Bills' losses make them better by subtraction

[YardRat]

http://www.realfootball365.com/nfl/articles/2007/03/bills-betterby-subtraction200307.html



Like dumping the girl who's a little too chummy with your dirtbag friends or quitting the job at the Tijuana sewage plant, life is often improved via deletion. This might be the best way for the <A class=articlelinks href="http://bills.realfootball365.com/"><ACRONYM title="Buffalo Bills News">Buffalo Bills</ACRONYM> to view what's happened since free agency began: They've lost three performers with prominent names on the backs of their jerseys, but the Bills should try to use this as an opportunity to improve and see the departed as bigger names than players.

Willis McGahee rarely left second gear; London Fletcher, while a warrior, is entering his 10th season and is ancient for a linebacker his size; and, most of all, Nate Clements is this year's Jonas Jennings, a former Bill who is now insanely overpaid by the 49ers. While Jennings can't stay healthy, Clements' problem is that no one else but he and San Francisco's brass realize he's the best athlete ever. It's too late for the Niners, but the Bills may have dodged a solid platinum bullet.

Clements showed that he could be an exciting player, but his high-risk, high-return play often led to exciting moments for opponents, too. He calls himself "The Playmaker," despite two facts: A) no one should ever be allowed to bestow his own nickname on himself, ever, and B) especially not one as obnoxiously arrogant as "The Playmaker," the sort of moniker that would make Deion Sanders blush.

It was ridiculously obvious and also entirely acceptable during the cornerback's weak games to either call him the "Playfaker," or to point out that the one making plays was whichever receiver he was allegedly covering. In my defense, he brought it upon himself.

Clements was great. Sometimes. At other moments, he tackled poorly, if at all, or was frustratingly eager to gamble for the ball when he should have made sure his man was covered first, both unacceptable for a defender of his alleged stature. While of course Bills fans remember some fabulous coverage and interceptions, they also recall Opening Day 2004 when Jacksonville scored to win as time expired, a play set up when Clements got burned on a fourth-and-16 throw from Byron Leftwich earlier in the drive.

.....

It would have been madness to keep any free agent at the price Clements commanded, much less a player like, well, Clements. The Bills need to look at the Patriots model, where players are replaceable while scheme, adaptability, and effort are not. Frankly, for a team that last won a playoff game in Bill Clinton's first term, the Bills may as well avoid dropping ridiculous amounts of cash on players who oscillate from shutdown to shaky depending on the game if they hope to win one before the end of George W. Bush's second term.

While of course it's not his fault alone, Buffalo didn't make the playoffs with Clements, so why not see if someone can take his place at a fraction of the price?

[mchurchfie]

I wholeheartedly agree. Don't forget the career day that Chambers had on his ass too.:up:

[Jan Reimers]

Great article. Totally correct.

[Don't Panic]

9 times out of 10, realfootball365 get's it. This is yet another example.

[!Papacrunk!]

I guess I forgot to bring this up in the 100 other Mcgahee threads, but I wondered why JP Losman was always given the benefit of the doubt---"his play hasn't been as good as it could be, because of the bad o-line" and not McGahee? I would imagine McGahee was also a victim of the suspect line, wouldn't you say?

[jamze132]

I am not upset at all about losing Clements or McGahee.

[Don't Panic]

I guess I forgot to bring this up in the 100 other Mcgahee threads, but I wondered why JP Losman was always given the benefit of the doubt---"his play hasn't been as good as it could be, because of the bad o-line" and not McGahee? I would imagine McGahee was also a victim of the suspect line, wouldn't you say?

That's a fair statement. Mcgahee never really rubbed me the wrong way watching a game. Hearing that he didn't know the playbook obviuosly changed that, but I thought he usually ran PRETTY hard. My problem was what I read about him... illegits, moving Buffalo, "I am the greatest"... stuff like that. Contrast that with Losman, who is at OBD as much as anyone, buys a house in downtown, etc. and it suddenly doesn't have much to do with the line. He could have done better with a better line, though. Too bad he won't get one in Baltimore!

[patmoran2006]

I am not upset at all about losing Clements or McGahee.
Me neither.. Its FLtecher that hurts.. Some people on here dont know how good he was until they see his replacement.

[Devin]

Crowell > Fletcher.

Wait all this cant be true hasnt Ice Jr. been stating the sky is falling for weeks now?

[JoeMama]

I haven't heard of Anthony Bialy but the dude is an awesome writer.

I love this line.


Clements showed that he could be an exciting player, but his high-risk, high-return play often led to exciting moments for opponents, too. He calls himself "The Playmaker," despite two facts: A) no one should ever be allowed to bestow his own nickname on himself, ever, and B) especially not one as obnoxiously arrogant as "The Playmaker," the sort of moniker that would make Deion Sanders blush.

LOL!

I don't know if I'd say we're better without Clements, Fletcher, and McGahee - but he makes good points about why the blow won't be as significant as one might assume.

[HHURRICANE]

I haven't heard of Anthony Bialy but the dude is an awesome writer.

I love this line.



LOL!

I don't know if I'd say we're better without Clements, Fletcher, and McGahee - but he makes good points about why the blow won't be as significant as one might assume.


I've used this one too many times and I know it's a stolen quote but:

"We lost with you so we can afford to lose without you"

[eyedog]

Me neither.. Its FLtecher that hurts.. Some people on here dont know how good he was until they see his replacement.

You have the wrong guy. Fletcher is the most easily replacable. I guess you missed teams running through the middle of the defense the last two years. clements is the one who you "don't know how good he was until they see his replacement". Fletcher is old and on the downside, Clements is young and in his prime. Either way it's time to move on.

[Earthquake Enyart]

Clements is the one who really hurts.

[madness]

I guess I forgot to bring this up in the 100 other Mcgahee threads, but I wondered why JP Losman was always given the benefit of the doubt---"his play hasn't been as good as it could be, because of the bad o-line" and not McGahee? I would imagine McGahee was also a victim of the suspect line, wouldn't you say?

Definitely but there are certain obvious points you have to look at. JP progressed as the season went on behind that terrible line. He went through his reads quicker and learned to get rid of the ball faster. McGahee just practiced his dance moves while giving the defense plenty of opportunities to rip his head off. If you are running behind a suspect line you don't have the opportunity to sit back and wait for a hole to open. You're better off just putting your head down and going full steam ahead. No matter how much the coaches tried to get this through his head, McGahee just didn't get it.

It's probably the same reason why he just didn't learn the playbook and had an extra coach signaling plays to him in the huddle. It's probably the same reason he practically always missed his blocking assignments not because of getting beat on the field but because he just didn't know who he was supposed to block.

The Ravens line might not be as bad as ours last year but they still are pretty bad. Unless the coaching staff dummies down everything for McGahee and get him to quit the dancing, they are in for a long season.

[Jan Reimers]

I've used this one to many times and I know it's a stolen quote but:

"We lost with you so we can afford to lose without you"
I think that quote goes back to Branch Rickey who, as GM of the Pittsburgh Pirates, once allegedly told slugger Ralph Kiner - who was asking for a raise after leading the NL in home runs - "We finished last with you, we can finish last without you." (Or something close to that.)

[Ickybaluky]

So, let me get this straight.

You lost your leading rusher, your leading tackler and your best CB. You haven't replaced any of those three players, yet you are better.

Must be the new math.

[Earthquake Enyart]

So, let me get this straight.

You lost your leading rusher, your leading tackler and your best CB. You haven't replaced any of those three players, yet you are better.

Must be the new math.
Well, we have a 1000 yard rusher and will probably draft another. Kinda like the Antoine Smith days in NE.

Fletcher made his tackles 10 yards down the field, so hopefully Crowell can do better than that.

Clements hurts.

[JoeMama]

So, let me get this straight.

You lost your leading rusher, your leading tackler and your best CB. You haven't replaced any of those three players, yet you are better.

Must be the new math.

Some of the replacements are already on the roster.

We lost Nate Clements - but we have Kiwaukee Thomas and Ashton Youboty waiting in the wings. It's a lot like when the Pats lost Ty Law. At the time, not many people knew 4th round pick Asante Samuel. But we do now. Either Thomas or Youboty will step up.

We lost London Fletcher - but we have Angelo Crowell ready to make the transition to ILB. If not, a first or second round ILB is probably planned on draft day. So I don't expect a huge dropoff.

We lost Willis McGahee - but we have a number of options in the draft to replace him. And we've got Anthony Thomas in the mix, who's prepared to share the load with whomever we draft.

While I don't see our defense improving drastically, I don't see them doing much worse either.

Really, our season is going to be contingent moreso on the performance of the offense - particularly JP Losman.

[Romes]

So, let me get this straight.

You lost your leading rusher, your leading tackler and your best CB. You haven't replaced any of those three players, yet you are better.

Must be the new math.

its all part of Marv's sneaky plan to have other teams under-estimate them. looks like its working. :up:


:jk:

[gr8slayer]

I guess I forgot to bring this up in the 100 other Mcgahee threads, but I wondered why JP Losman was always given the benefit of the doubt---"his play hasn't been as good as it could be, because of the bad o-line" and not McGahee? I would imagine McGahee was also a victim of the suspect line, wouldn't you say?
McGahee had a bad attitude, he danced instead of hitting the hole, he clearly took plays off (especially when it came to pass blocking,) he didn't like Buffalo, he wanted the team to move, he didn't want to do do anything with the team in the off-season. McGahee regressed every year, his best year he was running behind an even worse OL than he did last season.

Losman does everything with the team, he loves Buffalo, he never takes a play off, he doesn't act like nothing happened when he makes a mistake, he admits that he still has alot of work to do and is working very hard to fix his mistakes. Losman is showing major progress.

[patmoran2006]

Some of the replacements are already on the roster.

We lost Nate Clements - but we have Kiwaukee Thomas and Ashton Youboty waiting in the wings. It's a lot like when the Pats lost Ty Law. At the time, not many people knew 4th round pick Asante Samuel. But we do now. Either Thomas or Youboty will step up.

We lost London Fletcher - but we have Angelo Crowell ready to make the transition to ILB. If not, a first or second round ILB is probably planned on draft day. So I don't expect a huge dropoff.

We lost Willis McGahee - but we have a number of options in the draft to replace him. And we've got Anthony Thomas in the mix, who's prepared to share the load with whomever we draft.

While I don't see our defense improving drastically, I don't see them doing much worse either.

Really, our season is going to be contingent moreso on the performance of the offense - particularly JP Losman.
replacing doesnt make things "better". So I think you're wrong about that.

HOwever, I do totally agree with you that this season is on the arm of Losman. Totally.

[JoeMama]

replacing doesnt make things "better". So I think you're wrong about that.

No, no. I wasn't saying we'd be "better" for losing those players.

I'm saying there won't be as huge a dropoff as most people think.

In the end, I think our defense stays about the same in terms of production.

[Luisito23]

replacing doesnt make things "better".



Yeah, but until we finally see the finish product on the field, it doesn't make things worst either.....




GO BILLS!!!!!!

[Generalissimus Gibby]

I am not that worried. I think Marv and Dick are building a winner that will be as surprising as the Pats were back in 2001. A Germaine Race/A Train 1 2 punch would be sweet. I think that with the O Line being upgraded that JP is finally going to have time to make smart decisions and won't always be forced to eye Evans. I think we'll have running backs that won't take plays off and won't have to be reminded what down it is or how to pass block. Am I the only one that believes that with some luck we could go 11-5 or 12-4 this year?

[justasportsfan]

I guess I forgot to bring this up in the 100 other Mcgahee threads, but I wondered why JP Losman was always given the benefit of the doubt---"his play hasn't been as good as it could be, because of the bad o-line" and not McGahee? I would imagine McGahee was also a victim of the suspect line, wouldn't you say?
the thing is JP has showed steady improvement while Willis and Clements have been too inconsistent especially for the money they got. Their play hasn't justified their salary. The jury is still out on JP.

Clements could very well be another Peerless Price when he left the bills . Got loads of money only to fail or not live up to expectations.

[justasportsfan]

replacing doesnt make things "better". So I think you're wrong about that.
.So replacing Saban does not make the fins better? How about replacing Mularkey? Herm Edwards? What happened to the saints?

Replacing can go either ways,it doesn't make things wrong or right until we see what happens on the field.

[Ron Burgundy]

Connor Byrne writes nothing but fluff pieces. I can't imagine why the hell anyone would read him, other than he's willing to spit Bills **** out every other day.

[GarnOFreak]

just checking on the depth chart via nfl.com

http://www.buffalobills.com/depth_chart/index.html

Interesting food for thought....

1.) Why is Roscoe not listed on the KOR spot, just PR? You would think they would want both McGee AND Parrish on the field. McGee, being our #1CB now is more valuable than out #4 WR. So send out the more expendable guy to get crushed returning kicks.

2.)We only have 3 Safeties listed: KO, Donte, and Jim Leonhard. Why move Coy Wire to WLB(2nd string) and make a hole there? They must be searching for a 4th from somewhere....why else cut Matt Bowen and take a hit?

3.)If TKO leaves(trade/cut/etc) Mario Haggan is 2nd string SLB, with Josh Stamer backing him up. Hopefully can surprise the way Crowell did.

4.)Tim Anderson(may someone like him and sign him to a RFA contract so we can get another third for his a$$) is second string to Kyle Williams. I don't think we're gonna keep more than 4 DTs total and he would be the first on the chopping block if we draft one.

5.)RCB....Should be an open competition between K.Thomas, Youboty, and Greer at this point. (I hope Ashton steps up and claims the spot early in camp). Essentially we picked up our replacement for Nate last year and gave him a full year to learn the system.

6.) Duke Preston is still the starter at RG, not Whittle(who is only listed for depth at RG, not LG, or any Tackle position, While Merz is LG, C, RG). Hopefully our young OL guys jell early with the new FAs we added. It's going to be an interesting situation to see who ends up where.