Rubes

That will never change, true. The Pats* are right up there as well, now. But I've never had a similar hatred of the Jets. Although I do still hate them, don't get me wrong.

I generally don't like to make too much out of early-season games, but this one coming up is pretty big. Very big.

I'm eager to see how he does in his first road game, against a strong defense. Not much room for error next week.

He's done a nice job so far. I want to see him really earn that paycheck next week, though. It won't be easy. The Jets aren't as bad as everybody makes them out to be. A strong defensive showing next week can help us get to 2-1, which would be awesome. I'm hoping he is intensely motivated to show his old coach a thing or two.

I thought the offensive line as a whole did extremely well in both games so far, especially considering they were up against two very good defensive lines.

Why does this all sound so familiar...

Is the stadium now different than it was back in 2007 when the 4-0 Cowboys played the 1-3 Bills on Monday night? Because that was a pretty crappy team, and I recall that place being as loud and crazy as any other game, ever.

I've been a season ticket holder since 1977, so that's what, 36 years? I got a date of 9/2. When I went to log in at the specified time, the site was down. It remained down for some time, probably around half an hour. Once I finally got through, there were only like four choices left, and they were all fairly lame. I think there was a Bills blanket listed as an option, but when I tried to get it, it said it was sold out. I didn't even bother to pick another one. All in all, I thought it was poorly done, especially the site being down at the specified time. But now that I hear about the other potential options, I think it was even worse. I didn't think of writing an email, though. I think I should.

Hmm. Sounds vaguely familiar to another team I know.

Kinda strange, but we're #4 in the league in rushing after week 1. Unfortunately for us, the Pats* are #3. Yeah, that's Miami down there at #32, with less than 1 yard per carry (23 att, 20 yards). Against Cleveland, there was a total of 67 yards rushing. By both teams.

Sure. I could use another kick in the nads.

I think it's only when they have a double-header on opening weekend.

That was quite the vicious hit. He's lucky he landed the way he did.

Just un- -ingbelievable.

Well done, sir.

The weird thing is that I keep reading in the media how the Bills run defense looked considerably better from last year. Watching that game, I didn't get that impression at all.

We all knew it in the preseason -- penalties by this team were horrible. I was hoping to look for improvement as the preseason wore on, but it just didn't happen. In the end, the Bills averaged 9.75 penalties per game, for 69.5 yards per game. I was really hoping to see improvement with just the starters playing in the regular season. But again, it just didn't happen. Yesterday, the Bills were flagged 10 times for 75 yards. Right on their preseason average. The Bills were flagged on the very first snap of the game. I was hoping to see improvement as the game went on, but alas, it just didn't happen. What on earth can they do to fix this? It sure doesn't seem like they've made an inch of progress since the preseason started.

Dude, that is just freaking hilarious.

Definitely better than Lose. Man.

Just keep in mind that Russell Wilson didn't pass for more than 160 yards during the first four games of last year. In the fourth, against St. Louis of all teams, he threw three picks and had a QB rating of 45. After five games last year, he had 5 TDs and 6 INTs. Ironically, it was the home game against the Pats* that started the turnaround for him. Nevertheless, although we all want EJ to succeed, and even better to succeed right out of the gate, it's not the way things usually go. Even if he looks pedestrian in the first quarter of the season, we need to be patient. Like others have said, just look for good decision-making and gradual improvement.

Looks like he's made up for it.

Agreed. Thanks for getting me through the offseason. Looking forward to some more "thoughts".

True dat.

Still wrapping my brain around this one. Does that equal 50% mental?

Hopefully not exemplified by their average of 9.75 penalties per preseason game, for 69.5 yards per game. Also of note, the Patriots have an NFL-high 14 rookies on the 53-man roster.