Lori

Yeah. Like you know anything about television. If I haven't already done so - congrats on the new gig, BTW.

I'm not angry because of anything said or printed by anyone in the media. I'm angry because my favorite team is freakin' 4-8 and going nowhere fast; because the alleged successor to the 1985 Bears defense can't hold a 20-point fourth-quarter lead - against the hated Fins, no less; and because three weeks from today will mark the NINTH anniversary of the Bills' last home playoff game. Season tickets: $763 Parking, times 10 games: $150 Flight/hotel/ticket for the Saints roadtrip: roughly $750 Watching my Bills fold like a cheap tent in gale-force winds: Priceless? Hardly. Oh, they're still 'my' Bills; I'll be up at RWS this Sunday and the following Saturday evening, hoping for - if no longer expecting - a win. But this season has been circling the drain since late September, and I didn't need any help from 'the media' to figure that out.

That was a helluva run, wasn't it? (One three-ball from Isiah Carson; the rest were two-pointers by Ahmad, Michael Lee, and frosh AJ Hawkins.) That game was well worth the vacation day and PA-to-Rochacha round trip it cost me. And from what I've heard about Relph (since I haven't actually seen him in anything but a couple of scrimmages), if he'd been on the court instead of in street clothes/walking boot, even Gansey might not have been enough to save them...

Ever actually meet the guy? Talk to him face-to-face? Just curious.

I've heard from a few different people - none of whom report for either the BuffNews or WGR, in case you were wondering - that the working relationship with One Bills Drive is as bad as they've ever seen it. We (the fans) have heard about the blank depth charts, top-secret injury reports, etc., but that's not all that's been going on. Interesting, too, that Bills Digest no longer has a 'Letters to the Editor' page. Just my opinion here, but I'm guessing that decision wasn't made by Chris Brown.

Not really - Canisius and some NEC teams. (Wonder if we can get their conference's automatic bid? ) Solomon scheduled down this year so they could put a decent run together, maybe even go into the A-10 with a winning record. But considering the fact that they were losing to teams like Marist and Cornell last year, I can be reasonably happy at 4-2 (with the two losses being at Niagara and a 5-pointer to West Virginia). They're probably not going to come close to the top of the league standings, but unlike last season (and its many nights of 20- and 30-point beatdowns), they should at least be competitive.

Considering he inherited the Tim Cohane mess, UB owes Witherspoon a lifetime contract for how he's resurrected that program. Things are looking brighter down Olean way as well, now that SBU has a full roster of Division I players again. (And not a single welding major in the bunch, so y'all don't have to bother with any smartaleck responses.) That's right, there are two "Big 4" teams with winning records right now... and neither of them are named Canisius or Niagara...

How's that old saying go? Something like, "May you live in interesting times," if I remember right. And things certainly are starting to get interesting out on Abbott Road. Brad: Kudos to whoever put together the 'other radio stations' bit you led the 8:00 hour with. That was some funny s___, even if it nearly made me drive off the road on the way home...

Milloy and Terrence McGee will dress. (In game uniforms, hopefully, although the message didn't say that. ) Mike Williams and Mark Campbell are inactive, though. (Countdown to the first MW=inactive joke begins.... NOW.) Thus sayeth the message from V-Coach.

That Raiders team has lost three defensive starters (Woodson, Gibson, and now Sapp) since they played Buffalo. Sapp's loss especially hurts them - they've replaced him at DT with a UDFA who had been playing end, and 260-pound Derrick Burgess has had to move from pass-rushing specialist to full-time RDE. On the depth chart I'm looking at, they don't even have any backups listed at end. On the other side of the ball, the Bills probably still wouldn't have been able to stop LaMont Jordan... just sayin' the defense they faced back in October wasn't the same one Miami played against last week, is all...

Sure about that, detox? I thought they were the academies' respective alma maters (different than the service songs).

Disagree - while columnists do have the freedom to express their opinions instead of sticking to straight "reporting", they should still be held accountable for getting the facts they're basing said opinions on correct. For a good example, witness the brouhaha over Mitch Albom's Final Four piece last April. Everyone here can make up his/her own mind as to whether they like/hate/ignore Sullivan's work, but in this case, his stats WERE correct. (Unfortunately for us Bills fans...)

I like your list better...

Only one problem with that. Have you looked at the depth chart lately? There's nobody behind him.

BUFFALO BILLS (4-7) at MIAMI DOLPHINS (4-7) SUNDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2005 – 1:00 PM ET DOLPHINS STADIUM, MIAMI, FL CBS: Don Criqui and Steve Beuerlein REGULAR-SEASON SERIES RECORD: Miami leads, 48-30-1. The Bills are 10-8 at Joe Robbie/Pro Player/Dolphins Stadium, including 1-1 in the playoffs. PLAYOFF RECORD: Buffalo leads, 3-1. LAST MEETING: October 9, 2005 - Bills 20, Dolphins 14 ( Preview from that game, with a more complete roster breakdown…) Buffalo scored on each of their first three possessions to build up a 17-0 lead midway through the second quarter, then held on for the win in Kelly Holcomb’s debut as the Bills’ starting quarterback. They had a lot of help from the Fish, though, as Miami turned the ball over five times and committed a franchise-record 18 penalties. Holcomb was an efficient 20-26 for 169 yards, including a short touchdown pass to Eric Moulds; Willis McGahee finished the game with 86 rushing yards and a touchdown. LAST TIME IN MIAMI: December 5, 2004 – Bills 42, Dolphins 32 Miami QB A. J. Feeley was busy handing out early Christmas presents - Pat Williams’ 20-yard interception return for the game-clinching touchdown was the fourth of five Feeley giveaways on the day. Drew Bledsoe had one of his best games as a Bill; two of his four touchdown passes ended up in the hands of Lee Evans, who also recorded his first career 100-yard receiving game. OVERVIEW OFFENSE (#19 TOTAL YARDAGE, #T13 RUSHING, #19 PASSING): The big difference from the game in October, of course, is Ricky Williams’ return to the active roster; he was still serving his four-game suspension when Miami played here. He’s rushed for 100+ yards in each of his last three games against Buffalo, including a Miami team-record 228 yards in the December 2002 ‘Snow Bowl’ game. Rookie Ronnie Brown ran well in the first game, averaging 5.7 yards/carry, but also lost a critical fumble when the Fins were driving towards a potential game-winning score late in the fourth quarter. Gus Frerotte continues to have a mediocre season – 12 TDs, 11 INTs, 68.5 QB rating – but he’s Nick Saban’s best option right now. Chris Chambers finally had his first 100-yard game of the season last week against Oakland, but the other starting WR, Marty Booker, has been held without a catch in each of the last two games. TE Randy McMichael remains a dangerous target over the middle, even more so with Lawyer Milloy banged up. He and Chambers each have five TD catches. DEFENSE (#19 TOTAL YARDAGE, #24 RUSHING, #14 PASSING): Keeping track of #99 will be a major challenge Sunday – DE Jason Taylor had two of Miami’s three sacks in the game at RWS, and bettered that with a three-sack performance (including one for a safety) vs. the Raiders last weekend. The line is solid against the run, and has combined for 22 of Miami’s 33 sacks this season. The Fins are hurting for depth at LB, especially if MLB Zach Thomas (shouler/ankle injuries) isn’t available Sunday. Junior Seau and Eddie Moore are officially out for the season, so Donnie Spragan is the starting SLB. Rookie Channing Crowder moved into the middle when Thomas went out, with Derrick Pope replacing him at the other OLB spot. After Tebucky Jones went on I.R., Travares Tillman (remember him?) took over as the starting SS against New Orleans. He’s picked off a pass in each of the last three games, tying him for the team lead with FS Lance Schulters. Sam Madison and rookie Travis Daniels are the starting CBs. SPECIAL TEAMS: Donnie Jones leads the league with a 40.2-yard net average, and 19 of his 58 punts have been downed inside the 20. Olindo Mare has had an inconsistent season – he’s 15-19 overall on FG attempts, but has missed three kicks in the 30-39 yard range, all in the last five weeks. Wes Welker continues to impress me; he does a decent job on kickoff returns, and currently stands third in the NFL with a 10.7-yard average on punt returns. Punt coverage is solid, but opposing kickoff returners are averaging over 25 yds/return. OUTLOOK: Last week’s postgame discussion in Lot 1 centered on the fact that this team appears closer to an major offseason rebuilding job than a playoff run. That said, though, they still have a decent shot to end up 5-1 in the AFC East… which says a lot about the rest of the division. Keys to beating Miami, and other random thoughts: - Find a way to stop the run, against a team averaging 4.5 yards/carry this season. Hey, we can keep hoping, right? - Stay away from the Big Mistake. Seventeen of the last 18 Buffalo-Miami games have been won by the team that forced more turnovers. (Positive trend worth noting here: the Fish are -5 in turnover margin this year; the Bills are +8.) - I like the idea of running the no-huddle offense, but wonder how effective it will be on the road. What I don’t like is watching our alleged “franchise running back” stand on the sidelines during the two-minute drill. Shaud Williams has yet to make an impact in the third-down packages. Squish the Fish! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Links: NFL.com: injury report / Miami depth chart /Miami team stats Ourlads.com: Miami depth chart Official team website: MiamiDolphins.com (mailin' it in from the branch office in Amherst, which also explains why I'm cutting it short this week...)

Yup.

Sounds like he's broken most/all of the UNH school records held by fellow PAHS alumnus Jim Stayer. Bummer.... But go Wildcats, anyway.

Likewise.

So you were part of the 45K who "had nothing better to do that afternoon"? Me too. (Well, not the getting-engaged part... ) And considering the way most of that season went, it was nice to finally (!) see a win....

I did. Thanks. Only one problem with that theory - previous bad running teams (see Oakland) have looked pretty good against the Bills D. I hope you're right, though...

CAROLINA PANTHERS (7-3) AT BUFFALO BILLS (4-6) SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2005 – 1:00 PM ET RALPH WILSON STADIUM, ORCHARD PARK, NY FOX: Sam Rosen, Bill Maas, Jay Glazer (sideline) REGULAR-SEASON SERIES RECORD: Buffalo leads 3-0, including 2-0 at home. PLAYOFF RECORD: none LAST MEETING: Bills 25, Panthers 24 December 9, 2001 – Ralph Wilson Stadium Buffalo’s only home win of the year, and one of the few bright spots in the dismal 2001 season. The Bills were fresh off a prime-time 35-0 beatdown in San Francisco and the Panthers hadn’t won since the first game of the season, so fewer than 45,000 people (who apparently had nothing better to do that afternoon) showed up to watch two 1-10 teams face off for the right to follow the expansion Houston Texans in the 2002 draft. Carolina scored early and often; rookie QB Chris Weinke ran for one TD and threw for another to give them a 24-6 lead with just 0:36 left before halftime. Those thirty-six seconds turned out to be one too many for Carolina’s sake - a lightning-quick seventy-yard Buffalo drive ended with 0:01 on the clock, as Peerless Price pulled in a 7-yard touchdown pass from Alex Van Pelt. The Bills defense showed some life in the second half; they not only kept Carolina off the scoreboard, but added some points of their own when Brandon Spoon scored his second interception-return TD of the season. Travis Henry’s one-yard fourth-quarter TD run put Buffalo ahead to stay and earned Van Pelt his first win as a starting QB since the 1997 season. In the long run, though, the Bills probably lost more than they gained by winning that game. The following April, Carolina would use the #2 overall pick to select DE Julius Peppers; Buffalo ended up taking Mike Williams two spots later. OVERVIEW OFFENSE: (#24 in total offense, #26 rushing, #15 passing, #6 points scored) The overall numbers may rank the Panthers offense in the middle of the pack or worse, but there’s nothing average about the All-Pro season WR Steve Smith is having. He leads the league in catches (72), yards (1,106), and receiving touchdowns (9), and (barring injury) is all but certain to eclipse Muhsin Muhammed’s team single-season records in each category. Smith is one of the top ‘home run’ threats in the NFL; he’s already had four catches of 50+ yards this season. 2004 #2 pick Keary Colbert is the other starter, although the ageless Ricky Proehl has 15 catches to Colbert’s 14. The Panthers also traded for Rod Gardner in the offseason, but he hasn’t had much of an impact. RB DeShaun Foster’s 21 catches make him the team’s second-leading receiver right now. QB Jake Delhomme will try to rebound from an eight-sack, two-INT outing against a tough Chicago defense last week; the Bears’ pass rush pressured him into some bad decisions and even worse throws. He’s got the arm strength and the attitude to take some shots downfield, which has resulted in some big plays both ways – three of his 12 INTs have been returned for touchdowns. It would help Delhomme a lot if someone besides Smith could get open more consistently… The Panthers’ biggest offseason move may well have been signing LG Mike Wahle (Green Bay) early in free agency. Wahle’s addition allowed them to move last year’s starting LG, Travelle Wharton, out to tackle and flip Jordan Gross back over to RT, where he started all 16 games in 2003. Center Jeff Mitchell and RG Tutan Reyes round out the starting five. They’ve done a decent job of protecting Delhomme (other than the Chicago game, of course), but the running game hasn’t found much traction. Foster is the only Carolina back averaging over 3.0 yards/carry this season, but has yet to score a touchdown. Following microfracture surgery, Stephen Davis doesn’t look like he has many more carries left in that reconstructed knee. (Then again, he hasn’t had the opportunity to play against the Buffalo run D yet this year, either...) Davis is still good in short-yardage situations, though, and leads the Panthers with 12 rushing TDs. DEFENSE: (#7 in total defense, #4 rushing, #18 passing, #T8 points against) Carolina misses Kris Jenkins at DT, but even without him they still have an above-average front four. DEs Mike Rucker and Julius Peppers both have Pro Bowl appearances on their résumés; so far this year, they’ve combined for half of the team’s 24 sacks. Tackles Brentson Buckner and Jenkins’ replacement, Jordan Carstens, anchor a solid run defense - Carolina has held their opponents to an average of 85.1 rushing yards/game, good for fourth in the league. MLB Dan Morgan is one of the best in the league when he’s healthy… which seems to be an ongoing problem with him. He has yet to play in more than twelve games in a season, and left the Chicago game with a sprained ankle. Chris Draft will get the start if Morgan – the team’s leading tackler – isn’t available this weekend. Will Witherspoon and Brandon Short are the outside ‘backers. The cornerbacks are talented but inconsistent. CBs Chris Gamble and Ken Lucas might give up a chunk of yardage on one play, then come up with a big play of their own on the next one; they each have four of the team’s 14 interceptions. Steady veteran Mike Minter moved to FS this season after the projected starter there, Colin Branch, shredded an ACL in the preseason. The Panthers first tried rookie Thomas Davis at SS, but settled on journeyman Marlon McCree. (Some of you may remember Bobby Shaw burning McCree to a crisp in the Bills-Jaguars game a couple of years ago. Jacksonville released him two days later.) SPECIAL TEAMS: In his fifteenth season, John Kasay - the last original Panther – is still more than capable of handling the kicking duties. He’s 12-13 from inside 50 yards this season; the only miss was from 46 yards last week in Soldier Field, not exactly an easy stadium to kick in. The Panthers swapped punters with the Broncos in the offseason, unloading Pro Bowl talent (but locker-room headache) Todd Sauerbrun. Jason Baker is averaging a decent 38.7 net, and 13 of his 46 punts have been downed inside the 20. Steve Smith and Chris Gamble have split time on punt returns; Rod Smart (of “He Hate Me” XFL fame) is the lead kickoff returner. They’ve broken a couple of long runbacks, but haven’t managed to put one in the end zone. The coverage teams are good – they haven’t given up a punt return longer than 18 yards or a kickoff longer than 43 yet this season. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- OUTLOOK: The Panthers need to win this game to keep pace in the three-way battle for the NFC South division title. The Bills? Doing something – anything, really - to help alleviate the embarrassment from last week’s 48-10 meltdown might be a good start. Keeping the Panthers under 20 points is a difficult task; of Carolina’s first ten opponents, only the Bears managed that feat. I think that’s the only way the Bills win this game, though, because it doesn’t look like they have enough firepower to get involved in a shootout any time soon. (Just a reminder: with six games remaining, Buffalo still needs nine more touchdowns to tie the team record for fewest TDs in a sixteen-game season. Ouch.) Seeya in Lot 1 Sunday morning. (Bring your snow shovels. No, wait - pack your rain gear instead. No, wait…) Oh yeah… Go Bills. Links: NFL.com: injury report / Panthers depth chart /Panthers team stats Ourlads.com: Panthers depth chart Official team website: www.panthers.com

Go 'Neers! My two favorite teams are STILL Penn State and whoever's playing Pitt...

Dunno. Can he play defensive tackle?

Some people I've talked to - including a couple of those voters - say Reed's image is far different nationally than in WNY. Whether or not he makes it won't have anything to do with his personality... That said, Thurman's probably got the best shot of the three Bills candidates. I'd like to see Ralph make it, of course, but the subset of voters who covered the AFL (and remember how important RCW was to that league and during the merger) keeps getting shorter.

I dunno, Rich - that Zemaitis kid is starting to grow on me....