thewildrabbit

As a Bills fan, all so heart wrenching-ly true. Somehow RW found a way to fire the best GM this franchise has ever seen. At the end of the 70's it was so bad for the Bills that only 30k season tickets were sold for an 80k stadium. RW hired finally paid top dollar for a HC in Chuck Knox. Then Knox turned out to be a mini Bill Belichick by building a playoff team despite having a moron at GM in Stew Barber. The Bills make the playoffs under Knox, and the stadium was filled again. So the owner realizes he no longer needs a top HC, and RW let Knox leave for Seattle. I read a 2011 report from Forbes that stated the Bills made 41 million that year, and that is after playing the players. The primary goal is to make the team as profitable as possible in order to make the franchise more enticing for the next owner.

By closed sets i mean a traditional running pro style set with TE's in to help with run blocking vs the shotgun "spread set" that Gailey utilized with 4-5 WR's. The Bills started the game in a 3 WR, single back formation with EJ under center and Spiller the lone back. The next play they went shotgun with 3 wide, a TE with 2 WR's close to the formation in what i would call a closed set. Then Bills did go 4 wide spread set in the first play of the third series, and looked like a passing play on first down and then handed off to CJ who ran left side for 8 yards. Why they didn't utilize this play more often is beyond me.Then strangely the Bills went to a shotgun 3 wide on the short side, and Spiller got the first down on 2nd and one. The next play, same sort of formation and EJ went over the middle to Woods which went for naught because of a hands to the face penalty by Glenn. To me it looked like the Patriots were stacking 8-9 in the box to stop Spiller, while keying on him. The Patriots didn't blitz all that much with the intention of shutting down CJ and forcing EJ to beat them. Which EJ almost did "IF" the Bills could have controlled the clock at all with 5 min left in the game. The Bills need to be able to move the chains when it really counts, and they need be able to gain yardage from those running sets.

Andy Levitre was graded as the Bills best O linemen last season by "Pro Football Focus" as they ranked the Buffalo Bills O line at #13 out of 32 last year. https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2013/01/28/ranking-the-2012-offensive-lines/2/ I see what the OP is sorta saying. Its just that the Bills were never good at running out of closed formations the last 3 years under Gailey. Even with Levitre in the offense last season the Bills still sucked on 3rd and short running it, and running from closed sets. Its why they usually threw on 3rd and short. So I had my doubts the Bills would do better this year not utilizing running the ball out of spread passing formations like Gailey used. It does give me pause for concern when the Bills made Spiller their feature back this year and he has 17 carries and only gets 41 yards rushing @ 2.4 YPC avg when he was over 6.0 YPC last season. What was that soundbite by the new Bills OC, we will give Spiller the ball until he throws up? A 2.4 YPC avg for Spiller makes me want to throw up. Yet FJax managed 5.1 YPC with 13 rushes for 67 yards. Freddy had the hotter hand and yet they gave Spiller more carries. My take is FJax is more elusive in making that first tackler miss, and the Patriots defenders were more focused on stopping Spiller and weren't as concerned about Freddy. Also, I think the Patriots defenders didn't blitz very much with the thinking that EJ didn't see very many 1st string coverage's in pre season so they would rather sit back and wait for him to make a mistake rather then blitz. Which to his credit, he didn't do. So yea, if the Bills can't find a way to run better out of closed sets...it could be a long year for CJ.

Look at the receivers Brady lost in the off season, plus TE Gronk, and WRDobson out injured. The Patriots still managed 101 yards out of the backup RB with a 7.2 YPC avg. Edelman 7 catches for 79 yards and 2 TD's. EJ in his first game (with CJ not doing very good) performed very well IMO

So much uncertainty at the QB position for Buffalo this year with two rookies that haven't faced a 1st string defense for 4 QTRs. Secondary ravaged so bad they need to sign guys off the street to help out. The Bills at least as bad as the Jets at QB even tho they have a bumpkin vet at QB in Sanchez. The Bills could easily be scary bad this season. Yea, even more so then Gailey / Jauron era. 3-13 sorta seems logical to me after watching the Buffalo Bills defense and run game the last two pre season games. We all want the playoffs, I just don't see it happening anytime soon.

Yea, for the Buffalo Bills. Maybin had huge bust written all over him as he was a true one year wonder at Penn St. His claim to fame was " you can't teach speed", and apparently the Bills couldn't teach him to play OLB either. The supposed sack master that had zero sacks in his time with the Bills. Wow, first round money for a complete scrub. Coulda had #13 Brian Cushing, #15 Brian Orakpo, # 26 Clay Matthews The biggest NFL draft bust has to be Oakland Raiders #1 overall pick JaMarcus Russell !! This scrub held out thru training camp for more money!! Finally settling for a Six year contract for 68 million, with $31.5 million guaranteed. Strongest arm ever....with the work ethic of a crack addict.

Marrone did mention that the one open roster spot might go to an O linemen. As with any team, the HC really doesn't know exactly what is going to happen once the bullets start to fly for real. All he can do is put the players he thinks are the best he has on the field. I like Marrone, and hope he knows what he is doing with that line. Although, I don't trust it enough to make consistent plays in short yardage running or deep passing...he must.

The Raiders signed Wilson to their PS

Its not Brady and all those new receivers the Patriots have.... Its that NE rushing attack that was 7th in the NFL last season. The Bills shouldn't be worried about their CB situation. They should be more worried about their front 7 and stopping the run. 42-3?

I'd sign Tim Tebow. He knows that Patriot offense, so he could help out the Bills defense this week. He may not posses the prototypical "pocket" mechanics and skills but he gets the job done, and finds a way to win. Isn't that the ultimate goal to win games? Tuel isn't going to be the next Joe Montana, and Marrone isn't the next Bill Walsh. Both EJ and Tuel haven't faced an opposing teams starting defense for 4 QTRs and it is going to be ugly watching this team with two rookies at QB. EJ will be doing lots of scrambling, and could easily get injured again. Then why not install the read option offense and then sign arguably one of the best people on the planet to run that offense. Unless of course Whaley is pulling a Bill Polian and going for next years #1 pick.

The Bills will enter the season with 2 rookies at QB and one was undrafted. Its the only way to be sure...to get Jadeveon!

I suppose you missed the part where I said "it could be" a long season. eff the 5-11 wins, eff the 6-10, eff the 7-9 season. I'd rather see them win 1 or 2 games and get a once in a decade DE rather then 7 wins and draft another maybe player. Anyway, Bills head coach Doug Marrone on his teams 35-13 loss. .. ''You have two quarterbacks that have been here for about two days,'' Marrone said, referring to Leinart and newly acquired Thaddeus Lewis. ''Again, we should be playing much better than this. And that's a concern.'' http://sports.yahoo.com/news/bills-qb-leinart-struggles-35-021548703--nfl.html It doesn't matter that the Bills run game and defense also played like they had been with the team for 2 days?

It would be hilarious... if most didn't hit so close to home. "Here is the worst part: the Gailey years were orchestrated by GM Buddy Nix, who is 4,000,000,000 years old. The Bills went 16-32 the past three seasons." Dick Jauron quote, Its tough to win in the NFL...to be a Bills fan

Tough to predict after watching the Redskins tear them a new one. If Detroit also destroys them the same way it could be a very long season. 2-14 got them Bruce Smith back in 85, so another 2-14 season might just get Jadeveon Clowney. Playoffs or crash and burn, I'm sick up an fed of mediocre. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/01/jadeveon-clowney-scouting-report-south-carolina_n_3690510.html

Its not just Brady, as they proved they can have a winning season with him on IR for 15 games. But yea, they can be super selective since they already possess a playoff roster. Then don't forget what part of the rounds they are always drafting in, 25-32 usually. I also think they just haven't been nearly as good at talent evaluation since the Falcons stole their player personnel director Thomas Dimitroff away from them, and made him their GM. Ex Patriot GM Scott Pioli probably also relied heavily on Dimitroff as he has shown to be not very good away from the Patriots.

Great to hear, and thanks for posting. My take is Marrone doesn't want to give that film watching fiend Bilicheat any idea what he is really planning. So, going by that thought I doubt the Bills will show anything in the lions game other then vanilla schemes. BTW, Mayock has been offered jobs by several teams and he has stated he prefers working for the NFL.

From a coaching standpoint you don't want to show Bilicheat a damn thing as that man is a tape watching fiend. So, looking at it from that perspective I'd say the Bills coaches didn't game plan at all for the Redskins and most likely won't for the Lions. All they want to do now is make judgments on the players they will need to cut vs the fringe players in Thursdays game. I'll reserve my judgement on how well this coaching staff does by watching the games that actually matter in the W / L column. EJ may still start the first game and even if he doesn't we don't know if Marrone will try and force Tuel to carry the game. No need no panic just yet

http://msn.foxsports...back-jeff-tuel/ "Everyone has a joke about the Bills’ new starting QB. Jeff Tuel was sacked 119(!) times in college, or once every 8.3 dropbacks. Good preparation for playing behind the Bills’ offensive line. — Bart Hubbuch (@HubbuchNYP) August 26, 2013 @BobbyBigWheel Onion headline: “Guy Accidentally Wanders onto Practice Field, is Named Buffalo Bills Starting Quarterback” — Tyler (@oktysure) August 26, 2013 No quarterback in the NFL is more prepared to run the offense of the worst football team than Jeff Tuel. — It’s Kenneth (@KennethArthurS) August 24, 2013" I look at this years Bills team and have to think, is this is yet another coaching regime that is going to force a young to shoulder the team? I think back to the 90's Bills and they won a playoff game (comeback game) with the starting star QB out, the starting star RB out and the starting star LBer out. The 90 NY Giants won a superbowl with a backup QB starting. The NE Patriots lose Tom Brady for an entire season in the 2008 opening game and still manage an 11-5 season while beating the Buffalo Bills 2x with a backup QB that hadn't started a game at QB since high school, including his entire college career! Watching this last pre season game and how the 3rd sting QB played so well against the starting Bills defense. Then the 4 string QB comes in and the Bills defense can't stop him either. Everyone mostly giving the excuse for that loss on the undrafted rookie QB, and yet the Bills defense and running game sucked even worse then that undrafted rookie QB. If this years team falls on its face, it will be because the coaches failed yet again to build a dominate run game and strong defense to support the QB.

Did Shanahan also luck out on 6th round pick Terrell Davis for Denver? Its kinda what Shanny does is find those 6th round RB's that can overachieve like Morris. All I know is between Morris and his 1613 yards rushing last year along with RG3 and his 816 yards rushing The Redskins had the #4 offense in points, the #5 offense in yards and the #1 rushing team in the NFL last year. Like someone else pointed out, Shanny took over the same year the Bills hired Buddy Nix. One team made the playoffs and the other is rebuilding again... When I watch games like this one (even in week 3, pre season) it tells me one team is ready for the start of the season and the other is not even close to being ready. Look at the stats in this game and the disparity between the teams is downright alarming. Not just because an undrafted rookie QB is behind center for the bills most of the game. The Redskins utilized a 4th string QB most of the game, and a QB who probably won't even make the final roster. The Bills defense and running game also went south and never came back. I know its only one game... but now it makes me wonder if Marrone and his new "quick paced" offense is Jauron-esque, as when ole Dicky stated the team was going "no huddle", and then abandoned it after a few weeks into the regular season. All we as Bills fans can do is listen to all the "sound bites" coming from the new regime and hope they can back up their words with some wins.

Looking at the stats for that game I'd think that any Bills fan would be concerned over the huge disparity in all stats between the teams in that game. While I get that the coaching staff wanted a long look at Tuel (an undrafted rookie QB) in passing situations.... that doesn't explain why the Bills were equally bad at running the ball all game long, and the defense was just as pathetic as the offense. Last season the Detroit Lions had the 13th ranked defense in yards allowed, and 27 in points allowed. Their D line gave Pats QB Tom Brady fits in week three. I can only wonder if the coaches will make an attempt to run the ball more in this game to help out the QB's. A strong running game would also help keep the defense off the field all game long.

I agree! That quick pace is what screwed Gailey and his sorta same short throws / quick passing style offense, and forced the defense to stay on the field far to long during games. The remedy would have been to build a "power" running attack to counter the loss of productivity in the quick / short passing game. Contrary to Marrone previously stating tho, that the Bills would be able to run the ball during games when needed, they didn't or couldn't as the Bills couldn't run the ball well either. Bills only 8 first downs, 3 rushing, 2 passing, 3 penalty is horrid, VS 27 first downs by the Skins with the 3rd & 4th string QB's, and mostly the back up RB. Buffalo total net yards 155 to Washington's 452. Total plays Bills 49, Skins 81. Time of possession Bills 21:08- 38.52 The Bills 92 yards rushing @ 3.5 avg vs Skins 4.8 avg per rush @ 208 yards rushing. Passing was even more abysmal for Buffalo in only 63 total yards passing vs 244 for the Skins. The Bills couldn't pass or run the ball with any consistency, and was dominated on both sides of the ball at the LoS. This team looked like the exact same thing we have seen at times under Gailey the last 3 seasons. The Redskin backups mostly outplayed the Buffalo Bills starters and backups. The Redskins had the 28th ranked defense last year in yards allowed, #22 in points allowed. So, not a really dominating defense overall from what I can see. The Redskins starting QB didn't even play, and the skins 2nd string QB was also out the entire game. Then what happened to the Buffalo Bills in this game? Pro football players out of gas from a tough training camp? Unprepared or simply didn't game plan for the Redskins? What the Bills got was a taste of what they gave out in the first two pre season games. That is, against a very aggressive blitzing defense, and in the 2nd half, an offense they were unprepared for as the Skins running the triple option (read option) offense they haven't faced very often. The loss of one CB / safety shouldn't make or break the entire defense. Even if EJ is the answer at QB, he can't pass block, or open holes for the RB. He can't rush the opposing passer or stop the run. Was this game an aberration or the reality? Time will tell.

The skins starting QB RG3, and backup QB Kirk Cousins never saw the field ?

Disagree, I'd have to say that the Gailey Bills had no trouble "executing" the quick / short passes to the tune of 3000 yds, 3800 yds, 3400 yds the last 3 years. It was the lack of a decent mid to deep passing scheme that made the offense mostly one dimensional due to a bad scheme, and bad QB.

Me also, as It does seem like crazy talk to me to go into an NFL season with 2 QB's that haven't even played a full game against a 1st string NFL defense. I'm thinking both EJ and Tuel have only seen a portion of the offense and against mostly 2nd and 3rd stringers. I'm still awaiting to see some mid to deep pass plays with TJ & Marquise. The longest pass play so far has been for 29 yards to Easley / Kaufman.

NO, the short passing game that Chan Gailey ran and sucked for the last 3 years. All teams can run that version of an offense. What differentiates the good offenses from the bad ones are the teams that can also complete mid range and deep passes on a consistent basis. Don't even try and compare Tom Brady and the Patriot offense to what the Bills ran the last 3 years, as the Patriots were never limited in their passing offense in any way. Although, Gailey did think he had Brady behind center when he kept calling mostly shotgun passing plays with a broken QB, limited offensive scheme and receiving corps.