RJ (not THAT RJ)

Newton is not a bust, but he has been oddly inconsistent, and proof that a talented QB alone does not a rebuild make.

CJ's TD run was up the middle... he cut it outside. Which is what the running game is supposed to provide.

Quite right, apuz... ask the St. Louis Rams, for example... or even the Carolina Panthers!

My pleasure, Fergy!

"Personal Foul... Unsportsmanlike Conduct... on God. Walked off against the home team. First down!"

Now why is assuming that others will "probably" be better than the Bills in the future a rational view? I am all for realism, but there is no need for gratuitous, self-flagellatory negativity!

Screens may appear... do note that they tried one with Freddy and Tuel for a first down in CLE.

Gregg Easterbrook has written several times in his TMQ column about the statistical impossibility of a team like NE throwing as often as they do and never being called for holding. It is an open secret, which one could argue has always favored the good teams. It is rather like how basketball refs call traveling and double dribble all the time in JV high school games and almost never in the NBA. It is also maddening.

Tuel starts this week no matter what. Who finishes, or who starts the following week, depends on how Tuel plays.

Kolb's season ended because the Redskins gave him a concussion... leaving an opening for Pat White from the Redskins to join the Bills... hmmmmmmm. Does anyone know if White also has connections to any rubber mat vendors?

Beerball makes a good point that clearly there was a mistake somewhere. I tend to believe the mistake was in the coaches believing that Tuel could step in, though even that mistake is not as clear as some would suggest. There is a difference between believing he could step in with a week's preparation and believing that he could step in cold in the second half of a nationally televised game. The number of backup QBs who could ever perform well under those latter circumstances is quite small, after all. (Weeden is a different case because he was a former starter, and is a vet.) Elsewhere you can see someone bring up the Frank Reich example: not so good right off the bench in Indy in 1989, much better the following week at home. I can remember Clint Longley coming off the bench for Dallas on Thanksgiving Day in 1974 and playing lights out, then never doing anything else in the league again. In other words, it does not make much sense to reach a final declaration based on Thursday's admittedly bad start. The big test will be to see how Tuel does at home against a stout Bengals D.

Hm. Let me see if I can play the grumpy fan game: "I hate this pick. I would have preferred they sign Bradshaw, Unitas, or Tittle." Sigh.

Having problems quoting, so I apologize for Badolbeelz for not responding sooner: I know the Bills are a product, which of course is another reason to remember that following them is a choice. If I don't like Weber's mustard, I stop buying it; I don't stand in the supermarket aisles complaining about it to everyone who walks by, or try to find joy in telling people who still like it how dumb they are. I also know that this particular product is related to where I grew up, so I feel an emotional tie. An irrational tie to a uniform and a helmet that is disconnected from any personal connection to either the millionaires who pay for them or the younger millionaires who wear them. I choose to maintain and celebrate that irrational tie. The key word there is choice. I know what good football looks like, and bad football, and I appreciate solid analysis of the good and the bad. I also know that my actual ability to change what they team does is very limited, no matter how many posts I write. If this didn't make me happy, I would choose to do something else. So I choose to hope, especially about a young team with rising talent. I do not claim to "sh*t rainbows" but am amazed that people think that it is better to let go an unending stream of bile. That's a choice too. Embrace it if you like, but don't pretend it makes you more rational than someone standing in front of Wegman's buttonholing people about the crappy mustard they sell. In the end, be a fan any way that you like. Enjoy the toy department of life in your own way. If it were up to me, I would save the outrage for things that actually matter, but I also know the psychological, cathartic benefits of getting worked up over artificial crises. I hope that being a Bills fan brings you some joy, sometime. Hell, I hope we all will have things to celebrate in the future. And when that happens, I doubt we will be worrying about whether the front office managed to sign Josh Freeman. Go Bills!

Pre-emptive anger and disappointment is an understandable reaction to an uncertain, flawed, and often disappointing world. It's just not much fun, or terribly useful. Dare to dream, dare to hope, dare to believe, my friends. There is joy in risking your emotions, and a world to win.

Well, Badol, this is a re-set, and pretty early in it too. I have no idea how it will turn out, and neither does anyone else. All I do know is that the Bills will win some games, lose others, and in the end every one of us will die after struggling through this vale of tears. How we feel about what happens in the meantime is a series of choices. To claim that one signing is going to decide everything is not rational analysis, but a choice based on emotion, a choice to be disappointed before any results are measured. It's not any more realistic than a hope for better days, and a lot less fun. But I hope all of us will have better days, even the gloomiest of pre-emptive surrenderers. Cheers!

Wow... I had no idea that Josh Freeman, good as he may be, is the only thing standing between the Bills and armageddon. It seems that EJ's injury has not been nearly as serious as the Bills fan base's Sprained Sense of Proportion.

I would be willing to bet this is a last hurrah for Moorman. The team decided they wanted a stabilizing force back there for the time being, but will look for a full time replacement in the off season.

Special Teams coach is often a position given to someone with little experience and a good relationship with the HC. Marv Levy go the job with George Allen exactly that way. The good ones become good through experience; the bad ones get fired. P.S. I agree with Mike: it is amazing how rarely the local media breaks any of these stories. Where are the beat reporters? Or is it just because the players' agents are more comfortable leaking to national reporters like LaCanfora? I ask the question out of a general curiosity, not to slam local reporters.

Me too Beerball. And yes, Buffalothrumyveins, Bruce was dominant in college... hence his high draft pick. Though even he learned that he had to get stronger and leaner, and develop better technique, in order to reach the heights of the pro game. Of course, he did not have the same national spotlight on him that Clowney has after one good season. That kind of PR blitz can be a curse as well as a blessing, and Clowney has to show how he handles it. It's a lot of pressure for a kid, no matter how big and strong he is.

The kid is sliding every week. It's very hard to continue to shine as a D-Lineman once teams start game-planning for you. If he can't overcome that in college, the chances of him doing so in the NFL decline even more. Could still be good, of course, but Bruce Smith he ain't.

The "Lights Out" san diego game in 2008 came after the Cardinals game that knocked out Edwards, with a bye in between. The week after the SD game, the Bills went to Miami and lost, the first of three straight losses to division opponents.

No, Bob, Beebe's headstand was definitely in the Cleveland playoff game, but you are right to have an Atlanta memory. In 1989 Don Beebe almost ran a kickoff back for a TD but was chased down by Deion Sanders.

Those who want to keep saying that Byrd should not risk injury are missing the point that he has to show he is able to play at a high level if he wants that big paycheck down the road. Of course it is a risk, but that's the way the cookie crumbles. The question is only when he decides he is well enough to play. Sitting out the whole season, out of petulance or fear of injury, is a terrible negotiating gambit. Just as it makes no sense for the Bills to pay a guaranteed salary of $7 million and not play the guy when he is ready and able to play. I repeat, this is all independent of the question of whether the two sides can or will reach a deal for next year or the long term. Byrd will play eventually, and want to look good, and the Bills will want to get the best they can out of him for as long he is on the team. Both sides know that.

At this point, it is in the immediate interest of both Byrd and the team for him to play and play well. That is, the interest in making this season a success. If it leads to them reaching agreement on a long-term deal when the season is over, so much the better. But since they are not allowed to strike a deal until the season is over, it is a good idea for all to focus on the next four months.

The cynic in me has to say that there is no good reason for someone to be driving at 2am with a pizza box in the front seat unless he is drunk...