Mikie2times

I agree on all everyting about the shenanigans that followed. I'm certainly glad he left after all that has come out, but I remember at the time feeling surprised. Even without the benefit of knowing more information now, I don't think any of us should have been surprised he left or that the Bills didn't challenge more. If anything this is the path that seemed very likely.

Personally, I don't care for Marrone all that much. I don't know what he has done to gain such appeal. He made Syracuse a .500 team and never broke our playoff drought. Now he's some kind of hot commodity. Again, this doesn't make sense to me. If he stayed I would have taken him and supported him, but I still would be wondering the whole time if any tangible reasons exist why I should put my confidence in this man. Since he left he has faced an avalanche of criticism. A lot of it deserved, but at the same time, I can't blame Marrone for making the best business decision possible. This is a business, even though as fans it seems more pleasure, but for Marrone, it's like his 9-5. So as far as him being castrated for leaving, I'm not very supportive of that. It made sense for both of us and both parties did a good job making the correct decisions. If you look at Marrone situation purely from a business stand point this decision is a no brainier and he played his hand exactly how he should have. He had new ownership surrounding the team, he had to know he had one more year to reach the playoffs or he would be on the street. A proposition he currently faces with no starting QB and several question marks. The current job market is wide open, as much as it's ever been. He had interested teams. None of that would be guaranteed if he got fired following the 2015 season. The job market could be more competitive and he might be looked at in the same favorable light he's looked at now. Within all this he had a strained relationship with Whaley. So when he put some feelers out to determine teams interest and saw that he got a solid response, he said why not leverage this guy. So that's exactly what he tried to do. Buffalo wasn't going to play those games, I'm glad they didn't. Our management team did the correct thing by not yielding to the demands of a career .500 coach with zero playoff appearances. So both parties did the right thing.

I echo what others have said. It mattered. This is the deal in football. If you get knocked down you get back up. Duh. It's a lot easier to motivate a group after they get knocked down. What is not easy to do is keep a group playing at a high level once you have success. Success breeds complencey. The type of slow, creeping, sneaky compleceny that is strong enough to pop the inflated heads of all but the best teams. In the loss to the Raiders the Bills showed they did not belong in the playoffs. Oakland put a bullseye on Buffalo's back based on the success they had vs Green Bay, Buffalo got sucked into hearing how amazing it was they shut down Rodgers all week on ESPN. After a defining moment such as the one we had against the Packers a great coach, a great tean, one that deserves the playoffs HAS to know at that moment they face the biggest threat of a letdown. Which is exactly what they had and in a win or go home game no less. Proud of the team this year, but they have a ways to go about learning how to be successfull.

I'm thinking Schwartz has more then a little to do with how well the Bills played against the NFC North. He basically had the entire script on that Division and it showed.

Most people don't picture gay people having sex when they think of gay people. No it is not a pleasant thought for most straight men, but again, it generally isn't thought about by straight men. If I meet a gay person, he/she, is well, sort of just a person. I tend not to visualize penises going into any cavities. That's sort of messed up that you think about that stuff. I'm really not trying to be a prick, my mind just doesn't go to that place. I really don't give a fug about Sam being gay or not. Glad we didn't draft him, only from the standpoint that I don't want our team distracted with media. Which is a possibility. If the talent was high enough I wouldn't care. It would be worth the media risk, but the talent just wasn't high enough. As far as me not giving a fug, it's just because I don't care if people are gay or straight. Sexual orientation really isn't a choice for the overwhelming majority of people. I recognize this as a step in the correct direction of society, not nearly as strong as Jackie Robinson, but similar in it's circumstance. Unfortunately, 60+ years post Robinson and I still feel a lot of racism, at least behind closed doors. The unfortunate thing about the less tolerant is they seem to breed faster.

Your line of thinking is correct in some ways and flawed in others. Yes, the trade is technically the same as us giving 2 first round picks and a fourth to Cleveland under a scenario in which Cleveland Drafted Sammy Watkins and traded him to us. But Cleveland did not draft Sammy Watkins, more importantly the bills were getting one first round pick no matter what. Neither of which you factor into this equation. You got 1 addition (Sammy Watkins our guaranteed 1st round pick ) - 2 Subtractions, next years 1st round pick and the 4th round pick. The net loss is the 1st round pick and the 4th round pick. We had no net loss regarding this years 1st round selection. In fact we had a net gain. Let's look at this in more detail not factoring in any weight to future years picks being worth less then current years picks. The scale teams use to value selections has the following.... 4th Pick = 1800 points 9th Pick = 1350 points So the Bills gained 450 points this year according to the standardized scale teams use. In 2015 the Bills will lose both a 1st round pick and a 4th round pick. If we draft between 15th to 20th next year it will result in a max loss of 1125 points at 15 at 20 it's 912 points. So if you don't factor in a following years pick to be more devalued (which it is) the Bills would lose an average of 1018.5 Points in 2015 if you feel they will average between the 15th and 20th slot. They Gained 450 in 2014. So the net difference is - 568.5. Now, I'm of the mindset that Sammy Watkins was a #1 or #2 OVR draft pick. This just happened to be an insanely talented draft. So if he does in fact have the value of a #1 or #2 the Bills get an additional 800 to 1200 points in draft pick value. Which would put them well ahead even under conditions that aren't accurate (again, future picks are valued less). I tend to think the Bills got a guy more likely to be a 1 or 2 type then a number 4. Just because something costs a lot, it doesn't mean you still didn't get a great deal.

Thanks my bills brethren. At that time the decision made sense on all fronts. I know I wasn't fair weather, I don't think you can be a fan of this team and hold that title, it just bummed me out that I lost touch with it so much over the last few years and it felt a bit fair weather. I was starting to hate all the innards of the team and what are you supposed to do when it's YOUR team and you hate the front office and don't exactly enjoy the players? I know a lot of you know what I'm talking about. Just the frustration with how the franchise has been ran and the results. Now I'm more stable on the finances, I'm pretty pumped to get back into it again. It was a lot of fun when I took more interest in it. I feel safe for the first time in a long time in doing so. Safe in the sense that it's worth the commitment of time and energy. Everything has seemed to hinge on the QB since Jimbo left which has left us completely SOL for the better part of my life. Now we have a team. A very good collection of players and when you have that it opens a lot of possibilities. I think we have the right front office in place, the right coach, and it sure as heck doesn't hurt that we drafted Sammy. The second I saw him as a True Freshman I thought this guy is going to make one heck of a pro. I would have never thought in a million years he would be wearing our colors. This is going to be an exciting couple years. Edit* Said since Jimbo left, change that to post MCM. Those Bills Defenses with Flutie and Johnson were nasty.

Ya, I really don't have a problem with this move or even the comments from McCoy. CJ is pure lightning, Freddie is effortless power and grace, Brown is blunt force trauma. CJ and Freddie are great on 3rd down, Brown is not. It really will be a pain in the rear keeping up with these three. All 3 are very different, so slapping a "he's just a back up RB" statement on Brown is a little unfair. His style likely makes it easier for CJ and Freddie as both do for him, past that Brown could play much larger role on this team in 2015.

You would have to think at some point age catches up to Freddie. He glides and he didn't get abused as a younger player, that helps, but he's getting very old for RB standards. CJ always seems to get hurt as his touches increase. He's one of the most dynamic players in the game but he has a hard time staying healthy and is at the end of his contract. If anybody remembers Derek Holmes, that's sort of what Brown reminds me of. Sometimes he can get cute, but he runs angry. It's a great compliment to CJ and Freddy for right now as all 3 have different styles. It's also great protection for us, because CJ and Freddy might not even be in the equation in a another year. Brown is starting material and potentially the most viable work horse style back of the 3 both in 2014 and moving forward.

He's responding the way I would expect him to respond, defensively. Which explains his snap reaction. He's sick of answering questions pertaining to the QB position when his current QB has been labeled a premature bust (I think EJ will bust, but I also recognize it's impossible to tell after 1 year, I just didn't like him at FSU). He's also got guys with starting experience in the system as back ups right now. Perhaps the thought of adding a slightly more skilled back up, while making us better, makes him a bit apprehensive, as that is the type of player the fans could be calling for if EJ starts slow. Not that those fans calling for such a switch would benefit us or be right, it's just a predictable situation. When in reality, as far as any potential back ups go that we could bring in, after learning the system they would likely not be much better then what we currently have, given the time the players we have spent in the system. In sum, back off my Starter and I think my back ups are about the same as what is available without the risk of a sloppy mess. If this is in fact his thought process, I can't really blame him.

I've been here a pretty long time. This is actually my second handle, a long time ago when the site changed I lost my log in and restarted. Let's just say I've been around nearly since the beginning. I grew up in Michigan and started to love the Bills as a kid. Lions never interested me, I turn 32 on Tuesday, so that would make me a Bills fan for 24 years now. The last 6-7 years I have to say I feel a bit ashamed, almost like a bandwagon fan. Before that time I could tell you the two deep on the practice squad, I knew every player, every players strengths/weaknesses. I live, cried, and died Bills every Sunday. About 7 years ago I ended up taking a shift at work on Sunday, a fairly lucrative shift, being a Sunday, nobody really wanted it. This meant no more live Bills games. It was a difficult decision, but I have to say it felt a little easier to make just based on the direction of the franchise. This is how I mean it felt sort of bandwagonish, I sort of turned my back on things, I still followed games of course, but live, cry, and die? Not anymore. No postings on potential playoff scenarios in which I so happily used to do on the site. No in depth player knowledge. The bottom line, I was a burned out fan, scorn for many years, looking at a team of players I didn't really care for, drafted by management I didn't really like. I saw no reason to try and enjoy this team because any moment of joy seemed to be so marginal for so many years. We always seemed to draft outside in. I have no hair but if I was blessed with some more I would have certainly ripped it all out. Well, my hiatus is now over. On Monday I'm going back to requesting Sundays off again at the start of the season and returning to full fandom. I like the front office, I like the coaching staff, for once I think they're working hand and hand and building inside out. In this league you either win with a great team or a great QB, I don't think EJ is going to be a great QB (still up for debate) but i do think we have the pieces in place for this to be a great team. This team is young and athletic. IMO this draft will prove to be the draft that helps break the Playoff drought. I watch a ton of college football (I do have Saturdays off) I think Sammy Watkins will end up being the best WR we have had since Eric Moulds, I also thought he was the top overall player in the draft. Few people can come in at his age and dominate 20/21 year old players as Watkins did as an 18 year old. You just don't see it very often. This is an elite prospect. Cyril Richardson in round 5? That was an unreal value. This kid has dominated the BIG 12 for multiple years. Between Kouandjio and Henderson at Tackle, one will work out and in a potentially big way. Both slid substantially but for different reasons. Bryce Brown has a heck of a lot to show you. Great compliment to Spiller. Loved our FA selections. This team is going back to the playoffs soon, I have waited so long for it, I'm sure as heck not going to miss it now.

IMO Sammy Watkins will turn out to be the best/most talented draft pick since Eric Moulds, which dates back to 1996. I think Watkins could prove to be even better then Moulds, which is saying a ton. Moulds nearly had 10,000 yards receiving. All I can say is wow. Very happy about this selection. Watkins is a very rare talent, he would go #1 OVR in most draft classes.

As a team that spends less, has a below average winning %, and rates low in the sexy city factor, it is very frustrating to see a player we drafted and developed let go with nothing in return. In most cases this team is not going to acquire elite talent via free agency, Mario was a major exception, but typically we go for value guys in free agency, then we acquire our real talent in the draft. Drafts in which our recent record accurately reflects our ability to evaluate talent (we don't do a fantastic job at it). This all makes losing a guy like Byrd or other home grown talents even more frustrating. He's a guy we did a great job with in our draft selection and in development, since we lack pools of money, win%, and sexiness we lose a lot of the better selections we make. Almost every time we lose a player in a similar situation as Byrd we hear the same comments. Why didn't we get something for him in return? Since it's such a readily used statement hear I was wondering if anybody had any basis for making such a statement. Is it common practice to leverage a a franchised player and acquire draft picks for him? Better stated, what % of franchised players are traded for draft pick compensation. I have no idea what the answer to this is but I would be inclined to think it's rather low. Probably less then 10% maybe even less then 5%. I don't think it happens very frequently just based on the nature of the situation. Usually a franchised player seeking exile will hold out on the first tag, it's the second tag in which things unravel. If the player is hell bent on hitting the market at that point, literally hell bent, is a tag/trade a good position to be in? As a team you take on the league wide impression that you're not very player friendly in negotiation something maybe an elite team can afford but not one with so many chips against them. On top of that you lower your bargaining position by a large margin as teams know you basically just signed a time bomb for a sign a trade, they have no problem letting you hold that bomb as long as possible. Best case scenario, in the majority of the cases, you either get marginal compensation or the trade never happens and you have a guy that you don't want playing for you an entire year (because he clearly doesn't want to play for you). I know we like to indulge in the Monday Morning QB talks, I just think this tag and trade concept so readily used is better served for Madden vs the real NFL.

I just don't get our philosophy at the QB position the last decade. It's either a Rookie or a fringe Vet we hope can pan out. Then we go all in on that one player. Then we treat the player like we treat our coaches. Anywhere from 2-3 years and see you later. Usually the decision to only try the experiment 2-3 years is justified because we haven't picked good coaches or good QB's since the glory days, still, it's always 2-3 years of wasted time, repeat the process and start all over again. We force ourselves into these commitments because we always are drafting a first round QB. God forbid we target some 3rd-6th round players, use a couple selections at QB in a year (many QB's do in fact pan out at the mid round level). Proportionately, a completely disproportionate amount do comparative to other positions. It's such a critical position, it would just be nice to get a few mid level draft picks spent at QB. Take on more of a volume strategy. Best man for the job and we don't get that forced 2-3 year commitment a first round pick guarantees. Even though he didn't pan out Trent Edwards was probably my most optimistic QB draft pick we had in a long time, just because he wasn't a damn 1st rounder and has potential. You just don't know what your getting with those types, but what you don't get is the investment factor. They need to win the job and perform well to keep the job. Just about all first round QB's barring abomination will get at least 2 years. It is way too early to tell with EJ, which is an easy statement to make, it's true, also one we have used with countless other quarterbacks over the years. Personally, I don't think EJ is our guy. I base it more just from watching him at FSU vs his first season. I remember always thinking when I saw his FSU games that he was gonna rob a team one day. Great skill set, the kind that gets you drafted in the first round, but he didn't seem to have the overall game I would expect to see translate to the NFL. He struggled in the areas I was concerned about, areas most rookies struggle in. We will see. Either way I would like us to look at 1 or 2 mid level QB's this year in the draft.

I know I'm a little late to the party here as this thread seems to have turned into a debate on homosexuality. Perhaps this was already discussed, I read threw about 10 pages and didn't find anything. I would have serious concerns over drafting Sam just because he's never really played a down as an openly gay man. We can say he has at Missouri, OK, his teammates knew about it but that is it. He was a beast on the field. He already won over that teams respect by being the best player on the team. Nobody on the Tigers was slurring him, nobody was crossing him, no opposing teams or fans knew anything about him. The NFL is going to be a much different environment. He likely isn't going to walk in and dominate, not according to his original draft projections. So he's not earning any teammates respect by simply being the best. He likely will take a lot of locker room shots, he certainly will be taunted endlessly on the field by opposing players, and depending on the location, he's likely to get his fair share from drunk a-holes. All the while, the cameras will be rolling 24/7 on the entire situation making a spectacle of it all. It's one thing if Sam was a projected top 10 guy and this has him sliding well into the 3rd or 4th round and you can scoop him up with major upside, but Sam was never projected at that level. It was debatable if he was even 3rd rounder or better before this announcement. Making an NFL team is hard enough as a straight man, this guy will go thru hell to make it in the league and he stands a decent chance of having to go thru that hell without even starting for several seasons. I guess the point I'm trying to make here is what is the upside? How does drafting a mid level player who walks into this situations beneficial to any team? I just see drafting him as a bad business decision, just too much media and unknown variables in the equation for a guy that is likely a fringe starter or situational pass rusher.

Thanks guys, I might be able to handle staying up until 2-3am Sunday night. I think it would be hard to get past Monday without hearing something. If nothing else I usually have a few coworkers ask me if I saw the game, one Dolphin fan in perticular. For that price, OD streaming, even if it's just a review it seems well worth it. No more posts about EJ live, I'm signing up!

Now that might be viable, thanks man! It needs to be on demand streamed content, I dont have cable. So that looks like it could be my best bet. Affordable rates also. I wonder how long it takes for the games to show up? I would love it if I could hibernate and not know the score, come home, and watch the full game after work.

Didn't see the drive eball, but I would tend to agree with what you said. Throw out progressions in the two minute drill for a lot of the plays that are ran. If the defense will give you 10-15 on a RB flat or drag checkdown, you take it and you get your arse downfield. Eventually you have to take your shots, but I have no problem with EJ taking what the defense was giving him and getting into position to take that downfield shot (if that is indeed what happenned).

Thanks for all the excellent feedback guys! I used to post a lot, but the last decade or so, well, I think it's taken a few years off all of us. I feel as if I somehow decided to try and take a step back from the Bills. Just not take it to obsessive levels, too much disapointment. EJ really made me think, both good and bad. It stands to reason with the way the preseason played out with his injury that he would be running a fairly plain offense the first few weeks. Even outside of that, how many rookies really get the full playbook right away? It's pretty rare seeing the young ones getting deep into progressions, so this might just be an area that will be difficult to judge for awhile. Slow release comment, was more based on slow decisions not his actual release. I don't remember how quick of a draw he has. Sounds like it's pretty quick once he makes his mind up, my concern was how long has it been taking him to make his mind up. Why So Serious? With work the way it is, I just can't see myself ponying up for the Ticket right now. I'm just immeresed in work every Sunday from 9am to 9pm. This team does look exciting, young, love our WR's. I just think I will wait to go Sunday Ticket until I feel things are gelling a little. At that point I will get my shift changed. Chris Heff- You hit it on the head with my concerns, but thanks for expanding on what was happenning at FSU. Sometimes it's really hard to figure what is creating the issues when you just watch. Scheme, players? Sounds like scheme and players didn't exactly compliment EJ at FSU. It sounds like he has a lot of things to be encouraged about. Also sounds like a lot of unkowns. Par for the course I suspect with any young QB. The forums seem excited which is exciting to me, I'm just trained so half empty on this team. I'm sure many of you feel that way. I have to say it was that game winner that had me thinking big time about what we might have. But then I read about the INT just prior (later I noticed on replay the PI probably forced the INT) I also noticed the blow coverage on the fade at the end. So the pessimist in my came back out again and discredited the game winning drive. At this point I feel much better about it though, as well as EJ. More responses welcome, just wanted to post, thank, and ackowlege those that provided insights into our new QB.

I work every Sunday, I don't have Sunday ticket, and I live in a market that has local feeds for both AFC and NFC match ups. Point being, I hardly get to see this Bills anymore. I follow them on NFL.com, it's just hard seeing live footage. I'm trying very hard to see EJ Manuel as our franchise guy so I was hoping for some perspective on a few specific areas of what you have witnessed. I had watched several college games Manuel played in over multiple years, probably 7-8 total, and my perception of him was slow release, slow decisions, and loose with the football. It was also clear to me he had excellent mobility, massive strides, cannon for an arm. Just clearly a very athletic player. I have read great things about his character since we drafted him, so plus in that department. So I know he has all these intangible qualities that I should love, but watching him at Florida State, I just didn't think he was a guy that would put it together in the areas I talked about. Namely release/decision making/call it progressions etc. In my opinion that is what makes it in the NFL as a QB. I was very concerned when we drafted him and I understand I'm not the end all by any stretch, I mean Colin Kaepernick? I also saw a ton of him at Nevada, never saw that in a million years. I did expect Wilson and RG3 to be studs. Same reason I was worried about Manuel but the opposite. I saw those guys progressing down with reads and being athletic as Freshman. It was clear watching both those players even at a very young age in college they could do just about anything. So the question(s) is when you have watched Manuel live what have you seen in terms of progressions? Is he checking down? Throwing a lot of predetermined throws based on pre-snap reads? Is he being given only 2 progressions? How is his timing in getting rid of the ball? I'm seeing great stats here, but I'm not seeing how he is reaching those stats. I would love to think his head is on a swivel and he's delivering to option 4, but I'm worried it's a lot of stuff that limits his progressions to the extent we can't get a read on him. I take this all in the context that this is a very young starter, so even if he isn't making progressions well now he could down the road. I'm just curious as to what people are seeing in this specific aspect of his game right now. Thanks

That's what I was sort of getting at with these speed base offenses not functioning in the NFL. To much speed to counteract it, so he would basically be relegated to a first year NFL spread system? Meh...Not overly appealing. He is one sharp dude though. The 4th down data is similar to Bill James approach to baseball. Studies have been done, you likely can locate them online pretty easily, just regarding HC's leaving points on the board by punting on 4th down to frequently. That in otherwise unheard of circumstances going for it actually has more long term value. Similar to going for 2. Damn the score, if you have a 50.1 conversion rate, going for 2 will provide more points then going for the XP. Obviously Kelly is not going to go for it inside his 30 or something that crazy, but maybe,just like the MLB game coaches have been doing it all wrong? Would it be that shocking? I know Kelly is very much data driven, maybe he is the guy that can be NFL's Billy Beane. Again, huge risk/reward, but after this many seasons of sucktitude I'm ok with a Home Run swing on this hire.

The biggest role in innovation for college football the last 10 years has been the spread pass and run offenses. All these offenses use speed and space. Kelly then added the element of turning it into hyper mode. Often times defenses are hardly even set. It is a wonderful offense to watch in the college game but in no way is it functional in the NFL. Similar to what Steve Spurrier learned, another spread innovator but of the passing variety, you just don't have the time per play, space, or speed advantage to execute such an offense. That's not to say Chip would run the same system, but then what are you left with? A guy running the spread offense in the NFL who has zero experience in the NFL? People also have valid points about player management and motivation in regards to the CFB/NFL. That is always a concern, even more so when dealing with a coach who has no NFL playing experience. What I like about Kelly is he could be that 1 in 100 type of guy vs another guarantee to mediocrity. This is an extremely high risk/reward scenario. Kelly is very smart, he understands that coaches are keeping points off the board by not being aggressive enough. He would revolutionize the NFL in 4th down attempts. He understands that on 3rd and 5 if he doesn't get it, he's going for it, but he and his players do so with zero hesitation. Why wait for a defense to adjust and tie it's shoes just because it's fourth down? I love that he predetermines his 4th down calls on 3rd down. He will analyze the NFL game and try and take advantage of every subtle detail that is physically possible. That's just who he is. Either perspective, it would make for a very interesting signing.

Loved this when I watched it, even made my wife laugh who hates the "F" word (Football), so if it's been posted before my apologize. It is very funny, hit a little close to home, but I think most of us are like him and would rather turn our sorrows into humor. http://youtu.be/tRBDMMVctu8

We won some games I did not expect us to win. Some teams are falling off as others creep into the picture. Here is the latest update based on what we know. As you can tell from my previous post prior to the NE game a lot can change in a couple weeks. Obviously a massive game looms ahead. Prior I was focusing solely on wild card, but is it that absurd to think we can win the East? We sit pretty in tiebreakers and it's no more absurd then the fact that we can realistically talk about this after half the season. So the East is in the picture, assuming we don't win the East and New England does, then we have the WC. So lets see how that is shaping up. East Jets- @BUF, NE, @DEN, BUF, @WASH, KC, @PHI, NYG, @MIA Pretty sure we will know if the Jets are in this race in four weeks, maybe even two. The game coming up is critical but you also have to remember they follow us with the Patriots and play us again in 2 weeks. It is not must win, not at least for us. Similar to the Bengals game, a win puts us in great position. Assuming we split, then it comes down to the division tie breakers. Us going 2-1 vs Miami twice/New England the last week vs NYJ 1-1 vs NE/Miami once each will give us the edge in that situation. North PIT- BAL, @CIN, @KC, CIN, CLE, @SF, STL, @CLE (4-2 AFC) I expect Pittsburgh will win the Division and help mop up some of our WC competition in the process. CIN- @TEN, PIT, @BAL, CLE, @PIT, HOU, @STL, ARZ, BAL (4-1 AFC) + H2H tiebreaker This Bengals team is much better then people give them credit for. That said I don't see them going 5-4 with this schedule, and they better not, because the Bengals are the only team who has us by the short hairs in tiebreakers. BAL- @PIT, @SEA, CIN, SF, @CLE, IND, @SD, CLE, @CIN(3-2 AFC) A very cake like schedule a month ago looks a little more difficult. The nice thing about the North is all these teams still play each other a lot, which is a bit of a catch 22. Two of PIT's contenders in Baltimore and Cincinnati still play each other twice. We wan't teams to stay under 10-6, but if either BALT or CIN establishes themselves it's unlikely both will stay under that threshold. That said the fact that they all play each other so much almost guarantees both BALT and CIN will not go 10-6 with PIT winning the division. The rest...... Tennessee- We still play them and they seem like a fringe playoff contender. Oakland- Devalued heavily, Carson is not ready. In my opinion the WC spots will come from the East and North. Unlikely with scheduling that either division will take both. So we have two ways, beat out the Jets or beat out both Baltimore and the Bengals. When I started this thread I did so like usual, good fun. But it's starting to look like we appear on the likely side of the playoff picture. Now we need to take care of business against the Jets. A win this week and our chances increase exponentially. It's an odd game, we certainly have something to lose, but more from what we would fail to gain in defeat, then what we actually lose. We beat the Jets this Sunday, we can make the playoffs playing average football the rest of the year and pretty much write our ticket. We lose this week and we will still control things but our position is much weaker.

I like Luck, he looks good. Seems to have all the things you covet in a QB. But I would stop well short of being scared of him being drafted by Miami. Luck does almost everything out of play action and has his entire college career. He won't have that luxury in the NFL. Stanford ranks 84th in the nation in passing efficiency on clear passing downs and distances. 2nd and 8 or more, 3rd and 5 or more, and 4th down. That's a startling stat considering they rank top 20 in nearly every other offensive category.