Buffalo Bills: Smack Talking With The Bears

Aug 28, 2014; Orchard Park, NY, USA; A general view of Ralph Wilson Stadium during a game between the Buffalo Bills and the Detroit Lions. Detroit beats Buffalo 23 to 0. Mandatory Credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports

Normally we would do a question and answer with the opposing team’s FanSided Editor or Staff member.  This week we changed things up a bit and did somewhat of a smack talk session with one of the guys over at Bear Goggles On, the FanSided affiliate for the Chicago Bears.  Here is our exchange back and forth over the past couple of days.

Before we begin this week’s edition of Talking Smack, can you tell our readers a little bit about yourself?

"My name is Michael Praser and I have been a staff writer for Bear Goggles On for over a year now. I have been a die-hard Bears fan ever since I went to my first game over 10 years ago and I have never looked back. I’m also a Cubs fan since birth, so I know a little something about disappointment year after year. Hopefully this year the Bears can do something with their number two scoring offense. I’m just hoping the preseason is not an indicator of how the defense is going to perform this year. My name is Dennis Amo.  I have been the editor at Buffalowdown since the beginning of the 2012 season.  I have been a Bills fan for as long as I can remember as well as a Buffalo Sabres fan.  Disappointment is in our blood.  People say that watching the Bills is like an addiction, it is bad for you but you just can’t give it up; that is exactly how I feel.  The preseason showed that our defense is back in true form and should be a top 5 defense. The offense is what concerns me as well as most of the fans in Buffalo.  So Dennis, I’m going to be honest with you. Most Bears fans are looking right past Buffalo already, chalking up an opening day victory. How can they not? The Bears have the number two scoring offense from last season and a revamped defensive line that should make EJ Manual wet his pants. Are Bears fans being a little too cocky in your opinion? The Bears may have been the second best scoring team in the league last year but the Bills defense ranked second in sacks and interceptions and were ranked 4th best in defending the pass.  The Bills defense filled holes to stop the run game.  With this combination they are sitting pretty for a top 5 defense overall this year.  Defense wins championships.  With the Bills offensive line averaging the size of a left tackle, I don’t think that they “revamped” defensive line is going to be much of an issue.  Oh, Yea and Bears fans are always a little too cocky! The Bills may not have the best passing attack in the league but the Bills had the 2nd best rushing attack last year averaging 144+ yards on the ground.  With a healthy CJ Spiller, Fred Jackson and the additions of Bryce Brown and Anthony Dixon do the Bears even think that they will be able to contain the rushing game from the Bills especially when the Bears are coming off being the worst team against the run allowing an average of 5.3 yards per carry and 161+ yards per game.  The Bills don’t need a passing attack against the Bears.  You don’t have to remind me of how bad the Bears run defense was last year. But they didn’t start giving up all those yards until after they lost 2 of their best defensive lineman to season ending injuries and were forced to sign guys off the street. The problem will be that the Bills are going to be forced into the passing game when the Bears start driving up the score with all of their offensive weapons.  All smack talking aside, the Bills do have some offensive weapons other than C.J. Spiller and Fred Jackson. How has Sammy Watkins looked so far this preseason and are you happy with the signing of Kyle Orton? Sammy has looked very good in preseason.  If he can work through the pain of his rib injury he will bring a lot to the offense.  Kyle Orton is a veteran quarterback and I  believe that he was brought in for the same reason that Jordan Palmer was brought in, as a mentor and a teacher.  The Bills have not given up on EJ and he is their guy, they will stick with him through thick and thin and only if it becomes evident that he is just not a capable quarterback in this league will they move into another direction.  For the Bears, who has been the biggest disappointment so far through the preseason?So far the biggest disappointment in preseason has been the defense. The Bears spent a lot of money upgrading the defensive line this off-season. They had some flashes during the preseason but nothing spectacular. But I’m not too worried about the defense of line right now as long as they’re all healthy. It’s the linebackers and safeties that I’m most worried about. I know it’s just preseason but Lance Briggs did not show any promise for the season. I think he was more concerned about opening his new restaurant then practicing football. The Bears didn’t try to upgrade the safety position but upgrading from worst to bad it is still bad. The secondary showed promise other than the safeties. Bears fans really wanted to see the defense do something against Seattle that didn’t happen. So instead of going into the regular season with all our questions answered we still have tons of questions on defense. So when Sunday comes around in the Bears stop the run? I don’t know. I guess we’ll find out. Other than quarterback play what is been the biggest disappointment of the preseason for the Buffalo Bills?To be honest, racking my brain, and I’ll try not to hurt myself doing it, but quarterback play is the only disappointment that I can take out of the preseason.  The defense looks on point even with a new DC in Schwartz, who will have some plays dialed up for the Bears, guaranteed.  The movement on the offensive line has created a renewed sense that the Bills will be back at the top of the league in rushing again this year, there was some concern in the beginning.  Wide receivers have the talent but no one to get them the ball.  Quarterback is the issue right now and we will see if Orton can come in and mentor Manuel.  Orton knows he is the back up and it is all EJ right now.  Coincidence? This is a quarterback driven league. I know that defense wins championships, but without a capable quarterback, teams become one dimensional. I know that Orton is supposed to be there as a mentor, but sooner or later he may become the long term solution to the quarterback woes in Buffalo.  Kyle Orton is a good quarterback. I know lots of Bears fans wanted to see him come back and be the #2 guy here in Chicago, but he is just too expensive. I think the Bills got a real winner signing him this year. So let’s get to the nitty gritty here. What is your prediction for the game? Coincidence or not, I know that this will be next to it for when Bears fans are done.I gotta say I think it is going g to be closer than people are thinking.  With a couple of turbo er deciding the fate and a late field goal the Bills pull a close on off 23 – 20I’m one of those people who don’t think it is going to be a close game.  The Bills only won two away games last year and that was against the Jaguars and Dolphins. I think the Bears are going to drive up the score early and force the Bills to play catchup for the rest of the game. Bears win 31 – 17.   If the game was in Buffalo, maybe the outcome would be closer, but this is the home opener at Soldier Field. Plus I doubt that you knew that One Direction just had a two day concert August 29th and 30th which most likely destroyed the turf, so the field is going to be awful. The Chicago Park District always re-sods the field, but trying to make cuts on freshly laid sod is ankle breaking."

Thanks to Michael Praser for suggesting the idea for the Smack Talk session.  It was a nice change of pace to our normal answer five standard questions about your team.