MattM

Good to see that Bob Kraft's check cleared again this week. Two garbage calls against the Jets on that drive. The Sheppard penalty and a 15 yarder on Bart Scott for a phantom kick of Edelman that the replay showed really didn't happen. Typical stuff.....

And your point is? It's a fact that Cal is one of the best schools in the US, especially if you measure bang for your buck, it being a public school and all. Personally, I'd say that UCLA doesn't belong anywhere near ahead of Berkeley, but that's just me (and my in-laws, UCLA alums both, will have my hide for saying that). Walker, too, is a smart guy, there's no doubt about that. Perhaps a bit too smart to buy into some of the rah rah aspects of the NFL--he may prefer to cash a paycheck while expending minimal effort to earn same and with minimal impact on his long-term health prospects that the League can cause. Just ask Kyle Turley, the latest victim of the long-term effects of playing in the NFL as per Florio yesterday.....

Perfect--that will cover him until he's 32-33, or basically the rest of the prime of his career and maybe a year two past. Effectively means he's likely to end his career as a Bill, which is fine by me. Many thanks, John.

That is indeed great news--there are very few guys we're losing next year that we care about. The only two I can think of now are TO (who will in all likelihood be gone) and Reed (who should come back relatively cheap if we want him). Youboty may be restricted somehow as he's in his 4th year of his deal now and McCargo is in the last year of his as well, I believe, but hasn't really turned any heads in his years here. If our young guys progress as we'd like to see them do, if we can get Reed back and go out and sign one or two additional FA's and have a good 2010 draft (meaning 2-3 impact players from year 1), this team may finally be ready to make some real noise next year, after hopefully an overachieving season this year.....

Muchas gracias from me as well....

The uncapped year is a bit odd also as I recall--in order for the top 8 teams (assuming for arguments' sake that's where they end up) to sign a new FA, they have to lose one of equal value. That may be part of their plan--letting some of these guys go, so that they can go out and shop on the open market. With no salary cap to hinder them, I suspect we may see Bob Kraft go on a spending spree. Personally, I suspect getting rid of the cap was his and Jones/Snyder's et al's plan all along. One more step in the MLBization of the NFL.....

That's a horrible story. We were all upset last night after the loss, but it sounds like some folks need to get a life. This is just a game we're watching, not a matter of life and death. They really need to catch whoever did this and make sure they're punished to the full extent of the law....

It's a lot worse because it was the Cheatin' Pats*--'nuff said.....

How F-ing disappointing.....

What do you guys expect about the garbage calls--I predicted that last week. If it's close, the refs will find a way to give New England* the game. It's as simple as that. Something is really rotten in Denmark about that team.....

Have you forgotten who we're playing? Come on, we'll see plenty more of that garbage from the refs tonight, mark my words.....

Ask yourself a really simple question--does crap like this and the horrible officiating happen against anyone else on a regular and repeated basis? I'm not saying that Belicheat or the Pats* are behind this (who knows anything for sure), but when you start getting enough data points pointing in the same direction.....

? What game were you watching? He threw several directly to the Packers and several more that should have been picked, but weren't. That was a horrible outing by anyone's measurements....

Plus 1

Remember, too, that the Jets are doing this without either Ellis or Pace. Pretty impressive performance by both their D and also Sanchez, IMHO.....

Ask anyone besides Pats* fans, League-wide. Your team and its accomplishments are suspect by all, not just a minority of Bills fans. Don't kid yourself. Don't believe me--go ask on other team's boards and you'll find that most people think Belicheat and the Pats* are cheaters. Here's but one example for you of them being suspected of more than Spygate: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/11/sports/f...ting&st=cse I'm apparently not the only one who suspects them of more than they've been caught doing--looks like some folks who are in the NFL for a living do, too, as would anyone who's ever watched the officiating in their games.....

And all drafted by Polian--that's pretty impressive. I don't believe the Colts have a starter who has played for another team (I know that was the case a couple of years ago and I think it may still be true). That's just amazing, IMHO, in this day of FA.....

Fair enough, John, but notice something about the teams you quoted? All of them play in markets that are multiples of the size of WNY population-wise and many multiples when you figure in the level of disposable income. In fact, they're all in the top 10 in the US I believe (Philly is the one I'm not sure of, but suspect they're at least in the 8-10 range). The NFL is fast becoming an uneven playing field and you really can't expect the lower tier teams to compete year-in, year-out with the big boys in the major markets. Those competent people you talk about cost money, whether they be players or coaches or GMs. There's a competitive market for their services. In an increasingly unbalanced NFL, you can't expect the Bills to pay the same as other markets, it's as simple as that. People like to rip Ralph for "not spending what it takes to win", but I don't think they quite understand the economics of the situation. It's only going to get worse in the future, since the large market teams were basically the ones who chose Goodell and they're the ones he's going to listen to in terms of crafting the next League-wide CBA, if there is any. As you may have noticed, jackasses like Jerry Jones, Danny Boy Snyder and Bob Kraft don't exactly like to share....

Uhh, no, actually, Matt Walsh himself had a whole bunch apparently at his home in Hawaii. Who knows how many the Pats* had? Goodell destroyed them all after all, right, so we'll never actually know. My favorite part of all of this was that Goodell made it initially sound like the taping only went back a year or two and only after Walsh came forward did the League state that the taping went way, way back. Makes you really wonder what else they're aware of. The guy is very smart, no question about that, but with the cheating he's been convicted (to use a loose legal term) of and the whole bunch more his organization is suspected of takes quite a bit of the bloom off the rose, IMHO.....

That was $78 million gross, IIRC, in total over 5 years or so. Not sure how much he has to pay Rogers for things like renting the stadium, but even so, he's probably clearing at least $8-10 million a year net off of that deal. Some folks may not like it, but regionalizing the team is the only way the Bills stay in the general area realistically, particularly after Ralph's passing. It's also the only realistic way for this team to compete in the soon to be MLBization of the NFL once Kraft, Snyder and Jones get their way with help from other owners like McNair and Lurie. WEO, didn't realize you were a Roch guy--we may have something in common after all. I grew up a Roch guy myself--great place to grow up.....

The G-Men were playing the Pats* second teamers, but that said, those second teamers did truly look awful. Patrick Chung, their top pick this year, got torched on two of those TDs.....

What I'm saying is simply that people here are crucifying our offense for not performing well during preseason. However, if you look at the defenses played, most of them are elite D's and not simply average D's. Many thanks to the poster above who did the research on this which bears out my original thought even more. The Pats* have, IMHO, an average D, particularly after losing Seymour. Beyond Wilfork, Warren (banged up this preseason), Thomas (a bit of a disappointment and 32 years old, but HGH is a helluva drug) and Mayo (overrated, but still a good player), I'm not really impressed by anyone else on that D. That said, they still have Belicheat as a coach, so they shouldn't be discounted too heavily. In years past it's almost as if the Pats* have had someone on our staff feeding them our game plan (which wouldn't shock me one bit if we find that to have actually had a mole sometime in future years considering what else those guys have done and been accused of). In terms of last year's games and not taking advantage of their DB's shouldn't we give our O a bit of a pass (pun intended) for the hurricane-force winds game?

That 2006 opener was also the game that the refs robbed us blind. If we get that same crew or another similar "Bob Kraft special", you can kiss this game goodbye before it starts.....

If we do beat your team on Monday night, do you promise never to come back?

In the immortal words of "Tonto", "What's the "we" stuff, kemosabe?"..... That aside, let's see, they had one possession against the Titans, moving the ball well until a bad throw by Edwards for a pick and then against Chicago, again they moved the ball well, but didn't get it in the end zone. That's the first team O, of course. They didn't play vs. Detroit and then got stoned against the Steelers and Pack. That about sums it up. Not great results, obviously--pretty crappy, really--but the sample size is also relatively small, in particular the sample size against more average D's, which is what I suspect the Pats* will have this year, particularly without Seymour. Good thing they have Brady/Moss to cover that up, but I still suspect that against better/elite teams that's not going to be enough this year to give them W's. If something should happen to any of Brady, Moss or Wilfork, that team is done, IMHO, and will be lucky to finish with 9 wins, but that's just me. I've been wrong about them before and may be again, we'll see.....