Does everyone think that bold and italicized works as the sarcasm font? Or is it too commonplace? I could stick with the whole /sarcasm thing if it is more clear.

I would argue that the Giants of two years ago won the Super Bowl due, in large part, to their OL. Their skill players weren’t particularly great.

The Steelers didn’t. Neither did the Cardinals.

That’s way too general a statement to be true.

Anybody that believes that it is not important to have a good offensive line to be a good football team, show me one championship caliber team that has won without a good line.

Steelers last year. Yes it’s important. No it’s not the only thing that’s important.

I think the Giants also beat Jim Kelly with Jeff Hornacek because his three point shooting just killed us all Super Bowl long.

Who is blind? Nobody is saying “ZOMG! Our OL is so talented. Why can’t the Van Pelt call better plays?” We are saying that OL does not equal success. No line can in face equal some offense. Plus a great line does not equal offense.

Ralph Wilson has to stop shopping in the NFL bargain basement.

For starters, Ralph doesn’t do the shopping. He’s just a rich guy who hires people to do his shopping for them. It is Ralph’s fault that those guys keep coming back with socks that already have holes in them, but it’s important to differentiate that he’s not actually the guy who’s going out and picking which FAs to sign.

And I threw this out in another post, here are some salary facts about the Bills:

Last year, Buffalo finished 16th in salary (that’s base salaries and bonuses) and had the 4th highest salary in the entire league in 2007.

The 2009 numbers aren’t out there yet, so only the New Orleans Saints have spent more money on players in each of the last two seasons.

Atlanta, Baltimore, Carolina, Cincy, Denver, Detroit, Green Bay, Houston, Indy, Kansas City, Philly, San Diego, Seattle and Tampa Bay (14 teams) have spent less money than Buffalo in two straight seasons.

Ralph Wilson is not half as cheap as people think he is. Jason Peters was not traded because Ralph Wilson didn’t want to pay him.

USA Today provides the salary info:
http://content.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/salaries/teamresults.aspx?team=3

The Bills have been spending. They’re just giving it to the wrong players.

And onto the OL:

Nobody thinks the OL isn’t important. Obviously it’s very important. I’ll try the argument like this:

The OL has five starters. The offense as a whole has 11 starters and one of those guys is almost a throw away player like a FB, 2nd TE or slot WR. So the offensive line is basically half of your offense. Obviously, very important. What I don’t understand is why that half of the offense is more important than the other half. It’d be like me saying no QB, RB, WR and TE = no offense.

No team that ever won a Super Bowl did so with an offensive line that is as poor as that of the Buffalo Bills

No team has ever won a Super Bowl with this caliber of run defense either. No team has ever won a Super Bowl with QBs who stink (even the mediocre guys had good games during the playoffs). Maybe a handful of teams have won a Super Bowl with this average (more like below average) of a pass rush.

The Bills have problems that extend beyond the OL. A better offensive line doesn’t magically make this team a playoff team. And sure, you could make the argument that if Buffalo had one of the best offensive lines in the league, the team would be much, much better, but you can say that about every unit on the team. If the LBs were twice as good, much better team, if the QB is one of the best, Buffalo is sitting above .500, etc…

Making excuses for rookies and injuries does not make the O-line any better either

Sure, but there is no possible way to make this OL better for sunday’s game. So before we talk about major changes on the OL, let’s consider how they will look next season. And my guess is that the two rookie guards are going to look pretty good. Blame the coaches all you want for thinking that starting two rookie guards and Langston Walker at LT was a good idea because it was a terrible idea with Walker being one of the single worst personel decisions I have ever seen a team make. But don’t blame the young players for not being good enough. Saying this OL needs major changes because the young guys are struggling is like saying that Detroit and the Jets need majord changes at QB. Unlike tackles, rookie guards always need time. Not sometimes, there are very rarely exceptions, rookie guards always need time. It’s not a position based on athleticism like the rest of the lineup. It’s about strength and technique and you don’t walk into the NFL with those qualities being better than the veterans you line up across from. All things considered, these are two of the best performances from rookie guards over the past decade. Literally, they might both be in the top 10 of rookie seasons from a guard in the 2000s.

Demetrius Bell was probably the single most raw players selected in the 2008 draft. He also needs some time and is playing the most challenging spot on the line. I think he could be an average or better starter at RT sometime next season. I truly belive the Bills are a LT and a year away from being an average OL with the potential to have one of the best lines in the league. I don’t think they need major changes at all.

Pietro – if you click “reply” to the comment that you’re replying to, it’ll thread it so we can tell who you’re actually talking to. :)

Who is defending the OL? I’m only saying that some of these guys are very young and are going to improve. I’ll go back to the QB analogy because I don’t understand how saying the OL needs to be completely overhauled is any different from saying that Detroit and NY need major changes at QB. If Wood and Levitre improve along the typical arc for guards, they’ll be much better next year (which is a scary good thought) and if Bell improves as much as he has improved from last year, then he’s probably a decent starter. Butler has already proven he can get the job done at guard, we can always put him back there. I don’t see how saying Buffalo only needs one major addition on the OL is defending them.

And why is the Bills poor offensive performance only leave the OL at fault? The QB play has been consistently terrible for the last five games while the OL has had some really terrible and some slightly terrible performances. I’m just saying that there are other ways to build a team and other needs to be addresssed.