Hollywood Donahoe Posted September 2, 2006 Share Posted September 2, 2006 Hey Hollywood, does the Sullivan trade mean a possible move to the 4-3 for you guys? I doubt they'll go to a 4-3 base, but I do expect them to mix in a little more 4-3 than usual, given that DL depth is a strength and LB depth a weakness. ...was Sullivan really that bad for NO, or did he just not play up to his draft status? I think Sullivan is a guy who's always had the talent but has serious character/motivation issues. Hopefully, a change of scenery will help, and the realization that he got kicked off his old team in what was essentially a dump move will serve as a wake-up call. He's made enough plays in the preseason to convince me that he can be, at worst, a serviceable body along the DL. Also, sure, you may be thin at WR, but I think your Oline will be killer, plus 2 great TE's. I hope we beat your asses, but you guys should be able to ball-control the hell out of us. The WR situation is troublesome, but as you say, the rest of the offensive personnel is as dynamic as it's been during the Pats' 3 for 5 run. Watson came on strong at the end of last season, and he looks ready to become a force in the passing game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
generaLee83 Posted September 2, 2006 Share Posted September 2, 2006 Looks like Branch will make good on his promise to sit-out most of the season. He wasn't traded, in large part because of high contract demands and outrageous compensation demands (2-1st round picks ) by the Patriots. In other news, promising rookie RB Laurence Maroney is out with a leg injury. He didn't practice all week and didn't play last night. If there were any time for the Bills to steal a game, it's next Sunday. 759189[/snapback] I hope this dispute is the beginning of the end of the empire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pyrite Gal Posted September 2, 2006 Share Posted September 2, 2006 IMHO what all of this means is that a game I originally have filed as a certain loss is now im play as a possible upset win. This does not mean that I think the Bills have gotten everything (or even a lot of things) all set and ready to go. It simply means that the Pats seem to have finally fallen prey to the usual effect on most SB winning teams that they are forced by the parity generating aspects of the NFL, the desire of SB winning players to collect big bucks as a priority rather than be a part of a winning TEAM, and other factors which cause them to downgrade or fall apart. For a variety of reasons the Pats won 3 SBs in 4 years which is a near dynasty like performance. I think these reasons include: 1. They did implode in the 2002 season after their first SB win as they failed to even make the playoffs. Ironically, I think a prime reason for this was Drew Bledsoe because the accelerated cap hit the Pats had from correctly choosing to trade him to the Bills reesulted in a cap situtaion which did not allow them to reload their team. I think this lost season whet the players apetite to win an SN and really helped the team. They were also helped because the 2001 win primarily happened because they were a TEAM after what tuirned out to be a quite lucky loss of Bledsoe (accompanied by a quite lucky return by him to QB the majority of a must win game). This lack of a recognized star beyond the young Brady who had a contract which was quite favirable to the team to redo all helped. 2. Belicheck is undeniably a football genius, but I am amused that he easily could be on the asheap of failed NFL HCs after his very inadequate results in Cleveland (1 more playoff in 5 years than the idiot TD- they had different jobs so I am not comparing their work merely the results achieved with them doing their own pivotal jobs). If Bledsoe had not gotten his lung collapsed I think there is little chance he would have moved to Brady that year until even making the playoffs were out of the question. The pivotal BB move for the Pats in the 2003 season was so badly butchering the negotiation with Milloy that members of the team publicly called him out. Yet, just as President Bush has now gotten both the GOP and Dems to agree that the Iraq war was a big mistake to take on, BB united the Pats players in all feeling he was an idiot in negotiations and this provided a good basis for the team becoming a TEAM which stepped up when players like Colvin got hurt and that it was us against them in terms of the season. What is in play now, is that we are now seeing significant parts of the Pats like Vinateri and McGinest head off for the big bucks with little sign that they will be replaced by better players like A0Train was with Dillon or Milloy with Harrison. The Branch debacle seems to have descended to a point where it is unclear whether it will be worse if he is forced to play for the team or if he stays away and their top two receivers from last year are gone. Given their issues at LB, their issues at WR amd the loss of one of one of the best PKs in the league, this team looks like it will be worse than previous Pats teams on O, D and ST. Also, for this games one of BBs strengths over the years was that he an his Assistant Ciacges were able to design great gameplans against the Bills. However, I think the Bills are facinh them at the right time for them as the Pats braintrust will be facing a completely new offense and new defense that has yet to develop any record of tendencies or more than a generally described style to gameplan against. While this is not guarantee at all, I'd rather face them in a guessing game with no information for them to work with than lots of information to work with. Having them really slough off this game as a certain win is also how teams lose in this league (remember them being demolished by the worse team in the league a couple of years ago). The certauin loss is now a fighting chance and we will see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike formerly from Florida Posted September 2, 2006 Share Posted September 2, 2006 I doubt they'll go to a 4-3 base, but I do expect them to mix in a little more 4-3 than usual, given that DL depth is a strength and LB depth a weakness.I think Sullivan is a guy who's always had the talent but has serious character/motivation issues. Hopefully, a change of scenery will help, and the realization that he got kicked off his old team in what was essentially a dump move will serve as a wake-up call. He's made enough plays in the preseason to convince me that he can be, at worst, a serviceable body along the DL. The WR situation is troublesome, but as you say, the rest of the offensive personnel is as dynamic as it's been during the Pats' 3 for 5 run. Watson came on strong at the end of last season, and he looks ready to become a force in the passing game. 759344[/snapback] Face it, you guys are in serious trouble. 8-8 at best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CosmicBills Posted September 2, 2006 Share Posted September 2, 2006 Face it, you guys are in serious trouble. 8-8 at best. 759522[/snapback] Not with how soft the AFC East is this year. 8-8 is a worst case scenario for the Pats. If they played in any other division you might be right, but the AFC East is one of, if not the, weakest division in the league this year. That's why it's exciting to be a Bills fan. Even though they're rebuilding, there is still an outside shot at them making a run for the division because every team is suspect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadBuffaloDisease Posted September 2, 2006 Author Share Posted September 2, 2006 Yeah, even with their losses over the past few years, they're still the best team in the division and should win it again this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hollywood Donahoe Posted September 2, 2006 Share Posted September 2, 2006 Face it, you guys are in serious trouble. 8-8 at best. How can I argue with such an in-depth and convincing argument? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokinandjokin Posted September 2, 2006 Share Posted September 2, 2006 We have a chance if the Pats players listen to the local media. They are treating the home opener like a fifth pre-season game. They have absolutely no respect for the Bills. I know Belichick preaches not to take any opponent likely, but these guys are human. They watch ESPN and NFL Network. Nobody respects the Bills so why should they? We have to go into Gillette Stadium and punch them in the nose right away. That's the biggest upside to the disrespect the Bills get from the media. PTR 759285[/snapback] The Patriots are 10-1 in the last 11 against the Bills. What has Buffalo done to earn their respect? You're right, this is as good a chance as any for the Bills, and the Pats are as vulnerable as they've ever been in the Brady era. But the way they've owned us, I wouldn't be too worried about the Bills either if I were them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RunTheBall Posted September 2, 2006 Share Posted September 2, 2006 To echo previous posters, our team has done jack **** against NE except for 1 game with extenuating circumstances. Every year I hope they suck, and every year they get guys to over-achieve. That team has a winning attitude and expectation, something which has been missing in Buffalo for 7 years. Until the Bills get the sack to go into places like NE and puch other teams in the mouth, we'll all be talking about "should have won" and "if only this didn't happen". I hope its this year, because I'm going to the game at Gillette. Hey HD, change of topic, but what are your thoughts on NE making a run at Charles Rogers from Detroit. I'd hate to see it, because I think NE has a recently good track record of taking talented players with attitude problems and getting them to buy into the system. RTB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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