It’s still just another step of many things that need to happen, but another alleged Bill Cowher 2010 destination may be closed off.
Last week it was reported that Carolina has offered John Fox and his entire staff the opportunity to return for the 2010 season. Now it looks like Tampa Bay may be out of the Cowher mix as well. Pro Football Talk, citing a source says that Bucs head coach Raheem Morris has been told both he and his staff will be back in 2010.
Carolina and Tampa were both teams where widespread speculation mounted towards Cowher resuming his coaching career.
With opening-day starter Trent Edwards reportedly on his way to IR (that has not happened yet, by the way – either way, he’s not playing any time soon) and de facto starter Ryan Fitzpatrick dealing with an ailing ankle, second-year quarterback Brian Brohm will start for the Buffalo Bills today in Atlanta. It will be Brohm’s first career NFL start. Jason La Canfora first broke the news via Twitter.
Signed by the Bills off of Green Bay’s practice squad on November 19, Brohm will take the reigns of Buffalo’s offense with less than six weeks’ worth of (mostly scout team) work in offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt’s system. He’ll also be playing behind the eighth starting iteration of Buffalo’s offensive line; Bills quarterbacks have thus far been sacked 44 times this season.
Aaron Maybin is an easy target. The 11th overall pick can do nothing right.
He held out of training camp. He barely ever sees the field. He is twicked away effortlessly by offensive tackles. Multiple times, he celebrated wildly after a ho-hum tackle. He got locked in the attic. His Christmas tree set on fire. His boss subscribed him to the Jelly of the Month Club.
OK, maybe not the last three. But, wow, Maybin sure has become Buffalo’s own Clark Griswold. To many, he resembles $17.6 million down the drain — a wasted pick that will set the Bills back for years. You know, like Mike Williams. Only thinner.
I’ve been saving this one for a few days, because this story hasn’t gotten a ton of attention, and because I wanted to take a day or two to sink my teeth into the idea and formulate an opinion in that fashion.
This past Monday – the day after the Buffalo Bills’ 17-10 loss to the New England Patriots – Bills Hall of Fame running back Thurman Thomas did his “Extra Point” show on WGR 550, just as he’s done every week this season. This past week’s edition, however, was quite easily his most interesting version yet. Why? Because Thurman mentioned his desire to play a part in Buffalo’s upcoming re-building process, and his having already talked to COO Russ Brandon about it. WGR has the full details here (as well as the audio), but these Thomas quotes are particularly noteworthy:
Buffalo Bills wide receiver Terrell Owens, who missed practice on Thursday and Friday due to illness, has been listed as questionable for Sunday’s home tilt with the New England Patriots.
Owens, who has 45 receptions for 705 yards and 4 touchdowns on the season, is Buffalo’s leading receiver. The upset-minded Bills would likely be forced to start Josh Reed next to veteran Lee Evans on Sunday if Owens can’t go. Owens was in team meetings on Friday, reports BuffaloBills.com, and Owens has been listed as questionable and played in games earlier this season.
In the history of professional football broadcasting, CBS analyst Steve Beurlein can now be renowned for having one of the grossest misstatements you’ll ever hear. During the second half of the Buffalo, Kansas City game he said “If you didn’t already know coming in these were 3-9 (Chiefs) and 4-8 (Bills) teams playing, you would never know it now.”
After questioning his sanity, you must wonder what game he was watching. In a contest plagued with turnovers (seven total), sacks, untimely penalties, crucial drops, missed opportunities, poor play calling and even worse execution, the Buffalo Bills managed to hold on for a 16-10 victory.
At 5-8, the Bills’ magical march towards a fourth straight 7-9 season is back in play.
Thursday, we talked about the ten best draft picks that the Buffalo Bills have made over the past decade. In order to complete our “[descriptive adjective] of the decade” series here, we’ve got to knock off the worst picks, too. This list can also be known as “why the Bills have sucked for a decade,” but we’re also hoping that one last vent session over these missed picks will be therapeutic as the franchise turns a new leaf – and a new decade – next month.
On to the list. Hope you can stomach it.
10. Josh Reed, WR, LSU (2002, Round 2, No. 36 overall) Tom Donahoe’s first draft as GM of the Bills, in 2001, netted some really good players. Nate Clements, Aaron Schobel and Travis Henry all made our “best of” list yesterday, and the Bills even got quality years and production out of third-round pick Jonas Jennings. 2002, however, was an epic flop, and Reed, the Bills’ second-round pick (fourth overall in that round), was part of the reason why.
Just a week before the start of the 2009 NFL season, Demetrius Bell was handed the starting left tackle job after then-head coach Dick Jauron cut incumbent tackle Langston Walker. The hope was that Bell would mesh in well with a young but heavily invested offensive line that would form cohesiveness and chemistry.
We’ll have to wait until next year to see what Bell has, because he’s just been placed on the season ending injured reserve list with an ailing knee.
Bell, who also missed a large portion of training camp was only able to play in eight games this season. He was charged with allowing five sacks and committed eight accepted penalties.
With the decade mercifully near an end for the Buffalo Bills faithful, it’s time to pick the best of the best, or in this case the least of the worst, and choose our All-Decade Team.
Usually it’s a tall order selecting a team with players that have spanned over ten years. But in this case the task was hardly daunting. I’m sure arguments will ensue about a player that should’ve made the list, though for the most part selections are pretty irrefutable and self explanatory. Plus, when you have a team that’s finished above .500 once this decade, it’s not like the pickings aren’t considerably slimmer than other franchises.
A majority of the players range from brilliant to respectable. Some, in fact most wouldn’t make the all-decade squads of most teams, but they carved out good years and Buffalo and are deserving of recognition.
If it wasn’t already a foregone conclusion, Trent Edwards’ season and perhaps career as the Buffalo Bills starting quarterback was quietly nailed shut this afternoon. As the Bills returned to practice to prepare for a trip to Kansas City this Sunday, Ryan Fitzpatrick remained as the first string quarterback. As has been the case recently, he took the vast majority of first team reps at practice, a sure fire sign he’ll be under center come Sunday.
It should come as no surprise, though Buffalo Bills head coach Perry Fewell said three weeks ago upon giving the starting job to Fitzpatrick that he gave them the best chance to win that particular game (Jacksonville), and that he would evaluate the starter on a week-to-week basis with the guy he felt was best suited to get the Bills a victory getting the nod.
Terrell Owens appeared on Fox Sports Jay Glazer’s “After Party” yesterday. During the interview, which also happened to be on his 36th birthday (party was in New York City), Owens talked about a variety of things. Among them, he plans on playing another two to three years, and he certainly didn’t dismiss a return to Buffalo next year, although his only concern for now is finishing the season strong.
Big things in both a literal and figurative sense were supposedly on the horizon when the Buffalo Bills drafted James Hardy in the second round (41st overall) of the 2008 NFL draft. Red zone woes were the primary reason the Bills tabbed the six foot-five goliath over smallish receivers Eddie Royal, who went to Denver with the next selection and DeSean Jackson, going to Philadelphia eight picks later.
While Hardy was hardly a big play machine his rookie season, he did show glimpses of becoming the go-to guy near the end zone. He only had nine receptions in 2008, but two went for touchdowns, including the game winner late at Jacksonville in week two. Unfortunately his season ended prematurely with a nasty ACL knee injury late in the season against the New York Jets.
We got a big time WNY triple header going tonight. The UB Bulls are at home facing off against Army at 7pm, while at the same time the Buffalo Sabres host the Montreal Canadians. And of course, the main event comes at 8:20 when the Buffalo Bills take on the Jets in Toronto.
Follow along with all three right here. Starting at 7pm we’ll have our live blog running, where you can check for updates, insight and of course chat live with your comments, questions and thoughts. Come strong!
The Buffalo Bills and New York Jets clash tonight in what amounts to a do-or-die AFC East battle for both teams. The game is being played in Toronto and if last year’s event is any indication, the Bills represent the “home” team in what essentially amounts to a neutral site.
Instead of the traditional “Are you ready for some football?” question, for our Canadian fiends lets queue the “THAT’S WHAT I’M TALKIN’ ABOOOOOT!!!!!”
Neither team has a winning record. The Jets enter at 5-6 while Buffalo is 4-7. Shockingly this is still a big game. If the Bills can win their third straight divisional contest, they’re actually very much alive in the divisional race, especially if Miami wins at home against New England Sunday. If both happen, the Bills would be within a game of Miami and two of New England, and they play the Patriots at home in three weeks on December 20.
I’ve learned that with the possible exception Terrence McGee (knee) and Jairus Byrd (groin), who will be a game time decisions, the Buffalo Bills inactive list for tonight’s game in Toronto against the Jets will look exactly like last week. I’ve also been told Roscoe Parrish will again be returning punts.
I just spoke to someone in Toronto covering the team and was told Perry Fewell is “heavily leaning” towards the same inactive list as last week. Against Miami the Bills inactives were: Steve Johnson, McGee, Ashton Youboty, Demetrius Bell, James Hardy, Chris Ellis, John McCargo. Brian Brohm was the third QB.
If McGee can go, and the team is hopeful he will, then Cary Harris would be deactivated. Byrd is also questionable and on a short week with little recovery time, the team may be careful with him. But my source expects him to be in uniform and not starting. He may used as a backup and/or emergency situation the same as Donte Whitner was when he came back from his ankle injury.
While Terrell Owens has been the desire of new starting quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick’s affection, Lee Evans shopping cart for footballs has been mostly empty. In the three games since the bye week, Owens has grabbed 17 passes for 378 yards while Evans has managed just seven for 105.
While the Buffalo Bills have recently changed head coaches, quarterbacks and offensive philosophies, for Evans at least, the more things change the more they’ve stayed the same.
With only five games remaining on the schedule, Evans has just 30 receptions for 436 yards. Though he’s caught five touchdown passes (plus one called back) he’s on pace to have the fewest catches (43) and receiving yards (634) of his six-year career. It’s certainly not the numbers the club had in mind when he signed a four-year extension worth $37.2-million a year ago, and added $6.5-million to the payroll with Owens.
After being as unobtrusive as a sick child through half his first, and likely only season in Buffalo, Terrell Owens has made some noise on the field the past few weeks. He has 14 catches for 291 yards and a pair of touchdowns in his last two games.
Uninterestingly enough, Owens, known as much for his mouth than his hands, has been utterly robotic with the media. “I’m just going with the plays that are called” is about the most intriguing sound byte he’s given us this season.
His season has turned around on the field, and after Tuesday so has his withdrawn press conferences off it. If Owens is only here for the next five games, he’s ready to make every moment count, whether it’s on the football field or in front of the podium.
I’ll be honest. Coming off of a holiday highlighted by three full days of tryptophan-induced lethargy (oh, how I love Thanksgiving), I knew heading into Sunday that my weekly film session post wasn’t going to be as in-depth as usual. My apologies for not warning you before this morning; call it a preparatory lethargy on my part.
The Buffalo Bills blew the Miami Dolphins out yesterday. There, I said it. If we’re calling the Bills’ 27-7 loss to New Orleans a blowout loss, then their 31-14 performance yesterday was a blowout win. I’ve got some observations for you to ponder and/or expand upon after the jump, but let’s just get the most obvious note out of the way: Gus Johnson is awesome. Moving on.
As the Buffalo Bills prepare to take on the Miami Dolphins today at Ralph Wilson Stadium, my mind goes back to a time when this rivalry reached a fevered pitch that finally exploded on a beautiful summer day in 1980.
Most Buffalo Bills fans will tell you that the one team they love to beat is the Miami Dolphins. Some will tell you that they don’t care if the Bills lose all their games just as long as they “squish the fish”. So why is there such a frenzy over this one team in the NFL? For those fans that are too young to remember, here’s a little refresher course.
Former Buffalo Bills greats Andre Reed and Steve Tasker were among the 25 semifinalists announced today for induction into the NFL Hall of Fame. They were selected from a list of 131 preliminary nominees.
The list of 25 semifinalists will be reduced by mail ballot to 15 modern-era candidates. That will be announced on January 7, 2010. The Class of 2010 will be selected and announced on February 6, 2010- the day before Super Bowl XLIV.
According to the official Hall of Fame website, although there is no set number for any class of enshrinees, the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s current ground rules do stipulate that between four and seven new members will be selected each year. No more than five modern-era nominees can be elected in a given year and a class of six or seven enshrines can only be achieved if one or both senior nominees are elected.
Some potential good news for the injury-riddled Buffalo Bills. After missing last week’s loss at Jacksonville, starting defensive tackle Marcus Stroud and Terrence McGee were both on the field practicing today, albeit on a limited basis, raising hope that both can play in this Sunday’s home showdown with Miami.
Fewell said after practice that Stroud had a good day and is closer to the probable side. McGee will be a game time decision.
Demetrius Bells (knee), Ashton Youboty (ankle) and Nic Harris (personal) and John McCargo (calf) were the only non-participants at this morning’s practice. All but Harris have been ruled out.
It’s been the topic of conversation for roughly a week in Buffalo Bills country, and now, we have the first details of the event itself. Bills COO Russ Brandon met for seven hours with former Denver head coach Mike Shanahan late Monday into early Tuesday, and according to the source of the ESPN report detailing the event, the meeting went well. The report describes Brandon’s presentation to Shanahan as “persuasive.”
Shanahan was quoted in the report. “We had an excellent meeting,” Shanahan said Wednesday. “I was really impressed with Russ Brandon and everything he had to say. We’re going to stay in touch and see what develops.”
As the 2009 NFL season slides into the homestretch, it’s become glaringly apparent to anyone who watches that the quarterback of the future is not on the Bills roster. Yes, just yesterday I wrote the Bills should start Brian Brohm near the end of the season, but it’s not likely to happen. Why not? Because Perry Fewell and Alex Van Pelt are coaching for their jobs. They’re not worried about the future because they may not have one here. They’ll go with the quarterback that gives them the best chance to win each week, and that guy looks like Ryan Fitzpatrick for now. The last thing Fewell is thinking about is 2010 and beyond.
But for the sake of moving on, let’s assume that Brohm does get some playing time and it’s concluded he’s not the future. That’s not far fetched, seeing he couldn’t get past Green Bay’s practice squad.
There’s barely adequate backups available in free agency let alone legitimate starters. Sure, there’s always the trade possibility, but it wouldn’t be wise to entrust the turnaround of the Bills in the hands of a Michael Vick or Derek Anderson.
The Buffalo Bills have signed free agent offensive guard Kendall Simmons. He will occupy a roster spot that’s vacated by guards Eric Wood and Seth McKinney, both of whom have been placed on injured reserve.
The Bills worked out Simmons this past spring and has been on the team’s radar, but until now Buffalo elected to go with youth. Of course that theory went out the window with the gruesome broken leg Wood suffered at Jacksonville this past Sunday.
The starting quarterback for the Buffalo Bills next season is not on this current roster, at least if they’re serious about winning. Well, let’s rephrase. A quarterback who’s already played this year won’t be the starter. Both Ryan Fitzpatrick and Trent Edwards are what they are. Fitzpatrick is a passable backup that can give you an occasional start. Edwards has a better chance of reuniting with J.P. Losman in the UFL as he does starting here next year.
Another thing is certain; the next starter for the Buffalo Bills will not be coming via free agency. Forget starters, there’s barely adequate backups available in next year’s class. With the exception of Kyle Orton, who the Broncos are sure to resign, this list of “prospects’ is about as intriguing as a Dick Jauron press conference.
I’ve been saving this one for a few days, because this story hasn’t gotten a ton of attention, and because I wanted to take a day or two to sink my teeth into the idea and formulate an opinion in that fashion.
Buffalo Bills wide receiver Terrell Owens, who missed practice on Thursday and Friday due to illness, has been listed as questionable for Sunday’s home tilt with the New England Patriots.
If it wasn’t already a foregone conclusion, Trent Edwards’ season and perhaps career as the Buffalo Bills starting quarterback was quietly nailed shut this afternoon. As the Bills returned to practice to prepare for a trip to Kansas City this Sunday, Ryan Fitzpatrick remained as the first string quarterback. As has been the case recently, he took the vast majority of first team reps at practice, a sure fire sign he’ll be under center come Sunday.
The Buffalo Bills and New York Jets clash tonight in what amounts to a do-or-die AFC East battle for both teams. The game is being played in Toronto and if last year’s event is any indication, the Bills represent the “home” team in what essentially amounts to a neutral site.
I’ve learned that with the possible exception Terrence McGee (knee) and Jairus Byrd (groin), who will be a game time decisions, the Buffalo Bills inactive list for tonight’s game in Toronto against the Jets will look exactly like last week. I’ve also been told Roscoe Parrish will again be returning punts.
While Terrell Owens has been the desire of new starting quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick’s affection, Lee Evans shopping cart for footballs has been mostly empty. In the three games since the bye week, Owens has grabbed 17 passes for 378 yards while Evans has managed just seven for 105.
I’ll be honest. Coming off of a holiday highlighted by three full days of tryptophan-induced lethargy (oh, how I love Thanksgiving), I knew heading into Sunday that my weekly film session post wasn’t going to be as in-depth as usual. My apologies for not warning you before this morning; call it a preparatory lethargy on my part.
As the Buffalo Bills prepare to take on the Miami Dolphins today at Ralph Wilson Stadium, my mind goes back to a time when this rivalry reached a fevered pitch that finally exploded on a beautiful summer day in 1980.
Former Buffalo Bills greats Andre Reed and Steve Tasker were among the 25 semifinalists announced today for induction into the NFL Hall of Fame. They were selected from a list of 131 preliminary nominees.
Some potential good news for the injury-riddled Buffalo Bills. After missing last week’s loss at Jacksonville, starting defensive tackle Marcus Stroud and Terrence McGee were both on the field practicing today, albeit on a limited basis, raising hope that both can play in this Sunday’s home showdown with Miami.
It’s been the topic of conversation for roughly a week in Buffalo Bills country, and now, we have the first details of the event itself. Bills COO Russ Brandon met for seven hours with former Denver head coach Mike Shanahan late Monday into early Tuesday, and according to the source of the 
As the 2009 NFL season slides into the homestretch, it’s become glaringly apparent to anyone who watches that the quarterback of the future is not on the Bills roster. Yes, just yesterday I wrote the 
The Buffalo Bills have signed free agent offensive guard Kendall Simmons. He will occupy a roster spot that’s vacated by guards Eric Wood and Seth McKinney, both of whom have been placed on injured reserve.
The starting quarterback for the Buffalo Bills next season is not on this current roster, at least if they’re serious about winning. Well, let’s rephrase. A quarterback who’s already played this year won’t be the starter. Both Ryan Fitzpatrick and Trent Edwards are what they are. Fitzpatrick is a passable backup that can give you an occasional start. Edwards has a better chance of reuniting with J.P. Losman in the UFL as he does starting here next year.
