Lori

Cater. At least spell his name right, dammit.

Right on. Some of the playcalls still baffle me... (Direct quote from yesterday: "what the F#&! is Jabari Greer doing in the game on offense?!?!?") ...but unlike GreggW, it seems like they're willing to learn from their mistakes.

Perhaps Tucker > Teague, but Teague > Lawrence Smith. Using Bannan at LG should have told us the coaching staff was actively weighing different options at that spot.

Indeed. I honestly still think he wasn't ready to begin the season as the starter, but there's now no question as to who is the better RB. OL: remember a few days ago, when most everyone was calling for Tucker to stay at C and stick Teague somewhere else (or even leave him on the bench)? I think I like this solution better. BarryBrady would call it the TinkerToys approach to the o-line, but IMO you have to get your best 5 on the field.

Yup, they'll really be impressed by that lifetime 70.7 QB rating. More INTs than TDs. 68 sacks in 31 starts. Whatever.....

Good thoughts here, despite a momentary eruption of inanity. I voted for "all of the above".... but that said, this offense is different with #21 on the field.

Perhaps because the entire Patriots team didn't total 100 rushing yards in the first matchup, and that was with Tom Ashworth, not Brandon Gorin, at RT? Just a thought. (P.S.: Joey Porter says to tell Brandon hello. And thanks.)

Likewise, theesir! Cool sitting next to someone who watches a game the same way I do. And yeah, we probably should have told Howard "Tom's not normally like this...."

Wasn't that MNF game the same one where someone called in a bomb threat against Howard Cosell before the game, then set off a string of firecrackers right outside the broadcast booth? I heard that they found Don Meredith underneath the desk, cradling a booze bottle, and that Cosell swore he'd never come back to Buffalo.....

Recruiting isn't the entire answer, Mark -- PSU signed four HS All-Americans last fall, five if you count Anthony Morelli. It's what happens to them after they get to State College that befuddles me. Remember what Zack Mills looked like his freshman year? We thought he might turn out to be one of the all-time greats at PSU; instead, he seems to regress more each season. Ditto for many of the other blue-chippers who disappear off the radar after a year or two at PSU. We sign all-state WRs, and they can't catch a cold. HS All-American d-linemen end up as mediocre OL backups. You're right, this team should be better than it is. Makes me wonder what the heck they do in practice -- because whatever it is, it ain't working...... P.S. - Hey Gavin, :I starred in Brokeback Mountain: (Of course, last weekend was the only week of the year I could actually cheer FOR Syracuse; any day Pitt loses is a good day. Even though those Halloween uniforms the 'Cuse were wearing made that more difficult....)

Yeah, that was very cool....

I wonder if that's the play Pennington got hurt on? On the safety - you could see it coming a mile away. After Moorman's absolutely unbelievable punt, that end zone was going nuts..... there was no way nohow Martin was getting past the goal line. Think it's time for a new link in my signature. We WILL get Brian Moorman into the Pro Bowl this season.

Aw shucks. Thanks. And sometimes I even guess right......

Absofrigginlutely. Can't count how many times I yelled "Yeah CHRIS!!!!" today.

Because 1) I normally pack a trunkload - grill, cooler, etc., and 2) I keep hoping the TBD sign in the back window of the car will help pull in the stragglers who never seem to be able to find us at Pole 5.....

Thanks for the rewind, GG. I certainly wasn't willing to sit through the first two hours of that game again...... DCTom, it was a little bit of both. Pennington's career number is 66.5 %; that's just unbelievable. Higher than Montana or Young.... heck, higher than ANYONE in the all-time Top 20 QB-rating list. And as well as he played against Buffalo, that's only his third-best completion % of the season. Plus, he's only been sacked 7 times this season; that's another part of the problem. Might be able to rattle the guy if you get in his face -- but nobody can do that on a consistent basis, so we don't even know if that would work or not. Or maybe we do... the Bills managed to get pressure on CP in the game at the Ralph last December, sacking him four times before halftime and five times overall. Result: 15-29, 155 yds, 0 TD, 1 INT, and the first NFL game Pennington ever started where the Jets never got into the end zone. 17-6, Bills. Add in a 20mph wind -- let's hear it for more "football weather", yay! -- and hopefully we'll see similar results today. Gotta run - 2-hour drive, and I want to be on the road by 7. Go Bills!

Yeah -- we noticed.

If you know me, eryn's dad, you know I'm not exactly a big WGR fan. Seriously, I'm just wondering. Now all the Simoncast stuff, that was spam.

Bastards, all of you. You keep bumping my Bills-Jets thread down the board for THIS?!?!? BTW BiB, it's not a beer mug, it's a Cosmopolitan glass. An empty one. Right, Sue?

(This question is addressed to the people who don't live in the WGR broadcast area; obviously, you locals wouldn't need to pay to hear it....) Reading through some of the many responses to Howard Simon's thank-you post, I was struck by the number of people who subscribed to a cable/DTV sports package solely to get Empire (which recently has meant the Simoncast and the Sports Report, and that's about it), and who either already have or are going to drop those channels now. I also know there were repeated requests for the URL for Empire's streaming audio; that's why I ended up putting it in my Simoncast ad (err..... signature line ). A lot of you are pleading with GR to start streaming. The fiscal reality, though, is that someone listening via the 'Net from Florida or California probably isn't going to support Buffalo-area advertisers, and they don't count in the Arbitron ratings (which impacts the rate card for ad buys). Bottom line: streaming isn't a priority for GR, or any other station, unless it's financially worth their while. The only way I can see to make it worth their while would be to make it a pay-to-listen site. (And there would still be problems to clear up - for instance, if they ever play NHL hockey again, I assume WGR wouldn't be allowed to stream broadcasts of Sabres games because it would conflict with the NHL's own setup.) But if the logistics are workable and the choice was given to you, would you be willing to pay a couple bucks a month (can't realistically see anything over $3.95 or $4.95/month) to get your Buffalo sports fix? Just askin', because I really don't know how much interest is out there.

Valid point.

You mean the one last month? I'd suggest leaving out any Bills offensive plays for the first three quarters.

Simon: Pennington's % for the season is 68.2. And thanks for the input. I realize none of the current TEs is likely to make anyone forget Big Red's blocking ability any time soon. My thoughts were more along the lines of, with either Aiken or a second TE in the game instead of Reed, Tom Clements will be forced into more of a run-first mindset. And for this game, I think that's a good thing.

Honestly, how many hits do you think they'd get at $5/month? People are paying more than that for XM/Sirius; people paid more than that for the TV sports packages, solely to get Empire. (Sigh... if only some of that $$$ had come their way, instead of going to the local cable companies/DTV.....) I think my loyalty to the sadly departed WNSA -- and concurrent disdain for the WGR product, in comparison -- is a well-known fact around here. But if the alternative is trying to catch the 90-second sports soundbites on the 6 o'clock news for my Bills coverage (and I realize even that's an option most of you don't have), then yeah, I would seriously have to consider giving Entercom some of my hard-earned money. Yes, I really just typed that. Sign me up. Just promise me I don't have to listen to Jim Rome, or anyone who pretends to be him. Let's crank up the e-mail machine and see if we can get something done. For those of you who spend time at other Bills messageboards, do me a favor and post a survey about this; let's see what the level of interest is out there.

Agreed. Low-risk stuff. (Yeah... probably not screens, at least not the way this team runs them..... ) Put the game in the hands of our Pro Bowl punter and the #2 defense, if we have to.