Brandon

The refs are healthy for this game, aren't they? They should be good for 7-10 points for the Pats.

I don't see it happening. I suspect that he's just looking at the reality of the situation, that the Bills are better off spending Bledsoe's salary elsewhere and taking their chances with Losman. They'll probably retain their own FAs while signing a solid, if unspectacular FA or two like they did with Villarial.

Oh, I don't know about that. There are some teams out there with some BAD Qbs that would give Bledsoe a chance at starting. Baltimore, Cleveland, Miami, Arizona, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit (if Harrington is released) and San Francisco are all teams that might be willing to give Bledsoe a shot. And I wouldn't blame them. Sure, he's mediocre at this point in his career, but that's better than terrible.

No, that's certainly a possibility. However, given the circumstances, I suspect its probably pretty close to the truth. I do have serious doubts that the Bills would be discussing any potential terms to a Travis Henry trade, however.

It shouldn't be a shocker. Bledsoe stunk up the joint in the biggest game of his Bills career against a bunch of Steeler backups. Just given that fact alone, his job would be on thin ice. But, contrary to the opinions of a few fans, the Bills did not draft JP Losman to hold a clipboard. If the Bills do cut Bledsoe, they will bring in a veteran Qb and there probably will be a 'competition' for that starting spot, but unless he's absolutely awful, expect Losman to be the starting QB this upcoming season if Bledsoe is released.

How many winning seasons did the Lions have with Barry Sanders in the backfield? Not all that many. While he was one of my favorite players, I realize that he actually hurt his team with all of that freelancing and losing so much yardage. As for Vick, I don't know, maybe the Falcons will win the Super Bowl with him. Who knows? But that still will not change my opinion of him as a RB playing QB. He's got great athleticism, no doubt, and he's got a strong arm, but I'm not sold on him in terms of intangibles as a QB. If he were to get injured tomorrow and lose a lot of that speed for the rest of his career, what kind of QB would he be? Probably a pretty ordinary one. If you could give me any QB currently in the league, to this point, Vick would not make my top 10 list. He might make the top 20. If I'm looking for a mobile QB, I'd much rather have a QB like Culpepper or McNabb.

The Lions drafted Kevin Jones this year and he's had a successful rookie season. I don't believe they'd be interested in Henry. It really wouldn't suprise me to see him traded to a playoff team for a late 1st on the day of the draft if the top RBs are gone towards the end of R1. Pittsburgh and Philadelphia come to mind. Pittsburgh would probably be a more likely destination, given that the Steelers' top two RBs are older than dirt and that they don't ask their RBs to do much besides just running the ball. In any event, I don't believe the Bills will be willing to trade him for less than they have invested, which is a late 2nd round pick. Even in that situation, I suspect that they would want a conditional pick in the 2006 draft.

I agree. Ron Edwards has played well as the third DT and the Bills also drafted Tim Anderson last year. They may not be as good as Pat Williams, but the Bills do have them as potential replacements on the roster. I'm fairly certain that Edwards could, at the very least, play well enough to get by with. What do we have at LT besides Jennings? Nothing. There's a contingent of fans that seem to think Teague can play LT in the NFL, but he was terrible in Denver. Of course, even if he can, you've got to find another C, which we don't have.

What do you expect, Brett Favre? If he were a starting caliber Qb, I wouldn't be suggesting him as a backup. However, he does offer more starting experience than practically any QB in the league, will be inexpensive, and can still be an adequate spot starter if necessary.

They'd be better off resigning Jennings. He's younger, will be cheaper, and is a solid NFL LT in his own right. If they're going to spend that money on the OL, they need to use it on the two real trouble spots, C and LG.

No comparison. Henry is a much better backup to McGahee than Williams. Henry has proven that he's a solid NFL RB. His average may not have been great, but Henry has never started a season strongly for the Bills. His average was actually pretty terrible for the 5 or 6 games last year before he ran all over every D he faced the second half of the year. He is an ideal backup who can easily post a 1,000 yard season as a starter if McGahee weren't available. That's not to say I think Shaud Williams is a bad player. He's actually pretty good. But his role is as a change-of-pace RB at best, one who gets maybe 5 carries per game on average over a season. I don't think he can be effective in short yardage situations with any consistency at his size. He can't be a true backup to McGahee if that's the case.

Start Losman. Since I don't think Bledsoe will be willing to be a backup at this stage of his career, the Bills will likely have to unload him and bring in a decent veteran such as Testaverde or Holcomb as an insurance policy. Losman will have some struggles at times his first year or two, but as long as he avoids the catastrophic mistake, the Bills should be fine with him as a young starter while he improves. All they have to do is rely upon the team's strengths: the running game and the defense. They should plan their improvements this offseason around both to maximize their effectiveness. All Pittsburgh did this season was go 15-1 with that formula. They probably won't duplicate that record, but they should be plenty competitive as long as they emphasize their strengths and avoid putting Losman in bad situations while he's adjusting to life as an NFL starting QB.

Yeah, the VW Beetle certainly recieves a dishonorable mention, at the very least. Always has been, always will be ugly. And those Mini Coopers...now there's good value for your money. $18,000+, and you basically get a lawnmower with a cab.

http://autos.yahoo.com/newcars/model/overv...8F?modelId=4092 Not only is it the ugliest thing on four wheels, but look at that price tag.

Sorry, but I spent the previous 16 weeks wanting every other team in the AFC East to lose. I hate the Patriots. I hate the Jets. I hate the Dolphins. That isn't going to change anytime soon. I'm hoping that they both lose and lose badly. Other than the Jets or Patsies, I don't want to see either Atlanta or San Diego win the Super Bowl. Otherwise, I don't particularly care, although I do hope Green Bay wins it all.

Exactly. Even the Bills coaching staff shows an apparent lack of confidence in Lindell. This season, they quite often seemed very apprehensive about allowing him to attempt anything over 40 yards and many times he wasn't given a chance. That speaks volumes, as does the fact that his longest FG of the season was a paltry 43 yards. The stats are meaningless, as practically all of his attempts were from short-to-medium range.

Simply put, I agree with you completely. Some people are being pretty shi**y to a guy who was a very productive runner for the Bills and who played well even with injuries that would have kept many RBs on the bench. His handling of the McGahee situation hasn't been perfect, but he never turned into a much of a problem and he kept his mouth shut to the media until after the season. I don't have a problem with a guy wanting to be a starter. Hell, isn't that the attitude you want in a player? His career with the Bills is probably over, but I wish him the best of luck with another team.

Myself, and I'm certainly no expert, but I think that he'll either 'get it' or he won't after that one season on the bench. I think one year is probably enough to learn most of what can be learned on the sidelines and now, the rest will have to be learned on the field. He should have a good enough understanding of the offense that if he's going to be a great player, he should be able to overcome a few bad days and still show quite a few glimpses of the great QB we expect him to become in the years ahead.

The one thing that holding the clipboard for a year allows Losman to do is learn the playbook without most of the pressure of preparing for a game each week. It also gives him a chance to practice with and watch what his teammates' strengths and weaknesses are, and to see how the offense is supposed to operate with a veteran QB at the helm (well, in theory, anyway). In any case, the better his working knowledge of the offensive system before he has to start, the better his odds are of having a successful first season as a starter.

You're right about one thing. JP Losman is JP Losman and no one else. As I stated earlier, neither you or I know whether Losman is going to be ready to start by next year. It really doesn't even matter what you or I think, either. It only matters what the Bills front office and coaching staff thinks, and if they believe Losman can handle it, they'll likely give him every opportunity to win the job for '05.

Who cares what college he played for??? There are plenty of examples of very good QBs currently in the NFL who played at lesser schools. I'd also point out that Losman's former teammate, Patrick Ramsey, has played fairly well as a young QB and appears to have a bright future ahead of him. As for whether or not Losman will be ready to play next year, I don't know the answer to this and neither do you. There is one thing I DO know, however, that being that the Bills did not draft Losman to sit on the bench.

I think he could do fairly well. He'll have been through an NFL training camp, will be familiar with the capabilities of his teammates and will have had a year to learn the playbook. He still needs more practice reps, but if they name him the starter early, he'll get those reps. Otherwise, the Bills need to improve the LG and C positions with the emphasis on run blocking. If he can rely on McGahee and the running game to win games and just allow him to play a support role as a passer (much like Pittsburgh has done with Roethlisberger), there will be a lot less pressure on Losman and the more likely it is that he has a successful first year as a starter.

I agree with you for the most part, though I think you underrate Jennings. He's not the problem as a run blocker. The LGs he's had to play next to are the problem.

As far as I'm concerned, Reed can join Lindell as the first two players cut this offseason. I really thought he'd be a good player when we drafted him, but he hasn't even been decent. Its really suprised me that it has been his inability to catch the ball that has been his downfall. In college, he caught everything thrown near him. Oh well. Although I like what I've seen of Aiken in his limited role, they need to bring in another WR this offseason either through FA or the draft to compete with him as the #3.

I am very happy with this season and proud of the team for fighting through adversity. However, the season is over. Its time to start looking ahead at how the team can improve for 2005.