jad1

Actually the Bills changed to red helmets because they believed they would be easier for the QB to spot, especially in the AFC East, where, at one time, all 5 teams wore white helmets.

Davey might end up in Miami. Saban was his college coach.

Yeah that Dallas kid is almost good as Takeyo Spikes. Too bad the Bills don't have anyone like Spikes on their team.

SD had been trying to sign Gates to a long term deal since last year, and readily admitted that he had outplayed his UFA contract. They could never come to terms with Gates, though on the long term deal. So they wanted him to sign the one-year tender, while they negotiated a long term contract. Once they got him into camp, the re-signing played out exactly how the Chargers wanted it to play out.

Rush's belief that black QBs needed to be propped up by the media was racist. That was the problem. Black QBs shattered the old racial bias against them 20 years ago. Rush just ignored the memo.

Maybe. Carr was beat up, but he lived through it. Elway also comes to mind as someone who took a beating. I think it's along the lines of what you mentioned before, where 1st year or 2nd year starting doesn't correlate to overall success. I don't know of any good QBs that failed because they were beat up their first year. They failed because they weren't really good QBs. Wasn't Warner something like 5-3 as a starter in NY, and in the playoff hunt? What needs to be mentioned too, is that it's not really that good a sign if Smith isn't ready to challenge Tim Rattay for the starting spot. You'd expect the first overall pick to put up more of a fight against a mediocre QB.

Depending on who's in your league, you could probably grab them both as your 3rd and 4th receivers, since Losman will keep the other owners away.

I guess it really depends if a team has a chance to compete, or is in a rebuilding year. If the rest of the team is decent, it makes sense to stick with a veteren like Warner, Kitna, Maddox, or even Bledsoe. But if the team has no chance to compete, why not give the rookie the reps? The 9ers look to be fooling themselves here, and really gain nothing by having Rattay take the opening day snap.

Why the hell are we even debating this? Bulter/Lewis; Lofton/Reed; Moulds/Evans. A good possession and a good speed receiver. That's the goal. Buffalo has the combination again. That's what's important. Who cares which one is better.

50-50. I'll pay more attention to a Bills regular season game than a Sabres regular season game because there are fewer Bills games. But when things get heated up in the playoffs, I ride the same emotional roller coaster watching either team. I like to use this as a test to judge whether I'm a homer or not, because I believe the Bills front office is doing a pretty good job, while at the same time I believe the Sabres front office sucks. So while I may be wrong in my assessments of the two teams, I hope I have some measure of objectivity.

I wouldn't say that these guys are "aging, bitter, and/or overpaid pseudo-stars." When a guy goes from the fourth line/healthy scratch on the Sabres to captain of the Stanley Cup champions, something isn't right. Regier has made some nice trades for the Sabres, but lately the team has not produced, and the only thing the fans are given are excuses. It's hard to believe that a young team looking for leadership would run a guy like Koslov out of town, who ended up becoming a captain of a young team. The strike was really time for Regier to justify his inactivity in the previous years. With the new salary cap and structure, he could claim that he was preparing the Sabres for when the when the cost of talent leveled out. Yet, he has done nothing other than letting two contributors in Satan and Zhitnik leave, gaining nothing in return. Again, you have to wonder why he didn't move these two guys at the trading deadline in '04, if he knew there was no chance that he would keep them. So while the Sabres do have some good talent on the forward lines, there's no Peca, no May, no Hasek, no Ray, on the team. The guys who provide the heart of the team. There are no physical defensemen. There are, however, 3 goaltenders, again. So the question is how does the team win fans back when the team's plan is to make no moves in the FA free-for-all, in which other small market teams like Ottawa and Pittsburgh are big players? How about changing the uniforms to blue and gold? That's a cheap and easy way to generate some buzz around the team. But Regier again sat on his ass all last year, and did not submit the uniform changes to the league. Do-nothing Darcy has no more excuses. The Rigas' are in jail; the team is owned by a billionaire; the league has a salary cap. Yet his procratination in all facets of his job has sucked the excitment of the NHL's return right out of Buffalo. It's time for this guy to go.

Yeah, aside from the fact that the Bills allowed fewer yards last season than the Ravens, and forced more turnovers and had more sacks, the Ravens defense was head and shoulders better than the Bills D.

And you're wrong here too. Favre's 1st year in GB was actually his 2nd year in the NFL (he spent his first year in Atlanta). His TD-INT ratio that 2nd year was 18 TDs, 13 INTS. Not bad, but not the 2 to 1 ratio you claim. His 2nd year in GB (3rd in the NFL) was worse. 19 TDs and 24 INTS. It wasn't until Favre's 4th year that he achieved a 2 to 1 TD/INT ratio.

Well that's why they're in a zone, and not man-to-man. The Bills really don't use zone blitzing that much, but Denney did get an interception last preseason in a zone blitz. Sam Adams' interception against the Pats a couple of seasons ago looked like it came from a zone blitz (or Sam was just reeeeaaal slow getting off the line). Fletcher blitzed, Sam stepped back, Brady made a bad throw, and that's goal of the zone blitz.

Does that mean they they can cover and discuss the Bills like a news event, but can't use the name in their adverstising or promotions (like, "The Bills Station")? That would make sense to me.

The 3-4 gives a team more angles to blitz from, but a 4-3 has quicker and more agile DEs to drop into coverage than a 3-4. Zone Blitzing from a 3-4 or 4-3 might not be the best idea against a veteren like Favre though.

Do you mean how many times will she be literally sacked? As in dropped in a actual sack and dragged around the room? If that's the case, I say 6 times is the over/under.

The Bills probably had a pretty good feeling that Peters wouldn't be drafted, and were willing to take the risk that they could sign him as an UFA. If I remember correctly, they signed him the day after the draft. Also, the Bills didn't have a 5th or 6th round pick last season. They selected McFarland and Freddie Smith in the 7th. Perhaps they felt that these guys wouldn't be around in FA if they passed them up.

I dunno, did Hillary ever turn a bunch of thugs loose on a college campus to beat the hell out of the coeds?

Yeah, after signing Spikes, Milloy, and Adams, Williams was really hurting. Too bad the Bills didn't grab Dallas Clark, that would have changed everthing.

Yeah, I think Greggo will say to himself, 'I can't believe I trusted this guy to throw the ball on 3rd and short 16 times in a row. Now I get it!'

I can do the same with pass rushing DEs. The Eagles had Kearse on the field and still got shredded in the SB. Peppers missed the playoffs. How do you rank Freeny's Colts defense? Taylor ended up 4-12 on the Dolphins. Who was the dominant pass rusher for the Pats? Seymour? McGinest? Not really in a league with White or Smith.

Be serious, I'm not making Vincent out to be Deion. I'm pointing out the fact a slot receiver shredded the Eagles defense in the SB and won the MVP trophy. I'm also pointing out that Andy Reid, whose team was far under the salary cap, let both his starting CBs walk from the year before. I don't know who would have started or who would have been the nickle if Reid had kept either Vincent or Taylor, but his secondary, as a unit, would have been a hell of a lot stronger than it was in the SB. Holding onto Vincent or Taylor, even if they were overpriced, would have strengthened a weakness that Belichick, Weiss, and Brady exploited, while winning the game. And considering that almost the same thing happened the previous year, when the Eagles let Trotter walk and got run over by the Panthers in the NFC Championship game, it looks like the Eagles money decisions have hurt their chances on the field.

Again, the Eagles COULD have paid Vincent what the Bills paid him, BECAUSE THEY HAD THE CAP SPACE. Second, and again, there's nothing wrong with letting Vincent compete for the starting role in training camp. Whether he wins or loses, the secondary is stronger for it. When Andy Reid decided that Vincent was expendable, he was wrong, and the SB proved that.