Coach Tuesday Posted September 14, 2006 Share Posted September 14, 2006 Some random irrelevant, mostly unrelated musings: 1) the Bills don't have a single starting lineman that they've drafted (although Peters was a UDFA) 2) the Mike Williams debacle was not what set the Bills back 3-4 years, because it was almost fully offset by finding and signing Peters, a converted TE 3) the Pat Williams debacle set the Bills back 3-4 years (thanks Tom!). He was widely regarded as one of the, if not the best linemen in the NFL last season. The Bills' run defense never recovered from losing him, as we saw on the field in NE. 4) everyone's talking about the safety and the penalties against NE. Well, I think the biggest, also overlooked factor was conditioning. The Pats never looked winded, the Bills did (esp. the lines). I've heard that Belichick uses more contact in his preseason practices than anyone else, and Jauron uses very little. Well, it showed. 5) After watching the Raiders on Monday night, I've concluded that Al Davis is purposely tanking it this season so he can move the team to LA. Think about it. He's already sued the City of Oakland to try to break his lease and move to LA. That didn't work, so he hired a HC who was out of football for a decade, and an OC who was running a bed and breakfast last year. Then he trades Doug Gabriel to the Pats for a 5th rounder (many are calling that a "steal" for the Pats), which guarantees double-coverage on his only other serious weapon on offense. Al Davis is pulling a "Major League." 6) It's odd to me that McGahee is now being subject to criticism, and rightly so, for his failure to gain the hard hards after contact when the game is on the line. In 2003, when the Bills went on that second-half tear, McGahee was routinely stiffarming and running over defenders. What happened? 7) Nate Clements is officially overrated, in case there was any doubt. It amazes me that he couldn't find time on Sunday to make a tackle on a running back, considering he was covering Troy Brown. Oh, and thanks for that penalty - it was the only contact you made the entire game, Nate. 8) As for the safety, yes the playcall was suspect, but even more suspect was Villareal's putrid attempt to block. Villareal usually uses good technique and is an average-to-above-average player when he's healthy, but it seems like once or twice a game (at least) he just mails it in on a play and it costs the offense. Perhaps its a conditioning thing, as I was saying earlier. 9) I don't mind the Troy Vincent thing - the guy hasn't made a play for us since the Texans opener last year - but why not keep Rashad Baker if they were gonna do that? 10) One more thing about the safety: JP played a better game in NE than Bledsoe or Holcomb ever did. Yes, Holcomb had a decent game there last season - but remember that fourth-down play? Sure he wouldn't have taken the safety that JP did - he would've dumped it off for a -2 yard loss way before the pressure got anywhere near him. Give me a guy who tries to make plays over a guy who tries to do anything he can not to have the ball in his hands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDG Posted September 14, 2006 Share Posted September 14, 2006 I don't know what your definition of a "steal" is, but a 5th-rounder for a Doug Gabriel seems like fair market value. Heck, guys like Doug Gabriel are often cut. I also thought that signing Art Shell was a great move by the Raiders - one of the two best candidates available, between him and Whisenhunt (who is apparently going to be taking over for Cowher next season.) Al Davis also opened his pocketbook for Aaron Brooks - if this is "Major League", he is sure being subtle about it. Finally, apparently the Bills like Leonhard better than Baker... JDG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly the Dog Posted September 14, 2006 Share Posted September 14, 2006 Finally, apparently the Bills like Leonhard better than Baker... JDG 772331[/snapback] Doubt it. They cut them both at the same time but Jauron said something about it was tough to cut Baker, and Baker played ahead of Leonhard in pre-season. Baker just happens to be on the Vikings now so we can't sign him. We had to keep Wire because Bowen was hurt. Baker is much more of a FS than a SS and they surely weren't going to keep six safeties. They probably didn't want to keep five but they had to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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