Capybara:

For contemplation here are some NFL rankings (season rushing yardage and rushing TD's)

ATLANTA LAST TWO YEARS
2002: 4th, 4th
2003: 14th, 7th

SAN FRAN FIRST THREE YEARS WITH GREG KNAPP
2000: 18th, 9th (the year before Knapp)
2001: 4th, 5th
2002: 6th, 12th
2003: 5th, 10th

DENVER FIRST THREE YEARS WITH ALEX GIBBS
1994: 23rd, 3rd (the year before Gibbs)
1995: 5th, 13th
1996: 1st, 2nd
1997: 4th, 5th

COMMENTS
- despite the Falcons dismal year last year, the rushing numbers were ok
- Both Knapp and Gibbs saw a significant jump in rushing yardage in their first year with their prior team

http://footballguys.com/04fo_freddiejones.htm

About Freddie Jones:“For the 5 games that Josh McCown was the quarterback in 2003, Jones had 11 catches for 105 yards and 0 touchdowns. Project that to a full season and Jones becomes almost worthless.”

http://footballguys.com/04fo_kyleboller.htm

About Kyle Boller: “Boller has never completed more then 54% of his pass attempts. EVER. Working back from last year, his completion percentages have been 51.8 (Rookie), 53.4 (Senior year), 39.3 (Junior), and 46.7 (Sophomore). That is downright AWFUL.”

Capybara(on Bills offense):

The Buffalo Bills think they are well on the way to taking the "dys" out of the functioning of their offense. Quarterback Drew Bledsoe said Thursday he and his offensive mates have a pretty good grasp of their new offensive system after four full days of minicamp practices this week at Ralph Wilson Stadium.

"The thing I'm encouraged about at this point is we already seem as a team to be developing a good grasp of what we're doing conceptually," Bledsoe said. "Even at this early point, guys know stuff pretty cold and are able to go aggressively because of that. Some of the problems we had last year had to do with guys having a little confusion here and there. I think right now with a little bit of simplification in what we've done there seems to be a general understanding of what we're doing."

Simpler is better, the Bills hope, as they aim to rehabilitate last year's dysfunctional attack. A bunch of the option routes run by receivers in the scheme of coordinator Kevin Gilbride last season have been jettisoned from the playbook. "We're not going to ask as many guys to make as many decisions this year," Bledsoe said. "Guys still have to read and react to the defense. But guys are not going to have as many options. We're also going to try to make things happen a little faster so I'm not holding the ball as long so that guys are coming open more quickly."

"Kevin 's offense was more a case of you have to be on the same page with the receiver," said backup quarterback Travis Brown. "I think if I had to compare the two, this one will lean a little more toward not taking so many risks but knowing where guys are at, knowing what each guy has on each play instead of kind of reading the defense. Both offenses are great. But I think in the offense we had the last couple years, you really have to be with the same guys for a lot of years. So it makes it hard when guys are coming in and out every year."

The comments of the players sound very similar to those made in Pittsburgh in 2001 when Mike Mularkey took over the Steelers' offense.

Capybara: