Rockinon

Keep holding your breath.

I grew up in Lockport and have been a Bills fan for a loooooooong time. In 1982 I graduated from Newfane Sr. High school, a small town just north of Lockport, and then enlisted in the USAF. I have spent most of my adult life rooting for the Bills from all over(Texas, Florida, Guam, Honduras, Saudi Arabia etc.) It's been fun. Being in the Air Force is interesting as a Bill's fan because most of your friends root for all sorts of teams. There is a lot of smack talk, wagers and some real strange methods used to hear or watch games from different places. Anyway, now I live in Potsdam, NY and still can't get enough Bill's football. I still go to VFWs, AMVETS, American Legions to watch games and talk smack with guys that have served to this day. Once in a while, I'll take the 6 hour drive to Ralph Wilson Stadium to watch the game and I am thinking about taking the RV for our next trip. All I can say is being a Bill's fan has it's ups and downs but I wouldn't have it any other way. It's not the destination that matters, but the journey along the way. Someday the Bills will win the Superbowl but that will never mean as much as the good times I've had all these years.

It's OK, Hopepful. I was only making a lighthearted response to your last comment. No real criticism. All in fun. Wow, I must have struck a nerve!!!

You should change your name from "Hopeful" to "Doubtful".

Most of us know that Dareus is a rare talent given his overall high draft rankings and great college play. The real benefit though, is he is a perfect fit for the Bills defense line. He translates very well as a 30 front DE and a 40 front DT. Heck he can even line up as a NT if need be. This gives the Bills scheme diverse options we didn't have before. Having someone with rare talent lined up with another rare talent like Kyle Williams gives this defensive line a real boost. We are going to have a sick bull rush. With Troupe and Carrington now in their second year and our defensive scheme also in its second year we should see some nice improvements.

I picked up on how the team has been following his progress for a couple of years too. It was also, the Bill's scout that told him to get his weight down under 400 as well. He certainly will get a shot at the very least.

R. Rich, I always enjoy your posts here and think they are anything but meaningless. I am sure most TSWers consider you a valuable member.

I can see them possibly doing that, but they need at least one more backup QB, maybe a TE too out of free agency. They may just stand pat at LBs and see how they do with a revamped defensive line. Also, Wannstedt may be able to get something more out of the LBs too. He will be LBs coach as well as assistant head coach. Overall, I am seeing things a little more optimistically. Hope the lockout ends asap so these guys can get to work.

Yea!!! It was right on the tip of my tongue but I just couldn't spit it out. Thanks.

That is a lot of linebackers to not have faith in. Honestly think you are being a worry wart. You don't think anyone else out of that group will rise to the challenge?

4 games by 3 points, hence the focus on D. Good one.

And freakishly athletic for a guy that big.

You never know with the media pundits though. They seen to just open their traps and spew out whatever pops into their peanut brains.

I really liked Von Miller too, but that was only because I was absolutely certain that Dareus was going to be gone when we picked. Who knew? And I was most definitely not condoning the idea of trading from 3 to 2, BTW. Just stating it to show how silly the idea actually is.

We got 2 linebackers out of the draft plus 5 more defensive players. What more could you want? All seven defensive picks to be linebackers? That's not very reasonable. We got Marcel freakin' Darius too who should help make the linebackers we do have look better. Pretty solid draft if you ask me. It's not like we didn't have some linebackers all ready on the team before the draft either. Liability? I am not so sure of that.

Changing of the guard. I like it. Nix, Gailey, Whaley and now Tom Gibbons and Chuck Cook. And I agree that this draft was very focused on stopping the run. Bad teams get bad press. True, but there is no excuse for lazy reporting. Good points and right along the same line of thought that I had when I started this thread. Any specific articles anyone would like to post and add to this thread?

If that was scripted, they really are a lost cause.

I agree here. The defense was among the worst in the NFL, but the pundits feel the Bill's biggest problems were QB and offensive tackle? These are the experts we get our news from. Nice post by the way. Keep the faith, Buffalofaithful. That's right, you said it........I'm still trying to figure out the meaning of that word though. Ah, yes. The article that got me thinking about all of this. I think the pundits pass information around to each other like gossiping school girls. One person runs off at the mouth and the next thing you know they are giggling and spreading the rumor all over the place. I didn't know that but I like trivia like this. Anyone else have a retard report from the pundits?

That's a good one. The Bills were foolish for not taking Von Miller. Nice reporting NFL Network. I suppose we could have traded up and lost multiple draft picks in the process. General managers and head coaches are better at assessing what a team needs, even in Buffalo. After watching all of last year, even with our poor record I kind of agree. I had the sense that this was a team on the rise. I must point out though that I am a Bills fan so my personal view may be a bit......what's the word I am looking for? But good attitude and I like the sentiment.

Um, you just used stats to make your case, loser.

Change of culture. I like that one particularly because Gailey has spoken about building a winning culture. Nix does seem to be doing a pretty good job for an old guy. Who else? C'mon, I know I have seen more posts about how the media or reporters have gotten it wrong. Or squat thrusts. Remember having to do those in gym class?

Nice Astrobot. I didn't think of injuries. It's something that is typically not talked about and is written off quickly when it is because "Every team has to deal with injuries". But good addition. Anyone else?

This is an exercise to list things these ridiculous pundits don't know about our team. What have you got to add?

I have been watching people post links to articles about our beloved Buffalo Bills and one of them got me thinking. It was an article by Jamie Dukes of the NFL Network, a nationally televised station that is dedicated solely to NFL news and media. According to Jamie Dukes the Bills are stupid for picking Dareus because he doesn't fit as a Nose Tackle. Excuse me, Mr. Dukes, but you are a moron. So I thought I'd start a little exercise listing things the pundits don't know about our Buffalo Bills. Feel free to jump in with your own thoughts with follow ups. Marcel Dareus is a DE/DT Kyle Williams is a Pro Bowl NT all ready on our roster. Kyle can also line up at DT or DE. Torrel Troupe is also a NT. He can also line up as a DT. Micheal Jasper is a project that is also considered a NT.(How Mr. Dukes, could you possibly think the Bills were looking to use a fourth NT on this team with Dareus?) The Bills do believe Fitz can get the job done. "In weeks 3-16 with Fitz as the starter, the offense averaged 335 YPG, 116 rushing YPG, 219.6 passing YPG and 19.9 points per game. In the three games that Fitz did not play in last season, the offense averaged 171 YPG, 70 rushing YPG, 101 passing YPG and 8 points per game. Also, Fitz had two games in which he passed for over 300 yards (382 & 308), something that wasn’t done in a Bills uniform in years." We actually do have explosive playmakers that can turn games around.Kyle Williams Steve Johnson Fred Jackson Jairus Byrd Ryan Fitpatrick Lee Evans Roscoe Parish CJ Spiller

Agreed. I felt the same way. Our defense all year long could not close a game out. It seemed the offense was always having to put a bunch of points up to win or busy trying to catch up. Being in that position put a lot of pressure on Fitz and the receivers. If the defense was doing it's job, we could simply mix in more running plays and have a more diverse offensive attack. Having a defense that can actually stop the opposition can really change the way the offense calls plays. There is no doubt in my mind that the offense will improve as the defense improves. Things are looking up.