Bob in STL

Defense holding tough. This team is playing hard. Not sure Fitz can do it without more help. Spiller could be the key to scoring more points.

Bryd pussed out on that screen.

Yes. He promised the team that the stupid selfish penalties would end. He is a child.

Really bad if true. No Johnson or Chandler, it will be hard on Fitz.

Good first half. You complainers are crazy. Did you expect so shutout? As for Stevie, it's about time Chan shows some balls.

Touching Brady- fifteen yards.

No, not all. Urbick was picked up early last year and was in camp. Reinhart and Pears were added later in the year when stalwarts such as Manfield Wrotto, Cornell Green and Codero Howard were injured.

I never understood the strong desire by Nix and Gailey to play 3-4 with the players we had? Even after two drafts aimed at getting us to a 3-4 we still look more suited for the 4-3 for several reasons. 1. Dareus can play anywhere but the thought of he and Kyle Williams playing inside together could form the most dominating DT tandem we have had since Tom Sestak and Jim Dunaway (that was 45 years ago). 2. We still do not have any OLB/DEs that can play 3-4 and put consistent pressure on the QB from the edges. Don't want to hear about Merriman coming back or Moats/Batten. Kelsey and Johnson are not 3-4 OLBs, anybody can see that. If we can acquire the right OLBs we should be able to play both 3-4 and 4-3 but I think a 4-3 would be our base defense. Our number 1 need is an outside linebacker that gets to the QB and makes plays all over the field. Draft this player and play the defense that best matches what we have.

We are improving the personell but the pace is very slow to me. The 2010 draft has not given us much. Spiller is starting to look like a player but Troup and Carrington are not producing. No starters out of this group is shameful. The 2011 draft looks more promising already. We have not done much in free agency either (Barnett is the best so far) but we have picked up some good players in the bargain bins (Pears, Urbik, Rhinhart, and Chandler). The coaching is more questionable. The defense has been putrid for two years and it looks like poor coaching and game calling more than anything else. The transition to the 3-4 has been a disaster. On offense we see shades of improvement. It all depends on which Fitz we get on any given week. I think Chan gets pass happy and I wish we had the players that could pick up a 3rd and 1 the old fashioned way. I will give it another year but this project is moving very slow IMO.

Overall there are not a lot of great TEs in Bills history but you forgot the 60's and 70's? The All Time best Bills TEs are Ernie Warlick and Pete Metzellars. Warlick was an awesome blocker with speed and good hands. Part of the 64 and 65 Championship teams. Two other good TE's from the olden days were Paul Costa and Paul Seymour and both were switched to OT later in their careers. McKellar could have been very good if not for injuries. I have to disagree on this one my friend. I would not put Jan White in there with Warlick. White was small, not a good blocker. Two seasons. Nope.

We are down to our last backup lineman on offense and we will be using our 4th center of the season. Chandler and Johnson are playing injured just so we can field a team. Fitz is either injured or has lost all confidence. We are playing Tom Brady, not Tim Tebow. Who is going to cover those TEs? It would feel great to sweep the Pats* but I am just not seeing it.

Concur.

This team still has a lot of needs. The short list (in this order): 1. A franchise QB - Fitz can keep the chair warm until we find one. 2. OLBs (yes two) that can rush from the edge - we need a real play maker on the defensive front 7 to compliment Dareus and Kyle. 3. WR - more speed, better routes and better hands - Easley, Jones, Roosvelt, Ruvell Martin and Hagen are not cutting it. 4. A beast at LT - Bell is good when healthy (but rarely is he healthy), Hairston looks like a good swing tackle and maybe a better project for RT. I think we have to go OLB/DE or WR with the first pick.

Brady would not know Jasper from Capser (the friendly ghost).

Bill, I agree with that our biggest need is OLB/DE (depending on which defense we are in). We need edge rushers. Pressure from the outside will make everyone else look better. Second, and a close second, is legitimate flanker/ Z reciever. Donald Jones is not the answer, neither is anyone else on the current roster. We need more speed from this position. This is a position that shoudl averag eat least 15 yrds per catch.

I will give Nix his atta-boy and then I will give the OL coach his atta-boy and then I will give most credit to Fitz. He makes the reads and get the ball out. Bledsoe, Losman, Trent, would all be getting sacked with this line.

By todays standards that is a very good starting point point. The Bills should be able to accomodate. I guess it will depend on how long and how much up front? I would sign him and still look at free agents and the draft. We need more speed.

Merriman will get a look because he is under contract already. I concur that McGee looks like he has had it. Not sure Roscoe Parish will be retained. Freddy needs another contract. He is our player on offense and deserves to be paid for it. Stevie should be retained for #2 money. Demitrius Bell should be offered a good, not great, contract. We should make an effort to retain him despite the injuries in his past. Top needs are: 1 - Pass rush - they need to address this in the draft and in free agency. OLB and DE are areas to improve no matter what defense we are playing. If we can get a few better players we can improve the interior by shiting Dareus inside to play with Kyle. 2 - Speed at WR - We have very little speed here. Easley is on the bubble and unproven. I can see us spending a premium draft pick here. We can use some veteran free agent help too. 3 - LT - If Bell leaves we need to bring in some reinforcements. Hairston is only the LT left. If Bell stays we still draft a decent prospect. 4 - TE - Chandler is good but I would love to have one of those super athlete TEs that everyone seems to be finding. They are not easy to get and Buffalo has a track record of failure when drafting TEs. As always we will bring in some decent DBs prospects to push the incumbants. QB of the future? I see us sitting pat for another year due to Fitz's contract and the committment they made. That said, if there is a guy they covet there in the first round they could make a move?

I like Wilson a lot but I see him as barely average against the run. He is not a great tackler, he simply lacks size and strength in that area. Whitner plays the run very well and is a sure tackler. I know it must be hard to believe this but the 49ers and the rest of the league know a little more about it than you do. I am happy to see Donte gone, he tweeting alone used to drve me crazy. Wilson is a adequate replacement (better in pass coverage/ weaker on the run) and overall a better leader for this team.

Here they come ... right on queue.

So after two days you have come back with no new information? You have provided marginal excuses as to why you do not need twenty years of data. Ok then, so what data do you have to measure the character of college atheletes? I am now ready to draft new players. How do I take your theory and apply it? Do I look for criminals? Do I look for the players with the worst police records? I am a NFL GM, what exactly are you talking about? What am i looking for? I do not disagree with your assertion on what marriage and child rearing does to testosterone levels in men. I have seen that data before. Tell me how to measure "character". That was the premise for your initial post. Your initial thought was to not concentrate on character when drafting players, instead find guys with the highest agression levels and therefore the highest testosterone levels. I still call that bunk! A simple test will tell you what a persons testosterone level is (I don't recall if it is blood or urine test). When did agression equate to successfully making big plays on the field? Can this even be correlated? Where we disagree is that I think you still need to strongly consider the actual atheletic ability and skills of the player along with the character of the person. Will this person listen to his coaches? Will he be a team player? Is he intelligent? Is he reliable? Can we as an organization, trust this person? Never, ever, ever sell trust short. NEVER hire someone you do not trust. Will you trust a man of known low character because his testosterone score is high? That answer is NO.

SJBF, Please quit while you are not to far behind. Don't you know that Chan sucks, the Bills suck, Fitz sucks, smokers suck, drunks suck, and Ralph is cheap and sucks. I thought you knew all this?

Lets all remember that Rayner made a few long tough kicks for us. He is a waiver wire pick up and not the next Adam Vinitari. Before the Miami game he was doing fine. His biggest gaff until that game was the squib kick that he did not execute (Jets game), and I blame Chan for not just kicking it away and putting him in that situation. He missed the critical short kick against Miami and then two more shorties against Denver. Given what has now come to light, Rayner should have been IR'ed three weeks ago. Also --- you cannot cut an injured player, you have to IR him and pay him or reach some settlement. Only the Bills would try to finish the season with an injured kicker. They basicially saved having to pay one more minimum wage salary for two weeks. I don't blame Rayner at all. This is another Front Office bungle.

The backup center eventually did settle down after a while. The worst was actually Levitre playing center against Miami on the road. That was very bad and Levitre never got comfortable. Truth is the Bills did not have a legitimate backup C/G on the roster to start the season. Urbik proved he can handle center so, assumning we have the same starters as last year, if Wood goes down again we move Urbik to center and Rhinhardt to RG. The old double switch.

Kelsey is a good football player. He is a DE that should line up with his hand on the ground. He should not be an 3-4 OLB playing in coverage or in space because he is not fast enough. Kelsey is a great team player and a true competitor. He gets a lot of bad press here on TSW, but I think real NFL football people would consistently tell you he is a good player that plays hard on every down.