BuffaloWings

No for two reasons... 1 - You only play New England twice. There are 14 other games to worry about. You don't "sacrifice" a game in this league, even if you think you won't make the playoffs. 2 - You give the Patriots something to think about.

I've maybe seen it once since, but every single solitary replay I watched show the throw go perfectly parallel to the line...i.e., it wasn't forward or backwards. By rule, that's a legitimate lateral. You can get all of the RIT professors to prove that it had to travel backwards, but I won't be convinced. It makes sense, though. That's just the Bills' luck to have it go that way. The smarter play would have been to kick it deep...through the end zone. Give them the ball at the 20 with less than 20 seconds left. I don't remember if the Titans had any timeouts, but even if the kickoff goes OB, you give them the ball at the 40 and make them run a couple of plays to win it. I would have preferred an OB kick to anything in the field of play there.

They may not be 6 wins better than last year, but with a year under Chan's offense and a beefed up defense, I'm looking for a significant improvement.

This. While beating them in one game doesn't mean a successful season, it would at least show us that the Patsies are beatable. They were competitive last year starting with the Baltimore game. They now have more/new personnel to address stopping the run. Even with the loss of Evans, I'm not worried about the offense (yet). To me, successful means they would be competitive in pretty much every game (every team has a couple bad games - the good ones overcome them). It may not be lofty expectations, but don't forget what we've endured for 11 years. I hate putting a number on it, but I'd like to see 8-8 and maybe a sniff of the playoffs. Even if they don't come close to the playoffs, 8-8 puts them in the conversation of "in contention" during the last few weeks. Then maybe they'll get some respect from the know-it-alls.

You're sick. Even if he gets riot act from every fan across the country, he won't care...he's getting paid for his non-regular job.

I'll bet that teacher is proud.

I vote for spread, too.

I think this is all being blown out of proportion. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but this is how I saw it play out... Fred responded to an article by Tim Graham that said the #1 RB job was Spiller's to lose (where Graham got that info is beyond me or seemingly anyone at OBD). Fred's response wasn't tirade-laden or anything, just saying that he's disappointed and thought he should be the #1 guy based on his recent production. Gailey gets blindsided by this info at a press conference and basically says that both backs need to produce in order for the Bills to win, yet all but said that Fred is the #1 guy. Gailey then talks to Fred, assures him he's he #1 back, but reiterates that both he and Spiller need to play well for the team to win. That is, Fred needs to continue producing and Spiller needs to start producing. End of what-we-thought-was-a-controversy-but-never-really-was.

If the Bills were looking for a veteran receiver, would they have traded Evans in the first place?

We felt it all over the Albany area. I'm on the second floor of a 6-floor building and I felt it swaying.

I hear you, but that doesn't mean Jackson shouldn't be guaranteed. It's been stated over & over in this thread, but Fred Jackson continues to get results week in & week out. If there's anyone on this team that should be playing, it's him.

I'm still wondering why everyone is so uppity about a preseason game. You're not going to show anything to the opponent so other teams can get a book on you. You're also evaluating the players and who will do what in the base defense/offense. Winning the game is a distant 3rd (if that) to the above two objectives. Get a grip.

Right - the Bills did a suicide onside, then a pooch kick that the Oilers almost lost. Nevertheless, that's not a good game to use for either argument. I don't remember kickoffs from the 40, but plenty of them from the 35. I liked the move to put them back at the 30 because it creates more excitement. I disagree with whoever said the NFL moved it to the 35 because the fans don't want injuries...I'm sure fans really don't want injuries, but the fans want the exciting play more. This is a move by the league to prevent injuries - players are bigger, stronger, and faster than they were in 1994, so injuries can occur much more easily. I still think it's a bad move. I understand the desire for less injuries, but the players have to be more careful on kickoff returns. This rule really takes away the most exciting part of the game.

Nor did probably about 25 other GMs.

Is he worth millions, too?

To top it all off, I actually enjoyed reading this thread. Good comments, good discussion, and none of "this guys sucks, cut him" or "why the hell did we draft this loser?" comments. Bill, I'll always look forward to your comments. It seems like the intelligent ones at TBD feed off of them and we end up with an enjoyable discussion - regardless of what we think of the players.

I voted yes with a caveat - wish they could have gotten a better pick.

I hate to use the "R" word, but I'm starting to think this trade makes a little sense. Lee is 30...he doesn't have many years left, but he's still got it. The Bills probably won't win much this year, so now is the time to get the younger guys in there. Plus, Lee will have a chance to win now in Baltimore. It's the perfect trade for the Ravens, though I think the Bills could have gotten a better deal - maybe a 3rd round pick or an additional later round pick in 2013. The downsides are obvious - the Bills lose a mentoring WR and someone to take attention away from SJ. They'll struggle for a while, but I have a feeling they'll be ok.

Oh boy...can't wait to hear how bad the off-season decisions were.

That drop also cost the Ravens the division and a home divisional playoff game - they could have taken care of that themselves, of course, but things could have turned out differently for the AFC playoffs. That drop also cost me the division in my fantasy league, too. A 40-yard TD would have won my game that week and put an extra few "donuts" in my pocket.

They may be thinking that people would be "rendezvousing" far away from the stadium (like several miles away) and then driving in together. But like 5 Wide said, if you're meeting with people from Batavia, Fredonia, and Niagara Falls, it's a little difficult to do that. I have a few friends coming in from Syracuse and CNY, but we usually try and meet in Lockport, then we all drive in together. We may be in 3-4 cars, but we'll convoy in and gather in one of the private lots.

Power rankings are like ceramic dalmatians...nice to look at, but they don't do anything for me. The regular season standings are what count in my book.

Wow...Ed's usually good with stuff like this.

Let it go.

I am so done with this team. Getting Boss would have been excellent, but it was clearly a pipe dream. Let's see what we got with Chandler.