OCinBuffalo

Coy Wire - couldn't resist.

Seriously- whose being delusional. The Pats have been bad - real bad - most of my life, just like the Bills. You have to realize that the good years are over. OVER. You guys are gonna backslide just like every great team due to cap issues, new players, retirement etc. It's an inescapable cycle. I could see if you were a Dolphin fan because they have been able to remain competitive for most of the last 20 years. But the Patriots? 20 years ago this year you guys were coming off a season where you got extremely lucky in beating the Dolphins in the AFC champ game and then proceeded to get destroyed by the Bears in a SB. Do I need to remind you what happened after that? You didn't see the playoffs until 9 years later. We have never been away for so long. We used to fall asleep during BillsvPats games in the 80s and 90s because we would be up by 28 at halftime - from 1986 to 1998. So please, give it a rest already. Your team has nothing more to brag about than most of the other teams in the NFL. All that matters is this year anyway and you and your team will go back to being merely an annoyance soon enough.

Not to mention those of us who are old enough to remember the Bills from before 1990, in my case 1983, know that Odomes's nickname was "toast". He was burned a ton - because he took chances on jumping routes - hence the high int stats. The part that's missing here is how many times he got burned for big scores/yds. Please tell me you remember his nickname before you start talking about Odomes being better than Clements, or McGee for that matter.

Since this starts off with "I think" rather than "I know" he can make up whatever he wants without basing it on anything. I think that the Redskins, Dolphins, and Cowboys are not only the biggest frauds going into this year - 7-9 at best for all - I know that they are in the top 20 media markets. I think that telling a lot of people(top 20 media markets) what they want to hear is a good way to make money. They tell us that the Vikes, Lions, Cards, Falcons, Jets, Giants and Niners - (all top 20) are going to be much better this year than last year, every year? I know that these teams(with the usual exception of one) will be average to bad this year. Or, how is it that the Lions(top 20) are rated higher than Bills and Saints(not top 20) in all the power rankings. Or, how is it that the Dolphins(top 20) are rated higher than the Bengals, Chargers and Jaguars(not top 20) - all playoff teams last year? Is it a coincidence that we always hear the same thing year after year? I think not. I know that my sister is in sports marketing(she just passed through here from Williamsport on her way back to Boston and I asked her about this very issue) - she knows that the buzz around the NHL is that Buffalo, Carolina and Edmonton being in the final four last year might be bad for NHL commercials/sponsorship pricing this year since none were big markets. She knows that the NHL is putting out media/marketing contracts already to counter this. I wonder if there is some sort of unintentional(let's hope) message coming from the NFL to rate these - top 20 media - teams high so that the money keeps flowing in from the corporate sponsors. My thinking being: it doesn't matter how bad they do as long as some third party "expert" signed off on them being "better"=buzz at the beginning of the season=take their money before delivering the product=good plan. I know I will do some research on this.....Remember, I said "I think", so it's ok for me to say this without any basis in reality, just like PK, Dr. Z and the rest. See, I can do the same thing as Peter King as long as I say "I think" first. But, at least I have some facts to base my thoughts on - and I'm not afraid to name my sources.

Without a secondary, they are. JPL passing on them leads to fear, fear leads to open running lanes for Willis, Willis leads to Suffering!

Watching this game right now. Wow, the Skins look horrible. So much for the NFC East being the "Best Division in Football", AGAIN(if we believe what the pundits say every year), this year.

I just watched the reply of the game. DiGiorgio played most of the second half. The first two of three plays he got he made tackles for no or minimal gain against the run. He was all over the place, QB pressures, on ST and with a sack! I saw the video above before I saw the game. They look the same. He has an ability to make a play, period. From CBS Sportsline: J. DiGiorgio 3-3 1.0 - second on the Bills, and from what I saw he got shafted on these stats. He was the reason for at least 7 solid-to-great d plays out there that I rewinded and watched again. It's way too early to start crazy comparisons, but keep in mind that Fletch, and Zach Thomas, had equal or worse measurables. (And yes, DiGiorgio has a better 40 time ) Thomas was drafted in the 5th and London was a UDFA. In contrast, the other LBs were nowhere near as active out there. I know it's only the preseason, the Lions, etc. However, that's what the preseason is for. Man on man with Vanilla D's and O's - and this guy tore it up. My call is this guy definitely will be a force on ST, and (knocking on wood while writing) if an injury arises, he holds his own. Here's to DiGiorgio, proof that desire counts most. GO BILLS!!!!!!

From another post about SI's Miami Preview I wrote: Remember these words for later: "And offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey, who did exotic things in Pittsburgh with his combination wideout-quarterback, Antwaan Randle El, has found another one in Marcus Vick, the free-agent quarterback who was bounced out of Virginia Tech for on- and off-the-field misbehavior. Vick has had a remarkable camp as a receiver. He looks as if he'd played the position all his life. Just another plus for a team that could have a ton of them." -- Paul Zimmerman, SI Too bad Miami just cut Marcus Vick.

Right on target - this is know as "revisionist history". I almost spilled my food when he said: "That's how KH needs to play while fighting for the starting job". The only fight that's going on is in Butch's head.

Why is this a piss poor arguement? Superbowl or not, we did spank them game 1 in 03. So beating that years SB champ means the Milloy dissention was a bad thing/had no positive effects for us? Without a total collapse the next 5 games by Drew and the coaches, who knows? Yes we have a chance to win next Sunday because of the things you said, but don't tell me that dissention in their lockeroom has no effect at all when we already have clear evidence - Milloy - that it does.

As one of the guys who tends to disagree , I want to say thanks Bill for leading the way on getting us together for the season. I can't wait for next Sunday. Thanks everybody for the time spent and the great insight into our team. GO BILLS!!!!!!!

Wow. That would be funny - more decension in the Pats lockeroom. Will this have a Milloy effect? I have already said we are gonna beat em. This only helps If he goes to the Jets that will be hilarious. Small satisfaction to see the Pats get the tables turned on them for once. Edit: they just said this on Cold Pizza

When I first read this I thought it was an article from last year - WTF? Can anybody get a job as a sports writer now? It would be one thing if he started with accurate info and said that we stink, but this is rampant bashing. I can't wait till week 2 and Trips blasts by Flabennie. I bet that will totally confuse this guy.

Couldn't have said it better - Wire has a great attitude but lacks the brains and skills needed to be good. The pile on thing is a great example, by the time he figures out what's happening he's the 3rd or 4th guy there because 3 other guys have figured it out 2 seconds before. What's that quote floating arond here? 5 second brain in a 2 second game. It sucks to cut a guy like this but it's only gonna be harder as time goes on. I say suck it up and get it over with.

Interesting, perhaps that's why the Cowboys, Chargers, and Cardinals are always either "poised to break out/going to surprise" or "going to be dominant in their division/conference" every year as well.

Um, IIRC, this would also require beating the Steelers and Colts on the road in a playoff game in January. Is it me or do the Dolphins get this same treatment every year and then, when they suck, everyone talks about the "inexplicable collapse". Remember these words for later: "And offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey, who did exotic things in Pittsburgh with his combination wideout-quarterback, Antwaan Randle El, has found another one in Marcus Vick, the free-agent quarterback who was bounced out of Virginia Tech for on- and off-the-field misbehavior. Vick has had a remarkable camp as a receiver. He looks as if he'd played the position all his life. Just another plus for a team that could have a ton of them." -- Paul Zimmerman, SI This was the first draft of this article: "Come on down to Miami and see our wacky, wacky fun offense. The key: our crrraaazy ringleader - Mike Mularkey. And don't forget our new attraction - Super Marcus! He not only entertains - he will buy everyone booze and crack after the game! It's all part of the crrraaazy time down in Dolphelon Land: where the fun never stops 'till you see the Judge!" I can't wait until Whitner picks off the first(of many) ridiculous half-back option passes they call - passing accuracy being a strength withing the Vick family and all. How about when Fletcher reads the flea flicker and intercepts the ball on the way back to Culpepper. Doesn't this guy remember that MM was our coach last year? The way he wrote this it's like MM went from Pitts to MIA, no stops. Are our guys gonna forget our old offense in one year?

it anywhere else. Could be a rumor/attempt at a scoop. Anybody know? Big Ben said this guy was a top 5 receiver. I hope that guy who was bashing eveyone about Nance didn't jinx us.

I dunno...shower habits seem to be your theory I'm just goofing around. Anyway, you have yet to address the point. Is it a coincidence or not? Do you really think that the stated reason DJ gave: "We all pretty much agreed on it," said Jauron of where he and his coaching staff stood. "We all felt pretty much the same it was fairly clear to see. We certainly started giving him more of the reps a number of weeks ago. We just wondered why there was any reason not to say it if we all thought it. We decided to just let everyone know and get him used to hearing it and getting the team used to hearing it." is the reason that they suddenly made this decision on a Tuesday? Why not Monday? Why not last week? What are these guys a bunch of 8th grade girls? "We didn't want to tell you we liked you but we all thought it all along so psst - here's your note." "Now we have to hold hands so that everyone can see that we are going out and get used to it hearing it." Yeah that's what is. I'm wrong - it's not: "Now that all the press/player quotes from Sunday/Monday have had a chance to get out and cycled on the internet; announce the starter - it gives the press the time to play the CYA game(which might earn us some positive national press for once) and makes us look prudent and consistent at the same time". That's a conspiracy theory. Marv, DJ and the boys are really saying: "Nooooo, let's surprise 'em instead." "That's a good idea!" "Hey! Get Ralph out of the shower and let's do this thing!" Look, we do the same thing with status reports/press releases in my job all the time. It's not scamming anybody. They wanted to kill this issue dead and they have so well that even the national guys are hiding/running. Go team Ivy league. Maybe it's just obvious to me because I'm used to it. Anyway faderphreak is correct. We have a smart coach/GM - now let's see if the smarts translate to wins. GO BILLS!!!!

Um, wtf? You are saying that Ralph's showering habits have more to do with this than DJ's ability to motivate and/or ability to stop the bleeding, heal the wounds, and rehabilitate the attitude of the team and it's fans? I mean I haven't seen the number of positive threads/posts we've had the last two weeks in a long time...(yeah I know, last year at this time ) I see - it's the rest of us that are the conspiracy nuts. For my part, I don't believe in coincidence, especially when dealing with marketing issues/pr. If you do in fact work for/are involved with Corning you should know all about this since u guys are the masters of the timely press release - it has saved your a_sess more than once.

Why is it than when Dibs says it you say "mull it over" and when I say it you say noise/signal(btw I am a business intelligence expert - so I know all the technical terms)? DIBS AND I ARE SAYING THE SAME THING - just differently. The data has already been sampled - we are using the O lineman in the NFL!?!?! You cannot escape my conclusion by running to your stats/marketing/psychology text book - nice try though . In this case, Meaningful performance must be evaluated equally for each lineman. Those whose data does not meet the criteria are IRRELEVANT and should be rejected as an OUTLIER(see I can use fancy stats terms too ). Example: If a team drafts an O lineman 1st round and that guy: get's hurt/get's in trouble/sucks, doesn't play, but his team wins the Super Bowl - you are saying it doesn't matter since there is still a corellation(you contrived) between high draft picks and wins. This guy should still count(and convienently continue to support your corellation) because his team won the super bowl without him? I would think that it would matter very much to that team's fans since they would be wondering why the GM didn't do his homework. It would also be exceedingly meaningful to the guy that replaced your 1st round draft pick come contract time Moreover, you would have that same GM draft O lineman high again next year because of your "corellation". This is silly.

babbling? This is the first post where you have said anything positive about team dynamics/psychology. Let's review: "Jauron is not basing his decision on what the other players feel" and "the players weren't consulted, so no point in delaying the announcement" Now you are saying: "Agreed on the chemistry" and "so as all the players were comfortable that he had earned the job" Who is babbling again? It seems you have found a way to contradict yourself in the same thread - but I am babbling. How about this one: what do you think Bill Parcell's is doing regarding the TO situation? Hmmm is it possible that in addition to dealing with the problem at hand, he is sending a message to the rest of the team at the same time? I know, I'm babbling again....sorry DJ did the same thing: he used the QB competition to send a message to the rest of the team that they had to compete for their respective jobs as well. Meanwhile, in addition to a clearly improved JP, we have seen great play/attitude from many other positions. Anyway, the point(which u did miss btw) of the original post was that DJ is pretty slick and his handling of this whole issue has been so professional and effective that the entire QB issue has been practically killed. In fact, killed to the point that people around here are now talking about #2 vs. #3. How many negative JP posts have we seen over the last two weeks? The national press is running for cover on this and even the "insiders" and "experts" are back peddaling. Of course, JP playing well has helped out too... All this can only to serve to boost team confidence as well as JP's. DJ effectively killed about 10 birds with one stone, regardless if the competition was a "sham" or not. But again, I have got to stop this babbling!

Nah more like I NEEDED to take a piss right then.

I was waiting for u to tell me to do it myself two posts ago. Anyway, your analogy is oversimplified in the sense that it does not acount for "meaningful" participation of the ninth graders, or the seventh graders for that matter. What if, like the NFL, some of those ninth grader get hurt and can't play? How about, like the NFL, some of those ninth graders do well the first year but get detention the next and can't play? What if a team with 4 ninth graders ends up benching them all and still wins the championship? Did they win because of ninth graders? The original question posed is not about general relationships but DEFINITIVE evidence that high o line drafting =(this means is equal to not might or maybe) wins/playoffs. By not holding a standard you are ignoring seventh grade participation that might prove to be just as valid a corellation to improved play as ninth grade participation. Without valid comparison - all you have is conjecture.

Right on. Let's see if buffalodenney misses it again

This depends on your definition of "need". I am sure you have needed to take a piss, but I also sure you have NEEDED to take a piss. We NEEDED to shore up our d this year and it looks like we did so far.