Matt in KC

Welcome to the board. Thanks for sharing your optimism. The great thing about the modern NFL is, you never know who's going to be the surprise team. The Bills certainly appear to have many more hurdles to overcome than most teams, but they could be this year's surprise team. Who knows? More than any time in recent history, they are positioned to be unable to perform below expectations. One of the great joys of being a fan is to let yourself believe, and to visualise your team winning, rooting them each step of the way. I for one think that with the parity in today's NFL, coaching and team spirit are more important factors than ever. Players are able to cash in like never before, but it's the teams that gel together that seem harder to beat. Even if they aren't more competitive, I'll find it easier to cheer younger, hungrier players establishing themselves than established stars with dollar signs in their eyes.

Can anyone help me understand how the LB role is different in the Tampa 2? I thought it meant the LBs would need to be even stronger in coverage. If that's true, Posey looked stronger in coverage than Crowell to me. Of course, I just checked the stats and Crowell's are stronger for last year. Posey: 2 Passes defended, 0 INTs Crowell: 3 passes defended, 2 INTs

I can't help but notice Posey was neither retained nor cut. Also, I like Hagaan for ST, but having just Spikes and Hagaan on the strong side is a bit thin. I thought last year Hagaan was listed as backup weak-side LB, but didn't play when Spikes went down.... You're moving both to the other side? I think Posey will do well this year. He is a cut above any of our backup linebackers and deserves to keep the roster spot, even if it were to mean Hagaan gets cut. (I would find someone else to cut, however.)

It seems like everytime Wire somes up, stevewin posts some facts and discredits him. (I think he may have some tyupe of email trigger set up for when someone types something positive about Wire.) Here's a good one: At first I went with the flow, but after reading stevewin's numerous posts trying to debunk the Wire myth, I began to pay more attention, and believed him. I've seen Wire fly into the picture on special teams many times. He hustles. But, he's usually flying into the picture as / or just after the whistle blows. I went the other way with Hagaan. I spent a fair amount of time comparing Crowell, Hagaan and Stamer when they joined the team, and originally thought Hagaan played the best. Then two years ago he distinctly started looking a bit worse than the other two. I decided Hagaan was going to be the first of them dropped by the Bills. But, paying more attention, I've seen that Hagaan's ST performances have been VERY good recently. Wire seems to somehow have gotten the ST rep Hagaan actually deserves. Hagaan and Aiken are my top two ST keepers (I'm not counting McGee). I think Burns, Wire, Fasat Freddie and probably Wilson are gonners.

I'll say Sam Cowart. He was an absolute tackling machine for the Bills and had the stats, but not the recognition and hype Ray Lewis received. If he didn't have that Achilles heel injury, and hit FA healthy, I think every NFL fan in the US would have known his name. Maybe he doesn't fit "underappreciated" by Bills fans, but from a league perspective, I think he was.

As a purely hypothetical point, I agree with you. But the Bills were really on the clock, needing a SS and DT that could play this year. Would you say it's better to have a DT that can play this year with a good upside, or a high 2nd and high 3rd with whatever players would be left when our pick came up? I understand the argument that McCargo might still have been there in the 2nd, but maybe not... The next DT was taken 40-50 picks later. There was a big talent drop-off after McCargo. I'm not sure none of the 16 teams between 26 and 42 would have taken him. And if they did, we'd have to find a free agent DT who could play as well, had a as good an upside, was available, and was affordable...?

I think there's another key argument for Whitner: The Bills decided to change their base Defense (Tampa 2 we think), including bringing in Perry Fewell and losing Gray. This is a major strategic shift for the Bills, and requires different personnel to succeed. Malloy was not fast enough to fulfill the demands of the safety position in the new defense. Yes, looking at it a single player at a time, you might think Whitner was taken too high, but since he is ready to start, he's a key component to installing this defense. If we didn't get him, we could have suffered through playing a scheme that didn't match our players' talents (Wire in there?) or we could have abandoned the defense we planned to install this year... (and started looking for an affordable sure-fire run-stuffing DT??)

Guys that could get cut that I'd miss: Adams Moulds wait a minute... Baker Greer (would miss less than Baker) Wilson Aiken (ST) Haagan (Kick coverage ace) Stamer Shneck Leonard

I was thinking the SAME THING. Remember, you're a birb-brained, beaked *Sqwawk* Parrot if you consider or trust anything you haven't witnessed personaly... especially about Martin Nance. That all being said, now I'm really interested in hearing reports from training camp about this guy.

Please add Matt Stevens. Thank you.

Hopefully a bunch of the contract is a 2006 roster bonus and salary so the Bills use this year's excess cap space, and don't have too much a liability if Peters doesn't work out long term. I am thrilled at this signing. Peters is going to be a lot of fun to watch learn and grow. I've really enjoyed watching him run down the field on kick-offs. What "hands" player would want the assignment of blocking him??

My brother-in-law is living in London for a couple years and didn't want to miss any KU basketball, the Chiefs etc.. So, he got a Slingbox, and watches his dad's TV in Kansas City. It works out great for them. His dad wants to watch all the same games, so there's no conflict with what station is tuned. Also when he gets home from work, he is 6 hrs ahead of his dad, so he can watch whatever he wants in the eveing. I think this is exactly what you're describing. To be clear, a single line DTV tuner can only be on one channel. Because you said second tuner, I think you're okay (NOT the one he's watching the Colt on, right?). I don't know the answer if you have a two-line DTV tuner like I do, but I think it does't work since the Slingbox changes the channel like a remote control. I think it is on your system between the Tuner and TV, so whatever is being sent to screen is being "posted" to the web. For Q #2, I don't know. I can't see anything that would stop you from setting up your DTV receiver, but the signal may not be strong enough given the different longitude, since the satellite is geo-stationary over the US (actually over South America I believe).

Gandy may not be great, but he's a good value, given his salary. I would be fine with us shelling out top dollar for a pro-bowl LT after we finish putting the other pieces in place. Does anyone remember the website that reports how many penalties and sacks O-line players gave up? I can't find it....

Some interesting stats are here, at Football Outsiders: http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/ol.php These stats are by position, but since Gandy was consistently in at LT, this works for evaluating him versus what other teams did. Overall (Bills) run blocking: 16th place Runs off left end: 26th ; inside left tackle: 23rd (BTW, runs off right end: 6th) 64% of all runs were up the middle, more than any team but NO, who also performed poorly. (15% to the left; 19% to the right; 2% rounding error or no direction (stuffed). As was pointed out earlier, though, this is a team sport. It's hard to pin this all on Gandy when I repeatedly saw Benny standing there wishing a defender would come to him so he could block them.

My wife just quit her job for the National Association for Childrens Hospitals and Related Institutions and has covered a lot of these issues for her work.... I think it depends how tall the kid is, as well as the weight. Age is only a concern if a law applies, and I doubt it does at this age. Here's a web page that gives you a place to enter age, height and weight. When I guessed 5 ft tall (11 yrs, 105 lbs), this message came up: http://www.boosterseat.gov/

I think long posts can reflect a lot of thought on a subject. But, the idea here is to communicate with each other, not to give a lecture, even if you are an expert. I say, take only a couple "steps" at a time, and if anyone is responding, keep the dance going. I'd love to have a beer with a sevant who remembers every game perfectly and everything he's seen or heard about the Bills, but not if it means that I first need to hear a 2-hour monologue before I can join the conversation (my beer long since gone).

So, either the Bills do pretty well this year and don't move Peters to avoid screwing up the line chemistry (in which case they lose or really pay Peters a risky contract in two years) or they do poorly this year and they move Peters to LT, so the silver lining is they can evaluate him and start the long-term line-building if he does well there. Hmm, you're probably right. I was thinking they should sign him and move him, but if Peters really is cooly riding all the way to free agency someone will offer him big LT $$ if he stays healthy and gets any better.

I think, for this reason, there's little chance of Peters moving until (unless) he signs a new contract for RT money. If he's smart, he'd sign a contract with escalators if he plays a certain amount on the left side. Of course my take is he's going to try to plow through the year and try the waters of free agency, delaying his reward, and earning a big payday. Next off-season he's in a better position to bargain with the Bills since they will certainly lose him (the following year) if they don't make a good-faith effort to reach a fair contract. For their part, I suspect the Bills will hold off negotiating until next year, to make sure Peters can keep improving and not get hurt before investing big money. This year is low risk for them and they still have a good bargaining position after the season. If they have extra $ under the cap this year, I'd love to see the Bills lock Peters up for the next 5 years. Of course, I'd rather see them extend Fletcher or Clements. I was just trying to confirm Peters is a RFA next year (I'm pretty sure) and found this RealFootball 365 Connor Byrne article from May 12th I hadn't seen. As usual, I'm struck by how close Connor's take is to the discussions here (which of you is Connor?). http://www.realfootball365.com/nfl/article...ills120506.html

Dwight ranks us his 29th favorite message board.

I put down sacks, for similar reasons to what is spelled out for QB rating. I see a number of games where a team gets ahead, then racks up a couple sacks at the end when the other team is desperate. Then, invariablly, someone posts that the defense won the game and sites the sacks. Yes, the sacks helped, but garbage-time sacks distort the truth. I chose sacks because it's a low base-rate stat that can be greatly distorted by a few plays. If for example if a team gets ahead by 13 in a somewhat close game, due to a late turnover. And let's say they earn 4 sacks throughout the game, but then gets sacks on each of the last three plays. A large number of people will come out and declare that the defense won the game. I think the sportswriter will automatically call them "dominating" if the team gets seven or more sacks. As an indiviadual player stat, I think it's good, when taken in the context of at least 2-3 years performance.

Evans Price Reed Parrish Aiken Wilson Updated 8/7/06 --Originally: Davis cut, Wilson makes the team-- Updated 8/27/06 --back to my original: Davis cut, Wilson makes the team!-- original: Bonus points: Nance to PS Speaking of whom, why hasn't Haddad been invited to training camp?!

I'll nominate Bryan Cox, for snapping, repatedly. What self control.... What? Self-control? Dolphin Linebacker Fined for a Gesture Cox Fined Again by N.F.L. Cox joins Pats If Parcells can handle L.T., Bryan Cox, Keyshawn, Owens shouldn't be worse

It looks like It's signed by Truenu M'Crazy.

I know you weren't asking me, but I was in Webster (NE Roch) with a couple friends watching a snow-distorted picture that was all we could pick up from Syracuse.

There's an awful lot of space between the players on the field.... I think you can accomplish more with great teamwork and average talent than with great talent and poor teamwork. Now if every player was great this would be close, but given the salary cap, teamwork is more important to winning than individual talent. ...remember, there's no "I" in Teamwork (though there is one in Chemistry).