Rubes

I was mainly going on comments I've read from the Bills. I think Fewell's comments made it clear to me that Clements is a much higher priority than Fletcher, and the fact that we haven't even tried to extend Fletcher before now. I think it's much easier to fill a MLB spot than a #1 CB spot; plus, I don't think there's a way we can sign both Clements and Fletcher, and still sign a top DT or G.

1. Re-sign Clements 2. Let Fletcher go 3. Sign a really good DT or G 4. Draft the top DT or G at #12 (whichever we don't get in #3) 5. Draft the best MLB in Round 2 That's all I ask.

I'll take whichever option leaves the Fins in a greater state of abject disaster.

Well, hopefully it's not just a top priority, but one that we act on.

That's interesting, because the article on BB.com recently seemed to indicate that he enjoys where he is.

10. Would McGahee finally establish himself as an elite NFL RB? I don't think many people would argue this one. McGahee is good, and he appears to have the tools to become great, but he's definitely not there at this point. What's strange about it is that it seems like motivation is a key issue for him. Even the Bills official blogger, Chris Brown, said as much in his gameday blog (and kudos, by the way, to the Bills for allowing such candor on their web site). Who knows if this is true. What's clear is that we have an average to below-average offensive line, and McGahee has made it clear that he's incapable of overcoming that and making things happen on his own, as I would expect from an elite back. 9. Would Evans be a capable #1 WR? Absolutely. Evans had a tendency this year to disappear for stretches, but the reasons for that could be many. Part of it had to do with Fairchild scaling back the playbook for Losman and the offensive line partway through the season, which likely made it easier for defenses to guard Evans. Still, he came up with big play after big play, and his first full season as a #1 WR could only be called a nice success. 8. Would Spikes be able to regain his old form? Unfortunately, we're left with a big "maybe." His first play from scrimmage this season was a memorable one, and seemed to indicate the achilles was not going to be a problem. But hamstring and other injuries took their toll. By the end of the season Spikes was playing better, but I could easily see that he was favoring one leg in the last couple games. Hard to say if that was related to the achilles, though. My impression is that he still brings a lot to the table, and next year will be the real season to answer this question. With one more year between him and his injury, we should be able to see if he can put this behind him. 7. Did the Bills make the right decision in the draft at #8? I don't think this is an easy question to answer at this time. I know a lot of people are probably miffed that we passed on Ngata, considering how well he has played. But there are no guarantees that Ngata would be playing just as well in our system. As for Whitner, I like him and I think he will be a great safety. I think his performance was on par with a rookie first rounder, but perhaps not a rookie first round difference-maker. I suspect part of that has to do with the fact that our defense generally sucked as a whole, making his job more difficult. If we can shore up the defensive line and MLB position this offseason, I think he will begin to shine. 6. Did the Bills finally find a head coach and coaching staff that might stick around more than 2 or 3 years? Jauron's hiring was met with a lot of snickers and skepticism, including some from myself. Like just about every coach, Jauron made some questionable gameday coaching decisions, but overall I thought he was exactly what we needed. He's clear, concise, and honest; deals well with the players; and handled a difficult job with professionalism. With so many rookies and inexperienced players in the lineup on both sides of the ball, he managed them with a calm poise. I'm also very encouraged by the performance of Fewell and Fairchild. Fewell did a fantastic job getting everything he could out of a bunch of rookies, although without a doubt this was one of the worst run defenses I've seen in a long time. Fairchild did the right thing scaling back the offense for JP and the line, and in the end it worked out with much better production from the offense. This team still has a long way to go, but I think we have the right guys steering the ship. Can you really argue with a team record for fewest penalties and yards in a season? 5. Did the Bills adequately address the problems on the offensive line? By the time the Bills stumbled into the break at 2-5, the answer was a resounding "no." Gandy was a disaster at LT, Reyes was a huge FA bust at LG, Villarial looked like his career was on life support at RG, and Fowler was questionable at C. That said, the shuffle did seem to answer a few questions: Yes, Peters would excel at LT. Yes, Gandy really did make a better G than T. Yes, Fowler would play better with a more comfortable cast around him. And yes, Pennington could actually hold his own at RT. Still, it's obvious that we still have a long way to go. It would seem that we will be okay with Peters, Gandy, and Fowler, but we can't possibly go with both Preston and Pennington on the right side again. My sense is that the coaches believe Pennington has far more upside at RT than Preston at RG, and with a strong FA acquisition for the RG position, this line could mature into a solid group next season. Finding that RG could be tricky, though, considering our last two experiments with FA guards were disasters. In the end, I believe we are now much closer to where we want to be. 4. Would the Bills be able to stop the run? The Bills sucked at stopping the run in 2005, so there were huge questions about how we would do this year with new faces and a new scheme. The answer? We actually sucked worse. Teams that allow fewer than 100 rushing yards per game are very good; those that allow 100-125 yards per game are average. The Bills allowed over 140 yards per game, and it actually seemed like more. Without a doubt, this was one of the major problems this season. Interestingly, Fewell did something in the Ravens game to counter this, resulting in an impressive defensive showing against a power running team in their home stadium with playoff implications. I still don't know what it was (it couldn't have only been the use of Jefferson instead of Anderson), but the Bills did a great job bottling up the Ravens offense. This gives me hope for next season, but we still need someone to complement Triplett, McCargo, and Williams. 3. Is JP the long-term answer at QB? There are probably few people left who would question this. We knew going into the season it would be an up and down year for him, and fortunately we really did have some nice ups. He has shown great talent, durability, and heart, and he and Evans are going to be a potent combo for a long time. He had a tough time on the road against the top defense in the league, but how many QB's wouldn't? Most of his problems are correctable, and you just can't argue with his dedication. To me, watching him do everything he could to make sure his last INT wasn't returned for a TD was Kelly-esque and inspiring. At one point this season it looked like we would have the worst season passing output ever for a Bills team, but in the end he crossed the 3000 yard mark -- something few Bills QBs have ever done. 2. Would the Bills end their long playoff drought? Obviously not, but had they won their last two they would have. That's asking a bit much at this point, but it was definitely exciting to see us as part of the discussion late into December. Sure, the Bills went 1-7 this season against playoff teams, but most of those were narrow losses. This team is not far off from making some noise in the league, and I think everybody would agree that the playoffs next season is far closer to reality than fantasy. 1. Would the season be considered a success? It's interesting that, at the start of the season, a lot of people were establishing criteria for what would make this season a success...probably because the playoffs, normally a solid criterion, wasn't really a consideration. To me, the season would have to be considered a success if we could find the right answers to at least 3 or 4 of these questions, with the most important being the JP question. We know a lot of good things about JP, Evans, Jauron, Levy, and others to say yes, this season was a nice success. Considering the Bills were essentially a laughingstock at the start of the last offseason, this is very encouraging. We still don't have good answers for the offensive and defensive lines, which have always been my top priorities; that said, I think we're much closer with the offensive line than we were at this time last year, and there does appear to be hope for the defensive line if we can bring in some more talent. Success, however, breeds expectation, and now we'll get to see how this staff and team deals with those higher expectations next year. I would gather that most people here would now accept nothing less than the playoffs.

My impression, given the comments I've read from our coaches and front office... There's no way we re-sign both Fletcher and Clements. I think the writing is on the wall for Fletcher. Fewell's comments, to me, were the most insightful: he covets Clements and recognizes Fletcher as a solid player. But I think the main consideration is that we are much better off with Clements and a new MLB than we would be with Fletcher and a new #1 CB. I really think we make a push for Clements, and Fletcher is let go. I think a great offseason for us would be to re-sign Clements (and most other FAs besides Fletcher), sign a strong FA guard, and then use our #1 and #2 draft picks for a DT and a MLB.

First time since Bledsoe's first year, IIRC. Nice job, kid. Things are looking up, despite what some folks say.

Man, I'm really pissed Ralph didn't hire some of you here instead of Marv.

I like his upside, but I'll start loving him once we feel confident enough in him to let him block without the help of a tight end or back nearly every play. That said, I've noticed many times in the past couple of weeks where we've given him that help but he didn't seem to need it.

There is some lake effect, but not a lot. It doesn't seem to be the major force behind the snowfall here. The Wasatch isn't really that remote...it's the mountain range right on the edge of the city, where most of the fun canyons are. The Uintas are to the east and are more remote, great place for hiking and camping.

I really must learn to use the [/sarcasm] tag.

6 years in the league and this is his first averging barely more than 1 passing TD per game. JP's got 18 in his third season, his first full season as a starter. I'll take JP right now, thanks.

Forget it. Marv's too old and Ralph's too cheap.

Holy crap, that's a great pic!

I fully expect to hear ESPN wailing on Levy if Fletcher is let go, regardless of what else happens.

I think that's probably the best description I've heard so far.

I also thought it was interesting that Fewell went to the media and basically said, "Clements > Fletcher > Kelsay", but truth be told, he's right and I can appreciate his honesty. I love Fletch as well and would love to see him stay for consistency's sake, but I'm not sure it will happen. I don't begrudge him his feelings, but I also think that he will be sign-able and once the contract is signed these rough feelings will melt away. And if he's not signed, then that's too bad and I'll miss him, but we can replace him.

Living in Utah, it's pretty similar...we don't get as much snow in general, but the prevailing sense is that, when it snows a lot, everybody gets really excited. In Buffalo...?

Damn, we should get Antowain back here. Then we could have two A-trains at the same time!

Not a chance. The Titans stole a huge amount of momentum at the end of the first half, scoring that TD. They were flying high after that. Suddenly, two huge mistakes by them give us the ball deep in their territory with only a second remaining. Of course you kick the figgie. Doing so just about ties the game and takes back a big chunk of that Mo. You go for the TD and make it, great, but it's no gimmie from the 5 yard line. You miss it, and you blow that big chance to take back some Mo. It was an amazing turn of events that helped get a big bunch of confidence back in the team just by kicking a figgie.

Did you take a big juicy nasty antibiotic afterward?

"I didn't get a harumpf out of that guy!"

It'll be tough, but if we can somehow figure out how to stop the run we're gonna kick some serious ass next year.

Will Ian Scott be a RFA? If so, forget about him.