Lindell is staying.. get used to it.

[Tatonka]

Bryan Ault (Alexandria, VA): As fans, we do not have a lot of confidence in Rian Lindell's distance and we think he puts additional pressure on the offense to get closer late in close games. How do you intend to address the kicking situation in the off-season? Thanks for your time.
TD: Our philosophy as an organization is to always try to improve the team in all areas. Sometimes, however, you should watch what you wish for. Rian Lindell improved as much as any player on our team last year compared to the 2003 season. He ended the year near the top of most statistical categories in the NFL. For example, in 2003 he was 17-of-24 kicking field goals for a total of 75 points. In 2004, he was 24-of-28 on his field goals for 117 points. He also lost two long field goals last year when we called timeout prior to the kicks which he made. Rian is improving and has done a very good job under the direction of Bobby April. We expect him to take another step this season as our kicker.

http://www.buffalobills.com/news/news.jsp?news_id=3131

[Novacane]

looks like Eb is gonna be owing me some zonebucks

[Iehoshua]

:ill:

I hope TD's right.. I agree to an extent about his improvement but I felt the staff didn't have much confidence to begin with in his abilities...

[THATHURMANATOR]

He sucks.

[Dicknoze69]

I agree that he improved, but god, he has no longe range capabilities and he scares me in the clutch.

[gobuffalo2007]

Lindell is staying.. get used to it.

get used to what? Losing more games by 3 points this season.
what about Pochman? you know the guy in europe.

[Albany,n.y.]

Don't ever believe what a GM says before the draft. Here's reading between the lines:

TD: Our philosophy as an organization is to always try to improve the team in all areas. (We can't wait until we find a guy to replace that bum)
Sometimes, however, you should watch what you wish for. Rian Lindell improved as much as any player on our team last year compared to the 2003 season. (We sould have cut him after 2003. Drew also improved in 2004 compared to 2003 & we canned him the 1st day we could)
He ended the year near the top of most statistical categories in the NFL. For example, in 2003 he was 17-of-24 kicking field goals for a total of 75 points. In 2004, he was 24-of-28 on his field goals for 117 points. (The staff had so little confidence in him they wouldn't let him try anything too long so his stats look good, but 2 of those 4 misses were chip shots that cost us 2 games)
He also lost two long field goals last year when we called timeout prior to the kicks which he made. (The opponent saw we had called time out so didn't bother to defend the kicks. Ryan felt no pressure & sailed them through, something he never does when it really matters)
Rian is improving and has done a very good job under the direction of Bobby April. We expect him to take another step this season as our kicker. (He'll be taking a step out the door if Mike Nugent is available when we draft in the 2nd round)

[Iehoshua]

No way I see TD taking a kicker that high...

[Dicknoze69]

I don't either. Lindell is alright...not a game-changer, but not awful.

We have other positions to address in the draft.

[Jersey1031]

lindell's a bum and i didnt think we'd cut him anyway as much as i wanted them to...

[OpIv37]

damn, that's my question!!! I'm surprised he answered it

[Tatonka]

i cant believe people are still thinking that he would draft nugent..

we have no LT, no LG, our center and RG are both in their 30s.. we need a 3rd wr.. and some cornerbacks, since we dont have any signed right now for 2006.

yeah.. we need to take a kicker in the 2nd round. unbelievable. :shakeno:

[Carlton Bailey]

June 2nd- With this ESPNEWS update, I'm Brian Kenny. The Buffalo Bills are among the teams making news in the NFL today. They have released their current Kicker Rian Lindell and have signed newly released Kicker, Mike Vanderjagt. Vanderjagt is the most accurate kicker in NFL history.

** How awesome would that be.

[The Spaz]

i cant believe people are still thinking that he would draft nugent..

we have no LT, no LG, our center and RG are both in their 30s.. we need a 3rd wr.. and some cornerbacks, since we dont have any signed right now for 2006.

yeah.. we need to take a kicker in the 2nd round. unbelievable. :shakeno:

Some people just don't think long term.

[Tatonka]

it is not even about thinking long term.. the arguement has been debated over and over..

drafting day one kickers provides no guarentee of anything.. and the leagues best kickers are all guys who were undrafted.. while the day one guys are both average to good but nothing special.

[Carlton Bailey]

it is not even about thinking long term.. the arguement has been debated over and over..

drafting day one kickers provides no guarentee of anything.. and the leagues best kickers are all guys who were undrafted.. while the day one guys are both average to good but nothing special.
People are thinking of a fellow 3rd round Big Ten kicker who had success. Nate Kaeding did a great job as a 3rd round rookie in San Diego. That is why people want Nugent. He was more impressive than Kaeding in college and Kaeding was tremendous in college at Purdue. I watched plenty of Ohio State and I saw Kaeding make a lot of great kicks.

[Tatonka]

i got 500 zbs that says that TD doesnt draft a kicker on day one.. if nugent is drafted before the bills ever pick.. then the bet is a push... no winner no loser.

[jamze132]

I asked Tom pretty much the exact question. But I didn't receive the answer I wanted. I don't give a crap what round we are supposed to draft a kicker. If a player is available and can help your team more than another player in the draft, than you pick him. It shouldn't matter if we have the opportunity to draft an O-lineman who is really good but may not start the upcoming season or draft a kicker with our 2nd rounder. The kicker will help this team more than any lineman that will be available when we finaly pick. Just my opinion, though. :tip:

[Tatonka]

People are thinking of a fellow 3rd round Big Ten kicker who had success. Nate Kaeding did a great job as a 3rd round rookie in San Diego. That is why people want Nugent. He was more impressive than Kaeding in college and Kaeding was tremendous in college at Purdue. I watched plenty of Ohio State and I saw Kaeding make a lot of great kicks.

san diego also had an assload of picks because of the whole rivers/manning thing.. including a 1st rounder..

we are not taking a kicker with a day one pick unless the kickers name is jesus christ and can make a field goal from our 10, never misses, and always kicks touchbacks. period.

[Tatonka]

again.. taking all bets.. come all yee nugent believers.

[Dozerdog]

It's amazing how the Lindell "Legend" grows.


Guys hate him so much - now that Bledsoe isn't the focal whipping boy- that we now lost 2-3 games last season due to missed kicks...or how we punt instead of try longer FGs.

People are convinced we would have finished 11-5, 12-4 if Adam Vinetari was our kicker.

[Carlton Bailey]

san diego also had an assload of picks because of the whole rivers/manning thing.. including a 1st rounder..

we are not taking a kicker with a day one pick unless the kickers name is jesus christ and can make a field goal from our 10, never misses, and always kicks touchbacks. period.
I agree with you. We will not take Nugent. I'm not saying I want him either. I support whomever TD decides to pick. Why the hostility every time I say something?

[Carlton Bailey]

It's amazing how the Lindell "Legend" grows.


Guys hate him so much - now that Bledsoe isn't the focal whipping boy- that we now lost 2-3 games last season due to missed kicks...or how we punt instead of try longer FGs.

People are convinced we would have finished 11-5, 12-4 if Adam Vinetari was our kicker.
We would have finished 11-5 if Lindell could have made that chipshot against Jacksonville and Pittsburgh. IMO, he's every bit as much to blame as Bledsoe was. He has got to go.

[Dozerdog]

san diego also had an assload of picks because of the whole rivers/manning thing.. including a 1st rounder..

we are not taking a kicker with a day one pick unless the kickers name is jesus christ and can make a field goal from our 10, never misses, and always kicks touchbacks. period.


We need Gus- the kicking mule

[Tatonka]

I agree with you. We will not take Nugent. I'm not saying I want him either. I support whomever TD decides to pick. Why the hostility every time I say something?

i dont have any hostility towards you.. sorry if you got that impression.. i have hostility towards people thinking that we are going to blow a 2nd round pick on a kicker, when it is so obvious that the best kickers in the league are undafted.


We would have finished 11-5 if Lindell could have made that chipshot against Jacksonville and Pittsburgh. IMO, he's every bit as much to blame as Bledsoe was. He has got to go.

actually.. there was just a post on this the other day.. it is not acurate..

[Carlton Bailey]

i dont have any hostility towards you.. sorry if you got that impression.. i have hostility towards people thinking that we are going to blow a 2nd round pick on a kicker, when it is so obvious that the best kickers in the league are undafted.



actually.. there was just a post on this the other day.. it is not acurate..
How is it not accurate? Explain. It seems pretty damn accurate to me. If you are going to make the case that the Jacksonville game would have been 13-13 with the Lindell made kick, fine. That game is up for grabs. However, the Pittsburgh game would have been won if it was 20-16. That missed kick deflated the whole team as evidenced by the next play, a 58 yard run by Willie Parker.

[Tatonka]

dozer.. what post was it that the guy came out, guns blazing about this very thing.. then you asked him to prove it.. and he actually proved himself wrong and changed his whole stance on the issue?

[Dozerdog]

We would have finished 11-5 if Lindell could have made that chipshot against Jacksonville and Pittsburgh. IMO, he's every bit as much to blame as Bledsoe was. He has got to go.
We lost the Jacksonville game because of stupid turnovers, one being a Moulds fumble in the red zone, then a holding call that nullified a first and 10 at the Jacksonville 20 with 2 minutes remaining- then the failure to hold Jax on 3 seperate 4th downs.


We lost to Pittsburgh again due to turnovers, (Clements fumble of a punt inside the 10- Bledsoe fumble for a TD )and the inability to stop a 3rd string offense. We lost that game by a greater than 3 point margin.

[Dozerdog]

dozer.. what post was it that the guy came out, guns blazing about this very thing.. then you asked him to prove it.. and he actually proved himself wrong and changed his whole stance on the issue?
http://www.billszone.com/fanzone/showpost.php?p=946086&postcount=18

[Carlton Bailey]

We lost the Jacksonville game because of stupid turnovers, one being a Moulds fumble in the red zone, then a holding call that nullified a first and 10 at the Jacksonville 20 with 2 minutes remaining- then the failure to hold Jax on 3 seperate 4th downs.


We lost to Pittsburgh again due to turnovers, (Clements fumble of a punt inside the 10- Bledsoe fumble for a TD )and the inability to stop a 3rd string offense. We lost that game by a greater than 3 point margin.You can get cute with it and use those excuses but both were simple kicks. You can't justify missing a 42 yarder in the 3rd quarter in 70 degree weather at home against Jacksonville and you can't justify missing a 20 yard kick no matter what the conditions are.

[Dozerdog]

You can get cute and pick & choose which 3 points cost us a season, and which turnovers/plays you want to ignore that would have won games.


You hate Lindell. We get it. Get used to the fact that there isn't an 83% FG kicker on the market to replace him with, and that we aren't drafting one day 1, if at all.

Is he the best kicker out there? No. Is he the worst? No. He's average. And he's hardly the reason our team missed the playoffs.

[Carlton Bailey]

You can get cute and pick & choose which 3 points cost us a season, and which turnovers/plays you want to ignore that would have won games.


You hate Lindell. We get it. Get used to the fact that there isn't an 83% FG kicker on the market to replace him with, and that we aren't drafting one day 1, if at all.

Is he the best kicker out there? No. Is he the worst? No. He's average. And he's hardly the reason our team missed the playoffs.
There's a dude named Vanderjagt that will probably be out there in June. He's just a tad bit better than Lindell. Sarcasm alert.

[Slim]

There's a dude named Vanderjagt that will probably be out there in June. He's just a tad bit better than Lindell. Sarcasm alert.

lol
Bills release S Prioleau; re-sign TE Neufeld
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/wire?section=nfl&id=2013066

[LifetimeBillsFan]

we are not taking a kicker with a day one pick unless the kickers name is jesus christ and can make a field goal from our 10, never misses, and always kicks touchbacks. period.And, even then it they probably wouldn't draft him that high. You know, character issues and the Bills are very cautious about drafting guys, like him, who might have "off-the-field issues: after all, the guy has a "posse" of a dozen guys who are always hanging out with him--rough, low-lifes from the docks and guys who have quit their jobs just to hang out with him--he's been seen in the company of hookers, and has a really cocky attitude--he actually thinks he's the Son of God, etc. :snicker:

[Rhettoric]

If we can count on our offense (minus Drew SlowBleeder) to give us more than one touch down a game then who cares about the kicker. Spend the 2nd round draft pick on a stud OL that will protect JP so we can put seven on the board as opposed to three.

:gobills:

[Dozerdog]

There's a dude named Vanderjagt that will probably be out there in June. He's just a tad bit better than Lindell. Sarcasm alert.

Well, on June 2, you can complain all you want that a better kicker is out there.

[mysticsoto]

If we can count on our offense (minus Drew SlowBleeder) to give us more than one touch down a game then who cares about the kicker. Spend the 2nd round draft pick on a stud OL that will protect JP so we can put seven on the board as opposed to three.

:gobills:
Exactly what I was getting ready to say!!!

:clap:

[BillsFever21]

Lindell is far from improving but if there isn't anyone better out there then we're stuck with him. You just don't make a change for the sake of making one unless you have a better replacement.

Sure his overall FGA-FGM looks pretty good but they were all chip shots.

He only had 3 attempts from 40+ yards and only made 1 of them. He's only 4-12 from 40+ yards in the two years he's been in Buffalo. In his career he's 28-51 from 40+ yards.

He's not anyone we can feel safe about from 45 yards anytime during the game let alone in a pressure situation when the game is on the line.

[helmetguy]

A less loveable Norwood?

[gobuffalo2007]

Whats wrong with you people last year if it wasnt for lindell we would have been a different team.







a better team.

[Kerr]

Simply scary. If lindell screws up, I expect TD to be the first one to admit he made a mistake not giving him the boot.

[Tatonka]

so anyone who wanted to draft nugent on day one want to stand up?

he missed 2 field goals last week.. and lindell is one of the best kickers in the nfl this year.

[Iehoshua]

so anyone who wanted to draft nugent on day one want to stand up?
he missed 2 field goals last week.. and lindell is one of the best kickers in the nfl this year.
I stand up as doubting him. I didn't want to draft Nugent but I wanted a new kicker. Right now, Lindell is making me eat my words, and I'm enjoying watching!
:D

[Tatonka]

:up:

[LifetimeBillsFan]

so anyone who wanted to draft nugent on day one want to stand up?

he missed 2 field goals last week.. and lindell is one of the best kickers in the nfl this year.

I didn't want the Bills to draft Nugent either and didn't believe that they would, but I was hoping that they would draft or sign one of the good kickers that were part of this year's draft class because I had no confidence in Lindell whatsoever. All I can say now is that this crow really doesn't taste all that bad....sprinkle a few Bills wins on it and it's really quite palatable!