Buffalo Bills ReviewHey folks. Quick note here to remind you that there is a BBR group on Facebook, and every once in a while (recently, at least) I have been trying to post pertinent links and info there. There’s a discussion board, and some other fun stuff there. So I just wanted to encourage your participation there if you are Facebook-inclined. 🙂
Here’s the link:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2457618261
Come get interactive today!
Hey folks. Quick post here just to recommend some Bills-related reading. Most of these books (pictured above in a cool little widget from Amazon!) have been in my recent reading queue… I’m hoping to read Kevin Everett’s book soon, too.
Great stories from Bills history, good reads, and a fun way to help the off-season pass a bit more quickly!
Click on the book covers above to check out the books at Amazon. For your convenience, here’s a nice bulleted list, too.
Happy reading!
(Any recommendations? Leave ’em in the comments!)
With the NFL draft less than a week away, I was contemplating what would make this draft “successful” for the Buffalo Bills. The past two have been pretty great, actually. Names like Donte Whitner, Ko Simpson, John McCargo, Kyle Williams, have all been contributers. Trent Edwards, Marshawn Lynch, and Paul Posluszny could be franchise players. (And all from one draft!) Even Keith Ellison, Ashton Youboty, Brad Butler, Dwayne Wright, John Wendling, and Derek Schouman have already seen some success at the NFL level.
The Bills certainly draft well.
But part of the success of the past two drafts has been the needs at all of the positions those guys filled. This team has not made the playoffs in nine years, and was in need of a major overhaul – which has pretty much been accomplished. This team does not look anything like the team Marv Levy took over – along with new head coach Dick Jauron – in 2006.
So what would deem this upcoming draft a success? Better yet, what would qualify the upcoming season as a “success”?
I believe that in the eyes of Bills fans, the draft is quite secondary to the accomplishment of returning to the playoffs. Anything short of this is neither a success, nor perhaps even acceptable.
Dick Jauron has assembled his team. He has assembled his coaching staff. (Which hopefully will be markedly improved with the departure of the much-maligned Steve Fairchild.) He had a “successful” 2007 campaign when measured against the incredibly bad fortune his team faced, losing 17 players to season-ending injuries.
They even have a “softer” schedule in 2008 (based on teams’ 2007 records).
This season, the Bills will be successful if they make the playoffs. Anything short of that, while it may be fun and exciting along the way – with a few minor successes – would seem to fall very short of “success”. And, it may cost Jauron his job.
A few very solid moves in the free agency period have put the Bills in a better position heading into the draft. Marcus Stroud and Spencer Johnson add thickness to the Bills’ interior defensive line. Kawika Mitchell brings his athleticism and experience to a young LB core, as well as the experience of winning the most recent Super Bowl.
All good moves to solidify the Bills defense.
Most speculate that the Bills biggest remaining holes – presumably to be filled in the draft – are a second wide receiver, a game-breaking tight end, and cornerback. Opinions vary, of course, but from what I have read, there are not really great options (on the surface) at any of those positions. Many expect the Bills – who possess 10 draft picks in the 2008 draft – to wheel and deal to land some veteran talent via trades on draft weekend.
Whatever the Bills end up doing, whoever they end up adding to their team on Draft Weekend, the 2008 draft – and the 2008 season – will only be a success if the Bills can finally return to post-season play.
In the eyes of this Bills fan, anything short of that will be a failure.
The Bills released their 2008 schedule today, and it includes another home game on Monday Night Football! The game against the Cowboys last season went over quite well, so that is no surprise that we would get another chance at the national stage (at The Ralph). And the game against Cleveland is one of the most anticipated of the season.
The Bills will open at home again this year, against the Seattle Seahawks on September 7th. That’s a 1:00pm game. There are four games scheduled for the 4:00 time slot. Three are road games, and the fourth is the “home” game at the Rogers Centre in Toronto.
Miami will be the opponent for the Bills first ever regular season game north of the border. A bit of a surprise, as most thought the league would schedule one of the non-conference home games for the Toronto game. (I thought I remembered Ralph Wilson saying as much.) That game will be Sunday December 7th, and takes all the fun out of a Miami home game in December! (Isn’t the Rogers Centre a dome??)
Interestingly, the Bills will finish the season at home on December 28th against the New England Patriots. The first meeting between the two teams (in Foxboro, MA) doesn’t happen until November 9th. With three of the final four games being against division opponents, that last game against New England could potentially have a big impact on the playoff picture.
A Bills fan can dream… 🙂
The bye week comes after week five, so a tad on the early side. Three of the first five games are against NFC opponents: Seattle, St. Louis, and Arizona. The first division game will be October 26th, at Miami. That is the beginning of a three game stretch against the AFC East: home against New York, then at the Patriots.
The final six weeks of the NFL season are subject to the flex scheduling, so any of those games could be flexed to the Sunday night game. That includes the game against Miami in Toronto. Depending on the competitiveness of the game at that point in the season, that’s certainly a possibility.
It looks like a well laid out schedule at first glance. I always love this day… and hate it. Love seeing the schedule. It’s exciting. HATE that it’s still five months away!
But this time will pass quickly, and before you know it, we’ll be at The Ralph, cheering on our BUFFALO BILLS!!
Get your tickets now, and GO BILLS!!
[read Chris Brown’s article at buffalobills.com]
You only have a few days left. We’ve gotten some emails, and a comment here on Dave’s post, but NO CALLS??? to the BBR Hotline? Craziness.
(716) 989-4180
We would love to hear from you, and respond on the show. Get your calls in, and you’re likely to make the show this time. 🙂 (Also, I’d like to see who reads this BBR News page… I know Dave does not….) 🙂
We’re just a little over a week away from Draft Day. Give us your thoughts on that as well, who the Bills might select, whom they might trade, etc. Should be an exciting couple weeks!
BBR is a show by Bills fans, for Bills fans. So let your voice be heard!
Go Bills!
Every sport tries to say they have it. Parity is the word that means you have achieved ultimate sporting success. There is true competition amongst the teams in your league. But really… so far as I can tell… only the NHL has achieved such a thing.
Proof is in the series between the Minnesota Wild and the Colorado Avalanche. First, they are the 4 and 5 seeds in the Western conference. That means they were the closest to each other in points. They are a great matchup on paper. But then, you have the actual games. Each of the three games so far has ended 3-2… in overtime. Including last night’s game. Minnesota has a 2-1 series edge, but I fully expect a 3-2 OT win for Colorado the next time they play. This series is great!
So far there is only one series that is a potential sweep. (Well, two, but only one that might actually end up a sweep.) The Pittsburgh Penguins seem to have Ottawa’s number. This is interesting in that Ottawa ousted the Penguins last year fairly easily (4 or 5 games) and this year were tearing up the Eastern Conference for quite some time. They have faltered at the end here, but still have some fantastic players who can score anytime they want to. (As evidenced by a late season 6-3 win over the Sabres – a game in which the Sabres held a 3-2 late third period lead!!)
Some other great first round matchups include the Caps and Flyers, Flames and Sharks, Rangers and Devils, Bruins and Canadiens… well, really.. ALL of them! The defending champs (Anaheim Mighty Ducks) are down 2-0 in their series, but I wouldn’t expect that to continue… that should end up a great series as well.
So if you have Versus (a cable TV network) they are showing two games every night, and they have some great coverage between periods and after the games. NBC is carrying games on weekends. I think.
And, if you live in Canada… you’re set. 🙂
NHL Playoffs are here, and it is the #1 sports spectacle in all of pro sports! Enjoy it while it lasts!
The NFL has announced that the 2008 schedule will be released today at 2pm. The NFL Network will be doing a special show coinciding with the release. It’s a fun time of year when you get to see how the next season will unfold. Bills fans are hoping for a prime time game or two. I know I am going to look for the game against Cleveland and circle it on my calendar! That will likely be the “Buffalo Bills Review Game of the Year” where we all attend and invite any listeners to join us before and after the game for some Buffalo Bills fun!
For more details, see this page at ESPN.com.
Go Bills!
According to Chris Brown, and his Toronto sources, interest in the upcoming Buffalo Bills games in Toronto is over 100,000 people! Wow! So hopefully this is a great move for the Bills, not only to get a larger fan base (who presumably will trek across the border to enjoy some (CHEAPER!) games at The Ralph, as well as buy lots of Bills merchandise, and other support like that… but it seems the Bills could stand to get some good revenue from these 8 games in Toronto.
If initial interest is any indication, I’d say we’ll be seeing Bills games in Toronto well beyond the current five-year deal with the Rogers Centre. 🙂
With the draft quickly approaching, NFL.com has the “Greatest Draft Class” videos up, and the 1985 Buffalo Bills were #9 on their list. Some fun highlights of Bruce Smith, Andre Reed & Frank Reich. Spotlight on Bill Polian as well, who kind of came out of nowhere to become one of the greatest GMs in football! (Building the 1990 Buffalo Bills, then the Carolina Panthers, and the Indianapolis Colts.)
We don’t have Polian, but I really like our past two drafts, and expect more of the same from this one. Might we say some day that the draft of 2007 was one of the top draft classes? (Marshawn Lynch, Paul Pozluszny, and Trent Edwards?)
Again, can’t embed, so… here ya go!
I found a cool video on NFL.com today featuring our favorite passer-catcher combo, Jim Kelly and Andre Reed. They were number five in a list of greatest passing combos. They were pretty great! This short video has some great highlights from those years. Reed made some just spectacular grabs!
Can’t embed NFL.com videos, so click here to view it at their site.
Enjoy!