As a registered Buffalo Bills fan, I would like to state for the record that I do not object to the Patriots going for it any time they feel like it. In fact, I would prefer that more teams use the punt more sparingly and more precisely, strategically, midfield.

However, I would like to point out a couple of things. First, John Madden's insane assertion that the New England Patriots are in a class of their own should be taken with a pinch of salt.. How soon we forget that the Patriots nearly lost to an injury-laden Indianapolis Colts team only a couple of weeks ago. It's a stroke, pardon the pun, that the Patriots seem to be immune to injury, and Tom Brady's streak of games played is simply nuts and mostly good fortune.

The Bills are not in the category of either the Colts or the Patriots, and it was plain stupid of them to think for a second that JP Losman was going to accomplish anything of note against the best team in the league. 2007 is hardly the first time we've had a best team in the league, and it won't be the last time either. The fact is, while the mediocre company that the Bills keep is well-stuffed, the Patriots are not alone in theirs.

'I watched the latest game knowing full well that the Bills were going to get destroyed and that their only hope was to score on nearly every possession'


I will further assert that, very simply, the finer points of coaching are reaping their rewards in New England. The Patriots, if you are able to remember, used to be even worse than the Colts in the good ol' AFC East, meaning they would regularly lose to the Bills, even after OJ skipped west and our hero was Joe Ferguson (you're not supposed to remember him).

Now, the Patriots have simply figured out how to pass against the zone, and it's pretty simple, if you look at it. The zones are broken down into spheres the same way that man coverage is, except the center of the sphere, in a zone, is empty space, while the center of the sphere in man coverage, is, well, a man. So while it may seem counter-intuitive to treat men on the field as edges of the coverage sphere — areas to avoid sending the ball to — it's really the best way to handle a zone, and that's basically all there is to the Patriots' passing game.

I watched the latest game knowing full well that the Bills were going to get destroyed and that their only hope was to score on nearly every possession. I also knew that JP Losman was, and still is, and will always be, completely unable to score on every possession. Why the Bills passed on Brady Quinn will forever mystify me, but I'm hoping that my man, Marv Levy, had his crystal ball well-polished during that draft and that Trent Edwards will get the job done when the time comes for management to pass on Losman. 

The biggest gift a great team can give a crap team, at any point in any game, is a punt. OK, so the Patriots aren't giving anybody any gifts. But if you're a real football fan, you remember Buddy Ryan. You remember Mike Ditka. You remember Bum phillips and Tom Landry and Chuck Noll and Chuck Knox for that matter — not a group of gift-givers, and nobody is going to claim that former Bills lineman Conrad Dobler — he of the eye gouge — would think twice about nailing an opponent if he could get away with it, much less (in a whiny tone now) "going for it on fourth and whatever."

Back in the day, when memories of Dobler and Joe Delamielleure were still fresh in the minds of young Buffalo Bills fans, after the team had stopped playing in the Rockpile, when the franchise dumped their white helmets in favor of red ones, legendarily-offsides nose tackle Fred Smerlas lamented that their next fashion change might feature an image of Big Bird on their pants.

Please don't tell me that the NFL has gotten so soft that beating the ever-loving crap out of a division rival, whose fans have destroyed reputations with a single finger and who, for countless years now, have treated Patriots visitors to Rich Stadium worst than any other division rival, is now classless.

What is classless is consistently delivering an offense that hasnt frightened anybody since the no-huddle was cutting edge, which now seems like a long time ago, doesnt it?, just like today's Patriots offense will be, 15 years from now.