Mikie2times

On PASSING downs the cover two generally turns into a cover 3 with the two safeties covering the outside 1/3 of the field, and the Mike LB covering the deep middle 1/3 of the field. So if it is a passing down, such as 3rd and 5 or longer how does London’s play recognition or tackling ability outweigh his less then ideal cover skills? In a zone defense in passing situations the defenders job is to get into his zone as fast as possible and defend everything within that area. London’s short, doesn't have a big vertical, and doesn't have a tremendous amount of athleticism in the passing game. What he does well is stop the run, and with situational subs available it just doesn't make sense to assign him such a critical part of real estate in the passing game

In passing situations the cover 2 defenses relies on a linebacker strong enough in coverage to turn the cover two into a three deep look. The Mike linebacker is often the player looked at to fill this requirement. London Fletcher will be our Mike LB in running situations but in passing situations the role will probably be up for grabs. Here is an early look at the camp battle for this important role. London Fletcher- London will be the Mike linebacker in running situations, but having him stay in at the Mike LB in passing situations might become a liability. London's short stature, and less then ideal coverage skills would make him a target of athletic TE's and WR's posts down the seem. Takeo Spikes- A healthy Takeo Spikes would be perfect in this role, a fast strong LB with great coverage skills. But as we all know he is coming off an injury many don't recover from. If he does eventually return to 100% his speed will still be reduced during at least the early portion of the 2006, year and probably the whole season. Keith Ellison- Being a late draft picks it was difficult to consider Ellison in this role so early, but at the same time it was clear the Bills drafted him for his pass coverage skills. Most pundits said he wouldn't be a full time LB in the NFL, but that's fine for us if he can become a strong Mike LB in passing situations. Angelo Crowell- Crowell came in last year and had to replace the best player on this defense. He did that rather admirably, and showed enough coverage and athleticism for me to believe he can play the Mike on passing downs. IMO London won't under any circumstances remain at middle LB in passing situations. In this system it would be like fitting a square peg in a round hole. So essentially it's a three man race between TKO, Ellison, and Crowell. If TKO is fully recovered he is the best fit but I can’t see that happening in just one year. Given Ellison’s lack of experience it would lead me to believe Crowell is the early leader for this role.

That was bad, but in no way was it as bad as the "Just Give it to them" game. As for the throwback game I still won't watch it. Every loss hurts, and the ones with more at stake hurt the most. Obviously Norwood’s kick is the most painful moment in the history of this franchise but the fact is he still missed a FG. Under those circumstance most Bills fans knew we had about a coin flip chance of being world champions. The throwback was a different kind of hurt. When Christie put us up that late nobody considered the Titans might still win, and absolutely no one could have predicted they would win in that fashion. Then as many pointed out the Titans would go onto the super bowl, a destiny many feel we would have had. To sum it up take the complete opposite feeling the comeback gave me and that’s pretty much how I felt that day.

Detroit, 1989 Shanikwa: Eddie, get of yo a** and change that babies diaper Eddie: Damn baby, chill, I'm watchin the Bad Boys Shanikwa:You know you haven't done a damn thang all day,lazy,no job havin... Eddie: Do I look like da Baby's Momma? Shanikwa: Oh no you did not…….

Good post. Character on the field in many ways is exactly what you/Levy describe it to be. Is a player going to give 100% effort when he's playing, and will a player do everything possible to maximize his natural limitations when he's not playing. That's what football character means to me. Just like in many aspects of life a football player can vastly exceed his natural limitations if he has these attributes. But what's more difficult to define, and subsequently more difficult to find is players who not only possess football character but character as a PERSON. In life character as a person can mean many different things, and is much broader then the type of character a person needs to fit in on a NFL team. To put it simply a player does not need to be a Saint to have enough character as a person to be a good NFL teamate. But what a player does need is an accepting attitude toward his teammates and general respect for his fellow teammates. He also can't have an egocentric outlook because with that approach a player will have a very difficult time meeting the two previously mentioned character requirements. Finding both types of character in a player is critical because without both types the football character of the team will certainly be affected. Teams thrive with chemistry and acceptance in the locker room, and the number one thing that can boost the team’s football character is a genuine desire to achieve not only for yourself but for the guy next to you. Congrats to Marv and Co. As they appeared to nab several guys this year that not only have both types of character but that also have a great deal of physical talent.

Unfortunately I still think Juice is the best pure RUNNER in Bills history. If I had to rank the top 5 it would probably be 1. Juice 2. Thurman 3. Cookie 4. Willis 5. Travis Willis and Travis are equal but I suspect Willis will surpass him this year in terms of production in a Bills uniform. You also have to figure Willis should get at least slightly better with more healing time so I'll give him the nod over Travis.

I am, but from the magic of NFL films not memory.

I bet Willis has smoked Marijuana before

I live in Ohio

I think the problem with these types of players is simple, they just don't understand how difficult the NFL is. Physical ability can only take you so far in a game stock full of world class athletes. In college the physically gifted often get buy on talent alone. But in the NFL this couldn't be further from the truth. We see so many upsets because the talent level in the NFL is paper thin down the line. The best master the tricks of the trade, and motivate those around them to achieve. You simply can't do that off physical talent. It explains how marginal athletes by NFL standards have been able to become hall of famers, and that top 5 sure thing that's out of football in 3 years.

Can you even imagine how sick this trio was in high school? Whitner Bio

Atleast it's not underware

Starting to feel the same. I’ll be 24 next Saturday, what I wouldn't give for those years again. You always hear people say how great it is when your that age but you never really know until your worries go from which Liquor shall I drink to how the hell am I going to pay the bills this month. Live it up man.

It's not as simple as him just losing the weight. He tore THREE ligaments in his knee. It takes years and sometimes never happens for RB's that tear ONE ligament to return to form in the NFL. Willis was thrown into the NFL basically needing to reinvent himself as a runner. He's not explosive anymore, not like the freak at the U, so he worked out like a mad man trying to become more of a power back. If Willis can return to the more balanced back he was in college the weight will come off. I just feel at this point we shouldn't be expecting this to happen, it could, but if he just ends up being a Duce Staley type we should be happy given the risk involved in drafting him.

1. S- Donte Whitner 1. C- Nick Mangold 3. TE- Leonard Pope 4. S- Ko Simpson 5. OT- Jonathan Scott 5. DT- Anthony Montgomery 6. LB- Keith Ellison 7. OG- Mark Setterstrom 7. RB- Andre Hall

That Mr Irrelevant has nothing but potential.

Who knows, just passing along the local chatter.....

I'm not sure if the Lions coveting a guy we drafted is a good thing, but for those that just assume we could have traded down the local news reported the Lions were very interested in Whitner, and may have taken him over Sims had he been available.

It depends on the window of time were dealing with. Within the next decade we have the stadium lease issue, and we need to find an owner dedicated to keeping this team in Western New York. I think those two obstacles are things we can overcome, and I expect the Bills to do just that. Past the next decade is what concerns me the most. Many people on the board will be alive 20-50 years from now (God forbid anything happens). 20-50 years is a LONG time, and being Bills fans most of us will remain Bills fans threw out our lives. I think the probability of the Bills moving at some point during that time frame is higher then them staying, and it will only increase as time passes.

Good post. I have a long haired Shepard who's now around 108 pounds. For the first few months we had tons of problems with him, and it wasn't as if I was an uneducated owner, it was just that I was coddling him being a puppy and all. Eventually when I realized the dog thinks he's the Alpha I completely changed my approach. Now the dog is almost perfectly trained, and I even think he prefers the lesser role. What's scary is it's not just the abusive owners that create these problems, but the ones who buy aggressive breeds and can't put their foot down are pretty common also.

A few months ago I needed a part time job to make ends meet so I started delivering pizzas. The owner of the store is very successful and seems to dabble in many ventures. We get along well and the other day he approached me about another venture he wants to start. Basically this guy has enough capital to purchase 30,000 to 40,000$ truckloads of wholesale merchandise, and he simply wants me to turn it over threw EBAY as fast and efficiently as possible. So aside from listing the auctions, I will be handling market research, customers and basically all the other day to day stuff. My question is in regards to how much do people think fair compensation should be for performing this service? I'm under the impression that I will make a percentage of the net, exactly how much I don't know. He would also like me to work from his office, and this will be about 50 Hour a week deal. The man is very fair, but at the same time I would feel much better with a ball park % to talk to him about before I agree. Any power sellers know what kind of net an operation like this would have if it's successful?

I played football for 11 years, so I think I have a decent understanding of the game. Certainly the deep ball is the number one problem with Kelly Holcomb, but if JP doesn't know how to throw the short ball it won't matter that he can throw the deep ball. Regardless this topic has veered way off the beaten path. Arguing for Kelly Holcomb was never my intention, as I feel he is an inadequate starter at best but you almost need to be over the top in defending players around here when the off-season idiots bang the drum (not saying you).

3 more passes over 40 yards, and 1 more pass over 20 is not more valuable then a QB rating difference of over 20 points, a completition % difference of nearly 18%, and a win% difference of over 20%. Not to mention the fact that fumbles statistics based year to year have practically no long term predictive value. Very few players have showed a consistently higher rate off fumbling year to year that aren't scramblers or players who are being excessively sacked. This trend is evident in Holcombs fumble rate prior to coming to Buffalo. In the two previous seasons he had over 100 attempts he fumbled only 1 time in 5 appearances in 02 and only 5 times in 10 appearances in 2003. I can't argue with the scrambling dimension JP brings but it would only be an advantage if he can throw for enough yards that Holcomb won’t counteract it. JP averaged gaining 17.1 yards rushing per game while Kelly averaged 1.1 per game, a net difference of 16 yards a game. When you compare the average yards passing per game Kelly more then made up for it going fo 142.1 while JP averaged 105.5, a net difference of 36.6 yards per game. Kelly outplayed JP last year and we have no reason to think he won't be able to do that again come preseason. He just has that much more knowledge and experience and it’s difficult for a yong QB to compete with that. What also troubles me is if JP does win the job look at the unit he will be taking over. Holcomb isn’t exactly a great player but JP is still raw, and this offense is extremely undermanned as of now. Those are the conditions we are hoping he can win the job under then on top of that were hoping he shows us enough to stay with him another year. If things don't work out then he probably ends up a losing most his trade value and drifts into the likes of a undisclosed Draft pick. It's not very far fetched considering it just happened to former Tulane QB Patrick Ramsey.

Nall is nothing yet, in fact we know very little about the long term prospects of Nall. I just keep bringing him up as a point of emphasis because I find it funny how Nall is a scrub to so many and JP is a player we MUST wait on. Why can't people detach the round a player was drafted in? NOTHING JP has done at this point as a NFL player gives him a better long term outlook then Nail and in some instances he is even less accomplished.

Yup crazy here's some research for you oh mighty Holcomb Record in 05........ 3-4 JP Record in 05................. 2-7 (counting KC as Win) Holcomb QB Rating............ 85.6 JP QB Rating-.................... 64.9 Holcomb COMP%-............. 67.4% JP COMP%- ......................49.6% Holcomb Yards Per Att-....... 6.56 JP Yards For Att-.................5.88 Also the post topic was simply to imply if we traded JP then something outside of what we know must have been going on, and that we should trust our decision makers to handle that. If you think your more informed about JP then our decision makers then I don't know what else to say other then I'm not surprised.