Gray Beard

I never understood going small for any length of time during a game. When the small guys are fresh, they are quicker and that makes sense if you are expecting a lot of passes. After a while eveyone gets tired, and smaller guys having to make a lot of tackles is going to wear them down. Eventually it becomes small and tired against big and tired. I'll put my money on big and tired every time.

Not trying to defend Fitz, but one of his INTs was deflected by Wilfork at the line of scrimmage. I would be willing to overlook that one when racking up reasons why he isn't very good. And Wilfork had to reach pretty high to get to the ball, so it wasn't thrown particularly low thus making it easy to deflect.

Can Brady still make five yard passes out of the shotgun formation? Do the Pats still have receivers capable of catching five yard passes? Do the Bills still have trouble defending quick release five yard passes? This game may not be decided by the defensive front four. It may be decided by the defensive middle five. That, to me, is a scarier thought.

I hope it's Sanborn.

Perhaps this move is representative of what has plagued the Bills for many years. The player talent is good enough to be respectable. It is the coaching and other behind the scenes activities that have been holding the team back.

Should be a close game Bills win makes media say Pats are not that good

The Crayonz theory just may apply this time.

How many times am I going to yell at the TV, "How did that guy get so wide open only ten yards from the line of scrimmage?" Unfortunately, I predict I will be yelling that often. That is how the Pats always beat the Bills (and most other teams).

Are you a Good Fitz... or a Bad Fitz? Based on the first two games, we don't know what to expect and anything can happen. On paper, it seems like the Bills should be able to do as well as they did against KC. It's a road game, which seems to be a problem for this team. Bold Prediction: Bills 34, Browns 24.

I see your point. Flutie was a better scrambler than Fitz, and RJ was not as aware as Fitz, but between the two maybe Fitz is closer to Flutie than RJ.

I kept thinking that Fitz reminded me of Rob Johnson during the KC game. Some shaky passing, occasionally keeps the game alive with an improvised run, occasionally makes a good pass. I think RJ had a stronger arm and had a more muscular build, but the style of play was a lot like Fitz in this last game. And for the record, I was in the Flutie camp, and I still don't know why RJ started the playoff game that ended in the famous lateral versus illegal forward pass controversy.

A year or two ago somebody asked Tom Brady what he thought about when he was getting ready to play the Bills. His answer: Kyle Williams

Fitz did not pass well. Stevie and Fitz were not always in sync. Too much reliance on Spiller will cause him to get too beat up and that will backfire after a few weeks. I hope Fred comes back and can play at least at an 80% level to take some of the pressure off. Choice had a few good runs, but he is not the answer. Nobody is getting negative about the linebackers yet. Usually they are identified as a weak link. I think they did ok. Cornerbacks are still a liability, but they are young and it looks as though they are getting better.

have you tried clicking somewhere on the right side of the shoutbox and sliding to the left? it could be that the input side on the right is off the screen because the part with the posts are too wide. i know that has happened to me a couple of times. on a pc it is a right click. not sure what to do on an apple device.

Week 1 @Jets Pre: excited. Post: disgusted. Week 2 vs Chiefs Pre: nervous.

I agree! It was great fun watching him play mind games the sincere and uninitiated novices. I admit I fell for it once myself.

It almost looks like he cherry picked posts from this forum and strung them together for his article.

I am considered old at work (thus Graybeard) but on this board being in my mid 50's isn't old at all. My family moved a few times whin I was growing up. In the early '60s we lived in the Albany area, and the Giants were the most popular team. In the mid '60s we lived in Florida, and I remember the birth of the Dolphins. In fact, my elementary school Phys Ed teacher (John Stofa) disappeared one day. We found out that he had gotten the call from the Dolphins ahd played QB for a few seasons. In the '70s I lived in Massachusetts, but I never liked that Patriots. That was the Steelers era, and I remember the Immaculate Reception as the most exciting thing I ever saw on TV at that time. I had a friend who was a Raiders fan, so I sort of rooted for them. I also remember that OJ Simpson was running at will against the Patriots back then. In the '80s I moved back to Upstate New York, and it has been all Bills since.

I have been ok with the drafting, free agent pickups and personnel that Nix has assembled for this team. What has had me confused is the lack of action with the offense. When the wheels came off in the Dallas game last year, Fitz started to stink the place up, and the injuries started to hit, there was no apparent change in the way the offense was run. People talk about how some coaches (Belichick for example) will change their offense and defense from week to week based on the opponent and based on their own players' abilities. The Jets installed all those goofy Tebow plays this off-season. I don't see Chan making any changes or improvements, it's just the same stuff every week (as evidenced by Cromartie jumping the route becaues he knew where the pass was going before it was even thrown.) You can't spell CHANGE with CHAN! Let's get 'er done!

I thought he played well Sunday. I couldn't believe it when I saw him run downfield to try to make a play on a receiver. I watched the replay very carefully to make sure that it really was him 10+ yards downfield still hustling. That guy truly is high motor. They never got to Sanchez, but against the run the middle of the line was stout.

Agree. Last year Fitz was pretty good until he got hurt. The FO probably thought that this year he would be healed and rested, so he would start off like he did last year. Oops. If Fitz doesn't turn this ship around in the next few weeks, I believe that next year there will be somebody new, either starting or waiting for Fitz to falter yet again. I doubt Tarvaris Jackson is the answer, so we may be stuck hoping that Fitz can somehow get the job done this year.

I truly believe losing Fred Jackson's services for a while will cause Chan to pass MORE, not Less. It pains me to think about it, but I am pretty sure that will be Chan's plan. He seems to love the pass, even with a mediocre QB and mediocre WRs.

Unfortunately, I disagree with your conclusion. Chan has always been a "pass first" kind of guy. With the #1 running back out of the game, he will rely even more on the pass. I hate that thought. I think this team has a mediocre quarterback, mediocre receivers, a good line, good tight ends and a good fullback, so a ground game should be the way to go. I think many posters on this forum agree with me, but I don't think that is how Chan will react.

Fitz will play well just enough to keep his job. This game was at least two sigma worse than he usually plays. If he stunk it up for the next few games, then he might get benched. He won't play that bad, and that will infuriate the torch and pitchfork mob even more.

Kyle Williams and Marcel Dareus... Middle of the D-Line was stout against the run.