Dr. K

Watching the Broncos get beat by the Pats, I realized that though I'd be happy to see other teams beat them for us, I'd like it still better if the Bills took care of the Pats themselves, Brady or no Brady. I want to see Buffalo legitimately end the reign of the Pats in the AFC. Is that greedy?

It's interesting to me that of the four first round QBs selected that year, Eli Manning, Rivers, Rothliesburger, and Losman (in that order, I think), three of them have proven to be first-class starters. This could be the strongest first-round QB class since the Marino, Kelly, Elway, Tony Eason year. I still think J.P. could make it, but he is looking more like Eason than Kelly right now. Eason also showed some promise, but never proved to be worth the pick.

Just want to say it was good to see Rivers take apart the Pats last night. I've always been a Rivers fan (I teach at NC State, where he was the best quarterback in school history). I wanted the Bills to draft him in 2004; I knew he would make it in the pros despite questions some had about his arm strength and his somewhat sidearm throwing motion. He has brains and accuracy and a quick release. Too bad he rose up the draft charts so quickly after destroying J.P. Losman in the senior bowl (Rivers was MVP). I was annoyed when some on this board claimed Rivers was a "bust" when he didn't take over the job from Drew Brees his first season, and didn't set the league on fire in his second. This doesn't mean I don't want the Bills to beat the Chargers badly next week. But don't underestimate the Chargers' QB.

The lower the Bills are ranked now, the better I like it. What matters is the winning. Let everyone talk about other teams.

It's a pain in the butt, for us long time fans, to see the Bills go into the season with less than their best lineup. We've suffered with so many bad teams and mediocre players that it's galling to see a contract dispute put one of our best players on the sidelines. It's hard not to obsess about it. But at this point it's just a distraction from the main business, playing and winning games. I'm trying not to think about it. The team should pretend Peters is injured with no date certain for his recovery. Suck it up and play. And all of us fans with nothing better to invest our time in should have a beer or two and cheer the boys in blue on.

You praised her "relevant experience." I'm telling you about that experience.

You certainly have.

Where did this "Royal has bad hands" meme get started? I watched every game last season, and I remember Gaines, not Royal, being the big butterfingers at TE. In particular, I remember Gaines dropping one in the Cleveland ice bowl that might have turned the game around. I'd like to see the hard evidence before I buy this particular bill of goods. The worst play I remember from Royal ever with the Bills was his failing to get his feet down in the Tennessee game the Bills lost by one point. But that's it.

I had my doubts considering how he played at the end of last season. It's only pre-season, and one game but I sincerely hope what we saw from him and the rest of the team tonight is the shape of things to come this season. All I want is good play from the QB. I don't care what his name is.

Maybe he can pick up Donovan McNabb to play QB. Lots of African-American players going to love playing for Limbaugh.

I expect the Bills to play conservative on offense. Last year it was almost physically painful to watch them sometimes. BUT, having said that, it DOES sometimes happen that a leopard changes its spots. Marv Levy, for instance, came to Buffalo with a long-time reputation as running extremely conservative offenses. You could look it up. I lived in Kansas City while he coached the Chiefs, and he was noted for relying on a big-back grind-it-out running game, a descendant of George Allen's Redskins offense. Fans in KC were happy to see him fired after six seasons of no success. When the Bills hired him, I thought, "Oh, crap, not Levy. They'll never score another touchdown through the air." Well, I guess I was wrong, wasn't I? He had some different talent at Buffalo, and more important, he hired Ted Marchibroda as OC, and the game had changed so Marv changed with it. The Bills went from being a team that complained bitterly when Cincinatti used the no-huddle offense against them, to the most successful proponent ever of the no-huddle offense. I don't expect it to happen with Jauron, but stranger things have come to pass.

Sure. I'm fine with Edwards going in as the starter this year, and I want to see him succeed. I was just responding to Puente, who said "I am still not sold on TE, but JP really hurt me when he bombed against the PATS last year." JP certainly bombed against the Pats in the second game last year, but TE also played a whole game against them and did little better. That's all I'm saying. NOTE: this is not an argument for starting JP this season.

Edwards played every series but the first one against the Pats in the first game last season. The Bills lost 38-7. I want Edwards to succeed, but let's not rewrite history.

Well said. Some people here will not be happy unless they run the draft room themselves.

I questioned the pick of a 375-pound RT at the time. Did you? The overwhelming response was "this guy's a sure fire success." The "bona fide" LT you talk about (on the Vikings?) did not take the league by storm. I guess he's played reasonably well, but he's no Orlando Pace.

http://www.theonion.com/content/video/nhl_..._to_big_leagues At last he gets to play professional sports.

I think this is absolutely part of the equation. And it doesn't matter how much time has passed. A guy like Sullivan, if he feels he's been slighted, will always stick the knife in. Like an elephant, he never forgets, but he also won't let an opportunity pass. That's why it's almost impossible to beat a journalist who has a soapbox like Sullivan's. He commands a space in the paper for whatever axes he choose to grind, and if someone who crossed him like JP ever becomes vulnerable (as JP's play and his getting benched have made him), he his dead meat.

Thanks for posting this. This is my take on things. I do worry about the offense, which at times made watching paint dry while having your molars drilled without anesthetic seem like a worthy alternative, but I think Jauron has real strengths. And I LIKE is calm demeanor and lack of paranoia. I have to take Bill's postings with a grain of salt--he's obviously intelligent and interesting on some subjects, but is knee-jerk on others to the point where it's not worth arguing with him.

I give the Bills a "B" on the draft. Or course, what do I know--not much. I'm assuming McKelvin and Hard can start and play well. I think the final verdict on this draft will be whether they hit on any of the other eight prospects. They could all wash out, or there could be some decent role players, or there could be a surprise like Peters (who was an UDFA as I recall). For instance, the tackle in the seventh round, who's only played football for three years, could be a sleeper. Or if the third round DE turns into a great pass rusher and can become at least adequate against the run, then suddenly this looks like a great draft. But trying to decide what it all amounts to right now is fumbling in the dark.

I've got a speaking part in the independent movie "The Delicate Art of the Rifle." I'm the first person murdered in that movie. I'm an extra in "Twilight of the Dogs."

The German teacher who was killed in front of his class before the gunman turned on the students was Jamie Bishop, the son of Michael Bishohp, a friend of mine. Jamie used to live in Chapel Hill and I saw something of him then. I have known his father for twenty-five years. Michael Bishop is a pretty well known science fiction writer, author of Brittle Innings and No Enemy But Time, among many others. Jamie was a wonderful guy, very creative, funny, personable. He did a lot of interesting phtography-based computer art when he wasn't teaching, including the cover to the collection Gunning for the Buddha, by Michael Jasper (the title sems bitterly ironic now). Given the losses so many have suffered, I can't bring myself to get into debating gun control or lockdowns or whose fault it is. I just know that too many good people died. As the writer Chinua Achebe says, "The world is not well arranged."

For what it's worth I didn't take any offense at your original post. I liked Fletcher but I remember him taking some bad cheap shot penalties at times, in particular a personal foul he took against the Patriots in a close game at the Ralph that gave them a first down after they failed on third and long, and which led to a touchdown. I hated to see him go, but I think the Bills may be better off by the end of the season, and maybe even the beginning. As for the general principle, I don't think the number of posts matters, but the content does.

Great player, good team leader. Sorry to see you go. Best of luck in Philly.

I'll take the under on the Willis return game. I agree with those who posted that the Bills will be better--not ignoring that they lost Fletcher, Clements, etc. but because the o-line will be stronger, and the young players will be a year more expereinced. I expect Losman and the offense to be much better from the start. I think this will be a motivated team, one that lost a lot of close games last season but is learning how to win.

I don't think I would run around or shout or trash talk (well, maybe a yelp or two, and a LITTLE trash talk to anyone in a Pats, Jets, or Dolphins shirt). But I'd have a quiet sense of satisfaction that would last a long time. As someone said earlier in this thread, once a champion, always a champion. I am a Kansas City Royals fan, and even though that franchise has been arguably the worst in baseball in recent years, i still remember the playoffs and world series victory against the Cardinals in 1985, when they came back from losign the first two at home and being down 3-1 in games, the first team ever to do this in WS history, and I will always have that feeling. With Bills I would multiply that feeling by 100.