Typical TBD Guy

Maybe, but our current slot reciever (Reed) is the only player on our team with a catch so far! Moulds and Evans are being shut out.

What's equally crazy as comparing our D to the 85 Bears is saying that this first half performance was the D's fault. Up until that final 2-minute offensive drive, our O produced the following: 5 drives, 19 total yards, 0 first downs. Think about it. Come on, now.

We actually have a better chance of scoring points with our defense on the field. Losman + Co. are looking beyond pathetic at this point. 5 offensive drives, and still no first down.

3 drives, 18 total yards

But cablelady, if he didn't sign that means he's free to work out elsewhere. Now's the time to give him a call for that work out.

Lonnie Johnson coming out of retirement? Rob Johnson maybe?

Sorry, GG. I didn't mean to imply that the Bucs WOULD have success running Cadillac to the left. All I meant was that they may have a higher chance of success (like, oh, say 15%) doing so when compared to throwing into our safety tandem (1-5%) . As MBD noted, the left side of the Bucs' OL blows.

What I love most about our current safeties is their versatility. Milloy can play as a 4th LB without missing a beat, and the same goes for Vincent as a 3rd CB. This allows our defense to keep the most talented 11 men on the field for a much higher percentage of plays. Honestly, I don't think Griese has a chance against these two. They are rarely caught out of position. Same goes for Clements. Griese's best bet would be to hand the ball off to Cadillac and let him pound away on the left side against Schobel and Edwards.

On offense: Josh Reed. The Bucs will be gaming for McGahee, while Moulds and Evans will likely struggle against TB's very good CB's and FS. If Reed can open up the short to intermediate routes and allow JP to move the chains through the air, then this will relieve enough pressure up front to allow McGahee to average 4+ yds per carry by the second half. On defense: Ron Edwards. Specifically, his pass rushing. Kelsay and Schobel will apply the pressure on the edges, but if Edwards can bring the pressure up the middle, then we can hang back all 7 of our LB's/DB's and completely blanket Galloway, Clayton, Alex Smith, and anyone else (Cadillac or Alstott) who dares to venture beyond the line of scrimmage. If we can beat TB's pathetic OL without having to blitz, then it should be lights out for Griese.

I have no problem defending Lindell on the basis of: 1. The possible effect of Dorenbos on his field goal kicks over the last 2 years. 2. RWS naturally being a tough place for kickers, in terms of weather. 3. No definitively viable alternatives at K have surfaced since 2003. 4. Lindell had a great game Sunday and may have his confidence back. 5. His kickoffs are pretty good (thank you, FFS, for this point). But nevertheless, it is completely asinine to suggest that Lindell was a good (let alone "clutch") field goal kicker during his first 2 seasons in Buffalo. Stats by themselves may not mean much. And general fan perceptions/memories by themselves may not either. But combine these two measures, and you can start to paint a more accurate picture. And please don't use the two TO field goals to inflate Lindell's stats. As far as any of us fans could ever know, Lindell may have already known that MM was going to call TO's and that they were going to be free practice kicks. In "clutch" situations, Lindell failed miserably last year. Same with Drew. And look what happened to Drew. Same could unfortunately happen to Lindell. Like it or not, Lindell is on a short leash. Just as Doug Brien was on a short leash last year for the Jets. But unlike Lindell, Brien at least had a fairly solid regular season under his belt.

And that's certainly possible. I'm not denying that Mularkey could have been part of the problem, and that he should have gutted it out and attempted more field goals last year instead of punting it or going for it on 4th and medium/long. But having said that, you don't think Lindell's pathetic 3 for 9 performance of 40+ yd field goals in 2003 - under Coach Williams - factored into MM's decisions to only let Lindell attempt THREE 40+ yd field goals in 2004?! It is time to face reality. Only attempting 3 medium/long-range field goals (and only making 1 of 'em) in a full 16-game season is probably a greater indication that MM had little confidence in Lindell's ability than it is an indication of MM's coaching style and of his rookie mistakes in judgement. When ANY NFL coach only lets his kicker attempt a field goal greater in distance than 39 yards once every 5 games, it's a safe bet that something stinks with the kicker! Ricojes, I encourage you to look at the stats on attempts of 40 yd+ FG's made from other kickers around the league last year. You'll see what I mean.

Fine with me, but then I guess this is the end of the discussion. Because a lot of people here, like myself and like Matt in DC, can only provide broad memories of plays over the past 2 years where we thought the coaches would have - and should have - kicked the medium to long field goals (about over 40 yds), but instead decided to punt. At the very least, all this says negatively about Lindell is that our coaches had greater confidence in our excellent D than in our kicker. However, in low scoring games, all coaches would prefer 3 points to slightly better field position. Last time the Bills had a great defense (mid to late 90's), we didn't have the same coaching dilemnas with our kicker (Steve Christie).

Todd France would be one.

But that's not what ricojes and RJ want. They want a complete statistical and circumstancial history of the Bills' offensive drives that resulted in 4th downs in opponents' territories since Lindell's first year as a Bill (2003). Ricojes and RJ's demands seem fair, because I too prefer facts over general perceptions, but does anyone else reading this have the time to do such a search?

ricojes and RJ, Just look at Lindell's attempts beyond the 40 yard line and compare them with other NFL kickers' attempts at the same distances (for the 2003 and 2004 seasons). Especially for the attempts beyond the 50 yard line, which all NFL kickers should have the legs for.... stats like that tell a story. For the record, though, I'm not a Lindell Basher. I'm more than willing to give Lindell at least a few more weeks to justify his previous 2 years as a Bill. Last Sunday's performance was solid, and maybe Dorenbos really was the problem. I don't know for sure, but I still trust MM + April + TD to do the right thing regarding our kicker.

I've posted this link before, but it's worth posting again. I'd be willing to trade Lindell's 100% on PAT, 80.7% on overall field goals, and piss-poor ability beyond the 40 yard line for a kicker who is 98-99% PAT, only 70-75% on overall field goals, but who gives our coaching staff much more confidence in the medium to long range field goals. Would you?

TD had inappropriate relations with my black cat, and then my cat had lots of babies with suspicious white hair, and now TD is low-balling us with the monthly kitten support payments.

BF != Brad Riter Brad Riter = Brad Riter

Here's my first tier, in order, which are shows I watch every week: 1. Sopranos - best overall TV drama history 2. Family Guy - didn't skip a beat from season 3 3. Deadwood - currently has the best acting in a TV drama 4. South Park - are getting better with each new season 5. Scrubs - underrated because it's surrounded by crap on NBC 6. CYE - almost as funny as Seinfeld Then there's my second tier, which are shows that I'll watch but not religiously: 7. Simpsons - has been going downhill since the late 90's 8. Arrested Development - has a lot of potential if they keep it for next season 9. Daily Show - would be better if they eliminated the guest interviews 10. Conan O'Brien - the only late night show that's funny 11. Desperate Housewives - I only watch it because of Eva Longoria After that, it's strictly NFL football, cable news, and the occasional political commentary show for me.

Saddam's feet-first wood chipper method would suffice quite nicely No but seriously, socio-psychological studies show that the success rate in treating people who have performed acts of animal cruelty is ridiculously small. I'd lock these loser rednecks up for life. They won't ever amount to anything positive for society, and will only become more angry at the "system" for whatever time they will have to spend in jail as adults. Keep these losers locked up for life, and we not only protect more animals but more people.

Bucs 19, Bills 13. The Bucs are playoff-caliber and are playing in their own backyard Sunday.

I bet you someone like Dave Wannstedt gets another head coaching job before Gray does. Yes, even if Gray was white. The NFL - in general - loves to recycle its failed coaches because of their valuable "veteran experiences."

120 total yards allowed, and 2.4 yards allowed per play You'll also like this one (no, it's not the Fairy Pixie dude...)

1. You're already making a sweeping judgement about our run D and Pat Williams after the first week? Have you learned nothing from the 2003 Bills season? 2. I don't think it was ever "an awful lot of people screaming" to re-sign Pat for the money he wanted. A lot of fans were just sad to see him go, and were genuinely worried about our defense after losing such a key figure. 3. From what I hear, Pat Williams played very well against the Bucs and was not the reason why Cadillac torched the Vikes for that 71yd TD run in the fourth. Pat also recorded a sack.

Who was saying division title? This being the same division that the Colts play in? I agree, though, that the Texans were a worthy team that we soundly beat. Plus, our young offense deserves to be cut some early season slack. If we played the Texans again in December, I bet a lot of those field goals would have been touchdowns. Anyway, if a Bills media lovefest is what everyone wants, expect to wait at least another week. Currently there are 16 undefeated teams, which is way too many for the superficial media to analyze. After Week 2, that undefeated number should drop to about 10. If we're among this elite 2-0 group, we'll definitely stand out among the list of usual suspects (Pats, Colts, Steelers, etc...).