2020 Our Year For Sure

Not really relevant what happens between now and then. Even if we lose to Oakland, we STILL play the Patriots* afterward. That's how schedules work.

http://youtu.be/1jUBbCgMWmE

lol there's NO WAY you're getting a 3rd rounder for McGee now. There's really no sense in trading the man now. You'd be lucky to net a 5th; my best guess would be a 6th.

We're not the players. We're not the coaches. Stop with these posts telling fans of the team, who have nothing to do with the preparation of the team itself, what to think about. I think if Merriman is 100% by that game and we have an edge rush to go ALONG with K-Weezy and Dareus in the middle it gives us a better chance. I agree that the Patriots'* defense can be had. Fitz needs to have a game of a lifetime. No turnovers! You're right, the Ralph will be ROCKIN' that day. You never know...

If the line moves, which way should we expect it to go?

Love that in-depth analysis Rich, there are few places a Bills fan can find this kind of thing. I found the Dareus commentary especially helpful, thank you!

Thanks for the heads up! Gotta fire up the DVR for this one

This. How can a person who has gone through that have such a positive outlook? To feel no anger toward the shooter. What an amazing story

Cowherd is good for comedy, funny dude. Just don't take him seriously and you'll be fine

Don't forget Merriman! Not a huge impact yesterday but still an important cog. Wannstedt too is making a HUGE difference in this defense that is immeasurable.

Manning I'll miss. Not Marcia.

Chucky has quickly become one of my favorite color guys. ESPN gets a big for putting he and Jaws together.

Anything to pick up a Bills fan

Chiefs -5.5

-Schefter

JP isn't a part of it because we all know he's stronger than these three. Notice Jim Kelly is similarly absent

Defensively we need to focus on stopping the run as many have said and will say, but we also need to play the secondary back and take away the deep pass. With regard to Jason Campbell, think a competent version of JP Losman. He is an average starting quarterback at best but he throws a tremendous deep ball, and has a cannon. Pair that with Jacoby Ford and Heyward-Bay on the outside and this is a team designed to get the ball downfield through the air. The secondary must be ready for this. The coaches need to be ready for it too. If you force Campbell to throw underneath all game he WILL make mistakes. The front 7 keys on McFadden, the back 4 take away the bomb. I'm not sure what Oakland does defensively but I believe they are stout up the middle personnel-wise. We had some success at Arrowhead running off tackle between Bell and Levitre, that's something you'd want to continue. As always, if you can get the ground game working, you can use play action and that opens up the entire playbook and makes you near-impossible to defend if you execute. Gailey likes to come out spreading the field and firing, which then opens up the run and in turn activates play action. It'll be interesting to see how he comes out offensively this week.

Help settle a debate between myself and my family. My dad and brother seem to think Fitzpatrick has the least arm strength of the three, and that Flutie was the strongest. Am I out of my mind for thinking it's Fitz-Edwards-Flutie (exactly the opposite)? Edwards' arm (no pun intended to the poster with said handle!) to my memory was just strong enough to make all the throws an NFL passer needs to make, with Fitz' arm being just a bit stronger. Flutie I thought was the least strong of the three-- I remember a lot of his "deep" balls being fade routes to Moulds that would only travel 20-25 yards in the air. I don't think either Flutie or Edwards could have made the throw Fitz made last year against Pittsburgh that Stevie ultimately dropped. Mostly irrelevant to how good a quarterback these guys are overall, just would really like to know what you think purely about their arm strength. Please base it on where their arm strength was at the time that they were members of the Bills (not at Boston College, for example). GO BILLS!

I want a pass rushing OLB in the first or second round, value permitting. Merriman's health is altogether too critical to the defense right now, we need an athletic rusher on the other side. And even if Batten works out, Merriman's deal is finished after next season.

Other than Michael Vick, I'm with you.

Who ever said Evans was the Ravens #1 receiver? They have this Boldin guy you know. Not bad for a drunken purge, Kelly. I'd love to see Byrd play like this all year...three or four big tackles for us in the 1st quarter alone.

If I can get 3.0 or less I'm all over it, otherwise I'm letting it go. Just never know with this team

Thanks guys. I think we will see the personnel vary from week-to-week a lot this year. There's depth on this defense, more than 11 players who deserve (and will get) playing time, each with a little bit different skillset than anyone else. Edwards/Wanny will choose different weapons from their arsenal each week, tailored to beat the specific opponent. It's how a defense should operate and it's the depth in the front 7 and the experience and savvy of Wannstedt that makes it go. Will be interesting to watch!

I'm not sure that Florence-McKelvin-Williams can cover ANY three-receiver set in the league, lol. Great post though. Does anyone know just what we're doing with Bryan Scott, scheme-wise? By my calculation he wasn't even supposed to be on the field, at all, all game. Is he playing safety or linebacker? Who is exiting for him? Only noticed Andra Davis on the field a couple of times, surprising after he had such a strong preseason. Are we playing a 4-2-5 defense? Regardless, whatever role they have Scott in, it seems to be a perfect match for his skillset. He was phenomenal today.

Completely agree with you on this, Matt. NFL coaches review every play that their opponents have run, whether the game was in hand or not. My fear with the Wild Bill is that teams will load the box when they see Smith behind center and he won't have the ability to hurt 'em with his arm. Getting this play on tape was a good idea; you want to give Smith and the linemen a chance to find some room. K-9 is completely correct; when KC got that touchdown it was 20-7 and appeared as if the worm was ready to turn. But we came out and answered right back in the third to put the game away. Is this team learning how to win, after going 4-4 down the stretch last season?