thewildrabbit

Exactly where did the Bills get better on the roster then its been in the last ten years? This year team had very few injuries in comparison to the years of Jauron, Gaileys teams This years O line was graded as the worst in the league, and only slightly improved with Richardson on the bench, and Urbik in at LG. Then again they were pretty much man handled by a 2-12 team in the Raiders. Lee Evans, Stevie Johnson were both 1000 yard receivers, and Lynch, Spiller, Jackson had 1000 yard rushing years in the past. Their most experienced WR is Robert Woods in his second year. The Bills have had 9 of 11 players that were either 1st or 2nd round draft picks on the defensive side for years, and it got them nowhere. The biggest improvement I see is from hiring a DC that actually knows how to game plan, and make adjustments during a game! The team still needs a franchise QB, and has needed two decent starting OG's going on three years now. If Jim Schwartz takes a head coaching job with another team. Then what are the odds this team doesn't even have a winning record in 2015.

The saddest thing I've read in a long while.... http://espn.go.com/blog/buffalo-bills/post/_/id/16567/bills-brass-has-no-talks-scheduled-with-pegulas Despite, http://www.ubbullrun.com/2014/12/26/7432993/another-year-of-futility-for-the-buffalo-bills

I can give a huge reason to be frustrated, disappointed, and disgusted all at once over the first winning season in the last ten years. Losing to the 2-12 Raiders last week on the road, and against a rookie QB. That Raider team #7 against the pass, and 24th against the rush, and guess which one the Bills did more of....

You don't get it do ya! 10-6 and the new owners keep the status quo....

I think Buddy Nix screwed this franchise from the Spiller pick, Cornell Green at RT. To hiring HC Chan Gailey, and then not even attempting to draft a franchise QB in his three years as GM. I see six starters from the 27 draft picks. Basically three years wasted under Nix IMO. I think the misconception that Nix drastically improved the talent on the team is a very misleading statement. He basically took a 7-9 / 6-10 Jauron team and went 4-12. The Bills had some decent talent on the team in 2009, and so much so that Nix only replaced like five players on the entire roster. About the only thing I give the guy credit for was getting rid of chief scout Tom Modrak. The offensive scouting staff still sucks with so many mistakes on the offensive side the last five years. Lets trade away Marshawn Lynch for a 4th The baby was stillborn 16-32 under Nix as GM.

Knowing Promo it probably is sarcasm to make fun of the negative Bills fans out there. Whats sad is the Bills finish the season at 9-7, and beat the Patriots in the process, and yet I'm still very frustrated and depressed by knowing that if they had beaten the scrub 2-12 Raiders they are 10-6, and probably in the playoffs. All this win did was like Promo said, to help keep the status quo

probably so, he knows Marrone can't beat him in a game with any real meaning

It just might have a great influence as the Bills under Marrone haven't yet beaten the Patriots. Should the Bills win it is a real feather in his cap.

Just think, should the Bills win... they keep the same coaching staff.

Looks like Marrone is calling the plays for certain. Might be one way to save his arse....gotta wonder why it took this long.

no changes.... ....

This is totally different as about 90% of Bills fans realize there is a huge problem on the offensive side of the football operations. From the FO, scouting, GM, to the coaching. Just player changes won't fully change the ineptitude that has prevailed over this Org over the offensive side of things for two years now. It might be years before Nathaniel Hackett becomes a proficient play caller, game planner... if ever! How many more years do fans need to wait until the team properly replaces a half way decent OG in Andy Levitre, or builds a competent offensive line. How many more losing seasons do Bills fans need to endure with these losers on the offensive side? Danny Crossman did so much better this season because the HC assigned an extra kicker to help kick balls out of the endzone. and yet the HC had extra players that could have helped the offense inactive in order to bolster kick coverage's. This despite the team being 32nd to now 31st in the red zone scoring TD's. And speaking of special teams WTF happened for the Denver game? The bills had only two drive starts past the 20 all game, once on the Bills 40, and once on the Bills 26. One could easily say that the dominate defense greatly helped the special teams all this year.

The Buffalo Bills have been in the top 10 worst offense for two years now, and I honestly can't logically understand why a Bills fan would keep defending the offensive coaches. The team is about to set a franchise record for fewest rushing yards in a season, and that comes after this same regime being the #2 rushing team in the league last year, and the #1 team in attempts. Was it because they garnered the nickname "hurry up and punt offense"? Perhaps they realized that all that running up the middle 71% of the time did nothing to actually win games. New flash, in 2013 the Bills were 25th in three downs and out percentage, and this year with a veteran QB instead of three rookie QB's they are 27th. This year they are 25th in third down conversion. The 2014 Buffalo Bills are 31st in scoring TD's in the red zone. It really makes me question as to why any Buffalo Bills fan would continue to defend known offensive coaching ineptitude. This would be like fans posting over and over to keep 2010 Bills DC George Edwards a 3rd season or Dave Wannstedt for another year. We all saw what marginal coaching talent did for the defense did for the Bills in 2013, and what really good coaching talent did for the Bills defense this season.

I have no problem with Marrone staying as HC, as long as the OC and O line coach are replaced with people that know what they are doing. No more college puke assistants, as the team needs an NFL experienced play caller / game planner counter part equal to the level of Jim Schwartz. GM Doug Whaley needs someone above him other then Russ Brandon, someone who will direct him to rid the team of scrubs on the O line, Pears, Urbik, Williams, and fill those positions with quality talent. If they don't 2015 will just be another wasted season. The entire offensive side of the scouting process needs to be revamped from what we have seen over the last few years. Russ Brandon needs to move to sole possession of the business side of the team so the Pegula's can hire a real NFL team president of football operations that actually has a history of being successful on the football side. A few changes to this team and they easily could be contending with the Patriots for the division, and if not then we can all expect more wasted seasons. They could have been contending two years ago if the proper changes had taken place. http://forums.twobillsdrive.com/topic/174542-report-no-football-ops-changes-expected-with-bills/page__st__20 "Some in league circles firmly believe that, as soon as Monday, former Bills G.M. Bill Polian could be returning to the team." Bills fans dream of this!

I agree hackett is a huge problem with the offense. Both Glenn and Woods are clearly head and shoulders above Pears, Urbik. The problem is that they both play right next to Woods which hurts him, and Urbik is next to Glenn which hurts him. Both the decent players need to worry about doing their jobs and also helping the scrubs do theirs. Care to know why Dick Jauron drafted Eric Woods with a #1 pick, and Andy Levitre with a #2 in 2009? Because in 2008 he saw the Jets D lineman Kris Jenkins try and be triple teamed by the Bills center, and both OG's on one play and he still was able to plow right through and sack the QB. Things haven't gotten better with the OG situation, but they have with the OC position. If the Bills had two quality OG's it would help everyone playing on the line, and suddenly both Woods, and Glenn would look significantly better then they currently look. It was #60 no two ways about it. Trying to figure out how to post a gif of that -4 yard play that caused a 2nd and 4 to go to a 3rd and 8, and the next play was an INT because Orton looked like he got hit as he threw. Both Raider DE's were about to have an Orton sandwhich. I'm just amazed that Orton has survived the season so far.

Well, apparently Doug Whaley thought he already had his franchise QB on the roster or he wouldn't have used three draft picks, two #1's and a #4 to draft Sammy Watkins. The Bills didn't give up two #1's, but they did use two #1's picks. The 2014 first round pick at # 4 from Cleveland, the 2015 #1 pick to Cleveland, and the 2015 #4 pick to Cleveland. The real question is did the Bills give up too much for a player that they could have stayed at the ninth pick of the 2014 draft, and gotten Odell Beckham Jr, or OG Zack Martin who made the pro bowl. Just think, if the Bills hadn't drafted Sammy their choice would have been Eric Ebron at #1, and Cyrus Kouandjio at #2. OG's like Colin Brown, retaining Erik Pears, Kraig Urbik, and bringing in players like Doug Legursky, Chris Williams. You have to think there is something seriously wrong with the offensive side of the scouting dept.

Lets not forget that in the entire decade of the 1970's, 1970 thru 1979 the Buffalo Bills didn't beat the Miami Dolpins once, and they also had a HoF HC in Don Schula, also know as "the Don". So, the Patriots haven't been the buffalo Bills only nemesis. What The Bills owner did to rectify matters was to hire the best head coach he could find in Chuck Knox! A man fired by the Rams for not winning the SB, but had taken his Rams to 5 straight NFC Championships. So, In 1978 Ralph Wilson hired Chuck Knox, and he took a 3-11 team to 5-11 in his first season. Then to 7-9 in his second season, and in 1980 he did something no Bills HC had done the entire decade of the 70's. He beat the Miami Dolphins in Buffalo in their home opener in the first game of the season by a score of 17-7. That 1980 team went on to a record of 11-5, and Knox managed this despite having an inept toad at GM above him. When Knox was hired he brought in some scouts, and his director of player personnel in Norm Pollom, and then gutted the Bills scouting dept. He then replaced the bums with good scouts. Chuck Knox changed the entire losing culture of the team by bringing in a few older vets from his Rams winning teams to be rah rah guys for all the young players on the team. Then he changed the entire culture of the team losing so many games every year by winning the division in 1980. Chuck Knox did it, and Marv Levy soon followed and would own the Dolphins, Don Schula, and Dan Marino from 1988 to 1995. If this whole synopsis sounds familiar it could very well be that should the Buffalo Bills hire Jim Harbaugh as he might be good enough to beat Bill Belichick on a regular basis, and start winning the division away from the Patriots. Therein lies the key to the division, as the Bills need to hire a HC who can beat the Patriots. Doug Marrone is currently 0-3, Chan Gailey was 1- 5, Dick Jauron was 0-7, Mike Mularkey 0-4, Gregg Williams 1-5. Wade Phillips 4-2.

So true, and hilarious... if it weren't the team i want to win the SB. The entire offensive side of the team needs to be replaced, coaches and that means the scouts too. Look at who Whaley would have drafted if he hadn't been able to trade up for Sammy Watkins. Eric Ebron #1 & Cyrus Kouandjio #2 Of the three linemen they draft the #7 pick becomes the starter. The O line regressed, the run game regressed, and the offense got worse with a veteran QB over the three rookie QB's of last year

I don't care if he is a 1.4 billion years old. The man knows football, and would make an excellent senior adviser. Just as long as he doesn't advise hiring his son as team president. Shoot, on ESPN Polian has even stated he likes Doug Marrone, and I'd still want him as an adviser. What I'm really hoping for is an actual football man as president next year.

I don't know about the other posters. All I'm saying is Brandon might not have made even a single decision on anything related to the football side of things, who knows. OTOH he might have had a direct influence on everything. Its more the fact that the Bills needed, and still are desperate for a senior football mind at the top of the food chain. Someone who would know better then to keep Pears, Urbik the past two years, and bring in scrubs for the line like Doug Legursky, Chris Williams. Make a trade for WR Mike Williams only to not use him when the red zone offense is so bad all season, and the special teams gets the added attention instead of a league bad offense. The trade for Bryce Brown, and the trading away of Stevie Johnson. The dysfunction between the GM & HC needs to end. The offense being in the top 10 worst for the second year in a row, and Brandon out there preaching continuity.

The coaching changed and the smoke and mirrors left town. Chan Gailey kept Fitz as his QB for a real reason, and he didn't want a rookie. The reason being in that Fitz can get rid of the ball to the open receiver in 2.2 seconds, and that's faster then Manning and his 2.5 second release. Then Chan would utilize and actual spread offensive line in which there was a gap between the linemen, and this enabled Spiller to make big plays in the run game out of the shotgun when everyone was expecting a pass. If you notice in Hackett's spread offense the linemen are bunched tightly all together on the line as in a power zone blocking scheme. The thing is Gailey's offensive scheme stopped working when opposing teams figured out that Fitz couldn't throw deep accurately, and jammed the receivers at the line. Then they were ready for Spiller to make his runs out of the passing shotgun spread offense. He was still a force in Gaileys spread offense even when defenses were expecting him. Basically the same players on the O line, and the coaching changed for the worse all around. Despite what Marrone says O line continuity means a lot as each player needs to depend on the player next to him to do his job properly. When one player fails it makes the other players look bad as they try and compensate.

Is what you actually said. He was the CEO under Ralph Wilson, and once the Pegula's took over as owners it was announced that Russ Brandon would then be demoted to the president of the business side, and answering to Kim Pegula. Although the Bills website now lists Terry Pegula as the team owner / CEO That really didn't happen tho as both the GM & HC still are reporting to the no longer de facto owner / CEO of the team. Russ is now the president of the entire team, both business and football. After this year ends I don't care what Brandon does as long as he is no longer involved in the football side of operations. Is this difficult to understand, or do you still need to reply with cryptic answers?

What are you talking about? arguing just to argue? Have some deep infatuating love for Russ Brandon? I know, I don't want the HC & GM reporting to the finance / marketing guy under any circumstances ever again after this season. However, he can still be on the field chest bumping Sammy Watkins all he wants.

BS, Name one other NFL team that has the HC & GM answering directly to the marketing / finance guy!

Dan, I was wondering this almost every game when I would see the Bills OC purposely playing right into the strengths of the defense. Last game was a perfect example as the Raiders were the #7 pass defense, and Hackett calls for 49 passes. Yet the Raiders were particularity bad against the run #24, and Hackett calls for only 13 run plays for 13 yards. It really isn't that difficult to build a decent run game even with two deficient players on the line, as they could easily use misdirection plays. Reverses, fake reverses, end around's. Put EJ in there to run read option plays, and only ask him to run the ball. Or simply do what the Denver Broncos did when faced with the same dilemma of bad OG's, and wanting to run the ball effectively. They brought in an extra OT, and took out a TE. Then had the interior linemen double up on their blocking assignments, and that worked very well all year for them. Except against the Bills run D, yet their RB had 3 TD's, and was a big difference in that game. Since the Chargers game the Bills OC has been going pass happy by calling for more passes then runs, and was almost the exact opposite last year. I gotta wonder if this comes back to Marrone not being happy with the line situation so he instructs his OC to throw it all game. Then again, given the limited mentality of the Bills OC.... http://www.buffalobi...bb-c911b4607d09 Is probably a big reason as to why Mike Williams went invisible after the Texans game