Kaspers Korner

The Buffalo Bills game against the San Deigo Chargers had huge playoff implications.  With the win the Bills have shown that they are a contender for the Super Bowl.

The Bills are a ligitament contender for the first time in over a decade.  Which, has the town buzzing as Bills each week are coming nearer to the playoffs.

There is only one thing left to prove.  That being that they can perform in cold weather.

Edwards with his performance so far has shown that last year was not a fluke.  The only thing that remains between him and being one of the top quarterbacks in the league is performing in the cold.

Last year Edwards did not fare so well.  That is understandable, since he had played all of his football on the west coast, untill he was drafted by the Bills.

This is a different team than last year.  Last year they were riddled with injuries, and were pretty inexperienced.

Now, they are experienced, and healthy.  On top of that they have a offensive coordinator that understands what it takes for a quarterback to succeed in the National Football League.

Many people may not be talking about the Buffalo Bills right now.  However, a win against the New England Patriots on their own turf will change things in a heart beat.

Houston Texans cornerback Duanta Robinson is playing for the first time since November 4th, 2007, which in a game he tore his hamstring, and his knee.  The question now is can he return to his old form.

Tearing a ligament in a knee is much better than it was nearly 20 years ago.  Back then athletes that tore a ligament in their knee took anywhere from 12 to 18 months just to fully reconver, and get back on the feild.

Now, it is like routine as recovery time is down to six months.  Cinncinati Bengal quarterback Carson Palmer tore his anterior cruciate ligament in a playoff game in the month of January.  Then by August he was fully recovered, and able to play by the start of training camp in August.

Robinson’s injury is unprecedented in the National Football, and may be even in the history of sports?  The question is how will his body recover from tearing both at the same time.

How he responds will be a question for the Texans down the road.  Right now they are just happy to have him back.

It is good to see good things happen to the Texans, and to the city of Houston, Texas.  After all they still have a long road ahead of them in fixing up the destruction of Hurricane Ike.

 

Tennessee Titan quarterback Vince Young has had many trouble this year.  However, not taking responsibility for his own just makes it more clear that he is simply a bust.

Quarterbacks are leaders, and great leaders take responsibility for when things go wrong.  That is not the case as Young said this to Tom Curran of NBC Sports.com, “I feel like they’re writing my legacy.”

Simply when things go wrong it is going to be somone elses fault.  Thus, he will never improve as a football player.

The Titans should simply call what it is, and that is a lost cause. 

Fortunately, backup quarterback Kerry Collins is holding down the fort.  For if it were not for Collins the Titans would be in the basement of the league.

The Kansas City Chiefs general manager Carl Peterson is known for asking more than the markey rate when making trades.  That was obviously the case when the Chiefs were trying to deal tight end Tony Gonzalez.

It is being rumored that Peterson was asking for a first round pick for Gonzalez.  The Associated Press stated in an article that Gonzalez could be attained cheaply.

Obviously, that is a load of bull.  When the teams started calling the price immediatley went up.  How else can you explain a future Hall of Fame tight end not being traded at the dead line.

Most likely what happened is that Peterson probably took a couple of calls from teams stating what the price would be.  Probably low at the start, but when several teams called Peterson probably started asking for escalation clauses.

The problem is that nobody in their right mind would give up higher than a second rounder for Gonzalez.  For he is in the twighlight of his career, and giving up a first round pick is just crazy.

Now, the Chiefs will get what they deserved, and that is an outright circus.

The Buffalo Bills are coming off their bye week to face the San Deigo Chargers this Sunday.  The game this week will show how good the Bills really are, and who is a real contender for the Superbowl.

The Bills are going to have their hands full this week. As the Chargers are coming off a dominant win over the New England Patriots Sunday night.

The Bill same the same task as they did against the Arizona Cardinals.  That being to shut down the Chargers passing game as Phillip Rivers passed for over 300 yards against the Patriots.

The only solution for the Bills is blitzing the hell out of the Chargers.  If they do not then Bills fans will be in for the same treat this week just like the game against the Cardinals. 

Wade Phillips is in his third head coaching stint in the National Football League.  However, he still cannot put together a decent special team unit.

Phillips has one weakness, and one weakness alone.  That being he does not think highly of special teams.  Thus, not giving it the amount of appropriate practicing time it needs to be good.

The Cowboys are ranked 30th in the league in special teams.  That is jaw dropping considering that the Cowboys have what is regarded by the media as the most talented team in the NFL.

Special teams is not just something that is born into players naturally.  Just like anything else it takes time, and a lot of practicing to be good at it.

The best example is the Buffalo Bills.  For the last several years the Bills have been one of the best special teams unit in the NFL.

Then this past season the Bills let go of all their star special team players.  The reason being that the players were not very good at their regular playing position.

This year they are 14th in the league in special teams.  They will be back up near the top again, because the Bill regard it as a very important part of the team.

As long as Wade Phillips is the coach that will not be the case.  If he has not learned that special teams is important by now, then he never will.

Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Anquan Boldin earlier this year requested a trade.  At the end of the year he could get his wish as another teammate’s performance could allow it.

Wide receiver Steve Breaston is on pace for 75 catches, with 1,000 yards receiving.  What makes it remarkable is the Breaston is only in his second year.

Most wide receivers take three years to become this effective.  However, we are talking about the Cardinals who have a knack as of late to find wide receivers who are effective much quicker than most.

The emergence of Breaston allows the Cardinals to finally get rid of Boldin.  As of right now he has not been a problem, but that could change if he is still on the Cardinals roster next year.

For now the Cardinals must wait for Boldin to recover fully from a wicked hit in the head a couple of weeks ago against the New York Jets.

The Cleveland Browns have lost tight end Kellen Winslow for the foreseeable futre, because an infection.  In wake of this news the front office of the Browns need to take some drastic action.

The Browns are getting to the point where poeple are going to start referring to a infection as a Cleveland Brown instead of being simply an infection.

Every year it is the same thing with the Browns.  That is soemone falls ill to an infection.

In previous years players for the Browns have been afflicted by staph infections.  However, it is not known right what type of an infection that he has.

It is getting ridiculous, and it is getting to the point that the Browns really need to think about brining in the Center for Disease Control.

The Buffalo Bills have been without a prominent tight end for almost a decade.  The Bills have an opportunity that they must seize in the reported availability of Kansas City Cheifs tight end Tony Gonzalez.

Gonzalez is one of the greatest tight ends in the game.  With the Bills having a glaring weakness at the position making a more would only make sense.

It has been pretty much a foregone conclusion that some time soon Gonzalez was going to be traded.  With the trade deadline this Tuesday the time seems to be now.

Gonzales last week past former tight end Shannon Sharpe for the most receiving yards in a career by a tight end.  However, Gonzalez is 32, and would have another solid two, maybe even three, years left in him.

There obviously would be concern for Gonzalez to pickup the offense of offensive coordinator Turk Schonert. 

The thing that people need to remember that Gonzalez for several years played under offensive coordinator Al Saunders who is one of the best in the game.  Also, many teams run the same plays.  What it comes down to is remembering how the played is called.

The door is wide open for the Bills, and not pursuing Gonzalez would be foolish. 

The only reason that the Bills should not pursue this hard is if the Cheifs are asking for a second or first round draft choice in 2009.  Anything lower than that the conversation should go like this. 

(telephone ringing)

Cheifs gm Carl Peterson:  Hello? 

Russ Brandon:  Hey Carl Russ Brandon with the Bills.  Heard that Tony Gonzalez might be available is that true?

Peterson: Yeah it is?

Brandon: What are you asking for him?

Peterson: A third round pick in 2009.

Brandon:  DEAL! I will have the paper work over in a minute!

I know things are not always that simple, but if the Bills are smart this should be something like it.

With the beginning of every football season there is always a renewed hope that fans will see their team win a Superbowl.  However, there are somethings that do not change.

The Buffalo Bills have one problem.  That being stubbornness on part of the coaches. 

The past couple of seasons saw former offensive coordinator Steve Fairchild being the guilty party.  This year it is defensive coordinator Perry Fewell.

Fewell for some reason in their last game decided to stick with the same things over again, and again.  Which ultimately cost them the game.

The problem is that fewell along with the staff is so enamored with defensive ends Chris Kelsay, and Aaron Schoble.  His scheme relies on usually just a four man rush to disrupte offensive plays.

However, that has been far from the case.  The only linemen getting penetration at this point has been the defensive tackles.  Who alos provided the only big plays the defensive line has made.

This past week in his weekly interview on 106.5 WYRK in Buffalo, Kelsay subtley blammed the coaches for the loss to the Arizona Cardinals. 

“They did not do anything different from what we saw on film.  The only difference is that they ran a lot more short passing plays than they usually do,” said Kelsay.

Kelsay is on the money.  Yeah, both he and Schobel stink, but how can they even get a chance at the quarterback if their defensive coordinator is slow to adjust. 

Simply put Fewell better get his head out of his rear, or he is going to cost the Bills a shot at the playoffs.