thewildrabbit

That was all Jauron and his feeble Tampa 2, he kept drafting for that crappy defense long after Levy retired. Small, quick front 7 to get to the ball fast... is lame. Even the man who designed that defense ( Monte Kiffin) had a tough time making it work without superstars on the defense. It was sorta hilarious to watch the Buc's try to keep running that D after Kiffin left Tampa Bay. The thing is, that defense is based on the old Chuck Noll- Bud Carson steel curtain and it is still a great defense if you don't substitute the big powerful DT's for the smaller quicker players. Reason being, for plugging up the middle against the run and collapsing the pocket on the QB.Plus it also depends on how good the middle linebacker is. But ya know, I wouldn't be against spending every pick in this years draft to find a decent pass rusher...as it might be the only way this ball club finds one. But then again somehow I doubt they will try that, I mean what if they did and still didn't find one?

If you go back to the Thurman Thomas era Thurman did about the same, 75-80% of the offense most years. The Bills ran the ball more then they threw it a lot of those glory years, and yet Kelly gets most of the credit. Freddy was carrying the team. remember this play? down 21-3 this play sparked the entire team to a 38-35 win. After FJ went on IR the Bills HC- play caller lost his focus in the second half of the year by trying to force Fitz to win games in those crazy 4-5 WR empty backfield sets with only one decent WR....

Eli Manning is not yet up to the stats of Brady, Brees or his older brother Peyton. Not to mention he was down right horrible in some games last year, and threw 25 INT's. Lets face it tho, he has a very good team around him, O line, WR corps, good RB's and TE's. He has played in the same system and under the same OC & HC since he was drafted. Plus that defense really came on at the end of this 9-7 season and basically pushed them thru. The year end stats for that defense might not be very good but that front four is awesome, and can put pressure on anyone. Eli Manning was drafted #1 overall by the Chargers but wouldn't play for them and was traded to NY for Phillip Rivers and other picks. Looking at it now he was worth that #1 pick, but he hasn't always played up to that billing. He can't carry his team by himself like Payton can The Giants were 9-7 this year and got hot at just the right time, especially that defense.

that was Geoff Hangartner who was cut in pre season, he went to the Panthers and started all 16 games for them at guard

Not only were Giants fans ready to boot Eli, they wanted Tom Coughlin gone before the first SB and even just recently he was under considerable pressure,and not just from the fans. The Giants finished this year at 9-7 and there was serious talk mid season about replacing him if he didn't make the playoffs. . Fans, short for fanatics...

c'mon guys be serious, what did Nix get for Lynch? Who had 1200+ yards rushing and 12 TD's last season for the Seahawks This org is so used to getting flim-flammed outta good talent, i'd be surprised if they got a 5th rounder. Anyway, I'm thinking the Bills keep him because he comes cheap

Drew Brees was a 2nd round pick...

TWO WORDS.... Steve Young! The man was drafted in the NFL by the Tampa Bay Buc's, he then proceeded to have back to back 2-14 seasons on a bad Tampa Bay team. He went 3-16 as a starter, 11 TD's - 21 INT's and completed fewer then 55% of his passes. The 49ers traded for him and the Buc's were happy to trade him because they thought he was a bust. The Buc's then drafted Vinnie Testaverde #1 overall. ( that year the Colts selected Cornelius Bennett #2 overall) 1987 Young sat on the bench behind Joe Montana for 4 years before he became a starter in 1991... 3 time super bowl champion , 7x pro bowls, 2x league MVP. QB rating 96.8 TD-INT 232-107....BECAUSE HE HAD A TEAM AROUND HIM!!! What is beyond stupid is to draft a franchise QB to a bad team with bad players and bad coaches as history has proven that is a fail idea. No rookie QB is going to turn this Buffalo Bills team into a SB champion by himself. A bad quarterback decision in the first round of the draft can set a franchise back for years, just ask JP Losman. But then its tough to win without a #1 pick at QB. There are 32 teams in the NFL and of those 32 teams, 20 of them have quarterbacks starting for them that were drafted in the FIRST ROUND. 1992 Tommy Maddox- David Klingler- Dave Brown- 1993 Drew Bledsoe- Rick Mirer, 1994 Heath Schuler- Trent Dilfer- 1995- Kerry Collins- Steve McNair. 1996 none. 1997 Jim Drunkenmiller. 1998 Peyton Manning, Ryan Leaf. 1999 Tim Couch, Donovan McNabb, Akili Smith, Daunte Culpepper, Cade McNown. 2000 Chad Pennington. 2001 Mike Vick. 2002 Davis Carr, Joey Harrington, Patrick Ramsey 2003 Carson Palmer, Byron Leftwich, Kyle Boller, Rex Grossman 2004 Eli Manning, Phillip Rivers, Ben Rothlisberger, JP Losman 2005 Alex Smith, Aaron Rodgers, Jason Campbell\ 2006 Vince Young, Matt leinart, Jay Cutler 2007 JaMarcus Russell, Brady Quinn 2008 Matt Ryan, Joe Flacco 2009 Matthew Stafford, Mark Sanchez, Josh Freeman 2010 Sam Bradford, Tim Tebow 2011 Cam Newton, Jake Locker, Blane Gabbert, Christian Ponder, 18 made an impact, of those 5 have won a super bowl ....out of 49 players 3 of those 5 SB winning QB's played on teams with a very good running game. Only Rodgers and Manning didn't have a top running game. As a rookie Big Ben made the playoffs and went 14-1, but he played on a dominant running team with Jerome Bettis that first & second year Trent Dilfer won a SB but only because he played on a team with the best defense in the NFL. Bottom line, it looks like a much smarter move to build up a team with a top running game, receiver corps and defense. Rather then drafting a QB #1 and hope he can develop properly in bad conditions....you know, like JP Losman

When the entire team was healthy was Fitz good enough to beat the Patriots in Buffalo 34-31 in week 3, and didn't he almost beat the NY Giants at their stadium in week 6, 27-24? BOTH SUPER BOWL TEAMS! So, even with only ONE decent WR (Stevie Johnson), a cast off TE that no other teams wanted, a bad O line with 2 decent players, and a very good RB....Fitz managed to beat some good teams, and keep the game close in others. Once the injuries hit the team really started losing big, center Eric Wood and Fred Jackson being the biggest, couple that in with the fact that the defense was still atrocious, and you have a reason for a 6-10 season. No depth on that O line and the same with the WR corps is what screwed the team, not the QB! As old as this owner has become over the last decade even he is smart enough to realize Fitz needs more help and weapons, per Wilson As for Fitzpatrick, Wilson gave full support to his slumping quarterback while saying the criticism directed at him was unfair. Wilson blamed Fitzpatrick’s struggles on a rash of injuries that have hampered the offense, and the lack of a supporting cast. “We’ve got to get receivers. If he hasn’t gotten anybody to throw to, he’s not going to win many games,” Wilson said. “We think he’s a good quarterback, and we’re going to stick with him and get him some better players, get him some runners, some tight ends that don’t get injured and some wide receivers and we’ll be OK.” http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ap-bills-ralphwilson The Bills need to get the QB more help no matter who he is.

Great point so many overlook the 49ers made it to the NFC Championship game with a washed up, has been that sucked every other year he played in the NFL....what gives? Eli Manning, where are all the record setting numbers that Brady, Brees have? The guy was supposedly a prima donna because he refused to play for the Chargers who drafted him. Which is exactly what John Elway did when the Colts drafted him. I find it somewhat ironic that Perry Fewell now has a SB ring as the Giants DC after he was fired from the Buffalo Bills. But then so does current NY Giants OC Kevin ( "killdrive" as Bills fans called him) Gilbride who was the Bills OC during 2002-2003 and after he was fired in Buffalo he was hired by the NY Giants,and has been their OC since. He is responsible for grooming Eli Manning who now has 2 SB rings and Eli has 2 SB MVP's

Yea you are right, not all in one draft or free agency period, at least not the way this ball club misses on talent evaluation. But my point was to try and get that one dominant player with that #10 pick is one of those areas of need. However, IF the Bills were to draft a top OT with that #10, then sign DE Mario Williams (pass rusher) plus add Vincent Jackson or Dwayne Bowe (WR), Fred Davis (TE) meanwhile re signing Stevie Johnson and Dem Bell. This would go a long way to making this team a real contender

In regards to Fitz's accuracy...remember this play? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGJWBWcFD_4 Notice in this YT video, Fitz has the arm with a 50 yard bomb, the ball is perfectly on the money and he got that 7 step drop back pass out in 3 seconds...pretty amazing IMO. Fitz is more then accurate enough, its just that the Bills lame playcaller would keep calling shotgun passing plays once the Bills lost the lead and thus putting the QB under even more duress. Stevie Johnson had 5 drops in that Steeler game, FIVE! Fitz has got a good enough arm, the problem is that after he is under constant pressure and getting harassed continuously he starts to get happy feet, throw off his back foot and do things that just about EVERY QB in the league does when they are under constant pressure. Even Tom Brady, remember that first Bills game where they intercepted the future HoF record setting QB for the Patriots 4 times? Look at the Bills WR corps at the end of the year, they had ONE decent WR and this HC keeps calling for 4-5 WR sets with a bunch of nobodies at the WR position, the Bills best O lineman on IR and a banged up injured TE trying to play. It was also just crazy to keep trying to constantly pass when the RB is playing great ....and they stop using him! But you are right, they do need to give the man some weapons, and better protection!

UPDATE: Manning is "medically" cleared to play again. Gonna be very interesting to see what the Colts do this Tuesday after the SB http://eye-on-football.blogs.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/22475988/34670697 ESPN recent interview: http://espn.go.com/espn/commentary/story/_/id/7527847/can-peyton-manning-make-clean-getaway-nfl Luck willing to sit http://eye-on-football.blogs.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/22475988/34667985

F Tom and Eli... If they both broke their legs in the first quarter and the back ups came in to take over I might consider watching the game. I've been ignoring the media coverage these last two week and will only start watching the NFL network after the SB has been over for a week or more. The 49ers and Ravens would have been a better SB IMO. But the world disagrees and so do the bookies

What I'm saying is that the player talent on this team isn't as bad as most make it out to be as the problem wasn't just the player talent the last two years. It was also more lack of coaching talent, specifically the DC who has been very bad the last two years under Chan Gailey. Plus the OC and many other assistant coaches lacked NFL coaching experience. The reason being is Chan Gailey decided to hire some of his former assistants from his college days at GT. So the coaches were learning how to do their jobs along with the players learning the new schemes. It wasn't only the players, it was also the coaches....get it? In regards to the OT position, so you are happy with the current quick short passing game that has been shut down by opposing defenses most of the second part of the season? One of the reasons the Bills no longer needed WR Lee Evans is because they simply don't have a deep passing game as Ryan Fitzpatrick doesn't have more then 2-3 seconds in the pocket to get rid of the ball on most plays. The reason is this Bills O line is the 2nd worst team in allowing pressure to the QB in less then 3 seconds ( according to ESPN) The Bills have lacked a top OT since all pro Jason Peters was traded away. The Bills have lacked a decent line for years and Chan Gailey was the only HC / OC to realize this flaw in the team and setup an offense to cope with it. In the past the previous Bills OC's used to call for deep passing plays even when the QB's didn't have time in the pocket to throw deep.Hence the QB's nickname "captain check-down" Its why WR T.O. was wasted on this team. Should the Bills draft a top OT and start him it would improve the line enough to open up the play book and it would really help with the mid to deep passing game. Something that has almost been non existent since JP left. *corrected the misspell*

Look back at 2010 & 2011 mostly the same players, all the same coaches. Yet this years Bills team beat one SB team in Buffalo ( NE ) and came very close to beating the other SB team in NY ( Giants) 24-27 lost only by a late FG. Impressive huh? So I keep reading from Bills fans over and over, year after year about how this team lacks talent. But yet Dick Jauron managed several 7-9 seasons with less the stellar QB's in JP Losman & Trent Edwards. Clearly Fitz is better then those two with less weapons I see the difference between 2010 & 2011 as mostly the new coaches learning their jobs, and learning how best to perform them. The core of this Bills team hasn't really changed that much from the Jauron days as so many of the current star players were drafted by the team when Jauron was HC. Ryan Fitzpatrick-Fred Jackson -Stevie Johnson - Kyle Williams- George Wilson - Andy Levitre - Eric Wood - Chris Kelsay - Jairus Byrd - Demetrius Bell My take is the talent level is almost there on this team, a handful of the right players could change everything. The QB is good enough to take this team to the playoffs or at least a winning record. Which is something this franchise has seen only once the past 10 years. (sad, I know) So when Buddy Nix first looked at the Buffalo Bills back in 2010 and stated the team was "not that far away" he was actually right concerning the players. It was the all the assistant coaches that Chan Gailey hired that had little or no NFL experience that was the problem. Then there was the fact that some coaches he hired had plenty of NFL experience, but they just weren't very good at their job ( DC Edwards ) The areas of biggest concern to me are pass rush = OLB / DE. For the 4-3 the NY Giants can bring the heat with just their 4 down linemen. The Bills currently have 2 great DT's, they just need some great DE's. OLB's for containing the run, something they haven't been able to do since Jauron and his wimpy Tampa 2. Right now the bills need a Daryl Talley more then they need a "biscuit" IMO. Immediate need, one dominant pass rushing DE who can actually terrorize opposing QB's. 2 top DE's would be better The second area of concern is the O line, if Wood fully recovers the interior of the line is good enough. The Bills need some dominate tackles and not just players who get in the way of opposing DE's and OLB's for 2 seconds Immediate need, one dominant OT who can pancake opposing top pass rushers, and give Fitz more the 3 seconds to throw. This will open up the playbook to allow a deep passing game. 2 top OT would be better Third area is the receiver corps. This team hasn't had a top WR corps since Andre Reed, James Lofton, Don Beebe. Stevie Johnson is good, but he can't do it by himself, and since Gailey likes to run 4-5 WR sets this team needs at least 2 more decent WR's. You guys do realize that at the end of the year the 3rd string QB was listed on the depth chart as the #2 WR, this needs to change! Immediate need, one dominant WR to help Johnson, a healthy Roscoe Parrish. or two WR's if they let Stevie Johnson walk The Bills have seen flashes of what a good TE can do for them when Scott Chandler is healthy and Chan Gailey has Fitz throw to him. More importantly we all saw what a talent like Vernon Davis can do in the playoffs against the Saints, 180 yards receiving 2 TD's 112 yards receiving, 2 TD's against the Giants. The Bills clearly need more weapons for Fitz, imagine what he could do with a TE like Gronkowski of the Patriots or Graham for the Saints Immediate need, one dominant TE. this could be Chandler IF he can stay healthy and IF Chan Gailey involves him more in the passing game. Lastly, the one area that the Bills have been worst in the league for years is the run defense. The Bills haven't been good at stopping the run since Sam Adams- Pat Williams- Takeo Spikes - London Fletcher. Now some teams play a "wide-nine" and don't care as much about stopping the run. I think that defense is lame. Always stop the run and put them in 3rd and long in my view. Immediate need, one dominant OLB. The Bills don't currently have a star player at this position and they need the LB'ers to lead the team in tackles, and not the safeties. DE-OT-WR-TE-OLB any of these positions with that #10 pick would be ok with me

Ok, first of all I think Peyton wants to play again at some point, but will he even be healthy enough come September or sometime during next season? It could take another year for him to fully recover and if and when he does fully recover... he will play again IMO. If he doesn't then he retires. Ex Packer WR Sterling Sharpe had the same type of injury and he chose to immediately retire, and he also chose a different type of surgery. One that gives a chance at a better quality of life, rather then returning to play football like Manning had, at least that is the way Sharpe commented about it. All the media is speculating he will be released before the combine because the Colts don't want to pay that 28 million bonus that's due. I doubt he gets traded because nobody knows if he will recover or not. So I guess now the question is which team has enough money to sign him and then wait to see if he fully recovers. The Redskins, Browns and Dolphins need / want a QB asap so I highly doubt those teams will go after him now. Dallas, Baltimore, Denver and most importantly the Jets have the money and the patience. So I'm still thinking the Jets.

Some team is going to give up the farm to St Louis for RG3, like 5 draft picks, 2 #1's, 2 #2's and a 3rd. It could be Cleveland, Washington or Miami if they can't get Matt Flynn. There is no OLB like Von Miller in this years draft, and nobody even close. Coples would be a good pick if he is there, but with 3 DE's ranked as #1 picks he might be gone fast

Dunno what ranking you are looking at, Draftscout.com has him at #9 http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/prospectrankings/TSX/2012

My take is the phins are gonna go full bore after Matt Flynn mainly because of the Philbin their new HC. That leaves the Jets and Redskins as front runners who have the money and desire to obtain Manning. On a side note I do believe that both Arizona and Buffalo could dump their current QB's & their hefty contracts "IF" they actually could sign Manning. The bills don't have the line, the TE, the WR's so I think there is no way on earth he signs here, even if the Bills went after him. OTOH Arizona went 8-8 and many think Kolb is a complete bust, so....

Now, it is pure speculation BUT! "" Per La Canfora, the team will cut their ties to Manning before the scouting combine. The combine begins on February 22nd, well ahead of the March 8th deadline currently in place for the team to give Manning $28 million or set him free."" http://profootballta...made-weeks-ago/ First, who knows if he will be healthy enough to even play this upcoming year, or like Rob Lowe states in his tweets.... Manning is done! My take is Jim Irsay thinks Manning is done and will release him before the combine. Then the Colts will take Andrew Luck #1 overall in the 2012 draft, who is supposedly the next John Elway! Irsay must think that he no longer needed Bill Polian as everyone is so sure Luck is the best QB out there. He fired Colt president Bill Polian and his son the GM, hired a new GM (Ryan Grigson, ex Eagle director of player personnel) who then fired HC Jim Caldwell. Caldwell worked under Tony Dungy as Peyton Mannings QB coach, so it was kinda strange that the QB coach gets promoted to HC. Manning must feel one foot is out the door or he wouldn't have made some of the statements he has made the last week. Now, the million dollar question is... which team will sign Peyton Manning. Which team will he agree to go to? What team has enough cap space and money to take a chance and bring in Manning? what do you think? Teams with a ** are desperate for a franchise QB Teams with a * are that one player away from the SB (Fixed)

Since the Patriots lost Thomas Dimitoff as director of college scouting to GM of the Falcons in 2008 they clearly haven't been as good at drafting as they were with him IMO.It appears that since Belichick isn't as positive as he used to be about late first round talent he now likes to trade back and acquire more picks, meaning more is better? Another aspect is that he thinks that the best talent available in the draft is mostly in the first 3 rounds, so he does everything he can to get as many 1-3 picks as he can, even if it means giving up the first. Funny how teams like the Patriots that are constantly drafting late in the first round year after year always seem to find better talent then the team drafting early in the first round every year

He was also the LBers coach in Dallas 1998-2001. Was he fired in Dallas? Was he fired as assistant DC, and DC in Washington? LB'ers coach in Cleveland? Florida Gators DC for one year. What schemes did he run for those teams? I can only assume that since you pointed out that the guy had 7 jobs in 10 years that It wasn't his choice to leave. When he worked for the Cowboys as LB coach it was the same time Chan Gailey was HC there, so that's probably why he got the Bills job. He was in fact the LB's coach that was promoted to DC and failed. My point being, you want to hire a proven DC and not some guy who has never done well enough to even keep a job as DC, and keeps going back to assistant jobs.

NFL Network's Jason LaCanfora reports the Dolphins have agreed to terms with Mike Sherman as offensive coordinator and Kevin Coyle as defensive coordinator. Sherman won three division titles as Packers head coach from 2000-2005, breaking the franchise record for rushing in 2003 and for passing in 2004. Sherman has used the West Coast offense at every coaching stop and figures to be the primary play-caller in Miami. Texas A&M prospect Ryan Tannehill, widely considered the third-best QB in the draft, played under Sherman and could be an option for the Dolphins. A coaching veteran of 35 years, Coyle is expected to bring a 4-3 scheme. http://www.rotoworld.com/sports/nfl/football?r=1 Not to mention he was Marv Levy's second choice at HC, stated he knocked his socks off in his interview for the Bills HCing job. Still don't know why Levy / Wilson hired Jauron

First of all, would the man even want to come to Buffalo? Then, what makes you guys think this owner would pay a DE 15+ million a year when he wouldn't Jason Peters and others, last time i looked he wasn't Daniel Snyder. Polian had to talk this owner into keeping Bruce Smith when Denver came calling with 2 first round draft picks. He had to talk him into paying Kelly top dollar, new scoreboard, stadium upgrades, etc etc etc. The yes men in this org don't do the talking, they do the head bob!