San Jose Bills Fan

Hard to say. One thing I noticed in watching the Seahawks (and I love the talent on their roster) is that their offense seems like a college offense. In spite of my usual attempts to ignore the announcers, I noticed Gruden also talking about how poorly conceived many of their plays seemed to be. There's two possible explanations for this… one is that they simply have an overly-simple offense and the other one is that the offense has been dumbed down for the rookie quarterback. At any rate, as much as I'm high on the player, I'll be the first to admit that he hasn't looked very good.

Sorry if I'm gonna insult a bunch of posters here but IMO, anyone who pins the loss predominantly on the players doesn't know football.

Yeah because clearly the players were not motivated to secure first place in the AFC East with a big win over our most hated divisional rival. Stupid players and their lack of motivation.

Many old timers have vivid memories of 1967 to 1972… six seasons in which the Bills accumulated a grand total of 17 wins… in six seasons… Then of course there was the 5-23 record that Head Coach Jim Ringo led us to in 1976-77… and the Stephenson/Bullough years when we were a combined 16-48 over 4 seasons. Historically the Bills have been a lousy team. All time, the Bills have a 366-418-8 record for a win percentage of .469 and just 19 winning seasons in 51 years. The Bills are lucky to have such devoted fans.

They will fight no more forever.

I'll be there Mark. Not the circumstances I was hoping for but I'll be there. Are you guys tailgating?

Ralph is cheap.

Well they say it's always darkest just before the sun rises… and as sports fans we've all seen teams respond when they've been written off so there's still some hope. Wannstedt is 60 years old and has been coaching for almost 40 years… but maybe he can use this as a "teachable moment" for himself. I'm attending the next two games so obviously I'm hoping that this horrific loss has some kind of positive effect. Hoping but not expecting.

Well KOKBILLS, I understand your point. I thought the Bills D-line was fighting very hard in the first half. I felt that in the second half when they realized that their boss didn't see the need to make any changes that they, like the "linebackers" and like the DBs became pretty much demoralized. It's kind of a tit for tat… "you're (the coaches) hanging us out to dry?… okay here you go…" It's really hard to play hard when you feel like your boss is a total incompetent and isn't on your side. I guess what I'm saying is that if the D-line was well-coached, that they would fight hard but this coaching staff is crushing the spirit of their own players. And again, you had 5 O-linemen, two huge TEs, blocking 4 D-linemen, 2 undersized LBs, and 5 DBs. The physical mismatch was comic/tragic.

I think Nix has done a better job than Gailey (although he hired Gailey) but I'll agree that the Mario Williams signing will define Nix's tenure in Buffalo… and it's not looking good so far. It's a shame because while all GMs have a few misfires, I think Nix has done a pretty solid job overall.

I hope you guys are right that gestures towards unity and loyalty and the like will have a positive effect. As far as leadership and confidence in the Head Coach, the team lost 10 of their last 11 games last season so I'm not sure how much Chan can play the role of a rock right now. I could counter with arguments about accountability and being a stern taskmaster, or being results-oriented, etc. But it's all rhetoric and you guys know the counter-arguments anyways. I'll finish by saying that I think very little of the blame falls on the players and I think it's very admirable that the Bills never seem to call out each other in public. It makes for a nice, cozy reciprocal agreement. I sometimes think that a little creative (and public) disagreement… a little honesty, might be good for all parties involved.

Thanks EA. I'll stand by my belief though, that all things being equal, success and failure has the most to do with the competency of managers. A good manager almost always succeeds while we've seen MANY talented teams in our lifetime underachieve due to bad management (whether it be weak leadership, poor strategy, bad motivation, or any of the other millions of factors which managers can control). I look at the debacle yesterday very simply: Your team is getting the shyt kicked out of it physically. The other team if bending you over and giving it to you. They are having their way. You have all these big, strong, young, well-rested guys standing on the sidelines wanting to go into the game to rescue their teammates and kick some ass. But you, the manager sit on your hands watching 5 O-linemen and 2 large TEs beat the slowly but surely beat the piss out of your 4 down linemen, 2 undersized linebackers, and 5 defensive backs. Then the manager admits to the troops the next day that he had a hard time sleeping, wondering if he should have put the base defense into the game. Yesterday's trainwreck is one of the most egregious and obvious examples of bad coaching I've ever seen in my life. What is the worst thing that could have happened had Wanny sent fresh troops back into the game? Did he not see Bryan Scott whiffing on tackles? Did he not sense as all of us did that his troops needed to be physically reinforced with bigger, stronger, younger, well-rested men in order to have any chance of preventing the enemy from scoring 6 consecutive touchdowns? It's really very simple.

Good post Biggie. There's no question that some players play better on one surface than the other. What's interesting to me is that I usually associate that phenomenon with non-QBs. But if you think about it, it makes perfect sense as footwork for QBs is just as important as it is for other positions.

p.s.-- I don't know if it's been posted elsewhere because I don't read every thread but Chris Kelsay said (paraphrasing) that Wanny told the defense this morning that he stayed up all night thinking whether he should have put the base defense back in the game. Sounds like remorse and second-guessing to me. I think he did finally did put the base D back in on the second to last possession when the game had already been decided. The Cheatriots*** scored TDs on 6 consecutive possessions. Maybe he could have given the base D one possession just to see what might happen? Actually, Promo articulated two pretty different ideas. Are you agreeing with both of them?

Couldn't disagree more. I'd bet there's lots of D coordinators that could do a better job than Wanny's done in this first month. The guy was here all of last year. He knows most of these players. They kept the terminology the same. If you watch the game it's not hard to see that the Bills have been woefully outcoached. Sarcasm aside, there are many incompetent coaches who've spent time in the NFL. The Peter Principle is considered to be a very legitimate belief.

I disagree. There's a saying that applies here: "give him enough rope to hang himself with." That's a cynical way of saying some of what you're describing (coaching hires… decision to start with a 3-4 defense, etc). A more idealistic take would be that Nix gave Gailey lots of latitude on decision making and Gailey made bad decisions. It seems Nix could be blamed for any perceived player personnel decisions but coaching staff and strategy all fall on Gailey. I must be brain farting… Edwards who? No. The Bills won't extend him until there's 3 months of rampant speculation about a contract extension accompanied by a long losing streak. I don't think Ralph is really making any major decisions anymore. Could be wrong but that's my gut feeling. Anyways it's probably a moot point as the franchise is hanging in limbo right now and there won't be any hiring/firing till the season ends, IMO. Back to Gailey/Nix… I've said before that I could see a scenario where Nix/Whaley are retained and Gailey is let go. It's my impression that General Managers are very often forgiven their first Head Coaching hire… more often than not. Gailey's not a big ego… Jauron wasn't a big ego. Neither was Mularkey. The only egotistical coach of recent history I recall the Bills hiring was Greg(g) Williams. Previous to hiring Nix and Gailey I made the case numerous times that the team should have hired an outside consultant on a one-time, short-term basis to hire the GM. The names I specifically mentioned were Ron Wolf, Floyd Reese, and Charlie Casserly. After the hirings, Wilson commented publicly that the Bills didn't really know too many NFL people. So WTF didn't they hire someone who did to help with the process? You always have to ask the question, "is this program moving in the right direction?" If the answer is no, then there's no point in belaboring the mistake. I think we'll have to settle for minor tweaks at this point. I think it might be a really good idea for Gailey to hand the offensive reigns to Curtis Modkins and give him a chance at some game planning and playcalling. Then Gailey could spend a bit more time overseeing the defensive side which is much worse shape than the offense. Good post but you didn't touch on Andy Dalton who the Bills coached in the Senior Bowl but passed over for Aaron Williams… or Kirk Cousins. Any thoughts on these two? Considering that Kelly is established and Leach is in his first year of the program, is this really a fair statement? I think the answer is no.

Is it possible that Gailey has given too much carte blanche to Wannstedt and is not spending enough time overseeing the entire product? I know if I was a head coach that I'd be very interested in the defensive game plan because whether one is hands-on or hands-off, the head coach takes ultimate responsibility for all aspects of a football team. Is it not interesting that Belichick went from being more involved with the defense early in his career to being more involved with the offense later in his career? Don't you think that Belichick scrutinizes his coordinators work very closely before signing off on it? As I've pointed out numerous times in the past, Kevin Gilbride was considered a pass-happy Offensive Coordinator when he worked for weak coaches like Jack Pardee and Greg(g) Williams but ran balanced offenses and won Super Bowls with strong coaches like Bill Cowher and Tom Coughlin. I think the moral of the story is that giving free reign to an underling does not absolve the head guy of responsibility.

Let's do the math here… 4 defensive linemen against 5 offensive linemen and two tight ends, each of whom weigh 265 pounds… I'm very disappointed in Mario Williams. I knew he wasn't an elite player but I didn't think he'd look this bad. However aside from that, no 4 down linemen are going to stop a running game consisting of 7 large blockers when they're being backed up by two small linebackers and 5 defensive backs.

Did you see the game or just the stat sheet?

I disagree with your entire post. The DC is both the motivator and the strategist. I've never played professional football but every business I've ever seen is dependent upon its managers for success. Your argument about holding the players accountable is like saying that the french fry maker at McDonalds was the reason for your lousy service. The players battled hard until they became demoralized by the slowly unfolding realization that their boss was not going to do anything to help them succeed. They were slowly getting beaten to a pulp while their manager sat on his hands and watched dumbfounded. Well you laughed and opined … but you never actually made a point (assuming you have one). Is your point that we've had a succession of bad DCs or that all these DCs have been doomed by having to coach talentless teams? I have to disagree with you Cat. The Bills hung in there for awhile… like a fighter who still has some fight left. But they were absorbing a lot of body blows before they were finally knocked "out on their feet" and those players that might have had some fight left were undoubtedly demoralized by their cornerman yelling "watch his left hand!" while they were repeatedly getting hit with the right hand. Your message is confused. You rail on Wanny and then blame the players for not motivating themselves. I guess you mean to say that Wanny is tactically unequipped and that the players are unmotivated. NFL players almost always play hard. It's a warrior's game and there's a lot of pride and machismo at work. There is constant trash talking and bravado. They play hard for their pride and to ensure the big paychecks. I would guess that very few NFL players need to be motivated. I would also guess that the best motivation a player could have would be knowing that their coaches are putting them in a position to succeed… that their managers are not incompetents (how does working for an incompetent make you feel?). As for those of you who are clamoring for Wanny to be on the sidelines, the only advantage I can see to that is that he'd be able to see how beat-up, demoralized, and frustrated his players are. From a strategic standpoint, it's best to be in the booth and fire and brimstone are overrated in the NFL. If motivating needs to be done, there are 7 defensive assistants who can yell and scream.

Living in Niners-Raiders territory, much was made of the Niners staying in Akron, Ohio for a week last year when they played the Bengals and the Eagles in consecutive games. Many of the players point to the long business trip as a turning point for the team coming off a loss to Dallas. The trip was roundly viewed as a bonding and focusing experience. The Niners ended up winning 8 in a row after staying on the road. While I was looking at the schedule before the season started I was wondering if the Bills would do a similar thing. Lord knows, they need all the help they can get. I have the dubious privilege of attending the next two Bills games… this week in Candlestick and the following week in Phoenix. I guess I should get an honorary membership in the Bills Mafia after running this gauntlet.

Either the coaches put their players in a position to succeed or a position to fail. When you're lining up 4 down linemen and Nick Barnett and Bryan Scott behind them and the front 6 is being blown out by double tight ends, you're putting your players in a position to fail. Pears needs to be replaced by Hairston. Pears almost had Fitz destroyed in the first half and was responsible for Glenn being injured in the second half. Screw the platooning at RT… Hairston is the better player… and younger with a bigger upside. Also it seems like there were times in the game where Spiller was in when Freddy should have been in and visa versa. The huge margin by which Brady is better than Fitz makes this an uphill matchup but the Bills were outcoached again.

The Bills are now in their base 4-3 for about the first time today.

Gumbel and Deirdork continue to disparage the Bills front four (which is accurate) but continue to fail to notice that it's been the Bills front 6-7 which has been victimized. Barnett and Scott have been put in a position to fail by poor coaching.

The outcome of this game has nothing to do with the officiating. My biggest concern was that Wanny wouldn't/couldn't make adjustments and would use the same, vanilla schemes. He stayed in the nickel/dime all game long with just Barnett and Scott at LB… and the strategy failed miserably. He would have been better with Moats and Sheppard helping stop the run and occasionally blitzing… something both players seem to do pretty well. Wanny's coaching has confirmed my worst fears about him. Stubborn and unimaginative. The nickel/dime never worked today. It should have been scrapped at halftime.