Categories
Uncategorized

There’s a Simple Solution to the Quarterback Problem

The Buffalo Bills once again find themselves in the middle of a quarterback controversy. This time around it is J.P. Losman, a veteran of Buffalo quarterback controversies, and rookie Trent Edwards, a… rookie. The coaching staff has been doing a lot of tap dancing as it seems obvious that they are itching to start their recent draft pick, yet owe Losman some respect after the way he finished last season. There doesn’t seem to be any question that the organization has decided to go to Edwards as their future star quarterback. But is he really better than Losman at this point? And is it in his best interest to learn as he goes on the field with an already unsettled and awkward offense? After all, this offense was built around Losman. Wasn’t it? Edwards was a pleasant surprise on draft day. A player the coaches couldn’t pass up on but they didn’t really expect to have a shot at him. How the Bills handle the current situation will say a lot about where the team is headed.

Trent Edwards has shown a lot of poise and composure in the pocket. For the most part he has managed a clean offense, but the team has struggled mightily at times under his leadership. Edwards has thrown 1 extremely bad interception in each of his appearances this season. All were at critical points in the game. Sure they are rookie mistakes, but why suffer through the rookie learning process if you have an experienced veteran on your squad?

Edwards has a questionable injury just like Losman did. It makes for a great excuse to make a non-committal move to start Losman again against a soft Cincinnati defense. Losman ought to have a lot of success. If he doesn’t and the Bills struggle, Jauron can easily start Edwards next week agaisnt the lowly Dolphins. But in the more likely event that Losman helps the team score more than one touchdown and Marshawn Lynch ends up with 100+ yards as a result, Losman should keep the starting job. Not only will Edwards benefit from watching the more experienced quarterback, but Losman will be raising his value. If the Bills decide to trade Losman, he will have a lot more value if he is coming off a successful campaign. There’s also a possibility that the Bills could hold onto both quarterbacks, particularly if Losman re-emerges as the starter.

The thing that makes this situation different from many quarterback controversies is the fact that Losman and Edwards have each other’s back. Both quarterbacks have said how they want eachother to be successful. They could co-exist. Edwards lacks the arm strength to challenge any NFL defenses. If he wants to be a starter he needs to show that he can get the ball down field. That’s when his interceptions have come. Edwards is better off working on that in the off season than struggling on the field and letting his team down. The top players on the offense, particularly Evans, feel that Losman gives them a better chance. But Edwards could be the Reich to Losman’s Kelly.

The Bottom line is, Losman has done a better job with the football this season despite how Edwards “appears” on the field. Despite facing far more menacing defenses than the ones Edwards faced, Losman is ahead of Edwards in almost every significant category.

Losman: 33 of 52 for 368 yards (63.5% completion) 1 touchdown, 1 interception, average completion 11.15, average per attempt 7.07 , passer rating 82.9

Edwards: 80 of 121 for 790 yards (66.1% completion) 1 touchdown, 5 interceptions, average completion 9.875, average per attempt 6.5, passer rating 69.9

The numbers speak for themselves. Despite having more opportunity to play and facing softer defenses, Edwards is producing, on average, half a yard less per passing play and nearly 1.5 yards per completion. 5 interceptions to 1 touchdown is a bad ratio. The Bills have an easy excuse to switch back to Losman and they are using it.

Losman gets to face the second worst defense in the league at home. The Bengals are ranked 28th at passing defense and 24th at rushing defense. Marshawn Lynch will finally get his 100 and Losman will throw for three touchdowns in a breakout game. The game will still be close because Cincinnati’s tough offense will bring the Bills young defense a dose of reality. In the end, the Bills find a way to beat the Bengals as they have often in the past. Bills 31 Bengals 27

Send your comments to bplewak@yahoo.com

Categories
Bills History Current Bills Games News NFL Players Training Camp

Thoughts From Week Seven: QBs, Willis, Toronto

I have been meaning to write many articles this week. A thorough recap of the game this past Sunday against Baltimore, highlighting some of the pretty amazing things I see in our rookie quarterback, Trent Edwards. Another article breaking down the stats on how the Bills truly did shut down Willis McGahee on his first visit to his old stomping grounds—on his birthday no less. And, I have wanted to weigh in on the whole Bills-games-in-Toronto issue.

But I haven’t. And, I won’t.

(Quite) Unfortunately, I do not get paid to write about the Bills, and my work load at the moment seems insurmountable. Tack on the fact that we leave for California in less than 24 hours, and yeah… I’m feeling the pressure!

For that reason, here are a few quick thoughts on all of the above topics.

Trent EdwardsQB Trent Edwards
It is now official. Trent Edwards is the starting QB for the Buffalo Bills. Not just for this week. For good. Dick Jauron said, “Hopefully we won’t have to make a change there,” in his press conference yesterday. The Bills like what they see in Edwards, and for good reason.

Not only does Trent have a good arm, is very accurate, and can put some zip on the ball, he’s also a very quick learner and very confident in the pocket. His abilities to handle the offensive schemes were showcased when the Bills ran the no-huddle offense for most of the game against Baltimore. The QB has to read the defense, and make the call from some pre-set plays in that situation. And he did a great job with it! His confidence and poise in the pocket are demonstrated by the number of sacks he has taken. Some of the credit goes to the offensive line, but much of it goes to Trent for knowing when to release the ball, and where to put it.

One of the more amazing things from Sunday’s game was the FIVE offsides penalties Edwards was able to pull the Ravens into! It could have been six, but the call went against the Bills when Michael Gaines jumped at the same time as the Ravens defender. His cadence was excellent, keeping the Baltimore defense either moving backward by penalty, or at least a little hesitant to jump at the snap.

Add to his very good play for a rookie the fact that the team is now 2-1 when he starts (and could, almost should be 3-0, barring the miracle finish by Dallas) and you have a no-brainer decision. Edwards gives the team the best chance to win now, and most likely in the future.

Good decision by the Bills.

Willis McGaheeWillis Held In Check
When Willis came out on the Ravens’ first drive of the second half and just started getting huge chunks of yards, I was definitely worried. I thought maybe he or the Ravens had figured out something, and it was going to be a long day. That was every Bills fan’s worst nightmare… Willis running wild on us, leaving with the win.

But he didn’t.

Really, the Bills did a great job stopping McGahee all day. An amazing job, actually. I knew what I saw, and what I saw was a great performance by the Bills defense, and a completely shut down performance by Willis. Well, almost completely.

So late that night I broke down the stats. I wanted to see if I had just imagined that we did shut him down. I did not.

On that one drive to open the third quarter, Willis had 4 carries for 72 yards, including the one TD run of 46 yards where the Bills only had ten guys on the field (but I don’t think the eleventh would have mattered). Willis finished the day with 19 carries for 114 yards. Take away 46 and he has 18 for 68 yards. That’s 3.7 yards/carry. Take away that drive (were the Bills still in the lockeroom or something?) and he has 14 carries for 42 yards! OUCH! That’s 3 YPC.

More stats? The Bills held Willis to 1 yard on 2 receptions (and he also dropped one, that was thrown behind him). The Bills also held him to zero or negative yards on 4 carries. 9 of his remaining 15 carries were for 4 yards or less. Mostly less.

The Bills came into the game having done very well against the Jets runningbacks and the Cowboys runningbacks. They wanted to do the same against Baltimore, who are a run-oriented team. And, they wanted to shut down Willis.

They did.

Toronto, CanadaThe Move To Toronto
First of all, the Bills are not moving to Toronto. They are merely playing a game or two in Toronto—where many Bills fans reside. All of this speculation is definitely premature, and completely unnecessary. In my opinion, of course.

Here’s what we know. The NFL decided that up to two regular season games per year would be played outside of the US through the 2011 season. Their hope is that each team would be able to participate in that. The Bills stated that they would like to be proactive in that experiment by suggesting that they play a game in very nearby Toronto, which is currently a major region that they draw from.

The Bills have played there before. In 1995 and 1997, the Bills played two preseason games in the Skydome. (They won both!) So they are no strangers to Toronto, and those games did not precipitate a move to Canada. They broaden the region that the Bills cover.

Seven years ago, the Bills made a similar move when they shifted their annual training camp to St. John Fisher College in Rochester. There are many Bills fans in the stadium on Sundays who make the drive from Rochester, and moving training camp to their city only made sense. It gave the Bills more of a presence in Rochester, and likely has won them some more fans.

That is precisely what the Bills are hoping would happen with a regular season game in Toronto each year.

This is not without NFL precedent, either. The Green Bay packers played several games a year in Madison, WI several years ago now. They are also a small-market, regional team, and wanted to have a more regional appeal. It worked just fine, as far as I know.

The Bills are not moving to Toronto. The NFL will not allow that. Ralph Wilson certainly won’t. And I would say, as much as they are able, NY State will not allow it either. But one game in Toronto, even annually, makes a lot of sense for expanding the reach of this small-market team. Bring in more fans, more corporate luxury box buyers… and the Bills remain in Western New York.

The Bills will likely play a pre-season game in 2008 in Toronto. It remains to be seen what the NFL will decide as far as regular season games there. The Bills have crossed a few hurdles, getting approval on the first stages of this plan. Next is the NFL.

Seems like a great plan to me, and I hope they can make it happen. I’d love for them to play a game over here in Rochester, closer to where I live, but we don’t have a facility like the Rogers Centre in Toronto.

So north of the border we go!

(But just for one game.) 🙂

Categories
BBR Listeners Events

BBR Game Day LIVE – Experience!

We have a multi-media extravaganza for you, folks! Most of you could not be there for our first ever BBR Game Day LIVE… (Sunday Oct 21, 2007 @ The Ralph) so we’re bringing it to you! Dave made a little video (annoyingly so during the recording of the show!!) and Jen took some photos which I put to the opening theme music of the BBR. I also uploaded some photos to our Facebook group, and uploaded the higher-quality versions of both videos below to our server. Click the appropriate links if you’d like to download the better versions.

Enjoy!

Dave’s BBR Gameday Video

Photo Slideshow from BBR Gameday

Categories
Events Links Website Updates

Various BBR-Newsworthy Items

There are a few random things from the previous show or two to tidy up, so I am posting them here, and hoping that folks are checking the BBR News page!

BBR Game Day LIVE!
We’ll be setting up in the ECC parking lot off Southwestern Blvd this Sunday morning. I’m bringing a football, and it looks like I’ll also be cooking my famous chicken wings right there in the parking lot as well! Our friend Chi will be making beef brisket (ya, I’m not to sure what that is either…) and we know Sven is bringing some German tailgating food… It’s gonna be a fun morning!

Then we watch the Bills dominate the Ravens!

Then we come back to the parking lot, set up the sound system, and do the Bills Review with a live audience! If you’re coming out to the game, don’t miss this part! Should be fun (and kinda funny…) and I just have no idea what we’ll get. We’re shooting for a start time of just half an hour after the game ends. We’ll see if we can do it.

If you missed the link above, more info (including a map) are at the original BBR Game Day Live post, here:
http://buf.thefootballfan.net/bbr-game-october-21st-vs-baltimore-givitawilliiiiiiiisssssss/

Van Miller Impression
Our friend Adam from New Jersey sent in his Van Miller impression a while back, but we never got to air it, so here it is in its entirety, in all it’s glory, for the ages… and for a Slim Jim. 🙂

Van Miller Impression by Adam from NJ

Also, see a photo of the prize Adam won.

Kenny Mayne Interviews Gibran Hamden
You heard a snippet of the interview Kenny Mayne did with our now third string QB Gibran Hamden on our latest show (3.10) but there was more to it, and now you can hear the full 3 minutes or so!

Categories
Articles Bills History Players

Article: “Don Beebe Finds Higher Calling”

[From highschool.rivals.com]

A former NFL wide receiver whose nine-year career was spent with the Buffalo Bills, Carolina Panthers and Green Bay Packers, this devout Christian now volunteers his time coaching tiny Aurora (Ill.) Christian High School -– enrollment 376 -– because of his faith.

In nine NFL seasons, Beebe caught 219 passes for 3,416 yards and 23 TDs.

“There’s no money involved,” Beebe said. “It’s my calling. I felt God calling me to coach kids.”

When former Bills coach and current general manager Marv Levy asked Beebe to join Buffalo’s coaching staff in 2006, Beebe immediately turned him down to remain with Aurora Christian.

“Why do something just for money?” Beebe said. “My passion is here and with these kids.”

In four seasons as head coach, Beebe transformed a struggling program into a Class 3A state power by setting examples and building traditions.

He maintains heart outweighs talent.

Read more…

Categories
Uncategorized

Bills’ Playoff Hopes Far From Over

It seems crazy to talk about the playoffs when your team is at 1-4 but fans of the Buffalo Bills should keep their hopes alive. While the odds are not in favor of such a turn around, it has happened before. Bills fans need only look at 2001 when the 1-4 New England Patriots made it all the way to the Super Bowl with a similar gaggle of unknown players. (Sure many of those players are now big names but they were far from it at the time, Tom Brady who is Tom Brady? Bledsoe was the starter) Perhaps you remember the Patriots daunting Tight End combination of Arther Love, Rod Rutledge and Jermaine Wiggins? Or was it their fearsome group of Wide Receivers in Troy Brown, Charles Johnson, Fred Coleman and David Patten? Or maybe it was their powerful group of runningbacks in Antowaine Smith, J.R. Redman and Kevin Faulk? The Patriots dinked and dunked their way to the Lombardi Trophy with screen passes and run after the catch. So much so that the following year Brady was criticized for not being able to throw the long ball (he proved those critics wrong!). After Bledsoe was knocked out with an injury, Brady played well enough to take the starting job. He wasn’t statistically amazing, but he just looked better under center. So much more confident that the Patriots left him in when Bledsoe came back from injury. Sound familiar?

Bills fans in their never ending quest to prove it can’t happen to them, will point out that Dick Jauron is no Bill Belichick and that the Patriots had a lot more defensive talent. Defensively, the Patriots had a lot of over the hill players and diamonds in the rough, but one could make the argument that they were in better shape than the Bills are this season. As for Belichick (in 2001) he was not the proven commander that he is today. Prior to that season Belichick’s record as a head coach was 41-55. Including only one winning season in Cleveland when the Browns went 11-5 (without that season he was 30-50). Browns fans drove him out of town claiming his winning season was a fluke and that his 5-11, 6-10, 7-9 and 7-9 seasons better described his ability to coach. He spent four seasons as an assistant to the Patriots and then the Jets before New England decided to give him a second chance as a head coach. He rewarded them with a 5-11 season in 2000 before breaking out in 2001 once Brady became the starter (coincidence, I think not). This coaching history sounds eerily familiar to the History of Jauron.

This is all merely coincidental and Jauron probably isn’t the coach that Belichick is, but fans shouldn’t be so quick to assume that he isn’t. Brady proved that a solid, accurate quarterback who maintains his composure can make his head coach look a genius. Trent Edwards may be a rookie but Bills fans have to admit that he has many of the traits that Brady had in his first season as a starter.

  1. Pocket Poise
  2. Accuracy
  3. Quick Release
  4. Great Short Passing Game

Edwards hasn’t shown an overwhelming ability to throw the deep ball but neither did Brady that first season. I’d bet money that this is why Lee Evans has been endorsing Losman. Evans knows that had Losman been throwing the ball in the New England match-up, Evans would have had an easy TD catch in the corner instead of the ball getting intercepted when it fell a little short of the target. But aside from the deep ball, Edwards has shown this far, that he has a greater ability in just about every other area of the quarterback position than Losman. Most importantly he has the ability to stay calm and collected under pressure. Losman just loses his composure to easily. Everyone thought the Patriots were crazy to let Bledsoe go after their first Super Bowl win, but no one is questioning the move now. Losman will find success to a modest degree somewhere in the NFL but unless Edwards gets injured against the Ravens or simply implodes to a degree that says “this guy isn’t ready”, Losman will be warming the bench for the rest of this season and will be traded afterwards. (Note: for those of you who think the Bills would be better off trading Losman now, you are totally wrong. Losman and Edwards are friends and resentment is low similar to the Bledsoe/Brady situation. Losman has said he will help Edwards be successful if Edwards gets the nod. This is not a Johnson/Flutie situation. Also, trying to unload Losman midseason sends a message that Losman has no value to the team which means the Bills will get very little for him. Losman’s contract runs through 2008 so the team can trade him in the off-season and not sacrifice their QB depth for the rest of 2007. The Bills are better off blaming the benching on a nagging knee injury and letting Edwards prove he is the starter in the mean time so that Losman didn’t lose the job as much as Edwards took it away. This preserves Losman’s trade value while dumping him now will land the Bills next to nothing. Losman was a first rounder, trading him now for a late round pick will go down as a colossal management blunder)

In 2006 the Bills came off the Bye week with a much improved offense. The Bills are praying for a similar result after the 2007 Bye. The offensive coaching has been pretty awful to date and fans are calling for the head of Fairchild (justifiably so). Had the Bills offense been able to score just 1 touchdown against Dallas, the Bills would have won and the killer finish wouldn’t have been a possibility. There were several plays that stand out as bad calls by the coaching staff but overall offensive execution was poor despite good pass protection and decent run blocking. The Bills need to find consistency on offense to help keep their defense off the field. At the end of the game the Bills were at a disadvantage because on those final critical drives, the defense had crossed that 50 play threshold where statistically the odds shift in favor of the offense. See the 4th quarter of the Dallas – New England game for more evidence of this. The Bills Offense put the defense and special teams in a position to lose. In a game where the defense forces 6 turnovers and scores two touchdowns and the special teams converts a fake punt, drops the ball inside the 5 and scores a 102 yard kickoff return TD, the problem is not the defense or special teams. The Offense scored 3 points and was unable to get a first down when that is all that was needed to kill the clock and win. They were unable to protect the ball when the game was in their hands and they gave up what should have been a dominant upset win.

Regardless of everything else, the Bills have bumbled their way through the worst of their 2007 schedule. So far the teams the Bills have faced have a combined record of 18-6. Three of their opponents are leading their divisions at this point. Every team but the Jets was undefeated when the Bills faced them (ok Denver was 0-0). Moving forward, the Bills have 11 games against teams with a combined record of 28-34. The Bills face 4 opponents with 1 win or less. Lets give the Bills a little credit in that they lost two of their games by 1 point and the other two to division leaders (the Pats have crushed every opponent as badly as they crushed the Bills and the Bills had their starting QB and MLB knocked out of that game). When the Bills played a weak team they easily handled them (Jets). Its not out of the question that the Bills can win two against the winless Dolphins another against the feeble Jets and 1 against the hapless Bengals (who the Bills seem to beat even when they are a dominant team). That puts the bills at 5-4. Barring a miracle, the Patriots will win again which puts the Bills at 5-5. That leaves 6 teams Cleveland, Philadelphia, NY Giants, Jacksonville, Washington and Baltimore. Is it totally out of the question that the Bills can win 4 out of 6 of these games? The Eagles are pretty awful as is Washington, Bills 7-5. Jacksonville is inconsistent but seems to always pull off a close win against the Bills, Bills 7-6. Cleveland is not a good team, but have been able to score a lot of points at times. The Bills have struggled to score so this looks like a loss unless the offense comes to life, Bills 7-7. NY Giants are good at times but don’t have much of a running attack and Eli Manning is prone to throwing interceptions. Considering the Bills are currently tied for 2nd in the league in interceptions with 9, this should work in the Bills favor, Bills 8-7. Which leaves this week’s match-up with the Ravens as a must win game.

The 12th man should be huge this week as there is not exactly a lot of love for Willis McGahee after the Bills ex-runningback openly trashed on the city of Buffalo after his departure last spring. McGahee even stooped so low as to complain about the quality of women and to suggest the team relocate to Toronto. While the Bills could benefit from some additional fan support from their Canadian neighbors, shipping the team over there is not the answer and certainly not a suggestion the people of Buffalo want to hear about. McGahee will be pumped up to prove to Buffalo that they shouldn’t have traded him. The problem for McGahee is that the Bills made the right move trading him and he will be hard pressed to prove otherwise. Like in past seasons with Buffalo, McGahee has started the season reasonably strong but has only found the end zone once and has one fumble. While he is currently ranked 4th, his team has not had a bye yet while many teams have so a better measure is his yards per game, which is 87.5, good enough for 9th. Marshawn Lynch is currently 14th for yards per game, but has 3 touchdowns and no fumbles. Lynch has also shown a “never-give-up” attitude on every play that McGahee has never shown. McGahee is happier in Baltimore where he fits in well with a team full of complacent and lazy thugs. Brian Billick actually said in a press conference that it will be difficult to keep his players focused this week in practice because they are looking forward to the Bye week. Talk about looking beyond an opponent. Most Ravens players and fans seem to think they already have a win against Buffalo. This is a dangerous attitude that will lead to an embarrassing defeat on Sunday. The Ravens are 4 and 2 but they have faced a lineup of terrible teams (Jets, Rams, 49ers, Cardinals, Browns and Bengals). In case you were wondering that’s a combined opponents’ record of 10-24. Oh yeah, and they were beaten by the Bengals and Browns. That’s right the Bengals ONLY win was against the Ravens. The Ravens are a mediocre team with their starting QB on the bench and they are having trouble focusing on the Bills. This will be a fun one for Bills fans. The Bills offense will look sharp after two weeks of work and the defense will play well bolstered by some players returning from injury. Special Teams will be typically excellent. Bills 31 Ravens 6.

Send your comments to bplewak@yahoo.com

Categories
Games News NFL

Bills Game in Toronto?

If my memory serves me correctly, the Bills played a pre-season game in Toronto during the Super Bowl years. But that was pre-season.

The Bills posted a press release this week, stating that they would like to play a regular season game in Toronto, maybe even next year (2008)! Is this a good thing? Is this a precursor to moving the team to Toronto?

Actually, I think this wouldn’t be a bad thing. The team is trying to be a “regional” team, focusing on Buffalo, Rochester, and Toronto, Canada. It’s a good marketing strategy in a small market. There are already many Canadian fans who travel to Orchard Park to attend Bills games. And from Rochester and Syracuse send their share of attendees as well.

Not sure where the NFL is on this request, but it will be interesting to see if the Bills get their wish.

LINKS:
Bills Want a Home Game in Toronto to Expand Ontario Fan Base (Buffalo News)

Categories
Sports

The Bleacher Report

BleacherReport.com
I have been fascinated with a new website I found via an application on Facebook. It’s called The Bleacher Report, and the idea is that it’s an open source sports page. Anyone can create an account and contribute, and anyone can modify existing articles. These modifications can be just correcting grammar, spelling, typos, or even incorrect facts. Some of the articles I have posted there have actually been considerably re-worded, but in a good way. It’s like having an editor for free! (And if I want to change anything, I can always go back and change it.)

Stop by for a visit, create an account if you’re into sports of all sorts… and comment, edit, revise, or start your own sports column! 🙂

One of my recent articles there, “Are The Bills Better Off Without Losman?” was instantly in the top news results for a Bills-related search. Pretty crazy!

You can just stop by my page there, too, if you’d like:
http://www.bleacherreport.com/users/1447-Greg_Campbell

Categories
AFC East NFL

The AFC L-East?

It was another dismal showing for the AFC East division today. Miami showed a spark or two against the improved Browns (their own Ronnie Brown enjoying several productive moments on the day), and the Jets donning their ancient Titans of New York blue and yellow uniforms also made a play or two against the visiting Eagles… but in the end, both lost rather handily.

The Buffalo Bills were resting their weary bodies, glad to not add to the debacle that was AFC East football in week six.

Save for the division leading Patriots, that is.

The Patriots let the Cowboys hang around for a time, even allowing them the first second half lead of the season for any Patriot opponent. But it was very short lived, and New England ran away with the game in the fourth quarter, winning 48-27.

The Patriots are 6-0 atop the AFC East. The Bills are in second place at 1-4. The Jets follow at 1-5 and the Dolphins have yet to break into the win column at 0-6. So far in 2007, the Patriots competition is a combined 2-15. Ouch.

Is the AFC East the worst division in football? Every other division has at least two teams vying for the top spot, with the second biggest margin being two games. The Patriots hold a rather cozy 4.5 game lead in their division race. After only six weeks???

It’s hard to argue that New England is the class of the league right now. They defeated one of only three previously undefeated teams in the NFL on Sunday, and they made it look rather easy.

The Patriots have scored 230 points in six games, which is 138 more than their opponents have scored on them. They have scored no less than 34 points in each game, while the most any other AFC East team has mustered is 31.

Tom Brady has thrown 21 touchdown passes in that span, which is 6 more than the combined total of six other QBs from AFC East teams! (J.P. Losman, Trent Edwards, Chad Pennington, Kellen Clemens, Trent Green and Cleo Lemon have a total of 15.)

The Patriots looked good on paper heading into the 2007 season, and they are proving to actually be even more frightening after watching them play just six games so far this year. Providing they can stay healthy, this team will be nearly impossible to beat.

Now with only two remaining undefeated teams, the stage is set for an even more enticing “game of the year” on November 4th. The Super Bowl Champion Indianapolis Colts will host the New England Patriots—just as they did in last year’s AFC championship game—for major bragging rights, and maybe the Patriots only real remaining challenge to a perfect season.

Well, there it was. I said it. It’s only been six weeks, and I’ve brought up the undefeated angle. I’m sure I’m not the first, and I know I won’t be the last. Read on…

Indianapolis faces a tough game next week on the road at division rival Jacksonville. Indy has lost to the Jaguars, and that will certainly be a very difficult opponent. They then play Carolina on the road before coming home to face New England. Both games could be a challenge, but I’d expect Indy to come out on top, and be 7-0 when they face the Patriots.

The Patriots, on the other hand, have a bit of an easier road. Next week they face the winless Miami Dolphins in Miami, and then come home to face the Washington Redskins. Washington iscurrently 3-2, and may pose a bit of a threat to New England (who might be looking ahead to their rematch with Indianapolis) but I would also expect New England to escape unscathed to enter the Indianapolis game at 8-0.

If New England can atone for the loss to the Colts last year, and move on to 9-0, their remaining schedule seems almost too easy. They travel to Buffalo to take on the Bills (whom they have completely dominated winning all but one of the last fifteen or sixteen games), followed by games against Philadelphia, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, NY Jets, Miami, and NY Giants. Four of those are home games, with the only road games being against Baltimore and the Giants. Assuming home field advantage means something, New England has a seemingly easy path to an undefeated season, with six of their wins coming against their own division.

Which brings me back to my original question. Is the AFC East as bad as they seem, or are the Patriots simply that good… making the rest seem vastly inferior by contrast. Maybe it’s a little of both, but my money’s on the Patriots being that good. (Figuratively, of course.) And they even have a few injuries at the moment. They will only get better.

With the state of the AFC East, the 2007 NFL season could see two very rare occurrences, both from the same division. New England has a good chance to go undefeated, while the Miami Dolphins have almost as good a chance of going winless. We’re too early to say that, but it’s quite clear to this writer that while the Patriots may face a challenge or two on their remaining schedule, it will not likely come from within their division.

If the Patriots do complete a perfect season, they can thank their opponents in the AFC L-East for six of those sixteen wins. They don’t appear to be offering much resistance.

Categories
Events Show Schedule

Show Schedule

Due to the bye, the show will be coming out later this week. There was no game to review from yesterday, so we’ll be recording on Wednesday this week, and the show will be posted by Thursday morning. You have a couple extra days to get your comments and questions in! E-mail us, or call the hotline at (716) 989-4180. We’ll have more time for the BBR Mailbag, so sound off!

Looking forward to the BBR Game Day! Stay tuned to this page for more information later this week!