Coach55

What game are you talking about???

Why do we always come back to this.... Bottom line Flutie as Bills Starter - 21-9 (sacked once every 23.1 dropbacks) Johnson as Bills Starter - 9-17 (sacked once every 6.5 dropbacks) During the Tennessee Game Johnson went a whopping 10 of 22 for 131 yards was sacked 6 times and lost a fumble. He netted 96 yards on 28 pass attempts (3.4 yards an attempt). The defense played so well that day, an average QB would have won. If Flutie was in, the team wins by a significant margin (10+ points). Billy Joe Tolliver could have put up better numbers...

I agree that you should compare a rental vs. a rental, but it is fair to make the comparison. As much as many NFL players like the limelight and the glitz and glamour of playing in a big city, small cities have a big selling point. A city like Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Indianapolis, etc can really sell the cost of living aspect to the role players (sub <$1mm), meaning you can get either better players with the same money or the same quality of player for lesser money, leaving more funds for high-profile superstars. A properly run team in a small city has a distinct advantage over cities like New York, Chicago, San Francisco and even Boston*. Buffalo's problem is they are not properly run to take advantage of this pricing anomaly.

Follow on to my side thought... An NFL Player could get this house in Orchard Park for about $3000/mo (assuming minimal downpayment, and $6K in taxes) http://realestate.yahoo.com/New_York/Orcha...d952058c6c968e5 Or they could rent this 1 bedroom apartment in New York City for the same price http://www.corcoran.com/property/listing.a...6673&ohDat=

What you say about management couldn't be more true, but also is the reason why parity will always exist in the NFL. Any team in any year can win a championship. Teams with good management continue to win. However, if things don't work you can fire everyone and start over. You can almost liken the NFL to NASCAR (I hate to use this reference because I hate NASCAR), but in NASCAR everyone has the same basic car and its the driver and the pit crew who make it win. In the NFL, due to the salary cap, the teams are leveled, and the management becomes the driver. Interesting side thought - the salary cap actually favors small market teams as $75mm goes a lot further in Buffalo than New York City. A player making $400K in Buffalo lives like a king and can have a big house in Orchard Park. A player making $400K in NYC is renting a 2 bedroom apartment and is just another middle class guy.

Good thing we didn't go after this guy in the offseason (I know a lot of people discussed)... http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_ylt=Ahuv...p&type=lgns

The fact of the matter is Ellison just isn't as bad as everyone says he is. He is undersized and doesn't have all-pro ability, but what he is good at (and why he starts) is he plays his position and is where he is supposed to be. Half of playing defense is just not royally f-ing up. Perfect example - Maybin - on numerous occasions he has come in and is supposed to engage the tackle and have contain. Instead he shoots around the end, takes himself out of the play and leaves a hole. As now there is a big hole, the back can hit it fast as there is nothing to read, thus being at full speed when he hits the second level. If Maybin just engages the tackle (even if he gets blocked), he allows enough time for the second level to pursue and stop the play at the line or for a short gain. The biggest problem in football is people don't know their plays (yes on a professional level too). You stay at home and do as you're told, you are not a liability (you may not be an asset either, but at least you are not hurting your team)

This survey is busted. If he goes 8-8 or 9-7, he gets fired. 10 wins he will stay.

Dick Jauron has this book http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=5635596

One other Fitz/AVP/No huddle observation - Why are they calling audibles at the line, especially at the -1 yard line. On numerous occasions, Fitz called an audible and due to crowd noise, the players couldn't hear it and the play was busted. When you are at your -1 yard line, we DEFINITELY should not be calling audibles. Any margin of error would result is a Safety (and did). Don't know to blame Fitz or AVP for allowing Fitz to make the call in that position.

I fully agree on Scott. Is Whitner expendable? As for the O-Line - I don't think they are as bad as everyone thinks they are (not saying they are great by any means, but even with the inexperience, they may be out of the bottom third)

Time and time again, Fitz had Jackson/Lynch for an easy 5 yarder, instead he threw it away or tucked and run. He doesn't get that far into his progressions.

Accidentally deleted the first run-thru, so let's try this again. I apologize as some of these might be/are topics already discussed. 1. Fitz vs. TE - Fitz - accuracy is suspect, but seems to be throwing to his receivers. He is slow in his progressions and not making it to the checkdowns (he seems to be tucking to fast when he has an open Lynch/Jackson). My question is - Is TE too fast with his progressions - i.e. not letting his receivers get open before moving to the next guy? My money is still on Trent. 2. Jackson vs. Lynch - AVP needs a better way to get them both on the field. This RB by committee sh@t does not work. Jackson, IMO, is the better back both at hitting the hole and out of the backfield. But both are very dynamic players and need to get the ball. AVP please help us hear. 3. Whitner vs. Wilson - First of all Byrd is starting... When it comes to the other safety position, Whitner is clearly better against the run and the overall better player. Wilson I liken to the Keith Ellison of Safeties - underwhelming in ability yet always plays the position where he should be. Given the Bills run a cover-2 which effectively is utilizing 2 safeties, Wilson is the better fit for that scheme. Fewell needs to work both safeties in based on the type of plays run. Sorry Donte - you're no longer a full time starter in my book. 4. O-line - just an observation - hasn't played that bad. As they cleaned up the penalties - they are not the root of this teams problem. 5. Moorman Jenkins and Wendling - talk about helping us win the field position battle. If it wasn't for these 3 guys, the score would have been completely different. 6. IMPORTANCE OF TURNOVERS - in the past 2 weeks we won the turnover battle, we won the game. You take away McKelvin's fumble and Parrish's 2 fumbles, we win New England and Cleveland and are still alive against NO (this was the turning point). Would be 5-2. Remember, last year a garbage Dolphins team won the division because they were best in giveaway/takeaway ratio. 7. Terrence McGee - glad to see him back on KR, hope it permanent. he'll take one back next week if it is. 8. Sabres thoughts (need to be addressed) - Ruff - DJ needs to take a page on how to get the most out of average at best players - Mike Greir - Welcome back - his line with Kennedy and Hecht is turning out to be a real solid #3 line. - Ryan Miller - MVP this season if he keeps this up - Tyler Myers - Where did they find this guy? Regier should be fired if they send him back to Juniors. - MacArthur - get him on the Power Play instead of Gausted. At least he can score. Okay - I will shut up now...

My biggest issue with this poll is comparing Fitz to the Pill. The Pill never really got a chance in his career. He had arm strength. He was just out of shape and too short. For his entire career (all 11 games started), the one comment you could make about him is he had no fear in throwing the ball. He may not have always hit the receiver intended, but he threw it. He threw it deep, he threw it hard and he threw it at his receivers. He definitely wasn't chicken sh*t back there like other QB's this team has had. Don't know if anything can be compared to the Pill. Come on - he is AVP - Almost a Valuable Player.

The fact that Holmgren, Shanahan and Cowher would want both jobs might actually go over well with Ralph because then you would only have to pay one person as opposed to two... may get a little discount there.

By that logic, if we got nothing you still would have been happy.

No one is going to trade for Parrish because he has too big of a price tag, as his contract will carry over. If he is cut, he goes to the highest bidder, which will be materially less than what the Bills paid. The only way we would get anything for him is if 2 teams with cap space wanted him, because if I was a GM and knew I was the only horse in the race, why would I give up a pick. Worst case scenario, I pay the same he is making in Buffalo, best case scenario, I get him for 1/2 the price.

Exactly

I think there would be a market out there for him. Plenty of teams are very weak at WR and now that Owens has played for a crap offense and hasn't spoken up, his stock is rising.

Here is food for thought - if you took an all-star team of 2000-2009 Bills (including coaches) and had them play the Bills 09 schedule, would they make the playoffs?

After watching T.O. now for 6 weeks, I have come to a crossroads like everyone else. The guy is a hall of fame player and a proven winner in which opposing teams continue to game plan around him. However, he has repeatedly dropped balls, especially on 3rd downs. The question now arises - are we better off trading him away to the Bears and allow Johnson and Hardy to prove themselves or should we just take the drops as part of the total T.O. experience and that's the price we need to pay for admission.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcOZ6xFxJqg

S-S-S-A-A-A-F-F-F-E-E-E-T-T-T-Y-Y-Y SAFE-SAFE-SAFE-TY-TY-TY DANCE-DANCE-DANCE...

Notice DJ has more than double the votes than the other coaches. Only 4 of the 32 coaches have over 1000 votes, with DJ over 4000.

This is a total understatement. Wilson is a gamer. Everytime he is on the field he seems to perform admirably. He starts on a team with a decent coach.