Rubes

Awesome writeup. It sure seemed loud as hell on TV, but I guess not. I did get the sense that the refs were allowing more aggressive play by the DBs compared with previous games, but it should have gone both ways.

The end zone crowd at Soldier Field during the opener was quite tame.

Here's a little story for you. Many years back, during the glory days, probably around 1991 or so, I was living in Chicago. The Bills were playing a preseason game against the Packers in Madison, WI (if I remember correctly). Place was jam packed, and a friend and I had seats in the upper deck. Early in the game, Kelly scrambled on a play and was hit as he was going out of bounds, and ended up being injured on the play. Can't remember what happened to him, but he was down for a while. As soon as the Packer faithful realized he was injured, they started cheering. Loudly. I made the comment out loud, to no one in particular, that I couldn't believe people were cheering an injury, and on top of that in a preseason game. Guy in front of me turned around and said, "If he can't take it, he shouldn't be playing the game!" I shed no tears for any Packer yesterday.

Thanks, Ice Bowl. All class.

The question is, would Spikes want to stay? His playing time is already very limited, and it's unlikely they'd be able to offer him a starting spot next year with Bradham, Brown, and Kiko.

Sorry if this was mentioned elsewhere, but... If the Bills win next week at OAK, is there any way they can still be eliminated from the playoffs? Just wondering if a win next week ensures that the finale in NE will carry some meaning.

Nope, Baltimore is already a game up on us, so we can't overtake them if they win out.

Dareus still has another year before we need to do anything.

Needs more cowbell.

This is actually how I'm looking at it as well. I think it's a good way to view it -- especially since the LBs are young and cheap for a couple more years. They have to be smart about how they structure the next few contracts, since we could be looking at trouble 3-4-5 years down the line, but I agree it can be done. I just hope that we're still looking at $10-12 million per year at this point for Hughes, and not a crazy amount more.

I am with the group that says we need to target Hughes as our #1 FA signing. I would love to keep this defense together for a few more years, but with Mario's huge contract and Dareus to become a FA in 2016, that could potentially be a ridiculous amount of money tied up in the D-line. This coming off season, we have a large number of pending FAs but aside from CJ Spiller, nobody who would demand huge money. For the record, we're looking at: Hughes Spiller Searcy Hogan Pears Wynn Spikes Bryant Lee Smith Summers (he's still on the team?) Dean Easley Gay Hairston ...and there may be others I'm not aware of. On the defensive side, I'd like to see us keep Searcy, Wynn, and Bryant, but I believe Spikes will be gone. I don't think any of those three will be too expensive. As for Hughes, it sounds like the franchise tag will be north of $13 million, so we're looking at big numbers. Mario will have three years left on his deal and is slated to get $14.4, $15.3, and $14.9 million in those last three years (Linky to numbers). Dareus is going to command numbers in that range as well, certainly given that average salaries escalate year-over-year, the cap is going to be going up up up, and there's still another off season before he starts negotiating. I think the need to keep Dareus is greater than the need to keep Hughes -- if it comes down to a decision between the two. But I'm hoping we can still keep both, and plan to go all in over the next three years (when Mario's contract is up). Hughes is an interesting case. He's a bit undersized, and underperformed during the first part of his career, but he's really blossomed in Buffalo, and he's done a good job working on all parts of his game. By all accounts, his performance against the run is improving, and he's considered a real big-play game-changer. Those are the kind of guys you want on your side, not the other side. Of course, he's a penalty machine, leading the team right now, and he hasn't exactly been a great influence on Dareus, at least in the off season. I doubt $10 million per season gets it done with him, as other teams will almost certainly offer more. But how much is too much knowing that Mario is getting big $$ and Dareus is going to need big $$ soon?

"The Bills are slated to have among the most cap space of any team in the league for the 2015 season." I like the sound of that.

It certainly seems that way. I think I see at least one story a week online that claims to have set photos or script snippets that reveal something about the storyline. It seems less and less possible as the years go by to keep pretty much anything secret. Then again, like you said, I can avoid the spoilers just as easily...

He certainly passes the eyeball test. That's about the most I can say about a rookie. BTW, I'd say the same for Seantrel Henderson, though he has a longer way to go to be All-Pro.

Know any good ones on the market?

I don't get why people think it would be so easy to fire the head coach but still retain the defensive coordinator. It's not going to happen. If we fire the head coach and don't give the job to Schwartz, he's not going to stick around. Both because it would be a bit of a slap to the face, and because no head coach is going to take the job if he can't pick his own DC. So please, stop thinking this is going to happen.

Hughes. I want to see this defense stay together another year at least. Next year, with Kiko back, and with Brown no longer a rookie, this defense could do some serious damage. Then pick up a second-tier G who's on his way up.

Welcome to Utah.

Basically, as I understand it (and I could definitely be wrong), a "spot foul" depends on where the ball ends up compared with where the foul occurred. So on a return, for instance, if a spot foul happens ahead of where the ball ends up being downed, then the penalty yards are marked off from where the ball is downed. So for instance, if on a kickoff return the foul occurs at the 20 yard line, but the runner only makes it out to the 15, then the yards are walked off from the 15 (the farthest the ball advanced). On the flip side, if the ball is downed ahead of where the spot foul occurs, then the yards are marked off from where the penalty occurred. So for instance, if the foul occurs at the 20 yard line, but the returner makes it all the way out to the 30, then the yards are walked off from the 20 (where the foul occurred). That, I believe, is what a spot foul is.

Me too!

If we want to re-sign Hughes, that'll be it for the big FA signings. You'll have to look at second-tier guys at that point.

Very unlikely that Schwartz would stay if Marrone is fired and they don't offer him the HC job. Another HC would very likely want their own DC, not to mention the rest of the staff.

Now that is cool.

Pretty much agree with that. We have the opportunity to keep almost all of the defense together for a few years, which means we can concentrate on the offense. One or two guards, a tight end, and (of course) a QB, and we're set.

Stayin'