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The Buffalo Bills (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter steelwind
- Start date
OC Zed
Footballguy
Polian deserves credit as the architect of the SuperBowl teams, but people view Butler's tenure with rose-colored glasses. Not only did he coast off of Polian's roster, but he left the Bills with little talent and mired in salary cap hell which forced the team to go through a major rebuilding effort that it never recovered from.The Bills have made numerous bad decisions in the past decade, but it's incorrect to say that the team hasn't been trying. When Wilson let Butler go, he hired well-respected Steelers' exec., Tom Donahoe, as GM and team president. Donahoe's time with the team saw more negatives than positives, but he was aggressive in hiring two well respected assistant coaches for the head coaching position (Williams and Mularky), and acquiring some big name free agents/trades (Spikes, Fletcher, Adams, Bledsoe, etc.).
Unfortunately, Donahoe's missteps led to Wilson's reactionary move towards the Levy/Jauron era which was a failure. Jauron, for all of his faults, was a good defensive coach who kept his team competitive to the point that it appeared that they were always on the verge of turning a corner.
It's too early to assess the Nix/Gailey era. In defense of Nix, he does have a strong college scouting background (necessary for a team that must build through the draft) and Gailey has been successful in his prior head coaching stints, particularly by adapting to the strengths of his players. The hysteria surrounding the Bills draft this year is not yet warranted - they did want either of the top two tackles in the draft (Okung or Williams), but both were already off the board by the time they picked. Spiller was their next highest rated player by far, so they took him. Their picks in the 2nd and 3rd rounds did address vital needs to the DL. If they didn't have high opinions of the available QBs or Ts, then why should they reach for any of those guys? It's not as if they were the only team to pass on Clauson and McCoy (or even Tebow).
Look, I'm not saying the organization has made a lot of good decisions in hindsight. But all of their decisions were fairly logical at the time they were made.
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OC Zed
Footballguy
Vick is not the type of quarterback that you can necessarily build a team around - and that was particularly true last year after his reinstatement.
One could argue that if Okung or Williams were the only players capable of rebuilding the OL around that perhaps they should have traded up from 9th spot to grab them.And if that wasn't possible, they should have traded down to grab more draft picks to take flyers on more of the mid-range OL guys in hopes of getting lucky. (Which given how hungry San Diego was for Mathews after Spiller was gone should have been an option.) Instead of drafting "yet another running back" whose potential will be squandered in a bloated committee with a horrible run-blocking line. There will be no return on investment for Spiller. Just as there wasn't for McGahee or Lynch.I suppose Anthony Davis and Bryan Bulaga are chopped liver.Furthermore, while this isn't on Nix & Company... if netting Okung or Williams was so critical to this team's future, perhaps it would have been better to tank games towards the end of the season to lock in key draft position instead of closing out the year with a 3-3 record after being eliminated from the playoff picture at 3-7.Washington lost 6 of their last 7 games, tanked their season, traded for McNabb, drafted Williams, brought in the Shanahan brothers and they're now 2-0.Seattle lost 6 of their last 8 games, tanked their season, drafted Okung, brought in Pete Carroll and they're now 1-1 (likely to go 2-1 this weekend 'cause we all know the Chargers are going to open up the season with a 2-3 record as usual).
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GoBills02
Footballguy
This is the greatest SENTENCE of all time, and sums up the major reason why the Bills are where they are now:
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2...fleming/100923
Breaking down the Bills' QB situation
By David Fleming
With his team at a now-familiar 0-2 and ranked dead last in passing yards, on Monday Bills coach Chan Gailey -- following a time-honored tradition in Buffalo that dates back to 1997 -- yanked his starting quarterback Trent Edwards in favor of Ryan Fitzpatrick, the 250th player taken in the 2005 draft, marking the fifth in-season QB change for the Bills in the past six seasons.
The team, Gailey said, needed the kind of "spark" only a former seventh-round draft pick out of football powerhouse Harvard could give them. Even though many moons ago in Buffalo a wise old sage named Marv Levy once said, "Changing quarterbacks is always a moot question, it often doesn't help much."
Of course, Levy said this in 1997, right after he, um, changed quarterbacks. That's just the nonsensical way things have gone in Buffalo since Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly retired. From the knuckleheaded Billy Joe Hobert forgetting to read his playbook to Flutie Flakes to future UFL star J.P. Losman, the Bills have gone through, by my count, 11 quarterbacks and 10 seasons without a playoff appearance.
Confused?
Fret not, Flem Filers, for I can sum up the Buffalo Bills quarterback situation in one simple sentence …
I'm pretty sure Jim Kelly doesn't even remember what most folks in Buffalo would like to forget: In a playoff game against the Jags in 1997 the Bills Hall of Fame QB suffered a concussion and, after a season with a career-low 14 TDs and a career-high 19 picks, decided to hang 'em up, thus setting into motion 14 straight years of Bills buffoonery under center; a long, laughable list that begins with original heir apparent Todd Collins, a second-round pick out of Michigan in the 1995 draft, who started 3-2 but played more like Phil or Tom, until he injured his shoulder against the Patriots and was replaced by the infamous Billy Joe Hobert who promptly threw a pick on his first pass leading to a 33-6 blowout loss, after which Billy Joe admitted (awesomely, I might add) that he hadn't actually, you know, opened his playbook that week, which led to his release a few days later and cleared the way for Alex Van Pelt to throw 10 picks and two TDs leading to a 6-10 season that prompted legendary coach Marv Levy to follow Kelly into retirement where he was replaced by Wade Phillips who in 1998 also released Collins, and, despite a roster old enough to require an Early Bird Special for their training table, the coach also signed six-time CFL MVP Doug Flutie, then 35, and traded away a first- and fourth-round pick to the Jags for Rob Johnson, a passer whose release was so slow scouts measured it in light years, which led to stitches in his chin in his first game, and then eight brutal sacks against the Dolphins in Week 5, opening the door for the late-game heroics of the diminutive Flutie who became a Pro Bowl QB (despite an 87.4 passer rating) and a spokesperson for the sugary but still somehow bland Flutie Flakes after a 10-6 record and a wild-card berth that ended, with time running out, with Flutie getting destroyed at the 5-yard line by the Dolphins whose coach, his old college nemesis, Jimmy Johnson, celebrated by jumping up and down on a pile of Flutie Flakes, a slightly uncool gesture since, you know, the Flakes (the cereal, not the coach) helped fund autism charities; an ignominious ending to Flutie's season but just a warm-up for how he'd finish 1999 when, after starting 25 of 27 games and leading the (11-5) Bills back to the playoffs, Flutie was inexplicably benched by the perpetually uncertain Phillips (hmm, sound familiar, Cowboys fans?) who went with Johnson for a wild-card game in Tennessee; a bold move that seemed to pay off when Johnson, operating at times with just one shoe, led the Bills to a last-second go-ahead field goal only to watch in horror as the Titans pulled off the Music City Miracle on the ensuing kickoff, a stunning gut-punch that sent the Titans to the doorstep of a world championship and the Bills on a franchise death spiral they have yet to pull out of -- now, unable to deal a 37-year-old Flutie and unwilling to unload the expensive Johnson, Buffalo went into 2000 with two starting QBs -- which in the NFL means you have actually have none -- opening with Johnson under center after Flutie tore his groin (a horrendous injury that, some say, feels exactly like it does to be a Bills fan) and sat the first six weeks until he led the Bills to three last-second wins and 44 points in the season finale against Seattle, after which he was promptly … cut that spring because of his $5 million price tag, in a salary-cap purge of aging vets (and bad coaches) that, inexplicably, did not affect Johnson who repaid the 2001 Bills by going 1-7 (including a loss to a Flutie-led Chargers team) with five TDs and 31 sacks before the Pats put him out of his misery with a shoulder injury, opening the door in 2001 for Alex Van Pelt who then slammed said door on his fingers, throwing four picks in a 35-0 loss to the 49ers, something that made the Bills so desperate they considered Travis Brown from Northern Arizona University who would go on to throw a grand total of 29 passes in the NFL, valuable experience that, of course, led him to open a QB school after his retirement from the game, a move that, nonetheless, cleared roster room for the Bills to take a QB high in the draft (it was going to be either David Carr or Joey Harrington, who both turned out to be busts which, strangely, means blowing the 2002 draft ranks as one of the team's best QB decisions of the past 14 years) but when that didn't pan out Buffalo traded another first-round pick to acquire New England's Drew Bledsoe, who received a hero's welcome in town and, after fully recovering from internal injuries in 2001, threw for 4,359 yards, resurrecting his career with a trip to the 2002 Pro Bowl, despite the fact that the Bills' offensive line (perhaps the main culprit in this whole entire, extended QB mess) and Bledsoe's oak-tree-like pocket mobility led to 54 sacks and a decidedly mediocre 8-8 season; Bledsoe would start 48 games for the Bills and take nearly every snap between 2002-04, improving the team from two wins to nine, but never managed to get the Bills above third place in the AFC East, therefore making it necessary for the Bills' new staff -- coach Gregg Williams was replaced by former Steelers O-coord Mike Mularkey (at this point the team considered installing revolving doors in their coaches' offices) -- to (again) trade (another) king's ransom (for yet another crappy QB) to the Cowboys -- this time a first, a second and a fifth-round pick -- to move up to No. 22 to snag the this-time-we-really-mean-it-seriously-why-are-you-laughing? quarterback of the future, J.P. Losman, from sure-fire NFL player factory Tulane who, yep, broke his leg during the preseason, requiring the Bills to sign journeyman Shane Matthews, who was so bad the Bears signed him twice, and therefore unable to help the Bills in their final game of 2004 when, needing only a win at home to make the playoffs, they lost to a group of Steelers backups, thanks to 16 completions for 189 yards and a pick by Bledsoe who responded to his inevitable demotion by leaving for Dallas, thus paving the way in 2005 for the Lostman, er, Losman Era, to begin; well, it lasted four whole weeks until Losman (75 yards, a pick and three sacks) was benched in the fourth quarter against the Saints in favor of journeyman Kelly Holcomb (the second most famous athlete from Middle Tennessee State behind some WNBA player I've never heard of) who, concussed by the Pats (Holcomb, not the WNBA player) -- New England, we should pause here to say, has done more damage to Buffalo then Brett Hull, the GooGoo Dolls and Scott Norwood combined -- was replaced by Losman who, somehow managed to get hurt, again, lose four more games and blow a 21-0 lead against the Dolphins, leading desperate owner Ralph Wilson to re-hire the then-80-something-year-old Marv Levy who in his first act as GM hired the equally offensively overmatched **** Jauron to coach the 2006 Bills to a 7-9 finish with the help of an actually kinda decent season from Losman (3,051 yards and 19 TDs), his first and last, by the way -- pssst: check this out, due to struggles with injuries, four different offensive coordinators and the Bills' QB curse of holding the ball for-ev-ah (103 sacks) Losman wound up going from the Bills to the UFL (hand to god) before taking a serious step down to join the Raiders, even though the official Losman website still, to this day, has him in a Bills uniform with the 2008 headline "Bills Revive Playoff Hopes" on the front page (and you thought you were confused) -- because Losman lost his starting job in 2007 to Trent Edwards, a passer Buffalo snagged in the third round of that year's draft out of Stanford (without trading away a single future first-round pick, go figure) who became the first Bills rookie QB since 1973 to win five games (is that a compliment or a criticism? can't tell … ) before carrying that momentum into 2008, completing 65.5 percent of his passes for a 7-9 team, followed in 2009 by a 1-4 start that, despite the calming presence of T.O., ultimately set off this bizarre, brainy chain of events: after the Yale-grad Jauron got fired, Edwards, the QB from Stanford gave way to the former Harvard QB Ryan Fitzpatrick (who registered a near-perfect 48 on his Wonderlic) who rallied the team to a 16-13 OT win against the Jets -- the season's only actual highlight -- which, naturally, caused fellow brainiac Jim Kelly (an "expert" who once opined "All the teams that are doing well, they all have quarterbacks") to get serious for a moment and remark that after 10 seasons without a playoff berth and 11 different quarterbacks since 1996 (and counting), it was high time the team dumped Edwards and "find someone who is the future of the Buffalo Bills," an opinion Kelly then promptly reversed a few months later when he declared "I hope [the starter] is Trent," a statement that, once again, made no sense whatsoever, especially after Kelly spent so much time before the draft publicly fawning over Tim Tebow, a player with a unique skill set that sure looked like a perfect fit with new head coach Chan Gailey; alas, the Bills passed on Tebow, started the 2010 season 0-2 and ranked 32nd in passing, flipped Edwards for Fitzpatrick (let's just call them: Ed Fitzpatwards, it'll be easier) for this week's game at (gulp) New England, creating an even higher level of desperation for Bills Nation that evoked Kelly's message of faith to fans this spring when he said, "Now, before U go 2 bed -- pray for our Buffalo Bills!" to which all I can say is you can wait for divine intervention in Buffalo if you want, but you'd probably have better luck re-signing Billy Joe Hobert.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2...fleming/100923
Breaking down the Bills' QB situation
By David Fleming
With his team at a now-familiar 0-2 and ranked dead last in passing yards, on Monday Bills coach Chan Gailey -- following a time-honored tradition in Buffalo that dates back to 1997 -- yanked his starting quarterback Trent Edwards in favor of Ryan Fitzpatrick, the 250th player taken in the 2005 draft, marking the fifth in-season QB change for the Bills in the past six seasons.
The team, Gailey said, needed the kind of "spark" only a former seventh-round draft pick out of football powerhouse Harvard could give them. Even though many moons ago in Buffalo a wise old sage named Marv Levy once said, "Changing quarterbacks is always a moot question, it often doesn't help much."
Of course, Levy said this in 1997, right after he, um, changed quarterbacks. That's just the nonsensical way things have gone in Buffalo since Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly retired. From the knuckleheaded Billy Joe Hobert forgetting to read his playbook to Flutie Flakes to future UFL star J.P. Losman, the Bills have gone through, by my count, 11 quarterbacks and 10 seasons without a playoff appearance.
Confused?
Fret not, Flem Filers, for I can sum up the Buffalo Bills quarterback situation in one simple sentence …
I'm pretty sure Jim Kelly doesn't even remember what most folks in Buffalo would like to forget: In a playoff game against the Jags in 1997 the Bills Hall of Fame QB suffered a concussion and, after a season with a career-low 14 TDs and a career-high 19 picks, decided to hang 'em up, thus setting into motion 14 straight years of Bills buffoonery under center; a long, laughable list that begins with original heir apparent Todd Collins, a second-round pick out of Michigan in the 1995 draft, who started 3-2 but played more like Phil or Tom, until he injured his shoulder against the Patriots and was replaced by the infamous Billy Joe Hobert who promptly threw a pick on his first pass leading to a 33-6 blowout loss, after which Billy Joe admitted (awesomely, I might add) that he hadn't actually, you know, opened his playbook that week, which led to his release a few days later and cleared the way for Alex Van Pelt to throw 10 picks and two TDs leading to a 6-10 season that prompted legendary coach Marv Levy to follow Kelly into retirement where he was replaced by Wade Phillips who in 1998 also released Collins, and, despite a roster old enough to require an Early Bird Special for their training table, the coach also signed six-time CFL MVP Doug Flutie, then 35, and traded away a first- and fourth-round pick to the Jags for Rob Johnson, a passer whose release was so slow scouts measured it in light years, which led to stitches in his chin in his first game, and then eight brutal sacks against the Dolphins in Week 5, opening the door for the late-game heroics of the diminutive Flutie who became a Pro Bowl QB (despite an 87.4 passer rating) and a spokesperson for the sugary but still somehow bland Flutie Flakes after a 10-6 record and a wild-card berth that ended, with time running out, with Flutie getting destroyed at the 5-yard line by the Dolphins whose coach, his old college nemesis, Jimmy Johnson, celebrated by jumping up and down on a pile of Flutie Flakes, a slightly uncool gesture since, you know, the Flakes (the cereal, not the coach) helped fund autism charities; an ignominious ending to Flutie's season but just a warm-up for how he'd finish 1999 when, after starting 25 of 27 games and leading the (11-5) Bills back to the playoffs, Flutie was inexplicably benched by the perpetually uncertain Phillips (hmm, sound familiar, Cowboys fans?) who went with Johnson for a wild-card game in Tennessee; a bold move that seemed to pay off when Johnson, operating at times with just one shoe, led the Bills to a last-second go-ahead field goal only to watch in horror as the Titans pulled off the Music City Miracle on the ensuing kickoff, a stunning gut-punch that sent the Titans to the doorstep of a world championship and the Bills on a franchise death spiral they have yet to pull out of -- now, unable to deal a 37-year-old Flutie and unwilling to unload the expensive Johnson, Buffalo went into 2000 with two starting QBs -- which in the NFL means you have actually have none -- opening with Johnson under center after Flutie tore his groin (a horrendous injury that, some say, feels exactly like it does to be a Bills fan) and sat the first six weeks until he led the Bills to three last-second wins and 44 points in the season finale against Seattle, after which he was promptly … cut that spring because of his $5 million price tag, in a salary-cap purge of aging vets (and bad coaches) that, inexplicably, did not affect Johnson who repaid the 2001 Bills by going 1-7 (including a loss to a Flutie-led Chargers team) with five TDs and 31 sacks before the Pats put him out of his misery with a shoulder injury, opening the door in 2001 for Alex Van Pelt who then slammed said door on his fingers, throwing four picks in a 35-0 loss to the 49ers, something that made the Bills so desperate they considered Travis Brown from Northern Arizona University who would go on to throw a grand total of 29 passes in the NFL, valuable experience that, of course, led him to open a QB school after his retirement from the game, a move that, nonetheless, cleared roster room for the Bills to take a QB high in the draft (it was going to be either David Carr or Joey Harrington, who both turned out to be busts which, strangely, means blowing the 2002 draft ranks as one of the team's best QB decisions of the past 14 years) but when that didn't pan out Buffalo traded another first-round pick to acquire New England's Drew Bledsoe, who received a hero's welcome in town and, after fully recovering from internal injuries in 2001, threw for 4,359 yards, resurrecting his career with a trip to the 2002 Pro Bowl, despite the fact that the Bills' offensive line (perhaps the main culprit in this whole entire, extended QB mess) and Bledsoe's oak-tree-like pocket mobility led to 54 sacks and a decidedly mediocre 8-8 season; Bledsoe would start 48 games for the Bills and take nearly every snap between 2002-04, improving the team from two wins to nine, but never managed to get the Bills above third place in the AFC East, therefore making it necessary for the Bills' new staff -- coach Gregg Williams was replaced by former Steelers O-coord Mike Mularkey (at this point the team considered installing revolving doors in their coaches' offices) -- to (again) trade (another) king's ransom (for yet another crappy QB) to the Cowboys -- this time a first, a second and a fifth-round pick -- to move up to No. 22 to snag the this-time-we-really-mean-it-seriously-why-are-you-laughing? quarterback of the future, J.P. Losman, from sure-fire NFL player factory Tulane who, yep, broke his leg during the preseason, requiring the Bills to sign journeyman Shane Matthews, who was so bad the Bears signed him twice, and therefore unable to help the Bills in their final game of 2004 when, needing only a win at home to make the playoffs, they lost to a group of Steelers backups, thanks to 16 completions for 189 yards and a pick by Bledsoe who responded to his inevitable demotion by leaving for Dallas, thus paving the way in 2005 for the Lostman, er, Losman Era, to begin; well, it lasted four whole weeks until Losman (75 yards, a pick and three sacks) was benched in the fourth quarter against the Saints in favor of journeyman Kelly Holcomb (the second most famous athlete from Middle Tennessee State behind some WNBA player I've never heard of) who, concussed by the Pats (Holcomb, not the WNBA player) -- New England, we should pause here to say, has done more damage to Buffalo then Brett Hull, the GooGoo Dolls and Scott Norwood combined -- was replaced by Losman who, somehow managed to get hurt, again, lose four more games and blow a 21-0 lead against the Dolphins, leading desperate owner Ralph Wilson to re-hire the then-80-something-year-old Marv Levy who in his first act as GM hired the equally offensively overmatched **** Jauron to coach the 2006 Bills to a 7-9 finish with the help of an actually kinda decent season from Losman (3,051 yards and 19 TDs), his first and last, by the way -- pssst: check this out, due to struggles with injuries, four different offensive coordinators and the Bills' QB curse of holding the ball for-ev-ah (103 sacks) Losman wound up going from the Bills to the UFL (hand to god) before taking a serious step down to join the Raiders, even though the official Losman website still, to this day, has him in a Bills uniform with the 2008 headline "Bills Revive Playoff Hopes" on the front page (and you thought you were confused) -- because Losman lost his starting job in 2007 to Trent Edwards, a passer Buffalo snagged in the third round of that year's draft out of Stanford (without trading away a single future first-round pick, go figure) who became the first Bills rookie QB since 1973 to win five games (is that a compliment or a criticism? can't tell … ) before carrying that momentum into 2008, completing 65.5 percent of his passes for a 7-9 team, followed in 2009 by a 1-4 start that, despite the calming presence of T.O., ultimately set off this bizarre, brainy chain of events: after the Yale-grad Jauron got fired, Edwards, the QB from Stanford gave way to the former Harvard QB Ryan Fitzpatrick (who registered a near-perfect 48 on his Wonderlic) who rallied the team to a 16-13 OT win against the Jets -- the season's only actual highlight -- which, naturally, caused fellow brainiac Jim Kelly (an "expert" who once opined "All the teams that are doing well, they all have quarterbacks") to get serious for a moment and remark that after 10 seasons without a playoff berth and 11 different quarterbacks since 1996 (and counting), it was high time the team dumped Edwards and "find someone who is the future of the Buffalo Bills," an opinion Kelly then promptly reversed a few months later when he declared "I hope [the starter] is Trent," a statement that, once again, made no sense whatsoever, especially after Kelly spent so much time before the draft publicly fawning over Tim Tebow, a player with a unique skill set that sure looked like a perfect fit with new head coach Chan Gailey; alas, the Bills passed on Tebow, started the 2010 season 0-2 and ranked 32nd in passing, flipped Edwards for Fitzpatrick (let's just call them: Ed Fitzpatwards, it'll be easier) for this week's game at (gulp) New England, creating an even higher level of desperation for Bills Nation that evoked Kelly's message of faith to fans this spring when he said, "Now, before U go 2 bed -- pray for our Buffalo Bills!" to which all I can say is you can wait for divine intervention in Buffalo if you want, but you'd probably have better luck re-signing Billy Joe Hobert.
AngryPatriot
Footballguy
Saw that Gailey is going "scale back Spiller's workload..."
HE HAD ONE CARRY LAST WEEK. That is some kind of mess going on up there but maybe good for the Pats to beat up on week 3.
HE HAD ONE CARRY LAST WEEK. That is some kind of mess going on up there but maybe good for the Pats to beat up on week 3.
GroveDiesel
Footballguy
It comes down to three things:
1). And inability to evaluate talent
2) Head coaches that can't make adjustments
3). A cheap owner
Obviously there has been a total inability to evaluate talent well in Buffalo for quite some time. Everyone made fun of Matt Millen, but Donahoe and company were just as bad. When everyone in the football world is scratching their head ever year when you make your draft picks, you're probably doing something wrong. It was infuriating when they took Maybin last year. It's even more infuriating watching how good Matthews, Orakpo and Cushing are.
Every year Bills fans watch as the offense and defense never adjust week to week, let alone half to half. While every other team goes in and makes adjustments at halftime or on the fly, the Bills just keep doing the same thing while their opponents take advantage. I think it was Donte Whitner who said this past offseason that teams last year would talk to them after the game and say "everyone in the NFL is laughing at you guys because to never change anything and are completely predictable.". Oof.
And then there's Ralph Wilson. Yeah, he's opened his checkbook several times on free agent busts like Dockery and Langston. But then he's refused to pay Winfield, Pat Williams and Jason Peters. They played chicken with Peters and lost. Yeah, Peters is overrated, but he's a whole lot better than what they have now. Instead of playing hardball, they should have found a way to give him a raise. The O-line has been awful for a LONG time and it had actually gotten to the point of having a chance to be decent. With the guys there now, they're back to square one.
They have no O-line, they can't pressure the quarterback, they can't stop the run, and the special teams is terrible now too. The only chance this team has to be decent is to draft a stud QB and find a decent LT, pass rusher and run defending LBer in free agency. So pretty much not going to happen. Or, if it is, it's at least 2 more years away.
1). And inability to evaluate talent
2) Head coaches that can't make adjustments
3). A cheap owner
Obviously there has been a total inability to evaluate talent well in Buffalo for quite some time. Everyone made fun of Matt Millen, but Donahoe and company were just as bad. When everyone in the football world is scratching their head ever year when you make your draft picks, you're probably doing something wrong. It was infuriating when they took Maybin last year. It's even more infuriating watching how good Matthews, Orakpo and Cushing are.
Every year Bills fans watch as the offense and defense never adjust week to week, let alone half to half. While every other team goes in and makes adjustments at halftime or on the fly, the Bills just keep doing the same thing while their opponents take advantage. I think it was Donte Whitner who said this past offseason that teams last year would talk to them after the game and say "everyone in the NFL is laughing at you guys because to never change anything and are completely predictable.". Oof.
And then there's Ralph Wilson. Yeah, he's opened his checkbook several times on free agent busts like Dockery and Langston. But then he's refused to pay Winfield, Pat Williams and Jason Peters. They played chicken with Peters and lost. Yeah, Peters is overrated, but he's a whole lot better than what they have now. Instead of playing hardball, they should have found a way to give him a raise. The O-line has been awful for a LONG time and it had actually gotten to the point of having a chance to be decent. With the guys there now, they're back to square one.
They have no O-line, they can't pressure the quarterback, they can't stop the run, and the special teams is terrible now too. The only chance this team has to be decent is to draft a stud QB and find a decent LT, pass rusher and run defending LBer in free agency. So pretty much not going to happen. Or, if it is, it's at least 2 more years away.
ImTheScientist
Footballguy
Fantasy owners of NE players do. Im pumped for Hernandez to torch that D.
Dr. Octopus
Footballguy
Maybe he really isn't ready to contribute. I'm sure his fantasy owners would disagree, but perhaps they think he's better suited as a special teams player that can contibute is small doses on offense for the time being.
Dr. Octopus
Footballguy
They did go down to the wire with Miami in week one - had the ball at the end with a chance to win. I do question some of the moves they made as well, but it isn't like the new regime has had a chance to turn it around in two weeks?
Dr. Octopus
Footballguy
They should have given him more of a chance. He was a little raw at times, but by far the most talented QB the team has had since Jim Kelly (perhaps Flutie).
Clifford
Footballguy
yet they've had plenty of time to make it far worse than anyone thought it could be at the beginning of the season.
I think I speak for all bills fans when I say this:
We arent looking for a dramatic turn around. We are looking for improvement. We have not seen any improvment in YEARS. There was one year in 2004 I believe with Bledsoe, Moulds, Price, etc where we were somewhat competant. They have not gotten any better, only MUCH worse. They are now the bottom of the barrel. The absolute worst team in the NFL IMO.
Someone referenced Millen above. See, I think Millen was a better GM than anyone we have had recently. At least Millens mistakes were still mistakes (some of them anyway) that other teams would have made. Charles Rogers was a premier talent out of college. Had he passed on him, someone else would have taken him early. Same thing with BMW. You cant say the same about Bills players they have drafted. Whitner at 9? McGahee with a bum knee at I think 26? They have passed on Haloti Ngata, Orakpo, the list goes on and on and on...
Its been about 20 years for me as a Bills fan. While I will always be a Bills fan, I am at wits end with them, and until Ralph passes on and new ownership comes in, this team is a wasteland.
We arent looking for a dramatic turn around. We are looking for improvement. We have not seen any improvment in YEARS. There was one year in 2004 I believe with Bledsoe, Moulds, Price, etc where we were somewhat competant. They have not gotten any better, only MUCH worse. They are now the bottom of the barrel. The absolute worst team in the NFL IMO.
Someone referenced Millen above. See, I think Millen was a better GM than anyone we have had recently. At least Millens mistakes were still mistakes (some of them anyway) that other teams would have made. Charles Rogers was a premier talent out of college. Had he passed on him, someone else would have taken him early. Same thing with BMW. You cant say the same about Bills players they have drafted. Whitner at 9? McGahee with a bum knee at I think 26? They have passed on Haloti Ngata, Orakpo, the list goes on and on and on...
Its been about 20 years for me as a Bills fan. While I will always be a Bills fan, I am at wits end with them, and until Ralph passes on and new ownership comes in, this team is a wasteland.
Grigs Allmoon
Footballguy
You're totally missing the boat, and obviously look at this situation from a FF perspective. That team has so much wrong with it that Barry Sanders wouldn't be much help. That said, I have no problem keeping Spiller at 8-10 touches per game. No use adding mileage to his odometer when it's not going to do any good for the team in the long run. Run Jackson/Lynch into the ground, get a top 3 pick, draft a QB (hopefully not for Sam Bradford $), and start fresh.
pollardsvision
Footballguy
At least Wrigley Field is a wonderful place to hang out on a summer afternoon, tossing back an Old Style, and looking at good looking women. There have been rewards for being a Cubs fan for a long time. I can't think of anything rewarding about being a Bills fan.
CaptainHook
Footballguy
spiller is the type of player that could accidentally win games for them so it makes sense to keep him on the bench while purposely losing to draft a real qb. plus hes small so he could be fragile. they have two guys they will have no real ties to in the future and no real reason to play him this year as long as fans keep coming out.
Max Power
Footballguy
That Don Beebe highlight
Shutout
Footballguy
I hope the Bills stay in Buffalo. They have a great fan base and its nice to see those unique regional supported teams.
But the reality is the Bills are truly the worst team in the league and it is mind blowing that they have arrived here.
the three most important players (positions if you will) on an NFL team is QB, Blindside tackle, pass-rushing DE. More grnerally: QB, O-line, D-line. The Bills have none of those things and did little of anything to make an impact to address it. It is as if they didn't know the rules of the draft allow you to trade or negotiate with other teams. I am amazed that a team with the 9th pick overall couldn't somehow, someway address one of those three areas that they desperately needed.
Instead, they draft a player a the one spot on their roster that theu, relatively speaking, have the best talent at. And they draft a kid that can't help them. Nothing against Spiller but for with the limitations of this Bills team, his skillset is almost useless. They drafted this guy thinking of him as a dynamic player that will cause matchup problems and help them do this and that. They talk about how he would add a "spark" (which is funny that they use this same term this week as they replace their QB). But the problem is, this team is in the stone age. The idea of a Spiller type player is nice but only when you are running; the Bills are still learning to crawl. In a simple, vanilla offense like this, your best asset is the RB that can crank out yards and push piles. Lynch and FJAX are much better at that and are already there on the team. You can't do all the dynamic stuff when you can't even do the basics.
Gailey talked about using his backs as the "week's game packages" were decided. That is laughable. That suggests that the Bills have options..that they can do several things depending on what team they face. The reality is they can't even do one thing well. They can't throw. They can't run with consistency. They can't pressure. They can't block.
So, Spiller may be a great player but he just can't help this team the way it needs to helped.
I am disappointed in them bringing in Gailey and Nix. It seems so recycled and so old-school outdated philosophy that I think its the exact opposite of what was needed. I think that was evident this week when a team of managers is hired and has 8 months to access their team needs and they ignore looking at QBs in the draft, trade, etc. They say they are happy with their QB and then two weeks into the season, the Bills effectively have Fitzpatrick as "their" guy. That's on management and isn't helping.
But the reality is the Bills are truly the worst team in the league and it is mind blowing that they have arrived here.
the three most important players (positions if you will) on an NFL team is QB, Blindside tackle, pass-rushing DE. More grnerally: QB, O-line, D-line. The Bills have none of those things and did little of anything to make an impact to address it. It is as if they didn't know the rules of the draft allow you to trade or negotiate with other teams. I am amazed that a team with the 9th pick overall couldn't somehow, someway address one of those three areas that they desperately needed.
Instead, they draft a player a the one spot on their roster that theu, relatively speaking, have the best talent at. And they draft a kid that can't help them. Nothing against Spiller but for with the limitations of this Bills team, his skillset is almost useless. They drafted this guy thinking of him as a dynamic player that will cause matchup problems and help them do this and that. They talk about how he would add a "spark" (which is funny that they use this same term this week as they replace their QB). But the problem is, this team is in the stone age. The idea of a Spiller type player is nice but only when you are running; the Bills are still learning to crawl. In a simple, vanilla offense like this, your best asset is the RB that can crank out yards and push piles. Lynch and FJAX are much better at that and are already there on the team. You can't do all the dynamic stuff when you can't even do the basics.
Gailey talked about using his backs as the "week's game packages" were decided. That is laughable. That suggests that the Bills have options..that they can do several things depending on what team they face. The reality is they can't even do one thing well. They can't throw. They can't run with consistency. They can't pressure. They can't block.
So, Spiller may be a great player but he just can't help this team the way it needs to helped.
I am disappointed in them bringing in Gailey and Nix. It seems so recycled and so old-school outdated philosophy that I think its the exact opposite of what was needed. I think that was evident this week when a team of managers is hired and has 8 months to access their team needs and they ignore looking at QBs in the draft, trade, etc. They say they are happy with their QB and then two weeks into the season, the Bills effectively have Fitzpatrick as "their" guy. That's on management and isn't helping.
Clifford
Footballguy
Wow, ok, so it sounds like even the fan base is ok with tanking to an 0-16 season?
CaptainHook
Footballguy
i have no idea...not a bills fan personally. I just think it sort of seems like they realized in week 1 how hopelessly awful the team was and decided not to risk future superstud cj spiller
Billy Costigan Jr
Footballguy
Call me what you will, but I was a diehard Bills fan from when I was kid (I'm 35 now), until those idiots benched Doug Flutie in favour of their Week 17 Wonderkid Rob Johnson.
I was so disgusted I threw in the towel, cheered when they lost because of the Music City Miracle, and then e-mailed every other team to let them know I was a free agent...the Browns sent me a hat, were coming off a 2-14 expansion season, and had a rich history so I threw in my lot with them.
And as bad as the Browns have been since their rebirth...I still think they'll win a Super Bowl before the Bills.
I was so disgusted I threw in the towel, cheered when they lost because of the Music City Miracle, and then e-mailed every other team to let them know I was a free agent...the Browns sent me a hat, were coming off a 2-14 expansion season, and had a rich history so I threw in my lot with them.
And as bad as the Browns have been since their rebirth...I still think they'll win a Super Bowl before the Bills.
ScottNorwood
Footballcutie
With Parrish, McKelvin, McGee and Spiller it looks like they're hoarding kick/punt returners. Seems like a solid strategy to me.
GoBills02
Footballguy
scott72
Footballguy
the Pats just might beat this team 40-0. It's stunning that they don't move one of their RB's for a pick or player. No clue what's going on up there.
Mr. Peterson
Footballguy
Every draft year I make a list of players I really hope the Bills take and a list of players I really hope the Bills don't take. Almost every year since 2006 they have drafted off my do-not-draft list. Actually, in 2006, Whitner wasn't on any list because I never thought he would go that high. But I've looked back on some of these lists and it explains why every year I want to throw a football through my TV,2009
Drafted: Maybin - almost every draft guy knew Maybin was gonna be a bust. I don't know how the Bills didn't.
Guys I really wanted: Orakpo (was so excited when he fell to us only for the Bills to pass on him), Oher, Cushing (wasn't high on Mathews)
2008
Drafted: McKelvin - I was OK with this but I thought there was a better CB out there if we were gonna go CB.
Guys I really wanted: D.R.C., Clady, Otah and Flacco (I thought his arm would have been great for the Buffalo weather)
2007
Drafted: Lynch - I was OK with this but I obviously praying the Bills would trade up to get ADP
Guys I really wanted: Revis, Hall, Quinn (whatever, I liked him), Beason
2006 - this is the year I almost threw up
Drafted: Whitner - who? Are you kidding me? I was so mad I just sat there.
Guys I really wanted: Ngata, Cutler (arm was perfect for Buffalo), Lienart (whatever, got caught up in the hype I guess), Bunkly, Cromartie
Drafted: McCargo - again? Are you kidding me? Another reach? I thought for sure we were trading up to get Mangold. It made perfect sense and now while McCargo is nothing Mangold is the anchor of a division rival.
I'm not saying I'm an expert or anything, but me and a lot of these average fans called for the same things I did. If it is so obvious to almost everyone around me then how can these so called experts mess it up so bad year after year?
This. The pricing is outrageous, the stadium has a terrible atmosphere for NFL and the team stinks. Build a new outdoor stadium away from downtown with plenty of land around it and you'll have one of the best football/tailgating atmospheres in the NFL. It would be tough to find a non-corporate owner in Canada though unless Jim Balsillie has a passion for football like he does for hockey.
Steve Tasker
Footballguy
Hint: ticket sales
Steve Tasker
Footballguy
I'll add my two cents:
Money. Profits. Cash.
Bills management doesn't care one bit about winning football games, making the playoffs, etc. They don't; it's been evident for years with the cutting costs, mismanagement, ####ty hirings, ####ty drafting. I'm sure they'd like to win games, and I'm sure the players are working their asses off to win, yes. But they're not good enough, and they front office doesn't give them the opportunity.
The Bills are one of the most profitable teams in the NFL (according to a local radio show this week - I did not research this) - why change? They haven't won a ### #### thing in 10 years, yet they still sell out every game, sell concessions/jerseys, and make a financial killing.
I've been a diehard Bills fan for years, season ticket holder for 7 seasons, born and raised here. I still watch them out of respect, but I'm done caring. They lose by 30, and 10 minutes later I've moved on and forgotten about it. It's just hard to care about this ####ty franchise. If they come back someday and get good again, I'll be here, just like I've been here the whole time, but there's NOTHING to be excited about.
To put it bluntly - #### Ralph Wilson. I know he's a legend, and he has done amazing things for the city of Buffalo. But it's time to move on. Until he moves on, this franchise is destined for failure.
Money. Profits. Cash.
Bills management doesn't care one bit about winning football games, making the playoffs, etc. They don't; it's been evident for years with the cutting costs, mismanagement, ####ty hirings, ####ty drafting. I'm sure they'd like to win games, and I'm sure the players are working their asses off to win, yes. But they're not good enough, and they front office doesn't give them the opportunity.
The Bills are one of the most profitable teams in the NFL (according to a local radio show this week - I did not research this) - why change? They haven't won a ### #### thing in 10 years, yet they still sell out every game, sell concessions/jerseys, and make a financial killing.
I've been a diehard Bills fan for years, season ticket holder for 7 seasons, born and raised here. I still watch them out of respect, but I'm done caring. They lose by 30, and 10 minutes later I've moved on and forgotten about it. It's just hard to care about this ####ty franchise. If they come back someday and get good again, I'll be here, just like I've been here the whole time, but there's NOTHING to be excited about.
To put it bluntly - #### Ralph Wilson. I know he's a legend, and he has done amazing things for the city of Buffalo. But it's time to move on. Until he moves on, this franchise is destined for failure.
Max Power
Footballguy
I feel bad for the fans that have to go through this. Not trying to win is a recipe for disaster. However, I thought I heard Buffalo wasn't making a whole lot of money and there were talks of even moving the franchise to Toronto.
Steve Tasker
Footballguy
There was talk of moving to Toronto because you can sell tickets for more money there, and would presumably be able to sell more luxury suites - people in Toronto have a lot more money than people here. But the Toronto experiment, from what I understand, has been largely a failure. They struggle to sell the tickets, because people in Toronto just don't care about the Bills and the tickets are so freakin expensive.Looking at a 2006 listing, the Bills' operating income ranked 13th in the NFL, despite being only the 25th most valuable franchise from a valuation standpoint. I don't know how accurate that still is, I can't find a more recent figure. I just mentioned it because the local guys mentioned it on the radio this week.At that point, the team hadn't made the playoffs in 6 years, but was still in the top half of profitability. I remember watching the Music City Miracle game when I was in 8th grade. I now have a Masters degree - and the Bills haven't made the playoffs since. That's just ridiculous.The worst part is that the entire situation really hamstrings the fanbase. The Bills still sell a ton of tickets, because people are just so scared that the franchise will move. For years, I was one of those guys - but at this point, I don't even know how I feel about it. I don't LIKE watching the Bills anymore - I watch them because I feel obligated to. Sundays suck. I haven't enjoyed watching the Bills play in a long, long time. If they do eventually move, yes, I'll be heartbroken. But if they never get any better between now and then, I'm honestly not sure how much I'd really care. And that's sad, I think.I feel bad for the fans that have to go through this. Not trying to win is a recipe for disaster. However, I thought I heard Buffalo wasn't making a whole lot of money and there were talks of even moving the franchise to Toronto.
OC Zed
Footballguy
These things just are not true. The last 10 years have been dreadful, but every move Wilson and the front office made (outside of the Kelsay extensions) had a logical reason towards rebuilding the franchise. Yes, all of those decisions turned out to be dreadful, but they were not done to solely churn a profit over winning. Wilson opened the pocketbook for plenty of big name front office and player acquisitions in the past decade (Donahoe, Williams, Bledsoe, Mularky, Spikes, Adams, Milloy, Vincent, Mitchell, Schobel's extension, Evans' extension, TO, etc.). Please don't confuse mismanagement (which is the real culprit) with a lack of desire towards winning.And the Bills are not one of the most profitable teams in the NFL. They make a profit solely because (i) of the NFL revenue sharing agreement (which is much more tenuous under the current agreement), and (ii) they don't have any stadium financing. Even with their annual profit, they still rank near the bottom in franchise value (Forbes rankings).
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Sebowski
Footballguy
Thank you for that one, btw. Thought for sure you guys would snipe Orakpo there.
decades? that seems like a stretch to me, but it's tough to argue with the way the franchise has been going.the problem isn't all drafting, IMO. There are also development issues at play here I'm sure. It's also the fact that when they do wind up developing a quality player, they let the guy leave b/c they can't or won't pay them what they are worth...OR when they do actually decide to commit to a player past his rookie contract, he's just not very good.
This looks like a pretty strong collection of talent that has left Buffalo in recent memory:
RB Willis McGahee, Marshawn Lynch, Sammy Morris
OL Jason Peters
DT Pat Williams
DE Aaron Schobel (retired b/c he got sick of losing)
MLB London Fletcher
CB Antoine Winfield, Nate Clements, Jabari Greer
Since they aren't really a player in free agency and rarely bring in any big-name talent that way, it's very difficult to overcome these types of losses in personnel. They basically just keep churning through cheap and low-priced players. That's just not a way to build a successful franchise. They have no real veteran leadership on either side of the ball.
It's a pretty poorly run franchise from a football perspective and has been for some time. Wilson doesn't seem to have a clue how to fix it either.
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Area51Inhabitant
Footballguy
Jay Glazer is now saying that there were other teams that were interested in Lynch and would have given up more than a 4th round pick for him but that the Bills didn't bother to call around the league to find that out. Pretty damning indictment of Nix if this turns out to be true and more proof that Buffalo needs a real football exec in charge.
Steve Tasker
Footballguy
It's not that Bills leadership (read: Ralph Wilson) don't want to win...of course they want to win. My wording was poor on that one. I should've said that the Bills leadership wants to try to win at the right price, which means cost-cutting and other gimmick moves to sell tickets - TO, Spiller, etc. And I know you know this, but profitability <> franchise value. The Bills rank near the bottom of that list in terms of value, but are right in the thick of things as the 17th most profitable team with a solid $28 million in operating income. My point was merely that the Bills are a business, and Ralph is a shrewd enough businessman to turn a profit while fielding a sad-sack team year after year after year. I'm sure he wants to win games and win the Super Bowl, but there's worse things in the world that putting together a cheap, straight-up BAD team and still turning nearly $30 million in operating income.These things just are not true. The last 10 years have been dreadful, but every move Wilson and the front office made (outside of the Kelsay extensions) had a logical reason towards rebuilding the franchise. Yes, all of those decisions turned out to be dreadful, but they were not done to solely churn a profit over winning. Wilson opened the pocketbook for plenty of big name front office and player acquisitions in the past decade (Donahoe, Williams, Bledsoe, Mularky, Spikes, Adams, Milloy, Vincent, Mitchell, Schobel's extension, Evans' extension, TO, etc.). Please don't confuse mismanagement (which is the real culprit) with a lack of desire towards winning.
And the Bills are not one of the most profitable teams in the NFL. They make a profit solely because (i) of the NFL revenue sharing agreement (which is much more tenuous under the current agreement), and (ii) they don't have any stadium financing. Even with their annual profit, they still rank near the bottom in franchise value (Forbes rankings).
Max Power
Footballguy
Im not sure I buy this reporting. If a GM knows Lynch is on the trading block and he is willing to part with a 3rd pick, and that GM doesn't call the bills; It looks so much worse for that GM. I can't imagine any GM talking to Glazer saying they would have paid more, but they weren't proactive about it.
OC Zed
Footballguy
The Bills have not "cut costs." Their payroll has steadily risen along with the average rise in contracts. Their 17th ranking in profitability is a function of the fact that they consistently spend at or below the cap. That's not an awful strategy as we've seen plenty of teams (including the late '90s Bills) run into trouble with ballooning contracts leading to "cap jail" and talent purges. (The last few seasons have seen their payroll near the league bottom, but that's been more of a rebuilding function). Assuming they are within the cap, Wilson has shown the willingness to pay for talent (look at my list above). Those weren't cheap players/personnel.Steve Tasker said:It's not that Bills leadership (read: Ralph Wilson) don't want to win...of course they want to win. My wording was poor on that one. I should've said that the Bills leadership wants to try to win at the right price, which means cost-cutting and other gimmick moves to sell tickets - TO, Spiller, etc. And I know you know this, but profitability <> franchise value. The Bills rank near the bottom of that list in terms of value, but are right in the thick of things as the 17th most profitable team with a solid $28 million in operating income. My point was merely that the Bills are a business, and Ralph is a shrewd enough businessman to turn a profit while fielding a sad-sack team year after year after year. I'm sure he wants to win games and win the Super Bowl, but there's worse things in the world that putting together a cheap, straight-up BAD team and still turning nearly $30 million in operating income.These things just are not true. The last 10 years have been dreadful, but every move Wilson and the front office made (outside of the Kelsay extensions) had a logical reason towards rebuilding the franchise. Yes, all of those decisions turned out to be dreadful, but they were not done to solely churn a profit over winning. Wilson opened the pocketbook for plenty of big name front office and player acquisitions in the past decade (Donahoe, Williams, Bledsoe, Mularky, Spikes, Adams, Milloy, Vincent, Mitchell, Schobel's extension, Evans' extension, TO, etc.). Please don't confuse mismanagement (which is the real culprit) with a lack of desire towards winning.
And the Bills are not one of the most profitable teams in the NFL. They make a profit solely because (i) of the NFL revenue sharing agreement (which is much more tenuous under the current agreement), and (ii) they don't have any stadium financing. Even with their annual profit, they still rank near the bottom in franchise value (Forbes rankings).
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