RJ (not THAT RJ)

Leland McIlroy So where's my lollipop?

Pain.

The Saban and Gilchrist stories are well known, and I can see the arguments for adding both of them. Knox, however, gives me pause. Not that I deny he was an effective coach--leading three different playoff teams is a rare accomplishment. With the Bills, though, there was something missing. This is beyond the problems with the front office, though there were plenty. The issue was that Knox's teams in Buffalo, as much fun as they were, had an incredible ability to come up utterly flat. One never knew which team would show up, and that has to come back to coaching. The 1980 squad, for example, laid two eggs against Baltimore and blew a 14-0 lead at home to Atlanta, then in that fateful playoff against San Diego failed several times to score in the second half, including a terrible play call on 3rd and 1 late in the fourth that would have sealed the game. In 1981, the team laid several eggs--at Dallas, at St. Louis, at home against Philly, the finale against Miami--and almost blew a 24-0 lead in the playoffs to the Jets. By 1982, the team was ready to blossom, but after the strike Knox completely lost the team and they staggered to a terrible finish. In general, Knox was very conservative, which got his teams far, but neither at Buffalo nor in LA or Seattle was he able to take a team far into the playoffs. So, to borrow a line from the inestimable Ken Krippen, I think he belongs on the Wall of Very Good, not the Wall of Fame.

LaGarrette Blount was glad the Bills didn't carry a KO specialist last year.

I don't see why they should, jahbonas. I mean, there is the genius in the team sale thread who has convinced me that there is no way the team is staying in WNY. The sale to Toronto and relocation is pretty much inevitable, says this genius. Maybe you know him, jahbonas?

That is an epic Ode to Doom

One TD drive, or three series, whichever comes first. Oh, and one grumpy old man comment. I appreciate the technical effort that goes into creating a slide show, but would it really be so hard for the intern responsible to write some captions? Context is always nice, if one is actually interested in presenting historical information. Grumble.

I love those old NFL films highlights. The music is so epic. Sadly, Joe Collier dumped Daryle when he should have been looking to unload an aging Jack Kemp. Personality conflicts (of the Nolan-Hasek sort) may have played a role, but it was a dumb move that doomed the Bills, who went seven years before winning more than four games in a season. Lamonica and the Raiders won a bunch of games, but always came up short in the big ones. He won his first time in the AFL championship in 1967 (to lose SB II to the Packers), and then the Raiders lost AFL/AFC championships in 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971... My dad became a Raider fan after Lamonica went there, but then turned on the Raiders and on John Madden when Madden pulled Lamonica from the Immaculate Reception game and then made Ken Stabler his starter in 1973. Watching those highlights, though, you can see the talent on those Raider teams. Warren Wells was a burner, and Fred Biletnikoff caught everything.

All of you saying the Rams can now suck for the first pick overall may want to consider that Bradford, the China Doll, the bust, the this the that was the first pick overall. No guarantees in this league. Ever.

How much does a guy that huge have to drink to blow a .14?

EJ made a mistake because he was trying to make a play. I hope that all of you lambasting him here will remember that you wanted an immediate check down when you are complaining that EJ checks down too quickly and doesn't scan the field. Sheesh.

So now we are to hate EJ because he DIDN'T check down? Golly, it's hard to keep up around here...

Divisions were actually bigger then: the Easts and Wests had five teams each, the Centrals 4. Edit: Forgive an old man's memory: Until 1976, AFC and NFC East had 5 each; Centrals and Wests had 4 each. After Tampa and Seattle entered the league in 1976, they evenyually settled into the NFC Central and AFC West, respectively.

The Jets went from 1970 to 1998 without winning their division....

In the 1970s, there were several teams that won their divisions consistently: Raiders, Steelers, Vikings, and Rams all come to mind.

The stories have all suggested that the source of the conflict is this undrafted D-lineman, who is right now signing his ticket off the team after the next round of cuts.

For some more historical perspective, has anyone yet mentioned Jim Ritcher? He was an Outland winning Center at NC State, drafted in the first round by the Bills in 1980 (back when Centers, not LTs, were considered the most important OLmen) and he flopped terribly as a center in the NFL. Chuck Knox, who had such high hopes for him at C, swallowed hard and made him a G, where he became a mainstay of the OL through the 1980s. So there is no need to despair. Not yet, anyway.

Every silver lining has a cloud, huh, 8and8?

So, does the fact that the trust clearly is insisting on some kind of at least medium commitment to keeping the team in Buffalo going to get any of the chicken littles who ran around saying "Ralph did nothing to keep the team in Buffalo! They will sell to the highest bidder and move the team!" to admit they were wrong?

College QBs in general are a total crap shoot, not only because of schemes, but also because the talent differentials between teams allow for the padding of eye-popping stats that can never be replicated when facing NFL-level competition. Remember that even the U has sent some stinkers to the NFL (Steve Walsh and Geno Toretta come to mind). Stanford sends one good QB to the NFL roughly every generation (Plunkett, Elway, Luck); ND hasn't had an even remotely successful NFL QB since Rick Mirer, which ain't saying much. Meanwhile, one of the most successful QBs every to play professional football couldn't even hold down the starting job at Michigan.

"the Shrade"? Ye Gods!

No, Coach, he did not. Trent Edwards led a furious comeback to defeat the Raiders.

Donn Esmonde is entitled to his opinion and his job, though one has to start from the basic fact that anyone--be he a news columnist or a message board poster--who says, "I hate to be cynical/pessimistic/a wet blanket/a dour douchenozzle" is lying. They love it and think they are superior for being that way. Every. Single. Time. That said, Esmonde is not wrong to doubt whether the Bills need a new stadium. In any rational world, of course they don't need one. Football in particular and sports in general are the toy department of life, and everything connected to them is a choice, not a necessity. A renovated Ralph can be a wonderful place to watch a game for many years to come. The more complicated question, however, is, if the NFL makes the existence of a new stadium a condition of the team staying in WNY, what are the people of WNY willing/able to do? This is not so easy to answer, but it also requires facing a bitter truth: if the Bills leave WNY, the NFL is never coming back to the region. Ever. We are not Cleveland, the NFL is not making any more deals like that. To pretend otherwise is folly.

Other way around, Kelly. He was the Raider who recovered the fumble against the Jets.

I wonder whether the holdout was to give his body more time to process the steroids so he wouldn't flunk a drug test?