thewildrabbit

He was a 5th, not a 7th like Stevie is, and the book isn't finished on Williams just yet now is it.

What are you 12 years old, or is it just the mentality? Fisher hasn't been hired by anyone yet and its Tennessee

The Bills have a history of not wanting to pay top money to players they develop out of walk-ons or late round draft picks. Players like Pat Williams who was a walk on free agent who developed into a top pro bowl DT. Jason Peters who was a walk on free agent TE who they developed into a pro bowl LT. It makes me wonder if the FO feels these players were nothing and "we" made them into something, they owe "us" to continue to play for what "we" think is fair. If this is the case I suspect not only will the Bills lose Stevie Johnson, they will also lose Bell, and somewhere down the road they will also lose Fred Jackson

Yea well, to all the fools who think Fisher is just another bum like Tony Sparano Look what division the Titans played in, the AFC South. Where the Colts, and Payton Manning have dominated that division for the last decade. Ironically, Fisher stepped away from the NFL of his own accord last year or he would still be the HC of the Titans, and this is the first year that the Colts haven't been the top dog in the division Gotta love Buffalo Bills fans enthusiasm tho, last in the division last year 4-12, last in the division this year 6-10 and WANTING the Dolphins to hire a HC with a 142-120 .542 % record to compete against a Bills HC that is 10-22 and a 313 % Bills fans never lose that optimism

Not just ireland, its also Carl Peterson ex president of the KC Chiefs who has a hand in this. Both are boobs IMO and Peterson was fired in KC. It has been reported that the owner of the Dolphins Stephen Ross will not be out bid for Jeff Fisher, so if its a matter of Money the Phins will get him. Ross might be a great new owner, but Ireland sucks...just ask any Dolphins fan http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/01/03/carl-peterson-involved-in-dolphins-interview-with-jeff-fisher/ Fisher has ties to the Rams, he used to play for the LA Rams AND its a much weaker division in the NFC West, with an already #1overall draft pick at QB. a top DE and looking at the #2 pick in this years draft. If I'm Fisher I take the Rams job

Nobody said anything about trying to run the ball with a closed formation, 2 TE's and fullback, which is dictating to the opposing defense your going to run. That type of offense doesn't work whatsoever with the current Bills O line, they couldn't power their way down a water slide. What got that offensive running game going this year was running out of the spread formation, you know the exact same spread formation Jim Kelly made famous along with the Bills no huddle offense. Back then in the 90's the Bills had the talent on the line to run any play or formation they wanted. Chan Gailey setup his offense to be mostly spread formation, QB in shotgun, sometimes empty backfield with 4-5 WR sets. Its not very confusing to the opposing defense when you come out in shotgun, empty backfield. You are basically saying we are gonna pass, try and stop us. The problem is Buffalo's passing attack isn't good enough to do that, and hasn't been good enough all year. As soon as the Bills would lose the lead, then out came the constant passing plays. Which was forcing the QB to try and make plays into the strength of the opposing defense. Brady, Rodgers, Brees might be able to get away with that continuous style of play, Fitz just isn't good enough to overcome defenses with a one dimensional short passing scheme offense. A banged up O line, 4th 5th 6th 7th string WR's. Shoot, the Bills have 3rd string QB Brad Smith listed as the #2 WR, how lame is that. A one back offense with one TE using play action now and again would work. The running game was working very well in most games,and Gailey would simply stop calling run plays, and just call constant passing plays. Running the ball keeps your defense fresh, and wears down the opposing defense. When the opposing team has a 21 point lead the very last thing you want to do is go 3 and out and give the opposing team the ball back. The priority should be just moving chains, making first downs, and keeping possession of the ball and ultimately score. The bills were down 21-3 early in the season against the Raiders. Guess what, Fred Jackson broke a 43 TD yard run to fire up the team. The Bills ended up winning 38-35 with a great come from behind. Its a darn shame Gailey forgot about that win and how the Bills did it.

Yea well, I'll bet Christopher Langan would do a better job of calling plays Hell, I'll bet even Capt Lou Albano, Langan's lookalike would do a better job too. Jeez, what does it tell you about the play caller who just keeps calling pass plays to have his QB throw into a defense primarily designed to stop the opponents passing game? Its utterly moronic in my view! Seriously, whats the big deal if he calls all the plays? Jim Kelly was so successful at it because he had a set number of plays, run and pass. Kelly would look over the defense, call the play at the line and they would go with it. Fitz already does part of that, as he looks at the pre-snap read and calls the protections. He basically knows what defense he is looking at in order to do that successfully. Both Levitre and Wood were gushing about how good Fitz is with the line and protections. they claim he is the main reason the line gives up so few sacks. Fitz can audible to a different play if need be, but whats the point of an audible if its an empty backfield as he can't switch from a pass to a run? Gailey is just to pass happy for his and the teams own good. He thinks he has Aaron Rodgers behind center, he doesn't. He has a career backup starting and is trying to force him to be something he is not. 578 attempts passing vs 391 attempts rushing which is kinda crazy considering how few throws go to the Bills TE vs other teams TE. The Bills actually have a better running game then passing game stat wise. Would you believe me if I told you that all during the Jim Kelly era the Bills ran the ball more often then they threw it most years.

Good point about Flacco, but did you know that when the Ravens throw 35+ times they lose more then they win, conversely when Ray Rice has 25+ carries they win more then they lose. Flacco has the O line, he has the run game, he has the WRers, he has the TE, and he even has the D. You take Joe Flacco out and put Ryan Fitzpatrick in and I think you have a better team, a better QB who is able to set protections better, and find the open receiver much quicker. Plus he doesn't have cement shoes, if need be Fitz can get a first down by running. OTOH, Flacco might have the stronger arm to throw 60 yard bombs, but how often does that happen? Ex- GM Michael Lombardi thinks Fitz is good enough to win, so does Ex-GM Charlie Casserly. Build a team around him and you have a competitive team

Look at Drew Brees at QB, arguably one of the most prolific passers in today's NFL, agreed? The Saints usually almost always throw more then they run, just look at last weeks game against Carolina. Brees 28/35 for 389 yards 5 TD's 1 INT. But they also ran quite a bit with 35 attempts rushing. Chris Ivory led the way with 19 rushes for 127 yards. Talk about balance, 35 attempts both rushing and passing. Lets go back and look at last year, the N.O. Saints were desperate to acquire Marshawn Lynch because their RB's were all injured, and they knew they wouldn't get far with just Brees throwing. The previous year to that the all the RB's were all injured and Brees interception rate climbed pretty high, he was under more duress every game and also took more sacks. The guy that just broke Dan Marino's passing record for most yards in a season has FOUR good RB's on the roster, and the Saints use them all. Rookie RB, 1st round pick Mark Ingram, was the starter most of the year. Now on IR Pierre Thomas was the back up Daryn Sproles is the 3rd down back Chris Ivory was the 4th stringer The Saints go with whichever RB has the hot hand in a game and do the same thing with their 4 star receivers. Colston, Meachem, Moore, Henderson. Now they have an all pro TE who had 99 catches this year for 1310 yards and 11 TD's, second only in the NFL to the Patriots Gronk. Both TE set new records for yards, receptions and TD's by TE's. (Jimmy Graham had 8 rec for 97 yards in his last game) The biggest problem I have with the Buffalo Bills offense is Gailey doesn't utilize his RB's or his TE's enough, not nearly enough. Last season the Bills TE's were invisible in the Bills offense, Scott Chandler had one GS, one catch. David Martin was the starter 16 G, 9 GS 7 rec for 43 yards. Shawn Nelson 5 games, 1 GS, 3 rec for 25 yards. Johnathan Stupar 16G, 3 GS, 12 rec for 111 yards 2010 Buffalo Bills TE's 23 receptions for 179 yards...all season. WORST PRODUCTION FOR TE's IN THE ENTIRE NFL in 2010. Not that great for 2011 either. Chandler 38 rec for 389 yards, 6 TD's 2011, better, but not nearly enough.

We couldn't beat them deep because the O line is so bad the QB doesn't have the time to throw more the 3 step drop back passes. You don't remember Fitz needing to scramble to make first downs in the 2nd QTR of that Patriot game? The WR's not getting open, the line not holding their blocks There have been numerous threads on the very subject of how good / bad the O line is. Here is a link to one of those threads. http://forums.twobil...l/page__st__140 click on the links in my quote Now this was waaay back when Center Eric Wood was healthy, what do you think has happened since? With men like Colin Brown at center. I think Gailey & the Buffalo Bills were lucky to have Fitz at QB, at least it made them somewhat competitive, a rookie or Tyler Thigpen would have gotten killed and the sack total would have been thru the roof. All I'm saying is, give fitz a chance to call his own plays.

I agree, however this man is exactly like Turk Schonert, an arrogant, overconfident, stubborn buffoon. He has had an entire season to make changes in his offense to actually help the QB when he is clearly struggling, he didn't. I have serious doubts he ever will. So unfortunately I don't see him hiring a top OC to call the plays . I'll tell you what will happen, Fitz will continue to get thrown into the fire every game next season until Gailey is fired. Just like George Edwards called bad games, Gailey is doing the very same thing. Does anyone really expect him to fire himself? So I am merely suggesting the next best thing. I'm pretty sure Fitz is smarter then Gailey, and pretty sure he is smart enough to know when to stop throwing into nickle and dime defenses that are primarily designed to stop the pass

Believe it or not, the Bills really could use another RB or 2 if White doesn't evolve soon. I would have thought he would get carries over Choice, but didn't Look at the NO Saints and their RB crew, they have 4 very good RB's in Chris Ivory, Pierre Thomas, Mark Ingram, Darren Sproles. the reason being is because they know after last season that even with Drew Brees at QB they aren't going very far in the playoffs without a balanced attack. Remember they were on the phone to Buddy Nix trying to get Marshawn Lynch for a playoff run, Nix never responded to their calls. It was stated by Jay Glazer that the Saints would have given up a #3 for Lynch Sproles, is their 3rd down back-WR, who is brilliant at his job Ingram, the starter is their every down back who saw most of the carries when he was healthy, on IR now Pierre Thomas, was the backup who is the red zone back but gets a bunch of carries during normal games Chris Ivory, is the 4th sting RB who just put up 127 yards, 19 rushes on Carolina last weekend Ivory, Sproles, Thomas all saw action in the last game. Just like with their WR's Sean Payton goes with the hot hand.

Jeez BB, this team is so far away from being a top team. yet only a good draft and free agency from competing. Those two firsts and two seconds could really hamstring this team. Plus you would still have a bad set of WR's, a pretty bad O line, a bad defense. #1 Riley Reiff this year. #2 Alshon Jeffery this year Or Dwayne Allen Plus a #1 & #2, 2013 for a rookie QB who will just get hammered behind this line, with this coach calling nothing but pass plays.... what a waste of a draft pick...or multiple picks

You are right, Evans was a great player when you had a QB like Bledsoe or JP with a big gun to throw deep. Plus you had a better line that could hold blocks for more then 3 seconds. The others are also right tho, this offense under Gailey can't use Lee Evans very often, this offense doesn't throw deep enough to utilize his deep speed. I think this year the Bills could have really used Evans, considering all the injuries to the Bills WR corps. My take is Evans wouldn't come back to Buffalo, I'd think he would want a ring at this point

Its not the receivers? When Derek Hagan is your leading receiver, your WR corps has problems. This kid has been floating around from team to team since 2006 Miami- NY Giants- Oakland- Buffalo, and if not for so many injuries to the Bills WR's this year, who knows where he ends up. The bills list QB Brad Smith as the #2 WR opposite Stevie Johnson. The Bills WR corps stinks big time in my view. They have one decent receiver in Stevie Johnson and he might not be in Buffalo next season. The TE's, Scott Chandler stepped up to be a big factor to a degree, but he couldn't stay healthy all year. Missing several games and at least half of that last NE game. Then with Chandler out hurt you had the big time names like Fendi Onobun...who? & Kevin Brock The O line, I don't shiv a git what the stats say, that O line stinks as bad as the WR corps. Colin Brown at Center? Rookie Chris Hairston at LT? I think you give Gailey to much credit to think he coaches around his QB's abilities, or as you say, shortcomings. I think he realizes he has a bad O line that doesn't give his QB the time needed to throw 5-7 step drop back passes on a consistent basis. So instead he setup a short set of three step drops to get the ball out quicker. hence the reason you don't see many deep outs. This is also the reason I feel that Lee Evans became expendable. My take is, Fitz is not the biggest problem with this team. They basically have neglected the O line & WR corps early in the draft the last two years, and they should have focused on those two areas. As much as i love Marcel Darius, I think AJ Green would have made a much more significant impact

Hey man, the QB you think would have played brilliantly for this team the last 8 weeks.... doesn't exist!!! Not with this current set of WR's, not with the current play caller. You seem to lay the entire fault for this TEAM losing at the feet of the QB. Its not all the QB's fault. Clearly you and your cohorts think its all the QB's fault, and has absolutely nothing to do with the play calling, the lack of utilizing running game past the first half, the inferior set of wide receivers. Did anyone notice how when the opposing defense is in constant pass defensive plays, like nickel and dime packages that the Bills play caller just kept forcing the QB to try and win the game? This is the exact same stuff we used to see with the known moron Turk Schonert calling plays with Trent Edwards and JP Losman. Constant shotgun, constant pass plays when the QB is clearly under duress. Only Schonert would call for seep passing plays when he was never given time by his O line to throw deep. Why do you think Fitz was scrambling more in the second QTR of that Patriot game? Nobody open, Patriot pass rush closing in? I'm not making excuses for the QB play, all I'm doing is stating the play calling has been putting the QB in constant bad situations, ALL YEAR LONG!!. WR#2 Brad Smith - Davis Nelson - Ruvell Martin(2nd leading receiver, 4-42) -Kamar Aiken WR#1 Stevie Johnson - Naaman Roosevelt - Derek Hagan (Bills leading receiver in Pats game, 7 for 89) TE Scott Chandler (3-29) - Fendi Onobun - Kevin Brock wow, look at those names, look at that stellar WR corps, the Packers should be so lucky to have that many pro bowlers on it . Jeez even the 3rd string QB is listed as the #2 WR P.S. Do you realize Fitz plays on a not very good team, where the play caller would rather use the RB more as a WR then a RB because he benched the only real decent WR

The Bronco's also didn't have a pocket passing QB worth a damn either, so they were so one dimensional it wasn't funny. A running team with a balanced attack and good defense wins a bunch of games, the Ravens! The Detroit Lions lost their starting RB this season and became one dimensional and started losing until they were able to rebuild a ground game. When Drew Brees had no running game last year the Saints were a one dimensional passing offense, and lost to the scrub Seahawks in the playoffs, kinda why the Saints drafted a RB with their first pick and got Darren Sproles in free agency, now they have 4 very good RB,s. Just like they have 4-5 very good receivers Balance means everything!

Its not just that the NFL is a "passing league" Its also a place where "elite" QB's are catered to and watched out for. Look at the last 8 super bowls & the winners, 2011 Packers- Steelers 2010 Saints-Colts, 2009 Steelers- Cardinals 2008, NY Giants- Patriots 2007 Colts - Bears 2006 Steelers-Seahawks 2005 Patriots-Eagles 2004 Panthers-Patriots Arron Rodgers future HoFer Payton Manning 2x, one win HoFer Ben Rothlisberger 3x one win HoFer Tom Brady3x two wins HoFer Drew Brees Hofer Eli Manning tweener Donovan McNabb- semi scrub Rex Grossman-scrub Curt Warner- future HoFer Jake Delhomme-scrub Look at the QB's, you don't necessarily need an "elite" QB to get there, sure looks like you need one to win it. If guys like Delhomme & Rex Grossman can make to a SB I don't see why Fitz can't either. Also, you don't need an elite passing offense to get there, as the Seahawks-Panthers-Bears-Giants ran the ball with authority during their SB runs, and in Mannings instance he got incredibly lucky with one pass to get his win against a team that hadn't lost a game all year.

Well done, well thought out and some good points. The Bills don't have a young QB that they are grooming, unless you consider Brad Smith in that role. But I'd rather not take a rookie early at this point as fans will want him in there every time Fitz throws a bad pass. If you look at Tom Brady in the last game, not every pass is perfect, some are thrown at the WR's feet and bounce off the turf. The Ball slips outta the hand. The QB hurries the throw. The QB6 doesn't step into the throw, for whatever reason. The Bills receiver corps really does suck considering the Bills pass so much, so often! As much as I love MD, I think the better choice would have been AJ Green no question. Then if the Bills could find 2 young studs at TE like the Patriots have they might actually be able to keep up with them in scoring. Look around the league at various teams with stud, star WR's corps, Green Bay - Pittsburg - Detroit "Megatron" Atlanta - Roddy White & Julio Jones.Saints- Moore- Colston - Meachem -Henderson ( +4 really really good RB's) Patriots, Wes Welker....Gronk For the love of god, the bills need a Victor Cruz!!! The Bills also need some stud O linemen, a decent back up center, a decent starting LT, the rest they can get by with. The Bills need 2 TE's like the Patriots have, or just one like the Saints have in Jimmy Graham. As bad as the defense currently is, I would spend almost the entire draft on offense save for one top pass rusher.....unless you could find one in free agency

The Pats still played it into the second QTR, the Patriots DC is a boob to the Nnnth degree, just about as bad as George Edwards was. he played man quite a bit this year when he should have been in zone or cover. But then Hairston allowed a sack in the 2nd QTR and everything seemed to go downhill in that series after that, plus a holding call that was negated by the sack. result of the sack=18 yards loss & a punt Then in the next series the Bills driving with 2 big pass plays down to the Patriots 34 yard line and the center, Colin Brown who? Flubs the shotgun snap, which results in a 2nd down and 19! Bills go for it on 4th down and 12 from the Patriots 36, ... Then the Bills drove down to the Patriots 28 and attempted a FG, still up 21-14. New kicker missed. The Bills were able to move the ball al thru the 2nd QTR, its just that the players just kept screwing up. Plus Fitz was losing his rythum due to getting much more pressure, he scrambled for a few first downs in that QTR. Still, you don't think it didn't matter not having Stevie Johnson or Scott Chandler? The Bills owned that first half, 18 1st downs to 11, 60 yards rushing-to 60 yards rushing same, Bills 295 total yards- Patriots 184 yards. Patriots one turnover ToP Bills 18:29 to Patriots 11:31

I know there are a slew of Ryan Fitzpatrick threads over the coarse of the season with questions about his arm strength, his accuracy. I am offering a different perspective. We all saw that Fitz can be terrific at times, like the first QTR of that New England game. The guy played pretty much brilliantly, helping the Bills get a 21 point lead. Threw very accurately, and exhibited good arm strength. First QTR, first 3 drives TD,TD,TD Second QTR, then the next 3 series, a punt, downs, missed FG Third QTR, INT, INT. Fourth QTR, Punt, INT, INT So now game over, Fitz sucked right? So what happened, why did the Bills tank the other 3 QTRs? Well to start with the primary receiver in Stevie Johnson was benched right after that third TD in the first QTR. Then at some point Scott Chandler went down with an injury. Then, to make matters worse the play caller went pass happy into the teeth of the Patriots nickle and dime packages. The Patriots have one of the worst defense in the league, but when your offense goes one dimensional its so much easier for them to defend just one thing. So what happens is that the more pressure the QB is under the during the game more he tends to hurry his throw, lose rythum. This can happen to ANY QB in the league. It happened to Tom Brady against the Bills earlier in the season where he threw the 4 picks. Now imagine how bad he would look if you took Wess Welker and Rob Gronkowski out of that first game A lot of us fans were question the play calling over the coarse of that 7 game skid. I can only think that Gailey has so much to deal with during a game that his mind must go numb as some point, calling the offensive plays while also trying to focus on defense and special teams. We all know several things about Fitz, one of which is he is a very very smart guy, right? Basically aced his wonderlic test. Chan says he has never seen such a fast learner, teach him something once and he picks it right up. So obviously Fitz is smarter and more intelligent then Jim Kelley, right? Then why not let Ryan Fitzpatrick call his own plays like Jimbo used to do, Levy and Marchibroda allowed Kelly to call all his own plays, which allowed a faster "no huddle" as the starting offense almost never changed personnel during each series. He is the smartest guy on offense, he sets the protections and already calls the audibles if he see's something he doesn't like that the defense is showing. By allowing Fitz more control over his situation during the game it should settle him down and focus on reading the defense and concentrate on how to beat that defense. Payton Manning calls his own plays so its not unheard of for the QB to do that nowadays. This would allow Gailey to focus more on managing the entire game, defense, offense, and special teams. C'mon Buddy, I wanna see that freaking baby born this year....LET FITZ CALL ALL HIS OWN PLAYS!!

Perfect statement that so many just don't see or understand Its unreal to watch Gailey call so many shotgun pass plays out of the spread offense with an empty backfield when the Bills have a lead, and mostly ignore the run game. But then when the team loses the lead his play calling for passing intensifies, which makes no logical sense. When you are behind in the score the opposing defense tend to play their nickel and dime packages more, so in essence Chan is throwing right into their strength. Look at the NE game, in the first QTR NE was forced to respect the run game with Spiller being able to break long runs. Once the Patriots got the lead and were able to reinforce their 2nd worst pass defense with extra BD's the complexion of the game changed very quickly. Then to compound the issue Scott Chandler goes out with an injury, and Gailey benches Stevie Johnson the entire game. Thus hamstringing the already under more duress QB. Then look at the Buffalo Bills receiving corps, WR Derek Hagan, WR Ruvell Martin, WR Naaman Roosevelt, TE Kevin Brock....WTF are these guys? And the play caller intensifies the passing game as the opposing defense steps up its pass defense packages... This type of play calling makes no logical sense to me, and it never will. From my perspective it has almost nothing to do with Fitz's arm or accuracy. I'd think ANY QB in the league would suffer the same fate as Fitz does under those circumstances. Look at what happened to Tom Brady in the Buffalo Bills first game against them. Buffalo has almost no pass rush but was still able to pressure Brady. Then imagine removing Wes Welker and Gronk from the game on Brady and see what would happen.

anyone else watchin this game, holy cow 38-38, great game Missed the FG, going into OT tied at 38

The Bills beating the Patriots for the first time in forever... The Bills getting so many turnovers, but only in certain games...Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde syndrome This Bills HC trying to force the QB to pass looked an awful lot like Turk Schonert, Gailey should think about hiring ole Turk as his OC Fred Jackson running so great out the spread formation that made Thurman Thomas a star, only to have Gailey stop using the running game so often, in so many games. Biggest disappointment.... the more things change, the more they stay the same. 3-4 or 4-3 Tampa 2 or 3-4. The Defense still stinks, even after the GM drafts a stud DT #3, and drafts mostly for the D line the year before. STILL, no pass rusher The Bills dump Maybin and he gets 6 sacks for them playing part time, he didn't get one sack in his 2 years as a Bill. Shawn Merriman Injuries this season even worse then Jauron's teams, with 3 new S&C coaches!! RW still owns the team, no new top coaches or free agents...

To this day I still believe that Marv hired Jauron in hopes he would fail so he could take over as HC again, once RW finally put that idea to bed, Marv retired. Just think, after Marv was finished interviewing candidates he stated that Mike Sherman "knocked his socks off" in his interview. Again, l still think he by passed on Sherman because he thought Mike might just be too successful, and thus he will never see that bills HC job. NFN, but to all those Wannstache lovers, If the guy was that great he would have had opportunities as a HC or even a DC in the NFL previous to his hiring as a "LB" coach, Ast HC. But then as Bills fans I suppose we should be happy anyone with NFL experience would want to come to the Buffalo Bills for a job.