So that game was pretty, uh, not memorable, eh?  The Bills bested the Redskins 23-0 on Sunday in front of a decent sized crowd, that made some noise for the good guys, yet it still felt very sterile and sleepy. I don't care, though. A win is a win is a win. The Bills defense played some great football, finally found a pass rush and the team overall just overwhelmed a poor team.  That's what the good teams need to do. This week's game against the Jets is a season turner. Either the Bills continue their ascent up, or the Jets slap them back to reality and back down the standings. This game is absolutely huge; a win would go a long way towards securing a playoff berth later on. A loss will make it very difficult to overcome the Pats, Jets, Steelers, Ravens, and Bengals for a spot in the dance. The team is 5-2 and I almost feel this is going to be a must-win Sunday, but I digress. Let's take a look back at some of the more memorable moments and players from Sunday's win.

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I didn't have time to throw some thoughts out after last week's thrilling win, but I do right now for yesterday's disgusting loss.  The Pats game was an incredibly satisfying game that will resonate for a while.  The Bengals game was an ugly disaster that might be the turning point this season.  I was thoroughly disappointed in the team's performance yesterday, as they looked flat and let Cincinnati dictate the game.  In fact, I'd say that Cincy was the better team for most of the game. In the end, the end result confirms that unfortunately.  This was such a big game for the team and they failed the test. At this point, the Bills just may not be ready to be a contender, nor are they ready to win these types of games consistently.  The good teams find ways to win game where they don't play well and I'm not sure the Bills are there just yet.  Let's hope they learn quickly and figure out how to put these games away.  It's still a mostly young roster that hasn't won a lot.  It's going to take time in this area.

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That was a fun game wasn't it?  It's nice to have the heart pounding in an exciting game that has some meaning with the Bills coming out on top, now isn't it?  I hope this mini-run can continue because it sure is fun having a team winning games and playing pretty well.  Unfortunately, the dang Patriots have to be coming to town ready to slap us all back to reality. We'll see.

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I thought I'd take a dump to get some of my thoughts on the Preseason, and now Week 1 out, as I've been meaning to do so for a while now.  That was a fantastic win over the Chiefs with numerous quality performances on both sides of the ball. This team still has a loooooong way to go, but for the first time in a long while they look like a competent bunch even if they are missing some huge pieces.

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The Buffalo Bills are less than a week away from their 2011 preseason opener against the Chicago Bears. Unfortunately, injuries continue to pile up before the team even takes a meaningful snap against another team. Luckily, those injuries all appear to be of the minor variety.

Drayton Florence left Saturday night's practice after rolling his ankle battling for a ball in the end zone. Chan Gailey expects him to miss some practices this week.

"He’ll be out... I don’t know, four days, six days. Every guy is different when it comes to those," Gailey announced following Sunday's practice. Florence is expected to miss Saturday's game against the Bears.

Another starter left Sunday's practice, too, as Demetrius Bell was hurt during individual position drills. Trainers tended to his shoulder, and he left the field soon after. Gailey called it a strained shoulder.

"They said it’d be a couple of days and probably he’ll be back. They don’t think it’s anything long term or bad. It’s just a strain," Gailey said of Bell's injury.

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Let the Von Miller love-fest continue. His name has peppered the front page for weeks now, as he's seemingly jumped to the top of the Buffalo Bills' potential list of candidates for the No. 3 overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft. Barring a surprise, Miller is likely to be the top pass rusher off the board, and potentially the first defensive player selected, thanks to top production and excellent pre-draft workouts. The team that selects Miller will be getting an elite pass rush prospect - one that Football Outsiders (FO) projects as one of the best to come out in years.

FO uses a metric called SackSEER, which they developed to project the sack totals of highly drafted 4-3 defensive ends and 3-4 outside linebackers in their first five years in the NFL. This regression model is comprised of four separate metrics they believe to be the most important factors that correlate to NFL sack success: the prospect's vertical leap, short shuttle time, per-game sack productivity in college (with some playing time adjustments), and games missed, including due to injury, suspension or leaving school early.

To develop the model, they analyzed all the edge rushers selected in the first two rounds of the NFL Draft from 1999-2008. SackSEER projects the sack totals for prospects for their first five years in the NFL, as that's roughly the average rookie contract for those drafted in the first two rounds. It should be noted that the model does a better job predicting potential busts than it does projecting potential stars, although they have a pretty high success rate with both. Von Miller tops their projection for the 2011 draftees, and it's really not close.

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Greetings again Rumblers.  Welcome to the 3rd Annual Buffalo Rumblings NCAA Tournament Challenge. We will be hosting another Group for Rumblers to compete against each other with their brackets.  We will once again be using the Yahoo platform to fill out your brackets.

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Or rather, a request. There's no place I'd rather go to find some help on what appears to be Bills' related wild good chase.

Anywho, I am looking for the throwback winter hat that the players were seen wearing during the Steelers game.  As in this one:

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Current Standings as of week 8:

                           Wins       Losses

krytime                    63        41

silverstreak3k           61        43

Kurupt                     59        45

MARVelous             59        45

WABillsfan               59        45

MRW                       56        48

killowatt44               54         50

Jeff Winters              53        51

poz                           53          51

Ron From NM           51        53

Krytime hangs onto his slim lead following Week 7, while silverstreak made a strong push up the standings with a 12-2 week.  MRW makes a big leap from the basement following a hearty 11-3. The muddled middle continues with three of us tied at 59 overall wins.  There are only 13 games this week with six teams on bye.

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In an ugly affair, the Miami Dolphins came into Orchard Park to defeat the Buffalo Bills 15-10 this afternoon. The Dolphins got a 32-yard field goal from Dan Carpenter to open the scoring, and added a one-yard Ronnie Brown touchdown plunge in the second quarter. Rian Lindell scored the Bills' first points of the season late in the second quarter on a long 51-yard field goal.

The second half, much like the first, was marred with ugly play and miscues by both teams. Carpenter added a 43-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter. Trent Edwards was finally able to muster some offense as he led the Bills on a 10-play, 80-yard drive capped off with a 31-yard touchdown strike to Roscoe Parrish on 4th and 11 to cut the Dolphins lead to three.

After Miami punter Brandon Fields pinned the Bills at their own one yard late in the fourth quarter, Edwards was unable to move the offense out of that hole. A snap out of the end zone in punt formation gave the Dolphins a safety to cap the scoring. The Bills were able to stop Miami on a three and out, but didn't have enough time to mount any sort of a challenge.

More on the game later.

In a flurry of moves this afternoon, the Buffalo Bills have signed veteran TE David Martin, confirmed via Twitter by Adam Schefter. Martin was recently cut by the Miami Dolphins after spending two seasons with the team. He is an eight-year vet who played six season with Green Bay before playing his last two with the Dolphins. His addition was paved by the Bills' cutting of veteran TE J.P. Foschi earlier today.

In addition, the Bills were awarded OG Kraig Urbik off waivers from the Pittsburgh Steelers (same Schefter tweet). The 2009 third-round draft pick was released by the Steelers on Friday.

Martin will back up Jonathan Stupar at tight end. Urbik becomes the ninth offensive lineman the team employs, joining undrafted rookie Cordaro Howard as interior line depth. To make room for Urbik, the Bills released undrafted free agent safety Dominique Harris.

The Bills also added OL Jason Watkins and FB Rodney Ferguson to the practice squad, as they join Naaman Roosevelt and Joique Bell. Buffalo still has four spots remaining on their practice squad, and may not yet be done wheeling and dealing.

My fiance has decided to put together a quilt with all our old SU shirts.  We've got a bunch of customary "Syracuse", "SU", "S", and Otto shirts, but nothing truly funny or unique. 

I'm looking for some help from you guys.  I know you have seen funny shirts or know where to get them, so any and all suggestions would be welcome.

I don't know if they are still made, but we used to have a few shirts that were exactly like the old SU buttons from Burger King.  We had a "Spit Pitt" and a "Clip the Eagles" shirt for Homecoming back when we were students earlier this decade, but unfortunately lost them.  I'm talking funny ones like you can find at this WVU fansite. Anybody know where these can be found, if they exist?

We found a "Your Mother's a Hoya" shirt, so that's already been ordered.  That one's a given.

We would specifically LOVE to find a Saltine Warrior shirt.  Maybe a Dome Ranger one, too.

No angry Ottos.

Gracias

LB Shane Conlan (1987-1992) | 6'3", 235 pounds

Notable Achievements: Three-time Pro Bowl Selection (1988-1990), AP Second-Team All-Pro (1987, 1988, 1990), 1987 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year

Shane Patrick Conlan was born on April 3, 1964 in Olean, New York. Conlan was a three sport star at Frewsburg (NY) High, excelling at basketball, baseball, and of course, football. He was a three-year all-league selection in basketball and a four-time all-league selection as a catcher in baseball. In fact, Conlan was offered a contract on the spot by the Pittsburgh Pirates after a tryout. He decided to stick with football, where he was an all-league performer at running back (rushing for a school record 1,029 yard during his senior year) and linebacker, which helped him earn a scholarship to Linebacker U, Penn State.

As a Nittany Lion, Conlan became a superstar. He had to redshirt his first season due to an injury, but was a major factor for Penn State's defense for the next four years. After a freshman season in which he was a part-time player at outside linebacker, Conlan really started to make some noise as a sophomore. He led the team with 77 tackles and 15 tackles for loss. During his junior season, Conlan began to make a name for himself nationally, as he was named an All-American following a 91-tackle, four sack season. He capped the year by being named the defensive Most Valuable Player in Penn State's Orange Bowl loss to Oklahoma. His senior season would prove to be a magical one individually and for the Nittany Lions. Named an All-American for a second consecutive season, Conlan finished the year with 79 tackles, including 63 solo stops to lead the defense. Penn State would go on to finish the season undefeated and win the national championship, led largely by the play of Conlan during the 1987 Fiesta Bowl against previously unbeaten Miami. He had eight tackles and picked off two passes, returning the second one 38 yards to the 5-yard line to set up the game winning touchdown as Penn State would win 14-10.

The Buffalo Bills traded down from third overall with the Houston Oilers to select the Western New York native with the eighth pick of the 1987 NFL Draft. His impact was immediate, and a huge boost to a vastly improving Buffalo defense.

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DT Jim Dunaway (1963-1971) | 6'5", 277 pounds

Notable Achievements: Four-time Pro Bowl selections (1965-1968), First-team All-Pro (1966), Member of AFL Hall of Fame

James Kenneth Dunaway was born on September 3, 1941 in Columbia, Mississippi. After graduating from Columbia High School, Dunaway stayed in-state to attend the University of Mississippi, where he went on to have a storied career for the Rebels. During his first season in 1960, the team went 10-0-1, including a 14-6 win over Rice in the Sugar Bowl. The team was also named national champions by the Football Writers Association of America, the Dunkel System, and the Williamson System that season. Dunaway became a staple of the program, earning All-SEC and All-American honors in 1961 and 1962. The Rebels also won a share of the National Championship in 1962 after defeating Arkansas 17-13 in the Sugar Bowl to finish the season undefeated and untied. That undefeated season was all the more remarkable as it came during the fall of the Ole Miss riot of 1962, a very pivotal moment in the history of civil rights in this country. Following his exceptional career and the team's incredible season, Dunaway played in the Senior Bowl, Chicago All-Star Game and the Coaches All-America Bowl. He was named to the Ole Miss Athletic Hall of Fame in 1990 and the school's All-Century team in 1992.

The Bills made Dunaway the fifth pick of Round 2 during the 1963 AFL Draft. The Vikings had also drafted Dunaway third overall in the NFL Draft that year. In a surprise move, Dunaway spurned the NFL for the Bills and the still-developing AFL. He signed with the team on January 2, 1963, and thus began a long, illustrious career spanning a decade. Dunaway would spend nine seasons in Buffalo before finishing his career playing six games and winning a Super Bowl ring with the undefeated Dolphins in 1972.

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