MadBuffaloDisease

Okay, this is the FIRST year since the salary cap was instituted, that Ralph hasn't spent to the cap limit. And the reason for that is tied to the reason he voted "no" on the new CBA. What's more important than spending money on the guys who play the game? And the Bills spend money on scouting, keeping the players comfy, etc. The only place you could say he scrimped is coaching salaries, but against after Wade, you can blame that on TD wanting to bring in a newbie, who are always cheaper. And who was available THIS year for HC that would have cost a lot? Sherman? No one even took a look at him as a HC, except for the Bills.

Ross Tucker at center? Or maybe Anderson is pretty good?

I read it in a couple places. I'll see if I can find it.

Again, stop it with the "Ralph is cheap" fantasy. He's spent to the cap limit every year it's been in existence, when he could have spent to jus 70% of it and pocketed the $20-30M. As for hiring cheap coaches, you can blame TD for that, since he was looking for a newbie who wouldn't cross him. Marv wasn't exactly cheap and Wade was a natural successor given his work as a DC. Moreover just because a coach is highly-paid, it doesn't mean he'll get you anywhere.

The penalty is NOT on Gandy. They had to call it on someone. There should have been a WR or TE lined-up next to him.

I was highly impressed with him last night. Great reads, decisions, and pocket presence. The INT wasn't great and I thought he should have been out of the game at the half, but it wasn't a killer since it was on 3rd and long. And the fumble can be worked-on and at least he didn't lose it.

Ralph is NOT cheap. Please leave this unfounded line of thinking.

All I know is that the Redskins will be giving the Broncos their 1st round pick next year (and a high one at that) for TJ Duckett.

Do any of us find Tasker being a homer for the Bills "insulting," especially when he's not exactly wrong?

That's when the backups were mostly playing. The Bills NEED to stay healthy this year.

You gotta add in the smilie, which is almost EXACTLY how Mora looked when saying that.

To be truthful, I more or less wrote-off Spikes. I didn't mention him one time this off-/pre-season because I figured that he wouldn't be able to come back, at least not this soon. What I saw tonight leads me to believe that, barring any unforseen setbacks, TKO will be back to 100% and this was the first test.

He looked good and none the worse for war! Mixed-it-up a bit.

I said in the gameday thread that the delay of game and fumble were on JP, but later-on the coaches didn't get the play in on time and JP had to burn a TO, so I put that on the coaches. And the fumble could have very well been Fowler. I know it's charged to the QB, but later-on I saw Fowler snap a ball that went REALLY off and JP made a great one-handed grab of it. I've also noticed that he stands in a weird stance behind Fowler. Don't know if it's a height thing, a different way to stand so he can get ready to roll-out, etc. But it looked strange. And I agree on the INT. Basically it was a 3rd down punt and the drive, even though it was successful, looked lifeless, like they didn't want to be in there. Maybe that's just me. But the INT wasn't a killer and I also think he doesn't throw that in the regular season. And great to see Takeo back and looking good. Saw him in a few pileups and was surprised to see him credited with only 1 tackle.

As I've been saying, Price was wasted (and not in the good way) in Atlanta, and joined the Cowboys after the last pre-season game, meaning he didn't have time to learn the playbook, much less get comfortable in the offense, and he was behind Glenn, KJ, and Witten. Good to see he's doing well again. And I think JP looking his way will only inspire him more.

I didn't count the Royal pass in the endzone as a drop since he led him too much and someone said they saw holding and/or PI on the call. There were 2 drops by Shelton, although on the first he got drilled just as the ball got there, and I thought Evans could have come up with another one. But hell, I'll take 68% passing (which could have been 77% passing or higher if those 2 to 3 passes were caught), anyday!

It's not a "rebuilding year" in the sense that the Bills will be worse than last year. No way do they lose 11 or more games this year. But the playoffs are still probably at least a year away.

I'd like to see the bubble players get a lot of PT in the 4th game. Get Wilson, Nance, Denney, Cieslak, etc. out there and let it all hang-out.

Yeah, what gives with slagging the defense? They gave up a TD on the Browns' opening drive, but I remember seeing Wire in there, and I heard Tasker saying that the closest guy to Heiden was Ellison, who is a 7th round rookie. So they weren't exactly playing starters during the entire drive. As for offense, outside of that INT, JP was THE MAN. He was mostly SO on-target I was like "is this really JP?", and finished 15 for 22 (68% completion percentage) with several dropped balls. The Bills shot themselves in the foot (surprise, surprise!) with drive-killing penalties, which will have to be addressed. And Nall proved that he's not starting material. But again, this is the Browns. I think they're moving in the right direction and were a better team than the Bills last year, but aren't there yet.

Get JP out now. Rotating the backups isn't gonna get them anywhere.

Okay, is it NOW time to pull JP?

RP is the ultra-top secret special weapon for the regular season!

Yeah, well I heard the starters would come out after halftime and play some.

At the half, JP is 9 for 13 (69%) with a couple drops, 141 yards and a TD. That's a gaudy 10.8 yards per attempt! But it IS the Browns. But also the Bills aren't showing all their stuff. Which scares me given the penalties.

"Black and white would just capture the moment."