2020 Our Year For Sure

I wish I could laugh but I'm frustrated to learn there are people that stupid in the world.

MY OLE, I also wouldn't be surprised to see Kamar Aiken on the roster next year. Big and athletic with seemingly a lot of upside. I think we need to try to find an edge rushing OLB this offseason more than anything else, for obvious reasons. That said Astro, it makes sense that you have us taking a CB early. McGee hardly counts anymore, McKelvin is unreliable, Florence I believe will have 2 years left on his deal. This defense would get significantly better with a true #1 corner that we can be comfortable matching up with our opponents' top receiver. I like Aaron Williams' potential but we can virtually double our odds of finding that guy by adding another highly-rated prospect. I also would like to add a TE in the first 4 rounds if we can. We're seeing all over the league, perhaps moreso than ever, the matchup problems a big fast TE creates for a defense. David Martin was just cut. Chandler looks solid but we are paper-thin behind him. Gailey likes to spread the field with his receivers but adding another threat in the passing game at TE can still add another element to the offense.

Let's not forget Nick Barnett, the best player on our defense so far in 2011.

Thanks Rich, I was wondering what happened to your film review last week. I love these posts, especially all the information on both lines, which is hard to soak up in the heat of the battle. Enjoy your cruise, my friend.

To me the term "franchise QB" is reserved for only the elite quarterbacks in the league at a given time. Right now they are (Peyton Manning,) Brady, Rodgers, Brees, Rivers, Roethlisberger and perhaps Vick. Fitzpatrick is about as good as any other quarterback in the league and is a good starter, making him worthy of a sizable contract extension. You don't have to have one of the 5 best quarterbacks in the game in order to win. Because I don't like your "franchise QB or replacement needed" premise, I'm staying out of this poll.

I do remember that guy dog and his one-man Trent Edwards crusade

You're not the "Bills' biggest fan." That's an arrogant thing to say in a community like this one. Your OP contained a lot of new information for me and I thank you for that. It was well-thought-out, and you're clearly watching the Bengals closer than many of us. That said, as SJ points out, the Bengals D has faced an underwhelming Browns offense, a Broncos unit in the midst of identity crisis under a new defensive-minded regime, and a 49ers offense that has averaged around 2.5-3.0 yards per carry in the rungame three straight weeks to go with a quarterback who has looked terrible. The Bills have already lit up a good defense in the Oakland Raiders. Last Sunday they lit up one of the best defensive minds in football. The Bengals have not seen an offense anywhere near the Bills' ballpark. I think the game will be close early, but as it wears on for 4 quarters I have trouble envisioning their offense keeping up with ours. I think we win by at least a touchdown, and I jumped on that -3.5 line as soon as I saw it Tuesday. On any given Sunday, of course, but we've shown the ability to avoid turnovers this year and IMHO that's the only way we lose this game.

Er...Gruden is awesome.

The biggest to me is the hiring of Gailey. It's difficult to understand why this guy hasn't been a head coach in this league for years-- he is everything you want your leader to be, and he is getting the very most out of the talent he has. He will prove his worth even further this Sunday when he pushes all the right buttons during the week and avoids a letdown 7 days after the franchise's biggest win in more than a decade.

Just under 7 yards per attempt and just over 59% completed. I'd venture to say his numbers over the 16 this year will likely be even better than the above as he's gotten off to a faster start this year than last, and has thus far cut the INTs (which we all knew he needed to do). We could be talking Pro Bowl at some point, alongside Brady and Rivers.

This is my feeling as well. We're firing on all cylinders right now and offensively we have great versatility that makes us unpredictable. Even against a solid (but unspectacular) defense we should score some points. I just can't see their offense keeping up with ours. Their roster has no Tom Brady and no Darren McFadden, and they just scored 8 freaking points.

If we won, Spiller played enough.

Some teams don't need to blitz in order to get to the quarterback. You can't tell me getting to Brady went against our gameplan.

Yeah we have played terribly in those Toronto games, that helps take the crowd out of it

Or maybe you'll show him that optimism doesn't sell. Good read, at first I thought it'd be corny to go with Ralph's perspective but it works.

Stevie Johnson is a surgeon as a route runner. He is better in this regard than Eric Moulds or Lee Evans or Peerless Price or Josh Reed...perhaps the best route runner we've had since Andre Reed.

I'm sorry but I don't believe you that he ever said that about jason peters. The mask never comes off with this guy. That seems absurdly out of character

This is something people in Buffalo cannot relate to. It really is awesome to see the Bills talked about on these national shows-- its all we have. We're so used to hearing about the Giants Jets Steelers Eagles Cowboys Patriots* Chargers Colts Ravens week after week, year after year. It's refreshing to hear Buffalo Bills talk for a change.

Hah I wish!

Ah maybe this is what happened. We were in a 3-4 alignment if I recall, with Kelsay the OLB on that side and Davis the ILB. The tight end is lined up on this side and is either going up the seam, or doing one of those 4-5 yard hitch routes. Davis takes a couple of steps in Kelsay's direction and makes contact with the tight end-- Kelsay breaks inside toward the tight end as well. My assumption was that Davis was chucking the tight end and that Kelsay's responsibility was the flat, and that he didn't realize McFadden was running a route and so broke inside to help out. The reality may have been that it was man-to-man coverage and that Kelsay had the TE and Davis had McFadden, and Davis was trying to get outside and got picked as you say. I wish I hadn't deleted the show off my DVR. This explanation does make more sense though.

My favorite football show that doesn't feature Chris Berman had quite a bit of Bills coverage this week, both good and bad. For those who haven't seen it, Sterling Sharpe hosts a panel alongside Joe Theisman, Brian Baldinger and this year Matt Millen. They do a good job of delving into the X's and O's for all 16 teams (there is a seperate show for the NFC) and it's obvious there is a significant amount of work put into it throughout the week by everyone involved. The Bad Matt Millen highlighted Leodis McKelvin and said Buffalo's secondary needs to do a better job of making a play on the ball in the air. They showed three plays where D. Moore of the Raiders beat McKelvin down the field. The first I think was in the 1st quarter, Leo had good coverage but failed to make a play, the second Moore had McKelvin beat cleanly and had no chance for a play (though Millen didn't seem to notice), and the third was the Raiders' final touchdown (which many posters are putting more on Wilson). Think it was Sterling said the Patriots* will attack your weaknesses, and for the Bills defense its the linebackers. He said Shawne Merriman used to be a premier pass rusher in the league, but the "legs aren't there." They showed one play where Merriman is trying to rush outside and called Merriman's legs "dead," saying "they actually stop moving here at a certain point," and for a moment, they did. As they rolled the play, however, I observed Merriman continuing to fight and eventually rounding the corner, but too far downfield, a la Schobel/Kelsay many a time. My personal thought is that we all know what we saw in the preseason; the man still has athleticism. The arm, though, is concerning, and he may never be healthy enough this year to prove he's still got it. Seemed like they disagree and don't believe he's capable of a very high level of play anymore. Continuing the LB theme, believe it was Theisman highlighted a swing pass to McFadden that went for a touchdown in which Andre Davis and Chris Kelsay both went to the tight end in the middle/seam, leaving DMC all alone in the flat. I'd think it was Kelsay's fault as he's the one lined up outside. Theisman commented that you can't make these errors against New England*. Think it was Sterling that said our LBers are "old" and lack the speed to make up for these kinds of mistakes. When they did the Raiders/Jets matchup one of them (believe it was Theisman again) talked about how Rex Ryan 'makes a living' stopping people from running the ball, and the Raiders won't get the same looks against the Jets that they did against Buffalo, complete with tape of a bunch of successful McFadden runs, many of which he got the edge on us. The Good They all had only good things to say about Fitzpatrick. Love the way he reads the defense, gets the ball out of his hands quickly. Theisman commented he loves the way Gailey has put the offense together and that Fitzpatrick is the perfect match. Somebody talked about how most of it is underneath stuff and he's been good at finding the right guy and has almost always been accurate with the ball. Freddie got some love as well. They showed The Rifle's mic'd up segment, complete with a pregame visit from Jim Kelly on the field. Jim wished Fitz good luck, have a great game, and hugged him. Fitz was low key and almost mumbled when he said, "Thanks Jim, good to see ya." Went to Sterling and Theisman alone on a different set and Sterling said this Bills team is starting to remind him a lot of the Buffalo Bills '91 team "that went to their second SuperBowl." Theisman commented, "I remember them." They showed a Kelly touchdown pass followed by a Fitz touchdown pass, a Thurman touchdown run followed by that 40-yard TD run Freddy had to make it 21-10 where he put that nasty juke on the safety. Sterling said Fitzpatrick has 7 TD passes through two games, and Kelly had 8. Freddy started off this year with two 100-yard games, and "guess what," Thurman started off the year with two 100-yard games as well. "For this reason, I'm picking the Bills." [everyone else took NE*] Sharpe went on to say the Bills aren't just a surprise team, he believes they're ready to be "one of the best teams we talk about every week." Said Buffalo is "poised to break out." Hope I'm getting those quotes right, if not its very close. They also talked at some point about how New England* has been playing a lot of man coverage, highlighted Vincent Jackson's performance last week and said Buffalo will attack down the field and in the seams looking for this "trail or man coverage." I probably left some stuff out, it was a few hours ago that I watched. Perhaps someone else who saw can dot the I's and cross the T's, and correct me if need be. If you get the chance I highly recommend checking this week's episode out, tons of interesting Bills coverage and a chance to learn something about every other AFC team. I'm reasonably sure you'll find it more informative than most of the other football coverage you'll find on television. Let's hope Sterling Sharpe is the smartest guy in that room, huh?

Fitz called Captain Jackson our emotional leader as well. He is crucial

It's the worst when I wake up early Sunday morning. You wanna forget about what's coming so the time will go faster, but you just can't! The anticipation is too great

So far I'm very wrong about Demetrius Bell, and couldn't be happier about it!

Very scary considering how good Shawne is at using his hands to fight off offensive lineman and how important that is for any pass rusher, but especially he in particular.