Never NEVER Give-up

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/8835043/pro-football-hall-fame-finalists-michael-strahan-warren-sapp-many

Gone fishin!!

This!! We have no LB's worth a darn. Barnett is a good 3rd man IF you had 2 other good LB's!! Switching to a 34 would mean we need even more LB's. Let's walk before we run!! I'd prefer we stay in a base 43 and add wrinkles. To have a 34 you need a Ted Washington (remember those days!?!?) to eat up space on the interior. Dareus and K-Williams are penetrators, best suited to an attacking 43, but everyone looks bad in this defense when the LB's don't make plays.

Completely agree - Levitre and Byrd aren't going anywhere!

http://www.cnycentral.com/sports/story.aspx?id=844364

Looking at the Syracuse-area articles on OBD - there's one that says that Jerry Sullivan confirmed the hire with Russ Brandon via text messages. Knowing JS works for the Bflo News, one would think he'd mention it in HIS OWN PAPER!!!

THIS!!

HANG ON RON RIVERA!!!

Once Belechick learns how to defend him, he'll trade him to Bflo!!

Similar sentiments here. He's a class act and I wish him nothing but the best. And having been unemployed myself, I always feel for people in similar circumstances - but in Chan's case, he won't be poor, he still has a year or 2 on his contract at about $1MM per year - he'll be OK and I hope he catches on somewhere!!

At $10/hr? If I wasn't working I'd pitch-in!

Very interesting conversation! Here's my 2 cents . . . Pass Interference - leave the rule as it, but call it like it's written. If the ball is not catachable - as determined by the zebra huddle after the play, then pick up the flag or and this would be a new rule - call it illegal contact - 5 yds, automatic 1st down. Challenging PI Calls - won't work because it needs to cut both ways - the offense would also need to be able to challenge non-calls of PI. Games would take 5 hours! Face Mask - Player Safety was the reason for eliminating the 5 yd incidental call. 15 yds is and should be the rule Tuck Rule - if it hasn't been eliminated, it should be. If the QB drops the ball - it's a fumble. When a QB cocks his arm to throw and the ball slips out and his arm/empty hand go forward - that's a fumble - as it should be. The tuck rule is complicated and defies reason. If the ball is dropped - it's a fumble. Intent to throw forward or lateral - they should change this to remove intent (like they did on the face mask penalty). It's too hard for Ref's to guage intent. If the QB releases the ball after a throwing motion and it falls to the ground - it is either an incomplete forward pass or if it lands behind the imaginary line from which the ball was released, it's a lateral and a free ball ( or similar to a fumble). Was anyone thinking Home Run Throwback when Mario caused Tannehill to throw the ball sideways?!?!?! LOL

Everyone seems to be forgetting that Philly's Offensive Line sucks and it's that unit that got him killed this year. I think he may end up being the best short term solution. Even if they get him, the Bills still need to draft the QB of the future.

Key to Patriots success??? How about hiring a decent defensive coach and then falling backasswards into a 7th round gangly QB who turns out to be one of the best QB's the NFL has ever seen? I think that's how they did it!! If someone copies this method, it'll be the 1st time.

1. Kansas City Chiefs - 2-12 (.469 SOS) 2. Jacksonville Jaguars - 2-12 (.541 SOS) 3. Oakland Raiders - 4-10 (.469 SOS) 4. Philadelphia Eagles - 4-10 (.505 SOS) 5. Detroit Lions - 4-10 (.546 SOS) 6. San Diego Chargers - 5-9 (.474 SOS) 7. Cleveland Browns - 5-9 (.480 SOS) 8. Buffalo Bills - 5-9 (.500 SOS) 9. Tennessee Titans - 5-9 (.526 SOS) 10. Carolina Panthers - 5-9 (.536 SOS) 11. Arizona Cardinals - 5-9 (.543 SOS) 12. Tampa Bay Buccaneers - 6-8 (.469 SOS) 13. Miami Dolphins - 6-8 (.500 SOS) 14. New York Jets - 6-8 (.526 SOS) 15. New Orleans Saints - 6-8 (.528 SOS) 16. St. Louis Rams - 6-7-1 (.536 SOS) 17. Pittsburgh Steelers - 7-7 (.469 SOS) 18. Dallas Cowboys - 8-6 (.515 SOS) 19. New York Giants - 8-6 (.538 SOS) 20. Chicago Bears - 8-6 (.546 SOS)

To be truthful, it took me a couple of seconds too. Nice sarcasm!!

Puleeeease!! Foles' pick was a thing of beauty wasn't it?!?!?!? He lofted a duck - the DB stopped running and waited for it to flutter into his arms! He sucks and will be a mediocre QB for the rest of his career. People here would have been screaming for his head! Just because another team has got a guy, so many of us believe he must be better! I swear Buffalo fans are masochists - they just LOVE to whine and cry about their lot in life. It's Buddy's fault, It's Chan's fault. It's Fitz's fault. No, the problem is at the top - it's Wilson's fault! Wha, wha, wha . . . We all thought they had a shot this year and being the crybabies we are, we're lashing out at everyone for everything bad that happens. Grow-up. I am so sick of the overwhelming negativity - it's exhausting. Buddy had a plan and has stuck with it. We ARE seeing improvement (deny it if you like, but it's true). The only thing we are not seeing is the wins - a pick last week and we win, a late completion against the Pats - we win, defending the 4th down pass against Tenn - we win - then we'd be 8-5 and people would be singin' in the streets. The point is, in the parity-driven NFL, the line between success & failure is so fine, it's blurred! So Buddy's options or Mr. Wilson's (if he wants to get rid of Buddy) is to blow it up again and start over. Or stay the course, looking to upgrade every position that can be upgraded and keep grinding at it. This team has a 13 year habit of finding ways to lose. It's a hard habit to break. If we want to continue that, blow it up. To end it, keep doing what you're doing and adding pieces that make you better, The change will come suddenly - when they start winning and believing in themselves - it'll snowball in a positive direction! But now is not the time to panic and call the whiner line. No one is happy with the W-L record, but they're closer to flipping this thing around than they have been since Flutie left.

I heard Buddy on GR55 this morning - he said in no uncertain terms now is the time for them to draft a QB. If they see "a guy" they will target him and move up to get him.

I would take Vick (33 yrs old) as a short-term solution and upgrade over Fitz. I feel this way because (1) I am not encouraged by this year's QB draft class, (2) I don't think there will be a better FA alternative, (3) it may be next to impossible to trade for anyone better and (4) he's paid his debt to society and has been a model citizen since his release from prison. But this is a short term solution - for him to play with this team which has improved overall, but looks like it's stuck in the mud due to poor QB play. This will give Buddy a chance to ALSO find the QB of the future in the draft.

Making room for Rolando McClain!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is where we fans lose perspective. He wants a Luck or RG3, he didn't want to get a guy who's the equivalent of Fitz &/or would need to sit for 3 years. He wants impact players and the QBs he passed on were not sure things (though I agree many have panned out so far). Buddy's been 'buying the groceries' for 3 years now. He has a plan. It wasn't to get the best QB right off the bat and get him killed with the inferior talent around him and he's told us as much. The first 2 years was to get good drafts. Remember how we all whined that he didn't get any FA's (of value) the first 2 years? Then in year 3 we had a collective off-season orgasism (sp) when he signed Mario. Then he signs Anderson - we were beside ourselves. He almost had WR Meachem too. He said at the time they didn't want to get the FA's the 1st 2 years because that would be wasting money (earrings on a pig, so to speak). They'd be getting paid while everyone around them looks like JV back-ups. But once he had a couple of decent drafts and the team was looking like it could start to challenge, he went after those big fish. What I really like about Buddy is that he doesn't talk down to us. He tells us if he can't tell us something and he has told us what his plan is and he's stuck to it. Two things have happened to make the plans look worse than expected. Fitz hasn't improved nor played consistently above average and the defense hasn't panned out as hoped (yet). But he's really done everything he said he was gonna do. I believe (I do not know this) that he didn't go after Manning because he wants a young guy, not a guy ready to retire when the rest of the team is ready to make a run. (Although it would have been sweet to have Manning here. My only hope is that Manning makes Denver forget about Elway. I never liked him for what he did to Baltimore.) But I digress. I think the QB and LB's are the next targets while holding to his mantras - draft well, keep/re-sign your good guys (Levitre, Byrd, etc) and look to improve your roster at all positions - if there's an upgrade out there - you go & get it,

Thanks Marcellosaurus!! I hear what you're saying, BUT it cuts both ways! You can't just look at it the lucky plays where Fitz avoided picks - that's too one-sided. What about Stevie Johnson's drops against PitT & the Jets - there 2 wins down the drain right there. I won't try and research other plays, but I am sure there just as many bad luck plays where we dropped passes, dropped picks, fumbled and made penalties - and of course had the Refs go against us (LOL).

. . . and we're only going to see 2 of those games (Seahawks & Fish)

The reason they don't replace Fitz now is the belief he CAN do better AND there are no available alternatives right now. They also won't just stick Jackson out there because if he isn't ready (and we have no reason to believe he is), then Gailey would be screwing the rest of the team by playing a guy that doesn't give the team the best chance to win the game!

Look, there's 2 ways to look at the Bills - year thirteen or year three. Most FANS look at the former and while OBD understands this, they are looking at it as year three - only. (And WE should understand that too. But as a collective bunch, we tend to be too emotional.) Buddy has been straight with us since day 1 and while that has always been refreshing, it hasn't always been comforting. He has explained that in year 1 there were so many guys who shouldn't even be on a football team. In year 2, they added more depth/draft choices and year 3, he added FA's. EVERYONE's expectation was that the players would perform better than they have thus far - if anyone says they believed differently, I would try to find a nice way of saying you're lying. The hope was Fitz would play like he did in wks 1-7 last year, the defense would be vastly improved and ther rest of the younger players would continue to get better, rounding out the team and seeing it excel in all 3 phases of the game. That's why Chan says he sees improvement but is frustrated they haven't been able to put it all together week over week. At the beginning of the year we could score, but the D was horrendous, now the D is better and we can't score. And Special Teams - one week good, the next bad. Up & down performances across the board. This is why we are all frustrated. This is why Chan & Buddy are frustrated too. (I also listened to the whole GR55 interview this morning.) Buddy said more than a few interesting things (paraphrased): On Fitz - There's an old saying in scouting, if you've seen a guy do it once, he can do it again. (This is why they believe in Fitz.) On Fitz & Chan's jobs: After Howard (3x) & Jeremy (1x) asked him the question 4 times (!!!) - Buddy said if you want to keep asking the same question we can just "let this thing go dead" (because he's got nothing else to say on the subject). He had already said moments before that he addressed that question 3-4 weeks ago and nothing has changed (so he sees no need to address it further). On a new QB: He's also addressed this many times before - they are always looking to improve all positions, QB too. He wants to be sure there is a long term guy at the QB position before he retires. Read that any way you want - if there is an upgrade ouy there - they'll pursue him - trade, FA or draft. On Rolando McClain - he couldn't say because he belongs to the Raiders. Then Jeremy thought he was smart and asked if he's looking to upgrade LB - that is when Buddy said they're always looking to upgrade all positions. (Way to go Jeremy!) I wish they had asked what was Buddy's scouting report on McClain coming out of college and if they were interested in him back then. Look, I hate to be an apologist for the Bills because I am also sickened by what I've seen this year. It's inexplicable what has transpired. I believed like most, that we were going to have a good year. It's hard to understand why they haven't been able to put it all together. I think the reason they are preaching 'stay the course' to the players is that they DO beliveve they can do better collectively and they believe it will come. But being 4-7, it obviously hasn't come as soon as anyone had hoped/wanted. Lastly, I think Chan and Fitz need to calm down - they are over-compensating. Chan's dialing down the offense, playing it to safe (because Fitz's confidence is shaken and his penchant for interceptions). They need to wing it and have fun. IF Fitz can be as good as he played in wks 1-7 last year and Buddy is correct when he says that if a guy did it once he can do it again - I believe it will come if they relax and let it happen. Chan also needs to turn Fitz loose, stop with the kid gloves already (4 yds per attempt? really?). Let him wing it. It's better to go down swinging. We know they will pursue improvements in the position anyway, so why do we need to endure this crap along the way. Turn it loose!!!