BuffOrange

I would give the Midget's '98 season the edge over DB's '02 season just based on consistency. While DB's first half of '02 was great enough to compare favorably with any half season Kelly had, he simply tanked just about every game in the 2nd half save from the Miami snow game; and the defense which was pathetic early actually started to play pretty well in Nov/Dec. Certainly the Midget's production dropped off in '99 and he was a huge benifactor of his defense and I agree that he wouldn't have won the Titans game. Still, his play that year was far better than Drew's in '03 and about equal to '04. I believe the 99/03/04 defenses were all about equal statistically, but the former 2 were lacking in takeaways & special teams. In terms of takeaways and Special Teams & field position, it's going to be tough to ever duplicate '04 which was a huge factor in our point production (and incidentally was one reason I wasn't so optimistic going into last year). Basically, DF 98 = DB 02 and DF 99 = DB 04. Given that DB was God awful in 03 and DF hardly played in 00, I can't see how you don't give the tiebreaker to the Midget.

Hehe, yeah really. Maybe this would've been a good thread in like 2001. The 90's spoiled those of us who grew up with the SB teams. But in 2006, God - I don't think any fan regardless of their age is a spoiled brat after enduring the last 6-9 years. It may not be the longest streak ever, but it's bad enough; so I don't see the need to create such a divisive thread. If you older folks want a round of applause for living thru the 70's, I'm cool with that - I probably would've killed myself. Just don't blame me for not being born earlier and bitching about a team that's sucked for so long.

Great post. The Sports Guy once wrote a fantastic article about this. The Ravens, Pats, and Bucs from 2000-2002 were just anomalies (Brady was average at best in 2001). It was a strange era in football that saw 3 of the worst championship teams ever who were not coincidentally, led by mediocre QB's. Those years were the exception to the rule for sure. The evidence in the time periods before & after that 3year period is pretty overwhelming.

Gabe Northern was not good by any means, but I can't put him on this list because amazingly, he did make some big clutch plays. 1999 Monday Night in Miami, he either forced a Marino fumble or ran it back for 6, I forget which. The next week against Pittsburgh, he sealed the game with a late int. And that ugly Johnathon Linton game in Baltimore, he forced the fumble that gave the offense a chance to win it and make Flutie the hero again. A guess a lot of that was just being in the right place at the right time but still, we could've been 8-8 instead of 11-5 without those three plays.

I remember a playoff game vs. the Raiders (not 51-3 but the freezing cold 93 game where there were like 3 missed PAT's)....Tim Brown catches a crossing pattern and just fakes Kelso out of his jockstrap en route to the endzone. Paul McGuire who was doing the game w/ Marv Albert for NBC says on the replay "Kelso just has no chance on this play"...LOL oh really no chance? He was right there in position to make the tackle, isn't that the FS's job? Anyway, I hate to trash the guy too much because he was apparantly a decent player in the 80's which I'm too young to have a sharp memory of. Also, we sadly have not had a better FS in the last 15 years

I don't know if I agree with that. I'm not sure how successful his Special Teams have been in SF and Dallas since he left Buffalo, but it seemed like even outside of the Titans game, our Special Teams sucked that whole year and pretty much every year since Tasker left up until 2004. But yeah, clearly Ronnie Jones was worse.

I have to agree. I don't know if it was part of the scheme or what but the guy always lined up 40 yards behind the line of scrimmage - it was like having 10 men on the field. I guess he managed to rack up some int's in the 80's though.

So 24. C'mon dude, 3 months isn't close enough to say "I''ll be _ on _".

Jim, Quinn Early....WTF? Keith Newman? No Lonnie Johnson? Promo, No, it wasn't just one kick. He drilled a few gamewinners in the 80's but overall was mediocre at best and missed an assload of PAT's. Also, I would like to add a 'Fans' category to all the ridiculous crap about MM being worse than GW. "Oh this guy was here more recently therefore he sucked more" rofl. Apparantly I'm the only damn guy on the planet who remembers 2003.

26 Tuesday

The first few times I saw this thread I thought "Aikman?" I didn't realize Vincent was still on the team.

QB - It's pretty sad that Flutie is #2 but I can't disagree. Albany - Bledsoe played for a very good defense in 2 of his 3 years here. Otherwise I agree with everything NYC Bill said.

What personal agenda might that be? I thought it was pretty clear that he wrote coaching was the main problem and we're going to be better this year primarily because of confidence & hustle, which is highly questionable IMO. If I misinterperated, I would like to hear your own summary.

Yeah, Rocky V is right up there with Godfather III as things that people think happened but never actually happened. Awesome. If it's anything like that scene in Rocky IV where he's driving around in his car at night in the rain after Creed dies, it should be memorable.

They were a solid 1-1 in the throwbacks I wish they would at least wear the white pants for away games like they used to until they played Dallas in '03. If they wear blue on blue in Miami Week 2, I'm going to throw up.

Man, that is retarded. Didn't they used to play every team in the West twice? I think the NBA still does this, and they're still able to play more games vs. division opponents than everybody else. 8 games vs. 1 team is a lot and I don't see the need for it. Lets face it - rivalries are made in the postseason.

So there's a direct correlation between athletic ability of fans and optimism? Now I've heard everything. You left out talent, which is another key factor in winning. Pretty sure that played a role in me as a fan, believing we could win in the 90's. Your other post was even worse. The GM was fine and everything was the coach's fault last year? Because we had so much talent at the 3 most important positions - QB, OL, DL? Unfortunately none of those positions appear to have been upgraded much. We all hope JP becomes good, Triplett/McCargo pan out, and Reyes kicks ass; but it's hardly unreasonable to doubt the probability of these things.

Too bad, but wearing them twice is a small consolation for the regular duds sucking so much anyway. I am confident Marv & the new administration will eventually permanently correct the travesty of a change that occurred 2002.

I hate going bust on one bad beat. The last tourney I played with my friends I pushed w/ A5, got called by JJ sucked out and went on to win. I wanted to buy him like a case of beer or something. I mean it's great but when I'm on the other end of that I'm looking for a rope and a ledge. In limit when you're kicked in the balls you shake it off and keep playing. The results of the last hand doesn't matter. Many people who have the intelligence/talent to be good at limit just don't have the patience or the right mindset to be successful. The rest are just "gamblers" who may as well be playing blackjack. In other words most players suck, which is good. Maybe this is true of NL as well, but the 6person limit games online are so great that i have no desire to switch. There's no question that limit is more of a chasers game. The way you exploit this is bet hands you would normally check on the river in NL like 3rd pair and laugh at the guys who call with Ace high. Also, at the lower limits the different bet sizes for the flop/turn make everyone so predictable. Generally a flop raise = trash or draw. Turn raise = the nuts. Adjust accordingly and don't fall into the same trap.

I think we caught a hanger.

The brilliance at live games is just fantastic. If you play limit, 10/20 live games are the equivalent of 1/2 online.

Holcomb's Arm, Agree with most everything you've said here, and also your lovely signature I might add. The "team x had success with philosophy y in year z" just doesn't do a lot for me either. I'm sorry but the 2000 NFC may have been the worst conference in history; the Giants biggest competition was an immature Eagles team and the always playoff savy Denny Green Vikings. Even if that one fluke year did prove the organization was brilliant, then why didn't we hire Fassel? One thing I don't agree with is that I don't think there's a blueprint formula for success ie drafting high, drafting low, 1st or 2nd tier FA's, whatever. The bottom line is finding value whether it be in the draft or FA. The Patriots if I'm not mistaken built their OL through 2nd tier FA's. Granted, that doesn't prove that it's the best way to go, it just worked for them since they're good at spotting underrated talent. The Bills have obviously failed under the same philosophy for years. The Trey Teague analogy is so perfect because it's a 100% lock that people were saying the exact same things when we acquired him "OMG Denver huge upgrade!". But you're right, there's not much reason to think these new guys will be better; the only reasoning you hear is the "they can't be worse than last year" routine. I was that guy talking about Wade Phillips in 2000; suffice to say I've learned my lesson and am no longer that guy, but obviously several are. Also, you're correct the Carolina running game stunk most of last year, which people don't realize.

I don't mind any of these listed in the poll except "but...but...I've heard of him". Condescending, straw-man, etc. It's also mildly retarded in an ironic sort of way seeing as how Donahoe did such a great job of bringing in solid no-name contributors in his 5 years.

duey, FWIW I agree with all this. That selection of games is awesome. I wouldn't mind paying more than what Fez charges for some of those 90-95 games and I'm not morally outraged at your proposal. But $100+ for like 8 games does seem a little ridiculous; that is all.

Yep, it's impossible to beat those damn fish who never fold; I'd rather play against good players