Buffalo Bills Review
I just posted an article on this to my Buffalo Bills blog, but wanted to also post here…
Brett Favre is a NY Jet!
Holy cow. That’s crazy. I won’t elaborate here (as I already did there) but suffice it to say, our division (the AFC East) has gotten significantly more interesting.
Bills first pre-season game in two days! Whooohoo! 🙂
While we were at the night practice at St John Fisher College last Thursday, Dave was bumped out of the way by none other than BILLY BUFFALO! So we snapped a shot of Dave, and his wife Marie, posing with the beloved Bills mascot. Just thought we should share…
We are merely a few days away from the opening of the 2008 (pre)season for the Buffalo Bills. It’s fair to say, I think, that the first pre-season game marks the first real test of the newly formed team. We’ve seen them in practice, in mini camps, in the OTAs, now in training camp.
But Saturday, we see them in live, game action.
Saturday night the Bills will face the Washington Redskins who were one of the two combatants in the official pre-season kickoff, the annual Hall of Fame game. Honestly, this was a very good game. The Bills will face not only the Redskins this pre-season, but the other team from last Sunday’s matchup, the Indianapolis Colts. Both teams look like they will be a good test for the Bills, a sort of gauge for how the team has progressed, personnel-wise and coaching/system-wise.
I’m excited! I know it’s only pre-season, and really doesn’t matter much at all (usually) but I am hoping that with so many questions going into 2008, that the Bills really use these four games to see what they’ve got and get ready for what could be such a great year for the team.
The big story surrounding the Bills of course is still Jason Peters lingering hold out. How long will it last? Will he really hold out until they pay him more than the other linemen on the team? That would mean some pretty serious fines, and doesn’t really work that much in his favor. Is he so sure they will break? Do the Bills think Peters will? I’ve said before, I really feel he should report to training camp and then the Bills will take care of him. Perhaps he knows something I do not.
Other news from St. John Fisher… seems the injury bug continues to bite. Thankfully, aside from rookie Alvin Bowen (a promising special teamer) the injuries – and subsequent absence from practice – have been mostly minor. The coaches are erring on the side of caution, especially with veteran players. James Hardy has been bothered by a hamstring injury and they have sat him for much of the first week and a half of training camp, only giving him light duty. He will likely see action on Saturday though.
Hardy is one player I will be watching Saturday, as well as the offensive line playing minus Jason Peters. Langston Walker has been seeing most of the action at left tackle in Peters’ absence. Kirk Chambers moved to Walkers’ spot at right tackle. Rookie Demetrius Bell has also been seeing some second team action at left tackle. Will be interesting to see what the Bills will try to do, especially since they face Washington on Saturday, with newly-acquired DE Jason Taylor, a premier pass rusher.
It will also be interesting to see if the offense will incorporate more throws to the RBs out of the backfield, or even lined up wide (saw that formation at training camp). Both Lynch and Fred Jackson can certainly be excellent offensive weapons in the aerial attack. I’m sure Schonert won’t reveal his full arsenal in the pre-season (especially the first game) but it will be interesting to see how much different the Fairchild-less offense looks.
Other players to watch? Ko Simpson has been a tad hobbled… will he be back to form at free safety? Leodis McKelvin… how much action will he get? Bills running backs Dwayne Wright and Xavier Omon will likely see a lot of action in the second half, will be interesting to see how they do against a good Washington defense. Marcus Stroud and the rest of the D-line should see at least first-quarter action. Washington will be a good test for them as their RB position looked very talented, and deep.
Can’t wait to see some live, game action! 7pm on Saturday night! Football is almost here!
Go Bills!
OK, once again I’m a little slow on the draw here, but it’s been to crazy around here! AND, I actually do most of my NFL-related writing for our Buffalo Bills site (which we have beefed up a bit this year… if you haven’t been over there in a while, check it out! The articles page has a pretty decent list of contributers, and we’re going to be doing a lot of special/bonus shows this summer leading up to the regular season in just a MONTH!!)
We watched the official 2008 season opener this past Sunday… the Hall of Fame game. Sometimes this pre-season kick-off game is a joke, but honestly, this was a GREAT game! The ‘Skins and the Colts should both be pretty good this year. (I know… it’s only pre-season, but really… they both looked quite talented, and deep. Maybe especially the Redskins.) It was super fun to see football on our TV again!
The Bills play both of those teams this pre-season. First against Washington this Saturday (can’t wait!) Washington has a rookie QB from the University of Hawaii that set all kinds of records during his time there… and looks like he might do the same in the NFL! He’s got a crazy release… but it worked! He came in as the third QB of the game, and threw the tying and winning TDs! And I think he was something like 9 for 10 or so. Watch for Colt Brennan in the years to come. Should have a pretty decent NFL career! (If you can predict such things…)
So, if you’re into football… the wait is finally over. First official weekend of pre-season is this coming weekend, and we’re only a month away from the real deal! Whoohooo!