RJ (not THAT RJ)

Hmm... Bill Parcells as Scotty Bowman? So many coaches claim they want total control, like actors who want to be directors... yet so few actually succeed.

This is an excellent question. Clearly, Brohm has been a Rorschach blot for many—they projected their hopes onto him as an unknown quantity. It makes perfect sense that people not sold on Trent (many of whom, as Rico says, were JP backers) would be especially hopeful for Brohm, though that does not make such hope a bad thing. It is certainly possible for one to have hope for Brohm but not have negative feelings toward Trent or Fitz. Frankly, I just want whoever does play QB for the Bills to do well. I would have been delighted if Brohm had seized the starting job back in Atlanta last December, or during camp this summer. He did not, and Trent did, so I am waiting to see whether Trent can make it work. An even bigger question is, what does it take for a QB to climb the depth chart? Assuming that every QB on a pro roster was a starter in college, which means he was already in the top percentages of all QBs in the country, they all have at least some of the skills necessary to be a success. Yet the vast majority never rise to #1. Talent is crucial here, of course, but so is luck. If they happen to be on the same team as a very healthy starter, they will never sniff the field, and within a couple of years, the window closes. If the starter happens to go down, then a chance opens up. Brady being the best example. But no matter how good Brady was looking in practice in NE (I have no idea whether he was, and actually suspect, based on what I remember from 2000-2001, that he was nothing special), without Mo Lewis, Brady probably never starts an NFL regular season game. Makes one wonder how many "Bradys" go undiscovered, and how many backups on the other hand can parlay one or two good performances into a big contract, then fail (hello Rob Johnson, Scott Mitchell, Elvis Grbac...). It certainly makes me reflect on the heavy role played by fate/chance/luck in football and so many other sports....

I understand the criticism of Modrak, but there is a big revisionist problem here. Does anyone with half a brain think that in 2007 the Bills needed to or were going to draft a CB in the first round, or that not drafting a CB, even if it was Revis, was a bad thing? Jeebus people, the standard rap on the team is that they draft DBs too often!!!!!!!!!! Try to keep up with the crusades, man... do your homework.

Starting next week, on the Wies'n in Munich.

They might need someone to play FB on the scout team.

You make a lot of valid points, except for this one at the top, to which I must respond. I would much prefer to be around a "stay positive" guy, who at least realizes that the game is supposed to be fun, and that the future is an uncertain mystery, than someone who thinks that cr@pping on everything makes him smart and realistic. It is not a matter of being positive or else, it is a matter of allowing yourself to enjoy your stroll through the toy department of life that is sports.... In the end, I hope that we will all have plenty to celebrate as Bills fans in the months and years to come. In the meantime, enjoy the football, and stay thirsty, my friends.

Well, except for John Beck, right?

Dude, for the children of today that is an eternity.... Thank you internet and 24-hour news cycle.

I am old enough to think the same way, Billnut. It seems immature to be tweeting like this, but I guess it is no more so than starting threads on a message board..... It is quite possible that NR tweeted before thinking the first time, reacting to the news he was being cut and not realizing the PS opportunity. Since he is a graduate of SJCI, it is quite likely his comprehension skills are a bit slow. That last sentence is a joke, by the way... signed, RJ, CHS class of 1985.

The general consensus of which you speak (which did certainly exist) was utterly disconnected from reality, and it would make less than no sense to have both Brown and Brohm on the PS. It is very normal for a 7th round draft choice to end up on the practice squad, and that makes perfect sense here. There is the risk that someone snatches Brown from waivers, but that is unlikely. It looks as though it will be Edwards, Fitz, and Brohm as 3rd QB, with Brown on the PS.

Thank you Jack! Tell me, is there a Bills fan in the world, or even a sentient being of any kind, who can watch that video and not want to punch Rick Reilly in the junk?

Maybe, though he also begins a later para in the column, on another subject, with "if all goes well.." which suggests intellectual laziness.

With all respect to Mr. Matthews as a veteran.... I certainly concur with your sentiment, Promo.

In the article posted on the front page: http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20100903/SPORTS0101/9030321/tbd Matthews gives good reasons why Leinart would not be a good fit for Buffalo. All very convincing. Of course, Bob does not mention that he had been a huge advocate of drafting young Mr. Leinart back in 2006. I guess sportswriters, like cornerbacks, quarterbacks, and baseball closers, need to have a very short memory..... He then starts the next para with the sentence: "If all goes well for the Bills, Jake Locker of the Washington Huskies will establish himself as clearly the best quarterback in college football this fall, become their top pick in the 2011 college draft, and become the team's first franchise quarterback since Jim Kelly retired." Locker may indeed turn out to be great, and maybe even for the Bills, but I should think that "if all goes well for the Bills" they would do well enough this year that they would not be in a position to draft that early in the first round. But that's just me.

And heck, if they want to base it on last season, didn't the Bills beat the Phins once?

*standing up, slowly clapping* Well played, my man... well played.

Not to mention the perfect weather conditions, etc. Matt Leinart is incapable of playing in the weather in the NE. He makes Trent Edwards look like Sergeant Preston of the Yukon.

I am so glad someone said this. There may be good reasons for wanting a new stadium, but anyone who thinks it will be used constantly is blind to reality. And, as said above, retractable dome = closed in winter. Can't have it both ways, people.

Has anyone ever started an internet posting with "Um..." ever managed to avoid sounding like a total douche? Seriously, I want to know. Meathead nonetheless makes a valid point: there is a reason why national reporters whose actual knowledge of individual teams (especially bad ones, ironically enough) is superficial, have the Bills at the top of their list of bad teams. The measurables are all dire enough, and Buffalo has been a punchline for decades. No one would say such things about Oakland (history trumps current events) or St. Louis (too busy touting Bradford) or even Kansas City (St. Scott is there), even though any one or combination of those teams could very well be worse than the Bills this year. All that being said, it will take wins, lots of them, for the Bills to climb out of the dark hole they have been in of late. As fans, we can hope those wins will come soon, but until they do, no one in the media is going to be changing their tunes.

And yet, here you are. I had no idea that "Throwit" is Serbo-Croatian for self-hate.

Roger.

OK, I am going to show my age... wtf?

Jeez man... you are missing the point, which is that adding a playmaker like Spiller makes the offense that much better. I can see you in 1520: "Well, Leo, you know if you take away that smile, it's just a painting of a broad..." Or in 1776: "Well, you know, Tom, if you were not such a good writer, this would just be a list of complaints." Trent can look as skittish (look it up, Thurman!) as he likes if he completes 60% (pardon, make that 76%) for 9ypa, which is what he did in the first half. It is just preseason, but goodness gracious man, allow yourself some joy!

Amen, Doc!

It would, wouldn't it? And I am also the type who is behind whoever plays QB. Oh, and any Bills fan from the 1970s remembers that booing Joe Ferguson became de rigeur.... "We want Marangi" and all that. Until they got Marangi, of course.......