Hey Texans fans,

Bills fan here. First, sorry about MNF and good luck against the Colts. I have you guys down for pulling off the upset. It seems like your team is determined and has been planning for a win against Peyton and company all off-season.

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We should know by the end of today if Roscoe Parrish is going anywhere via trade, or if the Buffalo Bills make a move for any players to help this injury-plagued team make a playoff run with a surprisingly soft upcoming schedule. While some point to our upcoming opponents' combined record to show that we face an easy road ahead, our biggest weakness is run defense, and our biggest strength is pass defense. Unfortunately, the teams we are set to face are all stellar running teams.

As the Jets, Dolphins, and Browns showed, we can be run on quite easily. With Chris Johnson, LenDale White, Maurice Jones-Drew, DeAngelo Williams, Jonathan Stewart, Steve Slaton, Ricky Williams, Ronnie Brown, Leon Washington and Thomas Jones again up on the schedule, if we do make a trade, it should be for a linebacker to help out with Kawika Mitchell down for the year and Keith Ellison not getting the job done in run support. Losing Kawika also hurts our pass rush, so I can see us looking for a player who can do that as well.

With that in mind, below are some likely and realistic targets I can see us trying to seal the deal on before the NFL's trade deadline - which just happens to be today - based on rumors and tidbits gathered of who’s on the block.

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Tomorrow is our Super Bowl.

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Something I heard ESPN's John Clayton say the other day has really resonated with me and really brought to light an aspect of the Buffalo Bills' offense which may be contributing to our ineptitude on that side of the ball more than we realize. If my memory serves me accurately, Clayton noted that defenses in 2009 are bracketing number one wide recievers with a defensive back and a safety more than ever this year and that as a result, teams are channeling their offenses through tight ends at a record pace. According to Clayton, eight tight ends this season are on pace for 80 receptions, while 12 more are on pace for 70 catches. In essence, two thirds of teams this season are likely to have their tight ends emerge as their leader in receptions.

Is it possible that it is no coincidence that our offensive struggles truly became apparent after the season-ending injury to Derek Schouman, who during the Bucs game was emerging as our receptions leader?

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Bros, 

It would appear that I have hit rock bottom as a Bills fan. Through all the heartbreak and disappointment over my two decades of consciously watching (I don’t remember anything pre-4 to 5 years old), 2009 in 5 weeks has emerged as the worst season I have ever experienced. What about wide right? The Music City Miracle? Losing to third stringers to miss the playoffs? Those were all heartbreaking moments but to me they have nothing on this season and let me explain why.   

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I know it feels like "new season, same story" right now. We have seen this before - impressive big game performance with big plays that make us look ready to take the next step but we ultimately fall just short by some horrific turn of events. Believe me, I've thought of all the negatives over and over again. I feel better this morning but that lump in my throat and twist in my gut are still there as a reminder of how bad last night felt. Let's also remember, division games are what keeps you in or out of the playoffs and we let the Pats get away with one when we caught them vulnerable. That stings and hurts our playoff chances even if it is week one. That all being said, I do think there were some signs that this year will not be like all the others. This team in many ways smashed the many common fan complaints about why we wouldn't be able to compete this year in the process of this heart breaking loss and if you distance yourself from that sinking feeling you have right now, you might be suprised what you find:

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Having never played on an offensive line the knowledge I possess about what is happening in the trenches I’ve obtained – aside from a life watching the Bills– by reading. While I have certainly read a lot on the topic, a lifetime of reading newspapers and watching ESPN has taught me that you never get the full story from pundits, analysts, and experts. In much the same way, watching the Bills offensive line play as a fan can never teach me as much as I want to know The same way you would read a book on war by a General who was in one or ask what raising kids is like from someone who has done it, I like to go to these types of sources when I want to know more. While situations obviously differ, it is still valuable to know someone else’s thoughts on raising kids, even though your experience will be entirely different.

In this vain, I wrote an email to a longtime friend of mine who spent a 4 year career as a division III offensive lineman with multiple years worth of starting experience playing on some very good first place teams allowing him to obtain NCAA playoff competition experience. He is not a Bills fan, is not from Buffalo, and is largely unfamiliar with our team. My email was long as I explained as specifically as I could what the Bills situation on the line was like, even using Brian’s 2008 to 2009 starting experience difference layout within it. In the end I closed by asking him if he thought our line had the potential to gel this season.

Obviously, playing division III ball is not the same as playing in the NFL but he was highly talented on a highly talented team. Beyond that I know no one else who dedicates themselves more to a task they are engaged in, he took playing offensive lineman very seriously and I trust his opinion like few others. I thought his email response contained a few insights interesting enough to share with you guys and coming from a non-fan, I found they might stir up some good discussion:

On inexperience

I can definitely understand your concern. Having such a green offensive line is extremely concerning when you have all those offensive weapons at your skill positions. While I am not familiar with the individual personnel, the numbers are hard to look beyond. Throwing in a 2nd year guy at left tackle who has never started a down, compounded by the fact that his left guard is equally lacking in experience is very risky. He's out on an island, and guard/tackle communication is extremely important especially in pass protection schemes. The two have to be constantly talking it up, one blown assignment and a defender could walk through untouched.

He was adamant on emphasizing the importance of the guard-tackle relationship in regards to communication. It seemed to me that his biggest concern was that each half of the lines communication (LT-LG and RT-RG) were separate but vital. This leaves me more than a bit concerned with the fact that our left side of the line is two guys who have never played in the NFL, they could possibly both be bewildered on occasion with neither having experience at this level in recognizing what’s happening or communicating it to the other guy, sometimes both simultaneously.

On Hangartner

oline chemistry and communication is vital on the field, but it starts off the field with leadership. The line is starkly divided between the two halves: right and left, meaning the two do not communicate with each other much. That is why the center's role is so critical, he is the glue that keeps the line together and communicates between the two sides. In that respect you are lucky that at least your center has some experience.

We all know Hangartner is a smart but I hope he is assertive too. Reading this made me realize that I was overlooking just how vital Hangartner will be to our success on the line this year. To his left are two first timers and to his right is another. If the kids we have on the line are looking to anyone its going to be Hangman. His point about off the field leadership I found interesting. In his email he told me that the best o-line he ever played on went out to dinner as a unit every week and were centered on unity and off-the-field leadership. Can Eric Wood do that as a rookie?

On Bell

I'm sure Bell has a lot of raw talent, but so did Winston Justice-- the 6-6, 320 lb tackle selected in the second round as the 39th overall pick out of USC in 2006. The Eagles found out the hard way the next year when they put in Justice to replace injured starter William Thomas and Umenyiora put on a sack expo on Justice, racking up a career high 6 sacks. It was sad to watch. Umenyiora was even quoted as saying he had so many sacks he felt bad for the kid, and that "it was like a video game out there".

This again leaves me nervous that when Bell does feel overwhelmed, which he will at times as a rookie, his support is going to be another rookie who may also be feeling overwhelmed.

Answering the gelling question

To answer your question do I think they will be able to mesh this season, well I'd have to say it's really a question of how they interact off the field. I know from experience that the best olines to play on are the ones that have the best off the field relationships with mutual respect for one another. Also you should hope that the starting 5 now are indeed the best 5 and remain as that for the duration of the season. Competition for a starting role can screw up the rest of the line when trying to develop a rhythm. The more they work together as a unit the more they will improve week after week.

Seeing as how he was unfamiliar with the turmoil going on at OBD and the anger over Langston Walker’s release, this is an unbiased and unwitting endorsement of Jauron’s move to get rid of Walker and put in Bell rather than doing it mid-season as many here thought would happen. He also pointed out later in his email that on the best team he played for all 5 lineman were healthy for every single game. Here’s hoping right?

So after reading the email, I walked away feeling better and worse about our offensive line if that’s possible. In terms of feeling worse, I guess I may have been overlooking the seriousness of having two essential rookies on one side of the line and what it could mean for communication. While its comforting to know we will have Butler at RT to help the learning curve there, the left side is a bit scary to think about. While my friend pointed out that Bell will be left on an island, I did not mention in my email that we have a pretty good blocking tight end who will be in the game often, so I’m hoping that provides Bell some support. The good news I walked away with is the stress he put on off-the-field relationships to the most successful lines he played on. I like the personality of this group and I think that so long as they don’t splinter after a rough outing or two and turn on each other, they could develop a great rapport.

Thoughts on the youth of the o-line and gelling?

Since the front page should and will be filled with Bills related cut day activity, I'm putting up this thread with the purpose of opening a forum for everyone to keep each other updated on any league wide information they hear in regards to cuts or trade rumors that we might find note worthy as Bills fans. With our team seemingly launching cuts and trades with more to come, the rest of the leagues activity could have a major impact on our team.

A few of the notes I'm interested in to kick things off:

Reports are saying Jags might cut tackle Tony Pashos today.

The Chiefs have supposedly put heavy hitting safety Bernard Pollard on the trade block

The Giants cut undrafted Sha-reff Rashad, he looked pretty good in preseason.

And for those who really are caught up in anti-Edwards sentiment at the moment, MRW noted in another thread that Joey Harrington was released.

Some of you may have noticed I haven't posted here in a while. Truth be told, the Philly fan like attitude of a majority of the posters around here sort of turned me away for a bit. It has really gotten out of control. The worst of it has to be in regards to Trent Edwards from people rehashing JP Losman arguments, to calls for starting Fitzpatrick (did you watch a Bengals game last year?), raising questions for AJ Feeley (they were so confident in him they got Mike Vick), to talk of garbage QBs Tyler Thigpen and Tarvaris Jackson who between the two of them saw their teams upgrade from them three different times. Whatever happened to the reasonable and rationale commentary I've come to expect from everyone on this blog? It is the pre-season, which no matter how much you want to get excited about it because you can't wait for football still means absolutely nothing at the end of the day - if it did the league wouldn't be seriously looking into cutting it down to two games. The way some of you have been behaving has led me to gather that you've never actually followed the preseason until this year, if you have- you should know better. A few things to keep in mind before you go throwing this whole season in the garbage:

1.) In last season's preseason we saw records of:

New England 0-4 preseason
Baltimore Ravens 1-3 preseason
Indy Colts 1-4 preseason
Giants and Eagles 2-2 preseason
Seahawks 3-1preseason

2.) Last year Detroit was undefeated in the pre-season.

3.) I know Ron from NM does a great o-line study (and I really appreciate it Ron, its great stuff) but you can't let individual lineman performances cloud your judgement on the fact that as a unit they are all still rookies or at a new position. The fact that Marshawn, Freddie, and Rhodes can't run and Edwards can't pass does not mean that they are JP Losman or that we should go sign TJ Duckett and AJ Feeley. Again, its the pre-season, the o-line is supposed to learn and try things out.

4.) Terrell Owens played in one drive and we looked pretty darn good moving the ball.

5.) We are employing a new system with a coordinator looking to improve his unpredictability. Do you want to bet the offense is using these meaningless games to try out plays and calls that aren't what you'll see on game day? You are not seeing our product on the field. Thats reserved for practice.

6.) The starters aren't even going full strength nor should they as Mario Williams showed last night by pulling up on Favre when he could have ended his career in his own end zone. I play better at sports when I try 100% then I do playing 85%, MUCH better. On meaningful Sundays with TO on the field you can bet the playbook will be different and the effort will be greater.

6.) Stick to watching backups and analyzing position and roster battles, the starters aren't going to tell you a thing about how they will perform in season, every year its the same story. Some fan base gets all worked up about nothing and then when their team starts off pretty good they all pat themselves on the back and cheer for a guy they were ripping apart a few weeks earlier and vica versa in the case of teams like the Lions and Bengals - preseason darlings.

Relax and stop calling for Trent to be replaced. You just might get your wish and find AJ Feeley throwing 4 picks a game in week 6. For now, while all you jump off the bandwagon, I'll still be sitting there with my giant tub of popcorn ready for Monday Night Football.