Mikie2times

I'm sure all of us miss the 90's. It was a great time, and despite the SB losses the 90's left us with an incredible amount of fond memories. My problem is even outside the Bills the rest of the league doesn't have as many intriguing players and the games aren't as enjoyable to watch. FA has left the league overflowing with players who all feel like they’re "owed" something, and you never feel like the players are fighting for the fans, only for the $. The 90's had the me guys but when you think of the elite players you would be hard pressed to find many egocentrics. Rice was the man back then; today you have Owens and Moss. LT and Peyton are two examples of grounded character guys at RB and QB, from the 90's take your pick from Elway, Farve, Marino, Kelly, Aikman, Young, Bettis, Faulk, Barry, Emmit and a whole lot more. The icing on the cake was one of the most gifted high character stars the NFL has ever had in Reggie White. I'm sure a portion of my discontent is from the mass saturation of the NFL. Back then all we really had was Primetime, and Inside the NFL, and that was just enough of a fix to get you by until the next Sunday. Now with the Internet, ESPN, and NFL network it's easy to OD if you’re a fan. With the new CBA approaching and the NFL media machine expanding so rapidly it's hard to imagine what the league will be like further down the road. I imagine something like 52 Allen Iversons B word slapping the the HC if they aren't getting the ball enough.

Perhaps the officer asked for ID, ran it and found the probation. Considering his previous offense was having a loaded gun in his vehicle the officer probably attempted to do a pat down, or search the vehicle. If he wasn't cooperating it's resisting a police officer and at that point reasonable force is permitted. As to why the cop would ID Johnson for double parking who knows. He might have been under the influence, or he might have been mouthing off. Perhaps the cop was profiling or he could have just been a racist. Whatever it is Johnson would have been much better off just listening.

Yawn… Past being a 2nd round pick has Roscoe proven he belongs in this league as a 3rd WR? That’s what I said. I never demoted him or said he wasn't in the mix. If he wants a job he can win instead of getting the 3rd slot handed to him.

Show me a muscular and fast back up RT on the market and I'll be sure to add him to the next off-season plan.

Getting Moulds to restructure is possible. He signed a deal last year that paid him 5.15 million this past season, and I don't think Moulds or the Bills thought his current contract would play out past this year. If we offer him about 7 million I see enough benefits on both sides to justify the move if he still wants to be with Buffalo. Eventually Moulds will need to be replaced, and if he refuses to restructure then he will force the Bills hand this year. I just think 07 would be a much better year to deal with this. By then we should have a little more stability at QB, improved line, and most important a better FA class. So the reason I have Buffalo going after three WR's is to bring in the additional talent that will be needed for Moulds departure. Past Evans we don't have a single receiver on this team that has proven he belongs in this league. We also are starting to have the makings of one of the smaller WR cores. Bigger options improve red zone efficiency, and red zone efficiency is an area we really need a lot of work on. Each of my additions is 6'0 or taller, and each of them are physical players. Finneran is a poor mans Ed MaCafrey and would be the jump ball target we don't have. Avant just does the little things that make players great. He will drop because of speed concerns but he would be a great addition to the mix. Smith is more of an intangibles pick because I love his attitude, and a great football player with a great attitude would be a no brainier that late in the draft, even if he is a project. Talent is supposed to bring out the best in players so may the best player emerge from this group. If we had Finneran, Avant, and Parrish battling for our 3, 4, and 5 spots we should at least get a legit 3rd WR, and have an outside chance at a 2nd WR. As for Aiken I love our ST, and if we can have him as our designated Tasker then I would be all for it. I would have no problem releasing Damion Shelton, as he seems to be slowing down, and FB's are a dime a dozen. He still packs a load but cutting him would save nearly 800K which would allow us to keep Aiken and make the rest the moves more feasible.

He's a back up RT, we need one of those you know.

That would be news to me, anybody else hear this?

Some responses to the comments...... -The Howard addition isn't so we can move Schobel over, it's so he can play opposite Schobel. LE isn't Howard’s natural side but he has started several games at that spot so it's not like he's incapable of being effective on that side. - Huff isn't a glaring need but my approach on this draft is changing. Ngata is the obvious choice and I have nothing against that, but this team is not one or two guys away. If the so called elite players (Williams, D'Brick etc.) in this draft are all gone by our spot and the Cutler hype continues then we might be able to trade down and draft best player available. If we do this the OL and DL MUST be addressed after round 1 and FA. - Smith is a WR prospect, props to STL Bills as he did a good job explaining the reasons Smith would be an intriguing day 2 pick. - Watson is not a favorite of mine by any means; in fact I've been trashing his lazy arse for a few months now. But as his stock keeps plummeting his value increases. Shaun Rogers comes to mind as a great DT that saw his stock slip in a similar fashion, and while I don’t think Watson is the talent Rodgers is he is without question a 1st round talent. Hopefully 4 or 5 months of pundits calling him lazy will motivate this guy because if he is motivated he's practically unblockable. - As for the cost and age of the players I signed I don’t see this as spending an astronomical amount. We might not be able to fit all these guys under but many are in the waning stages of their careers so they should come at a decent price. The age doesn’t bother me because I see many of the vets that made up the TD nucleus departing within the next couple years. We have young talent, but in the areas I’m plugging in vets at we aren’t as strong, and the presence of these guys will allow us to get better now while we buy ourselves some time to find younger alternatives.

FA: DE Darren Howard, LT Kevin Shaffer, C Mike Flanagan, RB Jonathan Wells, WR Brian Finneran, OT Stocker McDougal Cap Casualty Pick Ups: DT LaRoi Glover, DT Ted Washington Franchise: CB Nate Clements Tender: WR Mario Haggan, LB Josh Stamer, CB Jabari Greer, RB Shaud Williams Resign: OT Jason Peters (New Deal), DT Ron Edwards, LS Mike Schneck, DE Ryan Denney Release: DT Sam Adams, OG Bennie Anderson, OLB Jeff Posey, OT Mike Williams, TE Mark Cambell Draft 1. FS Michael Huff 2. OG David Joseph 2. DT Gabe Watson 3. TE Dominique Byrd 4. WR Jason Avant 4. OLB Terna Nande 5. QB Bruce Gradkowski 6. OG Matt Lentz 7. WR Brad Smith Offense QB- Losman- Holcomb-Gradkowski R RB- MaGahee-Wells FA-Williams FB- Shelton-Burns TE- Byrd R-Everette-Euhus WR- Moulds-Evans-Finneran FA-Avant R- Parish-Smith R LT- Shaffer FA-Gandy LG-Joseph R-Gandy-Gesinger C- Flanagan FA-Preston-Lentz R RG-Villerial-Preston-Lentz R RT- Peters-McDougal FA Defense LE- Schobel- Howard- Denney DT-Glover CC- Ron Edwards DT-Washington FA- Watson R RE-Howard-Kelsey- Denney OLB- Spikes-Haggans-Nande MLB- Fletcher-Ezekiel OLB- Crowell-Stamer CB- Clements-King-Greer CB-MaGee-Vincent FS- Huff R-Vincent-Baker SS-Milloy-Wire Training Camp Battles 1st QB- Losman-Holcomb-Gradkowski 3rd WR/4th WR/5th WR- Finneran, Avant, Parrish 1st TE- Byrd-Everett Comments- Bills are awarded 4th round compensation or the loss of JJ and PW. We also trade our 1st and 3rd round pick to Arizona for its 1st and 2nd round pick. Cardinals select Jay Cutler. Moulds is resigned to a 7 million dollar deal.

I guessed Moorman’s 40 almost to the tenth of a second, so if that's disrespecting his wheels I apologize.

I saw the race, I still don't know what to make of it. As I anticipated Moormans track experience proved beneficial as he beat everybody off the line. As the Race ended he did exactly what I expected him do, beat the slower competitors who's combine times were around 4.5, and lose to the competitors who had combine times 4.4 and lower. That said I don't know how anybody can really guess Moorman's 40 based on what we saw today. It was clear that any player below a 4.5 appears very similar in this type of race. Luckily I did find this Moorman Interview which he says the following. Question: Brian, You've got some serious wheels. What is your 40 time? Brian Moorman: it's been a long time since I have timed it, but in college, when I was in track shape, I ran a 4.4. You can probably add a little time now since I am a couple years removed, but I stay in shape So we now know he ran a track timed 4.4 in college. Since then he probably added at least a half tenth of a second to that number if not more. That 4.4 track converted to the slower surface in Indianapolis would probably add at least another half tenth of a second if not more. So in the same arena that the rest of the NFL is timed on he probably would run a 4.5 and absolutely nothing more then a 4.45. To see how much of a difference that can make read this 40 Times He has great speed, but is not among the elite of the NFL.

Ben Johnson’s time that I gave was not measured in meters, it was measured in yards. I indicated this in the last thread but you ignored it just like every other point I made. If you actually need the link here it is Johnson runs a 4.38 in his record run The whole comment regarding the 4.7 was to say Moorman probably would run about a 4.5 at the combine, which would actually be a 4.7 if the timing of these 40's were more legitimate. What more evidence do you need then the world record steroid induced 100 meters ran by Johnson.? If that trial only covered the first 40 yards in 4.38 am I supposed to believe that Moorman can run even faster? If you put Moorman behind hurricane Katrina on a track then maybe he does run that fast, but that's not how football is played, and since you compared him to some of the fastest players in the NFL I choose to base my 4.5 estimate on the same stage the rest of the NFL players run on, the combine. Like I said in the last post Nate Clements and Terrance MaGee ran in the same range at the combine as Bob Sanders, and both are a little slower then Mathis. Determining what Moormans exact 40 is would be impossible, but if he can compete with Sanders and Mathis then odds are he does run in the range of a 4.3, thus being among the fastest players in the league. If he can't compete with these two in such favorable conditions (Track Surface, Track Start) then he obviously isn't among the fastest in the league. It's such a simple solution to this debate that I would just rather wait until the race is over to finish it up. EDIT: I just noticed BM will also be competing in the obstacle course, I imagine he will do very well in that competition.

Ahhhh.... Ya it's alright, Toledo is way more of a dump then I thought but Sylvania is clean/safe.

What's up man, I see your from Sylvania, just moved there a couple months ago.

Nice job twisting my words. I said he probably runs the NFL version of a 4.5, which in REALITY is a 4.7. The times are skewed to begin with and I presented more then enough evidence to prove that. You can either take the name of this competition literally and conclude that Moorman really is one of the fastest players in the NFL, or you can see this competition for what it really is, entertainment. If this competition was really about being the fastest in the league the you would expect at least a couple repeat contestants, or players who posted faster combines then 4.56 or a 4.48. Luckily for us we will be able to put this debate to rest on Saturday. Bob Sanders is right in line with NC and TM, and Mathis is faster. If you really are correct Moorman will be able to keep up with Sanders and be in the ballpark of Mathis. If he's around a high 4.4 to a low 4.5 he will be in line with Tyree and Milligan.

Other combine times of players in the competition Jerome Mathis- 4.26 Bob Sanders- 4.36 David Tyree- 4.56 Hanik Milligan- 4.48

He still doesn't run a 4.2 or 4.3. We will see how he does this weekend, I bet he doesn't fair to well but it's still very impressive that he was asked to go as a punter. I wonder how they select the competitors; perhaps some spots are filled from the pro bowl roster and some from invitations. It just doesn't seem to have any consistency. For example last year’s winner and several other competitors are not in this year. So I wouldn't necessarily say the winner is the fastest player in the NFL, but Mathis has to be pretty close. By the way Mathis ran a 4.26 at the combine, which was the type of speed you suggested Moorman has. I guess we will see Saturday.......

Note to self: dont draft kevin jones next year

He probably has lost a step, but as fans we really have no way of knowing how much of that is TV and how much of that was the system and personnel. TV was used in way's most FS in the NFL aren't accustomed to, and TV was lost. He's good at playing in normal zones, and man coverage, yet we asked him to play large zones to cover space left by blitzing defenders. He's bad at playing near the line of scrimmage and in run support yet we ask him to do those things because our interior line is cheese. If we can get some help with FA's and the Draft I really think TV has a chance to have a much better year in Jaurons scheme. Even if you disagree with that wouldn't it still be worth finding out at that cost of 200,000$? That is the amount of cap relief cutting Vincent will bring for next seasons.

When you talk about systems it's important to look at how the different positions can influence each others play. On Passing downs Grey's defensive success was predicated on forcing rash decisions by the QB. Without dominating pass rushers on the defensive line we were forced to blitz. As we saw time and time again the blitz wouldn't arrive and our DB's were left exposed. On Rushing downs Grey's defensive success was predicated on our interior lineman tie up blockers. Since we couldn't do that the blockers our DT's were supposed to be taking up got to our LB's. The solution was either excessive run blitzing, or stacking our safeties in the box. One poster in this thread said new systems don’t turn over the hill players into pro bowlers. I agree with that assessment, and Jauron’s system will not make TV a pro bowl player. But isn’t it more logical to assume MaGee, Clements, Milloy, and Vincnt have more talent then they displayed in 2005, when at least 3 of the 4 showed a decline in play? It wasn’t a coincidence the secondary play declined rapidly as the defensive problems compounded. When we signed TV the plan wasn’t to switch him over to a brand new position and then expect him to flourish when we ask him to do more then 80% of the FS in this league. We asked TV to cover ground his body wouldn’t allow him to cover, then we asked him to play a much bigger role in run support then he has at any point in his career. Like many players on this defense TV a classic example of coaches forcing a system on players that no longer fit that system. I wouldn’t be opposed to grooming a replacement but when we have so many other holes I just don't see why cutting TV is a priority. Not when his salary is only 200,000 less then the Dead cap hit would be and when were switching over to a defense better suited for his play.

Basically all we can do Is speculate on what’s going on because I doubt Tags is going to announce they fix games anytime soon. My school of thought is this. Think back to the Patriots/Colts playoff game in Foxboro a couple years back. To every lucid observer the Colts WR's and TE's were getting mugged all game. This severely hampered Indianapolis and its vaunted passing offense. It doesn't take a conspiracy theorist to rationalize a loose called game on the DB's would really benefit NE. Today we saw Seattle get called for crucial penalties right as they were hovering around the red zone. Perhaps the NFL pushed the refs into calling holding on Seattle in those situations. That would not only push them out of scoring range but also put them in blitzing situations. Both those games were examples of games in which the referees seemed to play an outcome in the final score, but at the same time the game was still competitive. This is the best result, because it is the one that is also the least obvious to the general fan base. The extreme logic of some kind of script is not true, and that’s not what I’m suggesting, the Colts and Seattle could have both won. But when faced against an already elite team in a difficult situation, the timing of calls can really turn games. If these teams could overcame the calls they can win, but in the end that proves very difficult. Pittsburgh wore the glass slipper this year just like New England did in the past. Both were great teams, but both also benefited from a lot of officiating disparities along the way. It's not that crazy of a theory that some of this might be going on, after all NE and PITT are better to the growth of the league as champions then CAR and SEA.

I agree. Think about how much the NFL can influence a game by instructing the officials to call it a certain way. Each team relies on certain aspects and schemes and by being stricter in areas could handcuff teams. Then you have times like today when the sheer amount of bad calls favor one side so much that you’re left scratching your head. NFL officiating is a mess, and if I wasn't such a die hard Bills fan I would have no problem getting my football fix from college. IMO college football is a much more entertaining and natural display of football then the NFL by a long shot.

I meant that we see them do it often, but ya that doesn't suprise me.

Thanks man. My favorite call was cutting on Hasselback. How often do we see a QB throw a pick in this league and go low to avoid a big block or make a tackle? This penalty never gets called, and this was the first time I have ever seen it called on a QB. So to even call it if it occurred is bogus, but they called it when it didn’t occur, and did it almost immediately following the bogus nullification of Stevens catch to the 1.

The Steelers didn't exactly do much to win the game either. The 21 points they had were accumulated on a questionable QB sneak set up by a desperation bomb, a 75 yard TD run, and a 48 yard reverse pass. They were also ourtgained by 57 yards. Seattle did melt down at times, but without the referee interference odds are they would have been able to overcome those meltdowns. As we all should know the SB only allows for so many momentum shifts before one team just dies out, and it seemed like every call was made at a time when Seattle was gaining mo. Call holding on Ben's long pass in the first half, or on the Randel EL TD pass, and you probably have a different outcome in the game. Seattle didn't have to overcome just one of those calls though; they had to overcome 2 which would either have been a 7, 10, or 14 point difference in their score. Seattle was the better team and deserved to win.