NFL Power Ranking Roundup

David Duprey, AP

After knocking off the Patriots and now sending the "Dream Team" back to Philadelphia with another loss over the last 3 weeks, the Bills are moving up across the board in this week's power rankings.



Fox Sports - 8th (up 4 spots) The Bills are for real on both sides of the ball, as they showed in Sunday's 31-24 win over Philly. Defensively, they give up a lot of yards, but are opportunisitc in creating turnovers. Offensively, Ryan Fitzpatrick is the perfect QB to orchestrate Chan Gailey's offense, and RB Fred Jackson and WR Stevie Johnson are augmented by a couple of pretty good TEs.
http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/powerRankings

CBS Sports - 9th (Same) At 4-1, with victories over the Patriots and the Eagles, they are for real. That offense is tough to stop.
http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/powerrankings

ESPN - 6th (up 3 spots) The upstart Bills hold victories over the Patriots and "Dream Team" Eagles. Who would have thought? (Walker)
http://espn.go.com/nfl/powerrankings/_/year/2011/week/6

Pro Football Talk - 4th (up 6 spots) Leave it to a guy from Harvard to perfectly execute a dummy play.
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/10/11/week-five-power-rankings-2/

New York Jets: Spygate Part 2?

An interesting still frame from Sunday's contest between the NY Jets and the New England Patriots is floating around the internet:

You can see a member of the Jets staff clearing pointing a television camera across the field. They don't appear to be hiding this act, but it would seem to be in violation of NFL policy. Are the Patriots getting a taste of their own medicine here? As of yet, neither the NFL or the Jets have responded to questions regarding this image.

Update: Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com now reports the Jets have responded: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/10/11/photo-of-jets-employee-with-sideline-camera-creates-stir/

As Florio has learned, the Jets claim this practice is allowed in limited situations. It would be interesting to know what these limited situations are, given the NFL operations manual states, "...no video recording devices of any kind are permitted to be in use in the coaches' booth, on the field, or in the locker room during the game."

Buffalo Bills @ Philadelphia Eagles by the Numbers

Tom Szczerbowski, Getty Images

The Bills will look to right the ship this Sunday at the Ralph, after a sub par outing last week at Cincinnati. Meanwhile the Eagles, dubbed in the preseason as "The Dream Team" look to salvage their season after what has been a disasterous 1-3 start to open the 2011 campaign.

12: Sunday will mark only the 12th meeting all time between these interconference rivals. The Eagles hold a slight edge over the Bills having won 6 of the previous 11 meetings. The first ever meeting between the two franchises took place on Oct. 7th, 1973, when the Bills edged out the Eagles 27-26.

Rob Carr, Getty Images

100 Million: Eagles QB, Michael Vick, may be the only athlete in professional sports to sign two separate 100 million dollar contracts. Vick only played two seasons on his 2004 deal with the Falcons that was valued at 10 years/100 million dollars. Will the Eagles end up with similar buyer's remorse after signing Vick to a 6 year/100 million dollar deal this past offseason?

3: The Eagles enter this contest as a road favorite. This is, perhaps, one of the only times you will ever see a 3-1 team host a 1-3 team and be a 3 point underdog. Clearly, the money still believes in the Eagles' star power.

5.5: LeSean McCoy is averaging 5.5 yards per carry this season. After being gashed by the Bengals' rush attack last week, the Bills defense will have their work cut out for them facing McCoy.

5.8: On the flip side Fred Jackson is averaging 5.8 yards per carry this season. The Bills will have a golden opportunity to utilize Jackson against the Eagles' 30th ranked rush defense. The question is, will Chan Gailey have the patience to pound the ball?


106.7: Opposing QB's have collectively posted a rating of 106.7 against the Eagles pass defense. Despite a secondary laden with talent, Philadelphia has given up 10 TD's through the air and come away with a mere 2 interceptions. This should be a welcome change and a chance for Fitzpatrick and the receivers to get back on track.

2: This will mark only the second time the Bills have faced Michael Vick under center. Vick got the better end of things in a 2005 meeting where he led the Falcons to a 24-16 victory at Ralph Wilson Stadium. On that day Vick threw for 167 yds. and a pair of TD's to go along with 64 rushing yards.

2008: The elephant in the room. Stringing together a second straight loss this Sunday after a disappointing outing at Cincinnati will increase comparisons to the Bills' disappointing collapse during the 2008 season. If Chan Gailey and his 2011 Bills want to prove they are legit, today is a golden opportunity. Good teams lose, but find ways not to drop 2 in a row. Are the 2011 Bills there yet?

35-31: Expect a shootout between two talented offensive units facing defensive units that have questions. This game could define the season for the Bills and Eagles who both desperately need a win. Expect the Bills offense to get back on track and ride the home field advantage to a close win.

Raiders' Al Davis Dead at 82

US Presswire

The NFL lost a legend today with the passing of Al Davis. Davis, known as an innovator, led his Raiders to 3 Super Bowl titles. However, his greatest contribution to shaping the game as we know it, may have been in his stint as AFL commissioner. Through Davis' guidance, the NFL would eventually merge with the up and coming AFL and change the face of football forever.

Ralph Wilson released the following statement in the wake of Davis' passing:

"I am deeply saddened with the news of the passing of Al Davis. Al and I were very good friends for many years and I admired his innovative approach to the game of football. Al had a great impact on the American Football League that carried over to the National Football League after the merger and his competitive spirit embodied our sport. Al’s Raiders may not have won every game, but you knew that you were in for a tough, hard-fought contest every time you played them, regardless of the score. I want to extend my deepest sympathies to Al’s family, friends, the Raiders organization and Raiders fans everywhere.”

Chan Gailey Monday Press Conference

David Duprey, AP

Buffalo Bills head coach Chan Gailey was clearly dejected, but showed a sense of resolve at his Monday press conference, following his squad's first loss of the 2011 campaign. Here is a recap of the main points:

* The team feels like they lost respect around the league following their first loss of the season. Chan went on to say that you either gain or lose respect each week, but rarely stay at the same level. The team as a whole feels they need to go back out and earn respect.

* The final judgement on the team doesn't come until the end of the season

* Demetrius Bell will be out this week. His injury will require rehab, but no surgery.

* Chris Hairston will start in Bell's place at left tackle. Chan believes Hairston has improved since training camp, but will face a big challenge this week.

* Terrence McGee will return to the practice field this week, but may not be ready for the game.

* Kraig Urbik will return to practice and has a good shot to go against Philadelphia. If Urbik is healthy and ready to go, he will go back in at right guard. It will not be a competition with Rhinehart.

* Aaron Williams will sit out practice again this week.

* Nick Barnett was "banged up" in Sunday's loss and may take a couple of days off practice, but should be good to go next week.

* Chan is concerned with the amount of yards the defense is giving up, saying "You can't give up those kind of yards on a consistent basis and expect to win games." He also noted that the defense has to get off the field on 3rd down, which they did not do on Sunday against the Bengals.

* On the 1-3 Eagles coming in desperate for a win: "Everybody needs a win, there isn't anybody that doesn't need a win. You walk into any press conference anywhere, and everybody will say the same thing. Everybody's desperate, so they're no different than anybody else we play."

* On Andy Dalton hurting them with his feet: "We lost contain on him a couple of times. You can't lose contain this week, or you'll get burned badly." Chan stressed the team's focus on keeping Vick contained in the pocket this week.

* Gailey said he hopes the increased media exposure the team has received did not lead to a lack of focus against the Bengals, as the media attention will be a norm if the Bills win on a consistent basis, which is where they intend to be.

The full press conference can be seen here: Chan Gailey Press Conference

Why we Still BILL-ieve

As predictable as January snow storms along the shores of Lake Erie, we knew the first loss of the 2011 campaign would stir up a hornet's nest of naysayers. After toppling the big, bad Patriots and pushing their record to 3-0, the national media couldn't help but notice our beloved Buffalo Bills. What was not to love? A young, upstart team with a roster chock full of long shot stories. A team of misfits and cast offs that had banded together and proved that they could go toe to toe with the NFL's elite. Not surprising after one, albeit disappointing, loss many are returning to their all too familiar position as evidenced by this Colin Cowherd gem via Twitter:

                                                               

@ESPN_ColinColin Cowherd 

Where did all the buffalo Bills fans go? Goggle the next eight games for Buffalo. 5-7 is just around the corner.

Perhaps had Mr. Cowherd searched "#BillsMafia" before tweeting he would've seen that Bills fans haven't gone anywhere. Would it really be wise to give up on the franchise that coined the phrase "Nobody circles the wagons... like the Buffalo Bills?" Perhaps the late Tim Russert summed it up best when he said, "Being a Buffalo Bills fan isn't being a fan, it's a way of life."

John Biever, SI

As fans experiencing that way of life, we've felt the highest of highs and lowest of lows. We've seen unbelievable comebacks and heart wrenching defeats. As fans, this season, we've already seen a lot. We've seen 8 years of misery at the hands of the Patriots come to a halt. We've seen an offense that can go toe to toe and win shootouts with the best the league has to offer. We've seen a team that can comeback from the most unlikely of deficits. Unfortunately, on Sunday we also saw a team that still has its flaws. We saw an offense that can have an off day. We saw a defense that struggled to get off the field on 3rd down. What we didn't see, however, was a reason to give up on our team.


Surely, one lack luster afternoon in Cincinnati can't erase the accomplishments of this team. Regardless of the flaws the 2011 Bills may have, they have brought back a certain feeling of better days gone by. They've shown flashes of brilliance that make it seem possible that this team can be great once again. They've reminded us of why football in Buffalo is different. When the Bills are good, nothing else seems to matter. Most importantly they've reminded us why we still BILL-ieve.

Stevie Johnson Catch vs. Bengals

Was it a catch? You be the judge... these still frames come to us courtesy of "Figurita20" at BuffaloRange.com

Here we can see Stevie has the ball cradled in his left hand with his right knee and right hand on the ground.

Frame 2 shows us the ball is still secure.

Frame 3 shows Stevie is on the ground at this point, no sign of the ball.

In Frame 4 Stevie is clearly down at this point, but still no sign of a loose ball?

Remember, this was ruled a catch, until the back judge ran in and called this incomplete on the field. What did he see? Upon review, the call on the field was upheld, but with no explanation. What is your take? This looks like a catch to us.