Die Hard Bills Fan

Hello Bills fans.  Im not going to lie.  It feels great to be 5-1.  What a great team victory it was this past Sunday in Orchard Park.  I wanted to talk a little bit about one of the defensive captains and team leaders Donte Whitner.  This past weekend, the Bills used Whitner as a free safety, strong safety and corner.  Whitner has been asked to play so many roles in Perry Fewell’s defense.  Bryan Scott has played strong safety and George Wilson plays free when Whitner is called upon to cover the slot receiver.  With Terrence McGee and Ashton Youboty bothered by injuries, Whitner has taken control of the secondary.  He is playing more of a “hybrid” safety role similar to what he did at Ohio State.  Its amazing that after the Bills selected Whitner 8th overall back in the 2006 draft, many experts called it a reach without realizing what type of player he was.  Whitner has been on the field since his rookie year and is becoming one of the best safeties in the game.  I give credit to Marv Levy because without his eye for talent, the Bills would be without a great leader.  Check out the article on timesunion.com.  Go Bills. 

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Hello Bills fans.  After listening to Trent Edwards postgame press conference, I came to realize how important Coach Dick Jauron is to this franchise.  Edwards said that not only does he want to win for his teammates but he wants to win specifically for his Coach.  In sports today, you very rarely hear a player say what Trent said about Coach Jauron.  The players on this team love him and will fight to the end to get a win for their coach.  Safety and special teams captain George Wilson said, “Ask every single guy how he feels about coach Jauron and I guarantee you, I’m willing to bet my salary that you won’t hear a single negative word uttered about the man.”  This team is extremely close and that is a credit to Coach Jauron.  Look at last season with all the injuries.  The team stayed together and was in the playoff hunt in December.  Im happy that Dick Jauron is the coach of the Bills and hope he gets the contract extension that he deserves.  Check out the full article on timesunion.com.  Go Bills. 

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The Buffalo Bills named their team captains today. Six were named in all and of the 6 captains, 3 are retutning from last season.

Lee Evans (offense), Chris Kelsay (defense) and Brain Moorman (special teams) were the 3 captains that were named again for a second straight year. Second year quaterback Trent Edwards was also named a captain on the offensive side of the ball. Thrid year saftey Donte Whitner, who has showed great leadership for such a young player will also represent the defense. George Wilson, the backup saftey was given the 2nd special teams captains role.

All of the players were voted captain by their teammates.

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The season is starting in just under 5 days with the Buffalo Bills home opener just around the corner. The game is of course on Sunday, September 7^th when the Bills take on the Seattle Seahawks at the Ralph at 1:00 PM (Eastern Time).

So what am I going to do for you guys out there reading this? Get you pumped for the regular season opener! From now until Sunday I will be covering the Bills as a team and their chances of making the playoffs. First, I will cover the Buffalo Bills defense. I will list the depth chart of the position in my breakdown of the D position by position and give them an overall grade along with some commentary of the team.

DE

1. Aaron Schobel

2. Chris Kelsey

3. Ryan Denney

4. Chris Ellis

5. Copeland Bryan

The Bills have a very solid group of defensive ends on the roster this year. That means they will have a good duo out there on any play seeing as the Bills like to rotate in the freshest players on the D-line… Schobel has made the pro bowl two years in a row but he is trying to improve his sack total for this year after only 6.5 sacks last year, the lowest in his career since his rookie season back in 2001… Kelsey is trying to return to top form after he battled nagging injuries all last season. He underwent off-season surgery on his torn tendon in his ankle… Denney is also trying to return to top form after he had to undergo foot surgery. He was only able to play in 7 games last year due to the injury… Chris Ellis is the rookie DE from Virginia Tech. He was selected by the Bills in the 3^rd round. Ellis could be used as a situational pass rusher and is also good against the run. Fast fact, the last DE selected by the Bills from VT, Bruce Smith… Bryan appeared in only 2 games last season and was later put on the IR in December. Before joining the Bills last season, Bryan was on the Bear practice squad…

GRADE: B

DT

1. Marcus Stroud

2. Kyle Williams

3. John McCargo

4. Spencer Johnson

The Bills are hoping that a healthy Stroud can return to his former pro bowl form. The 6’ 6’’, 306 lb. tackle was brought in to help improve the Bills D against the run which finished near the bottom of the league last season. Stroud will also get some double team attention at the line giving the DEs and LBs some room to run and make plays… The 25 yard old Williams just signed a contract extension this off-season for 3 more years in Buffalo… McCargo, the former 1^st round pick (26^th overall) in the 2006 draft was fined this spring for being overweight. He reported to camp in shape and looks to build into a starting DT… Johnson came over in the off-season as a free agent from he Vikings. He didn’t put up huge numbers because he played behind the monstrous Williamses in Minnesota…

GRADE: B- (Grade will improve after we see how Stroud plays)

MIDDLE LB

1. Paul Posluszny

2. John DiGiorgio

Poz is BACK! After fracturing his forearm in the Bills Week 3 game last year he is back at 100%. The guy just has a nose for the ball and is a great tackler. Through the first 3 games last year, he led the Bills with 26 tackles (remember he didn’t even finish the 3^rd game)… DiGiorgio had a very good year last year filling in for the injuried Posluzny. He had 113 tackles last season to go along with 2 sacks and 1 INT. Provides great depth at the MLB position…

GRADE: B+

WEAK-SIDE LB

1. Kawika Mitchell

2. Jon Corto

Mitchell was an early free agent signing for the Bills. The Superbowl Champion is highly underrated. He had 86 tackles, 4 sacks and 1 INT to go along with 2 forced fumbles. Something to remember, his last game in Buffalo on December 23^rd of last season, he had 2 sacks, forced a fumble, and returned an INT for a touchdown… Corto is the Orchard Park native now on his hometown Bills squad. He was on the Bills practice squad last season…

GRADE: B

STRONG-SIDE LB

1. Angelo Crowell

2. Keith Ellison

The 27 year old Crowell is entering his contract year with the Bills. This is the last season of the 3 year deal he signed in 2005. He too is another Bills LB that is highly underrated. He had 126 tackles last season that led the team… Ellison also played significant time last season. He had 39 tackles, 1 sack, and 1 INT in 12 games last season…

GRADE: B+

CB

1. Terrence McGee

2. Jabari Greer

3. Ashton Youboty

4. Leodis McKelvin

5. Reggie Corner

McGee was the clear choice for the #1 corner spot. McGee has 78 tackles and 4 INTs last season in 15 games… Greer looked to be the odd man out with the Bills after they selected a bundle of corners in the draft. He has played hard though and the Bills coaching staff is impressed. He earned the #2 spot for at least the first half of the season… Youboty was another guy that was as good as gone before the preseason but he played hard and had two very good games. He won the nickel corner spot because of his great progress… McKelvin was the #11 pick in this years draft. He has looked so-so in the preseason. He has either made a good play or has completely messed it up. It will be interesting to see whether he plays a lot at all this year. A candidate to play in the dime and quarter packages for the Bills (which they don’t run very much at all)… Corner was a ball hawk in college and had a sharp preseason. The rookie has even be rumored to be ahead of McKelvin on the depth chart…

GRADE: C+

FS

1. Ko Simpson

2. George Wilson

Simpson is looking to rebound after he was injured in the Bills 1^st game last season against the Denver Broncos and then placed on the IR for the year. The 4^th round draft pick from the 2006 draft is looking to have a breakout year and also continue the chemistry with SS Donte Whitner after the two started their entire rookie seasons together… Wilson played in 12 games last season after Simpson and former Bills safety Brain Leonard went down, before of course he went down to injury also. It occurred before the last week of the season. He ended the year with 37 tackles and 2 picks…

GRADE: C

SS

1. Donte Whitner

2. Bryan Scott

3. John Welding

Whitner guaranteed that the Bills will make the playoffs this season. He has been an unofficial team captain since he was drafted. He shows great leadership and also builts team chemistry by having the team over for film watching and he even took McKelvin under his wing during the off-season Hard qualities to find from a 23 year old entering his third season of NFL play… Scott returns for another stint in Buffalo after he played in 15 games last season, most in a special teams role… Same goes for Welding. Will play in the special teams role…

GRADE: B

Overall the Bills defense has a good mix of playmakers and role players. Due to all of the injuries last season, the Bills now have good depth at almost all of their positions. They are a young D that flys to the football. Look for team to improve as an entire unit this year.

Here is the rundown on what I will be covering the rest of the week:

Weds: Bills Offense

Thurs: Bills Special Teams

Fri: Breakdown of the Bills Schedule and Chances of Making the Playoffs

Sat: Game Preview with my Picks of all of the Winners in Week 1

Sun: Game recap with Commentary

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Hello Bills fans.  The Buffalo Bills currently have six safeties on their roster.  Strong safety Donte Whitner is going to be called on a lot more this upcoming season.  Defensive coordinator Perry Fewell will use Whitner in various roles including free safety.  Ko Simpson was the starting free safety until he was lost for the season in the first game.  Simpson is coming back from an ankle injury and stated that he is close to 100 percent.  It was a big loss when Ko went down because both he and Whitner played well in 2006.  Veteran backup strong safety Bryan Scott was re-signed and will provide great depth and special team play.  Second year safety John Wendling is a demon on special teams and will continue to backup both the free and strong position.  Converted wide receiver George Wilson played real well last year filling in for Simpson.  Wilson showed that he can play safety and had a interception returned for a touchdown in his first game starting against the Cowboys on Monday night football.  In my opinion, the safety position is one of the strongest on this team.  Our depth players had valuable experience last season filling in for our injured players.  Im sure the team will sometimes use three safeties on running downs and keep Whitner in the box.  Whitner is a physical corner that is developing into a solid player.  Wendling, Wilson and Scott will be helping out the special teams just like they did last season.  I cant wait to see this defense in action.  Go Bills. 

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Hello Bills fans. Maybe I am an optimist by nature but I feel that the Bills will be a playoff team in 08. Although Trent Edwards struggled yesterday, he gives us the best chance to win. He will only get better with more experience and I believe we have our quarterback of the future. We have a future all-pro at running back in Marshawn Lynch. Lynch has showed flashes of greatness this year with his non-stop motor and his fight for every last yard. Lynch will also only get better with more game experience. Our offensive line has started to play well and will continue to get better with time. Many of our young players that were forced into starting roles this year will provide excellent depth when we are fully healthy next year. Linebacker John DiGiorgio, safety George Wilson, running back Fred Jackson and safety Jim Leonhard have contributed and shown that they can play in this league. Cornerback Jabari Greer has displayed great instincts and has basically earned the starting cornerback job moving forward. Even though my hopes and dreams of the playoffs were crushed yesterday, I am thankful that this team never gave up and put themselves in a position to earn a wild card spot. Trent will lead this team and get us to where we want to go. A few additions via the draft and free agency will only make us better. Our defense is very young and came up big for us this year. We have the talent and with more experience will be a playoff team. Thanks for never giving up this year. Go Bills.

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Hello Bills fans. The Buffalo Bills defeated the Miami Dolphins 38-17 in Orchard Park. Trent Edwards went 11-23 for 165 yards and four touchdowns in leading the Bills to their seventh victory of the season. Both Marshawn Lynch and Fred Jackson rushed for over 100 yards. Lee Evans and Robert Royal both caught two touchdown passes each from Trent Edwards. The defense played great once again registering five sacks on the day. Free Safety George Wilson returned a fumble for a touchdown. Donte Whitner and Terrence McGee both had interceptions. The Bills led 31-7 at halftime. Miami got the score within 14 but Edwards threw a 70 yard touchdown pass to Lee Evans to seal the win. Rian Lindell kicked a 51 yard field goal setting a Bills record with 18 straight kicks made. The defense came up big all day and didnt allow Miami to mount a comeback. This was a great team win. The Bills are now 7-6 and are looking to land the last wild card spot with a big game next week against the Cleveland Browns. Thanks Trent, Marshawn and the defense. Lets Go Bills.

check out the boxscore

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Hello Bills fans. Well all I can say is that the J.P. Losman era might officially be over. Although he was not the only one to blame for this 22-point loss to Jacksonville, he did make many mistakes. His two interceptions and one fumble were all drive killers. Both interceptions were forced throws into double and triple coverage. With the Bills trailing 13-7 in the second quarter, Losman fumbled on a third and one play with a little over two minutes remaining. This proved to be a costly turnover because the Bills were driving and could have got into field goal range or even scored a touchdown. The fumble led to a Jacksonville field goal giving them a 16-7 lead going into the half. If we could have gotten even a field goal and went into the half only down by three, it would have been a whole different ball game. Losman looked scared in the pocket and kept on dumping the ball off to Anthony Thomas. I have no problem with doing that to gain yards but at some point you have to take your shots down the field. Lee Evans was held without a catch until garbage time in the fourth quarter. Offensive coordinator Steve Fairchild has to find a way to get Evans more involved if this team wants to succeed. He is our best receiver and needs to be thrown to more than a few times a game. It also extremely hurts that Marshawn Lynch is injured. He was our whole offense for the first nine games of the season. The A-train is not cutting it. He did make a nice play on his first career-receiving touchdown. I hope Lynch is ready when we take on Washington next week. Now on to the defense. The Bills really need to change things up here. Our defensive line cannot get to the quarterback. They also can’t get off of the field on third downs. We allow way to many third down conversions. I also think a change needs to be made in the secondary. George Wilson is not cutting it at free safety. I know that we have a lot of injuries but he seems to be out of position and doesn’t have the speed to recover. David Garrad had all the time in the world and nearly threw for 300 yards. The only positive today from the defense was that they held Jacksonville without a touchdown in the red zone. We had many chances today to get back into the game but Losman and the offense couldn’t deliver. I was a really big Losman supporter and wanted to see him as our starting quarterback. I am now saying that I want to see Trent Edwards for the rest of the season. I know what Losman has and he is not consistent enough to be a starter in this league. He has all the physical tools but plays scared and doesn’t see the field well. Well another disappointing game and at 5-6 the playoffs seem almost out of reach.

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Hello Bills fans. Tomorrow the New England Patriots travel to Buffalo to take on our Bills. It’s going to be a crazy crowd for this Sunday night showdown. It will be a very tough to shut down the undefeated Patriots. Lets hope our defense shines again in a primetime game. Here are the key matchups to this week’s game.

Tom Brady vs. Bills defense: Tom Brady is going to be extremely hard to contain. His offensive line gives him all the time the world to find his receivers. Aaron Schobel, Chris Kelsay, Ryan Denney, and Anthony Hargrove need to get pressure on Brady and force him to make errant throws. If we can apply pressure early and often, look for our secondary to come up with some interceptions.

J.P. Losman vs. Patriots defense: Losman needs to have a big game this week. He must be decisive and accurate. He has to get Lee Evans, Josh Reed, and Roscoe Parrish the ball. I feel that Evans will as always be the go to guy. Look for J.P. to throw some underneath routes and also get the tight ends involved. I think Losman is up for the challenge and wants to beat the team that sidelined him for a few weeks. With Marshawn Lynch being out, J.P. will have to be on his game.

Patriots Receivers vs. Bills secondary: In my opinion this is going to be the deciding factor. Can the Bills secondary shutdown Randy Moss and company? I would say they can and will. Jabari Greer and Terrence McGee need to be physical against Moss & Co. all night. Whether its jamming them at the line or pushing them out of bounds. Just something to get them out of sync. Look for Donte Whitner to make some crushing hits on Moss and Wes Welker. Whitner has been great all season long and is overdue for an interception. Free safety George Wilson has also been great in run support and stopping the long ball.

Ok this is a huge test for the Bills. We need to get going early and force New England into third and longs. Our offense needs to produce long scoring drives to keep Brady off the field. We also need to create some turnovers and put our offense in position to score. I feel that we are going to pull of this upset. My prediction….Bills 24 Patriots 21.

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Hello Bills fans. What can I say; we put up a great fight but came up short in losing to Dallas 25-24. I enjoyed every minute of this one except for the last 20 seconds of the game. It was great being at the Ralph for this one. I think I must have stood the entire game. Big play after big play by the defense kept the crowd involved the entire game. All the Bills needed to do was to come up with one last play and they just came up short. I’m so glad that I was at this game. Tailgating amongst crazy Bills fans was awesome. I feel bad for the defense because they played their hearts out. George Wilson, Chris Kelsay, Angelo Crowell, John DiGiorgio and Jabari Greer all had interceptions. Wilson returned an interception in the first quarter, which sent the crowd into an uproar. I lost my voice after the first 10 minutes of the game. Kelsay made a great play in the second quarter by tipping a Tony Romo pass right to himself in the endzone. It just seemed as if every time Dallas started to creep back, our defense would come up with an interception. In the third quarter, Terrence McGee took the kickoff back 103 yards. McGee is one of the best kick returners in the league. The crowd again erupted and the Bills were up 24-13. Dallas kicked a field goal early in the 4th quarter to make it a 24-16 game. The Bills had their chances to put this one away. We drove down to the 11 but Trent Edwards threw an interception. A field goal there would have made it an 11-point game again. Instead Dallas had new life. DiGiorgio came up with an interception on the Cowboys drive and the Bills could have sealed it again. Dallas ended up scoring a touchdown with 20 seconds left in the game to make it 24-22. They went for a two-point conversion to tie the game up. Jabari Greer came up with a huge play ripping the ball out of Terrell Owens hands in the endzone. All the Bills had to do now was cover the onside kick. Dallas made a great play on the onside kick and recovered the ball. The Cowboys kicked the game winning 53-yard field goal with no time left. Another heart breaking loss for the Bills. I just wish the offense could have stepped up a little bit and seal the win for the defense. The Bills defense played one of the best games that I have ever seen them play. Anytime you can force six turnovers, you should come out of the game victorious. Even though the team lost, I loved the effort against a real good Dallas team.
All I have to say is that we gave up this game. We should have won this one. It hurts that we had a dominating performance from our defense. Our special teams played great and just needed to recover the onside kick. This one will be hard to forget. Although I had a great time in Buffalo, I just wish the Bills had won. It was great being at the game with friends and enjoying every minute of Monday Night Football. Buffalo is a great place and I look forward to going back as I do every year. Lets Go Bills. Hopefully this was a breaking out game for our defense

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