RJ (not THAT RJ)

The NFL did experiment with two bye weeks in the 1990s, didn't they? I believe they got away from it because of scheduling difficulties.

How could he play well from your living room? Shouldn't he be at the stadium?

Oh, it is not far from me at all. In fact, "wishing ill on others" lives right down the block from me.

Amazing. I haven't even met you and I know so much about your from that post.... You keep jumping to conclusions there, sparky. I completely agree with this, Kelly. The draft is amazingly imprecise, which, pace Mr 21 posts above, was my point. Success in the NFL include a massive proportion of plain old luck, no matter how many statistical models people try to cite.

Wow... now there, my friends, is an example of the dangers of picking QBs in the first round!

That is true, but since the stats above also included the overall average per carry (which in your example would only be 2 ypc), that stat is far from meaningless. It shows me, along with the relatively low number of long runs, that the Bills came by their rushing average with a lot of runs in the 4-10 yard range. One would like to think that would improve if the defense does not have so many players close to the line because of the lack of a passing game... but that remains to be seen.

It amazes me how people get hung up on a player, fantasizing about his being cut, even though it is obvious to anyone with half a brain that the Bills are unlikely to give up on him after just two truncated seasons.

All true. Though the really funny thing is that some people think that ticket prices would go down it TO got its own team, with owners trying to amortize the balance of $700 million (U.S.) for said team, and at least that much as their portion of an NFL-worthy stadium. Between the inevitable PSLs and the reality that the new owners will claim "hey, this team is yours, so now you will pay for it," the price will only go up. Of course, to me this is all proof that moving any NFL team to Toronto permanently is a terrible idea. But that is just me.

Bill, you know I respect your opinion, and I am delighted to see you feeling so positive, but I think you should re-think the original assumption that there is a zero-sum relation between excitement as something purely financial and superficial on the one side and real improvement as a team on the other. The Bills still have all those needs you mention, but exciting playmakers on offense was a need as well. Excitement does not only sell tickets, but improves team morale (both long term and within a game), and also has the potential to make the Bills a more attractive team to future draft picks and free agents. I will not get too giddy about a preseason game, but I sure do feel a lot better today than I did after the 'Skins game, as you do. Onward and upward!

Excellent point on the stadium sizes. When RWS was built, the Bills insisted on making it seat 80,000 because the assumption was that attendance was the biggest moneymaker. Sellouts were quite rare, and blackouts so much more common. I can remember when the Bills-Oakland game was televised in September 1980 that it was the first time the blackout had been lifted in at least five years. Things have changed an awful lot. The stadia in Phoenix and Dallas have larger capacities, but they are the exception compared to other new parks. Oh, and in honor of the Bills memory you use in your sig, I think from now on when I am headed to the bathroom I will say I am going "to fire [a] Hank Bullough." Whaddaya think?

I know you mean that sarcastically, but it is not completely wrong. There is no conspiracy, but there is an often unreflective reflex action to consider Buffalo a basket case because of its geographic location and recent team history, and not to consider that many areas once considered permanent growth sites (such as Florida, or CA, or even Las Vegas) may actually suffer more from current economic conditions.

and afterwards, after losing 35-13, he went on to say that there were several teams in the NFC better than the Bills. Chicago people then went ballistic when the Bills rested their starters the last Sunday of the 1991 season and lost to the Lions thus costing the Bears a playoff berth. I was living in Chicago at the time, and remember it well.

Sure, the Bills suck and people laugh at them... but someone needs to ask Ditka about his career record against the Bills. He has been a tool about the Bills ever since they schooled the Bears in 1991.

I am with you both on this. The Bills have no one to blame but themselves for being so dull and weak, but it is astonishing how uneven the actual research done by these experts is.

Nothing but an artificial issue stirred up by ESPN. It just so happened that the Bengals were playing the Cowboys in the HOF game, so they had to ask TO about this.

Excellent points. I agree that the NFL has peaked. The automatic growth in TV money to cover all sins is coming to an end, and the next decades will be about managing decline.

Beg pardon? I have no idea what stridency you see in the comments, nor do I see a contradiction in what I have said, which is that Buffalo, despite its passionate fans, is not a large or attractive enough market for a professional team. That is not about stadium attendance or TV issues alone, but covers both. As a shrinking metro area and smallish TV market, Buffalo is fortunate to have the team that it does, but would not make the cut today. That does not mean the team has to leave (God forbid!) but simply a recognition that Buffalo in 1959 and Buffalo in 2010 are vastly different places from a demographic, economic, and even an aesthetic perspective. This is rather like the argument that alumni of many colleges would not actually be qualified for admittance today, reflecting an awareness of changing times. Is it that hard to understand?

Since there will be no such league, this listing of cities only shows how unlikely it is that Buffalo would ever get another franchise. Look at all those areas in more economically vibrant sectors of the country without an NFL team. Cling to the Bills, my friends. They are all we will ever get.

That is certainly true, Dean. They will say "they let first round picks hold out for the past four years..." and ignore all those pesky details.

I am afraid John is right on this. It is not doom and gloom but a realization that the days when Buffalo could attract a top-tier professional sports team from scratch are long gone. There are a bunch of fans in the area, sure, but looked at by a hard-eyed outsider with demographic info at hand, Buffalo is no more attractive than Toledo, Columbus, Akron, (towns picked at random, your mileage may vary) or any other number of old industrial towns. Do note that even though the UFL claimed that it was going to put its teams in underserved markets, it still went for NY and the usual sun belt suspects to place its teams. I also do not think it likely that the NFL will do for Buffalo what it did for Cleveland, and guarantee an expansion team. I want the Bills to stay in Buffalo forever, and I am enough of a compulsive optimist to think that there are factors that could keep them there. To try to salve our feelings in advance by believing that the Bills could be replaced by another pro football team, however, is a useless exercise.

Timing on passes mainly, I should think, and receptions. With no blocking or pass-rushing, it is a way to see how offensive plays develop. For the D, it would be more about learning how to cover. It saves on hitting as well.

Yes, it was SF's #1 which had come in the OJ trade. SF had the worst record in the NFL in 1978. The Cousineau story is a weird one all around. Right at that time the CFL had its own egomaniac owner, Nelson Skalbania, who threw around a lot of money luring NFL players to Montreal (including Vince Ferragamo), but ended up bankrupting himself, the team, and almost the league. The Cousineau debacle, though, has Stew Barber's fingerprints all over it. He was a truly world-class awful GM.

Don Strock

Well put, Dr.!

Doug Flutie and Rob Johnson have won the same number of playoff games in their careers....