RuntheDamnBall

It doesn't matter whether you've given up or not, if the defense and the coaches are giving up.

You're right on that. But part of coaching a run-based offense is knowing what kind of play to call. If it's an inches situation, you don't call a play that takes 3 seconds to develop. The pile-on is already there and every available hole or spot to push is closed. That's why he didn't gain those yards. This is my new refrain: it's the playcalling. For the record, here are all the relevant drives after the first (not including last couple, obvious passing "drives"). Throws this conversation into relief a little bit. Most of our drive-killers took place on passing plays. Our biggest gains were runs. It's not a stretch to say we could have used the run more effectively. The play-by-play makes this pretty clear. Buffalo - 8:00 1st-10, BUF8 8:00 J. Losman incomplete pass to the right 2nd-10, BUF8 8:00 W. McGahee rushed to the left for 2 yard gain 3rd-8, BUF10 7:54 BUF committed 5 yard penalty 3rd-13, BUF5 7:06 J. Losman incomplete pass to the right 4th-13, BUF5 6:45 B. Moorman punt. D. Stallworth returned punt for 11 yards Buffalo - 4:15 1st-10, BUF11 4:15 W. McGahee rushed to the right for 3 yard gain 2nd-7, BUF14 4:15 J. Losman sacked by D. Howard 3rd-17, BUF4 3:31 S. Williams rushed up the middle for 7 yard gain 4th-10, BUF11 2:56 B. Moorman punt. D. Stallworth returned punt for 1 yard Buffalo - 9:05 1st-10, BUF18 9:05 J. Craft intercepted J. Losman for 39 yards. BUF committed 5 yard penalty Buffalo - 5:38 1st-10, BUF30 5:38 J. Losman incomplete pass to the right 2nd-10, BUF30 5:29 BUF committed 5 yard penalty 2nd-15, BUF25 5:24 J. Losman rushed up the middle for 8 yard gain 3rd-7, BUF33 5:24 NO committed 5 yard penalty 1st-10, BUF38 4:42 BUF committed 12 yard penalty 1st-22, BUF26 4:36 J. Losman passed to E. Moulds to the right for 3 yard gain 2nd-19, BUF29 4:08 J. Losman passed to E. Moulds to the right for 11 yard gain 3rd-8, BUF40 3:19 J. Losman passed to J. Smith to the right for 19 yard gain 1st-10, NO41 2:07 J. Losman incomplete pass to the right 2nd-10, NO41 2:07 S. Williams rushed up the middle for 12 yard gain 1st-10, NO29 1:58 W. McGahee rushed to the right for 1 yard gain 2nd-9, NO28 1:45 J. Losman incomplete pass to the right 3rd-9, NO28 1:45 J. Losman passed to S. Williams to the right for 1 yard gain 4th-8, NO27 1:27 R. Lindell missed a 45-yard field goal Buffalo - 7:57 1st-10, BUF22 7:57 W. McGahee rushed to the left for 14 yard gain 1st-10, BUF37 7:57 J. Losman sacked by D. Howard. J. Losman fumbled. J. Losman recovered fumble 2nd-19, BUF28 7:20 J. Losman rushed to the left for 7 yard gain 3rd-12, BUF35 6:39 J. Losman sacked by W. Smith 4th-23, BUF24 5:53 B. Moorman punt. A. Hakim returned punt for 8 yards Buffalo - 3:57 1st-10, BUF10 3:57 W. McGahee rushed to the left for 3 yard gain 2nd-7, BUF13 3:57 BUF committed 5 yard penalty 2nd-12, BUF8 3:19 W. McGahee rushed to the right for 7 yard gain 3rd-5, BUF15 3:08 J. Losman passed to J. Reed to the right for 14 yard gain 1st-10, BUF29 2:27 W. McGahee rushed to the left for 5 yard gain 2nd-5, BUF34 2:03 W. McGahee rushed to the right for no gain 3rd-5, BUF34 1:23 J. Losman incomplete pass to the right 4th-5, BUF34 0:41 B. Moorman punt. A. Hakim returned punt for 5 yards Buffalo - 13:31 1st-10, BUF26 13:31 K. Holcomb incomplete pass to the right 2nd-10, BUF26 13:31 W. McGahee rushed up the middle for 27 yard gain. BUF committed 10 yard penalty 1st-10, BUF43 13:28 K. Holcomb rushed up the middle for no gain. K. Holcomb fumbled. K. Holcomb recovered fumble 2nd-12, BUF41 13:02 K. Holcomb passed to J. Smith to the right for 11 yard gain 3rd-1, NO48 12:27 W. McGahee rushed up the middle for no gain 4th-1, NO48 11:45 W. McGahee rushed up the middle for 2 yard loss

I can't believe what I saw today. The team comes out and executes with some pretty efficient play-calling and a run-based strategy. Yes, Losman has to scramble his way out of some jams, but he does it. Then: - The offense abandons the run almost completely. I counted 18 rushing plays, 16 for Willis. Completely unacceptable. I am fast losing faith in the offensive playcalling. If Mularkey is in charge of it, he's doing a shite job of it. If it's Clements, Mularkey needs to do what Jim Fassell did a couple years ago and take control of the play calls. - The defense refuses to back down from a strategy of flushing Aaron Brooks out of the pocket. Rarely did they put a spy on him. Our front four is simply not fast nor strong enough to muscle through a line or keep up with a rushing quarterback. Bonehead penalties on critical 3rd down situations, laying down on 3rd and long? What happened to forcing turnovers, what happened to the D that would "win the game for us"? This is NOT by any stretch of the imagination an elite defense. In some stretches I'd even go as far as to say that it isn't NFL caliber. - Mularkey continues his search for the easy gimmick solution by inserting Holcomb when Losman is not the main problem. The interception was not good, and Losman did not look great. I did think he displayed again in moments that he can run an efficient game and make some things happen. However, when he has receivers dropping balls, it can't help his confidence. I thought he threw the ball with some zip today and generally was on target more than he was off. I definitely didn't feel he was struggling enough to put in Holcomb for a "spark," as he was in the TB game. This is going to cause problems, moreso because Holcomb is NOT the guy who is going to take us to the promised land. We already know this. Let Losman be the rookie he is out there and get an education that will lead him to success. It ain't gonna happen if the coaches are playing head games with him. The big problem, and it has been a recurring one, has been the playcalling and game strategy. This is on the coaches. The guys look unprepared, they're not playing focused ball, and they don't look like they have a direction. We don't look like we're preparing for other teams' strengths and weaknesses, and we don't play to our own strengths. I don't think the wheels are falling off yet, but I'm going to say again that Mularkey needs to find his way, and he needs to do it now.

There's some freaking objective criticism for you.

Are you saying this because it's a good thing, or bad? This is the disconnect for me with some of the attitudes of the right. I am all for an era of personal responsibility. But when it comes to actually asking people to be responsible, especially when it concerns the environment, energy, wastefulness, there is a total 180 because it interferes with a capitalist ideal that was never written into the constitution to begin with. I'm not saying that capitalism is a bad thing. I'm saying that capitalism at all costs is pretty much equivalent to unmeasured greed, which I'm also saying is at odds with the idea of being responsible. We want people to be responsible, but to keep the economy booming credit card companies, loan providers, auto manufacturers [i'm isolating these here, but obviously it's in no way limited to these industries] need to prey on people's desires to be irresponsible. Or at least that's the way it's been put. My point is, the government is subsidizing all kinds of business as it is. Why not make those subsidies and incentives contingent on promoting real responsibility, whether environmental, economic, or social? This is the kind of responsibility I'm looking for. And it's awfully hard to watch and listen to government officials to point fingers and talk about responsibility when they're often the least responsible citizens in the nation, and through their actions they encourage unfettered irresponsibility. And that goes for both sides.

Fine. So tell me where the tax breaks fit in?

That would have been mighty difficult as he wasn't in the Senate in 1993.

That Fakhir is questionable for this game. If he plays, I hope JP targets him hard. I was going to make a post similar to this this morning. Let's hope the Bills put this stuff on their bulletin board. These guys are being jerks, homeless or not.

Nice.

Really? Are we talking about the same guy who was talking about Vick finding the "seam of the crease," and called several receivers Eric Moulds? I thought he sounded like a dolt. Gannon was a lot better for a new color perspective from an ex-player.

I think it'd probably be a better idea for J.P. just to have Kelly on speeddial, talk to him every week, get a perspective few have, that of a successful Bills quarterback. I think any more would undermine the current staff, and that's not good for anybody.

Hey, guess what? Last year our "awesome" defense couldn't stop Pittsburgh's 5th stringers. This year the only thing they've stopped is a pretty lousy Houston squad. At least JP has the "first-year jitters" excuse to use. Not that he would. You JP-bashers are something else after week three, for crying out loud. Just so you know, I'm slashing all your bandwagon seats for whenever you're ready to come back.

Lord knows drafting new linemen every year is the key to continuity.

Don't get me wrong. I've seen the guy maul on some blocks, moreso last year. I just want to see more consistency.

This is getting weirder and weirder

It's Willis. He definitely has whiffed on a few blocks, leading to sacks this year. Latest example comes in the first drive of the ATL game, they're on second down in ATL territory, and Willis lets the blitzer go by without even grazing his jersey. Maybe the design of the play was to release immediately, I don't know, but it just seems like there have been a few moments where a blitzer in Willis' pattern has gone right by and forced JP to take a sack or throw it away. Nothing against Willis and I am beginning to wonder more if it's a function of our RB coaching, I just thought I'd point it out. Love the guy as a runner, hope to see more from him as a complete back catching the ball and making more blocks.

Sure. You're right. However, what it has to do with the guy's ability to absolutely baffle our defense remains a mystery to me. I would take Michael Vick for my team in a minute, as lousy of a quarterback as he is, because he makes things happen on the football field. He is a fascinating athlete who can win games and take a team to the playoffs. Poking fun at the herpes thing while simultaneously watching him school our supposed GOAT defense kind of rings hollow for me, I guess.

It gets one's ass kicked almost as much as stupidity. Yes, the dude has an STD. If that makes some people feel better about themselves, it's pretty pathetic, especially considering he ran all over our football team.

I think the kind of moderators this board really needs will more likely be found here.

Is it harder to believe we're fighting them to be cellar-dwellers, or that it's the Jets and not Miami we're fighting? Come on, be honest. We were picked by most to be 3rd in the East this year. Miami has been surprising. The Jets have seen one setback after another. We were 0-3, en route to 0-4 this time last year. Everyone does need to get a grip. Everyone with the exception of the 5-10 posters who seem to get it around here.

I was all for dumping Drew Bledsoe because everyone else wanted to. Now I want to see the team bench Losman after three games because I don't know anything about football. Hopefully after Holcomb has one bad game, they'll sign Jeff George, because he has experience, and hell, I've heard of him!

The fact that they were loyal, during the worst times. They weren't happy, they were critical, but they didn't defect to the Steelers or Raiders or whatever team of the moment they could hop on the bandwagon of. You suggested such a thing, and I think it's weak as hell, especially after week 3.

Somewhere, some Bills fans who suffered through the seventies are really laughing right now.

It's probably the Incubus. Someone needs to give that dude some better music.

I agree with the last point, but what makes me think JP will be able to hit Roscoe is 1) we're nigh on week 4, he is still LEARNING!!!! 2) he hit Roscoe with regularity in preseason, and made clear Parrish was a favorite target 3) we're not hitting anything on the outside, but making lots of passes to the slot receiver. It stands to reason a guy who's quicker than Josh Reed will be even more dangerous than the guy who has caught most of our passes