Dr. K

I just thought I'd look this up to see whether the Bills really were the worst team over the last ten years. Bills 66 wins Cards 62 wins Raiders 62 wins Browns 57 wins Texans 49 wins* Lions 42 wins * the Texans have only played 8 seasons, vs. the other teams' 10. If you average them over ten seasons, they would have won 61 games, still worse than the Bills. Of these teams, only the Lions and Bills have failed to make the playoffs throughout this period, and the Card and Raiders have each been in the Super Bowl once during the decade.

The one who has played the least. Nobody hates Levi Brown yet. Actually, given the nature of the board, I bet there are some who do hate him already.

+1. I think this is the most accurate assessment of Lynch's character I have seen on this board.

I think he's got the Bills about right. I do think that there's a strong likelihood the Colts will take a big fall. They won too many games last year by coming from behind, and were too pass-oriented. They are not young. They depend too much on Manning. I agree the Pats are getting old, and they have not drafted well despite the many high picks they have had. I expect some surprise teams to do well (I hope one of them is Buffalo, but everything has to fall right for that to happen), and major declines from Indianapolis, Minnesota, San Diego, New Orleans among others.

Keep Lynch. The Bills are quite likely to need him, and they will not get value in a trade. The people who are eager to dump him are reacting emotionally, not rationally.

PS: I don't mean to harp on such things. We all make mistakes. But this is a simple one to correct. I agree with the content of your original post.

There is no apostrophe in Bills. Ever.

Is it just me, or does it seem like the Bills are signing their draft picks much sooner this year than in the previous four or five years? I don't remember them getting so many in the fold so fast since the days of John Butler. Of course, they have yet to sign the first four picks, so there's plenty of room for a holdout.

I'm glad they are picked for last. They won't finish there, and I'll get pleasure out of seeing them surprise people.

"corps" not "core"!!!!!!!! JMJ pray for us.

Why? When 2/3 to 3/4 of these top ten picks are busts?

Mort is right. The Bills are going to go from being a team that breaks its fans' hearts to one that, more often, breaks the hearts of other teams' fans. No fan of another team will go into a Bills game expecting his team to lose, and yet the Bills are going to beat some teams that by the Conventional Wisdom they "should not" beat. It won't be a complete or sudden turnaround. But I expect them to win some surprising games.

Jerry H Christmas, can you guys just GIVE IT A REST?

The Jets are going to disappoint sorely. 8-8. They may start fast, but it looks to me like a bad chemistry experiment. I have no good idea about the rest of the division. Barring injuries, I think the Bills will win more than last year.

I hope you are still able to play music. I wanted to be a writer, and I was lucky enough to find a way to make a living as a teacher and still be able to write. I see lots of Asian kids as high achievers, but I do hope they can end up doing something they enjoy.

I hope he succeeds, but I have to say I'm a little sorry for this kid. The pressure his parents have put on him is enormous. What if he wanted to be a mechanic or a banker or musician or a scientist or a writer? Did he ever get the chance to consider a different life?

Jason Peters was an undrafted project player who had NEVER played LT. Not that Wang will work out, but he's closer to a starting LT than Peters was when the Bills signed him. I'm just saying. Any lineman the Bills could have drafted at #9 would have been a reach So I guess you wanted them to trade down? I'm not convinced that would have resulted in a better draft. We'll have to wait and see how it works out.

Like many others, you seem to think this team is worse than it was last year. I don't minimize the problems they face, but I can't help but think, rationally, that they will be better. Because: 1) the switch to the 3/4 defense, with the new players they have drafted and brought in, promises to make them stronger against the run. They already have a strong secondary. Goodbye to the Tampa 2. 2) Last season the team as a whole, and especially the o-line, suffered an inordinate number of injuries. They have a new conditioning coach, and even if they did not I think the law of averages says they would not see so many players lost to injury this year. 3) the o-line last year was actually decent in run blocking; they averaged 4.3 yards per carry, and this despite the "popgun" passing game that scared nobody. If they stay healthy and the young players develop, I think they will overall do better. Not great, but better. Better enough to make a difference in offensive efficiency. 4) Add to this the change in coaching staff. The Bills offensive coaching under Jauron was very bad, and last season was the worst for that. I expect Gailey to do better. It would be hard for the passing offense to be worse. 5) Despite the team's awful play last year, the Bills split with New York and Miami last season, played the Jets close in the other game, and played New England close in both games. 6) many times last season they led games going into the last quarter, only to lose. Mostly because the defense was not big enough to get off the field--how many times did we painfully watch other teams grind out long drives, converting third downs one after another. And the offense could not sustain drives. Given the changes already listed, why should they do WORSE this season than last? 7) I cannot understand on what basis "NFL experts" call for the Bills to win only 2-4 games. When the schedule is weaker on paper. They, like you, can only look at the LT and the QB and assume that because they have not new or impressive names in those positions, the entire season is lost. I just do not agree.

Not me.

I still make mistakes, though. I forgot an apostrophe in a post earlier in this thread. It's finals week at NC State. Lots of nervous and exhausted undergrads. None of them have NFL contracts awaiting them after they graduate, just the same search for work and a place in the world all of us have. But at least they are only 22. *sigh*

Not true. Just like the "rule" that you should never end a sentence with a preposition. As Winston Churchill said, "There is some nonsense up with which I will not put."

Bill, with all due respect, maybe the reason the opinion isn't common is because it it is extremely unlikely, not to say wrong. You seem to have trouble imagining that anyone with any sense could possibly come to a different conclusion from you about the Bills needs or the best strategy for making the team better (I know, it's a common failing around here). So you resort to insisting that the Spiller choice was a result Ralph Wilson's call despite a great deal of evidence and reasoning to the contrary. Too many posters have quite respectfully demonstrated the opposite side of the case, that Nix and Gailey made this call, for good reasons--reasons that you don't agree with, but good nonetheless. You have been right over the years to emphasize the importance of drafting for the o-line, but it has become such a fixed idea for you that any other vision becomes a result of conspiracy or lunacy.

...not "corp" or "core." You wouldn't talk about the "Marine Core," would you? [God help me, maybe you would. ] The receiving "corps." The linebacking "corps." I know it looks funny. But it's right.

My feelings exactly. Vastly overhyped team.

The Bills offense did not "hit a stone wall" in the fourth quarter against the Pats. In fact, they rose to the occasion after the Pats spent the first 5:49 of the fourth quarter driving for a field goal to make the score 17-13 Bills. After the ensuing kickoff, the Bills drove 62 yards in 14 plays, eating up 6:11 of the clock to score a touchdown to make it 24-13. The Bills offense did not touch the ball again until the Pats had scored their second touchdown after this, with only seconds left on the clock, to make the score 25-24. The Pats did not shut down the Bills offense in the fourth quarter of that game. If you are going to make an argument, at least REMEMBER WHAT HAPPENED. You are entitled to your own opinion, but you ARE NOT ENTITLED TO MAKE STUFF UP in order to support those opinions.