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Uncategorized

DITCH THIS GARBAGE

Alright Bills fans I’m going to come right out and say it, we’re going to lose big this week and every week until we get rid of Steve Fairchild. I, like so many other Bills fans, have been holding out hope that somehow, perhaps magically, the coaching staff knew something I didn’t (after all, not only do I not work with the team on a daily basis, I don’t even live in the area).

Get this; an article published today by the Buffalo News describes how everybody is riding high on new (and most likely permanent) starting QB Trent Edwards. Even the late Bill Walsh praised the kid’s abilities. Robert Royal commented on how surprised he was to see Edwards demonstrate the high level of leadership that he did in practice this week. It would seem like this could be the spark the (nothing short of lame) offense needs to pull it’s not-really-affected-by-injuries self out of last place.

There’s only one key person who’s wary of Edwards. Steve Farichild. To quote Allen Wilson’s article:

“The play calling was limited when Edwards replaced Losman last week, but offensive coordinator Steve Fairchild said that had nothing to do with the game’s outcome.

Edwards should benefit from a full week of practice as the starter, but Fairchild admitted the game plan will be scaled back a little.

‘Trent hasn’t had the work or the experience that J.P. had at this point,’ Fairchild said. ‘He’s a fairly new guy, so it will affect us.’”

I had to read that twice. Can someone explain that to me? What exactly are they scaling back? Does Fairchild think the offense isn’t conservative enough? Question: what can we derive from a plan to scale back a playbook your below average pee wee QB could understand after two weeks of practice?

Answer: He’s covering himself for another lame offensive performance.

Let’s face it, the coaching staff either does not believe in our players, or is actually incapable of coming up with anything better.

It’s clear to the coaches that Edwards is not capable of throwing the ball too late, taking a bad sack, or putting the ball in the wrong spot as often as J.P. a master at all of those things. We wouldn’t want to overwhelm him with all those advanced QB techniques on his first day.

Would giving Edwards the full (or at least close to full) playbook really be that bad for him? What does the team possibly have to lose? What if we actually let Edwards call a few plays, what’s the worst that could happen, we go thee and out? Nobody would even notice. I also don’t see the profit in publicly saying we’re bringing the offense down unless this is all a ploy to get the Jet’s to ease up and surprise them. If that’s the case, great, I guess.

One of the dumbest things I keep hearing this week is, “Well Edwards did just as bad as Losman would have so that should quiet the cries for Edwards.”

Huh? If that does anything it should strengthen the cries for Edwards that much more. If his first NFL game against the best team in the NFL is as good as Losman’s play against a lesser team after four years experience, how does that say anything other than Losman’s not the guy? Edwards might not be the guy either, but if he’s as good/bad as Losman in 1/4 the time, imagine how good he could be after 4 years?

Denying we’re rebuilding this year is like denying the holocaust, let the rookie play. If he sucks, so what? It can only get better because it’s not possible to be any worse.

If nothing else it will be entertaining to see how one could scale back the last place, most predicable offense in the NFL. Something drastic needs to happen or it’s not going to change any time soon.

Marv, do the right thing and ditch this garbage.

-The John

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Current Bills Games Links Videos

Buffalo @ New England Highlights Video

LINK: I know, I know… they are hardly highlights, but.. check out the part where Losman’s knee is hit. CLEAR video evidence that Wilfork was AIMING for Losman’s knee. He dives straight at it with his ELBOW. Yikes. I hope some serious fines are levied. What is it with this team??? They are already by far the most talented… why must they cheat??

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Current Bills Players

Who Put A Curse on the Buffalo Bills?

Seriously, folks… when have you EVER seen so many serious injuries to one team, and by only week three of the season??

JP Losman went down on the first play of the first series yesterday (and he should have stayed down, but that’s another story…) and then we lose Poz not too much later. Like him or not, JP is as essential to the Bills as Poz. Both of those are big losses, and thankfully they are not season-ending as some originally speculated regarding the injury to Posluszny.

Add to these two guys the major injuries we have already sustained: Ryan Denney, Keith Ellison, Al Wallace, Aaron Merz, Coy Wire, Ko Simpson, Jason Webster, Kevin Everett. And, don’t forget that Josh Reed missed last week’s game, and Terrence McGee missed yesterday’s game. Jason Whittle also left yesterday’s game with a hamstring injury. We had one active, healthy QB on the roster yesterday when Losman went down, and just three CBs. When Poz went down, we had only four healthy LBs, with one of those guys (Leon Joe) being brand new to the system.

And don’t forget our friend Anthony Hargrove, who decided to get himself in trouble, and is suspended through next week’s game against the Jets. That leaves our active, healthy DEs at: Aaron Schobel, Chris Kelsay, Ryan Neill (our long snapper) and another new guy, Bryan Copeland.

With all of these injuries, our already young team is just that much younger and inexperienced. And in plain English – not as good. They can’t be. We’re playing our THIRD STRING defensive players in some cases. We are moving guys (John DiGiorgio) into positions they have never played before. Not just in the NFL… they have never played them before.

So in case you are thinking, “Yeah, I knew they were this bad!” You might want to consider that we have had some unprecedented roster shake ups thanks to injuries and the one suspension. The question is not really whether anyone saw this coming – since, no one could have – but really it’s “Can the Bills recover the 2007 season?”

After week one’s injuries, the Bills brought in a handful of available free agents, and at least CB Bryan Scott has been in on a few plays on the field already. Now with Losman gone for a couple weeks maybe, do the Bills bring Craig Nall back? Do they get someone else? Kevin Eakin is on the practice squad, and could be activated as an emergency option. Do we cut some of our excess at RB (Anthony Thomas, Josh Scobey) to make room for another LB or DL? I’m not even sure how much the Bills can do with salary cap and maybe roster move restrictions?

It’s a mess. A real mess. One like I’ve never seen before.

The good news is, for the most part the offense is still in tact. JP’s injury is short term, and with a week of practice, Edwards should fill in admirably. Aaron Merz was certainly a loss, but he was not a starter… just depth. Same goes for Kevin Everett. (TE was shored up with the additions of Michael Gaines and Matt Murphy after Everett’s injury.) So the offense has been much less hampered by the injury bug.

The bad news? What in the world is wrong with the offense??? It’s understandable that we are the #32 defense in the league. We barely have any starters left. Even some of our 2nd stringers are injured. But the offense does not have the luxury of such an excuse. The Buffalo Bills offense is ranked #32 of 32 because they have not executed, and from my observations, the game planning and in-game decision making of the coaching staff is just putrid.

When the Bills marched down the field on the first drive, many Bills fans figured that Trent Edwards was our savior. After all, the whole ineptitude of the offense in 2007 – and really the last four years – is 100% on the shoulders of JP Losman, right? Turns out, after that first drive, the NE coaches were able to adapt to what Edwards brought to the game, and they made him look worse than Losman. Why is that? If NE can adapt, why can the Bills NOT? What is wrong with these coaches?? They are not able to put our players in a position to win, or even to just make the play.

Injuries or not (and remember, on offense, it’s mostly “not”) the Buffalo Bills coaching staff has to find a way to produce some wins this year, or there will be some major shake ups. I don’t know how much power Marv Levy really has at One Bills Drive, but I’d think he has enough to bend Mr. Wilson’s ear and cause some turnover in a very inferior game planning staff. I think that’s mostly on Steve Fairchild, but if there are others… they need to go as well.

Yes folks, thanks to the curse someone has put on the Buffalo Bills (maybe the city of Los Angeles?) it looks like it will be another loooong season here in Buffalo. But take heart. The Bills are coming home, and the Jets haven’t looked much more impressive (though at #32 on offense and defense, EVERYONE has looked at least a little more impressive!) and we do stand a chance of grabbing our first win. With the JV Bills team.

Maybe we could dress some of the Jills for the game? 🙂

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Uncategorized

Week 3 Review

1. If the outcome of this game was a surprise to you, wake up…
2. Lynch continues to impress on an unimpressive offense.
3. Steve Fairchild has to go! The sooner the better.
4. This game was over the moment Poz went down. We are in real trouble with all the injuries on defense.
5. Expect to start hearing disgruntled talk from Lee Evans. Rightly so, Steve Fairchild is not trying to get Lee involved in the offensive play calling is horrible.
6. Rich Gannon was right our offense needs a lot of work and it starts with the coaches.
7. For a moment we all thought we can win this game (when it was 7-3). Then Poz goes down and Brady shows why he is a Super Bowl MVP.
8. The Pats may be cheaters, but they still are the best team in the NFL and we are one of the worst.
9. I thought we might be able to beat the Jets, but with all the injuries it is not possible. I think if we were healthy on defense a lot could be and would be different so far this year.

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Uncategorized

Bills Fans Need to Keep Things in Perspective

Its been a rough start to the 2007 season for the Buffalo Bills. So bad, in fact, that Bills fans are already starting to call for the head of their quarterback on a platter. Indeed J.P. Losman’s 251 yards passing sounds like the stat for one game rather than a combined two game total. However, things are not quite as bad as they seem. Bills fans need to keep things in perspective before they panic and call for a quarterback change.

Fans are desperate for a winning season and rightly so. It’s been a long time since the Bills sniffed the post season flowers. The Bills have not made it to the post season in this millennium. A change at quarterback to the rookie Trent Edwards would surely set the club back at least another two seasons. Is this really what fans want? The Bills’ greatest chance of seeing the post season in the near future is to stick with J.P. Losman. A deeper look at the stats shows that this might not be such a bad idea.

All too often too much weight is put on yardage in the NFL. The weekly rankings of offense and defense are based purely on yardage and take absolutely nothing else into account. A glaring example of this would be week 1 for the Bills. The Bills defense allowed the Broncos to accumulate 470 yards of total offense. Thats a large number and certainly not a sign of good things, but they only allowed 15 points. By yardage the Bills were 31st in the league. By Points Allowed they were ranked 15th. Say what you want about it, but ultimately points are what matters. Even after getting dominated by the Steelers in week 2, the Bills defense is still 21st in the league for points allowed despite their 31st ranking for yards allowed. Bend but don’t break at work. The Bills defense has allowed touchdowns in 3 out of 8 redzone situations. Thats only 37% of the time, a very commendable stat. Particularly considering that two of those touchdowns came late in the Pittsburgh game when the Bills Defense had been on the field for 40 minutes. Had the offense gotten a few first downs and gotten closer to sharing time of possession equally with their opponent, these scores would have never happened. In other words, despite the laundry list of injuries, the Bills defense is playing well enough to keep the team in games. There’s a lot they could do to play better, but considering the youth on the field, the defense has played pretty well.

Which brings us back to the offense. The offense has been largely unproductive in the first two games. That much is certain, but all hope is not lost. The Bills have been rock solid on first downs, averaging 6 yards per rushing attempt on first down, it would seem that they ought to be in good shape to be moving the ball down the field. The team hasn’t been able to string together three consecutive positive plays though. Fans are blaming Losman, and he has not looked sharp at times for sure. In reality though, despite claims from observers, Losman has completed 63% of his passes. Good enough for 16th in the league, better than e. Manning, Young, Garrard, Boller, Green, McNair, Roethlisberger, Leinart, Grossman, Campbell, Bulger, Romo, McNabb, Smith, Anderson, Jackson and Clemens. So the critics who claim Losman has been inaccurate are really full of it. The problem is that Losman’s completions are for an average of 5.46 yards per attempt. He may have missed some reads that could have gotten him more yards at times (most quarterbacks do) but ultimately, the defense has taken away anything over 5 yards. Buffalo’s receivers have been forced to take short out patterns and small gains in the middle and fight for yards. This was particularly a problem in Pittsburgh, when Josh Reed was out with an injury. Reed is the teams’ best slot receiver both because of his smart play and ability to break tackles after the catch. In his absense, Roscoe Parrish got more balls thrown his way, and led the team in receptions for the game, but Roscoe is small and several times was tackled for a short gain because he was unable to break the initial tackle.

Losman was heavily criticized by the media for calling for a more open offense. The Media spun his comments into a direct criticism of the coaching staff. I don’t think that was Losman’s intention, but if it was, can you blame him? The Offensive play calling has been pathetic at best. I don’t think the Bills have tried a reverse yet, audibled even once or done anything that is even remotely difficult to cover. Beyond Lee Evans, the Bills don’t have a really dangerous second receiver, but several solid 3rd receivers. Bill Belichick often points out that its awfully hard to cover all four of Buffalo’s receivers when the team goes 4 wide. Yet the Bills have mostly used 2 receiver sets, giving Losman minimal options even when the revamped line has given him time to throw. This doesn’t put Losman in a position to succeed and makes it much easier for the opposing team to run blitz packages. It seems that Steve Fairchild has been so afraid of his opponents pass rush that he has left extra guys back to block, making it easier to cover the receivers and inviting the opposing team to do just what he is trying to stop them from doing, Blitz.

Fairchild needs to put more faith in his 100 million dollar offensive line and get more targets out running patterns for Losman. Perhaps it is because the line was so bad last year that he is hesitant to do so. The result is making it awfully hard for the Bills offense to perform. Losman wants Fairchild to open things up a bit and take the leash off his quarterback. Critics have argued that if Losman can’t make the simple stuff work, what says he can handle himself in a more open offense. Hmm, lets see, maybe, last season? The first half of the season in 2006 Fairchild kept the leash on his offense and they struggled and mostly embarassed themselves. Then, after the bye week, he took the leash off and let Losman play football. Surprise surprise, the team suddenly had a powerful offense. The argument that Losman (or any quarterback) should be able to perform well in the NFL using only a rudimentary basic playbook is ridiculous. NFL defenses are way too good for any team to get away with calling bland and predictable plays. We will be waiting all season for success if this doesn’t change.

Bills fans should also take into consideration that the Bills have started the season by facing the top defenses in the league. The top three defenses in the league going into week three are New England, Denver and Pittsburgh. And no, its not just because Denver and Pittsburgh played Buffalo that their stats are so good, they did the same thing to the other teams that they have played. This week the Bills face the Patriots who have shut down the Jets (who are worse than the Bills) and the Chargers who are very talented but suffered a huge drop off in coaching talent since last year (what were they thinking?). The Patriots are still one of the best, if not the best, team in the league. The Bills have a huge challenge ahead of them on Sunday.

On the positive side, Paul Posluszny is third in the league in tackles (it helps that he has had to play 40 minutes per game, more time on the field means more tackles). Marshawn Lynch has looked like a superstar. He hasn’t had a 100 yard game yet but he was running against Denver (90 yards, was close) and Pittsburgh (65 yards but the Steelers haven’t allowed a 100 yarder in 20+ games). If Fairchild can mix things up a bit better with the passing game to make things a bit less predictable, Lynch will have more of an impact.

The Bills haven’t beat the Patriots in years and it looks unlikely that it will happen this week. However, this team is playing with a lot of heart and will make this a much closer game than the 16 point spread implies. (I think that’s the largest spread I’ve ever seen in the NFL!) Aaron Schobel loves sacking Brady and has done so 10.5 times, more than any other player in the league. The Bills as a team have sacked Brady more than any team (30 times). Its a divisional matchup and anything can happen. There’s always the possibility that Brady gets hit hard and loses some touch in the game as a result or that Randy Moss gets ejected for soem crazy infraction. Anything could happen. But in all likelihood, the Bills will give up a heartbreaking loss to the much better Patriots. If the Bills can at least put up a fight, it will go a long way to helping their season. Patriots 28 Bills 24.

Its brutal to have to start the season facing the three best defenses in the league, but hope is on the horizon. Next week the Bills play the Jets, ranked 24th, then Dallas ranked 26th, then Baltimore ranked 4th (doh!), then the Jets again, then Cincinnati ranked 30th, Miami ranked 25th, The Pats again, Jacksonvilel ranked 12th, Washington ranked 16th, Miami again, Cleveland ranked 32nd, The Giants ranked 29th and the Eagles ranked 6th.

Send your comments to bplewak@yahoo.com and mention the Buffalo Bills in your subject line.

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News Players

Kevin Everett Update – Sep 21

There is good news regarding Kevin Everett today! Not only is he making great progress, with doctors saying he could walk – even within the next couple weeks! – he was well enough to be moved home to a hospital in Houston, where he can be near family and friends. There are so many good reports, it’s incredible. Wanted to share those links here. What an amazingly cool story!

Everett Transferred to Houston Hospital (BuffaloBills.com)
Everett’s Mother Confident In Son’s Determination
Everett Shirts Hit Store Shelves

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Links NFL

Article: Break Up The Parity

There is a football site that has us (the Buffalo Bills Review) on their mailing list. They have some interesting articles over there, including one I read today regarding “parity” in the NFL. The word is used a lot, and according to ColdHardFootballFacts.com, inaccurately. They have some interesting stats to back it up.

Check out their article: Our Pigskin Police Breaks Up The Parity

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Current Bills

Just Where We Want Them

Bills DE Aaron SchobelRelax. We (the Bills) have everything under control. Everything is going just as we planned. The rest of the league won’t know what hit them once we unleash our diabolical plan on those unsuspecting fools! Muhuhahahahaha!!!!

Perhaps that’s what’s going on at One Bills Drive? Maybe this 0-2 start, with the worst offense the NFL has seen in years, is all part of some grander scheme? Maybe JP is setting himself up to be “Comeback Player of the Year”?

OK, maybe not. But I do think it’s too early to hit the panic button.

Chris Brown, of BuffaloBills.com had an interesting article on his blog today. He presented the history of recent 0-2 teams who made the playoffs, even won the Super Bowl. Certainly that is not out of the realm of possibilities for this year’s Bills team, but is it likely?

In another article at BuffaloBills.com today, Aaron Schobel expressed his frustration at what he feels are very good Bills teams over the past seven years having very poor beginnings, and ultimately not making the playoffs. Obviously, the start to this season adds to that frustration. Here’s what he said:

“To play as bad as we have, I played bad, it’s irritating. It’s been seven years where I feel like we’re a good team and we haven’t gotten it done. It is a bit irritating but the only way to change it is to start winning games and we’ve got find a way to do that.”

It’s good to see the frustration. It does mean they still care. Certainly we know that already, but sometimes you do wonder. I mean, how does this happen every year? In the article, Schobel pointed out that the Bills have only won ONE time in the last TWELVE tries against the Patriots! And this week’s game might be tougher than any of the past 12! He’s right that winning can turn things around, it can build confidence that gains momentum. But how do you begin?

I mentioned on our show this week that I really think the play calling needs to be “opened up”. I agree with JP. We need to “let it rip”, as Dave so thoroughly reminded us. But I do not mean that we just need to start throwing the ball deep on every play. I mean we need a wider variety of plays out there. Mix it up a bit more. Let JP do some roll outs. Some bootlegs. Work in some play-action. Get a screen to Marshawn to actually work. Get Roscoe the ball on a quick slant where he can keep running. Do some more 5-yard quick outs. Stop doing those quick throws to the WR who is two yards behind the line of scrimmage. Run more of those end-arounds with Reed, or Parrish, or even Evans.

There are a lot of ways to spice up this offense, and I think that will help this team a lot. Everything I am hearing from the players and coaches says that they are a lot closer than most people think. Close doesn’t get it done, but it could mean we would see a very quick and complete change in the offensive output of the Bills.

JP Losman is very much under the gun once again, and I do think it’s deserved, but not entirely. In a conversation this week with a friend and fellow football fan, we discussed how it seems so obvious that JP is the problem. It looks to our eyes like he can’t hit the passes he is given. He throws high, low, behind, and just generally off target. He’s skittish, jumpy, indicisive, and really looks like a rookie back there.

But he’s no longer a rookie.

So, the simple solution – from our vantage point, and that of the media – is to replace the part that’s not working. Lynch is looking great, the offensive line seems to be protecting Losman fairly well… the only thing left is the QB, right?

Apparently, that’s not right. The coaches, and the other players are quick to defend JP. And I don’t think that they’re just taking care of their own. I really think they believe it. Lee Evans said when a QB struggles like that, it means the whole offense is not doing their job. JP also mentioned that the Bills would do well to open up the play calling a bit.

All of that leads me to believe that the Bills know something we don’t know. These guys are not bound by some strange loyalty pact. Sure, they are a solid team, who enjoy being together even beyond the football field, but they have a job to do. They also want to win. (And if they don’t win, they won’t have a job to do for long!) They also know a thing or two about football, I’d say a good deal more than your average fan, or sports journalist. So, I tend to give the benefit of the doubt, and watch to see if what they think is there finally does materialize.

Only time will tell with that one. That being said, I’m pretty glad we have a very solid back-up plan in Edwards. 🙂

It’s very early in the season. We have played two very good teams (both of them are now 2-0) and one of those games we led for practically the entire game. We are about to play a third impossible team, in their own stadium. It is quite likely that the Bills will leave that field 0-3. Does that spell the end of the 2007 season? Perhaps. But perhaps not. Is it a sure thing that the Bills leave with a loss? Perhaps. But perhaps not.

The odds actually seem to be in our favor. Having won only 1 of the last 12, it would seem the Bills are due. (Although the Bills actually went 0-for-a-decade against the Dolphins in the 70s. Ouch.) Also, recent history includes two games in Foxboro that the Bills led until late in the game. Only to lose because they couldn’t finish the game.

Schobel said regarding the Patriots, “To me it seems like the difference between us over the years is they have been able to finish games and we find a way to lose ours.”

It’s not time to panic yet, especially if the Bills can somehow put together a game plan – and a 110% effort – for a victory against the Patriots. That would certainly bring them back to the Ralph feeling much better about themselves, and perhaps set them on the road to finishing more games.

It can’t happen until it happens. And it has to start somewhere. Why not this weekend in Foxboro? It’s so completely improbable. But not impossible.

Stranger things have happened.

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Geeky Stuff Website Updates

Enhance Your BBR Experience!

At Dave’s request, we have made the Buffalo Bills Review into a full multimedia experience! Now you have your choice of streaming an MP3 version of our show, or downloading that same MP3 version – OR, get the Buffalo Bills Review in AAC format, complete with photos, graphics and links to everything we’re talking about! If you’re listening to the show in iTunes, you can follow along in a much more media rich way!

To get the new AAC version of the show, just click on the AAC link at the top of each podcast entry on the main page. Right-click to download, or left click to play in the browser. Eventually the feeds will be different, so you can get either the MP3 or the enhanced AAC version. Your choice.

Let us know what you think about the new and improved BBR!

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THE JOHN REVIEW WEEK 2

Losman sucks.

Full article coming.

Won’t be a whole lot longer though.

Might be something like “Losman really sucks.”

Have to give props to the defense.

Need to cool off now.

Losman sucks.

-The John