Beerball Posted September 17, 2008 Posted September 17, 2008 Sorry if already posted. I looked over the first 1 1/2 pages and didn't see this. There are three fundamental differences between last year's Bills defense and the potential top-10 unit we've seen in the first two weeks of this season. Most importantly, free safety Ko Simpson is healthy and capable of playing deep coverage. Second, Paul Posluszny has returned from injury to solidify the middle linebacker position. And third, the Bills dealt for Marcus Stroud. The big defensive tackle's production had declined in recent years with the Jaguars, but he showed life on Sunday with a couple of pass deflections. Link
Simon Posted September 17, 2008 Posted September 17, 2008 Spencer Johnson should have got a mention as well. He's really mucking up some opponents' best laid plans.
The Big Cat Posted September 17, 2008 Posted September 17, 2008 Sorry if already posted. I looked over the first 1 1/2 pages and didn't see this. Link While it's a far cry from a ball-washing YET, the NM is certainly jumping on board the B-Train. I don't like that this guy gives us credit for just now "throwing ourselves into AFC playoff mix." In each of the Jauron years, the Bills were on the fringe of the wild-card race up until week 15. It's not like we've been TOTALLY resurrected. He was right to refer to previous efforts as "mediocre," but what we're ACTUALLY witnessing is the proverbial straw on the camel's back that's tipping the scales mediocrity to contention.
WhitewalkerInPhilly Posted September 17, 2008 Posted September 17, 2008 Sorry if already posted. I looked over the first 1 1/2 pages and didn't see this. Link I thought you were going to be talking about this one: link This one is pretty good too and I really think it captures the spirit of this team well.
Simon Posted September 17, 2008 Posted September 17, 2008 I thought you were going to be talking about this one: link This one is pretty good too and I really think it captures the spirit of this team well. Great quote from Kelsay: "Some people are starting to give us a little respect," Kelsay said. "Respect comes over time, but humility comes before honor."
The Dean Posted September 17, 2008 Posted September 17, 2008 Great quote from Kelsay: "Some people are starting to give us a little respect," Kelsay said. "Respect comes over time, but humility comes before honor." I saw that and thought the same thing. I hope they all feel that way.
The Senator Posted September 17, 2008 Posted September 17, 2008 Great quote from Kelsay: "Some people are starting to give us a little respect," Kelsay said. "Respect comes over time, but humility comes before honor." Almost sounds like a 'Marv-ism'.
WhitewalkerInPhilly Posted September 17, 2008 Posted September 17, 2008 Great quote from Kelsay: "Some people are starting to give us a little respect," Kelsay said. "Respect comes over time, but humility comes before honor." Loved that part the most, though 'sall good. Sounded vaguely like Confucius. Or maybe Sun Tzu. Perhaps DJ gave them all some assigned reading.
ans4e64 Posted September 17, 2008 Posted September 17, 2008 Actually, I'd rank the order of the importance of those players in the exact opposite ascending order.
keepthefaith Posted September 17, 2008 Posted September 17, 2008 While it's a far cry from a ball-washing YET, the NM is certainly jumping on board the B-Train. I don't like that this guy gives us credit for just now "throwing ourselves into AFC playoff mix." In each of the Jauron years, the Bills were on the fringe of the wild-card race up until week 15. It's not like we've been TOTALLY resurrected. He was right to refer to previous efforts as "mediocre," but what we're ACTUALLY witnessing is the proverbial straw on the camel's back that's tipping the scales mediocrity to contention. Let's not pretend the Bills were ever near a playoff birth. Mathmatically alive late in the season last year, yes but they didn't beat a team all year with a decent record. They simply beat the bad teams. Don't look now, but the Bills at 2-0 have beat teams with bad records. Don't get me wrong, this year looks a whole lot different (so far than the last two) but it is way too early to call this team a playoff team or a contender for anything. For all we know Seattle and Jacksonville may end up near the bottom of the league. They certainly were both depleted teams when the Bills played them. Let's see what happens when the Bills start playing treams that are healthy and with winning records. If they win a game or two against good teams we can ramp up the expectations. For two games though, they've looked darned good.
The Big Cat Posted September 17, 2008 Posted September 17, 2008 Let's not pretend the Bills were ever near a playoff birth. Mathmatically alive late in the season last year, yes but they didn't beat a team all year with a decent record. They simply beat the bad teams. Don't look now, but the Bills at 2-0 have beat teams with bad records. Don't get me wrong, this year looks a whole lot different (so far than the last two) but it is way too early to call this team a playoff team or a contender for anything. For all we know Seattle and Jacksonville may end up near the bottom of the league. They certainly were both depleted teams when the Bills played them. Let's see what happens when the Bills start playing treams that are healthy and with winning records. If they win a game or two against good teams we can ramp up the expectations. For two games though, they've looked darned good. Fair enough, and I'm right there with you- let's see what these guys can do against the real heavy-weights (although part of me has the feeling Jax will be a "heavy-weight" come Wild Card race.) It's a shame that our first contest against a "winning" team might not come until week 10 if SD doesn't get it's sh#t together. I'm saying this not even counting AZ as a "winning" team, as I know the most skeptical of the skeptics would write off that victory as well. But by my logic, 9 wins against losing teams aint a bad way to start the season!
jarthur31 Posted September 17, 2008 Posted September 17, 2008 Sorry if already posted. I looked over the first 1 1/2 pages and didn't see this. Link That pretty much sums of the interior D in baseball. A great short/2nd tandem with mad skillz, a CF who can fly to the ball and a pitcher who can actually field his position. All keys to winning at this game. *sigh* I miss the Braves of the 90's.
C.Biscuit97 Posted September 17, 2008 Posted September 17, 2008 Sorry if already posted. I looked over the first 1 1/2 pages and didn't see this. Link Once again, ESPN misses the big picture. I'm a big Ko Simpson fan, but Spencer Johnson IMO has been a bigger addition. A good pass rush makes your secondary better. And Poz coming back is huge but Mitchell is as important if not more.
Cotton Fitzsimmons Posted September 17, 2008 Posted September 17, 2008 Fair enough, and I'm right there with you- let's see what these guys can do against the real heavy-weights (although part of me has the feeling Jax will be a "heavy-weight" come Wild Card race.) It's a shame that our first contest against a "winning" team might not come until week 10 if SD doesn't get it's sh#t together. I'm saying this not even counting AZ as a "winning" team, as I know the most skeptical of the skeptics would write off that victory as well. But by my logic, 9 wins against losing teams aint a bad way to start the season! The other thing to consider is that had the Bills not played so well and beaten Seattle and Jax, both of those teams would be 1-1 right now, each with a very narrow loss in their other games. Nobody would be writing them off as disappointing teams had Buffalo not taken it to them. Oakland is 1-1 right now, but does anyone really believe that the Raiders are better than Jax or Seattle at 0-2? This early in the season it's kind of a self fulfilling prophecy that the teams Buffalo beat have bad records, since that accounts for 50% of those teams losses.
julian Posted September 17, 2008 Posted September 17, 2008 The other thing to consider is that had the Bills not played so well and beaten Seattle and Jax, both of those teams would be 1-1 right now, each with a very narrow loss in their other games. Nobody would be writing them off as disappointing teams had Buffalo not taken it to them. Oakland is 1-1 right now, but does anyone really believe that the Raiders are better than Jax or Seattle at 0-2? This early in the season it's kind of a self fulfilling prophecy that the teams Buffalo beat have bad records, since that accounts for 50% of those teams losses. bingo! Seattle was 0-0 when we spanked them and Jacksonville were coming off a road loss against a tough div game against a solid team. Those teams are 0-2 in large part because the Bills played outstanding football.
CFLstyle Posted September 17, 2008 Posted September 17, 2008 Actually, I'd rank the order of the importance of those players in the exact opposite ascending order. Not to take anything away from Ko Simpson. As far as I can see, his athleticism has really made quite a difference. All we've talked about most of the time is how Stroud plugs up the middle of the line, and the return of Poz. Ko Simpson deserves some credit for sure.
TheChimp Posted September 17, 2008 Posted September 17, 2008 The other thing to consider is that had the Bills not played so well and beaten Seattle and Jax, both of those teams would be 1-1 right now, each with a very narrow loss in their other games. Nobody would be writing them off as disappointing teams had Buffalo not taken it to them. Oakland is 1-1 right now, but does anyone really believe that the Raiders are better than Jax or Seattle at 0-2? This early in the season it's kind of a self fulfilling prophecy that the teams Buffalo beat have bad records, since that accounts for 50% of those teams losses. EXACTLY!
2020 Our Year For Sure Posted September 17, 2008 Posted September 17, 2008 Its not worth it to play the whole, "we're not contenders, because we haven't beaten anyone good yet" game. There just aren't enough legitimate "good" teams to make it worthwhile. How many AFC teams are there where you can say, "Okay, we beat them, so now I know we're good." Pittsburgh, Indy, New England, Tennessee? Maybe not even those four? You can't take a team's record away from them because they haven't played one of the very few top teams. Just take our record at face value.
Bill from NYC Posted September 17, 2008 Posted September 17, 2008 Its not worth it to play the whole, "we're not contenders, because we haven't beaten anyone good yet" game. There just aren't enough legitimate "good" teams to make it worthwhile. How many AFC teams are there where you can say, "Okay, we beat them, so now I know we're good." Pittsburgh, Indy, New England, Tennessee? Maybe not even those four? You can't take a team's record away from them because they haven't played one of the very few top teams. Just take our record at face value. I agree, and have would have no shame at all even if we were fattening up our record vs. bad teams. Remember, in preseason Trent was hurt and Peters wasn't there. Those, imo, are the 2 most important positions on the field, so it's not like we waltzed into opening day with no issues of our own. Besides, there was nothing wrong with the Seattle and Jax defenses that Trent & co. were successful against. Oakland has won a game. Does this make them more legit than those 2? If we beat the Raiders, we can go 7-6 for the remaining 13 games and finish with 10 wins. This should be enough for the playoffs, especially if we do well against our divisional opponents. Let's do it! GO BILLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
bizell Posted September 17, 2008 Posted September 17, 2008 Not to take anything away from Ko Simpson. As far as I can see, his athleticism has really made quite a difference. All we've talked about most of the time is how Stroud plugs up the middle of the line, and the return of Poz. Ko Simpson deserves some credit for sure. agreed. for as good a story as george wilson was, i think him being so new at playing DB absolutely killed us in the deep middle.
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