the confusion on this guy's part might stem from the fact I'm sure the Steelers expected the all too familiar run, run, pass, punt offense of the Bills. However, the Bills actually had a game plan (not to be confused with game planning) that tried to resemble a professional NFL offense. I thought it most humorous on the first play of the game - a play action pass to Evans - the announcers immediately called it a busted play. Because, like all of us, I'm sure they can't recall the last time a Bills' offense did something as crazy as not run on the first down of the first series of a game.

Thank you. All this talk about not playing our starters enough is nonsensical. Look around the league. Every other team approaches the preseason the same way that the Bills are. Ask any player, coach, front office guy, or knowledgeable fan what's the most important thing to get out of a preseason game and they'll all answer the same way.... no injuries. I could just imagine the outrage if Jauron left Trent in the game for a couple of quarters and late in the 2nd quarter he gets injured and loses a few months of playing time.

I prefer clicks as well.

I really love this. JP has a good night; good completion percentage; TD; 2pt conversion. Yet all we can say is he made his receivers stretch for the ball, he was lucky, erratic. How about appreciating the fact that we actually have a pretty good #2 QB? Would that be too much to ask?

I noticed that too. But, I didn't want to start a mess over it all. Interesting how observations go.

I'd readily and emphatically agree with you. Having him definitely gives us the best combination of linemen. But, lets just pretend Peters is dead in a canyon and doesn't return... were we at least adequate in is stead?

I'm somewhat confused (not that that's a great revelation or anything). But, on one hand, I've read several posts that say... get Peters into Camp! We need him. Then on the other hand, I've read several posts that say the offense was similar to last year... decent pass protection, but not great run blocking. So.. which is it? Does the line blow without Peters? Or is it similar to last year's? Or was it too little to tell? Please, enquiring minds (that didn't watch the game) want to know.

I'm never in favor of trading good players. And it would seem Youboty played well enough tonight to think he could be coming around. However... you do pose an interesting scenario. Use a position in which we're fairly well stocked to trade and get a player at a position of need. Not really a bad idea. I guess it depends on the guy they were trading for as to how good of an idea it might be.

I had to miss the game tonight. But I tell you, I don't think it could have been any better. To come back and read this thread and have it (as of now) be my only inkling of how the game went... well it's just comedic gold! I just love it. 2 series into the first game and the season is lost. Great fun guys, I was looking forward to this and you didn't disappoint. And, yes, Hamdan does rock!

That would be 1. Singular. For all of Favre's greatness he's only won 1 Superbowl.

Sorry I stopped with the opening sentence. You do realize how silly that statement is, right?

Helllloooo..... Hamdan? The Chroise shall set us free.

How does Favre playing for the Jets affect the ability of Trent (or JP) or Turk to perform better? Is Favre going to intimidate them from the sideline?

Is there any question you don't have the final answer to? Thanks!

Interesting. I appreciate your work on this. I had looked a while back and found little with regards to the camp guys that come and go. Certainly, if he makes the team - even at league minimum - he's doing pretty good. And it appears that even getting the call to help out in camp isn't a bad deal either. Wish I had some skills like that.

Just curious... lets just say they cave and give Peters top 10 money and a new 6 year deal. Everyone is happy. In 2 years, Peters has made the ProBowl 2 consecutive more times and is easily the best LT in the AFC. Do we throw out his contract again and give him yet another one? To take it a step further... Kelsay has a break out year this year. Leads the team in sacks at 18; multiple forced fumbles; an interception or two. Makes the probowl easy. Do we give him a new contract now because he made the probowl? When does it end? When does a player have to honor at least most of their contract before the renegotiations begin?