How glad am I that the season is about to start? Eager is probably a better word for it; I'm tired of the previews, the discussion of off-season moves; I'm just ready to watch football games again. No looking back, just moving forward with the season. I can't wait.
But in the twilight of the off-season, I figured it was time for one last rehash of the past eight months or so. Then opportunity knocked: rather than bring all this stuff up myself, Dave Aizer and Brent Popolizio did it for me. These two fine gentlemen run a nice little operation over at Bleacher Bloggers, where instead of listening to what "experts" say, they listen to what bloggers say. Yet the wisdom I (try to) spout here at Rumblings hasn't had much sway on their negative opinions of the Bills.
(Of course, Dave is a Jets fan and Brent is a Pats fan. Should I really have expected anything else?)
Dave: "They still have a team?"
Oh, Dave. Those weren't the Chargers that were beating up on your Jets 31-13 in the Meadowlands in the middle of a playoff run last year. Please stop it with the denial - that was J.P. Losman ripping your "Mangenius" defense to shreds.
Brent: "I know, but I read all those articles about J.P. Losman last year, he was studying his ass off before he got into camp, and look where that got them last year."
Ahh, here's the rehash. Same old skepticism, same old ideas. Where did his studying get him? Well, he was the eleventh-rated passer in the NFL last season, for starters. Despite the ineptitude of the defense, the O-Line and Willis McGahee, Losman took the team to a 7-9 record and kept them in the playoff hunt until Week 16. That's where his studying got him.
At least it wasn't all negative:
Hmm... maybe Dave does remember that whooping the Bills put on the Jets and is sneaking in his respect. For the record, that JP-to-Lee bomb against the Jets was my favorite long TD pass of the year - even ahead of the two at Houston. That was just an incredible play by Lee.
Be sure to check in over at Bleacher Bloggers, because despite their bias towards the Bills, it's a pretty nice production they've got over there.