Brandon

Now I will agree with you here. I believe the C position is even more important than a good LT. Most QBs can deal with some pressure to their sides, but a pass rush up the middle usually presents a major problem for a QB as he can't step into his throws. In addition, I think a good C is a necessity for a consistent ground game as well.

Actually, its more about experience than age. Kelly had been in the league 4 years. Bledsoe 12. Kelly was also pretty clearly an up and coming player, while most would argue that Bledsoe is on the downside of his career. Also, Bledsoe will not be the better of Losman in terms of physical ability by any significant amount. Losman is certainly more mobile, but he's got a very strong arm to go along with it. He can compete with just about anyone in terms of physical skills.

I suspect that the Bills simply felt that Matthews would give them more consistency if he had to come in during a game due to a Bledsoe injury. Had the Bills lost a couple more games in the middle of the year and had nothing to lose, I think we would have seen Losman playing a lot.

I'm all for starting JP Losman next year. Myself, I think the anti-Losman posts are just bizarre. We simply cannot make an informed guess as to how he will eventually pan out given how incredibly little he has played. And realistically, I have news for some folks. The Bills did not invest a 1st and 2nd round pick in this guy for nothing. He WILL be the starting QB for the Bills. You might as well get used to it, because its just a matter of time before it happens.

No, the truth is that both are a problem. The pass protection has been fairly solid this year, but the run blocking has often sucked. Today was another example of it, where they opened holes for McGahee on one series and did practically nothing for him the rest of the game. That has to improve, both for McGahee's sake AND for whoever the QB is. Few QBs are successful when they're put in 3rd and long situations all day. If Losman is to start next year, the Bills would be very wise to upgrade the OL, not only for better pass protection, but also to give him a more consistently effective ground game to rely on (much as Pittsburgh does with Roethlisberger).

The Bills will pick 18th-20th. The playoff teams will occupy slots 21-32.

The situations are different. Jim Kelly was just entering the prime of his career. Bledsoe's best days are behind him and, at best, he probably only has two or three years left in him as a starter. Not only that, but the Bills also have invested too much in JP Losman not to give him a shot at some point fairly soon.

Technically, you are correct, but I don't believe any team has ever gone into a season with him as the starter and he has typically played out of necessity when the true starter was either injured or stunk up the joint. In other words, he's basically an Alex Van Pelt clone. That's not the worst thing in the world, but at best, he's a stopgap if he has to start.

In the case of Shane Matthews, I agree with you. He's never been a starter in the NFL and I doubt he'll ever be. On the other hand, I think you make a very, very weak argument against Losman with that QB rating. How many passes has Losman thrown this year? Five. If he had thrown a couple hundred passes this year, I might be worried about his low QB rating, as it would be indicative of consistently poor play. As it stands, however, its not indicative of much of anything.

I thought Bledsoe had solidified his position as the Bills starting QB next year unless he really tanked it in this game. Guess what? He did. He stunk it up in the biggest game of his Bills career and was a large contributor to a loss that led to the team missing the playoffs. I don't know if he will be back with the team in '05 or not, but I think his time as the Bills starting QB is over. Its time for the JP Losman era to begin.

I'm to the point where I believe the Bills need to clean house offensively. McGahee, Evans, Villarial, MWilliams and Jennings are the only guys who should feel safe in their jobs at this point, IMO. The high dollar underachievers should be feeling a lot of heat beginning in March. As for Moulds, unfortunately, you are correct. He has dropped far too many passes this season and has done far too little with the ones he has caught to justify his huge impact against our salary cap. If they can reduce that cap hit, I think he's worth keeping, but regardless of what I believe they should do, the Bills are going to have an important decision to make about his future with the team.

That's just sickening. Now, with the game all but over, Bledsoe throws it to the one guy who can really make a big play. If he hadn't ignored Evans the other 58 minutes of this one, we might actually have a chance.

I can't blame the D, either. They simply got NOTHING out of their offense today and were on the field the whole game. You can't expect any D to hold up when that happens. If I were Donahoe, I'd make a serious overhaul of this offense in the offseason. Bledsoe, the OL and even Moulds should be on the hot seat.

They've got the best OL in the league and the Bills defense will likely have been on the field over 40 minutes by the time this one is over due to the ineptitude of the offense. That is not a good combination for any D.

What the hell was that???

Alright, its time. Put Bledsoe on the bench. I've defended him in the past, but the guy just committed a very stupid turnover for a TD in a critical game against backups.

Damn Rams just gave up a KR TD.

Its about time somebody stepped up... Nate Clements may have just saved the Bills season.

Nice drop there, Moulds.

Yeah, at this point, the fact that the Bills are only down by 6 after that turd of a first half is good news. The offense really needs to wake up and if I were Mularkey, I'd be more than a little upset with my starting offense right now. The OL, as is typical against a good opposing defense, is getting its a$$ handed to it by the Steelers front 7. McGahee had one good drive and has been met in the backfield since. Bledsoe has been awful. Moulds and Reed have dropped passes. Evans hasn't even been given a chance. They'd better get their act together quick in this second half.

I agree. The way the Bills are playing, I think they can beat anyone right now. I'm sure the Bills will gladly accept any lucky breaks that come their way, but if they play the way they have the last 6 weeks, they're as big a threat as any team to win it all.

Henry has far less leverage with the Bills than you give him credit for. If Henry threatens to sit out the year, so what? McGahee is the starter anyway. If Henry sits out the season, then what good does that do him? None. In fact, he'll have missed the better part of two seasons and his FA value will be down the toilet.

It didn't make a whole lot of sense, although it worked out for them. In the end, looking at the 1999 RB class, you can't really blame them for drafting James at 4 to replace Faulk. Outside of James and Williams, the rest of that RB class was absolutely awful.

Agreed. In addition, you also have to consider that Henry has proven that he is a solid, if maybe unspectacular NFL RB and compare that with what is likely going to be available in R2. Look at last years draft as an example. Would you rather have a guy who has proven that he can rush for 1300 yards and 10+ TDs, or would you rather have Tatum Bell, Julius Jones or Greg Jones? I don't think its too tough of a choice. The point is, its not too likely you'll find the next Barry Sanders in R2 and Henry represents a safe choice and a very good value for the investment.

You do realize that Faulk forced the Colts' hand, don't you? He only demanded (and ultimately recieved, from the Rams) $45 million, which Indy could not, or would not pay. Everyone in the league knew they had to dump Faulk and it drove his price down as a result. The point is, the Faulk trade is not representative for the typical value a RB holds. The Saints got a 1st and conditional 3rd (that ultimately became a 1st) for Ricky Williams, who I doubt anyone considered to be the equal of Marshall Faulk at the same point of their careers. The difference was that everyone knew Faulk was going to hold out for big bucks.