silvermike

It's a fact that the majority of this team was either drafted or acquired by Tom Donahoe. When they perform well, you have to give him at least some margin of credit for it, and Mort does - and the fact that this is isn't conventional wisdom at this point justifies his bringing it up. However, there's still more to it than that. Donahoe brought these guys, but couldn't put a winning season together. And there are several well-defined reasons for it: a.) He didn't bring in a coach that could work with his players b.) He didn't pay attention to the offensive line. c.) He didn't accurately assess the needs of the team. The Bills defense collapsed last year, due to several problems that Marv addressed and Donahoe didn't. Maybe it was too soon to tell, but the safeties got old, and we had no real depth (say what you will about Leonhard and Baker). Sam Adams got old and Tim Anderson wasn't ready. And of course, there's Jerry Gray. On offense, he threw Losman in before he was ready, and once that was done, he never got a chance to redeem himself. This could be blamed on Mularkey (and therefore, TD)

Seriously, I'll say this: The Jets are four chances to see the Pats and Dolphins lose every year. And since they're always terrible, it's two good chances for us to win. And when they DO beat NE and Miami, it's a horrible embarassment, because, after all, no team that has lost to the Jets in the regular season has gone on to win the Super Bowl.

Wow. Well, here's to the Bills training staff for even keeping those two guys on the field for the past few seasons.

Not to belabor a detail, but you would say "Due to a freak accident, Anderson tore both triceps" not tricepses?

This is just classic, common-wisdom thinking that doesn't automatically fail, but also rarely breeds success. You can't put some arbitrary rating scale of positions ahead of the player that helps your team the most - the Bills line doesn't obviously need Ngata or Bunkley - we're getting that performance from Williams and Tripplett. Winston Justice dropped a whole other round - clearly not a LT anchor that would have replaced Gandy. We were clearly not going to take a WR or RB, and QB was the big decision to make. So what's left? Ernie Sims? Maybe. I think this was the right pick.

TD certainly deserves some credit for drafting them, yes. But Denney, Clements, and Reed were at least questionable free agents this offseason, and Marv made the call to keep them - over the objections of many fans (or to trade Nate). Lindell was a clear win for TD, as were TKO and McGee, and Willis. But Marv didn't draft someone to take over for JP (Cutler, Leinart), trusted Lee Evans to step up (still, perhaps, a questionable move), etc. There are only a handful of players that were such TD no-brainers as to not require the skilled judgement of the new GM. He made the calls.

Yeah, there's no such thing as a 'tricep', and triceps is plural. That said, Willis McGahee (Ligaments) wasn't particularly unlikely, so who knows.

One play doesn't make a great player, no. But considering he's somewhere between the 45th and 53rd man on the roster, I don't really think he needs to do more than that. What would Rashard Baker have done?

Make the original logo the permanent jersey, and the slug thing as a third, and I'll be happy.

Lovie Smith is the lowest-paid HC in the league. Cheaper than Williams, cheaper than Mularkey, and hell, cheaper than Jauron. If Donahoe had wanted him, he could have had him. No $3M/year coach, he.

Let's remember, nobody ever won a Super Bowl without throwing for 300 yards. http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/boxscore?gid=20060205023

The Bills consistently got pressure with a four man rush. They blitzed a few times (successfully, with Ko) but most of the defense was a four man rush, and it got to Culpepper. Jerry Gray blitzed CONSTANTLY last year, and it always got picked up and beat.

Miami's in a rebuilding year now? Seriously? That must have been why Saban let Junior Seau go.

Speaking as I was born in the 80s, I hate the Pats more than the Dolphins. The Jim Kelly - Dan Marino/Marv-Shula showdowns were clashes of titans, and you always left the stadium feeling like the better team had won. And it was usually us (esp. Jimbo's QB sneak TD in 1989). Off the field, Miami was a game that you looked forward to, and hated as a rival - but not nearly as personally as I hate Belichick, Brady, Harrison, etc. None of this "Just give it to them" nonsense. Kelly and Marino were personal friends - is there a single Bill that likes a single Patriot? !@#$ the Pats.

The OP said it.

Jim Kelly was part of a pretty significant 'Bickering Bills' wave in the late 80s, and was generally pretty sharply criticized for it.

JP will be able to add his legs as a weapon once he's gotten down that he can throw the ball. Scrambling is a great dimension to add - but he's guilty in the past of using it as a crutch. It'll get him hurt and it'll prevent his maturity as a passer. After his first 300 yard game, let's talk running.

NE: Matt Light Carolina has Jordan Gross and Mike Wahle Denver: Matt Lepsis: Other notable offensive lines from recent history: Seattle: Walter Jones PIT: Marvel Smith St. Louis: Orlando Pace Baltimore: Jonathan Ogden. The last two have slipped lately, but both won super bowls, by the way.

Coach Vincent! If he likes living here and likes working with the guys/Jauron, let's see if we can get him a DBs Coach spot down the line, or at least, a special assistant/defense job.

Bowen can definitely play both S positions, no? What about Whitner and Simpson - are they locked in?

I hate it when people spell the name of the guys on the damned team wrong. Typos happen, so maybe the occasional Losnan can be forgiven. But Juron? Lossman? Dante Whittner? Tom Donahue? MaGehee?

Strange. Well, see who gets the most playing time. I bet it's the guy from OSU.

Suspension. Conduct detrimental to the team. 4 games, and DARE him to grieve it. Then allocate his ass to NFL Europe.

The Chargers could wear white uniforms, with throwback helmets?

It's 25 tackles from the secondary at the end, and that's not a good sign if it's more htan the total number of pass attempts - and twice as much as the completion rate. Great rundown.