Week 9 Bills Power Rankings Compilation

Mid way through the season and the Bills are 3-5.  Here is a compilation of their rankings on our fav websitezzz:

ESPN 20:
The Bills move up a spot after losing by 18 points to the 'aints.  Some how they are still behind the Dolphins.

"There's no time to lick the wounds from a 35-17 loss in New Orleans. Buffalo returns home to face the Chiefs, the last of the league's undefeated teams."


CBS Sports 22:
A two spot jump from Prisco and a good luck because they play KC this week.

"That was a tough second game of a road trip at New Orleans. Now they get the Chiefs. Good luck."


Foxsports 18:
Man Billick loves him some Bills even if he dropped them two spots.

"For a team that is playing with its third-string QB, the Bills are fighting like dogs and are going to be a tough out down the stretch."


Walter Football 24:
A nice pithy comment yet again from Walter as he keeps the Bills at 24.

"I don't have much to say about the Bills, so let me post something e-mailer Joe B. sent to me. Joe pretty much summed up what any NFL game sounded like for me this month:

"Unsportsmanlike conduct. Offense. The quarterback spoke his pre-snap cadence in English, which is illegal during Hispanic Heritage Month. That's a 15-yard penalty, and the player is suspended for the remainder of Hispanic Heritage Month. He is eligible to return for Breast Cancer Awareness Month, but only if he conforms to the strict uniform regulations: pink gloves, pink shoes, pink ankle tape, pink towel and a pink skull cap. First down!"

I suppose this fake referee's announcement is still better than those weird Drew Brees false starts. I'm still trying to figure out what was going on with that."


Yahoo! Sports 21:
A one spot jump and a truthy Mario Williams comment yum.

"Mario Williams has 11 sacks in eight games. Maybe Buffalo overpaid for him in free agency last year, but that's what they had to do to get him, and he's earning his money."


PFT 23:
Ouch the Bills experience their biggest drop of the week from twenty last week and Florio has some hate in his heart.

"After the Chiefs come to town, the Bills have six straight winnable games to lose."


The average spot for the week 21.3, the highest 18 and lowest 24.  Are these starting to get a bit boring?

Week 8 NFL Picks

Steve 14-20-1 Best Bet 3-4

49ers -16 v Jaguars
Bengals -6 v Jets
Dolphins +7 @ Patriots
Broncos -12 v Redskins
Cowboys +3 @ lions

Wreck 21-14 Best Bet 5-2

Vikings +9.5 v Packers
Rams +11.5 v Seahawks
Redskins @ Broncos under 59
Jets +6 @ Bengals
Browns @ Chiefs over 39.5

Coast 19-15-1 Best Bet 4-3

Browns +7.5 @ Chiefs
Broncos -12 v Redskins
Bills +12 @  Saints
Dolphins +7 @ Patriots
Jets +6 @ Bengals

Katman 3-2 Best bet 0-1

Patriots -7 v Dolphins
Steelers -3 @ Raiders
Redskins +12 v Broncos
Bills @ Saints over 49
Chiefs -7.5 v Browns

Bills @ New Orleans Saints Podcast Preview

Steve and Wreck and guests break down the Bills epic win in Miami and look towards the over rated aints

   




right click save as to download

The Bills After 7 Weeks

By Steve

Thaddy Daddy wins a division game on the road in his second start thirteen days from being on the practice squad? Rare.

Why is Jeff Tuel still on the roster? Why was he on the roster to begin with? Who would have thought the Bills would have 3x more wins than the Sabres at this point?

Doug Marrone and Natty Daddy Hackett still haven't earned the benefit of the doubt but the Bills are (vaguely) in the playoff hunt, have scored at least 20 points in every game and are no longer a laughing stock. Shit, even Mario Williams is silencing critics.

However, things aren't all roses and blow jobs yet. Buffalo has yet to blow anyone out causing us to change our underwear after every game and they have L's to Clev, Cinci and NYJ. Not to mention N.O. and KC are stairing them in the face over the next ten days (combined 12-1). Moreover, the rb's are all banged up and Stevie Johnson is no no. 1 but there are glimmers of hope.

Thaddeius is not the answer at qb but appears to be an adequate place holder until Mr. injury Erik James returns (11/17 hopefully). The guy can throw the ball down field, runs a decent read option and hasn't made an egregious error. I don't hate the guy!

If the defense continues to make plays the Bills will continue to be in most games.  After the aints there isn't an unwinnable game left on the schedule.

The Bills have new expectations. I expect this team to compete for a playoff spot until the last day of the season. Yes the coach is a bit lost some times, Hackett leaves us scratching our head a lot and the receivers suck but this team isn't the Chan Gailey Bills.

True they haven't been favored in a game yet this season and won't be for another month but this team has some swag.  Of course it is quite possible I will regret this post when they get boat raced in the next three games but I might bench the negativity until that happens. Leggo

Buffalo Bills Week 8 Power Rankings Compilation

Here are this week's Bills power rankings from our beloved sports blogs:

Walter Football 24:
A six spot leap but a realistic criticism of the Bills in the past present and future.

"Poor Buffalo fans. Thad Lewis isn't good enough to lead the team into the playoffs, but he's not incompetent, so he's helping the team win enough games to take them out of the running for Jadeveon Clowney and Anthony Barr. The front office will draft a decent player, but he won't be enough to get the organization over the hump. Then, the same thing will happen next year, and the year after that, and the year after that... It's sad, but Bills' backers are used to this endless cycle of mediocrity."


ESPN 21:
A jump of four from last week and a Mario Williams sack that is, gasp, positive.

"Mario Williams has now reached double-digit sack totals in each of his two seasons in Buffalo, something he did only twice in six seasons with the Texans."


Fox Sports 16:
 Another big jump this time by six spots, and fuckin shockingly logical position ahead of the Dolphins for the first time.

"Thaddeus Lewis earned his first win as a starter in the NFL, but the game ball should go to the defense who forced three turnovers, one of which was returned for a touchdown."


CBS Sports 24:
Ol' Prickly Pete not giving much love but to his credit he dropped the Dolphins thirteen spots to 27.

"That was an impressive victory at Miami. The defense made some big plays. Thad Lewis got his first victory because of it."


PFT 20:
A four spot boost and while I don't mind the Mario crack back I don't really understand it.

"Mario Williams is playing well enough to afford a lot more six-figure engagement rings that his future former fiancee’s don’t give back to him."

 

 

Yahoo! Sport 22:

Five spot jump and a hint at Thaddy Daddy usurping Erik James?

"Quarterback Thad Lewis has now played two good games in a row. EJ Manuel will get his job back when he returns (right?), but Lewis could make things really interesting."

 

 

The average spot was 21.16666666666666 with the highest spot at 16 (of course Billick and Foxsports and tie at 24 for the lowest with CBS and Walter Football.  Four websites have the Dolphins still ranked ahead of the Bills inexplicably.

Week 7 NFL Picks

Yeah, we added "katman" here are the week 7 nfl picks against the spread:

Steve 13-16-1 Best Bet 3-3

Patriots -4 @ Jets
Chiefs -7 v Texans
Titans +3.5 v 49ers
Broncos -7 @ Colts
Broncos @ Colts over 57
Dolphins +6 @ Bills


Wreck 17-13 Best Bet 4-2

Steelers -1 v Ravens
Bills +6 @ Dolphins
Lions -3 v Bengals
Giants -3.5 v Vikings
Eagles v Cowboys under 56


Coast 16-13-1 Best Bet 3-3

Bills +6 @ Dolphins
Lions -3 v Bengals
Jets +4 v Patriots
Steelers -1 v Ravens
Broncos -7 @ Colts


Katman 0-0-0 Best Bet 0-0

Bears -1 @ Redskins
Buccaneers @ Falcons under 43
Bills +6 @ Dolphins
Cowboys +3 @ Eagles
Steelers -1 v Ravens

Podcast: Bills at Dolphins Preview

Steve and Coast review the Bills contest against the Bengals and look forward to the Dolphins contest in Miami, do it.

   




right click save as to download

The Buffalo Bills After 6 Weeks

By Steve

The Buffalo Bills after six weeks are 2-4 and behind schedule in terms of wins, development and growth. Even as pessimistic as I am I had this team at 3-3 right now. Noe they have 4 straight L's stairing them in the face and their rookie first round pick is injury prone and out 6 more weeks. Ouch.

First the good, because this will be brief:

Kiko Alonso appears to be a great second round pick. He makes plays, runs around like a mad man and is in line for defensive ROY.

The offense is scoring, for the most part. They are 16th in total offense (yards) 17th in PPG and 2nd in plays from scrimage.  Nate Hackett has left a lot to be desired but the offense is playing admirably especially considering they have used 3 different quarterbacks, have no good wide receivers and both running backs are banged up.

Now the bad:

The defense is gruesome. They made the likes of the Bengals and Browns look like the 2013 Broncos. The Bengals matched their scoring average 17 minutes into the game last Sunday. Brandon Weeden yes that Weeden came in after a Brian Hoyer first quarter injury and drove the Browns up and down the field seemingly at will. The Bills lost both games.

EJ Manuel looked decent in his 4.5 games but its tough to argue he has been a bit of a dissapointment. He has hurt his knee twice in two months, has lost to fellow rookie (and my prefered pick) Geno Smith while being out played badly and has struggle with his down field accuracy. Moreover, he is scheduled to be out at least four more weeks just about washing out his rookie season. Don't get me wrong he has shown promise but he may need to beat out Thad Lewis just to get back in the line up if he's ever healthy again.

The wide receivers are horrible. I pointed this out all offseason that the wr position was a huge hole on offense. Stevie Johnson gets hurt every single game and even when he plays (20 254 2tds) he hasn't been effective. Robert Woods shows flashes but where has he been the last two weeks (7 73 0 tds) when SJ13 was ailing? They need to go WR in multiple rounds in next years draft.

Doug Marrone. The guy has shown why he was a head coach in a lowly conference in a mediocre football program. He is in over his head. Useless challenges, questionable decision making and has lost double the games he's won. This organization is stuck with him for at least another 26 games or so so oh well.

Overview
How can anyone, at this point, not be dissapointed? The Bills have lost games they should have won and are a bad 2-4 football team. It seems like the more things change the more they stay the same. Its not to say there havent been bright spots or that there havent been excuses (like a ton of injuries) but this team has been a let down. The schedule gets much worse before it gets better and this team might be in for a free fall starting on Sunday. How does 0-3 in the division sound?

Week 7 Bills Power Rankings Compilation

Here is the Bills week 7 power rankings comp. from our "favorite" websites:

Walter football 30:
No change from our boy Walt with a crack again at ol' Tuel

"I dropped the Bills to No. 30 last week because E.J. Manuel was declared out for at least six weeks. He may not be effective when he returns anyway. Thaddeus Lewis handled himself well, but now he's hurt. The poor Bills may have to turn to Matt Flynn. Anyone but Jeff Tuel, who hasn't left his room in protest recently because his parents decreased his allowance from $50,000 to $49,000 per week."


ESPN 25:
The Bills drop two spots but obviously the person that left this comment did not watch the game:

"Thad Lewis had 233 yards of offense and three touchdowns Sunday, but one lost fumble on a scramble was the difference. A Bengals touchdown nine plays later hurt in a three-point loss."


Fox Sports 22:
The Bills move up a spot and Billick continues to love this team for some reason:

"The Bills have four losses by an average of just 6.3 points. No one is going to want to play the Bills when they are healthy."


CBS Sports 28:
Down two spots with two rhetorical questions:

"When do the quarterback problems end? Is anybody left to start?"


PFT 24:
 No change in position but some Matt Flynn hate which I like:

 "There are bad quarterback situations, and then there are quarterback situations so bad that Matt Flynn gets a spot on the depth chart."


Yahoo! Sports 27:
A one spot jump with a lot of positivity:

"The record doesn't matter. Bills fans should be very excited what is happening with this team. A foundation is being set. They just need to be patient and let it grow."


Overview:
The Bills average spot this week was 26 with the best comment coming from Walterfootball and the least valuable coming from ESPN, so basically no surprises.

Bungals 27 Bills 24 - Coast's Reaction

Thaddeus Lewis threw 2 touchdown passes and rushed for another. He threw for 212 yards and did not throw an interception. His QB rating was over 100. He completed a deep ball to Graham AND Goodwin (for a TD). If you would have told me Saturday that all of this would have happened, I would have given the Bills a 95% chance of winning. The other 5% was the Bills defense just completely laying an egg.

Unfortunately, the Bills D didn't show up until the 4th quarter. Prior to that, they were a complete disaster. Andy Dalton threw for 337 yards and 3 touchdowns. Sounds like a great day...but I disagree, Andy Dalton is average at best. The Bills defense played like it had never seen a screen pass before. AJ Green had a 54 yard reception on a WR screen. Marvin Jones had a 42 yard reception on a WR screen (and a 34 yard run on a reverse). Gio Bernard had a 23 yard reception on a swing pass and another 20 yard reception for a TD on a shovel pass. You add all of that up and you get 139 yards on 4 passes that traveled a combined 5 yards from scrimmage in the air. The remainder of Dalton's 22 completions were for less than 200 yards combined. The Bills also could not stop the run. They allowed 165 yards rushing. Benjarvis Green-Ellis averaged 4.8 YPC which is 1.9 YPC more than his season average up until this game. In all, the Bengals had 483 yards of offense and kept the ball for 42 minutes, compared to 25 for the Bills. I will give the Bills some (very little) credit for stiffening in the 4th quarter, but at the same time, they were going up against Marvin Lewis who tries to lose whenever possible & they were due for at least one stop after going three quarters without even forcing a punt.

So why did the defense suck so bad? Some may blame Byrd and Gilmore for impacting the "chemistry". That is garbage...if you can get pro bowl caliber players back, you take them. I do question Gilmore's effectiveness though playing with just one hand. Did that contribute to the long WR screen plays? I know he was out there for at least one & the play was thrown towards his side of the field. It was just a poor performance by a defense that had high expectations from me coming in...very disappointing. I will say, although not really jumping off the screen yesterday, Kiko Alonso had 22 tackles. He seems to constantly be around the ball (he did get burnt on a Andy Dalton scramble though for a first down).

On offense, the Bills scored 24 points with a guy that was on the practice squad 9 days prior at quarterback. CJ Spiller was obviously not 100%. Steve Johnson didn't play. They were going up against a very good defense. All in all, they did their job. The worst moment of the game for the offense was the goal line stand. 1st and goal from the 2...run right, run right, run right, play action pass. Not once did they QB sneak (2nd and 3rd down were from the 1). Not once did the spread it out. They ran the play action on 4th down, not 2nd or 3rd. It was a horrendous job by Nate Hackett...just absolutely terrible. To make matters worse, the Bengals marched 98 yards for a touchdown after that stop. I do 1000% completely agree with Marrone to go for it there. You go for it 100% of the time from the 1 yard line in that situation.

Lewis did well throwing the deep ball, no question about it. That being said, I cannot wait for EJ Manuel to get healthy. Lewis was not accurate on the short/intermediate passes. I have never played quarterback, but I would imagine the deep ball is the least risky/easiest pass to make. You see man coverage, and just throw it up. If it is caught, great. If it is incomplete, fine. If it is intercepted then you defend it by saying you gave your guy a chance. Lewis did not show me that he could read a defense and complete 10-20 yard passes in the middle of the field into tight windows. Teams had no film on Lewis. I am nervous after a few games, teams will figure him out, take away the deep ball, and he could then struggle.

The officiating was horrible. The missed PI call on the Goodwin deep pass was incredible. He was basically horse collared by Pac Man Jones & they didn't call it. The penalty on Kyle Williams for unsportsmanlike conduct was terrible. Calling Moorman's first punt a touchback was embarrassing. The ref was literally right next to the ball. It was clear it landed out of bounds yet he somehow still called it a touchdown. I know they got the call right, but the fact he missed it was brutal.

The punt coverage sucked. Easley whiffed on the tackle on the final long punt return setting up the game winning field goal. The punt coverage killed them in Cleveland. New punter (who did punt better than Powell) but same result. Punt team killed them.

Finally, I will cave in and agree with some people who killed the Bills front office/coaching staff for the Tuel situation. Thad Lewis proved on one drive he was better than Tuel. He was definitely good enough to win the Browns game for the Bills as all they needed was one play. Now Matt Flynn is getting worked out presumably to replace Jeff Tuel. If Jeff Tuel was so good that they didn't want to lose him, why are they completely giving up on him after one half of play. The more I think about it now after yesterday's performance, the more maddening it is. I gave them the benefit of the doubt until yesterday, but Lewis' performance proved he is substantially better than Tuel.

The Bills are now 2-4. The season is probably over. They will be without Manuel for another 3 games at least, all against good teams. The fact that they brought Flynn in for a workout can mean one of two things. First, it could mean Tuel might be history. Second, it could mean Manuel is going to be out much longer than we hope. Let's hope it is the former.

Next week is a must win...not for the playoffs, but for keeping things at least somewhat interesting for another week. Plus I hate the Dolphins. Go Bills.

Coast's Bills vs. Bengals Preview

HUGE football game tomorrow afternoon. The 2-3 Buffalo Bills will host the 3-2 Cincinnati Bengals, whom many picked to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl (not sure why). The Bungals are laying a TD on the road. I don't care who the opponent (other than maybe the Jags), but the Cincinnati Bungals are not good enough to be laying a touchdown on the road. Yet another slap in the face to the Bills organization. I guess Vegas thinks that Thad Lewis is a significant drop off from EJ Manuel.

Let's take a look at the Bungals body of work so far. First, they have lost each of their road games this year, at Chicago and at Cleveland. They scored only 6 points in Cleveland and have scored a combined 19 in their last two games. They have home wins against New England and Green Bay (although fluky). They have been terrible on offense and good on defense. Because of how bad their division is, they are still probably the favorite to win the division and host a playoff game.

Let's break down the match ups on each side of the ball:

Defensively, the Bungals have been solid. They are 8th in the league in yards per game allowed and they are 7th in points per game allowed. The key to the Bungal defense are its defensive tackles Geno Atkins and Domata Peko. With all of the struggles the Bills have had at guard this season, this could be their toughest match up of all. The Bengals are allowing less than 100 yards per game on the ground this season and whoever is starting at LG is going to have their hands full all day. The Bills on offense will most likely try and run the ball early and often and establishing the run against this tough defense will be imperative to their success on offense. The Bills offense has been surprisingly average this season, ranking 16th in yards per game and 19th in points per game (better than the 32nd and 30th we typically rank). The Bills "strength" this season though has been its running game as they rank 3rd in rush yards per game. I put strength in quotes though because I still definitely do not think they have ran the ball efficiently. They ran for 155 yards against the Browns on 31 attempts. That is good...but 54 came on one run. The remainder of the day they averaged 3.3 ypc and I don't recall them consistently running the ball effectively throughout the game. Against the Ravens, the Bills ran the ball 55 times for 203 yards and only threw 22 passes. We may see even more of a lopsided run/pass ratio this week with Thaddydaddy Thadwick Thaddeus Lewis making his first start as a Buffalo Bill. Until Thad Lewis sucks on the field, I am keeping an open mind. He is allegedly athletic and can make the throws necessary. He is short, which is a downfall. He has started one NFL game and wasn't horrible. Stranger things have happened. Doug Flutie was 5'6" and was good...so why not Thad. The Bills should have their full arsenal of weapons on offense. Robert Woods is emerging. Marquis Goodwin is back. Spiller hopefully will start to find his stride (has been most disappointing Bill and maybe player in the league this year). Let's all give Thad a chance. If he sucks, I am with all of you who want to kill Whaley for entering the season with such horrible back up QBs. Advantage: Bengals

The Bills have been a pleasant surprise on defense. Coming after a historically bad stretch on defense under Chan Gailey, the Bills defense has turned the page completely and is now an attacking, opportunistic unit. Mario Williams 7.5 sacks leads a unit that ranks 7th in the league with 15 sacks. The Bills also have been successful at taking the ball away, ranking 2nd in the AFC with 11 takeaways. Leading the charge in that regard is rookie stud phenom beast Kiko Alonso. The guy is a straight up animal, flying over the line of scrimmage, intercepting passes left and right, the guy is a stud. He also is 10th in the league with 44 tackles. Helping on the defensive side of the ball is the return of Jairus Byrd and the hopeful return of Stephon Gilmore. The thought of Gilmore, McKelvin, Byrd and Williams in the secondary with a full arsenal (except Carrington) of pass rushers is certainly exciting. The Bills defense could carry this team through this stretch of games without Manuel. The Bungals offense on the other hand has been brutal. As mentioned, they have scored 19 points combined in the past two games. They rank worst than the Bills offense in basically all important offensive statistical categories, 22nd in YPC and 25th in PPG. I don't know about any of you, but the law firm and rookie Giovani Bernard don't exactly strike fear into me. Gio's 62 yards vs. the Pats was his best game all year. The law firm is averaging a stellar 2.9 yards per carry, but for some inexplicable reason, actually plays more than Bernard. AJ Green hasn't lived up to his ridiculous standards this year and Andy Dalton is a very marginally better version of Ryan Fitzpatrick. Advantage: Bills.

The two defenses have the advantage over their opposing offenses tomorrow afternoon. That being said, I think the Bills defense will be able to stop the run, pressure Dalton, force some interceptions. Bills 17 Bengals 14 as the Bills move to 3-3 and after the Jets and Patriots lose, the AFC will look like this:

Pats 4-2

Phins 3-2

Jets 3-3

Bills 3-3

The Bills will then head to South Beach for an enormous AFC East ball game. Let's keep the hope alive for one more week as we strive to play meaningful football in November.

Go Bills!!

Week 6 NFL Picks

Week 6 of the NFL season here our teams picks against the spread with best bets and season records:

Steve 10-14-1  Best bet 2-3

Eagles -3 @ Buccaneers
Raiders @ Chiefs over 41
Ravens +3 v Packers
Redskins +6 @ Cowboys
Rams +7.5 @ @Texans

Wreck 13-12 Best bet 3-2

Jaguars +26.5 @ Broncos
Titans +14 @ Seahawks
Bills +6.5 v Bengals
Steelers pick @ Jets
Buccaneers +3 v Eagles

Coast 13-11-1 Best bet 2-3

Bills +6.5 v Bengals
Steelers pick @ Jets
Raiders +9.5 @ Chiefs
Broncos -26.5 v Jaguars
Chargers +2 v Colts

Bengals at Bills Podcast Preview

Steve and Coast breakdown the Buffalo Bills v Browns Thursday debacle, preview the upcoming Cincinnati Bengals game and we check out the latest NFL odds for the game and give our picks.

   




right click save as to download

Week 6 Buffalo Bills Power Rankings Compilation

by Steve

Here are our "favorite" websites and their week 6 Bills power rankings

Walter football 30:
A nice seven spot drop from last week, but did Tuel go to Duke?

"I'm dropping the Bills to No. 30 because E.J. Manuel will be out for at least six weeks and may not be effective when he returns. Jeff Tuel stepped in and was so horrendous that Buffalo is opting to start someone named Thaddeus Lewis this weekend.

To illustrate how awful Tuel was, forum member HappyDays had this to say: "Jeff Tuel is my least favorite Bills player of all time. What a whiny little p***y dip****. Spoiled rich white Duke ******."

Tuel was pretty bad. He spent the entire time crying and complaining to the coaching staff and officials. It seemed like he was some rich, trust-fund kid who was told he couldn't have a Rolls-Royce for his 16th birthday."


ESPN 23:
No movement here and some Thaddy Daddy stats
"Thad Lewis' only career start wasn't terrible. Lewis was 22-of-32 for 204 yards, a touchdown and interception in a 24-10 loss to the Steelers as a Brown last year."


Fox Sports 23:
Three spot drop with a crack on ol' Tuel
"Let's hope Thad Lewis is better than Jeff Tuel because that wasn't even fun to watch."


CBS Sports 26 :
Rhetorical question and a three spot drop, but god damn that video auto playing is unbearable.
"The quarterback situation isn't good with EJ Manuel out. Is the season done?"


PFT 24:
Six spot drop and a quick quip.
"They say if you have two quarterbacks, you don’t have any.  The Bills say please shut the hell up about that."


Yahoo Sports 28 :
Six spot drop and doom and gloom for Thaddy Daddy.
"Sorry for this low ranking, because there are some things to like about this team. But it's going to get ugly with Thad Lewis at quarterback."


Average spot after five games is 25.66666666666.  Highest ranking is 23 and lowest is 30. Again Walterfootball with the longest comment, I'll take it!.

Bills Name Thad Lewis Starter, WTF?

by Steve

Did I open my eyes this morning to a nightmare of which I can't escape or is this a sick joke?  The Bills genius front office and coaching staff are in love with the "read option" but they also love Jeff Tuel.  The Dougs and Co are in love with EJ Manuel but don't draft him at the first opportunity.  They know he is injury prone but they don't try to attain a competent back up. Manuel gets hurt and they say they are going to bring in a quarterback from outside the organization.

Do I have all of that correct?  So then what do they do?  They bypass Jeff Tuel, (their alleged boy) bring up a practice squader named Thaddy "Daddy" Lewis and name him the starter on Monday after they fail to sign Josh Freeman? Huh?

Why is Jeff Tuel on the team?  Why did the Bills aggressively (allegedly) try to sign Freeman and bring in other QBs (Pat White, Dennis Dixon) then magically come to the conclusion that the answer to their QB problem was right there at OBD from the beginning?

If this whole situation doesn't reek of incompetency I don't know what does.  Even if Thaddy Daddy is the best option "because he knows the system already" (of which I disagree) why was Jeff Tuel ever included on the 53 man roster and continued (and continues) to keep a roster spot?  Jeff Tuel doesn't run the read option, he is a nobody, and would not be signed by anyone.

How many snaps does anyone think Lewis took with the first team players?  My guess is zero.  How many second string snaps has Lewis taken during practice?  My guess is zero.  You are telling me no other QB out there could not hand the ball off and throw some normal passes (ie not the read option) ?

The only real questions at this point are, a.) what quarterback(s) do the Bills draft next year b.) will Manuel every play 10+ games in a season ever c.) who are some GM/coach options in three years d.) is Kevin Sumlin + John Manziel a viable option in 2014?

 Thaddy Daddy 6'2 220 25 years old, played 47 games in college only missing one in four seasons from 06-09, started one game for the Browns in the NFL.

Bills Fail to Sign Freeman, Tank the Season

by Steve

Josh Freeman to Minnesota, probably Pat White to Buffalo, three sell outs, four black outs and another waste of a season for the Buffalo Bills.

With Mr. injury prone the only capable quarterback on the Bills roster and a complete failure from the top on down to sign Freeman the only question to be answered is who is running this pathetic franchise, Al Davis?  Holy shit.

The Bills are an absolute joke.  They knew that Erik James Manuel was injury prone and had zero chance to play 16 games.  So what was their plan?  Jeff Tuel? WTF?  Jeez.

The AFC East is a joke and so are the Bills.  They have wasted yet another season finishing 6-10ish with zero hope and less reason for existence. What is the point of rooting for this franchise, Jeff Tuel?

Not signing Freeman is more disappointing than Manuel getting hurt because that was inevitable.  The only thing to look forward to is the hope that moron "GM" Doug Whaley has enough foresight to draft Keith Price in the second round next year.

Pathetic.

Week 5 NFL Picks

Week five NFL picks against the spread

Steve 8-11-1 Best Bet 1-3

Seahawks @ Colts over 44
Lions +7 @ Packers
Saints @ Bears over 50.5
Texans @ 49ers over 41.5
Ravens +3 @ Dolphins


Wreck 9-11 Best Bet 3-1

Titans +3 v Chiefs
Eagles +1 @ Giants
Cowboys +8.5 v Broncos
Colts +3 v Seahawks
Ravens +3 @ Dolphins


Coast 12-7-1 Best Bet 2-2

Titans +3 v Chiefs
Patriots -1.5 @ Bengals
Falcons -10 v Jets
Ravens +3 @ Dolphins
Broncos -8.5 @ Cowboys

Bills 23 Ravens 20 Reaction & Bills Browns Preview

-Coast

Good Lord what an epic sports week upcoming. The Bills play on Thursday night, the Tribe play on Wednesday night and Friday night (ideally). Heck, even the Sabres season opens up this week, although this post won't preview the Sabres. I will leave that preview to Andrew Schrum. This post will react to the Ravens win and take a look ahead at the Browns game tomorrow night.

Bills Ravens Reaction

I will start by providing my slightly delayed reaction to Sunday's win over the Baltimore Ravens. The Bills were the better football team Sunday. If you followed my Twitter rant from Monday, you already know my thoughts on this game. The Bills beat the Ravens because they were better, not because "Joe Flacco played his worst game as a pro". Give me a break. Kiko Alonso made a great play on Flacco's 5th interception. Yeah, it was a tipped ball, but it was still a great interception. Some people may say Kiko's first interception was lucky because Flacco threw it right to him. How about giving Kiko some credit for being in the proper position. Aaron Williams' 2nd interception was a great athletic play in the end zone. Jim Leonhard's interception was another great play on a tipped ball. The Bills defense played great and made plays, as it did against Carolina and New England. It wasn't a fluke, it was a good performance by a defensive unit and they deserve credit for the Bills beating the defending champions.

Joe Flacco is an average quarterback. He should certainly not be making the amount of money that he is making. He can throw a bomb and won a Super Bowl because of his ability to throw a bomb, but other than that, he is average. John Harbaugh and his coaching staff had a terrible game as well. It is somewhat amazing to me that this coaching staff won a Super Bowl. The Ravens completely abandoned the run game in the 2nd half. Why? It was 20-14 with half of the 3rd quarter remaining. The Bills just allowed 150 yards rushing to Bilal Powell and the Ravens may have two running backs better than Bilal Powell. Inexplicable. In total, Flacco threw 50 passes and the Ravens ran the ball 9 times. Harbaugh also coached scared. Down 6 in the 4th quarter, the Ravens opted to kick a short 24 yard field goal rather than try and score the touchdown to take the lead. According to advanced stats, the Ravens probability of winning actually would have been higher had they gone for it and not converted than it was after making the field goal. With 4:04 to go in the game and you need a touchdown to take the lead and you are at the 6 yard line, you go for the lead, every time. Why kick the ball away and depend on your team getting the ball back. That is just coaching scared.

Some also are making the argument about the Bills only winning by 3 despite all of the Ravens mistakes. Well, Baltimore was lucky they lost by only 3, the Bills weren't lucky to win by 3. Every single significant borderline call went the Ravens way. Jim Leonhard forced and recovered a fumble in Ravens territory. This was called a fumble on the field and was overturned. Deep in their own end, EJ Manuel hit Chandler on a long 25 yard pass. This was called a catch on the field and also overturned. EJ Manuel hiit Robert Woods for a touchdown in the corner of the end zone. This was called a touchdown on the field and was overturned. Three big calls OVERTURNED. This never happens and cost the Bills at least 7 points. Further, the Bills butchered a few situations, including the end of the first half. They had 3rd and 1 in field goal range, ran and got stuffed as usual, decided to go for it and got called for holding...next thing you know they are punting. Just awful. Further, Nate Hackett making me lose faith more and more every week. His play calling is ultra conservative & predictable. When the Bills were up 23-20 in the 4th quarter they faced a 3rd and 11 with under 3 minutes to go. The Ravens had 1 timeout left. The Bills elected to run a draw that got stuffed. Why not throw there and try to win the game? We saw from the Carolina game that time still wasn't a factor. This was a scared coaching decision that I hated more than any other during the game. Try and win the game...period.

Oh...and one more thing...I predicted the result of this game EXACTLY. I know football.

Bills Browns Preview

In what all of a sudden has become a mildly interesting game the Bills will take on the Cleveland Browns in Cleveland Thursday night. The Bills are coming off a big win against the defending champs and the Browns are coming off back to back wins against the Vikings and then the Bengals, whom many tabbed as a Super Bowl contender. What has sparked this Browns reincarnation? Well, there are two things...the trade of mediocre 2012 first round pick Trent Richardson for a 1st rounder & the benching of Brandon Weeden for Brian Hoyer. Hoyer has 5 touchdown passes through 2 games & is averaging nearly 300 yards per game. He has also thrown 3 interceptions in the two games, which could be an issue against the Bills ball hawking defense.

The unit that scares me for the Browns is the defense. Through 4 games, the Browns defense is 4th in yards allowed and 8th in points per game allowed. On the contrary, the Browns offense has struggled. They rank 24th in yards per game and 29th in points per game. The key matchup Thursday night will be Steve Johnson vs. Joe Haden. Johnson claims no one can cover him and he proved that in a BIG way against Baltimore...with 1 catch for -1 yards. Haden just held AJ Green to 51 yards...so good luck SJ.

The key for the Bills as usual is to establish the run to make life easier for EJ Manuel. The Bills are 2nd in the NFL in rush yards thus far, however, they have also had the most attempts. If you watched any Bills' games this year, you would agree that they are not running the football with any efficiency. Spiller has been about 1% as good as he was last year. Jackson has been better but still not great. Spiller is averaging 3.5 yards per carry, which is awful compared to last year. Making matters worse is he is hurt and not sure if he will even play.

On the defensive side of the ball, it is looking like McKelvin will be a game time decision. Byrd practiced with the defense, but odds are good he won't play. Looks like the Bills will be facing the red hot Brian Hoyer with Rogers and Williams at corner (WIlliams is banged up too). The Bills secondary is in shambles, but Kiko is healthy & that may be all that matters.

This is going to be a low scoring defensive struggle. The lack of time to prepare plus the injuries/young players for both teams will probably lead to a sloppy game. I love the Bills +4 this week as the Browns may be the worst opponent they have faced thus far. Bills 20 Browns 10 and yep, the Bills will be 3-2, who would have thought?

Buffalo Sabres 2013/14 Season Preview

by Steve

Other than the workers at Pearl St and a few creepy losers obsessed with the Buffalo Sabres, I have some news for you, the Sabres season starts tonight.  The only difference between last year's awful team with a shitty GM, coach, no real captain, no centers and no chance is that they have a big young defenseman that isn't yet a bust and a new division.

Eight teams in the division and sixteen teams in the conference where only eight make it from the "East" vs a Western Conference with fourteen teams and eight also make the playoffs?  Who set this dumb shit up Darcy Regier? WTF?  Befuddling...

So yes, Ryan Miller is still on the team, so is Thomas Vanek and someone named Ron Rolston is still the head coach.  What is the absolute ceiling for this squad, 11th place in the conference?  Didn't Terrance Pegula say he wanted to win a Cup in three years?  Four years in and it seems like they'll miss the playoffs for the third straight time.  What constitutes progress down at One Seymore Knox plaza, finishing out of the bottom ten?

I haven't had less interest in a Sabres season since 2003.  Then again, they did release another third jersey covertly on someone named Steve Ott's twitter page (oh yeah he is also a pending free agent).  The real shame in all of this is that it isn't even fun or unique to kill this franchise any more.  All three Buffalo News writers picked this pathetic franchise to finish 24th or worse this season.  And it isn't just the local idiots that are hating, TSN has the Sabres ranked 29th and six of the seven Yahoo! Sports guys picked the Sabres to finish seventh or worse in the division.

Honestly, yes I hate Regier, I never believed in Pegula and I know nothing about Rolston because he seems like a drone, but there is no reason to think this team can't compete for a final playoff spot.  The difference between 7th and 9th place two seasons ago was three points and last season the difference between 6th and 9th was five points.  So realistically, if three or four games go their way and they play average much of the season they have a chance.

Then again, this franchise wasn't set up (allegedly) just to have a chance at stealing the final playoff spot.  Pegula promised Stanley CUPS plural.  Why didn't Vanek and Miller get moved last season?  There is no way the Sabres should give Miller five more years or Vanek a Kessel esque (8 years $64 mil) contract. Dumb ass Regier should have moved them when they had their most value.

I like some of the young talent they are amassing (sort of by default [albeit Grigorenko is a bust]) but this team needs new leadership and a different direction.  As long as Darcy Regier is running this squad they will never by pass the Penguins, Bruins or (gulp) Red Wings of the conference.  FML.

My prediction is the Sabres look decent at the beginning of the season, lose more than they win and finish 12th in the conference.  Basically, the only thing to look forward to this season is the trade deadline and see how much Darc extracts in return for Vanek and Millsie (oh and we get the Olympics).

Reviewing my 2013 MLB Predictions

by Steve

As you all remember I picked the total number of wins over or under based on the line from Vegas.  Since the season is over and the one game wild card playoff format is dumb as fuck lets see how I did in my predictions.

NL East
Ouch, 1-4 with only the Mets as my win in this division and only that was by half a point.

NL Central
Bounce back! Went 3-2 and was let down big time by the Brewers.

NL West
Went 3-2 but exactly picked the record of the Diamondbacks at 81-81, amazing!  Also I won some of these by half a win, shit Vegas is smart.


AL East
3-2 yet again and didn't have enough faith in Joe Maddon, damn.

AL Central
Wow, 1-4, and Gardenhire got an extension?

AL West
2-3 because I didn't think it was possible for Houston to lose 111 games.


Total record 13-17
Damn, not to mention my "lock" the Twins, weren't even close.
At least I had the gumption to post this, right?

Week 5 Bills Power Ranking Compilation

What follows is a list of the power rankings for the Buffalo Bills by six major websites and their comments after week 4 of the NFL:

Walterfootball 23 :
The Bills move up three spots with a backhanded compliment sorta..

"The Bills have two fluky home wins, but they're two victories nonetheless. I can't make fun of them this week"


ESPN 23:
The Bills move up one spot (albeit they are still behind the Panthers) but a salient point is actually made.

"The Bills are averaging 152 rushing yards per game so far, second-most in the league, but have twice as many fumbles as anyone else (six). Cleveland is next on Thursday."


FoxSports 20:
The Bills move up one spot and a throwback running back gets a little dap.

"The Bills had 55 rushing attempts in an upset win over the Ravens on Sunday. That's their most rushing attempts since Darick Holmes and Thurman Thomas split 56 carries in 1996."


PFT 18:
The Bills make a huge move up the power rankings (seven spots) with a nice crack back of Stevie Johnson.

"After that win over the Ravens, Stevie Johnson said Ed Reed wasn’t able to cover him."


CBS Sports 24:
Petey Prisco still hating but moved the Bills up a whopping two spots.

"They are doing enough on offense to win some games. The defense came up huge against the Ravens."


Yahoo! Sports 22:
A one point jump followed by generic statement.

"Good for them to get five interceptions against Baltimore. Not so impressive to be holding on for dear life at home at the end despite getting five interceptions."



The Bills average spot for the week was 21.6 (22?) with the highest being 18 by PFT and the lowest being 24 by CBS.