BuffOrange

I'd take a chance on Webb, Romo, or Flynn in a heartbeat.

No doubt that happens a lot here (last year at this time you weren't a real fan if you didn't believe 4 takeaways per game was sustainable). But for most reasonable people I think a defense in the 8-12 range was more realistic than the top 5. I expected the former but would not have been shocked to see them fall short of that and just be average. There's just no excuse for being as historically horrific as they've been; not even my Dad saw that coming who is as negative as they come.

I'd have liked to have seen you argue this six weeks ago. You're basically just trying to rationalize why they've played bad as opposed to explaining why the talent level is overrated. Why don't our QB/WR's measure up to other teams? Most would say the draft pedigree isn't there. There's very few 1st or even 2nd or 3rd round picks in those spots. Most would agree the DL is the most important group on defense & we have two top three overall picks there plus Kyle Williams. Dareus is only in his 2nd year, so what, DT is not exactly the steepest learning curve in the world. Assistant coaches and schemes change all the time with lots of different teams. The Dallas rookie CB has been very good already. Gilmore not really. Sure the LB's are a weakness. Bottom line even if we all overestimated the talent level it's still better than bottom 10 in the league much less "give up 600 yards & 50pts every other week" bad.

As Scott Van Pelt said yesterday, it's pretty much batting practice for radio talk show host guy. No, they shouldn't cheer an injured player. But I can live without the predictable high horse tirades. Is the point of the 'fake outrage' that the fans in New England have superior morals to those in the friendly heartland? KC like Buffalo and Cleveland is a great football town that's tired of watching crappy QB's; and when you're with thousands of other drunks you might do something stupid. Maybe not "premeditated killing dogs stupid" that the same media makes excuses for, but kinda stupid nonetheless.

I generally pay almost no attention to the byes when drafting. Had Megatron, Miles Austin & Denarius Moore out last week; have Jamaal Charles & Reggie Bush out week 7. I'm not saying that's optimal but I don't think it costs me much. There is an insane amount of luck that goes into one week of FF - do your opponent's players get in the endzone or tackled at the 1 (this usually matters more than you having to play Mark Ingram instead of Jonathan Stewart). Plus I have the advantage w/ byes in every other week but those two.

I'm not sure what you're asking. How are you sacrificing your chances of winning the week if the alternative is not improving your roster through waivers?

There's no way they're going to throw Thigpen or Jackson to the wolves in Houston or NE. Maybe after they get destroyed in those two games...

Except that is one of those silly media-created cliches. Point differential is a proven superior predictor of the future than record. Now you'd still rather be 2-3 with 3 blowout losses than 1-4 w/ 4 heartbreakers because 1 game is a big deal in a 16game sample. But it's impossible to not be more pessimistic than before the season after the 5 games we've seen.

Probably not a coincidence that it's easier to win.

"I know how odds are formed" guy lecturing everyone & not having a clue how odds are formed, volume 18,476! Ya know whose bets influence the lines? The Vegas wiseguys who do said homework and bet big $. Ya know whose bets don't influence the lines? Jon in North Tonowanda who bets $50 on road favorites every week. Sports like college basketball in the 1980's were very beatable. The modern day NFL odds are incredibly efficient and hard to beat. Poker is way better and it's not close.

I third this nomination. All we need is Chan Gailey to become a collaborator with the Patriots. The French at least fought hard with some history of success though.

This. Much like the gender gap in college graduates that favors women, it's one of those things that the PC police would be crying bloody murder about if the situation were reversed and nobody would argue w/ them. But anyone who speaks up for men in this country is an insensitive (and in this case pro-cancer) pig. Whatever.

Ya know, I never thought about it until now, but you're right - Brady never slings it 30yds downfield like Rodgers/Roethlisburger can/do when he has to move. Couldn't agree more on Gronk too - he has all the makings of a short career. Dareus "getting blocked for an eternity" as they put it by some guy is really disappointing - not what you want from the #3 pick.

All DW is saying there is Jauron's system wasn't a good fit for his skillset, which is probably true. That doesn't exactly contradict what Buscuit is saying about all but a few coaches being basically the same - most coaches are stubborn to a fault with their almighty systems. But do you really blame them for not designing a D that specifically suits their Strong Safety? If you think you need to do that then you shouldn't be using the 8th pick on him. Very well said. It's pretty lame how all of this guy's fans pretend like any dislike of him is all due to sour grapes. I realize the Bills have been a terribly run organization. I like Jabari Greer & Pat Williams and I love Antowain Winfield. But this guy just talked a lot and didn't play that well and has now lucked his way onto a great team/situation. I can still see him getting left in the dust by Brandon freaking Jacobs on like a 30yd TD run that jumpstarted the Giants 1st SB run. My best memory of him is tackling the Raiders WR as he was celebrating an apparent game-clinching TD in the endzone in 2008. I'd love for someone on our team to do that to a Patriot.

Oh, I see what you did there. Horribly unwitty sarcasm putting all the blame on the coaches. How original. You can replace 'Wannstedt' with guys like Gilbride & Williams who have since won SB's & it sounds just like a million other TBD posts since 2003. The post quoted mentioned all the rushing disasters Kyle Williams has been a part of, most of them under different DC's. Mark Anderson had the season of his life last yr - clearly an outlier. Ask Bears/Pats fans how good he is. 3rd overall pick - yah that settles it then, he's great. Wake me up when he does anything remotely as impactful as the other guys in his class that were mentioned. As much as you want to pretend OL vs DL is a rubik's cube, it's not. You pay that DE $100million so that you don't have to blitz like you're playing a video game. Nickel, dime, quarter, whatever - beat the crappy RT on the Pats/Jets when you're single teamed, which is almost every play. He could not.

Hooray for a voice of reason. The excuses for these players is a joke.

Bingo. At 21-7 the turnovers were -1. By the time it was 21-28 the turnovers were still -1. That time in between was where the game was lost - not on two garbage int's at the end when we started pressing.

Upsets and surprise teams have been happening in the NFL throughout this twelve year playoff draught. Never for us. I know, 'never' is an exaggeration. We beat the Patriots once in seventeen tries - whoopdee doo!

If a coach has a problem with their punter's directional punting, I have a problem with the coach punting too much from bad spots. Like say, 4th&5 from the opponent's 40.

Making Whitner out to be some sort of Jack Tatum/Ronnie Lott intimidator is some pretty ridiculous revisionist history. He choked badly in the Saints playoff game and got bailed out. George Wilson made more plays in one half vs Philly last year than Whitner did here in five years. The 49ers are a better team, no kidding. You're fooling yourself to think the safties are the reason for that.

You may be right. I hope you are. I thought the "$100m mistake" thread was reactionary because it was his 1st game, only 1 game, and most who watched the film thought the DB's were just as much or more to blame. We are now at the 1/4 point of the season and he's been a complete no-show in the exact spot we signed him for, the two biggest games we brought him in for, against mediocre at best Tackles. Maybe if he were an offensive player it'd be easier to buy the "he needs time to mesh in a new scheme/teammates" - for defenders I think that's mostly hot air football jargon. I guess we'll see.

I thought there were two coaching blunders in the 1st half. 1. Punting on 4th&5 from NE's 40 on the 1st possession. You typically gain 20 yards of field position with a punt here. I'd rather sacrafice the 20 yards half the time and pick up the 1st down and a likely 3+ points the other half. 2. Throwing on 1st & 2nd down with 2:10 left in the 1st half when NE had 1 time out. This worked out only because Donald Jones made a nice catch in traffic on 3rd&10. But it's still terrible clock management either way. For Jeremy White and anyone who says that's nitpicking because they got the 1st down, fine, but I never want to hear you whine about blaming a coaching decision on the basis of it not working. As for Spiller being in the game, whatever. Don't fumble.

Yes it is. Miami would likely be 3-1 now if they were playing Matt Moore.

This is a good point. Cameron Wake destroyed that Jets Tackle. He is not going up against Anthony Munoz. Oh look, it's token contrarian guy. Yawn. Yes lets blame the fans for being wrong about a signing because they all have the same resources at their disposal as Buddy Nix. I would rather be open-minded enough to admit I was wrong that it was a good signing than be a stubborn fool by blaming coaching for our $175mill DL getting manhandled by a pedestrian OL who was missing its best player. Besides if you really want to compare average fan vs the actual Bills Front Office, drafting Ngata over Whitner likely trumps any superior move(s) the Bills actually did that most fans wouldn't have in the last 10 years. And that's pretty sad.

How old are you guys who complain about commentators/analysts? I used to do it when I was 17 I guess. Now I just expect them all to be terrible and full of meaningless cliches because the vast majority of them are. Just about everyone on CBS & FOX is awful. Shouldn't we instead single out the ones who are actually insightful?