Fake-Fat Sunny

A simple question that should be able to answered with a straight-forward response: What did Shelton "who had yet to live up to his avdvance billing" do that got him an FA contract with a $3 million bases salary over several years and a substantisl bonus which has already been paid to him?

Stick with me here if you care. A key part of the GM doing a good job is not giving information to opposing teams about what we plan and are going to do. TUNE IN FOLKS! If TD is doing his job right then he better be lying to us. Some Bills partisans are whining about what TD is doing or what he is saying to the press when quite frankly if I didn't think a lot of what he is saying and even a bit of what he is doing is completely whacked. In order to get the players that he wants and that we need, he has to at the very least not give the opposition needed insights into what we have planned and when he is really on his game fool them completely so they do not do something to stop us at a critical moment or pass on a guy so we can get him before they move again. For me, given the choice between TD being honest with me and the fans about out desires and intents and his keeping enemy teams in the dark about out desires and intents, I say: TD LIE TO ME! It's far to important to me to have you fool our enemies than for you to tell me the truth and give me accurate info. Given a choice between the two, I far more prefer that you lie to me and help the Bills, and I and my good friends on TSW will kibbitz but sometimes be wrong about out info. Judgments will be made in the end and that is when your accounting with the fans will occur. To date, you are losing this accounting cause we have not made the playoffs and your record has been bad. However, with quality moves like getting WM and good prospects like JP, you have at least my faith and support for another season, and the Bills have may faith and support forever as far as I can tell. However, in the immediate, LIE TO ME, if it helps smite our enemies so I can hear the lamentations of their women as Arnold would say.

Add to the AW story that TD and AW's agent were apparently in the midst of final discussions to get him signed before the '03 season when Ainsley Battle up and retired after the Bills had signed him to replace HenryJones/Raion Hill/Jenkins/Coy Wire/Chad Cota at SS. We were down to 3 safeties when we needed 4 and Bill Belicheck misread and mismanaged the Milloy contract. The supply was low (Milloy was the only former Pro Bowl S on the market) and the demand was high enough (the Bears also had a safety need and cap room) and TD actually made a high ball offer that many in TSW complained about and scooped up Milloy for a price some though was too high (he was worth overpaying for in my view because of our safety need). The effect of this signing (and AW acknowledged it) was that AW went on the market rather than being resigned as some complain.

TD's "low-ball" style brought Sam Adams here for a contract many considered to below his maket rate and it has paid off with him logging a Pro Bowl qualifying year as a Bill and also saw Takeo Spikes appear here at what many considered below his market rate. In addition to the fallacy that TD's lower offers have somehow hurt the Bills (his stupid hiring of GW has more to do with our lousy record in my view), I think it just does not equal the facts to view all his offers as lowball. He gave a fairly huge bid on Milloy which took the Bears out of the negotiation when we desperately needed an S because Wire was pushed into an inappropriate role due to GW/Gray misassessment of Jenkins, and this was followed by the agreement reneging of Chad Cota, followed by the signing reneging of Ainsley Battle. Huge cries went up on TSW that Milloy was overpaid by TD's cadillac offer though much of this whining has been doused (as it wasby the group who claimed Adams low-ball offer was actually an overpayment to a player they labeled a fat tub of goo) by Milloy's strong tackle numbers. Do you really want to make the claim that TD always gives shrimpy offers to players and abandons folks instead of sticking with them? One only has to look at TD giving far too high a contract to extend Bledsoe last off-season and stick with him only leading to his cut this year to see that reality does not fit your view in any waY beyond episodes and there is no consistent trend here beyond TD always trying to do what he thinks is best and sometimes screwing up (Bledsoe) but often doing quite well (getting a first for PP, picking Mcgahee, passing on Kelsay but getting him with a second, trading the 05 pick to get Losman when this weak is QB weak).

When efforts go down like AW agreeing to sign with NYJ, on;y to see him spirited away to get a better deal in Vike land nothing is over until it is over (sure this was FA, but the Vikes participated in this as well so don't be sure this is a done deal yet).

I agree with most folks that there is no hurry to drop Reed unless there is definitely something better to keep. There are several ways this can happen, but the good thing about the horrible situation of having a second round pick that has not worked out (yet) is that the Bills are under no pressure to make a decision on him right now. Because Aiken has shown promise but not stepped up yet there is an opening at #3 WR that means you don't even have to chop Reed to demonstrate there is an opening there if you want to attract an FA. Reed gets a good look-see in voluntary camp with a new QB and even a focus on him in pre-season if he shows wel in the mini-camp. As far as cutting him there is no pressure to do so,

One thing which is different about these Bills than previous models with Butler and even GW in charge is that the coaching staff seems more hands-on than previously in having the confidence to really make more productive players out of athletes at particular positions. A lof this comes from having coaches who view the world through the eyes of being recent former players ((MM, Kumrie, Gray to an extent) and some of this comes from the position coach being such a respected old hand that there seems to be almost a paternal bond which is used in having the coach view the player as a person to improve rather than another jigsaw piece to mix and match (Wyche, JMac). At any rate I think this actually makes it tougher to judge things or make good judgements by us fans as a central part of the improvements a particular player may make or the decisions a position coach may make are going to be based in part on the personal relationship between the player and coach and we as outsiders will only be able to make estimates (guesses really) on the objective Xs and Os we see. I think this is an important factor if it is true, because as far as TE goes, I can see the Bills actually not doing the "logical" thing of of acquiring a demonstrated good player like a Franks or a Pollard mostly because former TE MM may have a feeling (just a hunch as James Kirk used to say) that he can make it work with a player like a Jason Peters and rather than getting the logical player, the Bills take a flyer on the coach's say so. I think we already saw this with JMac believing in Lawrence Smith. I believe we are seeing it with the confidence theBills are showing in JP Losman. So at any rate, as we make our move on TE, I suggest we listen to MM closely and do not be reluctant to expect the unexpected here.

Among the bad coices out there as #2, Kordell looks like one of the better ones to me. Steve matthews? Oh please.

Tons of better options than Matthews are out there for s back-up. Folks speak highly of Batch (Simon in particular) though he has not started for a while which raises questions for me, but he looks like a better option. McMahon gives me pause because he didn't even rack up over 50% completion % in his major shots at starting, but he was seen as of enough quallity to back-up last year by an NFL team which puts him ahead of a guy who would have retired last year and been on the couch if not for two injuries to our QBs. Even Kordelia for all his faults strikes me as a far better choice than Matthews. They both share the same problem of age and thus how they would stand up to conasistent pounding if you had to call on them to play the Reich role, but at least Kordell has been there before having experienced greater heights and success as a player than Matthews. Don't get me wrong, I think Matthews is a fine choice as our #3 disaster QB, but to have him as your #2 behind a 2nd year guy who we have high and reasonable hopes for, but unfortunately as a youngster may need to ride the pines for a chunk of time as paert of developing him is a strange choice in my book and little more than wishful thinking instead of adopting a tough hard-edged plan B. Maybe with the surge of interest in TV poker and the comfort that he probably won' get fired if the team screws up again that would have TD roll the dice on Losman with Matthews as his back-up, but I for one certainly hope and think things can work out with JP as #1 but Iam simply not comfortable with what seems little more than hoping Matthews never gets called on as #2 as being the best chancethat things work out with him. The negatory on Matthews as #2 list to me starts with: 1. He was sitting at home when we rescued him (everybody else having passed on him as even their #3) and has talked seriously about retiring and having a nice swan song and exitr when he tossed a TD for us late last year. He simply does not display the level of aggression and drive to suceed by winning I want in a #2. 2. He is an 11 year vet and if called on to go through the pounding of consistent performance if JP gets hurt or needs to sit we are in deep deep trouble. 3. He seems to me to be more like Bledsoe rather than more like JP in terms of mobility and run threat. I would prefer our #2 to offer a lesser version of the same skill set and type of player that JP offers which is one of the things that speaks for Kordell who is an older, slower mobile QB, but a mobile guy nontheless. 4. Matthews has seen a lot of football which is nice and great for a teacher at #3, but he has seen a lot of football not because of his many SB runs but because he is a journey man at best. A great guy but a real disappointment if this is the best we can do at #2. I think that given the cap, a player of the rancid ilk I mentioned above may be the best we can do, but I'd rather blow the cap and have us go with someone who has won there before like Johnson or Warner than make a cost-effective bad choice whose best chance of suceeding in the job is that you never have to use him as #2.

Matthews was sitting on the couch at home when Travis Brown and JP Losman went down last pre-season for a reason and the reason was that no other team in the league saw im as a servicaeable back-up. He's a journeyman at best and not the person we want to rely on in a Frank Reich role of being able to step in as your starter for 2 or 3 games and give you a good shot at winning. The same thing that makes him not an unreasonable choice as a disaster QN (11 years of experience) is the thing that makes him quite questionable as someone who is a reliable starter for a few games as he is a bit long in the tooth to be depended on for much more than mop-up duty. Even worse, even 1st round QB choices are a 50/50 propostion, after a pretty bad start to his career when was thrown into the NE game hesettled down a bit and I think we can be comfortabke that he wil have his up and downs as a starter but should learn in time, but if JP does go south (unlikely but still a real possibility or were to get hurt again, if matthew is all we got as a #2 then almost certainly hang it up for the season. These is just little in Matthews career but to really see him as being too far away from the couch at home during playing time.

Its going to be tough to want to hang on to JJ if the cap difference between the two is very large. I think it was conceivable that if one of the few teams left in the LT market were to want to give JJ a max of the 5 million annual going rate for average LT talent the Bills would match, however, with the potential for s $3 million cap hit (which can be reduced to $1.25 million with a straight restructuring of the Shelton hit, paying that much more for JJ looks pretty doubtful. By taking on the lower cap hit at LT, the Bills can probably easily resign Phat Pat, Marcus Price as a back-up for both tackle spots, with the cap room we have and use the additional funds to get an FA TE to bridge the gap until Campbell and Euhus are rehealed, and still shop for the back-up RB they need to keep the all important WM going.

Head fall down and go boom. And like our President I took mind altering substances.

If by the big opne you mean the SB. Methinks not is a reasonable red[pomse cause did not win he had the chance. However. since I'm a member of the Jim Kelly school who fell he won 4 big ones getting there just not THE big one, Bledsoe has already proved to me he can win the big game.

I think the big break for Belicheck and the Pats came when Marvin Lewis hit a scrambling Bledsoe and collapsed his lung. When this happened, several things occured: 1. Without their "star" QB it became gutcheck time and the Pats, many of whom were stil feeling each other out as so many of them had recently joined the team as cap casualties had to come together as a TEAM for themselves and their 2nd year QB. 2. Belicheck and Weis really dumbed down the offense for a second year QB and Brady proved to be a great decision-maker to run the short pick-up efficient ofense extremely well. 3. Bledsoe was gone and was not going to be able to come back and play for quoe a whileand once he was back the team was winning and no chnge could be made an one ofthe biggest switches in the NFL could be made with virtually zero controversy. 4. Bledsoe was internally danaged so he could not play, but not so badly hurt that he couldn't be around to give Brady advice. Brady, BB and all around say how critical and helpful this advice was. Like it or not, Brady is a great player, but a second year QB ain't an NFL vet and having Bledsoe's experience and perspective made him a far better player. Bledsoe also has huge limitations as a player and his ability to translate his experience and play into the right action in the heat of a game. That being said, he has seen and can see a lot of stuff and using him to see things a 2nd year player has difficulty seeing and tranlating that info to him for Brady to make a the decision in the heat of battle was probably a high and best use of Bledsoe's football brain. 5. Belicheck the genius was coming off a pretty rocky road and record pf failure. See his glistening record of playoff success made me wonder how long Bledsoe has been HC in Cleveland. The 1 loss which mars his playoff record as the team has won ever playoff game he led in NE was from the 1 time in 5 years of HC work under BB that Cleveland even made the playoffs. It made me laugh that one of the key reasons his playoff win percentage is so good was that his record as HC in Cleveland was so bas they could not even make the playoffs except the one year he led them to a loss. My guess is that ironically, if Blrdsoe had not been hurt it would have been difficult if not impossible for BB to bench the Pats QB for life who had years to go on a big contract. Rather than 0-2 the drumbeat to replace him would have started been resisted and if Brady even got a start until late in his third year it would not have been shocking. I think NE would have missed the playoffs completely in 2001 abd natbein 2002 as QB contoversy that makes RJ/DF look like fun would have consumed the team, the twon and probably their W/L record. BB himself had a record of failure in Cleveland and actually agreed to coach the Jets, tearfully turned his back on his word and thn went to work for Bob Kraft and probably would have to urged him to eat the Bledsoe contract without the benefit of a Brady SB win backing up the decision. Its ironic but i think if Mo Lewis had not collapsed Bledsoe's lung, BB is a smart enough boy he still would have led a team to an SB ring. However, more likely is that a couple of years of playoff misses in NE might well have put BB on the road of HCs like Rich Kotite, the NFL is a revolving door that seems to love to rehire failed coaches but if he failed to win (make it to) a playoff game in NE after the disnmal Cleveland non-achievements and reneging on his promise with NYJ, I think even genius Belicheck might not have gotten an SB win if were not for Mo Lewis collapsing Bledsoe's lung.

As we clearly saw last years, the OL (like the QB, the gameplan, the RB, and a host of factors) are all critical in determing the number of sacks and the outcome of the game. I think Bledsoe is going into a tougher situation as a QB simply because not only is the Boys' OL worse, but their whole team is worse in many areas (the W/L and outcomes reflected that). However, he big thing i think Bledsoe and the Boys will have on thier side is that they have an HC in charge with a record of improvement of almost every team he has been with (last year's boys squad I think was perhaps the sole NFL exception) and a record of ultimate achievement of multiple SB wins with different teams and different times. Parcells has a proven great football mind and an amazing personality and force of will to communicate his ideas and make them so on a football team. In particular his ability to make positive change while maintaining loyalty and a TEAM I think is unsurpassed by anyone I have seen in the league. Folks like Coughlin have an ability to force positive change, but he wears out his welcome and eventually his teams founder. Belicheck has now produced a record which arguably surpasses Parcells (if one chooses to give Parcells no credit for being smart enough to hire Belicheck) You also have to ignore the dumbluck that Belicheck has been the benificiary of because I doubt if Mo Lewis had not done him the favor of collapsing Bledsoe's lung, I'm pretty sure they would have missed the playoffs that year and Belicheck would have spun down the drain with Drew until he got the cojones to change QBs and surivied the ensuing QB controversy that the change would have caused. In addition, Belicheck's complete mishandling of the Milloy negotiations led to numerous players remarking publicly about how stupidly he handled it and Belicheck having no rational response but to apologize. Fortunately for NE, the team was hit with a huge number of critical injuries which forced the team to confront some more immediate problems (particularly after the cut let to a 0-31 blow-out to the Bills and Bledsoe) and do a personal gut check which once again brought the teammates together as a TEAM. At any rate, back to the thread question. I think that Parcells will have to make use of a couple of other advantages to make this situation work with Bledsoe's strengths and limitations. 1. Jones at RB- We saw with WM and the Bills what a difference having a performing RB can make for your pass protection. Their RB Jones is going to have to continue the production he began to show at the end of last season the boys will have to run and run the ball again or the defenders will pin their ears back for the recurring Bledsoe passes and blitz and blitz again. Jones will not only have to run well to keep that a lead option for Bledsoe ahnd keep the defenders from thinking pass, but he and his RB teammates will need to focus and perfect their blitz pick-up and chip blocking if the OL proves to be a sieve. 2. Clements really provided a great contrast with Kevin Killdrive in how you get the most out of Bledsoe on O- The winning record came from the Bills D and ST being outstanding and not from improvements in the O. However, only the most foolhardy of the Bledsoe bashers would fail to admit that the Bills O and Bledsoe's production improved substantially from 2003 to 2004. True, it only improved from horrendous in 2003 to inadequate in 2004, but improve it did and it provided a textbook on how to get more production out of Bledsoe: A. You gotta use Blesdsoe as a runner and this can be done- Bledsoe will never be mistaken for John Flway or even Bobby Douglass (not a football brain and he had one passing speed which was too hard, but i still think he holds the record for rushing yards in a season by a QB putting up almost 100o yards in a 14 game season for the Bears). However, he is a big boy and besides the Mo Lewis hit he can bounce up from a hard tackle wether it is from a sack or a run play. Killdrive was so pass-happy and the audibles from an overconfident Bledsoe made the team pass crazy that DTs did not worry about the gap they left uncovered when they blitzed and LBs would abandon covering the middle of the field as they looked for the best blitz angle from the outside. Clements ran Bledsoe on the quick opener several times last season because even if this run only got 5-6 yards before the poor running Bledsoe was brought down (get Michael Vick beyond the line of scrimmage as Bledsoe did on the quick opener and you were looking at a 20+ yard gain). However, even these runs forced the defense to wait and watch for the run before selling out to blitz or they were going to be faced with a running down and WM on second or third down. B. In addition to using his big body for the QB draw, Bledsoe does have the experience and the ball handling ability to run the trick play. From the fake sneak leading to a pitch back to WM and the TD to the WM pitch back to Bledsoe leading to the bomb to Evans or Moulds you gotta put the D on its heels or the pass ruch will eat Bledsoe alive. 3. Use Bledsoe as a change-up not as the lead option- Bledsoe still has a powerful arm which can thread the ball into places other QBs do not have the arm speed to make the throw. However, you have to be judicious with the use of this tool and it is invaluable in high winds or on 2nd and 1. If you got to the arm too much you end up with pat-pat-pat sack or him locking on to a receiver and the DB locking onto his eyes. Clements dealt with this after game 4 by limiting Bledsoe's ability to audible which also benefited everyone on O by simplifying the offense. They also rained Bledsoe to get rid of the ball rather than going into the pat with an alram clock set to four seconds and this seemed to work unless the Bills lost total control of the game and Bledsoe resumed bad habits trying to throw one TD for 12 points. The alrarm clock actually replaced Parcells consistent yelling of throw the damn ball in practice which got NE to an SB under Bledsoe. After a year of practice he should be even more prone to Parcells personality. 4. Nothing succeeds like success- Bledsoe has obvious problems throwing the short ball with any touch. This is understandable as NFL QBs are taught to throw the ball hard and fast everytime whether he receiver is running a fly or running a flare. However, what Bledsoe seems tobe reminded of constantly is that even though it is demanded you throw it hard and fast everytime, that there is still a different touch needed to throw it hard and fast to a guy 40 yards away than when the receiver is ten yards from you, Bledsoe has succeeded at this before, but all too often he seems to get over excited and simply wails the ball over the head or into the ground of a receiver a few yards away. To some degree Bledsoe s always going to throw the ball too hard for many situations. Your receiver needs to be as good as Ben Coates or Larry Centers and handle these throws, if they are not then sorry you needs a different receiver or a different QB. However, Bledsoe can get on a roll and do the right thing and respond to the consistently to the right coaching as when he completed over 40 passes to Travis Henry (an OK catcher but he does can get anxious and tend to run before he makes the catch a bit too much) and I think roughly 50 to klarry Centers in 2002. Those who claim Bledsoe cannot hit the short pass at all are simply wrong. Under the right circumstance with good coaching (which i know the boys have), and with good receivers (which i do not know if the boys have) he can effectively use the outlet pass. Look the Cowboys were bad last year. Bledsoe was at best inadequate last year after a horrible year in 2003. However, the folks who paint a picture of him being totally incapable of anything correct in all cases are simply wrong. Under the correct curcumstances: 1. Bledsoe is capable of deserving his reserve Pro Bowl nod in 2002 season when he got my vote as Comeback Player or the year when he followed up a 2002 when he was correctly abandoned by NE for a younger better QB, but in 2003 his performance was essential to us improving from 3-13 to 9-8 and him leading an O which qualified multiple players for the Pro Bowl with him completing 100 passs to Moulds, 94 to Peerless, a bunch to his RBs and handing off to Travis for 1400. 2. Bledsoe is capable of playing QB in the majority of a must win game, throw the winning score and win the game even though his overall statistics were average at best running an O designed for a better QB. I don't care what style points my #2 QB gets in this situation as long as the team wins. The fact that he gracefully gave up the starting role in the SB withiut a squawk was actually a real bonus as he did when he played an essential role in NE winning the SB. This clearly was brady's team, but is also clear that Bledsoe played an essential role in helping this team get the ring in the 2001 season. 3. Bledsoe is capable of leading a team to an SB berth under Parcells as he did in the mid 90s. Is it likely that Bledsoe will have a good season next year with Dallas. I doubt it, the vast majority of pro athletes leave the field for the last time on their sheilds rather than carrying them as they are driven off like Jim Kelly was in the playoff game in a complete stupor in a golfcart after he got concussed playing a game he was too old to play like he did in the old days. However, that stupor did not dusqualify him at all from deserving entry into the HOF on the first ballot has he really had a great and storied career. Likewise, a lof of his high in the league stats are because of longevity and his pass happy nature. However simple longevity matters a lot in this life which can seem to be over in the blink of an eye and in measuring pro football performance. its not enough, nor are even mere good stats enough to merit admission into the HOF. Yet ironically it was a Peter King column which was posted on TSW in the last few days that argued against Bledsoe qualifying yet for entry into the HOF which pretty much convinced me he deserves entry (whether he gets in or not actually depends on when he retires and who retireas arounf the same time. The fans on the HOF committee are as falsely QB addicted as most fans and if Bledsoe comes up for eligibility with a weak QB crop he is in. The King column gave backhanded compliments to Bledsoe but so skewed the facts (it presented the Bills team which Bledsoe inherited as ready for the playoffs- a crew coming off of cap hell and a 3-13 year ready for the playoffs or more- please). The thing which puts him over the top in my book is not his stats (lots of guys put up gaudy numbers), but the fact he has reached the highest level of the game taking a team to an SB berth (even if they lost, Dan Marino will tell you how tough that is to do and even the great ones are denied that or a win) and that he played an essential role in getting a team to an SB win even if he was not the guy who really got them there, he did play an essential role in a must win game. Simply winning is not enough (Trent Dilfer should tell you that). Simply racking up stats is not enough in my book (though ui think Dan Fouts is actually in for some reason). Having particpated in winning (making to the SB and even being an essential though not the main part by far of an SB winner is being a winner in my book) in the NFL and having put up some gaudy stats even through longevity is good enough to join the other flawed characters in the HOF in my book. Give Bledsoe my non-vote if his career continues at its current downward plunge. If however, it accelerates and he becomes a cancer I have some questions.

I think the team wants a TE, but they are committed to Ruhus and Campbell in the long run, As ACL recivery means that neihter is likely to recover their past form until late this season at the earliest the team will go for an FA TE. However, rather than spending alot on a multi0year contract for a TE they expect to keep a long time, i suspect they will be more interested in a good TE who is on the backsde of his career they can sign cheaply and get back to Euhus and/or Campbell in 2005. As I mentioned before the TE equivalent of a Larry Centers when we signed him will probably be the TE of choice. Ig Becht is viewed as past his prime or perhaps Cam Cleeland who has shown talent but been slowedf by injuries may be the lower cost short-term guys for us. I wouldn't forget Jasom Peters either as a former TE, MM might feel he knows the position well enough to develop a silk purse from a sows ear and getting cheap talent he can improve may be more interesting for him than paying through the nose for a more finished product ;ike Franks.

Amidst all the piling on many are doing on Bledsoe I think getting lost in all of this is how bad Kevin Killdrive was compared to Clements and how bad GW was as an HC compared to MM. Look, everyone says the reciord is the thing. As inadequate as the Bills were to start out 0-4 and to miss the playoffs by a game losing at home to Pitts reserves, one should not forget that this team went from a 6-10 recird to a 9-7 record and actually after the 0-4 start finished the season going 9-3. Obviously the buck stops with the HC abd MM gets the lionshare of the blame for missing the playoffs but the kudos for the streak and the massive improvement of this team. The D had already been turned around by LeBeau and adoption of the run blitz, but kudos to MM for making a good choice in picking Gray, He couldn't go wrong as LeNeau went to Pittsburgh and got that unit deep in the playoffs and #1 statistically. However, from looking at the team, Gray did better with this D than most expected and showed in addition to the good tactical display he showed the year before as play caller, an excellent strategic sense which saw him generally gamplan well but most impressive analyze whyt the opponents were doing well in the 1st hal, choose a method for stopping them and get the team to understand and adopt the seitch during the brief halftime in most games during the streak. The hirning and the work of Bobby April may well have been the co[ordinator hiring of the year. The O improvement is the area I wanted to focus upon. Among the things that Clements used that impressed me were: 1. Run and run the ball again- If anyone has a comparison of the % of running plays this year versus the % running plays last year I'd love t see it (particularly any down and distance occurence stats would be intererstimg. One obviously has to lay alot of this on WM being a far more effective runner than TH. This is no rap on TH because I think for two years he was one of the most productive Bills gaining roughly 1400 yards a year in the Gilbride Noffense smd catching over 40 balls in 2002 when he was employed this way. However, WM has recovered to be the top 5 draft talemt he was touted as before his injury and it shows with an incredible combination of power and speed and one of the best stiff arms I I have ever seen. Still one, cannot give total credit to just the RB as the OL really improved over the course of the season and this crew was effective with Shaud Williams as well as WM. I can't wait to see them over a whole season and even the likely loss of JJ (who quiite frankly we seemed to lose for a quarter to a third of the game due to nicks does not phase me. 2. Just cause Bledsoe is more comfortable in the pocket doesn;t mean you never run him- In fact Clements seemed to realize you must run him or the Ds would go to the blitz given the slightest down and distance provocation. AS WM actually teded to start slowly and get stronger it was not unusual for the Bills to face a 2n and 9 or 8. Clements called Drew;s number on the QB draw a couple of times and even though I don;t think he ever got a 1st down but this tendency made the rusher sit back a little to dope out the plat. Through in some liberal use of flea flickers MW gas always loved from pitches back to DB fri=om WM followed by a bomb and a very nice play fake on a QB sneak and a pitch back to WM who scampered for a score and the Ds were gussing. Throw in some nice passes to Evans by Bledsoe on the rollout and I was impressed. 3. The redzone impriovement was great- one of the big differences about this ream after the first four losses was they improved their redzone play. Again the tough running of WM made a difference but the more impressive thing was that even before the concept of using D players on O (or vice-versa) was popularized ny Belichel's use of Troy Brown, Mike Vrabel and Seymoir, MM and the gang used Bamman and Adams ti add aggression and thus effectiveness to the redzone play. Oddly Lawrence Smith proved to be more effective at pass pro than the usually easier to master run blocking, but replacing him in the redzone was a boon to the teams effectiveness and a key to the streak. 4. Limiiting Bledsoe's ability to audible- As best as I can tell Kevin Killdrive was pass happy calling too many passes and Bledsoe'over confidence made them pass crazy- In addition to the run simply being good bread and butter if you can do it, from all everyone said the O just got far simpler and easier to execute than he overly complex Killdrive model. The K-Gun for example had few plays but the O set such a fast tone that the D never knew which of the relatively few choices were coming. Thw O had a fun to it I hadn't seen since the good ol days. One of the reasons we probably had more running plays as well is that we were burning clock alot more in the fourth quater rather than killing the clock with oass plays abd going OB. At any rate, i think that the move to JP should be a boon for the O not becuase I ecpect the near rookie to play alot better, but from ehat I understand having a mobile QB will really open up the MM/Clements playbook. I can barely wait.

Between the original bonus from NE paying hm for this time, and now the Bills bonus amount hyaving been set to pay him for this time, and in addition to that the Cowboys are paying him for this time. Bledsoe must be hurt to get cut, but his wallet provides him with some comfort to cusion the fall.

My sense is that chip blocksand blitz pick-up were fsirly minor factors in the reduction of sacks. WM was a big factor, but it was the greatrer run threat he presented which stopped defemses from flst out commitimg to the rush which was the big benefit WM brought to pass protection rather than his great skill at chip blocking. I think it is fairly inaccurate to list factors in some static order of importance sd iy varied from play to play, but in general I would attribute greater import to the following factor than to the blitz pick-up. 1. The Bills became run happy rather than pass-happy- When the other team suspects you are going to pass alot which the Bills repetivitely did last year and seemed to be totally committed to doing on 3rd down (even third and short) and the blitz turnrd out to be an effective tool, teams blitzed alot. Kevin Killdrive and his scheme and tendencies became totally predictable. Under Clements the Bills are only predictable in that they are more likely to run having more confidence in WM running than Killdrive had in Henry. To make matters worse, Bledsoe was liberally allowed to audible and had too much confidence in his arm and switched plays which mat have been runs to passes that were less successful than more successful in 2003. Ny throwing in a trick play long pass here and there and with WM having a greater ability than Henry to get outside quicker and guven time to set up to use a devastating stiff arm, teams did not blitz as much but waited see how to best heas-off WM when he got the ball. 2. Clements realized that just because Bledsoe is not at his best on the move, this did not mean he was incapable of throwing on the move or even running- Its hard to remember Kevin Killdrive sending Bledsoe on the run at all. Though he is far more effective as a passer than a runner, this does not mean he shoulodn;t run at all. In fact, you have to use him as a runner on some occaisions or the D will be able tell almost immediately whatplay is happening and what to expect. Bledsoe rant the QB draw a few times and was never Michael Vick, but LNs learned they could not abandon their responsibility for the center of the field or the run on empty backfield plays, DTs had to exercise care that if they committed to a gap on the blitz that Bledsoe might run a quick opener up the other gap, Bledsoe liked best throwing from the pocket but once he hit Evans for a couple of TDs while rolling out they had to look outside as well. The plays did not always work but Bledsoe seemed under firm orders that if any coverage was there to throw the ball OB. This switch made for less blitzing and made the blitz less effective. 3, The pass pro improved a lot- Pacillo aand MW were often lost out there and by replacing him with Villarial things got better quick. Smith is not nearly the blocker Ruben was, but actually Smith is unusal in that it is his run locking where he lacks aggression (this particularly hurt in the redzone where you have to run effectively and authoritatively and there is less room to pass. Yje guard play on pass pro with Villarial/Smith replacing Pacillo/Brown was much improved. Add to that overall Vinly/Ruel has next to know experience as OL coaches and JMac is well into the double digits and the blocking simply was better up front. As best as I could tell, WM looked like a rookie out there with his initial blitz pick-up efforts. TH looked pretty bad at just about everything this year as he knew he was going to lose his job obviously did not feel appreciated and his running and blitz pick-up declined from the last two years where once he got over the rookie confusion is was not a central problem for him. I'm niot sure where this overwhelming interest some have in blitz pick-up issues. It eas a minor one as far as the pass pro game from what I sae/

Actuslly thanks for the reference, rather thsm listening to the press conference, I dp tend to read summaries or hear key lines through a variety of mediz sources. Upon listening to both press conferences it was clear in both of them that they told Drew he was the back-up. Hpwever, there was difference in the two press conferences as while MM was crystal clear about this point TD wasn't as flat out about it. I think this reflects the timeline that Bledsoe is a guy brought in by TD and MM had nothing to do with this so he is a lot more willing to let Bledsoe go because it is harder to win with him. I was actually operating from what TD said right after they had this talk which sounds pretty unequivocal from what Mm says, but defintely said that everyone has to win there job on the field which I took to mean that Bledsoe was still in the mix in terms of a competition, though as I said I would be really surprised if Bledsoe won such a competition with the team adopting a playbook styled for a more mobile QB. The sad thing here is that TD flat out lied with his commentd jud post discussion with Bledsoe, JP did not win the job on the field it was simply handed to him. Drew's comments that this was his team were also a little odd as if the conversation was as unequivocal as MM stated, this was obviously not Bledsoe's team. Its probably most interesting that TD and Mm were sating different things or at best the same thing in very different ways. Again i think there was some slight difference here between the two but sort of the other wat around, TD seemed to be emphasizing more that Matthews was the man if he choose to come back, but Mm seemed to be saying that Matthews definitely had a shot at being the man if he came back. I still think the Marv dictum rules here. Probably the person who has the most to say about whether Matthews comes back and how involved he is Matthews wife. Je sounds like there are some real commitment and family issues it sounds like Matthews is done to me at least from looking at his record and jusfing his play I hope he is. If we end up with him as our starter I fear we are toast. Still even though I stand thankfully and somewhat corrected on where the Bills stood on the Bledsoe having a chance to start (I think even with a fair judgement between him and JP Bledsoe is the #2), I stand by my assessment that we are in worse cap shape after the Bledsoe cut if we get a credible #2. matthews ain't it. We will need to buy a number 2 who has been there before, who has played QB for a winning team in the SB or at least the championship game, and who has been around a while and has experiece training a youngster. Bledsoe by far would have been the best backup for us but that did not happen and I hope our lesser choices bring something to the table.

Boy hereally seems to have hard on against Bledsoe, He does try to cloth it in some damning him with faint praise laanguage that sounds like a politician in Congress praising his "good friend| before saying he isnt good enough, but he seems to take various fact in the worse light and actually seems to misinterpret facts to substantiate his point. For example,e he sites the last five seasons that Bledsoe played and their bad results, but conveniently for his argument leaves out any reference to 2001. This NE team was certainly far more Brady's team than Bledsoe's even if Belicheck built it with the though that Bledsoe at worst would lose his job eventually to the 2nd year 6th round pick Brady, but Belichick ultimately should hold a place of thanks in his prayers for Mo Lewis as the genius was on his way down the toilet bowl with Bledsoe as a starter. All that being said, it is at least disengenous and actually even worse for a reported not to include the real and quite essential role Bledsoe played in being part of an SB winner besides his ironic contribution of conveniently getting hurt so Brady could take over. i don't think a good writer can overlook: 1. Just as Belicheck is not stupid enough to count on a 2nd year QB leading his team to the SB or to contemplate adopting a JP losman development plan for this 6th round pick, there was a clear recognition that JP was not a vet yet and he and all involved give Bledsoe some rightfully deserved credit for helping Brady develop into the QB able to win the SB. Who knows what happened in their conversations and a million little things go into victory, but even though Bledsoe cannot do the right thing all the time and his brain clearly gets on overload and he falls back on operating in a bad way, he sees lots of stuff that a vet sees and Brady indicates that Bledsoe communicated those things to him effectively as only someone who has played the position with the same teammates can. Failing to help a guy competing with you for the same job is not unknown in the nFL and I think Bledsoe like the effective sounding board and watcher that Reich played for Kelly does deserve some credit for the team's accomplishments while he was hurt. 2. Even clearer than the coaching and clipboard contribution, Bledsoe actually played the majority of a must-win game for NE and threw the win ning TD. His average at best stats in the game point out the failings of Bledsoe running an offense not designed for his strengths and weaknesses. The other members of the Pats O were running a gameplan designed for Brady and Bledsoe has no choice but to run the Brady plan as best he could and he was not outstanding. However, the won a must win game coming from behind with Bledsoe at the helm and sheparding the team to a victory. Bledsoe would have gotten and deserved a ring merely for standing on the sideline,but he really deserve the ring by playing QB the majority of a must-win game. 3. The key to the Pats run 3 of the last 4 years is that they are a team first. Its hard to claim that Bledsoe clearly being a teamer rather than a cancer was a big part of setting the tone that year for the Pats. It is a tone that certainly outgrw and went beyond Bledsoe so he gets no credit for the last two wins, but the 2001 team was Brady's team, but was also Bledsoe's team in a real way. I agree that Bledsoe is not yet an HOF member in my book, however, the consideration of him does not start with the W/L that King sites which is feebly balanced by his stats and episodes of good play. His consideration actually starts with him leading a team to the Big Dance under Parcells though they lost (a rare occurence for many QBs) and him playing an essential role for a team that won the SB (a non-occurence for greats like Dan Marino). This counts and is a key part of the consideration Kings piece fails because it is lacking. Obviously being part of an SB winner does no gurantee entry and Marino is in for much more than leading a team to a losing berth. However, Bledsoe may start consideration somewhere near 50 on a list which only includes 29 entrants because of his longevity and occaisional episodes of Pro Bowl play, bu his record of getting to the Big Fance twice and being an essential part of a winner once moves him up from the 50 mark. Deserving a Pro Bowk berth his first year with the team (if you disagree please say who you think was left off who had a better season and deserved it more) really made him the Comeback player of year because so many folks had written him off as done. He certainly suffered a production outage later in the season, but the fact he was able to put up a good performance late uin the season against a pathetic Bengals team points to other factors legitimately cutting his production ranging from some fairly predictable play calling by Kevin Killdrive (exacerbated by the over-confidence of a pass happy Bledsoe who needs the offense simplified and his ability to audible controlled to allow him to be most effective) to several bad weather games noted as bad by folks such as Bret Favtre who also performed miserably that day nad a game in which Bledsoe performed poorly but outperformed the rookie Brees to a degree that Brees got yanked in the rain soaked game indicate to me that Bledsoe did not deserve to be dinged *and wasn't finged) for his Pro Bowl reserv berth. I think the ironic thing here is that I believe Bledsoe had a better shot at the HOF stying here as #2 behind Losman than heading off to find glory. I think if he fashions another Comeback year and led Dallas to the playoffs from 6-10 he probably add another feather to his cap which may well get him into theHOF if he is able to prodce a god statistical year, Parcells varies the O so its not as predictable as the Killdrive model, they do not play Belicheck for MM who can provide a template for exploting Bledsoe, and they rely on the team and win rather than over-rely on the QB wich has led to the eventual downfall of teams from Marino's Fins to Mannings Colts.. he can do it but I doubt it. However, if he stayed here as the #2 the game result would almost certainly be out of his direct hands, but he would get great credit for Losman development which i think will be good anyway. He would likely get into the game at some point due to a nick or the youngster needing a blow or to have his head readjusted and have a chance to put up some numbers before a D not prepared for him, He also would have cemented his rep as the ultimate team guy that would have reinforced what credit he will get for 2001 and Brady's team and built his fame which is critical to being in the hall of FAME and winning what is ultimately a popularity contest among the voting committee, rather than a comparison of raw stats that quite frankly cannot be accurately compared across the eras anyway. Kimg's article simply sucks coventiently leaving out a real assessment of 2001, fortaking an incorrect static view of what the HOF is all about and for a statement so stupid every Bills fan has to laugh of declaring the 3-13 GW led team he inherited when he got here as built for the playoffs. Please. TD made what I consider a mistake as extending Bledsoe for this year as this team was within a hair of making the playoffs, However, just as Bledsoe should not be given credit for carrying this team so close because it was the D and the ST that did that with Bledsoe as a ball-handling add-on, so too would it be a mistake to claim that Bledsoe lost the Piitsburgh game since the keys to me were he D unfortunately giving up running yardage to a scrub (as Bod Discerare points our in his questioning of the wind issue, Pittburgh completed all of 5 passes ncluding one for a yard or less in scoring almost all the points with the wind tjey ran all over us and the key play of the game was Lindell missing a chip shot FG and a Pitts team immediately racked up big yardage and i think even scored on our delated team. Bledsoe deserves ample blame for the loss as he never got the offense going in that game and in fact most of the season, but like HCs they get too much credit for wins and too much blame for kosses. It seems to me that as much as us fans want JP to be the second coming of Jim Kelly that isn't likely to happen at all (as Jimbo said in his HOF induction, a key to the HOF for him was playing with Thurman, and Andre, and Bruce, and Tasker and for Levy and with Talley and a host of others. Most doubt we will ever see such and assemblage and 4 SB berths in a row under the salary cap ever again (even a great NE team was denied not onlt 4 in a row but even a playoff berth in large part due to the accelerated cap hit from the stupid life contract triggered by the correct decision to go with Brady). The key for success for JP was shown by RoboQB in Pitts, just hand the ball off, rely on a top ranked D and do surgical strikes. When they foundered and had to rely on the yougn QB against NE the answer came back he was a young QB. If Loamsn plays like Bledsoe did last year he will be fine because a more monile QB should allow the OL to play better and the offense to perform better, but unless the D and ST are lights out again itwill be a long season, King needs to stop paying too much attention to Bledsoe and more attention to football.

I gnerally agree as I think it is pretty impossible for Bledsoe to win a battle with Losman running an offense designed for Losman a more mobile QB. I think that MM and the braintrust could easily and honest promise a fair decision because it would not be a fight Bledsoe can win if he has to perform in a moving pocket rather than the straight drop back he prefers and performs best in. I do not think Bledsoe can win if the playbook call for our QB to run a strong does of plays with a naked bootleg and we count on the QB to make the first tackler miss if the outside defender stays home despite the motion and the play action fake to WM going the other way. I think Bledsoe must run some QB draws to keep the D honest and not pin their ears back and blitz every play (Clements realized this Killdrive did not)but he cannot perform with steady diet of this that Clements and MM want to run. I don't hink he is a statue (the fake QB sbeak and the pitch to WM for the TD, several QB draws he ran last year for 6+ yards and several hand-off to WM, a couple of nice TD passes to Evan on the rollout and oitches back to him leading to a bomb to Evans or Moulds showed he is not statute incapble of movement, but make no mistake though he must and can do this occaisionally mobility is not his game and that is the MM playbook. I think he came out of meeting and testily said this is my team because he was told he would get a fair judgment on how he did but it would be a fair judgment of he did running the whole playbook and not one watered down for his strenghts and weaknesses. This was not his team if anyone's its MM (and really TD's) team. I'm not so certain that I am right about all things that I would claim a stone cold certaionty he can't successfully run the full playbook (I'm pretty sure he can't) but I fell for the repetive rants from posters that he was a statue and i was quite pleased to see the success of the Bills this year with Bledsoe running a few times, pulling off some nice fakes and fleaflickers, and even htting Evans on the rollout a couple of times. I'm not makling this stuff up and I wrong to buy into Killdrive's actions and posters rants that he could not. HE DID IT. Hoever, as nice as this ws to see, I have been clear from last minicamp that I thought it was a mistake to extend Bledsoe's contract because even with some unexopected improvment in his production from Killdrive to Clements he merely improved the team from horrendous to inadequate. He needed and deserved to be cut last year and he need and deserved to be cut this year if he would not restructure his contract to be paid like a #2. He did a perfect job as the #2 in 2001 because he: 1. Helped their second year QB understand the O like the vet he was not yet. 2. Played the majority of a must win game and even threw the winning TD though he was running the O designed for Brady which the rest of the team had practiced and thus ran even though Bledsoe's numbers in the game were not good because he was running an O not suited to his strengths and weaknesses, however, he won a must-win game and that is all one rationally can expect from a stand-in looking good doing it is merely style points and do not count or matter if you just win. 3, Was not a cancer to the team insisting he should start sfter his AFC Championship win with some garbage about not losing his job to injury. He stepped back gracefully and let a better QB running an offense designed for him win the SB and was quietr and graceful about NE trading him and keeping the better QB. I agree that Bledsoe was almost certainly gonna be the 2005 back-up and needed to take a pay cut to show he recognized this and for the team. Unfortunately, restructuring so that he had no deadspace and incresed our cap room flat our by 3-4 million bucks would have been the best move for the team. Instead, by cutting him we now have increased our deadspace from a minusule 500K to a wet blanket like $4,3 million. We are likely going to have to risk putting our QB play into the hands of a secomd year QB. Having Bledsoe or some mentor would have been nice because Bledsoe being forced to the sideline helped Brady be all that he could be (according to Brady, Belicheck and others). Thy may be lying but I don't think so as NE showed a team spirit seemingly unburdemed wih behind the scenes bellyaching by Bledsoe or the faction of players (led by Milloy actually) who were his buddies. Instead at $2.2 million I doubt we can afford a mentor. I hope Matthews sticks around because he is a vet and had a year to watch the Bills O and Clements and seems to have a vets understanding of it and managng the team which JP is learning but did not show when he was thrown into the NE game and is still learning as we saw him improve from taking an unecessary penalty to merely taking an unecessary timeout in his second and third games. However, his record of play over the years is that of a Chicago level back-up and starter and not that of a player who has been there before. You may disagree for no good reason that I see but I see him as a disaster QB at best. A good one to have but still a disaster QB based on his on-field performance. Add to that he was already thinking seriously about retirement ho the extent he began talking about it publicly, maybe you feel good about him watching and carrying the clipboard as our #3 but trusting in him to prepare himself fullout to play every week is a bit too much risk for this fans blood. Please give me the benefit of good arguments to the contrary but the numbers and the events seem pretty clear to me.

What are the rules for rescinding the frachise offer. i know the Bills can do this by some deadline if they receive no offers they like, but i am too lazy to look in the CBA to make sure that JJ could not simply acceot the $7.4 offer as I suspect the market will certainly offer him less than this $6 million max and quite potentially the market may be so small compared to demand because most teams have already signed long term big deals with marginal talents such as Clifton and Petitgout or lack the cap room like AT to make an offer. I would not be shocked to see JJ command a bigger paycheck than he has ever seen but to have that paycheck onl amount to a $3 million cap hit Who knows, it is dicey and it only takes on offer for him to get the contract he wants. At any rate, does he have the ability to accept the tender if we offer it and hold us to it much to outr dismay. Even if not I doubt we even offer because this removes is from the immediate market.

The Bills gave Bledsoe the choice between staying and restructuring his deal down to a back-up QB salary and fighting it out for the starting job with JP Losman or deciding he wanted to be cut. He chose the cut (he likely would have lost the fight as MM seemed to have told him the playbook was going to be built for a mobile QB with things such as a moving pocket rather than the stable pocket Bledsoe prefers, more use of the QB draw and sneak which Bledsoe can do on occaision as shown last season but is not a staple in his game, naked bootlegs whre the QB needs the moblity to defend himself if the backside defender is not fooled by the motion as Bledsoe would have to excel at an offense designed for JP rather than JP learning an offense designed for Bledsoe) with the statement this is still my team, and TD responded this Buffalo's team. TD did Bledsoe a great favor by announcing his cut early to some extent by cutting him now. Even with the million dollar payout, the Bills would have had a lower cap hit from him in 2005 by making him a cap casualtyafter June 1st and spreading his deadspace over 2 years. He now apparently will walk into a significant contract with a team like Dallas and not only has he pocket a set of prorated payments for NE scheduled to be a lifetime contract. but has added the Bills bonus pro-rated at $2.15 million per year and a new contract which if similar sized to his current deal will see him pocket another $8 million or so (base pay this year and bonus the next two) simply for signing the deal. At any rate, the $4.3 million dead space this year left to the Bills is less than the $6.5 million dollar cap hit for paying him what (I think) TD foolishly agreed to pay him. However, this leaves the Bills with $2,2 million in cap room to buy a back-up QB. A poll was posted earlier which gave folks the choice of QBs like Garcia, Warner and others for the role of JP's mentor. This poll at the point I saw it seemed to attract few people choosing from the list given because: 1. Some felt the QB listed were bad players (I have tried to solve this by putting in a vote for other and asking folks to explain who other is). 2. Others felt that JP needs to be molly-coddled and if someone who wants to start is the #2 JP will look over his shoulder (I hope these folks are wrong and JP is a big boy and that one of our requirements - particularly after JPs injury last year, not because I think he is injury prone but it simply shows what can happen in the NFL- is that he needs a credible back-up who can start and win if necesary due to injury and he simply needs to tough out the fans and the media if they want to give up on him). 3. Others and I feel that the Bills need to keep cap room to improve our team in other places (TE to replace injured players, back-up RB when Henry goes cause I like Shayd Wiiliams but see him as a change-up rather than consistent starter. back-up LB to continue improving ST and to challenge Posey who I think will win the job but compettion is good). Further we will have to deal with or replace JJ and Phat Pat and that will likely cost us cap room.. At any rate once the cost of a back-up QB goes over $2.2 million then hte Bledsoe cut diminishes our cap room. In terms of on the field acquisitions and further showing the extension of Bledsoe was a mistake, I do not think TD wants that to happen. I have held this list to the QBs who I think have a snowballs chance of doing the job (though MikeMacMahon gives me pause as in his two longest (though they were quite short seasons for starts his completion % was below 50%) and I actually have no confidence in Chris Chandler but he was on the other list and differed from therest as I think he will cost less than $2.2 million. I also left Matthews off the list because though he is currently on the roster and talked about as the back-up he does not seem like a credible choice to me because like Chandler I don't think his record indicates he can do the job and also because he has already talked about retiring and 2004 being his last year. I agree with Marv that when you talk about retiring in your mind you hve retired. I see him at best as our disaster QB 2 which despite his gaudy stats was the role he played this year. If you think he is a crefible choice plese mark down other and I hope you can convince me and others he is areal choice. Other possiilities I have left off but folks can other them and explain if they wish are Maddox who is not on the redzone availabe list and Holcomb who is a possibility as AUFA who has played well recently but I think he may well cost over $2.2 . So please poll up on what I think is a more realistic approach to this difficult quesion. BTW- I join Simon in signing Batch but I also sign Kordelia as my slash and am comfortable letting these two fight it out. JP's precence actually gives this player a 25% chance of starting for this team and it very good ST and D if his play in minicamp and pre-season is simply lighjs out great and a 5)% chance of being the starter at some point this season if Losman (who i think will earn the starting job) turns out to be not ready yet. unfortunately no matter how much I believe happy feet and other problems do happen.

I agree. i for one would never marry a man.