Here is what they had to tell me about the Bills:

Has the defense for the Bills been lucky or has the scheme evolved to a point of ball hawking consistency?

A little of both. The Bills have had some lucky bounces go their way, no doubt. However, this defense has some legitimate ball hawks. In
particular, the Bills have a trio of real playmakers at safety – George Wilson, Jairus Byrd, and Bryan Scott. Those three seem to make gamechanging plays with regularity. Wilson has been on an absolute tear lately, with an interception in each of the last three games to go along with a ton of tackles. In general, this is not an especially talented defense but it is a smart one that will make you pay for mistakes.

Fred Jackson, how do you stop him?

Excellent question. I really don’t know. This isn’t even me saying this as a Bills fan, but Jackson has been amazing in 2011. Poor blocking by the offensive line hasn’t stopped him. Getting hit in the backfield 75% of the time hasn’t stopped him. Jackson’s just been a man possessed so far, seemingly breaking a few tackles every play. He’ll never win it unless Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady both slip into comas, but Jackson could be an MVP candidate this year. He’s been that good.

The offense looks dangerously hard to stop, can the Giants get to Fitz if he’s running 3 step drops and getting the ball out quickly? What are the Giants supposed to do to stop the Bills?

It’s gonna be tough to sack Fitz – he’s only been sacked three times all year. But it’s not necessarily always a good thing, as Fitz tends to throw it quick whether someone’s open or not. If you want to stop the Bills offense, you have two options: play physical bump-and-run coverage and get Fitz and the receivers out of sync. You could also try to confuse Fitz with some sort of zone blitz scheme. In his hurry to get the ball out, he’ll sometimes just throw it right to a linebacker.

This question may be a bit overdue but…. are the Bills for real? What’s their final record looking to you?

I don’t think the Bills are elite yet, but they’re a solid team. The defense is still a big question mark, and if the unit doesn’t improve or stops forcing turnovers it’s going to eventually catch up to them. However, there’s certainly enough talent here to contend for the playoffs. I’ll say they finish somewhere between 8-8 and 11-5. The rest of the schedule is tough, but the fact Buffalo still has two games left against the Dolphins helps.

X-factor for the Bills?

The Bills’ wide receivers. The Buffalo receiving corps has been absolutely decimated by trades and injuries. Lee Evans was dealt before season to Baltimore, Marcus Easley and Roscoe Parrish are out for the season, and now Donald Jones is out for at least a month. So now what was once probably the deepest position on the roster is a big concern. Two guys who were cut in earlier in the season – Naaman Roosevelt and Ruvell Martin – are now the #3 and #4 receivers on the team. David Nelson, a big but slow slot receiver, is now being forced outside to the #2 role. Brad Smith (a quarterback) and C.J. Spiller (a running back) will also have to play some receiver. If no one steps up and helps out star WR Stevie Johnson, the high-flying Bills passing attack is going to grind to a halt pretty quickly.

X-factor for the Giants?

Eli Manning. This is mostly true with any NFL team, but it’s especially true against the Bills: If you don’t turn it over, you probably win. If Manning avoids giving the Bills’ ballhawking safeties a chance to make plays, the Giants should be able to score quite a few points in this one.

Final prediction?

I actually might have liked the Bills a lot more here had the Giants not lost last week. This is a Giants team with a sense of urgency, while the Bills are banged up and probably looking forward to their bye week next week. I’ll say the Giants right the ship a bit with a 34-24 win. I certainly wouldn’t mind being wrong, of course.

Wow — that is some alliteration right there…. Anyway here is what they wanted to know about the Giants:

1) What the heck happened last week against the Seahawks? Was it just a bad game, or do the Giants have some glaring issues Seattle exposed?

I think the giants are in a transition year and had some glaring things like lack of blocking and run game bite them a bit. That said, they nearly won it inside 2 minutes. Happened to go the other way. This week I look for more consistency and better defense to keep the Giants ahead of the Bills an not play catch up.

2) A lot of Giants won’t be active for this weeks game: RB Brandon Jacobs, DL Justin Tuck and G Chris Snee among others. Which absence will create the biggest problem for the Giants?

In the trenches on both sides of the ball. Jacobs is the least of our concerns. Tuck and Snee are All-Pro type players and extremely vital to e identity of be Giants. Will be interesting to see the offensive line that much worse off, and I hope Kiwanuka plays some DE on place of Tuck this week to help stop be run and get more pressure on the passer.

3) WR Victor Cruz has been a monster in the past three games (17 catches, 369 yards, 21.7 avg, 3 TD). Are we seeing a superstar develop?

Yes, he’s been outstanding as a wideout and makes big plays every game. With Nicks opposite and Manningham in the mix too, the Giants have a potent WR trio. Even mores than when Smith was here.

4) Besides Cruz, are there any other young Giants playing well that are still maybe flying under the radar?

LB Jacquain Williams has been good. JPP has been great. And DT Dwayne Hendricks will join Linval Joseph on the line this week for this first time. Could be a very interesting game with the reliance on young players on defense.

5) The Giants have certainly been able to move the ball through the air, but the running game has struggled. Has the problem been with the offensive line, the running backs, play calling, or some combination of those factors?

Line changes more than anything. AB44 still knows how to run, play calling occasionally has been a little stagnant but at times it’s been stellar too. Right now the GMEN need to execute better at every level to succeed on the ground. Starts with blocking.

6) Any other storylines or players to watch out for during the game?

I think TE Jake Ballard could have another huge game, Eli has hit him for several big gashes and clutch TD’s. I want to see more from him.

7) How about a prediction for the game?

I think the Giants win by a score and figure some things out. 31-24 Giants.

Here is what the Tall dude has to say for himself this week ahead of the Bills @ Giants game:

We’re Talkin’ Proud

Back in the 1970’s Buffalo was something of a joke in New York State. It was regarded as a fallen industrial city up by the shores of Lake Erie, and wasn’t even worth the same sort of derogatory humor that Cleveland seemed to generate. The cities of Pittsburgh, Buffalo, and Cleveland form a triangle (each is about 200 miles from Canton), and Pittsburgh and Cleveland have a storied history of the old NFL behind them. Buffalo was, of course, an original member of the original AFL. In order to generate some civic pride, the city fathers of Buffalo came up with the slogan “We’re Talkin’ Proud.” With a certain amount of justification, the same can be said of this year’s Bills squad.

The Bills storm into the Meadowlands sporting a strong record, with wins over an improved Oakland squad, the Eagles, and the Patriots. They are playing with confidence, and they are playing smart and aggressive football.

First, some things about our G-men. They are banged up, and the OL and DL represent weak points. The LB’s are young, and there are a number of injuries. They get a couple of players back this week, but others will be held out in the hope that the coming bye week will allow the extra time to get healthy. Justin Tuck and Brandon Jacobs will miss this game, and Chris Snee and Zak DeOssie are still questionable due to concussions. This brings us to a statistical anomaly. The Giants play notoriously well in the game before the bye, and stink up the joint in the game after the bye. In every year that Tom Coughlin has been the coach the Giants have been 5-2 after seven games. The one year that they weren’t the G-Men went 6-1. This is a must win game for the Giants, as after the break they face Miami (losing record) and then they face the teams ranked 1-4 in total offense. San Francisco isn’t one of these foes, but that’s another story.

Buffalo isn’t exactly a dominating team. They win by playing smart football. The roster is full of underappreciated players that have been leavened with veterans. Although you wouldn’t think it, Ryan Fitzpatrick is the second rated QB in the AFC behind Tom Brady. Shawn Merriman adds fire to the defense, and George Wilson is having a career year as Strong Safety. The Bills might also be Dallas North, as Dave Wannstedt and Chan Gailey are the Defensive Coordinator and Head Coach, respectively. Wannstedt was the Defensive Coordinator for the Cowboys under Jimmy Johnson, while Chan Gailey followed Barry Switzer. Both are intimately familiar with the Giants, so the tendencies should be apparent. Perry Fewell was a former coach at Buffalo, so the Bills might have an insight as to how the Giants will be coached. People always remember that Mr. Gailey was fired by Jerry Jones. So were a lot of other people. Most of us seem to forget that he took the Cowboys to the playoffs twice (I did), but they were an old team on the down side by the time he got there.

While the Giants are banged up, so are the Bills. The #2 receiver, Donald Jones, is out with a high ankle sprain. The offensive left tackle, Demetrius Hall is out as well and will be replaced with a rookie. This would give the Giants a big advantage unless the Bills give the LT help. Their rookie nickel corner back is out as well.

This has been long winded, and where does it leave us? The odds makers have made the G-Men a 3 point home favorite. Buffalo is a smart and confident team, and they win by playing to their strengths and not making mistakes. The Giants are an angry team that faces what seems to be a must win game relatively early in the season. This seems to be a common thread with the Giants. They also play well going into the bye. There is a stat geek out there who makes it 60-40 that the Giants pull out the victory at home going into the bye week. If the Giants can’t figure out how to stop the run and get their own ground game moving, it’s likely to be a long afternoon. Statistically, the Giants are rated in the middle of the pack on most categories, which is about where a 3-2 team would be. The Giants must also do a better job of holding on to the football, something they did well in the first four games before reverting to last season’s type against the Seahawks. I’m going to go with superstition here; if I pick the G-men to win, they will almost certainly lose. Conversely, if I pick them to lose, they will win.

Buffalo 27-24. I hope to be eating another serving of crow come Sunday night.