Spiderweb

Hummmm, let's see.....Bruce Smith listed at 273 most his career, often weighed up to 10 lbs less or so it was reported. OK, he's an exception.... Phil Hansen, listed around 278, played sometimes a tad heavier and a tad lighter. Both flourished in a 3-4. The 3-4 we ran from 1995 to 2000 was outstanding, with lighter DE's so 300 pounders aren't necessary, but very good DE's are. Schobel is light and Kelsay sucks. In fact, Denny makes more plays than he does. I had big hopes for Kelsay but he has been a major disapointment. To me, the real key is having a nose tackle (Ted Washington anyone?) that can tie up 2 or sometimes three blockers, which Ted was excellent at, Jeff wright was not. Then comes having the quality LB's. Spikes? Definitely (pre-injury at least). Fletcher? I'm not sure. Posey, played well in the Texans 3-4 a few years back. So who do we go with for the 4th LB, Crowell? I really haven't been very impressed with his play overall so....

Not really much to add except, let's get the facts straight. It was JP who helped win the KC game. Holcomb was the starter, but it was JP who threw the 2 scores that led to the win. Saw the same stat on ESPN during the Denver game, but again, JP was the QB or record for that win. The only thing Holcomb did during that game was sit on the bench and mumble over and over, "I'm Batman".

Patience? Heck, they're frozen solid! It'll be spring before they move again....

It's sad to think that the last time we had a very good offensive coordinator was back in 1991 by the name of Ted Marchibroda....Since then it's been bum after bum, or newbies who turned out to be bums....

Yet in typical TD arrogance, he refused to consider re-signing Tucker when this low ball FA showed immediately that he was a failure. I will remember to give Anderson some respect at IHOP though ....

Yeah, but we really tricked 'em, didn't we?

I remember Evans having an equally bad night against our first game against the Pats. Tonight, he was off completely. If he's gonna be our next number 1 guy, this type of thing cannot happen. My hope would be that Moulds and the Bills can somehow come to terms with the events of this season and a new contract that will allow him to finish his career here. Truthfully though, I'm very doubtful it will happen. As for TD, let him be President, and hire (not Modrak) a top GM to run the football team. In the non-football areas, he's excelled at securing financial stability, but he's undoing it with his football related skills (or lack thereof).

The loss of Phat Pat and TKO should not have been as costly as it has been, but they provided the front seven strength that has been missing all year. Couple that with Clements, who has fallen flat on his face since Carolina, and Troy Vincent who has not become the FS we all we're sure he would be. Milloy, who has clearly lost a step, and McGee has been sidelined (until tonight) more than he's been able to play for the past 3,4,5 weeks. So what has that left us with? Just what we've been witnessing, pitiful defense. The only thing Jerry Gray has brought me this year, is more respect for Dick LeBeau. TD should have done everything in his power to have kept him and not Jerry. I prefer to think of Jerry as one of the class of clowns that let the Bills overcome a 35-3 Oilers lead. and he's done nothing with the Bills to tarnish that image.

True, but it would be nice to see him pop the line more. All I see is him stutter stepping into the holes (big assumption there, that there might even be a hole). The one thing that keeps me from giving up on McGahee is that many years ago, I can recall watching a college hot shot gain less than 2000 yards in his first three seasons combined (35 games). Then they began to build an offensive line in front of him and...... .........his name.....O.J. Simpson

Being one of a more serious nature, I'll take the opportunity to begin this in earnest: done....

Thanks to Tedy, we've got the internet.....ooops, that was Gore...sorry....

We beat KC (how, I'm still trying to figure that one out), got killed by SD, but the other three, we managed to steal losses from the jaws of victory. The Pats, Panthers, and the Dolphins were all games there for our taking, but instead of being 7-5 and in the hunt, we're sadly 4-8. In each of these games we managed to blow golden opportunities. In all three games, play calling and coaching in general was horrible. Those games are the ones you have to win. A blowout will happen from time to time (I still can recall the KC 33-6 win over the Bills back in 1991), but winning the close ones is what defines a decent team. Clearly, we are not for that and a miriad of other reasons. The only real bright spot all year long, with only a few notable exceptions, has been our special teams. So what will the Bills play for to finsih out the year? Will JP continue to develop or will that dung heap of humanity, we reservedly call our offensive line, stunt that growth? Will Aiken step up and finally show some ability as a WR (special teams - he's very good already)? Will Parrish finally get a chance to show he can be a play maker? He's had a few decent kickoff returns so far, but he's also made a couple real bonehead rookie mistakes as a punt returner. Will McGahee play like he finished last year, or continue to head downhill (again for multiple reasons) as he's been doing of late? Is it time to put Rashad Baker in a FS and tell Vincent, thanks you were great once (sadly not for us) but your time is up? Will Milloy follow or will the Bills give him yet another year, especially since all we have is Wire backing him up presently? Is it fair to say we color both Moulds and Adams gone? Will the Bills end the guard experiment with Williams and let him go too? Will TD's regime remain intact, and if not, how severe will be the house cleaning? How much "dead" cap space will we be carrying next year with the house cleaning of players? 2006 is not shaping up well based upon the current health of the Bills. It could be 2001 all over again...... Stay tuned, as the "World Turns".

Glenn, it's good to see you post here a bit more these days. Yet, how dare you throw Ruben Brown in our faces? He was skewered here for being a pro-bowl player only because of past rep. Never mind that his peers also took part in his formerly annual election. We got Anderson and Villerial now. We're........ ....doomed? Ruben Brown was the first Bill who had a serious issue with the new regime, IIRC. He left Buffalo unceremoniously but to his credit, he has played had solid play for the Bears, something we haven't seen from our guards since he left. Villerial, when healthy is adequate but surely no great talent and it appears this "over 30" guy is starting to break down (he's had numerous nagging injuries all year too). No comment is needed with any of the other "bum of the week" types we've thrown in there this year. Peters may develop into a player, and has great athleticism for a big man, but he's not there yet. His pass blocking has been adequate with signs of being good, yet his run blocking to date hasn't impressed me. He routinuely seems to get beat on the run, at least from what I see. Yet, he at least is the only O-line guy we have that seems to have an visible upside. He may yet be our LT next year. Gandy, has been mostly solid and serviceable. Maybe he should play the RT position or move in to guard. Anderson should be shot, plain and simple. Teague I feel is adequate, and may never be more than that, but I'd like to see what he'd look like if he didn't have a stiff right next to him on both sides. Anderson should have been cut weeks ago and replaced with Tucker (yes, sign him for the rest of the year), and keep him next year as a center/guard backup if healthy. Tucker at least played with fire, even if he wasn't the most talented guard to come down the road. Mike Williams? He was a pick that no one in football questioned when it was made. Yet, he has really disappointed this year, beginning with his nagging injuries and now the attempt to move him to guard. Late last year, he was playing pretty well and many thought he was finally arriving, but he has taken a well documented huge step backwards this year. It just seems that he lacks the fire one would like to see. Converting him to guard in mid stream simply doesn't make sense. It's not like he's played that position before either. I'd love for that switch to succeed, but he's in a real tight spot this off season. I see a substantial renegotiation of his contract or we will probably waive goodbye to Big Mike. Will Preston be of any help down the road? I hope so, but his reported "mean streak" has yet to provide any positive results when he's been in there so far. Next year will be his big test to see if he can step up to become a player, or will simply fade away. Our defensive line gives me even greater concern. We have three stiffs playing and one talented but undersized end (Schobel). I still feel Adams is very talented, but I've already colored him gone.

Ah, reason.......If we do end up with a high enough 1st rounder, and other teams have players targeted that they feel are must picks, then we've got a shot at trading down to get an extra pick. That's not automatic though as we witnessed with our selection of Mike Williams. It's been said that when the Bills went on the clock for the 4th overall pick, the phone never rang. Also, high first rounders will bite you in the but $$$$ wise, ala Mike Wiliams. Even if he was playing well, a 10 mil cap hit is huge. Best bet is to trade down (hopefully not too far though) and pick up an extra pick.

That was his point. Even when they play soft, they still get beat deep. So why not mix in some press coverage and actually make the receiver work a bit to even get off the line of scrimmage once in a while. Mix it up.... t

At least in 2001, we expected a crummy year. This year we expected better, even with JJP taking our at QB. We thought we had some sembelance of defense....

I've kind of defended Adams, as he does bring unique talents to the field, but it's painfully obvious that he's best when a team already has a two gap DT next to him so he can go after the QB, collapse the pocket and penetrate against the run. He lacks interest in being the plugger and with what he's being paid, he should be far more willing to adapt. Yet, it does come back on TD doesn't it? Adams, as it seems, has been well known as wanting to play to his strengths and has objected to similar roles before. Recently, it's been said he can be quite a disruptive locker room guy when he's not happy as well, which explains why a player as good as him has traveled as much as he has. Yet, TD knew this, or should have. If they wanted him, it had better for his attack, penetrating, pocket collapsing skills, because Sam wasn't going to be happy any other way. He was and is a known commodity. All this makes us long for the day when we had Ted Washington, a true mountain of a man, plugging the middle. I've never seen anyone better at stuffing the run than big Ted.

A friend just e-mailed this and I thought it's worth sharing, something that should make all Americans proud. It was written by an Australian: Written by an Australian Dentist... To Kill an American You probably missed it in the rush of news last week, but there was actually a report that someone in Pakistan had published in a newspaper an offer of a reward to anyone who killed an American, any American. So an Australian dentist wrote an editorial the following day to let everyone know what an American is . so they would know when they found one. (Good one, mate!!!!) " An American is English, or French, or Italian, Irish, German, Spanish, Polish, Russian or Greek. An American may also be Canadian, Mexican, African, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Australian, Iranian, Asian, or Arab, or Pakistani or Afghan. An American may also be a Comanche, Cherokee, Osage, Blackfoot, Navaho, Apache, Seminole or one of the many other tribes known as native Americans. An American is Christian, or he could be Jewish, or Buddhist, or Muslim. In fact, there are more Muslims in America than in Afghanistan. The only difference is that in America they are free to worship as each of them chooses. An American is also free to believe in no religion. For that he will answer only to God, not to the government, or to armed thugs claiming to speak for the government and for God. An American lives in the most prosperous land in the history of the world. The root of that prosperity can be found in the Declaration of Independence, which recognizes the God given right of each person to the pursuit of happiness. An American is generous. Americans have helped out just about every other nation in the world in their time of need, never asking a thing in return. When Afghanistan was over-run by the Soviet army 20 years ago, Americans came with arms and supplies to enable the people to win back their country! As of the morning of September 11, Americans had given more than any other nation to the poor in Afghanistan. Americans welcome the best of everything...the best products, the best books, the best music, the best food, the best services. But they also welcome the least. The national symbol of America, The Statue of Liberty, welcomes your tired and your poor, the wretched refuse of your teeming shores, the homeless, tempest tossed. These in fact are the people who built America. Some of them were working in the Twin Towers the morning of September 11, 2001 earning a better life for their families. It's been told that the World Trade Center victims were from at least 30 different countries, cultures, and first languages, including those that aided and abetted the terrorists. So you can try to kill an American if you must. Hitler did. So did General Tojo, and Stalin, and Mao Tse-Tung, and other blood-thirsty tyrants in the world. But, in doing s o you would just be killing yourself. Because Americans are not a particular people from a particular place. They are the embodiment of the human spirit of freedom. Everyone who holds to that spirit, everywhere, is an American. It says it all , for all of us

That he did, as well as build winners with two other teams since. The man has a proven track record and Ralph should have bit the bullet and let Littman go, not the man who built his franchise into SB contenders.

That's generally agreeable, but Sam has always been an aggressive, attack type player, and when allowed to do that, he has been very successful. I don't hold Sam blameless in all this but to continually place schemes above the talents available isn't very sound thinking by the coaching staff. To this end, MM is ultimately accountable. Players are paid to play so if they run their mouths a bit, especially over playing time, etc., so what. I'd take a player who wants to play, even hurt, and wants to win yet whines a bit (ala Smith?) any day over coaches who are paid to think and can't (insert MM) any day of the week. It's like taking your top IT guy and having him wash windows, when your servers and network has just crashed.

To me, you're pretty close to the real issue. Sam likes to attack, not sit back and tie OL's up play after play. Clearly the Bills wanted him to become a two gap run stuffer, but that's not Sam's game. Sam, even with his size, can pressure a QB. His tremendous quickness, especially at his size, is amazing. He can disrupt plays before they get started, yet the Bills want to stifle this unique ability, a play makers ability, to be the run stuffing two gap DT that Sam never has been. Note, he was very sucessful with the Ravens (with Siragusa being the two gap guy), and his first two years here (with Phat Pat being the two gap guy). The back drop to all this is now the board seems to think we need to make a statement with Sam? To me this mostly points right back at TD and MM. It's more of the same old story of trying to force a square peg into a round hole. Use his talents, not try to make him into something he's not. Yet hey, that's what all the great coaches do, right? They have a scheme and come hell or high water, you play it. To heck with scheming to their players strengths, it's all about the scheme. Sam's not blameless in all this, but MM looks like the fool to this observer. Sam's upset about not playing, and he should be. I'd be more upset with Sam if he wasn't. I wonder if the bad press from Phat Pat and what's going on now with this quality veteran player will do little more than to put hesitation in the minds of other FA's considering coming here in the foreseeable future. Money talks, but it still often comes down to intangibles in close bidding wars and that's where we'll lose. No matter how you slice it, Sam Adams is our best DT and if healthy enough to go, he adds to our chances of winning, much more so than Bannan or Anderson.

??? What games were you watching? First the run defense was much better, no compariosn to what we have now. Second, Phat Pat was usually playing two gaps and did them well tying up two OL's on almost every play. If anyone was the gap shooting, all or nothing guy, it was Sam, and I'd have to say that especially during the winning streak last year, Sam played extremely well. Our problems last year had nothing to do with the DT position(s).

At this point, Nick has most likely nailed it. I don't see a big shake up (TD-MM) yet, which is not to say that either one of them has had anything of real substance to hang their hats on. For every plus, theres a handfull of minuses. The biggest mistakes are obvious (Phat Pat and benign neglect of the O-line).

Re-writing history a bit? It wasn't a matter of choosing one over the other, it was that Phat Pat's contract was up, Sam's wasn't. Sadly, TD's offer, as was quoted from TD himself was around 1 mil less than what Minny offered. Seems as if TD gambled that we would get the "home team discount" that Phat Pat talked about and lost. TD added that he was surprised that he and Pat didn't get the deal done. I'm not defending TD, as this was a deal he should have got done unless of course we had a stud in waiting, which we all know we didn't. Those two, Phat Pat and Sam made a great pair and it's sda that they weren't kept together. Blame TD for this? Sure, but not for taking one over the other.