Dr. K

Point taken. But shouldn't our young players improve? This is a very young defense. Shouldn't we expect more than we got last year from Carrington, Troup, Batten, Moats? That alone should help performance. Then, if you add in Dareus, Barnett, and Merriman, and the fact that Mcgee is healthy, I don't think it's unreasonable to expect top half of the league--we're not talking top 5 or even top 10 here. We're going to find out soon enough, and I'm very interested to see how it goes.

Thank god for some sanity here. Great post.

I agree that he looks great, and I have the highest expectations for him, but I didn't see him double-teamed by Chicago. I saw most of the double-teaming going against Williams.

The article was well written, the independent movie metaphor was interesting, and he was right in general about the difficulties with the o-line and run defense. I even agree with his overall judgment taht the Bills will have trouble gaining ground in their division. But the particulars are frequently off, and he says things that just aren't true with such calm assurance that it undercuts his credibility. I bet he only ever watched the Bills play the Jets. He got lots of details wrong: Saying Fitz holds the ball too long. In fact, his entire description of Fitz's playing style is completely wonky. He says Fitz isn't cerebral when he is very smart, that his pre-snap reads are "average at best" when his reads are one of his strengths, describes him as "sandlot" when he very much works the game plan and takes what's there from the defense, says he extends plays with scrambling when I can't remember him doing much of that at all. He says Fitz will have to get used to the 3-step drop when he was doing this all last season. This paragraph alone makes me call into question his judgment even when he says things that are reasonable. Saying the management is "cool on Parish" and views him as "a return specialist" when the reality is just the opposite--they were the first coaches ever to use him properly as a receiver. Saying Bell was a liability in pass protection, when he's been quite credible in that area; his weakness is run blocking Saying Gailey is a "run-oriented traditionalist" (think George Halas) when his rep is for creatively using whatever methods he can for getting the most out of his offense. Actually, he may be right in his final assessment, but if you are going to assume a tone of "knowing-it-all" then you ought to get the details right.

I agree, except it was Wood, not Urbik, who whiffed on the block of Urlacher on that play, which would have left the entire middle open for CJ. Urbik did have that terrible whiff on the run play to the right that got CJ tackled in the backfield.

There are a lot of irony challenged people on this board.

I do think that, watching the o-line play last night, though it was adequate for the most part (better in pass protection than run blocking), it is the weakest unit on the team right now (though special teams coverage looked terrible also). The right side is weak, Urbik looked bad, and I dread the thought of any injuries. I just hope they get better and nobody gets hurt. I don't see where they are going to bring anybody in at this point that will help this season. Gailey is aware of the problem and seems to be game planning to minimize the effect of its weakness. NOt the ideal situation.

What Kelsay love fest? Even those who defend him don't love him.

I only mentioned Barnett because you singled him out as someone who made plays, not like Kelsay. I was pointing out that even he did not always succeed in what he was trying to do. I don't think we have a big difference of opinion here. I just think that, until somebody establishes clearly that he is consistently better than Kelsay at his position, mediocre as he may be, he will still start for the Bills. I do think he plays better than the drumbeat would have you believe. But yes, I have not been impressed at his coverage of receivers, and he is nowhere near the force that Williams is, and Merriman (if he stays healthy) is ten or twenty times the player, and Dareus is a beast.

My point on that play was not that Kelsay did anything great, but that BARNETT completely whiffed in the backfield. Look at it again. It was Barnett's play to make or not make, and he didn't make it.

I like Barnett, but did you see him on the first series where Cutler scrambled for ten yards? There was great pressure on the play, and Barnett had an open lane to Cutler in the backfield, but he whiffed on him completely and Cutler went by him up the middle. On that play Kelsay held his side and forced Cutler inside. I'd be pleased to see someone better than Kelsay take his job, and I'm confident that when one of the younger players steps up (Carrington?) that will happen. Gailey won't hesitate to get rid of someone if he has somebody better. I'm no knee-jerk Kelsay fan, but I'm tired of the drumbeat.

I re-ran every defensive play from the first quarter last night. Kelsay did seal the edge, did get into the backfield, did force plays inside. No, he didn't get sacks or make spectacular plays. But he did his job well, and helped make it possible for Williams, Dareus, and Merriman to make such plays. Is he great? No. But he is not the liability that you'd think from all this whining. This anti-Kelsay moaning has become such a mantra for some people on this board that it is beyond tiresome. If you put it to music you might be able to dance to it, but as it stands it's the definition of knee-jerk thoughtless bitching.

I just watched the first quarter again, concentrating on the line play, and rerunning to see individual play. I have to say the Bills were getting much better defensive line play that I saw last season. The combination of Dareus and Williams is a handful. Williams was getting the double teams, and Dareus was getting a big push on his men. With Merriman rushing from the outside, and them running various twists and stunts, these three guys were too much for Chicago to handle. Even Kelsay, everyone's whipping boy, was keeping contain, forcing things inside, and getting penetration. It's just a first preseason game, and I guess Chicago has O-line issues, but it was heartening to see the Bills present them so many problems. The Bills' first-string o-line, though nowhere near as impressive, did hold its own. On a number of plays they were one block short of springing some big gains, such as the third and long play in Chicago territory, just before the field goal, where Spiller caught a short pass and almost made the first. The play was well designed, and a huge hole was opened up the middle. Wood went unblocked into the second level--his job was to block Urlacher, and if he had, Spiller might have scored--he would easily have had another ten yards. But though Wood got his hands on him, Urlacher shed his block and made the tackle. It really struck me that on o-line play, every man has to be in synch with the others or the play breaks down. I have hope that, with more practice, they will get enough better that the offense can function efficiently. Assuming nobody gets hurt. The second team, though I haven't had time to break down plays the way I saw the first quarter, looks pretty bad. It's a work in progress.

I really fail to see how this makes the team better. Nix better hope his favorite toy from San Diego (Davis?) can play as well as Evans, and more than that, attract the defensive attention we know that Evans can. If I were Stevie, I'd be nervous about matching last season's numbers.

Please save my aching brain and stop putting apostrophes in simple plural nouns. Pats, goalposts, days, Bills not Pat's, goalpost's, day's, Bill's JMJ pray for us.

At this point there's little more anybody can say about this debate. Both sides have some facts on their side. And I doubt anyone is going to change his mind until the games start. It's really not going to be decided until we see how Fitz plays this season. I expect we'll know one way or the other by December. Though there are still people ready to fight the Flutie/Johnson war. I think I'll lay off reading all this stuff until the bullets start flying again.

There goes that theory--North Carolina was the last state to join the Confederacy (May 20 1861 for NC, May 7 for Tenn). Most of WESTERN NC did not support the cause. Therefore the entire theory falls like a house of cards So maybe its Searcy and J. White who will have to go out of their way to prove their bona fides to Chan. I suggest the North Carolina barbecue test, which is worth taking by any and every fan anyway, if you are at all interested in weighing 400 pounds.

We clearly didn't see the same man. But it's unseemly to argue about it on the anniversary of the man's death. Peace.

May he rest in peace, but IMHO he was vastly overrated as a journalist. He was the voice of the Washington conventional wisdom, never challenged a single fundamental assumption of The Village. I honor his Bills fandom, I'm sorry he died before his time, I'm sure he was a good man to his friends and family, but that's it.

Yes

Oh, God save us. IMHO he would be the worst owner seen in Buffalo since John Y. Brown.

Which QB were the Bills supposed to draft this year, given who was available to them (so Newton is out) who is this 10-year franchise QB? Gabbert? Locker? Dalton? Ponder? Should the Bills ahve taken one of these guys at #3, when Dareus was on the board? When every one of the QBs drafted in the 1st round after Newton has been called a reach even at the lower places they were drafted? The Bills reached to draft J.P. Losman in 2004. How did that work out? Yes, we could really use a franchise QB. I'm not convinced there was one available in this draft. Of course, I have been wrong about a lot of things.

I think Levi Brown has a chance to be #2, especially if there's a pre-season for Chan to work with him. He might be a better option than all of these retreads. I'd like to see what he can do.

Look, I don't know if it was a smart decision, but I hate the revisionist history on all this. All the received wisdom about "the Colts weren't playing for anyting and liad down" in that last game is BS. The Bills had been showing an inability to move the ball and score, under Flutie, in the second half of the season, even though they won games because of their D, which was #2 (to the Titans) in the league that season. The last game, against the Colts, was not "meaningless" to the Colts. They were tied with Jacksonville for the best record in the conference and needed to win that game to assure home field through the playoffs. They played their starters. Johnson tore them to pieces and the Bills looked like a completely letthal offense under him, which they had not done all season. It still may have been stupid to start Johnson, but it was not incomprehensible, the way the legend seems to have come down through the ages. I just want to set it straight, but it seems like a lost cause.

I think you are right. I can see it happening. Of course, if I believe it will happen, that should effectively destroy their chances, Sanchez will throw five picks and they will lose by 24 point.