BuffOrange

Don't care, I'm talking about the defense. I thought I remembered Brees putting 30 on them, maybe I'm wrong. I think Northwestern also hung 40 on them 1 of the 2 years they were good. Tennessee, Texas & Alabama have lit them up in bowl games recently. I'm not even saying they suck - I just hear every year about how awesome their defense is and I don't think it's much better than 'good' most years. Belittling? Axe to grind? Give me a break - I found it humorous that the one guy who furiously defended Brady in a light-hearted thread (and even cut down Corey Dillion to prove his point) had "MichiganFan" in his handle. Tom Brady went to Michigan. Get it? Damn, you guys sure are sensitive.

While it is true that some teams like Miami just played cover 2 and forced DB to move methodically down the field (which he never had the patience to do)... A lot of teams just brought the house and covered the short stuff because they knew DB couldn't buy time and throw deep under a blitz. How many times in 2003 did you see the other team blitz, and then STILL have 3 defenders busting up an awful looking screen pass to Moulds or Henry? You're thinking: "Damn - how many players do they have on the field?" I had that feeling a lot. That's the great thing about defending DB - you have options. Doesn't mean this kid is going to be good, but really - Bledsoe sucked. I can't emphasize that enough.

OK, well they did give up 28+ four times last year, and the Big X isn't exactly known for its explosive offenses. Same thing for the year before, although 28 vs. USC on the West Coast is no disgrace.

Agreed - I will still maintain until the day I die that their 2001 "championship" has about as much dignity and merit as the Russians 1972 Olympic basketball Gold medal... But they've been ridiculously good the last 2 years.

Nice screen name

OK maybe a bigger fan of College ball can enlighten me on this whole Vince Young stuff. Maybe I'm putting too much stock into the OU game last year. He was incapable of making a play thru the air, and even the announcers questioned the coach for not switching QB's mid-game. It just seems like UT has beaten up on a bunch of crappy teams since then and now all of the sudden this kid's a superstar. I know there was the Rose Bowl, which brings me to a different but related topic - I feel like Michigan's defense is one of the more overrated units in football year in and year out. Is it me or do they give up 27+ pts almost every time they play a decent offense? Admittadly I haven't seen a ton of UT games the last couple years, so maybe I don't know what I'm talking about. I think if OSU is half as good as advertised they should be able to shut down a 1-dimensional offense at home.

I've posted this about 3 times before, but this is my take on the Raiders: Kerry Collins is an all or nothing QB. He plays great or plays like crap in most games. Because of their lousy defense they're going to lose every single game he plays lousy in and probably only win about half the games he plays well in. Smells like 5-11 to me.

This isn't an attack on you - but I find that a bit condescending. I'm just not a fan of the "Sports means nothing in the grand scheme of things" schtick. I mean, yeah - I think we all realize that other stuff is more important. I don't understand the need to pretend like others don't understand this concept just because they don't agree with your outlook on the season. I love my team, and think modest expectations are "realistic" after seeing them fail to make the playoffs 5 straight years with the same old problem of a crappy OL, I hope like hell I'm wrong, and that's that. Cool?

Seriously - anybody who has watched football for 4 years should know this. Moral victories don't exist against them because they always win and they rarely do it in comfortable fashion.

I wasn't playing close enough attention to comment on the officiating in general, but I did notice a blatant hold on Dillion's 1st TD which directly affected the play. Kinda reminded me of one of McNabb's 3rd down scrambles against us a few years ago when Schobel was tackled right in front of the play. I don't understand how they miss those obvious calls on the edge, and yet they call phantom holds on 2 yard FB dive plays off guard in the midst of 8 300+ pound bodies where nobody can realistically see a damn thing.

I like that pick too, if for no other reason than everybody is saying: "Whoah - Detroit is favored? Take GB, easy money". Plus there's a decent chance the Packers will stink this year. I'm 1-0 so far. http://www.stadiumwall.com/index.php?showt...49entry430449

I just bet my boss that the Pats would win and cover the 7 pts. I figured the outcome would make me happy either way. Needless to say, this ensures a 24-21 game in favor of NE.

Just in case there was anybody left who wasn't sure the Big XII was hideously overrated as always, Oklahoma did lose to TCU. Give me OSU to beat Texas. I'd love to see ND beat Michigan, but I'm expecting Mich. to pull their usual "underachieve for 3 Qtrs before pulling away late at home vs. an inferior team" routine. I'm with you on the rest.

Nice post - Re: the spreads - the Bucs & Jets games would be close, but we probably would be slight favorites in both. I would think Oakland as well, but maybe they're overrated by Vegas since they're only 7 pt dogs in NE tonight.

17-10 Bills

Worst Post Ever OK you're right - the French have better athletes than us Sorry, but if you don't think Allan Iverson or Randy Moss could be sick soccer players if that's all they knew/played growing up and it was the cool sport to play in grade school....you're crazy.

I'm not going to be upset if the game's not in Buffalo.... But if it is - oh well. NFL Refs have screwed the Bills more than enough over the years to FUBAR "fairness".

You have to play Ronnie Brown just because he'll play more than Duckett, Henry or Gore, at least initially. Got to play Evans as well. Muhummad is going to be a bust with no QB, plus he's playing the Skins D. I didn't realize the Vikings had that many WR's; they also have their rookie 1st rd pick who might eventually be the #2 guy, right?

I'd say your friends are idiots. You got the top RB, a top 3 QB, a top 8 WR, and a top 3 Defense in a 12 team league. That might be enough by itself to make the playoffs. Your WR depth is questionable, but I noticed during my draft how there's a huge dropoff after Daryl Jackson in the top 12 - the next 50 or so are all about the same. When he was picked 1 spot in front of me I was pissed, started to panick, and reached for Donald Driver & Isaac Bruce in the 4th & 5th rounds (we only start 1 RB in my league). Probably should've stocked up at RB anyway. Lacking a stud WR, I stockpiled a bunch of young WR's in the later rounds with potential, or coming off of injury, guys like Troy Williamson, Charles Rodgers, Mike Williams....I figure one of them has to break out and they have more upside than the Jimmy/Rod Smiths of the world. And oh yeah, I got Manning too, that should help. Sorry for the hijack.

I don't know if this makes any sense even without the stat blunder. I'd say one of the of the league's stingiest defense should be able to hold a slowly maturing offense to 17 pts. I also think we're going to need more than "McGahee moving the chains" to score 28. Frankly if somebody offered me today: "I can guarantee you exactly 17 pts for Houston, no more, no less " I don't think I'd take that deal.

Stop it with this reality talk - All that does is get you blacklisted by the clique. Nice post though.

Don't mean to hijack, but I'm having a hell of a time getting Evans & Moulds the ball downfield. It seems bullet passes are picked off and lobs are not thrown far enough and easily batted down. Parrish & McGahee are my leading WR's.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story...=simmons/050826 5. Willis McGahee Everyone keeps asking, "What happens when teams stack the line against him?" Well, didn't that happen last year? Was Bledsoe really keeping anyone honest? If anything, J.P. Losman, Kelly Holcombe or any of the other QB-candidates-in-Buffalo-who-also-have-good-porn-names should open up some opportunities for McGahee, simply because they won't be calcifying in the backfield the way Bledsoe did. Also, it takes two years to come back from an ACL injury and more than two years to come back from an injury in which your knee basically looked like it went through a pasta shredder. And you can't beat his name. Instantly makes your team look better on paper. 14. Julius Jones Now that's a good name for a RB: Julius Jones. Just sounds like he should be good. I see him starting off hot, then falling off once Bledsoe combusts and teams start throwing those 7-1-3 formations at them. But he should be around 1,400-1,500 yards and 12-15 TDs before everything is said and done.

Yeah, the guy just cannot play competitive Div I football, period. I think a lot of people in Syracuse are awfully naive in overestimating the value of playcalling at the college level. Option, pro option, freeze option, West Coast, Spread Shotgun, 3 Wide, Pro Form, Trips, I form, Wing-T, Jumbo, 4-wide, it does not matter - the kid can't play, and neither can his offensive teammates. Having said that I'm all for recruiting a pro offense to help attract players, but it's painfully obvious this team has no players right now offensively.

The announcers mentioned that he was injured, which he clearly was.