rayzor

we do have an identity. its what we saw this past sunday. this team is that team that will have a lead in the fourth and then make possible a great comeback for the other team giving them and their fans probably the most memorable win in years and the shot of confidence they need to go forward. that's who this team is. we gift wrap exciting wins for other teams.

cam absolutely needs to be cut loose (not from the team...just the fence confining him be taken down.. in the team and his desire to become a more efficient passer he's become less of a difference maker. if we are going to score a lot of points, he's gonna have to return to being a dynamo.

it's too early to act desperate. or something....

manuel learns a new song today....

combine this with the dareus comments, and i'm getting a sense that the bills might be considering themselves to be at a higher level than this lowly team from the south. i think there really is a lack of respect for the panthers. coming from a team that hasn't deserved respect in over a decade this would be very funny.

that was my whole reason for watching much of the 2010 season.

i've got plantar fascitis right now. i got it towards the end of july and its still hurting when i wake up and when i spend even an hour walking around. it's a frustrating and very nagging injury that takes a long time to heel. in the literature i got from the doctors office it said that 80% may be pain free in about a year. my wife thought that was funny for some reason. point is, he's not going to be playing anywhere near 100% if he plays, at least not for very long. i think their secondary as is will be easy to exploit and even if byrd is there and able to play, he's just one guy. throw to someone that isn't being covered by him. i think our secondary will still be a weak link, but i think that manuel will be easier to pressure and rattle than wilson and i hope he does try to go vertical because it's quite likely he'll be forcing some throws that will be result in bad/ill-timed throws that our DB will find easy to capitalize on, which is one thing they are good at doing....capitalizing on mistakes the QB makes.

playing the bills calls for beef, don't you think?

i'm not going to link it because it's peter king, but on MMQB he mentioned two things about this game that hit me and troubles me.

exactly. what they do works. what we do we have to find excuses for and reasons to believe "it's just not that bad". win or get someone who can.

the "play it safe" mindset has worked against us quite often. that's been the difference between winning close games and losing them.

you have to be able to get at least 14 points on the board. if you can't, you're doing something wrong.

can you say a team that only scores seven points played well? that's what i'm having a hard time with. production is what matters. the offense simply just didn't produce. couldn't even get the ball into field goal range. i'm no fan of FGs, but at least it's points.

that makes me sick.

you put/keep the ball in the hands of the other offense and it's eventually going to come back and bite you in the butt...which happens to us quite often.

i think you're right about the secondary, but the offense should have scored more or at least got us un field goal range more than once. i'm not blaming this on cam. i'm blaming it on the secondary being weak and the receivers not hanging on to balls, williams fumbling, and game management that couldn't get the ball down the field and giving up on drives too early.

agreed on all of that.

how about this...develop a gameplan that doesn't turn cam into a conservative ball control game manager.

i saw a couple times where we just barely got the ball snapped before time ran out. at a home game, that's inexcusable, esp. when we were told that the streamlined offense would prevent that.

agreed. we should have never gotten to a point where a dwill fumble decides the game. there's no reason that with this cast of players on offense that we find the endzone only once. there's no reason that we should have only accumulated 10 points. the fact that we couldn't even get to FG range more than once is just pathetic.

i totally agree but i have no faith that this will happen. it goes completely against rivera and shula's natures. i've got this feeling it's going to be a long season.

well it should go saying blubblubblubblubblub....

interesting that you should mention that the game was before things started clicking. it kind of sounds like....ummm...like us. that game happened when chud had gone full retard with the offense and he strayed completely away from what had worked the year before. after our long time GM was fired a few weeks later the poo got real and rivera finally reigned in chud and forced him to manage the offense in according to what we knew worked and fit the strength of the players than him just showing off how creative he can be (cause it was obvious he was trying to get a HC job rather than win games). at that moment, the offense changed dramatically and things started clicking and what you had was an improved version of cam as a passer. so what you faced wasn't a good representation of what we are now. we now have an upgraded corps of receivers. is it an elite group of studs? nope. but it's better than what we've had in a long time. smitty is moving to the slot. lafell is as reliable a reciver as you could want. we added hixon (proven to be good when healthy, which he is right now) and ginn (who is actually looking like a real receiver and finally has a QB that fits his strengths). also, a complete surprise to us, armanti edwards looks like a natural WR for the first time of his career. and moving on to the defense....that was keek's first game in the middle. that was his first game running the show on the field. he was just in his infancy as the leader of this D. we had issues in the secondary and in the middle of the DLine. we were weak against the pass and the pass rush came from just our DEs. we were abysmal against the run (although we didn't do bad at all against lynch that game). we now have another year in the system. we have upgrades in the secondary as godfrey has moved from SS to his more natural fit of FS and we now have quinton mikell at SS. our secondary gets it and are really helped up by a beefed up DL that totally collapses the pocket and forces throws from the QB into not so good situations and the DBs are becoming quite good at capitalizing on those forced bad throws. josh norman was a young pup with some potential, but in over his head when we faced you before. that wasn't a good representation of who josh norman is now. look up what he did in preseason and let me assure you, he's becoming the real deal. the run D has also taken a step forward with the addition of star and the former packer and seahawk, colin cole (who isn't much against the pass, but has always done well against the run and who is now very healthy). the middle is clogged up and runners have to bounce outside where our stud LB corps of keek, beason, thomas davis, chase blackburn, and aj klein...or quinton mikell (very stout against the run) will pick them up. speaking of kuechly, watch him against the ravens and watch that defense with him. the beefed up interior gives him and the rest of the LBs freedom to fly all over the place. keek is faster than most. he's stronger than most. he's probably the smartest person on the field. there's a reason that there is legit discussion going on around the league that he is quickly turning into not just one of the best, but the best Mike in the league. beason, before keek was drafted, said in an interview about the draft, forget RG3 and luck...the safest pick in that draft was luke kuechly. little did he know that he was talking up the guy who would replace him. at any rate, what the new GM did this offseason was give him the personnel he needed to be free to be the elite player he's turning into. again, what you saw when we faced you guys before wasn't at all a good representation of what you'll be seeing on that field on sunday. oh...and then there's this little thing that hasn't been discussed...special teams. we have ted ginn. we have a legit return guy. one of the best in the league. that's not what we had last year. what you saw in our return game was not a representation of what you saw last year. as a matter of fact, the special teams as a whole is not a good representation of what you saw last year. we fired that lame ST coach we had last year at that point got fired and we replaced him mid season with his assistant who proved to be an upgrade, but in the offseason the team hired bruce dehaven as his assistant. dehaven, if you aren't familiar with him, he's a STs legend in the league having coached some of the best squads for over 20 years. he's had a positive impact on coverage and return units. also, our punter has improved quite a but and the FG kicker we picked up last year has become incredibly reliable as well. the special teams you faced last year isn't a good representation of what they are now. so pretty much, you may think that your team has improved since last year, esp. from when we played, which i don't doubt. what you may not realize, tho, is that this team has improved...and i feel very safe in assuming this...has improved more than seattle has. as a whole, the team you faced last year isn't a good representation of what you'll be facing on sunday. in fact i think this team is about to shock the league and few will have seen it coming.

i saw that and all i felt was pity.