John Murphy Cured Me

[Jdragon2]

Great post. I wish this entire board was more like you. It would be great in the morning to come here and read articles and posts that are somewhat optimistic--or even a spirited give and take with the "realists."

 

Instead, sadly, it has turned into a place where every thread is either

a) about Mario Williams needing to be cut after the season

b) about how, if 16-0 is off the table, we should start shooting for 0-16 so we can draft a franchise quarterback

and/or

c) how we'll be the los angeles bills when ralph dies, so none of it matters anyways

 

Now I too have had my moments of doubt this season--hell, if we cut fitz as I'm writing this post, I'm going to X out of this window, call out of work, pop open some champagne, and post smiley faces on here all day to celebrate--but with that being said, maybe "no one circles the wagons like the buffalo bills," but "no one pisses and moans and makes the football season less fun" than a buffalo bills fan.

 

To me, as bad as the defense has been, the talent is there.

And as bad as fitz has been, the points have been scored.

And really, its been 1 bad half against the Jets, 1 bad quarter against the pats, 1 bad half against the 9ers, and 1 bad play against the titans.

 

YOU CAN NOT CHANGE THE PAST, BUT... if spiller doesnt fumble against the pats to end the half, and the titans dont score that TD... we're 5-2, looking at a first round bye.

 

Were healthy, were 1 game back from the playoffs, and in 9 days, the hardest part of our schedule is over.. EVEN IF... EVEN IF... we get absolutely steamrolled these next 2 weeks, the furthest back from the wildcard we could be is 3 games--with 7 to go. but if the steelers lose to the giants this week? The furthest back we could be from a wildcard is only 2 games.

 

And those last 2 sentences I just wrote? That's what kills me about this board right now. No ones looking at other teams schedules, no ones looking at the standings, no ones having FUN following the buffalo bills. I dont have anyone to talk to (I live out of market) about how important the steelers/giants game is to the bills playoff hopes, because if you say something like that on here, you get run out of town for being a "kool aid drinker."

 

Halfway through the season, the bills with the best o line theyve ever had, 2 all world running backs, all the talent in the world on d, and an easy schedule, 1 game back from a wildcard, and this place looks like one of those crashes on the atlanta thruway you talked about.

 

Great post man, I wish everyone had some optimism and could have some fun following the bills again.

 

"Bills are going to get smoked on sunday"

 

Who CARES--look at the standings, not the box scores, it makes it more fun.

 

PS: Giants went 9-7 last year, were 6-6 after 12 games, and had the 27th ranked defense. And won the super bowl.

 

It's a different NFL than when we were kids. Parity reigns supreme, and on any given Sunday, any team can look like the best team in the league, or the worst. At the end of the day, a team that loses just as many games as it wins can win the super bowl - You never know when the season youre bitching about could turn out to be the season you want to remember forever.

 

This. The negativity is understandable but ridiculously exhausting.

[C.Biscuit97]

On that note....back to Off the Wall for me!

 

As one of my favorite posters, please continue to post here. Love the recap and love Sheppard's attitude. Obviously, the enitre defense needs to play better but he is still in his 2nd year. I guess it's understandable but some Bills fans like to put 12 years of frustration on players who just got here.

[CodeMonkey]

lol, thanks for the $5....I bet my friend that the first response would be negative

Actually I think you lost that $5. A negative post we be something like the Bills suck, Wanny needs to be fired, Gailey is a disgrace, Mario should give the money back etc. That post was at most, neutral

 

Good to hear that at least one player on the defense has his attitude. Hopefully it will spread to the rest of the team.

[buffaloboyinATL]

Ajzepp, thanks for the recap. I still hold out hope that the chemistry of our D will start to click this season and play much better in the second half of the season. Stories like this encourage me that e are heading in that direction.

 

That being said, how did you get WGR on the radio in your car here in Atlanta, or did I mi-read that and you listened on the computer when you got home?

[ajzepp]

Ajzepp, thanks for the recap. I still hold out hope that the chemistry of our D will start to click this season and play much better in the second half of the season. Stories like this encourage me that e are heading in that direction.

 

That being said, how did you get WGR on the radio in your car here in Atlanta, or did I mi-read that and you listened on the computer when you got home?

 

Glad you asked! My favorite app on my iPhone is one called TuneIn Radio. It's basically an interface that allows you to listen to pretty much any station all across the country (and internationally, as well), all sorts of podcasts, etc. I just added the John Murphy Show (and WGR) to my favorites list and click it on every night when I leave work. The app is free and you can literally find just about anything on there. I use it every day and would be lost without it. In fact, I think it was Stojan who first told me about it, so gotta give props to Steve.

 

Also, thanks for the kind words and purposeful responses that some of you guys left...very much appreciated

[buffaloboyinATL]

Thanks for the tip! I just installed the app on my iPad. Awesome.

 

[RevWarRifleman]

So like many of you guys, I'm just plain worn out by this team. It doesn't matter if it's the lack of talent one year, underachieving the next year, just plain not giving a crap yet another year....this team finds way more ways to lose than they do to win and I'm honest to God just sick of it.

 

That being said, I sit here before you tonight rejuvenated...thanks to the John Murphy Show on WGR.

 

I usually leave work around 7:45pm and I listen to John on the way home. Sometimes he has guests that are interesting, sometimes he's more interesting than the guests, and other times he'll have on a guy who is seemingly high or drunk like how Frank Wycheck sounded a few weeks ago. Well tonight I not only left closer to 8pm (it's just not as much fun as skipping out a few mins early, right?) and on top of that one of Atlanta's famous "1-car accidents that has to tie up the entire expressway because everyone has to slow down and look at it" happened. I turned on John's show, which had just come back from "halftime", and he's got Kelvin Sheppard on there. What transpired over the next 15 or 20 mins just blew me away. I heard one of the smartest, most candid interviews I've ever heard - not just among Bills players past or present, but EVER....in the entire NFL!

 

I listened to Kelvin talk about how mad and hurt he was after the loss to the Titans, with John corroborating this by saying that he saw Kelvin stay in the locker room with a look on his face for well over an hour after the game and how he'd never seen Kelvin like that. Shep said that he comes from a culture (LSU) where they don't play to "position" themselves, or to try and get to .500....he comes from a culture where they go out each week with one common goal of winning, and that when they don't get it done you see every single player mad as hell about it. When Shep was a rookie last year, he said he was shocked how guy seemed to just go about their day after a loss, taking their shower, and heading home or whatever, and how this just didn't sit well with him in any way.

 

Murph asked him how he felt about being taken out of the game depending on the package. He hates it, but he understands it. He wants to be out on the field, especially when it's our top rival, but instead of moping or complaining, he watches Barnett's back and tries to tell him what he sees while Barnett is out there. Further, this kid knows the game in and out. He talked about being gap-solid, needing to rely on your "brothers" to "make the play and not try to cut across two gaps like you're superman and get taken out of position." Murph asked him about whether or not he wishes the defense was more aggressive, and if he would like to spend more time as a pass rusher instead of defending the pass. "Of course, every defensive guy will say they want to rush the QB, but if you're gonna bring the house then you BETTER get there in 2-3 seconds", he said. "The average NFL QB will locate and get the ball to his receiver in 3-4 seconds, and you gotta respect your corners". He has a lot of respect for Wannstedt and says that his schemes are solid, but the players need to play smarter and better. Say what you want about this kid's talent, or if he has or hasn't lived up to his potential as of today, but he's a winner. He's a passionate, articulate kid who LOVES this game. I'll take a team full of guys like this, and hell, especially if we're going to have the damn worse defense in the NFL, for fux sake leave this kid on the field!!

 

After that, former Bills safety Matt Bowen came on. Apparently he writes for a football-oriented paper and is true student of the game. I'm getting sick of typing and you're all probably sick of reading, so I'll just encourage you to go listen to it. The guy says A LOT of very smart things and he's like a mini-Mayock, except instead of player evaluation he's focused on the Xs and Os of the game. He was on the show about 8:20pm (Shep was on at 8p) and it's one of the best segments I've ever heard on the show.

 

Okay, that's it. But the point is that this 40m of Bills talk radio has cured me....I'm ready for Sunday dammit and I have a feeling we're going to see a different Bills team.

 

Well AJ, I hope you're right on Sunday. GO BILLS!!

[CardinalScotts]

I wouldn't get my hopes up this weekend. This Texans team is about as bad of a matchup as it gets. Last time we faced a team that plays this style it was 45-3. And the texans have a better passing game than SF.

completely off the mark...the NFL is match ups and the Bills can match up with the Texans. Same way they lost last year to Saints, Raiders, Ravens, Panthers, Colts, Titans, Ravens and Packers this year. Stop the running game, without the play action Schaub can't do it.

[Maddog69]

He can say what he want, my eyes don't deceive me. Shep is not an NFL LB. he is really slow at the point of attack and to make matters worse he is soft. He always falls backwards when there is contact and is Velcro when it comes to being blocked. He has been really really bad. 32nd in the league bad. Is he for real when he says they give up no yards and then a big play on the 10th play? Is that how they gave up 300 yards to SF? And all that can be relegated to SF is a good running team. I won't even talk about the NE game because he wasn't on the field but We gave up 175 to Arizona!!! THE WORST RUSHING TEAM IN THE NFL. We need to stop settling for bad players. Everyone here knows he is bad. He doesn't pass the eye test. We are blinded by our fandom, me included. But this is just unacceptable. Look at Miamis LBs and tell me what we put on the field is acceptable....

 

This is exactly what I was thinking. He sounds great during interviews but he is constantly out of position. He is really really not a good football player on the field. We are better with Barnett in the middle.

[DrDawkinstein]

He can say what he want, my eyes don't deceive me. Shep is not an NFL LB. he is really slow at the point of attack and to make matters worse he is soft. He always falls backwards when there is contact and is Velcro when it comes to being blocked. He has been really really bad. 32nd in the league bad. Is he for real when he says they give up no yards and then a big play on the 10th play? Is that how they gave up 300 yards to SF? And all that can be relegated to SF is a good running team. I won't even talk about the NE game because he wasn't on the field but We gave up 175 to Arizona!!! THE WORST RUSHING TEAM IN THE NFL. We need to stop settling for bad players. Everyone here knows he is bad. He doesn't pass the eye test. We are blinded by our fandom, me included. But this is just unacceptable. Look at Miamis LBs and tell me what we put on the field is acceptable....

 

This is exactly what I was thinking. He sounds great during interviews but he is constantly out of position. He is really really not a good football player on the field. We are better with Barnett in the middle.

 

Im beginning to think there are no Bills fans that know how to scout a MLB. When we had London Fletcher, all I heard was "That guy sucks, he makes all his tackles 5 yards down field". Then when we had Poz, all I heard was "That guy sucks, he makes all his tackles 5 yards down field." Now Shepp sucks, and everyone is wishing for Fletcher or Poz back. LOL.

 

The truth is, in the games where we were gashed on the ground, Shep was mostly OFF the field as Wanny was sticking to a Nickel formation that had our LBs as Barnett and Scott.

 

"Settling for bad players"?!?!? The fans have been running good players out of town for YEARS!

 

If you want to stop settling, then stop settling for bad ownership and bad coaching.