With the Buffalo Bills dubbed by many as the NFL’s worst team and a trip to Gillette Stadium looming, there isn’t much to be amped about in Buffalo regarding our lethargic football team.
Meanwhile, attention in Western New York is slowly but surely shifting toward the Buffalo Sabres, who open preseason action this Saturday at home against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
They’ve made their fair share of Bills-esque decisions, but have transformed Buffalo into a hockey city with winning. Imagine that.
Even with hockey’s regular season more than two weeks away, and the Bills looking as terrible as advertised, there’s still plenty to talk about in Buffalo’s small sports world.
-At Wednesday’s Bills media day, Steve Johnson told CBSSports.com Correspondent Mark Ludwiczak that Roscoe Parrish has supplanted him as the team’s number two wide receiver alongside Lee Evans.
Reaction – It makes sense, sorta. Parrish has four catches for 69 yards and a touchdown this year while Johnson has made six grabs for 71 yards with most of his work coming underneath. Both guys were responsible for “interceptions” in Green Bay, but this to me, is another move by Gailey to “create a spark”. I don’t see this having much affect on Buffalo’s embarrassing offense, because Johnson will still be used quite often and at times Parrish will be moved back to the slot.
-Another, more disturbing and humiliating report that came from Bills media day was Donte Whitner proclaiming that opposing teams have been literally laughing the Bills on the field, citing the Patriots as one of the main culprits.
Reaction – Is there anything worse than this? Honestly? Whitner went on to say that he wants this to stop, and realizes his team’s play is what will do the trick. Donte is really bad for when he was drafted, (8th overall in 2006) but you’ve got to hand it to him for sticking up for Buffalo’s organization. If only he could back up his locker room claims and actually become the hard-hitting, play-making strong safety the Bills thought they were drafting five years ago. Oh, well.
-As reported by just about every Sabres’ amateur or professional writer early this week, 81 of the 82 Sabres’ games will be broadcast in HD this year. The only game that will not be seen in HD is at home against the Anaheim Ducks on December 21st. If you have the money for only one game, that should be the one.
Reaction – I’ve watched just about every sport in high definition, and I must say, the difference it makes for the game of hockey is night and day.
-By now you’ve seen the retro, 40th anniversary Sabres uniforms .
Reaction – I like the third jerseys, the ones with “Buffalo” in script across the front, and if you don’t, I’m sure they’ll grow on you as the season rolls along. The small, original logo under the word “Buffalo” with “1970” on either side of the blades is a nice touch.
I couldn’t be happier with the switch to the old-school uniform as the primary home and away threads. I’ve been waiting for the old-school white aways since the Winter Classic in 2008. However, the best news that came from last Saturday’s unveiling was the fact that we won’t have to stare at the hideous “slug” at all in 2010-2011. How did that logo get the go-ahead anyway?
– On Wednesday, Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News, posted a link on his Twitter page to Lindy Ruff’s first line combos and defensive pairings of the year.
Here’s a quick run-down if you were too lazy to click the link…
Forwards
Thomas Vanek-Derek Roy-Drew Stafford
Jochen Hecht-Tim Connolly-Jason Pominville
Nathan Gerbe-Paul Gaustad-Mike Grier
Tyler Ennis-Rob Niedermayer-Cody McCormick
Colin Stuart-Matt Ellis-Patrick Kaleta
Defensemen
Shaone Morrisonn-Tyler Myers
Jordan Leopold-Steve Montador
Chris Butler-Craig Rivet
Mike Weber-Andrej Sekera
Reaction – Ruff will probably change these lines countless times throughout the season, but I’m really looking forward to watching that fourth line of Ennis, Niedermayer and McCormick – what a combination of offensive skill, experience, and aggressiveness. I could say the same for the Gerbe line, too.
Now back to the Bills…does anyone think this Patriots team is a little more vulnerable than in past years? OK, amid this 13-game losing streak I’ve religiously searched to find reasons why the Bills can when the next game against the Evil Empire, and I’ve almost always been wrong.
I could be going a little crazy, but hear me out…
Chris Brown of BuffaloBills.com outlined that this is not the same New England team that’s owned Buffalo all decade.
Kevin Faulk, the quiet assassin who makes frequent appearances in my nightmares is done for the year, Logan Mankins is still holding out, Ty Warren is on IR, and the secondary is extremely young and hasn’t showed many signs of improvement.
Leave it to the Bills to lay an egg and be the team that gives the Pats’ youthful secondary confidence to build on for the rest of the season.
Even after my attempt at optimism, I still don’t see how the Ryan Fitzpatrick-led Bills go into Foxboro and get a win against a pissed-off Tom Brady.
Wednesday Injury Report
I’ll close with the Bills and Patriots injury report for Wednesday, as reported by both team’s official websites.
New England Patriots
RB Kevin Faulk – IR
T Nick Kaczur – Did Not Practice
CB Terrence Wheatley – Did Not Practice
WR Julian Edelman – Limited
Buffalo Bills
LB Paul Posluszny – Did Not Practice
G Andy Levitre – Did Not Practice
S Cary Harris – Full Participation in Practice (hamstring)
Levitre most likely will play on Sunday. You can count on pesky Julian Edelman to be in the lineup as well.
Follow BuffaloWins on Twitter @christrapasso or @joefromnycblog
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