Dr. K

I desperately wanted the Bills to draft Rivers the year they drafted Losman. Rivers was rated as a second-round pick (because of his odd throwing motion) until he played lights out in the Senior Bowl (and blew away the opposition tems, QB'd by Losman) and climbed up the draft charts into the top 10. *sigh*

I've reserved judgment on Edwards, was even encouraged by the pre-season, but I'm done. Just cut the cord and bench him. Start Fitz or Brohm. He just cannot play. Starting him leads the team to despair. My impression of Gailey is that he is not a sentimental man and if a player can't play, he will see it and go in another direction. I hope he has the guts to quit trying with Edwards.

I'm worried about the defense in general. It was bad in all phases (except interceptions) in pre-season. Bad run defense, no real pass rush, and gave up tons of pass yardage. Seemed to me that the linebackers were getting torched in pass coverage. I'm hoping it's just because it's a work in progress, and we'll see them get steadily better (barring injuries) in the regular season.

I'm more optimistic that I have been for the Bills in a long time, but I begin to think a lot of us here are getting a little ahead of ourselves. I think the Bills show signs of being able to win more games than most observers are giving them a chance to win, but I don't see any easy victories on the schedule. I'm not ready to say this team is going to be any good until they have shown me they can play well in the real season, over entire games, and close the deal. I HOPE they will beat the fins, but I don't count on it.

I remember this exact game, and how out of my mind I was that the Bills actually came back and won it. They had been so bad through the laste 60s and early 70s, and this was just the kind of game they always lost. When Braxton fumbled, it was just like when McKelvin fumbled in the NE game last season. I had no expectation the Bills could possilby win the game. But then Fergy came roaring back. Until that game the Bills were known as only a rushing team, with Fergy handing off to OJ. But he won the game throwing, and that established that he was a QB to be reckoned with. I was a much younger man then, but I hope to see another such game, heralding another turn in the team's fortunes.

The Pats won Super Bowls without either of those guys on the team.

That's a lot of tight ends I never heard of. I think I'll just shut up now.

Would they ever consider picking up Derek Fine again?

By the way, Die Hard, you played for the Bills during one of the most difficult times in the franchise's history. There were some very bad years under John Rauch. I remember them well, in particular one game against the Colts played in a blizzard in the old WMS. James Harris played QB at that time. The Bills lost a lot of games in the late 60s, but laid the foundations for the better teams of the 1970s. It must have been hard then, but also exhilarating to be a pro football player on the field with future Hall of Famers. And given the Bills record during that down period, it must seem ironic to see people complaining so much about how bad the Bills are now.

Sorry to see you go. I, too, hate it when certain posters descend into trashing players and coaches. For instance, despite the fact that I am glad he is no longer coaching the Bills, the amount of casual slander people daily post here about Dick Jauron, a fundamentally decent man and far from the worst coach the Bills have ever had, really makes it hard to feel good about the fans. Even ifhe were the worst coach, he doesn't deserve the continual flack. A lot of people take their frustrations out on the players and coaches, and as in the real world, they like to find villains or whipping boys and then pile every bad emotion they have onto that person's shoulders. Not everyone does this, but enough of it goes on to make reading tiresome and unpleasant. I probably have been guilty of it myself, though I try to avoid it.

Yes. Every year teams cut guys in the first cut BECAUSE they intend to put them on the PS. I bet that's what's happening here. +100

They don't look great against the run, but that's not the problem. The linebackers and secondary are getting abused in the passing game. Florence is committing a couple of holding/PI penalties a game. I have hopes they will get better against the pass, but I begin to wonder if the good performance last year was in part the fact the cover two meant they didn't play so much man-to-man, and kept everything in front of them.

Joique Bell Not that I want them to cut him, but I think they might.

That's exactly the point. Send your fastest receiver on a shallow crossing pattern--that's an innovation for the Bills. Using one play to set up another. It may be pathetic, but we haven't done it consistently for years.

I agree. People get too far ahead of themselves. Most QB discussions on the board are overdone one way or the other, pro or con. I think it's a good bet Gailey keeps all three, and puts Brown on the practice squad. But we'll see soon enough.

It's the play calling and offensive design that impress me the most. You can see him using early plays to set up later ones, reacting to the defense intelligently, looking for weak spots. The screen plays, for instance, in reaction to the big rush the Bengals were sending, using Parrish on crossing routes, the three-step drops, etc. I don't know why it couldn't have been done this way last season, and I want to see how it goes when the real bullets are flying, but you have to be encouraged by the rhythm the Bills offense is establishing no matter which of the three QBs is in there.

My only point is that the Pats are not the team that went 17-1 any more than the 1995 Bills were the 1990 Bills even though they key names were the same. I would think anyone watching the Pats over the last season or so would see that. The are a much more vulnerable team, older in the key positions, and in general have not replaced the departed players with younger players of equal ability (though they still have plenty of talent). And I'm not saying the Bills are better. I don't know if this is the year the Bills finally win one from them; we'll see.

I don't know, guys. I'm of the camp that if you can't measure it, then it probably ain't real. Let's put it this way--you can go for a while saying, as Kelly does, that Sanchez (or anyone else) has great talent even though it doesn't show up in his stats. But after a while, if the stats don't show it, I don't think it's there. If he doesn't play any better than he has already, in a pretty good situation, then I think he's not very good. If he has another season of 12 TDs and 20 ints, then I can't see any excuse for calling him a good QB.

I completely understand the despair, but it has to happen eventually. Last season the Pats beat the Bills twice, but neither game was by any means a blowout. I'm not saying it will happen this year, but the Pats have come somewhat to earth since their 18-1 season. That are not superhuman. The Ravens humiliated them in Foxboro last year. That game reminded me of the last playoff game played in Buffalo, when the four-time AFC champion Bills, the team still sporting Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas, Andre Reed, Bruce Smith, Cornelius Bennet, and Daryl Talley met the second year Jacksonville Jaguars on the Bills' home field, where they had not lost a playoff game since 1989--and got beat. The Bills still played some good games after that, and had some playoff seasons, but their dynasty was over. Today's Bills are absolutely not the Ravens, but the nonetheless they had the Pats on the ropes in the opener last year, in Foxboro, even with Edwards at QB. The gap between the teams is not what it was three years ago. We'll see what happens. All of them three years older. If names won football games, then we should just get Kelly, Smith, Thomas, Reed, Bennett, Tasker, Hull, Wolford and Talley back to play this season. I'm not optimistic, but I have a guarded expectation the Bills will do better. And I hate all this worship of the Pats. They deserve immense respect for what they have done. But they are not the team they were in 2007.

This is sadly true. It always kills me how easily Brady is able to send the TE down the middle for 20-30 yards against the Bills. And apparently this new rookie TE they have is even more of a weapon. I expect to be gnashing my teeth over this every time the bills play them. That and the short passes to Welker with large RAC.

I know how they use Welker. It works fine--up to a point. Are the Pats going to win the division on 28 yards rushing and 16 minutes of possession per game? I'm not saying the Bills are going to beat them. But I think they are incredibly vulnerable. I bet Belichick isn't dismissing the performance against the Rams last night, and if that was the "full dress rehearsal" of their offense, any good team they play, including even the dog-ass Jets, is going to beat them like a red-headed stepchild. They could quite realistically fold like a house of cards in the regular season. Of course, I could be wrong.

Yes.

Time of possession in this Pats-Rams game Pats: 16:14 Rams: 43:46 The only reason the score was close was that that Pats returned the opening kickoff for a TD, and the Pats intercepted a pass and ran it back inside the 10. This is all pre-season, but the Pats were playing against last year's worst team in the league. With the Pats starting offense playing into the fourth quarter. The Pats and the Colts have proved in recent years that you don't need a good running game to win a lot of games. However, 28 yards a game is beyond abysmal, and I guarantee if they run like that all season and pile up 16 minutes in time of possession, I don't care how good Brady and Moss and Welker are, they will be lucky to win half their games.

Could be. But if this is their offense's full dress rehearsal, they will be the worst running team in the league. I know the trend now is for teams to succeed without having to run very well, but this strikes me as a vulnerability.

28 yards rushing against the Rams last night. I know it's pre-season, but 28 yards against the Rams? But Brady threw three TDs. It's also interesting that the Pats played Brady into the fourth quarter. Why did they do that? Does he need the work? I doubt it. Were they that eager to beat the Rams? Why?