"At least they made progress on Sunday. I'm referring, of course, to reports that the Bills are on the verge of signing veteran Chris Kelsay to a contract extension believed to be worth close to $24 million. Look, Kelsay is a decent football player and a stand-up guy in the locker room. But he'll be 31 next month, a defensive end who seems out of place at linebacker in the 3-4. Kelsay hasn't made nearly enough big plays to justify his current $6 million salary. He wouldn't start for a lot of NFL teams. One thing you can say about the Bills. Regardless of all the losing and dysfunction, mediocrity will not go unrewarded -- whether it's in the coaching ranks, the front office, the personnel department, or on the playing field itself. Speaking of mediocrity, how about that Buffalo defense on Sunday! After that performance, the entire "D" will be lined up outside Buddy Nix's door, looking to renegotiate. On a day when the offense played its guts out, the defense was worse than mediocre in a 38-30 loss to a very beatable Patriots team. We ought to be talking about Chan Gailey's first win as the Bills' head coach today. God knows what took him so long, but he figured out that Ryan Fitzpatrick gave his team a better chance to win than Trent Edwards. He was right. Gailey gave Fitzpatrick a good game plan and Fitzpatrick gave him a spark, throwing for 247 yards and two touchdowns. The running game did its part, gashing the Pats for 104 yards in the first half alone. Marshawn Lynch showed more life than he has since he was a rookie. Rookie C.J. Spiller had his first productive game, breaking a 19-yard run, catching a 5-yard TD in the flat and taking a kickoff back 95 yards for a TD. But it wasn't enough. The Patriots, getting big games from a backup (BenJarvus Green-Ellis) and a guy playing his first game in the NFL (Danny Woodhead), ran for 200 yards and a 5.3 average (5.8 if you take out Tom Brady's three kneel-downs at the end). The Bills' defense tried very few blitzes, choosing to sit back in coverage. Brady still sliced and diced them, going 21 for 27 for 252 yards, three TDs and no interceptions. He was sacked once, when the Pats had the matter in hand." http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/columns/jerry-sullivan/article202167.ece
