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Buffalo Bills
Why did J.P. Losman's play improve in 2006? Because he bought a house in Buffalo. The Bills' previous high-priced surfer-boy quarterback, Rob Johnson, lived in a beachfront California home in the offseason, and we all remember how well Johnson turned out. Losman lived in his native California before his first two Bills' campaigns. Then in the winter of 2006, he bought a house in Buffalo, committing himself to the city year-round. The football gods smile on that sort of thing! Based on this, TMQ predicts a good rookie season for first-round Bills choice Marshawn Lynch. An Oakland native who went to Cal, Lynch and his mother are house shopping in Buffalo -- he's moving there while his mother enrolls his younger brother in a Buffalo-area school. The football gods smile on that sort of thing.
It has been seven seasons since this once-dominant franchise made the playoffs, and in that time -- whether as cause or effect -- Buffalo has suffered constant turnover at quarterback and on the coaching staff. Elite teams roll out the same quarterback and assistant coaches year after year; 2007 will be the first time in four seasons that Buffalo will field the same quarterback, coached by the same offensive coordinator, as the previous season. But will the Bills' lines be any good? Buffalo has fallen into the bad habit of spending its top draft choices on skinny gentlemen -- defensive backs and wide receivers. In the past five drafts, Buffalo has had 14 picks in the first three rounds and used only three on linemen. Buffalo has just one lineman on its roster who was drafted in the first round. In the Super Bowl, Chicago started four linemen in the first round and Indianapolis started three.
Hoping to improve weak line play, the Ivies threw considerable money to free-agent offensive linemen, including Derrick Dockery. Many sports pundits noted the Bills gave about as much in guarantees (the only real part of an NFL contract) to Dockery as it would have cost to retain cornerback Nate Clements, who signed with San Francisco. Pundits called this a bad move because Clements is regarded as an elite player and no one except immediate family members has ever heard of Dockery. TMQ thinks general manager Marv "Part D" Levy made the right move. Clements is older than Dockery and reaching the age when cornerbacks begin to decline. Dockery was one of the league's best blockers in 2006 -- remember, even some full-time professional football analysts pay no attention to the offensive line and have no idea who's good -- and entering his prime.
Plus, although a quality player, Clements has a reputation for drastic mental errors. In 2004, the Bills missed the postseason by one win. Buffalo led Jacksonville 10-6 and had Jax facing fourth-and-14 with a minute remaining. The pass came toward Jimmy Smith. Clements had perfect position to knock the ball down and seal the victory; instead, he gambled for an interception to pad his stats, the ball bounced off his hands for a 45-yard advance by Smith, and Jacksonville won on the last snap. Fast-forward to 2005, when Buffalo led Miami 23-3 with 11 minutes remaining and staged one of the epic collapses in sports history. On the Dolphins' winning play, a touchdown pass to Chris Chambers with six seconds left, Clements simply stood watching Chambers -- covering no one at all, though Chambers was Clements' man. Don't be surprised if San Francisco rues that "$80 million" contract it handed the cornerback in question.
Why did J.P. Losman's play improve in 2006? Because he bought a house in Buffalo. The Bills' previous high-priced surfer-boy quarterback, Rob Johnson, lived in a beachfront California home in the offseason, and we all remember how well Johnson turned out. Losman lived in his native California before his first two Bills' campaigns. Then in the winter of 2006, he bought a house in Buffalo, committing himself to the city year-round. The football gods smile on that sort of thing! Based on this, TMQ predicts a good rookie season for first-round Bills choice Marshawn Lynch. An Oakland native who went to Cal, Lynch and his mother are house shopping in Buffalo -- he's moving there while his mother enrolls his younger brother in a Buffalo-area school. The football gods smile on that sort of thing.
It has been seven seasons since this once-dominant franchise made the playoffs, and in that time -- whether as cause or effect -- Buffalo has suffered constant turnover at quarterback and on the coaching staff. Elite teams roll out the same quarterback and assistant coaches year after year; 2007 will be the first time in four seasons that Buffalo will field the same quarterback, coached by the same offensive coordinator, as the previous season. But will the Bills' lines be any good? Buffalo has fallen into the bad habit of spending its top draft choices on skinny gentlemen -- defensive backs and wide receivers. In the past five drafts, Buffalo has had 14 picks in the first three rounds and used only three on linemen. Buffalo has just one lineman on its roster who was drafted in the first round. In the Super Bowl, Chicago started four linemen in the first round and Indianapolis started three.
Hoping to improve weak line play, the Ivies threw considerable money to free-agent offensive linemen, including Derrick Dockery. Many sports pundits noted the Bills gave about as much in guarantees (the only real part of an NFL contract) to Dockery as it would have cost to retain cornerback Nate Clements, who signed with San Francisco. Pundits called this a bad move because Clements is regarded as an elite player and no one except immediate family members has ever heard of Dockery. TMQ thinks general manager Marv "Part D" Levy made the right move. Clements is older than Dockery and reaching the age when cornerbacks begin to decline. Dockery was one of the league's best blockers in 2006 -- remember, even some full-time professional football analysts pay no attention to the offensive line and have no idea who's good -- and entering his prime.
Plus, although a quality player, Clements has a reputation for drastic mental errors. In 2004, the Bills missed the postseason by one win. Buffalo led Jacksonville 10-6 and had Jax facing fourth-and-14 with a minute remaining. The pass came toward Jimmy Smith. Clements had perfect position to knock the ball down and seal the victory; instead, he gambled for an interception to pad his stats, the ball bounced off his hands for a 45-yard advance by Smith, and Jacksonville won on the last snap. Fast-forward to 2005, when Buffalo led Miami 23-3 with 11 minutes remaining and staged one of the epic collapses in sports history. On the Dolphins' winning play, a touchdown pass to Chris Chambers with six seconds left, Clements simply stood watching Chambers -- covering no one at all, though Chambers was Clements' man. Don't be surprised if San Francisco rues that "$80 million" contract it handed the cornerback in question.
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