Bleed Buffalo

Let’s face it, this Buffalo Bills team was not heading to the playoffs and the loss against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday did not end their season, so let’s give Stevie Johnson a break for having an off day. Without Johnson’s breakout year this season would be far less bearable to watch, so when he has a bad day like he did on Sunday it’s not the end of the world.

Johnson has quickly become the Bills number one receiver and the most exciting player to watch on offense (sorry Fred Jackson and Lee Evans). He went from virtual anonymity in his first two seasons in the league to having a legitimate shot at making a Pro Bowl this season. Johnson is 12th in the NFL with 59 receptions, 11th in receiving yards with 796 and tied for third with nine touchdown receptions. I’ll admit it would’ve been amazing to see him catch that 10th touchdown pass of the season to take down the juggernaut that is the Pittsburgh Steelers in overtime. However, it’s not like he dropped a pass in the end zone that would’ve catapulted the Bills into a playoff position. It would’ve made a 2-8 team, a 3-8 team.

It was amazing to see how much that drop effected Johnson at the podium during the postgame. It was great to see that much emotion from a player on a team that has seemed absolutely emotionless for the better part of a decade. Maybe Stevie J represents the turning of the tide in a Buffalo locker room that seems to have more heart and desire than any Bills team I can remember since the late 1990′s. I’ve said on multiple occasions this season that I would rather watch this 2-9 Bills team that any other Bills team in recent memory. They are exciting, they seem to be in every game to the very end and they are playing perhaps the most difficult schedule in the NFL to boot. Not to get off topic but the Bills opponents that they’ve already played this season have a combined record of 72-49. They have played an unprecendented nine teams with winning records and six division leaders. Those are some eye-popping stats for a team that has really only been completely out of two games this year.

These things need to be put into perspective especially for Steve Johnson. Johnson and the Bills have walked through the gauntlet this season, never put their heads down and have made just about every team they’ve played this season sweat it out til the very end. Johnson has had an incredible breakout year and the sky is the limit for this young receiver. Keep your head up Stevie and don’t let this one rough week derail your bright future.

Coming off two straight wins the Buffalo Bills are clearly becoming an entertaining and likeable team. Honestly what’s not to like? The team is rag-tag group of players (“Little Giants”) that are fighting for their NFL lives.

But even with some light at the end of the tunnel, the Bills are in line for their worst season since 2001 when they finished 3-13. This has led to a lot of early draft talk and speculation about which positions Buffalo should be interested in come April. Yes this year’s draft will be crucial in the turnaround of the team, but adding a few free agents from this year’s crop should be a priority.

Jason Cole of Yahoo Sports recently wrote an article about the top 30 free agents this year and he has them broken down into three groups. The three groups are: players that have been in the league six plus years, five-years and four-years. Because of the current situation with the Collective Bargaining Agreement things get confusing in regards to specific terms of free agency.

2010-11 Free Agency Breakdown:

1. If a lockout occurs there will be no free agency until an agreement is reached (or players could decertify the union to negate that).

2. Owners could negotiate with players during the offseason using the current rules, which means that only players with six or more years of NFL experience are eligible for unrestricted free agency.

3. There could be a strike.

4. An agreement could be reached by March and something similar to the old CBA rules will most likely be put in place. If this happens there will be a salary cap and players with four years experience will be unrestricted free agents.

Obviously I hope the owners and players can come to an agreement by March, because it would add to an already impressive group of free agents.  You can look at the complete list of free agents by clicking the link above, but I’ve decided to list some of the players I think the Bills should target below (The number next to their name indicates which group they fall into).

Free Agent targets for Bills:

1. Barrett Ruud MLB (6+): A steady inside linebacker that is on the way to his fourth straight year with over 100 tackles.

2. Chad Greenway OLB (5): A stud 4-3 outside linebacker. Would he also excel in a 3-4 scheme? I hope so.

3. Owen Daniels TE (5): Daniels caught 110 passes the past two seasons, but has been battling injuries the past year. Certainly an upgrade over anyone that we have if he’s healthy.

4. LaMarr Woodley OLB (4): A quarterbacks nightmare, he’s on pace for his third straight 10+ sack season. Well schooled in the 3-4 philosophy coming from Pittsburgh and would fill an immediate hole.

5. David Harris MLB (4): A tackling machine that has experience manning the middle in a 3-4. Hard to see the Jets keeping him with all their other big contracts.

6. Zach Miller TE (4): A solid receiving tight end that would be an upgrade at the position.

7. Tamba Hali OLB (5): Will fill our need for a pass-rushing OLB in the 3-4. Hali is having another steady year with eight sacks.

8. Matt Light OT (6+): Veteran left tackle that will allow Demetrius Bell to move to the right side. Can take a young tackle in the draft and groom him.

9. Pat Williams DT (6+): This is a real long shot because of his age and the fact the Bills have Kyle Williams. But if they do switch back to a 4-3 it wouldn’t hurt to bring him back for depth and to form the new “Williams Wall”.

I tried to be as sensible as possible with creating this list because let’s face it, Buffalo has been pretty conservative when it comes to signing free agents in the past. Besides the Terrell Owens signing, the last big splash the Bills made was signing Takeo Spikes in 2003.  There are some big names on the list of free agents (Haloti Ngata, Peyton Manning, etc…), but I don’t see their current teams letting them leave nor do I see Buffalo going after them.

A couple of good free agent signings and a solid draft could get the Bills headed in the right direction. Watch out Spike here comes the Buffalo Bills!

Here’s an article that i read that I thought was pretty interesting. There isn’t much substance to it but hey, a guy can dream right? Check it out here.

You’re probably looking at this title and wondering what luck I’m reffering to when it comes to the 1-8 Buffalo Bills. Well the luck I’m reffering to is Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck, who will most likely be the No. 1 pick in this April’s draft.

After leaving the Bills’ game yesterday I had mix feelings regarding the teams 14-12 win over the Detroit Lions. On one hand I was happy to see the team erase any chance of going 0-16, but there was also part of me that was thinking there goes our chance at drafting Luck.

The clear cut favorite to land the first overall pick has to be the Carolina Panthers, who are by far the worst team in the NFL (It doesn’t help that their roster has been decimated by injuries). At this point some of you maybe thinking why would the Panthers have any interest in a quarterback after they drafted both Jimmy Clausen and Tony Pike in the 2010 draft? John Fox is counting the days until he is fired at the end of the season and that means a whole new coaching staff will be coming to Carolina. Clausen is the current regime’s draft pick and the new coach will most likely come in and clean house. If Clausen fails to impress as a starter for the remainder of the season, Carolina might not be able to pass on an elite talent like Luck. Many draft experts are already touting Luck as the most impressive quarterback prospect since Peyton Manning. That’s saying a lot!

Now if the Bills and Panthers finish the season with identical 1-15 records, that’s where it gets tricky. You would think the team with the harder schedule would get the No. 1 pick, but that isn’t the case. The team with the weaker overall schedule will actually land the first pick. Jeremy White of WGR 550 wrote a great article breaking down the race to the top pick.

I’m happy to see Buffalo erase the goose egg from the win column, but I’m a firm believer that this team needs to hit rock bottom before it can climb to the top again. Getting the first pick and taking an elite quarterback like Luck is what this team needs to get back on the winning track (see the Rams this season).

None of this will matter however if Luck, a red-shirt sophomore for the Cardinal, decides to return to school for his junior season. If that does happen it will certainly sting for many Bills’ fans, but at least we would still have the opportunity to get any player that we want! With the first overall pick, Buddy Nix will have the opportunity to get his guy and he will have no excuses for making a bad choice, because he had his choice at the pick of the litter.

For now I have my calendar marked for January 15, which is the deadline for college underclassmen to declare for the draft.  Lets hope Buffalo can find some “Luck”.

“At least we aren’t as bad as the Lions.” A familiar phrase uttered by Bills fans over the past decade which no longer seems to ring true.

As the Buffalo Bills take the field against the Detroit Lions on Sunday it seems like a clash of two teams heading in completely opposite directions. Both teams have been rebuilding for the past ten years but the Lions seem to be the squad heading for greener pastures.

At the beginning of the season it was clear that the 2010 Bills were in complete blow it up and start over mode and judging by their 0-8 record at the halfway point, there seems to be little hope for success in the near future. This year’s Lions on the other hand seem to have found there building blocks for a promising future.

Calvin Johnson is quickly becoming the best receiver in the league; Ndamukong Suh is the run stuffing, penetrating force every team dreams of having in the middle of their defense; and Matthew Stafford, shoulder injuries and all, has all the tools to become a stellar franchise gunslinger. With a supporting cast of Jahvid Best and Brandon Pettigrew on offense and the surprising second year ballhawking corner Alphonso Smith (5 picks in ’10) on defense, the future looks bright in Detroit.

The Lions have continually hit home runs in recent drafts with Suh, Best, Pettigrew, Stafford, and up and coming safety Louis Delmas. Paired with solid free agent/trade acquisitions in Smith, Kyle Vanden Bosch, Corey Williams and Tony Scheffler the brass in Detroit seem to know how to properly build an NFL team.

The brain trust that Ralph Wilson has assembled seems to have a different plan in mind. The first draft class of the Buddy Nix era is mediocrity personified. With the exception of selecting the flashiest offensive player in C.J. Spiller, Nix focused his inaugural draft on taking chances on the likes of Terrell Troup, Alex Carrington, and Arthur Moats. Of the nine picks taken by Nix in the 2010 draft only three have seen the field, none of which have made a significant contribution. Spiller has shown brief flashes but has not lived up to the hype while Troup and Moats’ production has been laughable, combining for 20 total tackles and a mere half of a sack.

There is some hope on the horizon in the queen city however. Steve Johnson and Lee Evans have begun to form a formidable one two punch at receiver, Ryan Fitzpatrick has shown signs of being a serviceable NFL starting quarterback and the buzz about Kyle Williams being a legitimate All-Pro defensive tackle has begun to spread around the league. These minor moral victories pale in comparison to the star potential of Sunday’s opponents however.

Buffalo’s recent offensive serge may be enough to garner their first win of the season on Sunday but in the larger scope of things it’s clear to see which organization is actually heading in the right direction