I won’t be able to watch the game, but I’ll be here letting you good people be my eyes.

[I wasn’t impressed with Ko Simpson either last year…you do a great job besides the very occasional typo]

Can you say “big preseason game”, is that even possible? There is all kinds of hoopla up in Toronto surrounding this meaningless exhibition that it is borderline….Canadian.
Anyway, besides quarterback, which is a given, the cornerback competition is a number one on my list of things to watch for. The Steelers have some good WRs, not to mention we get to see a little of what could have been in Limas Sweed, and it will be a good test overall for our defense as the Steelers run game always shows up, especially since their rookie runner Mendenhaal averaged 4.9 yds per carry last game.
I am going to also have a close look Crowell, because i want to really see the difference he makes for the LB corps and Donte for the secondary. This is the full starting defense so it will be good to see them against a team that pummeled us last season.

Another thing, will be Mr. James Hardy, who if he can start to get his head on straight, has a good chance to show up with Josh Reed still injured.

I want to see some progress in the run game. Don’t want to see Lynch for long at all, but I want more than a yard at a pop regardless of who runs it. You can’t use Peters as an excuse.

Call me crazy, but I want to see more of Courtney Anderson. He’s huge. I think Royal might be add man out. Schouman, Fine, and Anderson could be it.

I want JP do do well. I like the way he’s carried himself and I’d like to see his FA value rise for his sake next year.

Looking forward to the game.

1. No Injuries
2. No serious injuries for either teams, but especially us
3. Edwards looking more comfortable
4. Schonert letting Edwards throw it downfield more
5. Hardy looking more comfortable and not with the look of confusion
6. As you said Brian, getting Evans involved. We’ve heard Schonert talk about finding ways to get the ball to Evans more often. Well, the stage is your Turk. I’m interested in finding out if putting him in motion more, using more slants, etc will be in order.
7. Can Youboty keep up his strong play? I sure hope so.
8. Will Reggie Corner become more consistent? He was all of the place last week, figuratively. I want to know if he will learn from him mistakes, refine his technique and improve his coverage. That starts this week, we shall see.
9. More Derek Fine early. I think he could be our best TE by midseason, let’s try to get him more first team reps if he’s ready. Also, will Schouman play up to his t-shirt and shorts level?
10. Agree on Bell. I want to see if he has any hope of contributing this year if necessary. Throw him in earlier than expected, once Trent leaves (Sorry JP). Get him reps at both tackle spots if possible. I was hoping this kid would be on the PS for us, but it’s looking more and more like he’s got a great shot at being on the 53 man roster, and may even have to be active on gamedays if the worst case scenario presents itself.
11. Chris Ellis. Personally, I disagree with you about wanting to see him against the run. I want to see how he’ll help us rushing the passer. I doubt we see him on the field for many 1st and 2nd downs this year, so we need to know whether his pass rushing skills will help this year. Plus, can he really be any worse than Kelsay and to a lesser extent, Denney, against the run? Those guys were just as bad in run support as rushing the passer last year, especially the vastly overpaid “captain”.
12. Not sure why everyone expects so much out of Ko Simpson. He’s a very mediocre player, and now that he’s coming off a major injury, he will be even worse than he was.
13. Besides Simpson, I want to see ALL the safeties learn to tackle better and take better angles. These guys all seem to struggle in space trying to get to ball carriers, with Whitner definitely included here. I don’t know why they are so poor at this, maybe it’s not practiced that often?
14. I want to see DiGi on the outside, and Spragan early. Can these guys help us if Mitchell or Crowell go down? I don’t want to see Ellison out there, we know he sucks.
15. Losman, Can he put together back-to-back, semi-solid performances against backups? If so, it won’t mean much anyhow.
16. More Justin Jenkins and Steve Johnson early, and often. Hopefully, Roscoe and/or Reed sit this one out, or play sparingly so we can get the young guys some reps with Edwards. I really, really want to see if Johnson can be a factor for us this year and if he’s definitely worth keeping as a 6th WR.
17. More Lynch, but not much. I want to see him catch a few passes, if anything. The run game is going to suck again tonight, that’s a guarantee, so I want to see if Turk is a man of his word getting the ball to Lynch in space more often.
18. Brad Butler at RT and Whittle at RG. I want to see this early, even if it’s for a few plays. This could be a better short term solution for us than anything involving Kirk Chambers.
19. McKelvin in the return game. Can he continue showing he deserves to return some punts/kicks early in the season? Unfortunately, I think he is a much better punt returner, while we will probably need him to return kicks more this year. I don’t envision Roscoe losing returns, though the both of them back there could scare teams and even give us a chance for some trickeration.
20. Yeah, #20. I want to see the Toronto venture fizzle to an extent, proving the city is not willing/capable to having an NFL team full time. I want the Bills and NFL to see that a game a year is the best that Toronto gets. Buffalo needs, deserves and would die without the Bills, and the whole T.O. situation should prove that.

Please, Fox Sports Pittsburgh, don’t be blacked out in Queens tonight. Unfortunately, I think I will be staying up late to watch the first half at midnight on NFLN….

There are some very pasionate and knowledgable fans on this blog. Reading on this site really “fires” me up and has become part of my daily ritual.
:

I think we all need to keep this fact in mind as we watch our Bills play in preseason. I learned my lesson years ago watching the bills getting dismantled by the Cheifs in preseason only to watch us win the AFC, This is a playoff team that does have some weaker areas but our strenths will be able to cover them up. BRING ON SEATLE !!!

just some offensive promise. Break off a couple runs, throw the ball down the field. Get after it. Run some screens, some play action deep, and have some frick’n moxy out there.

The “Battle Royale” should refer to the TE position, don’t you think? :)

Seriously, though, that seems to be shaping up as a good competition, too.

On another note, I would really like the Bills to try out Bryan Scott at SS and move Whitner to FS, where he has the potential to make more plays. I liked what I saw out of Scott last year and feel he deserves more of a chance to start.