Luxy312

While I'm looking forward to that time to gloat, it's not now. There is a baffling dynamic going on right now that I just can't get my head wrapped around. First, you have Pegula outbidding the JBJ group by reportedly hundreds of millions of dollars. Single potential owner versus a consortium would suggest that Pegula is a shoe in to win the team. Then Morgan Stanley essentially just says "nevermind" to the process and asks the JBJ to re-bid, telling them that they have to come up with more money. Not even an ounce of dirt on Wilson's casket, and JBJ sits down with Goodell to talk about buying the team for 2 hours. No similar meeting with Pegula or anyone else for that matter. Now comes a report that there's a Rogers Communications document out there somewhere suggesting that they have a plan to move the Bills to Toronto regardless of any guarantees that the JBJ group makes to the NFL. In jumps Morgan Stanley again to tell JBJ to try to team up with Jim Kelly, such that he could be the face of the franchise. It can't just be me that thinks this whole process is a bit strange. When I look at what's going on on the surface, it appears that JBJ should but done and out of the process on multiple occasions. It almost seems as if there's some nefarious purpose to get them the team, regardless of what else is happening. At this point, I'm hoping JBJ and his group go down in flames. The fans certainly want his efforts more "dead than alive". Had to do that.

Awesome post! It's scary that the Te-blow man crush is still alive and kicking, despite any evidence that there's an ounce of talent in him to play at the NFL level.

Optimism? Honestly, this is the last thing I want to hear from these guys right now. I would rather they be "pissing in your cheerios" angry at the lack of execution. Should Marrone and Hackett be optimistic that they've had 10 visits to the red zone and ZERO touchdowns? I think both of these guys said the right things early on. Manuel is their guy and they're moving forward with the presumption that he's going to be the guy for awhile. To me, it's the right time NOW to lose the "we're making progress" attitude and demand more from the offense. The defense appears to be in regular season form. There's no reason the offense can't be there too.

I don't think there's any reason he can't. Almost all LT's have the ability to play RT with little effort to change. The fact that the Bills drafted Seantrel in the 7th round and he's playing so well makes up for the fact that they drafted Kouandjio in the 2nd and he's looked like a big lump on the field. The sooner that they get Glenn back, the better. I want to see the offensive line have a chance to gel and play together before the season starts.

There's no logic to Sanchez, Tebow, or any other "insert name here" quarterbacks. There wasn't logic previously to Vince Young, Kevin Kolb, Tyler Thigpen or Brad Smith. Ryan Fitzpatrick had a little logic, but he did graduate from Harvard. Brian Brohm, Trent Edwards, J.P. Losman, and Levi Brown also made no sense. One thing we can be sure of as Bills fans. Since Jim Kelly, we are ready at the drop of a hat to give up on whoever is our current quarterback and hitch our proverbial carts to the next guy with the fleeting hope that he helps us win a couple more games. With that said, here's what I know about Mark Sanchez. His career completion percentage is 55.1%. In his 4 seasons as an NFL player, it hasn't changed by all that much. Notwithstanding what he's doing in the preseason, which many have suggested is irrelevant, he hasn't improved. In his 11 games last season, Manuel's was 58.8%. That's not much better, but still better than any season that Sanchez has had. Interceptions? 3.7% of the time Sanchez has thrown the ball, it's been a pick. 2.9% for Manuel or 22% less for mathies out there. QBR and other similar metrics all favor Manuel. So as I see it, unless Manuel regresses from where he was last year, he's still the better option.

The concerns about Hackett are valid. We have plenty of data points (last season) to suggest that his red zone play calling is ineffective. For fans to talk about how the preseason is somehow "wait and see" is naive. Every team in the NFL commits time in practice to the red zone. To suggest that it's just something that the Bills work on is also short sighted. I'll start buying off on the idea that Hackett is disguising something, when he actually shows me something that warrants a disguise. 2 games into the preseason, the Broncos look like a Superbowl team. 3 games into the preseason, Hackett appears to be calling plays for a high school team. Someone let me know when "real" football starts for the Bills.

You don't remember Mike Williams? Sad, because he was LOST LOST LOST in his first year and a lot higher pick to boot.

He was a starter...in Denver....for more than a half a season and into the playoffs. How did he not get a fair shake? So sick of the Te-blow love.

Rising - Seantrel Henderson. They guy looks like Kouandjio SHOULD look. He could be our day 1 starter at RT. Falling - Hackett. Just not finding a way to call plays to get the ball from the red zone to the end zone. 11 tries and zero success so far. Just doesn't seem to know how to play to the strengths of the team. APB - Definitely Branch. He's gradually blowing any chance of a career and it's all on him. BOLO - Maybe Stefan Charles, but it's a little early to tell. Showed signs, but it was against 2nd and 3rd team.

Didn't read through all 12 pages of this thread, but I'll chime in as a Bills fan (born and raised) but a Chicago resident. First, there's nothing biased about local radio in terms of picking the Bears over the Bills. The Bills opened almost a TD underdog to the Bears according to betting lines. In the history of games played by the Bills at Soldier Field, they're 0-4. OK, so a 2 game difference separated these two teams records last season. The Bears though were 6-2 playing at home, while the Bills were 2-6 on the road. I want to be optimistic. I want the Bears to overlook the Bills and be sloppy out of the gates. Alternatively, I would love an old fashioned ass whooping. But if I'm being realistic, this SHOULD be an easy win for the Bears.

Kouandjio has been pretty terrible thus far this season. I would have expected much more out of the second round pick. On the flip side, I take my hat off to Seantrel Henderson. He's been fantastic and certainly not playing like a 7th round pick.

That's really really weird. Lewis and Tuel are signed by Buffalo and they're NOT backups for any other teams as well? That just can't be correct. Who else is Ryan Mallett a backup for besides the Patriots? Hmm...we have a conundrum surrounded by a question wrapped in a mystery.

With such a small sample size, it's impossible to extrapolate into concern. Gilmore covered the #1 receiver on almost every play last year and played at a high level even with a broken hand. I expect more of the same this season. No cornerback in the NFL is perfect. People loved to talk about how good Revis was and how he shut down opposing #1 receivers. Well most of the time, he didn't shut down Stevie when we played him. Did people have concerns for him because of a couple plays? Of course not. My #1 question in the last two weeks was where the safety help was. Not even close.

They are not. They would tell you that Jesus wants him to be a starting quarterback in the NFL....OK, that's being sarcastic.

Starting with the "Tebow wins games" nonsense, no he doesn't. The Broncos won games with Tebow under center because of their defense. Go back and look at the game logs and his stats. He was an awful starting quarterback. The NE Patriots system made Matt Cassel look like a top-10 quarterback in the NFL. His time there landed him his gig in Kansas City. What did Tebow do in the Patriots system? The answer is nothing. That's why he was cut. He wasn't good enough to be the backup to the backup. He couldn't learn anything from one of the best quarterbacks in this generation, nor probably the best coach. I would welcome back Vince Young or even Jamarcus Russell before I would want to see Tebow in a Bills uni. If he had one shred of talent, I would think otherwise. The problem is that he doesn't.

I neither hate nor love Chris Hogan, but am a bit baffled. They draft Sammy Watkins and I get that they're looking for a true #1 WR. They trade for Mike Williams, and that makes sense to me too with Stevie's departure. What doesn't make sense is Hogan moving up the depth charts ahead of Woods and Goodwin. Didn't this team just spend 2nd AND 3rd round draft picks last year to get additional receiving options for EJ? Playing a workout warrior with the first team in the preseason makes little sense, unless they're trying to send a message or discipline the other players. The fact that Graham is still dropping balls is also bothersome. Should that trend continue, this will be his last year on this team. Is it by chance his size that is making a difference? When all is said and done, it should be the best player on the field on any given Sunday. It would just be nice to know a little of the thought process of the front office.

People love to cite the money argument, but it is simply a fallacy. The new CBA requires every team in the NFL to average 89% spending of the cap for 2013-2016. That means if the average cap is $160 million that they must spend a minimum of $142.4 million. Could they be on the low end? Sure, but it's not as low as people make it out to be. BTW, in 2017, that requirement jumps from 89% to 95% for the four years following. I.e. there really isn't all that big of a difference between those spending at the top and those at the bottom. The range is a lot tighter than it was under the old CBA, that's for sure.

Personally, I think the #1 reason for their current playoff drought has everything to do with finishing games strong. They've been right there competitively in a LOT of games that they simply don't seem to have the will to close them out. Yesterday, albeit only the first preseason action of the year, was a perfect example. The defensive starters did exactly what I would have wanted them to do. The first series was 3 plays and out. The second was a forced fumble giving the Bills the ball on the Giants 22 yard line. Then the offense gives us a lot of the same of what we've gotten in the past. 5 sputtering plays and a field goal. They will NOT be playoff contenders until they learn to take advantage of opportunities like these.

Awesome from Mr. Reed. Truly happy to be a fan.

Steve Tasker may be the best special teams player in the history of the NFL. I know why they don't induct them (limited plays per game, etc.), but still think it's a silly reason.

In terms of Henderson, I don't think there's any issue. I'm pretty confident that Glenn, Woods and Williams are "penned in" starters. For the rest of the guys, it just comes down to me who the best player is. Some express concerns over the fact that they gave up 7 sacks on 11 plays in drills. I'm not. Let's not lose sight of the fact that our defensive line was one of the best rushing the passer last season. That gives me optimism that if our offensive line learns how to limit EJ's exposure from our defense that they'll be that much better prepared to protect him from others.

He was arrested and then took a plea to a lesser charge (possession).

I disagree with that statement strongly. Last year, the Bills played 8 games where they finished within 7 points and split 4-4. Despite an identical record to 2011 and 2012, that was much better than they did in those other years. In 2012, the bills played 6 games within 7 points and went 2-4. In 2011 they played 8 games and went 3-5. Until this team shows that they can actually win the close ones, I will be skeptical. Most importantly, they have to win more division games. In the last 2 years, they've gone 1-1, 0-2, and 0-2 versus the patriots; 0-2, 1-1, 1-1 versus the Jets; and 0-2, 1-1, 2-0 versus Miami. They've improved each year overall, but have to win more of those games to have a shot. I'm optimistic, but believe it will depend very much on the offense.

When all is said and done, Bradham gets what he deserves for being a blockhead. Whether it's 1 game, 4 games or the entire season (which guys have gotten for multiple offenses), they KNOW the rules going into their bad decision making. Did I try that stuff in college 25 years ago? Sure. Once I started being employed for "real" and was under a contract with my employer, I understood that random drug testing was a real possibility. The likely repercussions for me violating MY employment agreement is getting fired. That's it in a nutshell. I get the points regarding disparity of punishment, but a quick refresher on the facts is important. Bradham was arrested for possession. He handed the bag of weed to a police officer. In all likelihood, Rice did in fact knock out his girlfriend, but he was not arrested and she declined to press any charges. So, one guy getting arrested gets a one game suspension and another guy not getting arrested gets a two game suspension. It's easy to get caught up in the idea that a players action that hurts someone else is more egregious than an action that hurts themselves. Remember Plaxico Burress? Shot HIMSELF in the leg and was suspended for a year. Clearly the NFL's tolerance for rule breaking falls way way off when a player breaks the law, and it should. There is only tape of after whatever happened happened. I.e. he can be seen pulling her out of the elevator, but nothing before that.

IF....the offense scores more than the opposing offense OR the defense allows less points than the opposing defense. There....question answered.