8-8 Forever?

EJ will be a fine backup. Low cost. Nowhere else to go. Nice backup QB. We'll get another guy for next year. Watch out. Josh Johnson can play some ball as well. We just never saw it here. He will be a contender for #2 next year as well.

he's a rookie. he'll have all the reps with the 1's this offseason and will get better. a lot better , IMO. Karlos, John Miller, Darby will have an entire offseason to train for a pro season (which will help Miller tremendously) and get better and post Fred Jackson leaders will emerge. It's a new day. We're just on page one with this group. Forget the playoffs, I want a real contender. This season was not going to be it, never was. This team would have been erased in the playoffs if they got there this year. too many new parts from top to bottom. is what it is. year one.

TT is fine. Let's go another year. Next year cannot possibly be as bad injury wise as this year was on offense. Sure I would love Carson Palmer but there isn't one of those out there. not getting one at 16 or wherever we draft either. Start dealing with reality people. TT does not turn it over (first one of those we've ever had in my memory) , has top 10 stats, throws a great deep ball and is a serious running threat, even on one leg as he was half of this year. He can only get better in this offense if he gets all the reps with the 1's this offseason (remember Cassel and EJ got most of these reps this year in camps). Just don't blow up the organization and start all over again, again. Locker room leaders will emerge from this group (Aaron Williams, Sammy, others). Just takes time. Ralph's been hardly gone and the Pegs really are learning on the job. Somehow they need a true football man to be above Rex and Whaley and get the Pegs out of the football business. Maybe that happens this offseason.

if either Harvin or Goodwin stay on the field , this thread doesn't even happen. Injuries took the #2 WR position away for pretty much the entire season. Can't lose both guys playing the same spot and expect the #3 to be any good. Both burners gone by week 4. thats tough.

Well.... it's like when Big Ben got a new OC after Arians left. He was pissed, Steelers O sucked the first couple years, etc. etc. Now they are unstoppable. Bills made massive changes from last year to now due to Ralph's passing. No mistaking it... the whole thing was blown up. New coaches new players, massively different approaches. Sorry , this is what happens when your owner dies after many years of lame-duck owner, no-talent suckness; you blow it all up. Can't pick and choose, you pay $1B+ for a team, you blow it up, you blow it all up top to bottom. You get your own people. There was no football czar guy available (don't give me Polian, he's just trying to set up his son at this point, so he is out). Then you lose your 3 locker room leaders Fred (who, to be fair, was done), Kyle Williams and Aaron Williams to IR. This is bigger than anyone will admit. Now you have newbies everywhere in key positions, wildly different systems mismatched to the players on D, very little practice time (thanks, CBA) and no player leadership. TT, Shady, et al are super talented, but are totally new guys in a new system so, not getting leadership from them this year. and when the playoff chances disappeared, lack of locker room leaders really shows up. While we were all excited to see all the changes, year 1 is almost invariably a mess. No leadership/communication on the field (yet), lots of away games early, new approaches, the London game didn't help, but that was injury driven (EJ is still terrible). and remember, "next man up" is a bunch of garbage. The Jax and the other "no name backfield" losses were directly related to injuries. sorry, year one with new systems and limited practice time (thanks again CBA) + a bunch of 1's going out = losses in today's NFL. Rex ain't the best, but he's what we have, so get on board for the ride. at least sucking this year means Roman won't get plucked for a least one more year. hows that for a positive ending. go bills.

Not sure. Went to Bills/Skins yesterday. I have to tell you , the in person NFL experience is not very good. So many timeouts , the game has zero flow, you have to stand the entire game, half of the fans are twenty something male loser-types exceedingly drunk and therefore abnoxious and cursing the whole game. the stress level + the alcohol level = tension in the stands... If your team is losing, the atmosphere is pretty toxic.. entertainment means winning. No entertainment (if your team is behind or playing like crap + drunk + nowhere to go = pretty lousy experience for 100's o dollars. the stadium inside and out is nothing but a huge advertising platform; i figured out where all the roadside billboards went..FEDEX Field is covered inside and out with them.. I mean Covered. lighted/flashing/like freakin times square ... had a hard time finding the tiny little game clock display..seriously. and did i mention too many timeouts? long timeouts.... football is a great TV game. At home, remote in hand. Guess I'm getting old. Directv has nothing to fear with their NFL Sunday ticket platform.. .I'm in.

If Harvin and Goodwin are active, Hogan would rarely see the field. Just injuries, that's all. Hogan's the next man up. Great example of why "next man up" is a bunch of garbage. the dropoff is significant

Correct. And I am sure that is the way it was. I doubt much changes, really. Everyone will go away after the season, cool down and then regroup for the spring.

this

oh "planetoid" fdlol, that was great.... Rex doesn't run Schwarz defense, doesn't even know it probably. He runs what he likes. He's the boss. When HC is fired or quits, the new guy brings his own staff in. So when the Marrone thing happened, Schwartz and the OC get dumped as well. Is what it is. Fans don't get it. when you blow it up, it ALL gets blown up. And start over, new schemes to learn, very little practice time to learn them in, thanks to the CBA seriously limiting practice time. They'll be better at it next year. Takes time. Stop blowing it up every 3 years and you'll probably get somewhere. Rex believes in what he believes. His defensive philosophy is completely different from Schwartz'. When he was hired, Schwartz was going to be out. Your complaint is with Pegs and Whaley, not Rex. Rex is Rex. take it or leave it. they took it.

yeah. Draft a guy of course if he's there in the draft, but I am assuming no one that's any good will drop to the Bills customary 15 to 20 draft slot. Maybe Kaepernick, maybe other FAs. who knows. I for one don't want some raw rookie at QB, might as well blow it all up (again) if you're doing that, and wait another 3-5 years. Let his knee heal up and Go with TT next year for sure. He's earned it.

yessir it is

i thought you were commenting on the results of that team there for a second... expecting more, a bit underwhelmed, could have done a better job.. this is all ancient history... 20 years of suck kind of make it all seem very far away and long ago

yep. when they start winning he'll be out of a job as his M.O. will be gone

not sure this has happened very much in the past 10 years? anyone have these stats? Usually when you blow it all up, you're not making playoffs the next year, no matter what team you are...

thats the difference between playing at home and on the road. being at home makes a big difference. Not winning home games early this year really set them back. Losing in quiet London was another blow. then you get to hostile road crowds and no one can hear the darn snap counts. it'll be different next year. they'll know the system, they'll be ready to go. how's that for optimism. yep. Clay going down means no Goodwin, no Harvin, no Clay , no pass game. simple. Injuries shredded them pretty good this year.

IK/Wynn and Hughes off the edges. Forgot about losing Wynn (damn we had a lot of D guys go down this year). Dareus up front. Rex's defense is blitz heavy interchangeable parts of guys who do what they are told. If old man Kyle can make it back, that would be great... they will take a long look. really needed him this year.

you don't get to pick and choose like that. doesn't work that way. If Roman was HC, he'd pick his own DC. Schwartz next move is HC, he is done as a DC. so your scenario is impossible. this isn't fantasy football

nah I think we're good. Thigpen doesn't drop the punt and we probably win that game and we're talkin' playoffs. even with a zillion penalties. the games have been that close. Good first year under new coaching schemes and mostly new skill players/rookies. I like 'em. Special teams are terrible and we really need Goodwin and Gilmore on the field. Other than that, I like 'em. Hit the jackpot in the draft; We found a quality QB who now knows how to stay healthy, Quality RBs, Quality TE, Quality Guards, quality secondary , quality OC all in 12 months when there was nothing, absolutely nothing in those spots last year. the injury bug hit again big time and cost 'em 2+ games for sure, but that's what happens... schedule sucked again with home games at very end of season when you don't need them, but oh well, thats the NFL I think the first year of the post-Ralph "blow up everything" period has gone reasonably well. they blew it all up, started from scratch with little practice time due to the CBA, and have a .500 team. Should be very good next year. Blow it up again and you might as well move the team and let some other fan base endure the pain.

one game at a time fellas. philly please

Bye bye Mario

and hit it out of the park with getting Miller, Darby, Williams, Watkins, Brown, Clay, McCoy, Rambo, Schmidt, etc etc etc. And shedding Kiko, CJ, Fred, Chandler and a bunch of other guys who can't play any more. Everyone shut the f up about Whaley. Best personnel guy since Polian.

it will need to be a dramatic restructure, including much lower numbers, or he will be released. My bet is he is released. He's not a good fit for these 3 down, pressure based, disguised blitz schemes. Never was. He's a straight 4-3 DE. Period. What Rex does has more to do with the scheme than the individual talents of the players in it. HIs defense is like Gailey's offense. It's all a about making the right call relative to what the offense or defense is doing , not in having the best physical talent on the field. That's why Gailey and Rex's team fail once lots of injuries happen. the communication on the field falls apart and If the wrong call is made, they're dead regardless of what level of talent is on the field.. its a thinking man's approach, which drives fans crazy because they want action, sacks, big hits, etc. and Rex's defenses don't give you that. Quick, incomplete passes is what Rex is looking for, which is stressful and boring at the same time , from a fans perspective. A versatile chess piece guy like Alex Carrington is a better fit for Rex the puppeteer than a freak of nature impact athlete like Mario. Just my opinion. It'll all shake out over the next couple seasons as the roster turns over. totally agree on Mario. cannot imagine he is back. no fit anymore, his overpaid signing goes back to the days when no FAs wold come here bc the place was so f 'd up.

He's pretty good for a guy who never touched the field prior to this year. I like him. Top 10 deep ball for sure, elusive even with a 50 lb brace on his knee. Guys a baller. Keep him. Roman's offense is perfect for him. He's an accurate Kaepernick with a good deep ball. Is he Big Ben? Brady? Manning? Newton? A 6-5, 250 rocket arm guy, No. . No, but he's probably top 10 . We'll see next year when the O has got the system down pat.. I'll tell ya, the CBA really screws new coaches putting in new offenses and defenses. Takes a year for everyone to get on the same page. This is all part of the transition to new ownership, coaching , approaches , systems, etc. Just pray that Greg Roman doesn't get grabbed for a HC gig next year. That would be bad.

Ben will play. Its not over, but it'll take at least a 4 - 1 finish by the Bills to make it. Lets just focus on that. Need to sweep the home games and win either in Philly or DC. I guess its possible.. but, we've all been down this road..