thewildrabbit

What Bills fans don't know, or won't admit to know is that this owner is a businessman first, above all. The ultimate goal of this owner is to make money, and nothing wrong with that really, after all it is a business He wants to win, just not at the expense of not making a profit. He won't take risks like other owners have done to hire top coaches or go over budget bringing in top players. Much like Raiders owner Al Davis or ex Miami Dolphins owner Wayne Huizenga who both overextended their respective teams financially badly trying to build a SB team, and thus were forced to sell part or all of the team. You really have to admire this owner and his marketing dept for keeping the Buffalo Bills fans buying season tickets year after year considering so many seasons of mediocrity. This owner was quietly almost as involved in all phases of the team just as Cowboys owner, president, CEO, GM Jerry Jones is with the Cowboys. I say almost because he never publicly proclaimed himself GM. Ralph Wilson has been a very hands on owner up until he hired Bills president / GM Tom Donahoe. There were years past that this franchise was very close to going underwater, and the owner probably did contemplate moving the team. Instead he chose to hire top coaches, and or pay the players the going rate. This owner already won two AFL championships and got his NFL teams to the super bowl four times. What is his motivation at this point in time. Bottom line: this fan base is sorta screwed because this owner turned over his team to a money man in Russ Brandon, and not a football man! Brandon made the Toronto deal for an extra 12 mill. The Buffalo Bills are currently ranked 30th most valuable NFL team at 870 million, 12.6 million operating income. This owner wants to keep the team as profitable as possible to make the franchise more enticing for the next owner. http://www.thepostgame.com/blog/dish/201308/only-one-nfl-team-lost-money-2012 http://www.forbes.com/teams/buffalo-bills/ Interesting, http://www.albanytribune.com/06122013-activists-demand-stripping-nfl-nonprofit-status/

Sure, if the Bills can get new Bears HC Marc Trestman with him.

Andy Reid, Chiefs 10-3 last year, 2-14 Chip Kelly, Eagles 8-5 last year, 4-14 Bruce Ariens, Arizona 8-5 last year 5-11 in the toughest div in the NFC Marc Trestman, Chicago 7-6 last year, 10-6 this team lost its starting QB Jay Cutler for over a month. just smoked the Cowboys 45-28 Mike McCoy, San Diego 6-7 last year 7-9 Gus Bradly, Jacksonville 4-9 last year, 2-14 this team also lost its starting QB. now starting QB, Chad Henne already doubled the wins from last year on a really bad team. what will happen if the bills lose again? Rob Chudzinski, Cleveland 4-9 last year 5-11 lost starting QB, benched backups. Jason Campbell is now the QB. Traded away the starting RB Doug Marrone, Buffalo 4-9 last year 6-10 the team fully healthy and just were blown out by the 3-9 Bucs This time of the year the Bills had the traditional excuse of major injuries across the team. Not this year, the team sucks worse then ever with a healthy crew. (coaching sucks)

It may come down to firing this HC & OC Hiring Lovie Smith as the HC, as 10-6 is looking pretty darn good. Hire LSU's OC Cam Cameron as the OC. Keep Mike Pettine as the DC. Draft #1 pick Khalil Mack OLB #2 pick LG / WR / TE #3 pick RT Free agency, fill in what you can for G,T, OLB, TE, WR I'm losing faith in Doug Marrone very quickly because that O line was just manhandled by a 3-9 Tampa Bay D line. Look around the league at all the other new head coaches. Andy Reid, KC 10-3 HOT Bruce Arians, Arizona 8-5 HOT in the best div in NFC Chip Kelly, Philly 8-5 HOT Marc Trestman, Chicago 7-6 HOT with QB Josh McCown Mike McCoy San Diego, 6-7 in the best div in the AFC Gus Bradly, Jacksonville 4-9 with QB Chad Henne! Rob Chudzinski, Cleveland 4-9 with turmoil at QB, starter on IR, Willis McGahee at RB. really? Doug Marrone, Buffalo 4-9 healthy team blown out by the 3-9 Bucs

Did you guys actually watch that Tampa Bay game the Bills were supposed to easily win.They were manhandled by the Bucs D line. Doug Marrone, ex NFL O lineman, ex NFL O line coach, ex NFL OC, and now should be ex NFL HC!

I think they fire this coaching staff or just the OC before EJ goes. What QB could play behind a line that gets torn up by a 3-9 TB D line?

I sorta thought your way awhile ago. Now I'm thinking the Bills are desperate for a #1 WR (1) They are desperate for a top reliable pass catching TE (2) They are even more then desperate at LG. Plus, they sub'ed in a new RG in the last game, and the Bills have mediocre at RT. (3,4,5)* Then the run stopping is still atrocious, an OLB like Khalil Mack would help. (6) *This was after watching Gerald McCoy, and that 3-9 TB D line destroy the Bills O line. Isn't McCoy what the Bills thought they were getting when they drafted MD?

I don't think the rookie QB is a bust. However, I do think the rookie OC IS a bust, and so is this HC should the Bills stay with the same type of game plan, play calling the next few weeks and then retain him in the off season. Will they then hire a QB coach to help him out. You know, kinda like the Bills did with DC George Edwards his second year with Buffalo. I wanted Doug Marrone to be what Gailey, Jauron weren't, a good head coach. I just don't see it tho.

Like Jauron did in his last year 2009. What HC fires his OC in September, and then promotes his QB coach a few weeks before the season starts? Then cuts his RT because he couldn't get to the line quickly enough to run the no huddle. Something they would abandon after a few weeks because nobody in Buffalo could run it. I wonder if drafting Aaron Maybin 11th overall was his parting shot...

Really? Have anything to back up the bluster?

How do you guys seriously expect any QB to have success in Buffalo behind that O line. Besides, what decent QB in their right mind would want to play in Buffalo... with a money man at the helm...with ownership that could change at any time...for a bunch of rookie coaches.

and a new OC.

Perhaps you have missed them, but there have been some great games this year. I don't buy the NFL Sunday ticket to watch the Bills. I buy it to watch a good game when the Bills are playing like crap. Which is what they have done for the last 14 years. Dick Jauron got it wrong, its not tough to win in the NFL. Its tough to be a Buffalo Bills fan.

That was not a playoff team that manhandled the Buffalo Bills, it was a bad, bad 3-9 team the Bills were supposed to easily beat. The Bucs with their starting RB's on IR, along with a 3rd round rookie at QB. The opening series set the tone for the entire game, 2 plays, 80 yard gain & touchdown with the 3rd string RB, and they never looked back. Once behind in the score the Buffalo Bills went into panic mode like they used to do under Gailey. 22 rushes for 67 yards is so Gailey-esque! Only one first down rushing all game, and forcing the rookie QB to carry the game. Bottom line, HC Doug Marrone either needs to take over the play calling, fire his OC, or both. Then in the off season hire a veteran, experienced OC. This same problem has been with the Bills since the Jauron days, rookie OC's Turk Schonert, AVP. Then moron HC Chan Gailey calling all his own plays like he had Brady behind center instead of a backup.

It starts with the coaches, as who is holding them accountable? Bad special teams The O line was manhandled by a 3-9 team the run game wasn't working, only one first down rushing all game bad play calls bad schemes who answers?

You guys are to young to remember the city of Buffalo during the 70's. Plants closing, the air stunk.... the "love canal" http://www2.epa.gov/aboutepa/love-canal-tragedy The Buffalo Bills couldn't have a home pre season game because nobody would show up. Back then Rich Stadium held 80,000+ and the 76-77 season ticket sales were so abysmal that the owner was actually afraid he would be forced to sell the team. 1984-85 were some other bad years in which Wilson was afraid he would be forced to sell. Unlike now, Bills fans back then didn't seem to care if Wilson moved the team.

to the OP... Hey, perhaps the Colts would trade Andrew Luck for EJ, Stevie, and Doug Legursky....Can we trade away Russ Brandon too?

EJ was an athlete QB who many thought graded as a 3rd or 4th round pick before the senior bowl. That he needed a lot of development, and wasn't nearly NFL ready. After the Senior Bowl EJ's grade went up simply because he was the best QB is a very bad QB class. C'mom man, 7 of 10 passes for 71 yards, one TD got him the MVP really? Read This... http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap1000000131167/article/quarterbacks-underwhelm-analysts-at-senior-bowl No offense but you are looking at EJ the wrong way. He could do very well each week "if" he had a consistent viable run attack to take the pressure away from him, one that could make first downs. Go back and look at the Bills first downs by running, they had only one all game. "IF" he had a viable O line that wasn't manhandled every other game. "IF" he had a receiver corps that had a Vincent Jackson type WR. The facts are he doesn't have all those supporting players, and his OC is counting on EJ to try and win the game when he is clearly under great duress. The very last thing the coaches should do is open up the passing offense. The first thing they should do is work on making the run game the priority on not just having the RB's slam into the backs of the linemen. But to make first down after first down by running like they did against the Chiefs. The coaches need to open up the run game with the spread offense, making opposing defenses unable to stack the box to stop the run. Once the team is running it successfully then start passing. BTW, Jon Gruden is not someone I would give a rookie QB to develop. The biggest reason the guy failed in Tampa Bay is he would throw a 300+ play playbook at the rookie and expect him to memorize every play. So when he felt like calling some obscure play during a game the rookie would know which one to run. The problem was that no rookie he ever developed went on to became a success.

The Bills FO / owner got tired of mediocre and fired Dick Jauon, Bills fans everywhere cheered. The prevailing atmosphere was that Chan Gailey HAD to be better then Skeletor...he wasn't! In 2010 the Bills started the year 0-8 and all i read here was that Nix & Gailey needed a year to evaluate the roster. They got the year and went 4-12, then went 6-10 for another two years. They still don't know how to evaluate. Bills owner steps away and Russ Brandon takes over, a younger version of Ralph Wilson, and nothing changes. Except of course a home game up in Toronto for 12 mill. Every time we think the Bills are upgrading the coaching staff... it turns out to be a downgraded cheaper version of the same old thing. The last Bills GM (who is still an adviser) had the belief that guards are a dime a dozen and let the best graded Bills O linemen (a guard) walk away. Then he let a dime a dozen player take his place. That player was so bad that he, and his backup were benched, then outright cut. So the backup center is now at LG, and he sucks too. The Buc's D line manhandled some of those dime a dozen O lineman and the new rookie QB paid the price. Sorry to break it to you, but the more things change, the more they stay the same. A money man is the CEO. Buddy Nix's hand picked protege is now the GM. The HC that ruined two young QB's is replaced by a bonehead who wanted to make a backup QB into an elite QB. Now we are back to another HC that wants to ruin a young QB. SSDY

Or QB Jay Cutler who is a free agent is a QB that would fit into Nate Hacketts offensive scheme of always making the QB carry the game. But then if Whaley continues with the Nix tradition of anyone can play guard, and drafts another CB with next years #1 pick.... will it matter? Anyway, I'd be all for Mike Pettine as the new HC if i knew that he knew who to hire to run his offense! Perhaps LSU's OC Cam Cameron comes to mind. The man who developed QB's Joe Flacco, Drew Brees, Phillip Rivers, and built dominant running attacks with LaDainian Tomlinson, and Ray Rice.

No offense to anyone, but calling for the Bills to "open up" the passing offense will only result in getting the QB sacked more, more INT's, and more of what we all saw against the Bucs. EJ ran a very simplified "read option" offense out of mostly shotgun formations at FSU. An offense where if the first or second read wasn't there EJ would run it. The WR routes were simplified, he didn't call audibles, he didn't work thru progressions after that second receiver, and when his reads were covered, he ran it. This was a guy coming out of college that was more of a physically gifted athlete then an NFL pro ready QB like Andrew Luck. That said, EJ isn't the bigger problem with this offense. Its the feeble Bills running game and inability to make a freaking first down by running the ball. The Bills had ONE first down running and 10 first downs passing. This is a team that relies way to much on the rookie QB throwing the ball. Cue the Bills fans screaming that "the Bills are the #4 rushing team in the NFL" The Bills are also the team with the most attempts rushing in the NFL. The Bills run the ball a lot, just not very effectively! They can't control either the line of scrimmage or the clock. New Bills OC is more of a jackhammer operator in calling offensive plays rather then the surgeon delicately carving up the opposing defense they really, really need. The Bills OC looks to call the very same ineffective run plays over and over all game long. 22 rushes for 67 yards, literally stinks up the field way worse because of the talent the Bills have at RB vs the rookie QB. As someone else mentioned the entire Bills team plays so much better at home. EJ has yet to win a road game. In the beginning of the year I was really pulling for this new HC, and his staff. I really wanted Doug Marrone to succeed where his predecessors Jauron & Gailey both failed badly. We watched jauron ruin two young QB's with his offensive stupidity. We watched Gailey run an offense with a broken QB, all the while thinking he had Tom Brady behind center in Buffalo. What all three head coaches have in common is that all three are way to dependent on whatever QB they have behind center. Both Jauron and Gailey should have known better, but they didn't. My take is Marrone was thinking of leaning heavily on QB Kevin Kolb this year and letting EJ eventually work himself into the action. But then the same stupid mistakes started to manifest themselves again with this coaching staff that plagued the previous staffs. This new HC is an ex NFL O lineman, an ex NFL line coach, an ex NFL OC. A supposed O line guru? He should have known better then to start the every worst graded player in the NFL at LG and that the backup at guard was an even worse player. He should have known better then to start raw undrafted rookie QB Jeff Tuel or even keep him as the 2nd string backup. That wasn't a playoff team with a top QB the Buffalo Bills were just blown out by, that was a team with a worse record at 3-9, and with a rookie QB drafted in the 3rd round. Today's game was marred with Bills players that were unprepared, undisciplined, and more importantly uninspired! That is bad coaching! No other way to put it, this new coaching staff is failing badly. Looking like another three years of futility, rinse & repeat.

The Buffalo Bills got blown out today by a very, very good playoff team with a top QB! I'm sure that by next week the eternal optimism will be flowing around this forum like Niagara falls. The Bills are the #4 team in the NFL in rushing, so the run game must be great! The QB is a rookie, as is the OC and HC. Its only one game. I can only wonder if Russ Brandon ever thinks he made the wrong choice and should have hired the Bears ex HC who went 10-6 in his last year, Lovie Smith. Naa, would have cost to much, and you know who needed a few extra million.

saw it happen But what is more astounding is... Fitz has the Titans beating the Broncos up in Denver.

Those teams had JP Losman & Trent Edwards at QB and went 7-9. Those teams didn't have a 100 million dollar defensive end on defense.

Good thing Marrone and his coaching staff know the difference between a good LG and the very worst one in the league Or the difference between TJ Graham and Rodgers. Hey now, Buddy Nix traded up to get that 7th round pick in the 3rd round