Kaspers Korner

The Buffalo Bills got off to a fast start last year with a 5-1 record, which almost got them into the playoffs even though they struggled there after.  This year the Bills cannot afford another slow start.

of the Bills first eight game they face three of their four NFC opponents, which in most other years they could afford to lose.

However, in 2009 the Bills face a really tough schedule in facing the AFC South, which is a tough division packed with some really good offenses.

Even the NFC game are not going to be easy as they are against the NFC South, which has a lot of good teams as well.

That means that Bills players and coaches will have to bring their best each game.

In the end Bills fans will finally see what they have in their team as schedules like these bring out a player’s real character as there will be some tough times.

The Indianapolis Colts earlier this year faced the possibility of going into the 2009 season without the services of former offensive coordinatior Tom Moore and offensive line coach Howard Mudd.  The Colts will now remain in contention with the news that the team received on consultants.

Mudd and Moore retired earlier this year due to concern over pension benefits from other teams.

The two were brought back then later as conslutants to hopefully resume their old duties only with different titles.

According to Jason LaCanfora of NFL Network, via ProFootballTalk.com, the NFL has ruled that there are no limitations on the duties of consultants, which means that a team can hire them to do whatever they want.

That measn Moore and Mudd on game day will continue their own duties, which is great news for the Colts as the offense now does not have to learn an entire new playbook.

A entirely new playbook encompasses new terminology and plays that the offense must learn.

In the end the AFC South is going to be one tough division for defesnses to play in.

National Football League owners at meetings earlier this year approved a measure that allows teams to strike sponsorship deals with state lottery agencies.  When it comes to betting on single games that is something that they will not stand for.

According to ProFootballTalk.com, the NFL joined in a lawsuit aimed at attacking a new law that the state of Deleware passed that allows the single game betting on professional and college sporting events.

Clearly the league comes off as a hypocrite as it is okay to allow teams to sponsor scratch off gambling as they get money from sponsorship deals.

However, when it comes to something that they cannot make money off of then it is sorry you cannot do it.

The fact is that gambling is the single biggest reason that the league is so big as people compete with friends in fantasy leagues for money sometimes.

In the end the NFL will most likely win as there is a law that prohibits the expansion of sports betting, but what they really need to do is shut up.

The Buffalo Bills defense improved vastly in 2008 from 2007.  The reason is the play of their defensive tackles.

The main reason for the improved play from the defensive tackles was due to the trade for defensive tackle Marcus Stroud.

The Jacksonville Jaguars traded Stroud thinking that he would never be the same.

Stroud proved that wrong as he had his best year statistically in over three years by recording 45 tackles and two and a half sacks.

The scary thing is that those could of been higher, but Stroud had to face double teams all season long.

The defensive tackle group could play better if they had a different starter opposite of Stroud as fellow starting defensive tackle Kyle Williams had the same season as he did last year, but the thing is Williams did not face a lot of double teams so his stats are bad.

There is hope for the group as defensive tackle John McCargo has gotten his weight down between 300 to 305 pounds, which is great news as McCargo is way more talented than Williams.

Even Bills head coach Dick Jauron has taken notice as he stated McCargo looks like he is quicker than he has ever been.

In the end if the Bills realize that McCargo is better than Williams then the Bills defensive will be a elite unit in 2009.

The Buffalo Bills wide receiver Terrell Owens was signed to make the offense elite.  At 35 years old can he live up to the hype?

The one thing that cannot deny about owens is that he is a difference makers no matter where he has gone.

Also, after he left that particular team’s wide receiver position has not been the same.

Owens is in tremendous physical shape, which should extend his elite level play for a little longer.

The question is how long will that be?
The thing is that Owens is the last receiver from his draft class that still has elite level skills.

That means there is a good possiblity that Owens  just will not get open due to him losing some speed, because of his age.

Luckily, he has wide receiver Lee Evans opposite from him, which means that if has lost a step then Evans will draw the double coverage and that will give Owens single coverage that he should still be able to beat.

In the end Owens this year still should live up to the his previous statistical average and could surpass it as he has the best wide receiver opposite of him in years.

The Buffalo Bills went out and signed center Geoff Hangartner to improve the position.  The thing is can he handle being a center for the Bills.

Hangartner was an important part of the Carolina Panthers as he filled in at center and guard when someone was injured, which was half a season.

With Hangartner in the Panthers running attack did not miss a beat as they were still one of the best in the National Football League.

The problem is that playing for the Bills is different than the Panthers

The Panthers’ NFC South division opponents all play the 4-3 defense, which means that there is no defensive tackle over the center.

That means Hangartner’s responsibilities when they ran the ball helping out the guards run block for a second and move on to a linebacker and when pass blocking help the guards pass block a defensive tackle.

The Bills’ AFC East division opponents all play 3-4 defense, which means that there is a defensive tackle over the center at all times.

That means he is responsible for run blocking and pass blocking this player, which they Bills are hoping will be without the help of any guards.

In the end Hangartner has a tough challenge ahead as all three AFC opponents have solid defensive tackles, but hopefully he is up to the challenge.

The Pittsburgh Steelers are about to undertake the defense of their Superbowl title.  The thing is that they are going to have to do it with a major distraction on their hands.

According to ProFootballTalk.com, a civil lawsuit has been brought up against Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger for rape.

The alleged incident happened at Harrah’s, which is a hotel in Las Vegas, Neveda.

In the civil suit Harrah’s employee Andrea McNulty alleges that Roethlisberger asked her to come to his hotel room to fix the television and then he allegedly thereafter forced her to have sex with him.

As of right now there is no criminal complaint that has been filed.
This is the last thing that the Steelers want to happen, especially to their starting quarterback.

That means when training camp starts there will be huge contingencies of media at Steelers practice.

In the end with the Steelers being in a tough division in the AFC North this is simply to much to overcome, unless it goes away quick.

The Buffalo Bills are bringing back the No Huddle offense, which means more passing than running.  The question is though should they keep passing more than running or should it be the other way around?

Passing has become more frequent as the spread offense has been catching on in the National Football League.

The Bills will have their version of that with the No Huddle as it features three wide receivers, which spreads out the defense.

Many fans still believe that the Bills should feature a power running game, because of the weather and the fact that they have two solid running backs.

The thing is that if you are going to have a good solid offense you need to pass first.

In his book Sunday Morning Quarterback Phil Simms states that quarterbacks have a hard time just throwing the ball on third downs.

SImms goes on to say that if a quarterback is going to get into a rythm he needs to throw it early and often in the game.

Then when the quarterback is in a rythm and they have a lead then it is time to run the ball more that way to kill time and limit the number of chances the offense has.

In the end the Bill were right to make quarterback Trent Edwards the focal point of the offense.

Buffalo Bills defensive end Chris Kelsay has been a fixture on the Bills for six years now.  This year is different as his career as a starter is on the line.

When the Bills drafted Kelsay in 2003 they thought he would provide the complementry pass rush that they needed.

In his time with the Bills Kelsay has been nothing more than a dud as he has never reached double digit sacks per a season.

For the past several seasons Kelsay’s spot on the team has been safe, but that has changed with the Bills drafting defensive end Aaron Maybin this past April.

Luckily for Kelsay the Bills plan to bring Maybin along slowly.

That means Kelsay will still start this season, with Maybin coming in on obvious passing downs, which could be his last if he doesn’t prove himslef.

In the end it is going to be Kelsay’s last year as a starter as his chance to be elite has passed him by already.

The Buffalo Bills were one of the first defenses in the National Football League to use three defensive ends at one time on the field, which for some reason they got away from.  If the Bills are going to improve on defense they need to bring it back.

With the Bills taking defensive end Aaron Maybin in the first round of this pasy April’s NFL Draft and defensive end Chris Ellis in the third round last year they are now stocked at defensive end.

It was necessary for the Bills to do so, because they could not get a pass rush on the quarterback as star defensive end Aaron Schobel went down early in the season with a foot injury.

With Schobel back and the selection of Maybin the Bills pass rush should be far more effective this upcoming season.

However, they can help it further by on obvious passing downs move defensive end Chris Kelsay to the penetrating defensive tackle, which they did before, and bring Maybin in.

Not only will they be able to get a better pass rush they would also get Maybin valuable playing time.
In the end my gut tells me we will be seeing a lot of this from the Bills this year.