High-powered Bills retool woeful defense

[TypicalBill]

Gamblers everywhere bemoaned the Bills' offseason makeover.

For the better part of 17 weeks last season, betting the "over" on Buffalo games was the closest thing to a sure bet as you can find in the topsy-turvy NFL. The Bills' combination of potent offense and porous defense routinely turned games into track meets. While Drew Bledsoe, Eric Moulds and Peerless Price were piling up points, the defense was giving it all back and then some. Only Cincinnati (456) and Kansas City (399) allowed more points in the AFC than Buffalo (397).

It all added up to an 8-8 season, the club's third in a row without a playoff berth. Although making the playoffs this year will be just as tough in the ultra-competitive AFC East, at the very least the Bills hope to be more than an easy parlay play.



High-powered Bills retool woeful defense (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/2003/preview/news/2003/07/13/bills_storyline/)

[Halbert]

There's that 209 tackle reference again. I think it's bogus but what do I know?

[superbills]

Where the hell is that number coming from? That's gotta be seriously inflated ,somehow!

[Halbert]

That's been a debate on the boards all summer. Somebody explained that the tackle count depends on the method and that every team gets to define their own method. I don't know if that's entirely accurate or not but most places have LF at 149 total tackles for the season - including BB.com (click on site map at the bottom of the home page then statistics). That 209 reference keeps popping up in different places but I have yet to see anyplace that actually lists him at that.

[Jan Reimers]

His bio on nflplayers.com lists 98 tackles and 49 assists, which by my math adds up to 147. That seems about right. I like Fletcher - I just think he's a good player rather than a great one.