Spiderweb

Prior to the Pats game, I'd have to disagree. JP did show improvement beginning with his KC game. What bothered me about him was that he wasn't consistent. Start hot, cool off and go into a shell. Much was the play calling, but JP never did anything to rid me of that nagging feeling. A 60 minute game? No, he hasn't to date, but now lately it's been even tougher for him to reach this point sitting on the bench.

"The grassy Knoll", "Military Industrial Complex", "The Mob", and the conspiracies roll on, and on, and on...... When Beldsoe was jetisoned and Losman annoited the starter, Holcomb was still with the Browns. Then we went looking for a vet backup and Holcomb fell into our lap after he had had enough with the Browns. Our two "miracle" workers (Wyche and McNally) couldn't transform a kid (JP) into a game savvy starter overnight and our offensive line from a lump of coal into a diamond. Moulds wouldn't support the newbie QB while he learned the game (NFL style), and Fletcher goes on record as saying the defense played well enough to win against Carolina even though they allowed the game winning score late in the 4th quarter, which followed a poor defensive finish against the Pats, and shortly thereafter the defense completely collapsed against the Dolphins. One constant there, 4th quarter come from the lead losses. Sorry London, our defense has been a major problem, all year long save the season opener. No, there's no conspiracy, just a HC and upper management that has caved into the vets, while they may still be able to play (although not up to their earlier years level), do not represent the future for the Bills. Start Holcomb now to save their jobs? Likely, but it shouldn't matter. MM lost control over this team. That alone should cost him his job. Yet we made an example of Sam Adams who refused to play a two gap run stuffing style. Our best DT, but MM showed him who's boss.......yeah right..... Just a couple of Laurel & Hardy clones running the show.

The running game has gone south and maybe you hit on part of the problem. Villerial's absences and poor play when he's been in there haven't helped either. Nor has Anderson been of any value at all. He's simply just another Jamie Nails... Many young tackles stuggle a bit in the pass blocking, but Peters has done reasonably well in this area, yet to me, his blocking does seem to be lacking at this point, but I'm sure someone out there will disagree with us.

Here's one correlation that tends to prove the opposite though.....Cincinnati Bengals (15 years with losing records). This year has gone well for them yet, there were 15 years of high picks before Lewis could get them to play (that and good group of players on offense). I too feel more comfortable with the 7-12 or maybe 15 range. Far less costly. Look what Mike Williams has given the Bills. Cap issues.....

Can't say that I disagree with much (if anything) above. In Cleveland, there was a lot of internal pressure in that organization to give every opportunity to Couch to succeed. yet, when Kelly was finally given his chance, and despite a couple notable performances, he fell flat and lost the starting role. Holcomb is a solid backup, with an accurate but rag arm. As for decision making, he seems to read defenses better for sure, but those 3 yards dumpoffs on 3 and long infuriate me. Sure, once in awhile thatis the prudent thing to do, but he does it far too often for my tastes. I too cannot forget the 4th and 7 play for 2 yards against NE. That ranks right up there with our beloved former QB Drew who once threw the ball away on a 4th down play that sealed another loss under his wonderous reign. Kelly is a backup, a caretaker, and could be a teacher, but he's not a great starter. With the season having gone down the tubes, and with JP showing improvement up until the NE debacle (2nd NE contest), JP should have been getting the starts. If he ends up not cutting the mustard, so be it, but he needs the opportunity to play for us to find out. Kelly starting is simply a case of spinning our wheels.

My thoughts exactly. IIRC he was touted as the next Bruce Smith when he came out. I guess those are big shoes to fill, but he hasn't even resembled the rookie Bruce Smith who was a fat, out of shape blob (that quickly changed the next year).....

While I like Moulds, I think there's far more to it than "he's just turning it on", or that Moulds has been open all year and Holcomb is able to hit him (whereas JP cannot). A majority of the catches Moulds has had of any value (those crossing routes 15 yards downfield) the past two games were mainly against zone coverages. I've notice far less man up with help over the top on him. I believe teams have taken note that Evans is now the deep threat on the Bills, which isn't to say Moulds isn't respected anymore, but definitely not like he was once was. In fact, against Denver, Champ Bailey had Evans at least as much as he did Moulds, from what I can recall. To me, it was the combinations of zone coverages, Evans being a bigger homerun threat now, and I'll give Holcomb some due in that at this point, he does recognize coverages better than JP does. I guess we could add that it was Moulds who was calling for Holcomb early on and that probably still rolls around inside JP's head too. All in all, if teams are beginning to shift double coverage from Moulds, he'll continue to perform as a veteran receiver, he must love going against zones without the double coverage. He's still too good for teams let him run free. He's shown that the past two weeks.

All I can add is that I'm very happy with the Bills getting a contract extension done with McGee. To see him play healthy (or as healthy as he has been of late) was a very nice sight to behold. On Chad Johnson's long run for a TD, I saw good old Nate trailing in his dust. Chad had also beaten Nate soundly on the long pass that Vincent picked off. Right after that pick, I mentioned to my wife that had Palmer not put so much air under that throw, the Bengals would have had 6. Vincent would not have gotten there in time, but Vincent did make a nice pick none the less. Today, the moniker "Playmaker" transfered officially to McGee and Nate's new (and more appropriate) moniker is "Toast". Nate hasn't even played like a top 20 CB this year. I wonder how close attention the rest of league has paid to Nate this year. If they have, his big contract should have evaporated completely after the Miami game. Today's dismal performance by Nate was just more of the same.

That's as in both guards. Villerial looks shot to me. I watched him get knocked around quite a bit today and in those goal lines situations, when push is paramount, he consistently got knocked backwards, or so it seemed to me.

Great, then we can get the "other" hair guy....Jimmy Johnson and we'll have the market cornered on lacquer heads..... Maybe they can teach the players how to properly build a "hair" helmet (once most of them grow some hair), and we can cut back on our equipment costs....

Now how is that going to feed those conspiracy theorists?

Hummmmmmmm.............

Anderson needs weight training and then some. I see his guns are little more than flab. Yet, he does seem to have improved and could become a solid DT for rotation purposes, but as a starter, I'm afraid he's not a guy we'll want for that role. Edwards, when healthy, seems to be more of a one gap penetrating DT, and frankly we already have one of those, who's very good at that role (Sam Adams), but our geniuses running the show decided they want him to be a two gap run stuffer. Dummies.... Back to Edwards, while he does have penetrating capaibility and brings some pass rush with him, he still looks weak against the run. Also DT's with shoulder problems don't last very long in the No Fun League. I had hopes for him, but I worry that his physical problems (shoulder) will keep him from becoming a player we can count on. yet, I like him far more than the slugs we call Guards on this team.....

Barry Sanders was an absolute freak, and exception, and probably the most exciting, explosive RB in the history of the game. Using him as a comparison is really not fair or legitimate as he did things that only he could do. To see how good (or not so good) McGahee is, it would be nice to see more holes and lanes for him to at least get thru the line. Simple truth is our line suck, plain and simple. Our Guards especially are poor, with Anderson barely able to get out of his stance before being knocked on his butt, and Villerial never having been any better than average and now he plays like an old broken down vet who as he showed against Denver, makes too many stupid mistakes.

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....