Good article on Buffalo, Wys won't agree with caption

[MDFINFAN]

Buffalo Bills' Drew Bledsoe turned around the team's offense last season. The Bills averaged 23.9 points per game -- 11th best in the NFL -- which was enough to improve the team's record by five games.

Rest of article

Bills’ defense key to continue rise (http://www.msnbc.com/news/936801.asp)

[SABURZFAN]

no response by Wys???

[Scott]

T Henry and an improved O-line had nothing to do with our improvement?

[Jan Reimers]

The author is nuts if he thinks the plan is for Jones to replace Schobel.

[ublinkwescore]

I've got news for that guy - we're finishing first in our division.

[WG]

Originally posted by Scott
T Henry and an improved O-line had nothing to do with our improvement?

THANK YOU Scott!!

Some semblance of sanity around here...


MD,

:D

I guess where I have the problem is that it really wasn't the "D that allowed all those points."

Hear me out. In the Jets game, the D "allowed" only 24 points! NOT 37! STs allowed 13!

Of that 24, Drew set the Jets up at our own 19 YL on an INT.

Should the D take the heat for that one? So another 7 of that 24 wasn't the D's fault bringing down the "D's responsibility" to only 17 points!

Is a 17 point D effort vs. a team that averaged 22 points a game!!!

Are we really gonna blame the D for that!

Yet, everyone does!

Blame the STs, NOT the D.

[WG]

Originally posted by ublinkwescore
I've got news for that guy - we're finishing first in our division.

I agree ublink,

But only IF:

We don't have injuries to our OL, DL, Spikes, or WRs.

Drew will be runnin' for his life w/ either Pucillo or Sobieski in there. I think Sobieski will be fine over the long haul, but there's no way, especially after not having been a starter in college, that he's gonna start and be as good as an immobile Drew needs him to be. Same w/ Pucillo. I just don't see a former 7th rounder coming in w/o serious dropoffs in play who has no playing experience.

If Spikes goes out, we're right where we were last year at LB.

Moulds or Reed goes out, we're absolutely hosed.

On DL, heck, we don't even know who's starting right now, so if Adams, or even worse, PW goes out, again, our DL won't be much better if at all than it was last season.

Also, much of our finishing first will depend upon Gilbride and how he formulates game plans. If we don't cut down our passing and become quite a bit more balanced, then forget about winning more than 8 or 9 games against the schedule we have. We proved that we couldn't score doing that last year when we were far better equipped to score via the passing game and we failed miserably towards the end of the season.

If all that works out right, I can see us being 12-4. If another team takes it then, then they've earned it.

[MDFINFAN]

Originally posted by ublinkwescore
I've got news for that guy - we're finishing first in our division.

Way to go Ublink, but there's the matter of the other 3 teams in the division, who may have a little to say about that. He predicted us to finish 1st, but the game is played on the field..any proclamation about where a team will finish at this point is pointless..As Wys so rightly pointed out, an injury here, a bad call there, a missed FG and you're in 3rd or 4th place, right now Buf and Miami are a couple of injuries from a bad season. Our D is deeper than yours, Our O in thin on OL..so an injury to our OL, and his prediction of 1st for us, could go up in smoke..If both teams remain healthy, I could see us battling it out for 1st..But I never count out the Jets or Pats, we both could be sitting behind them come January.

[WG]

I don't care what happens, the PATS aren't going to finish any better than .500.

The Jets may be 12-4 or 6-10, same for the Bills and Fins. But if the Pats are better than .500, I'll kiss Judge!

Only if he'll register republican if the Pats are worse than .500! :D

[WG]

BTW, here's what my assessment of N.E. is based on;

They start the season v. us, then...

@ Philly
Jets
@ Washington
Tennessee
Giants
@ Miami
Cleveland
@ Denver

That's their first 9 games, then they have a bye week followed w/ a break v. Dallas and Houston.

But they also play @ Indy, @ Jets, Fins and us again too.

I just don't see them winning more than half of those games if they're lucky, w/o a decent RB.

[justasportsfan]

Originally posted by MDFINFAN


Way to go Ublink, but there's the matter of the other 3 teams in the division, who may have a little to say about that. He predicted us to finish 1st, but the game is played on the field..any proclamation about where a team will finish at this point is pointless..As Wys so rightly pointed out, an injury here, a bad call there, a missed FG and you're in 3rd or 4th place, right now Buf and Miami are a couple of injuries from a bad season. Our D is deeper than yours, Our O in thin on OL..so an injury to our OL, and his prediction of 1st for us, could go up in smoke..If both teams remain healthy, I could see us battling it out for 1st..But I never count out the Jets or Pats, we both could be sitting behind them come January.

Sorry, between you and Ublink, I think he knows his football better than you. Not because you're a finfan , only because you like guys that wear teal and orange.

[Halbert]

Originally posted by Wys Guy
BTW, here's what my assessment of N.E. is ... I just don't see them winning more than half of those games if they're lucky, w/o a decent RB.
I agree. I believe NE will struggle to get above .500 this season.

Take a look at the defenses they play and then look at the passing yardage and passing TD’s allowed by those defenses. The Patriots face a brutal schedule against the best pass defenses in the league. I’d guess they have the hardest schedule when it comes to a pass oriented offense. Their only hope is that Antowain returns to at least his 2001 form to force the defenders toward the LOS and causing more 1-on-1’s for the WR’s because they will face an uphill battle to pass virtually every week. Frankly I’m rather shocked they didn’t go for any RB help to at least to push Smith because he sure won’t get it from Faulk or Redmond (don’t say Womack). I do think Antowain will be more motivated and have a better year, but they’ll need something super from either him or the passing game to overcome their schedule disadvantage. Colvin and Harrison didn’t do enough on the defense to overcome it either.

I also think the Jets will be 8-8 at best this season. I don’t care how inspired they played down the stretch, they are a team that is getting old at key positions, especially RB and LB. Jones and Lewis are definitely slowing down and both could post a ’02 Eddie Robinson type season. McGlockton was a nice recovery after the Evans suspension but he’s a downgrade and even with Evans they were 24th in team defense. Adding the rookie Robertson will help but not enough to put them in the top 15 where they need to be. Curtice Martin and his nagging injuries aren’t churning out the yardage like he used to, either. And speaking of age and injuries, the top WR is going into his 11th year and as good as Conway has been nobody’s going to confuse him with Jerry Rice. Chrebet is another slowing vet who will make plays but no longer is a serious enough threat to open the field. Conway, Pennington and Santana Moss need to have big seasons for the Jets to win the division, otherwise I just don’t see the Jets being intimidating enough to overcome their deficiencies.

Miami, OTOH, is another story. They are solid or better almost everywhere. WR might be their weakest area, but even there they at least are 4-deep with current or former starters so depth is strong. Fiedler will have enough reliable targets to fill in where Ricky missed a couple yards. If Ricky goes down they’re screwed, of course, but he was the man last season and looking for him to miss considerable time seems to be a bad gamble. And the defense looks just as good as ever, if not better. As if that weren’t enough, they appear to have a great mix of veterans and youth at all the right places so they should be a poised and prepared team. Miami will be very tough.

We’ve talked the Bills to death so we know what the issues are there, but I see most of them going the Bills way and they’ll be a very solid team. Probably not enough to overcome the power of the Dolphins but enough to snag a playoff spot.

12-4 Miami
11-5 Buffalo
8-8 NE
7-9 Jets

[WG]

I disagree on Smith. The run Ds they face are tough as well and he simply didn't run well against those caliber teams last season.

I'll pencil him in for 800 and 6 TDs.

BTW, no one "could post a ’02 Eddie Robinson type season." I think it's a virtual impossibility now that he's retired.

On the Jets, aren't you forgetting Jordan to take over for Martin?

Martin has carried his teams offensively since he's been in the league. Splitting time w/ Jordan should be refreshing for him. I think the Jets backfield will once again be formidable.

[Throne Logic]

Don't forget the most important factor on the Pats, the coaching. BB is one heck of a game planner. He's Parcells all over again (grumble, grumble). He can make more out of nothing better than just about anyone else in the league.

Which brings up an interesting idea. What will Tuna do with the mess he's got in Dallas? Glad he's not in our division. I wouldn't want to play him and BB each twice a year.

[WG]

Yeah, but he's still gotta have his players execute well enough to score some points.

I realize that this concept is somewhat sketchy for '02/'03 Bills fans, but it's true, you need to put points on the boards (not simply amass yards) in order to win games.

STs/D isn't going to win 12 games for you. 2 or 3 and you're lucky.

[Nighthawk]

Umm, what about the Ravens of a few years back?