Acantha

I've sat all over the stadium. Upper deck, 1st row, and random places in between and it's almost always been the same. I keep saying almost because there was one game where I thought the crowd really got into the game. It was the Sunday night opener against Tenessee (I can't even remember the year now). Other than the consistent call for Flutie over and over again, the crowd was really into that game. Keep in mind that I have only been to about a dozen games.

Thanks, and nice job on the sum up.

I didn't go today, but I've almost always felt the same way when visiting. I love going to watch the games in person. Seeing the live action and tailgating are amazing each time I get to do it, but "The Rich" just isn't an intimidating place to play anymore IMO. I've been to a bunch of opposing teams stadiums as a Bills fan and have gotten the stare down while cheering on my team, and I swear there are time I feel that same in in Buffalo. People stare at me like I'm nuts for standing and making noise on defense. That part of the experience almost always dissapointed me.

Yeah I know. Like I said, I understand why they made the call, I just personally didn't agree this time. I also don't agree that a punt would have ended up in the endzone. Moorman has more talent at his position than almost anyone on this team (Spikes getting the nod), and while a touchback was possible, I think he punts it out of bounds inside the 10.

Sorry for the Pyrite type post...feel free to move along and not read my rambling, just thinking things out as I type. There are certainly more things to bring up, but this is what stuck out to me. The Bad 1. Let start with the fake FG. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not one of those people who screams at trick plays when they go wrong and lauds them when they work. I believe even failed trick plays can be worth running, if for nothing else than to keep the defense guessing. What I didn't like here was that our defense had played played very well on the previous series, and we had the chance to pin the Jets very deep and force them to play out of a hole. It would have even been possible to let Lindell try his luck, but with swirling winds a 53 yarder is very tough. I think I understand the coaches thinking here, as they may have felt that continuing that drive and getting more points was very important while they were playing with the wind. That said, I think it was a bad decision. I hate to say that our coaches shouldn't play to win at all times, but they MUST take in to account that our team is very young and need advantages, not trickery. 2. Anthony Thomas only had 1 run? I don't get this. Was he hurt? Maybe there is something here I don't know, but our O-line was opening holes. McGahee was making great moves and running hard, but it wasn't all him. I really think we could have run the ball more, especially in the 2nd and third quarter, if Thomas had come in a little more often. Not too much mind you, I don't think McGahee should come out of the game that much, but around 7-8 running plays a game from our backup should be pretty standard. This isn't a huge negative IMO, just something that caught my eye. BTW, I must say that maybe McGahee coming out inside the 5 might not be a bad idea. I won't put all the blame on him, as the O-line can't handle it when the defense stacks the line, but McGahee just seems to have no nose for the endzone anymore. 3. I don't agree with people that Losman only needs to be a manager. He seems to be very capable of keeping the Bills in the game and making great throws. The problem comes when he is put into a situation to win the game with his arm. He made some really bad throws trying to bring the Bills from behind. Two horrible throws in a row on that last drive (wind played a part in those I know), an interception toss and a couple of more that could have been picked. This is what I expected from him, so I'm not shocked by what I saw, but it doesn't make it easy to watch. Fortunately I think JP's problems are all very fixable and will fade with time. On a side note, while I don't put all (or even most) of the blame on Losman for the fumbles, he MUST learn to feel the pressure and protect the ball when the blitz comes. Sometimes you just have to take the sack...it's that simple. PROTECT THE BALL! 4. Defensive adjustments. There were none. We got picked apart by Pennington and didn't seem to change strategy. Once it was clear that our 4 down linemen weren't getting any pressure, the blitzes should have started. Again, I understand the coaches thinking here. It's hard to blitz Pennington because he is composed in the face of rushes and throws accurate short passes. But you know what? So does Brady, and the blitzes flustered him into making mistakes. No matter how good the QB is, if you sit back and give him time he will complete his passes, no matter how many guys you leave back in coverage. There are always holes. When somethings not working, you have to try other things, and I didn't see that today. 5. SOMEONE...ANYONE....START GRABBING THE DAMN RED FLAG OUT OF JARUONS POCKET AND THROWING IT ON THE FIELD WHEN IT NEEDS TO BE DONE. Seriously, what the hell is the deal with this. A few times is one thing, but there is some serious problems here. There were at least two calls today that were almost guaranteed to be turned over if he challenged them. Why not do it? I don't get it. The Good(and not so bad) 1. As stated above, mistakes aside Losman looked so much better. He has looked better in each game so far, and compared to last year there really is no comparison. He is poised in the pocket, only runs when he has to, and never stops looking down field. With some more game time experience, I really feel that he is going to be a good QB in this league. It is taking some time, longer than I had hoped for, but I like what I see. 2. On a reverse note from what I said above about trick plays, going for it on 4th down, etc...I like that Jauron and Fairchild are willing to make the tough calls, even if they don't work. I know that's contradictive, but while I think they need to play a bit more conservative on offense right now, I like knowing that when this team grows up and can compete more readily with the rest of the league, they won't be ultra conservative and scared to make the calls that are needed to win games. And for those speaking against it, I didn't mind the bootleg play. Hell, it's just as good as any other call there, and it was stopped by 1 foot. It was that close to being a TD. It's not like we already don't have a history of getting stuffed when we only need a yard or two. 3. The O-line did a good job today overall. Yes, they blew assignments on blitzed, but they made some great plays too. Willis had holes to run though and wasn't forced to run into linemen to get 3 yards. And as bad as the pass protection seemed to be, I can't help but find positives there too. I have a rough time watching O-line play on passing downs (I follow the ball), but I do know that there were MANY times I saw blitzes coming and was screaming at Losman for holding the ball too long, but then realized he had some time. The need to play better, no doubt, but I will give them the props they earned. On another side note, I don't know weather to like the fact that JP trusts his line enough to hold the ball those extra seconds, or freak out because he holds it so damn long. 4. One of the most important things....THEY DIDN'T QUIT. Hell, I know I did. When the Jets scored that last TD, I thought that was it. So did half the stadium apparently (way to go guys...you know who you are), but luckily the team kept trying. JP made great throws against the prevent defense (expected, but nice to see expected things actually happen), and ran for a TD when it was most needed. Bobby April once again showed why he is so important to this team, and the youngsters showed will give it there all no matter what's going on. Overall opinion? I hated watching this game, but realize this is exactly what I expected for all the right reasons. The mistakes that were mostly not talent problems, they were youth problems. It can't be said enough times that Buffalo has 5 rookies getting plenty of playing time on defense. It seems to have become just another statement around here, but it really is crazy when you think about it. But that doesn't stop them from playing their butts off and giving it their all. It may make me a homer, but I truly believe this team is headed in exactly the right direction.

Yep, made some great plays and made some bad plays. Pretty much what everyone hoped for/expected. Enough here though, no point in trying to talk about this with you. Like trying to talk draft with Bill in NYC or football with VA.

Well yeah...I wasn't counting the goal line play. Hard to play your LB's and Safeties back when they are in the endzone. Other than that, I'm sure there were blitzes called, but they must have been VERY few and far between. Certainly not enough to say that they wouldn't have worked. I can understand if they went into the game with that plan, but really feel they should have tried to change strategies later. What they were doing just wasn't working.

I wasn't paying attention on every play, but when I did watch for it (which was quite often) I didn't see one blitz today. The goal was apprently to sit back in zone and how to stop those quick passes, but the couldn't do it. IMO that was the biggest mistake made in this game.

Not this week, but next week? DYNASTY! GENIOUS! PRO BOWL! PLAYOFFS! These are the words that are in our future my friends!

Not to take anything away from the Ravens D, as how they have played has been amazing, but so far they have played Tampa Bay and Oakland, and are currently playing the Browns. Powerhouse offenses they are not.

Yeah, I would agree with that. But I would guess (and this is obviously a wild guess) they are at least 4-5 years away from being able to do that. And that's only true if those 4-5 years are good years...winning games and showing lot of improvement. They are in such a huge hole, it will take some real patience and fortitude to climb out.

Common man, you haven't noticed the powerhouse Ivy League school's lined up in the BSC every year? Why a player wouldn't choose to a school located in Western NY that has had one of the worst, if not the worst, 1A programs in the country is beyond me. Everyone should be knocking down the doors of the UB recruiting department to play in horrible weather, in a location not exactly known for it's night life and partying opportunities, where they would have almost no chance of getting any type of exposure to NFL teams, and don't even get to win many of their games like a team in a lower division (with all the same attributes as UB) would be able to do. Yeah, Buffalo certainly has all of the same recruiting opportunities as a team like Auburn.

I was kind of with you after the first post, but this is just a bit out there. Do you really think that when this game was scheduled they thought they had a chance to win? There is absolutely, positively no way anyone in that organization even for one insane moment of daydreaming thought there was a chance in hell that they would be able to beat Aubrun when the schedule was made. Now, maybe they could have played differently to "play to win", but there was no chance before, during or after this game of Buffalo winning, so I wouldn't blame the coach for calling whatever kind of game he decided would be best. And getting on TV against a powerhouse team is good for the program (even if it's just monetary as opposed to recruiting), and holding strong and scoring a TD against a team so far out of their class was a good showing in my opinion.

People never learn...

Chad Jackson is number 10, not one. But Moroney is #2, so you can use that for Patriot fodder.

That's by far the best one I've seen. He really stepped it up this year.

This answers the question from the Music Lyrics thread.

This is why I played defense!

I've met Sue, and I'll talk more crap about her than anyone. Sorry to bring up someone you don't know though feel you must defend.

What's why?

I'm pretty sure you already posted one. She's has an okay body (obviously paid plenty to get that way) if you like that completly plastic type of look, but that is one ugly mug.

Actually, BF and Spiked were impressive. Though I never had a problem with BF. He usually had good intentions. He just tried to fight way out of weight class way too often. Sue and T-Bone were exactly how I remember them.