Lori

ebay: 2006 media guides (Of course, the listings claiming "rare" or "only given to the media" are flat-out lies; all you need is $10 and a ride to the Stadium Store...) Still haven't gotten my CD version, either. Fug 'em, I'll just burn one myself.

Yup. We'll just ignore the fact that he played all sixteen games last year and tied Terrence McGee for the team lead in INTs. I'm fully on board with the decision to move on without him, but I've got this pet peeve about revisionist history...

Saints already have two #1 picks starting at DE, and Haynes was listed as questionable this week with a back injury. Plus, both their FBs were injured Sunday and could be out for the next 4-6 weeks, so they needed to clear a roster space (which they used to sign FB Vonta Leach). That said, Haynes never lived up to expectations in Chicago. Sure, I'd bring him in for a workout (if/when he's healthy), but even though he's one of my Penn State guys, can't say as I'd offer him a contract on the spot...

McGee's career average before this season: 27.6 yds/return, including four TDs (which you can figure on being 95-100 yards each). McGee's average Sunday, with the longest return only 44 yards: 27.5 yards/return. Breaking it down that way, you could argue he actually had a better ratio of quality returns vs. the Pats.

That'll be PFT's next article... Eric: check your sarcasm detector. Thanks. You're right about Tasker, and I believe it was exactly the same injury. They released him September 20 1997 to sign Mitchell Galloway, beat the Colts the next day (Todd Collins' big comeback), then re-signed him on Monday.

BUFFALO BILLS at MIAMI DOLPHINS SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2006 – 1:00 PM EDT DOLPHIN STADIUM, MIAMI GARDENS, FL TELEVISION: CBS PLAY-BY-PLAY: Greg Gumbel COLOR ANALYST: Dan Dierdorf DIRECTV NFL Sunday Ticket: Channel 707 / Channel 719 (HD) RADIO: Buffalo Bills Radio Network PLAY-BY-PLAY: John Murphy COLOR ANALYST: Mark Kelso SIDELINE REPORTER: Paul Peck Miami Dolphins Radio Network PLAY-BY-PLAY: Jimmy Cefalo COLOR ANALYST: Joe Rose SIDELINE REPORTER: Nat Moore Sirius Sunday Drive: Channel 143 (Buffalo feed) / Channel 147 (Miami feed) REGULAR-SEASON SERIES RECORD: Dolphins lead, 49-30-1. The Bills are 12-27-1 all-time in Miami, but have a winning record (10-9) in Joe Robbie/Pro Player/Dolphin Stadium since it opened in 1987. PLAYOFF RECORD: Bills lead, 3-1. LAST MEETING: December 4, 2005 – Dolphins 24, Bills 23 The Bills stunned the Dolphins defense early, with JP Losman and Lee Evans hooking up for touchdowns on three of their first four possessions. Evans would finish the day with five catches for 117 yards, a career high, and become the first player in team history to score three touchdowns in one quarter. Buffalo held a 21-3 lead at the half, and extended it to 23-3 when London Fletcher tackled Gus Frerotte for a safety (and knocked him out of the game). Frerotte’s injury turned out to be a bad break for the Bills, though, as backup QB Sage Rosenfels rallied the Dolphins to their second-largest comeback in team history. Chris Chambers is a good receiver, but he should send the Bills defense a thank-you card for his first Pro Bowl selection. Even with fellow starter Marty Booker sidelined, Buffalo still couldn’t find a way to cover Chambers. His 15 catches for 238 yards – including the game-winning touchdown over Jabari Greer with six seconds left on the clock – set new franchise records in both categories. Much is made of the decision to call a pass play on first-and-goal at the Miami 3, which led to a Sam Madison interception. Whether or not it was the right playcall is open to debate, but the Bills still led 23-3 at the time, and the Dolphins didn’t score on the ensuing drive. You want the real reason Buffalo lost this game? Check out their last drive of the day, one of four fourth-quarter possessions that failed to cross midfield: DOLPHINS OVERVIEW (2005 RANKINGS) OFFENSE (#14 total yardage, #12 rushing, #16 passing, #16 scoring): After enduring several years of mediocre play at the position, the Miami braintrust decided they had to find a decent quarterback. They brought Drew Brees in for a workout, but ultimately rolled the dice on former Vikings franchise QB Daunte Culpepper and his rebuilt right knee. Question is, will they get the 2004 version of Culpepper -- who put together one of the best seasons by any quarterback in league history -- or the one who had twice as many interceptions as touchdown passes when he shredded his knee last October? (Here’s something to consider: since Randy Moss left for Oakland in the 2004-05 offseason, Culpepper has accumulated the following stats: 157-253, 1826 passing yards, 6 TDs, 14 INTs, 34 sacks, 68.7 passer rating. Oh, and a 2-6 won-lost record.) If anything happens to Culpepper, Miami also dealt for Joey Harrington (Lions) in the offseason. No doubt “Joey Blue Skies” is just happy to get away from the chaos in Detroit… The Fins’ line improved from horrible in 2004 to mediocre last season, cutting their sacks-allowed number in half, but only left guard Jeno James and right tackle Vernon Carey return at the same positions this year. Free agent L.J. Shelton (Browns) was signed to replace Damion McIntosh at left tackle. McIntosh was released in a salary-cap move, then rehired as a backup. Rex Hadnot moves inside to replace last year’s starting center, Seth McKinney, who is on IR with a neck injury. Bennie Anderson (more than) fills Hadnot’s slot at right guard. With fourth-round pick Joe Toledo joining McKinney on IR, Miami brought in Kendyl Jacox just before the season started to back up the interior line positions. So far, they’re off to a fine start… if you’re a Dolphins-hater, that is. The team averaged fewer than three yards per carry and allowed slightly more than three sacks per game during the preseason. Things didn’t improve in their season opener, either: the Steelers D held Ronnie Brown to 15 carries - 30 yards and dumped Culpepper three times. If Miami actually finds five guys who can block, Brown could have a breakout season. He’s got all the ‘measurables’ and is a decent receiver out of the backfield, and with Ricky Williams taking another sabbatical, he’ll be asked to carry most of the load this year. Recently-signed Lee Suggs (Browns) and change-of-pace back Travis Minor will both get some carries when Brown needs a break, at least until Sammy Morris returns from his four-game suspension. Chambers is a quality receiver and the team’s top red-zone target, and he has more catches/yards/TDs vs. Buffalo than against any other team. He still shows signs of inconsistency, though, catching only about half of the passes thrown to him. (Thanks to FootballOutsiders.com for that stat.) Rookie Derek Hagan -- the all-time Pac-10 receptions leader -- could eventually push Marty Booker into a reserve role, but for now, he’s splitting time at #3 with special-teams standout Wes Welker. As for Booker, he’s thrown a couple of passes in his NFL career, something new OC Mike Mularkey is sure to keep in mind. The Bills defense has done a good job containing Randy McMichael in previous meetings, but he could be a tough matchup over the middle for the fledgling Buffalo safeties. Justin Peele (Chargers) was brought in as the #2 TE. DEFENSE (#18 total yardage, #17 rushing, #20 passing, #15 scoring): Strong defense has been the foundation of Miami teams ever since the Jimmy Johnson era, but the current squad is starting to show signs of age: weakside linebacker Channing Crowder, Zach Thomas’s heir apparent, is the only front-seven starter under the age of 30. Thomas led the team in tackles yet again last year, but has played a full sixteen-game schedule only once since 1999. Keith Traylor played against Buffalo in the 1991 AFC Championship game, way back when he was still a somewhat-svelte linebacker instead of a 340-pound nosetackle. LE Kevin Carter was the Rams’ very first draft pick after they moved to St. Louis in 1995. Vonnie Holliday lines up at RE when the Dolphins run a 3-4 set, and can move inside to tackle in a 4-3, making room for four-time Pro Bowl DE Jason Taylor. Taylor led the team in sacks (12) again in 2005, the fourth double-digit total of his career. And with 3-4 guru Dom Capers on board as defensive coordinator, #99 could be even more dangerous this season. Cornerback Travis Daniels was supposed to be the only returning starter in the secondary, but he’s recovering from a high ankle sprain and hasn’t played in a game since the end of last season. He’s still listed as questionable this week; former Lion Andre’ Goodman would get another start if Daniels can’t go. Giants castoff Will Allen is the other corner, essentially trading places with Sam Madison, who signed with New York during the offseason. Miami drafted Jason Allen (Tennessee) with their first-round pick, but following a training-camp holdout that stretched into August, he’s behind Renaldo Hill on the depth chart at FS. Former Bills #2 pick Travares Tillman took over as the starting SS when Tebucky Jones was injured last season, with Yeremiah Bell also seeing time at the position. SPECIAL TEAMS: Olindo Mare, entering his tenth season with the Dolphins, isn’t quite as accurate as he was in his prime. He can still hit the 50-yard FG, though, and he consistently leads the league in kickoff yardage. Donnie Jones is a decent punter – 31 of his 88 kicks landed inside the 20 last season, with only 7 touchbacks – but his net average was aided by one of the best punt-coverage teams in the league. Wes Welker is an elite special-teams player: he averages almost 10 yards per punt return, over 22 yards on kickoff returns, and always seems to be making a heads-up play. In 2004, he even kicked a 29-yard field goal while filling in for an injured Mare. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- OUTLOOK: The young Bills still have a lot to learn about finishing teams off. Last week’s come-from-ahead loss marked the fourth consecutive time they’ve coughed up a second-half lead on the road; the Cincinnati game was the only one they managed to win. But if the undersized Buffalo defensive line can manage to hold up against the massive Miami front five – at 320 pounds, Jeno James is the lightweight of the bunch – I like their chances this week. Willis McGahee and Anthony Thomas give the Bills a solid 1-2 punch at RB for the first time in a very long time, and we’ve already seen what Losman-to-Evans looks like against the men in aqua-and-orange. Plus, I’m not buying the traditional Dolphins-to-the-Super-Bowl hype. Buffalo has won three of the last four games against Miami, and only a collapse of historic proportions kept it from being four-for-four. Even with all the kids in the game on defense, I can see that trend continuing. But hey, that's just my opinion; I could be wrong... Go Bills, anyway. Links: NFL.com: injury report / Bills depth chart / Bills team stats / Dolphins depth chart / Dolphins team stats Ourlads.com: Bills depth chart / Dolphins depth chart Official team websites: BuffaloBills.com / MiamiDolphins.com FinHeaven.com

Different situation, Scott. Last year, the players thought they had a decent chance to continue their late '04 run, and felt like the rug was pulled out from under them when TD dumped Bledsoe and tossed the car keys to the kid. This time around, there's young'uns all over the roster, TD is gone, most of the coaches are gone. While guys like TKO might want to keep talking the talk about "this is not a rebuilding season", deep down they have to know the reality. I don't blame Takeo for hating the idea; he thought he was coming to a playoff-caliber team. I don't think Losman gets the brunt of the blame this time, though. JMO.

OK - just watch and see how fast they're on top of JP here. No chance. Quoting Simms: "There's nothing Losman can do."

Ooh. Now you've got me thinking about how they'll look under a blacklight. Psychedelic, man....

Huh? Kelly doesn't look anything like Sandler. Oh, wait... that isn't who you meant, is it?

I hoped Arkush hadn't fallen to the PFT level...

Likewise. That's one sneaky mutt.

Faustus, I edited the thread title. Otherwise, the "Out? It doesn't say out?" posts will continue. Hope you don't mind, and thanks for the link.

Er - that's Pro Football Weekly, correct? But if they would have gone the waived/injured route, if I recall the Christie situation correctly, they could re-sign him after week 10. Sounds like they've already made the decision to move forward without him... which isn't really a surprise, I guess. As for clearing waivers, that depends on whether the team claiming him would be obligated to pick up the rest of his current contract. Not sure how that works. If so, unless some team suddenly becomes desperate for a 35-year-old DB, everyone might just decide to sit back and wait for him to clear.

Umm, because the PUP list isn't an option, we were down to three healthy safeties (Wire and the two rookies), and either moving Vincent to IR or releasing somebody was the only way to open up the roster spot for Leonhard? Just a thought.

Easy fix. And yes, the effects of a bone bruise CAN linger. He'd probably already be back if it was on his arm instead of his shin...

Gotta bust on him for rockin' the Reggie Bush Saints jersey at the NFL Network draft, though. Where was that sweeet #34 throwback he wore last year? (Hi, Nick. ) More Bills-related stuff from that column: Oh, and you can read up on him at http://www.nickbakay.com/ . Some of the info isn't quite up to date, but I think he is still doing part of the pregame show on 97 Rock (via phone from CA, of course).

Right; Christie ended up in San Diego that year, IIRC. Thanks, theesir. You covered everything in my notes...

I was trying to be nice.

There's still a chance he could practice later in the week, although I'd be on board with the better-safe-than-sorry plan. I'll wait for the official injury report on this one. (Which, considering the weekly game release STILL isn't available, could be any time between now and Sunday afternoon at 1:00...)

From Jason Whitlock: "We haven’t seen a debut this bad since the maker of the Titanic shouted, “full steam ahead.” " Kansas City Star

Amen to that. Gotta love those guaranteed salaries for vested veterans. One drive, one "tackle". (And yes, considering that he was having problems with that hammy during the preseason, I'm wondering. Maybe I'm too cynical. Or maybe not...)

A little in GB, don't know about Washington... but he's still not practicing, so that probably wouldn't help us this week either. Leonhard is still out there. Looking at the list of safeties on KFFL, not much else is. Jim, I'm guessing your phone is about to ring, if it hasn't already... (And speaking of phones, V-Coach just buzzed in. They're getting slow...)

Wow. HUGE news. I liked the idea of keeping Simpson in the lineup, but now we need to find another safety ASAP. And it looks like the people who suggested cutting TV in the preseason were right; at least we'd still have Baker on the roster instead of scrambling for a replacement...