thewildrabbit

Jeez, how many times do I need to say lets wait to see what he does the rest of this year and even next year before proclaiming over and over what a bust he has been. Evans is in a near perfect position to make an impact for the Ravens with Bolden hurt. Lets see if he has gotten a rapport and his timing down with Flacco. BTW, part of this entire debate is if Evans was worth a 4th. I'm starting to wonder if Joe Flacco is even worthy of that #1 pick and is even considered an "elite" QB at this point. Look at his current grade for this year. Flacco is rated right behind....Ryan Fitzpatrick at 12. Looking at the offensive personnel the Ravens have, and his OC in Cam Cameron I should think that so many other QB's would flourish in that same offense. Fitz would do much better with those same players.

Yea I know. Will Wolford was lost to the Colts in free agency. My entire point was the team had players that played very down for years and years without serious year ending injuries. Back then Bill Polian was committed to build a proper O line with 2 key players, a top LT a top Center This Bills team hasn't even tried to build the O line in the draft for a decade with the exception of a few players. Ruben Brown, Mike D Williams, Andy Levitre, Eric Wood. The team took an un-drafted walk on TE and converted him to a pro bowl LT in Jason Peters, and then traded him away. This team took Mike Williams with the #4 overall and he is considered a huge bust by the Bills FO because he played only 4 years for Buffalo at RT when he was considered a top LT coming out of the draft. Since they took Williams they have been afraid to spend an early pick on the most critical key part of the line. Moving Wood to center was a very smart move and helped solidify that line greatly, the problem is he went on IR the last two years in a row. This Bills team needs to make a serious commitment to the two key positions, LT & C. Then they need to hire another super smart S&C coach like they had in Rusty Jones to keep the Bills players off the IR and on the field. I don't think I've ever seen so many season ending injuries over the last few years under Jauron and now with all new coaches under Gailey. Look back at those late 80's and early 90's teams under S&C coach Rusty Jones, they used to go down to Florida in the early part of the year and play in sweltering conditions. They would beat the Dolphins because they were better conditioned. I can recall that Bills no huddle making those Dolphin defenders gasp for air as they tried in vain to stop the Bills juggernaut offense.

Have guys like you not been reading posts all year long? Fewest sacks stats are meaningless for the most part for certain teams, its all relative to the QB. http://forums.twobil...14&qpid=2299028 click those two links and read what others had to say about the O line and Bills QB. that line just isn't as good as the stats would have you believe. OTOH this Bills team hasn't been that bad in run blocking when is dedicated to building a running attack. Spiller has had one 100 yard game, stats for 2011 , 15 games, 10 starts, 94 attempts 501 yards, 4 TD's and his real claim to fame is 7+ 20 yard runs. This kid might have produced much more had he been utilized more often in the running attack once Jackson went on IR. 19 for 55 against the Jets, longest 9 yrds 14 for 83 against Tenn, longest 35 yds 12 for 45 against SD,longest 16 yrds 12 for 91 against Miami, longest 24 yds 15 for 111 against Denver, longest 38 yards The play calling has sucked for the most part because once the Bills got behind by as little as 7 points the run game was abandoned for nothing but shotgun pass plays. Against Denver with the lead Spiller was utilized more often and the result was a much better performance.

Pro bowl teams will be announced tonight at 7pm EST on NFL network. Wood can still make it as he was injured in week 19 and had 9 GS. Still, its a long way from shoulda-coulda-woulda. to making the pro bowl as a starter. Bell isn't that bad at allowing sacks when he is healthy, 7 games, 6 GS, and he is currently on IR now after he came back and played one more game. I just don't get why Bills fans fail to realize its been the O line for over a decade. This line has been like a turnstile for 10+ years with so many players coming and going. 2001 - Jonas Jennings-Jerry Ostroski-Corey Hulsey- Bill Conaty- Ruben Brown- John Fina 2002 - Mike D Williams- Marques Sullivan- Trey Teague 2003 - Ross Tucker - Mike Pucillo - 2004 - Chris Villarrial - Lawrence Smith 2005- Jason Peters- Benny Anderson- Mike Gandy 2006-Terrance Pennington- Melvin Fowler- Tutan Reyes 2007 Langston Walker- Brad Butler-Derrick Dockery 2008-Duke Preston 2009- Demetrius Bell- Jonathan Scott-Geoff Hangartner-Eric Wood -Kirk Chambers- Andy levitre 2010 Mansfield Wrotto- Cornell Green- Chris hairston- garrision Sanborn- Erik Pears- 2011 - Chad Rinehart- Keith Williams- Colin Brown 37 players...Those were all mostly starters at some point, I didn't feel like going thru each years roster to find every O linemen that had been with the Buffalo Bills since 2001 But I'm fairly certain it was far more then 37. Its like the line is rebuilt every few years because the team doesn't want to invest in top players Just stop and think for a min. during the time Jim Kelly (11 years) was the QB of the Bills they basically had ONE LT in Will Wolford played 13 seasons, 7 with the Bills a #1 pick ONE LG in Jim Richter, played 15 seasons 13 with the Bills, a #1 pick ONE Center in Kent Hull, played 12 seasons, all of them as a Buffalo Bill, from USFL Other starters on that line from 88-93, Howard Ballard- John H Davis- Glenn Parker- Joe Devlin-Tim Vogler. So for the playoff and SB runs this team managed 8 starters on that line. The Bills have had that many the last 2 years.

There still are other conclusions as nothing is written in stone yet for either side. As for the Ravens, last time I looked they where still in the division playoff hunt as they play @ Cincy this week. A win gives them the division. Even if they lose its still a playoff spot, and playoff money for Evans. You think he isn't happy as hell to be out of Buffalo about now? How about we wait and see how he performs the rest of this season and possibly next season before we say there is no other conclusion. BTW, Easley was never a proven product, and much like Shawn Merriman he just seems unlucky with injuries. It still remains to be seen if Easley can even fill Lee Evans shoes should he ever remain healthy an entire season. If the Bills don't beef up that O line so Fitz can throw deep that point will be moot anyway. Evans had 4 targets last week but didn't catch a ball, probably why the sour grapes from Raven fans & writers. Like I stated earlier he probably still needs to get his timing down and get in sync with Flacco. I'm rooting for Lee, I hope he gets the Ravens to a super bowl and gets his ring. He was a class act, did his job and for the most part kept quiet while playing for some crap Bills teams. Contrary to popular belief around here, 7-9 sucks, so 4-12 sucks worse,so does 6-9

Clearly the bills had no use for Lee Evans because they have no deep passing game....right?? Or is it simply because Fitz doesn't have time to throw 5-7 step drop back passes. But then again, once Evans was no longer on the team the Bills they no longer had a perceived deep threat to keep opposing defenses honest and keep them from jamming the LoS. So in essence trading away their only real deep threat also hurt the short passing game. Smart move huh... From the Ravens standpoint Evans was hurt most of the year and Evans only just recently started playing at the 3rd WR position, he spent time splitting with Tory Smith. Now that Bolden is injured Lee is going to be asked to play a much larger role in the offense, more then simply the sometimes 3rd WR. So it really remains to be seen if Evans can have a significant impact this season or not. Evans should have learned that Raven offense by now, its a question of learning to read QB Joe Flacco and making adjustments, also getting his timing down. The Bills must wait a season or two to see if that 4th rounder for a former 1st rounder will pay off. I'm thinking the Seahawks have been doing backflips over their trade, a measly 4th rounder for the #8 producing RB in the league this year, over 1000 yards and 12 TD's. Then considering the NO Saints were stating they would have given up a 3rd last year for Lynch, Boss hog was sleeping when the phone rang? My take is the Bills screwed themselves on both the Evans and Lynch trades. IDC what the homers say.

I don't believe that is what I said at all. What i stated was don't compare the Bills O line to super bowl teams O lines as the Bills don't currently have a pro bowler on the line in any position. While the Packers and Steelers O lines aren't considered top lines, both are superior to the Buffalo Bills line, and both clubs have miss leading stats because of their particular QB's.

Chan Gailey is trying to ensure he is still the HC next season. The OC & DC and all the staff know their jobs are on the line, every game. Even the players know that they are being evaluated by these last games and are playing for a job next season. Nobody on this team is looking further then the next game. The players don't like the draft because all it means to them is, who will they bring in to replace "ME"!! The Bills players, coaches, staff all want to win, every single game, always. Really only the fans are eying and thinking about the 2012 draft during the season. The reason the Bills won that game over Denver wasn't magic! It was basically the same reason the Bills have lost 7 straight before that game. The Bills get behind and abandon the running game to try and constantly pass, even when the QB is stinking it up. The Bronco's got behind and decided to abandon what won them the last 6 straight, and that was to RUN THE DAMN BALL! Conversely, because Buffalo had the lead, this game they actually utilized the run game to set up the pass. The only offensive score was by the Spiller who had 100+ yards and a TD. It was because the Bills had the lead and kept it which put Denver in a constant catch up passing mode, something they are even worse at then Buffalo is. 4 INT's by Tebow, 2 for pick 6's. Maybe its just me...as a fan... but I hate to watch them lose any game... at any time...even pre season games

Personally, I don't see him having any job security after THIS season! That Denver game might have pushed Ebeneezer over the edge because of so many unsold seats, but who really knows whats going on in his mind at this point. The fan base seems intent on giving him another year because the team clicked on a few decent games. Still, 6-9 stinks in my view! I don't see much improvement next year from Gailey, I just don't. Way to many wrong personnel decisions by both the HC & GM the past two years. The offensive play calling has been bad since before week 9, and after that Jet game this team lost their heart. Plus both Fred Jackson and Eric wood were both healthy at this point. The defense has stunk all year in terms of yardage allowed 24th overall. 15th pass, 28th rush. If not for all the amazing takeaways from the secondary (w/o a decent pass rush) this team might not have won 4 games. I can't emphasize enough how sheer stupidity kept this franchisee from winning more games the last 2-3 years. This FO knew they needed an adequate replacement at LT after they traded away Jason Peters in 08, and yet they keep trying to get by with a 7th round injury prone player who should have been a back up the last 3 years He should have learned his craft on special teams and subbing. They knew they needed a RT after they cut Langston Walker and tried to fill that spot with Cornell Green. They replaced Green with players off the waiver wire. This is what happens when you try and make a Walmart O line work...you simply can't get any offense to be productive for very long with sub par players, especially on the line. Then there is the pass rush... which they have been trying to upgrade since Aaron Schobel was injured in 08. They have had 3 years to try and upgrade the pass rush and all they could come up with is Aaron Maybin. A one year wonder in College who was a huge developmental project at best who they cut loose because the coaching staffs were clueless how to utilize him. The first year Buddy Nix was GM looks like a total faille to remedy both problems at pass rush and O line. Unless you consider filling the ranks with scrubs off the waiver wire the proper means to an end. The second year looks better then the first draft, but then that might be only because the Bills were drafting 3rd overall. This is what happens when you fail to hire a proper GM after the current one retires, and let the moronic head coach do his job and GM job. This is what happens when you hire a retired ex head scout and make him a GM at age 71. This is what happens when you have an insurance salesman as president of the team instead of a person with some actual football acumen. Bottom line is this franchise has been a dysfunctional mess for almost a decade, i don't see anything changing as the owner gets older either, so SSDY

Yea well, after the Cincy game in which the Bengal defense showed the rest of the league how to stop Chan Gaileys offense the decline started right there. For the most part the offense went into the toilet against the better defenses through out the year. Chan Gailey never really changed or adjusted his offense to counter what opposing defenses were doing to shut down the Bills offense until this last game against Denver. In which he kept utilizing the RB the entire game. The simple reason for that might be that the Bills had the lead, so he ran the ball. Usually once the Bills were down by 7 points Gailey just kept forcing Fitz to throw, even when the pass wasn't working as well as the run. It almost looked like Denver had switched places with the bills for a week. Tebow throwing 4 iNT"s while trying to play catch up instead of just running their normal game plan of run run run score. I think once Tom Brady gets the Patriots the lead next week Gailey will revert to his normal try and play from behind game plan, where he call for pass after pass. My take is the offensive line play was so poor that Fitz only was able to throw those short 3 step drop back passes, and wasn't able to build a deep passing offense simply because he didn't have adequate time. For the most part even when Eric Wood, Dem Bell and that O line was completely healthy Fitz never had a true NFL pocket to pass from. No pocket to float around in, no pocket to step up in, no pocket to take 5-7 step drop backs in. This limited what the offense was able to do all year. The other part is the defense, which has been horrible in giving up massive amounts of yardage game after game all year long. They really never did stop any team in any game, except the Redskins and Chiefs. When the team manages to get a bunch of turnovers they seem to win.The Bills still almost lost to the Patriots even with Brady throwing 4 INT's. The bills offense only scored one TD in the last game against Denver, it was all defense and special teams that won it. The Bills have almost enough talent to win in the league and be competitive. The problem is they just seem to try and get by with sub par players in certain areas. Plus the coaching stinks, the team needs a new DC & OC. People with proven NFL experience and ability. The GM kinda stinks in the fact that he really didn't do a good enough job finding the proper players in certain areas. He knew he needed to upgrade certain players and either didn't bother or didn't care. Coaching grade F GM grade D Players grade C Fans grade A+ Merry Christmas

NFN but a key for a drive block is for the center to to get underneath your opponent for push, the lower the better to maintain leverage. Thus raising the center of gravity and creating the backwards momentum on the opponent. Usually why the interior linemen aren't that tall, plus it also makes it harder for the QB to throw over at 6'7'' But hey, whatever works

That stat figure of sacks is very misleading, while they do have few sacks its more of the short passing scheme and Fitz's uncanny ability to find the open receiver and hit him within 3 seconds or less. Osi Umenyiora DE of the NY Giants stated he can get the ball out in 1.5 seconds, and "nobody can get to him" The Giants changed the way they pass rush just for Fitz. ESPN reported back around week 6 that the Bills were the second worst team in the NFL in allowing QB pressure in under 3 seconds, and that was when Eric wood was healthy. Denver only allowed 6 points to the Bills offense, the other 34 points were by the defense and special teams, and those 6 points were a TD by Spiller. So my take is the running game opened up the short passing game, thank the lord Chan Gailey didn't stop using Spiller this game like he did in the last few games. I think perhaps Fitz had a better game because the Bronco's can't get much pressure up the middle from their D line. While 15-27 for 196 yards isn't great, he still did better then he has his previous few games. As for Buddy Nix, the guy did want Cam newton over Marcel Darius and stated he would have taken Newton had he been there. I think Nix will do better now that Modrak hit the bricks, time will tell. Hope all Bills fans are having a Merry Christmas

While I agree to a point. Jut look at what the Bills defense was able to do against Denver and those other 5 teams, they did get pressure, lots of turnovers. Now you could say those 6 teams were simply bad teams or they played a bad game. New England and 4 INT's of Brady? Anyway, looking at this years draft is doesn't look like a top OLB will be there at 10 or under, makes more sense to draft a top WR or OT that should be there.

Don't compare SB teams O line to the Buffalo Bills line. Do the Bills have any pro bowlers on their line? The Packers have a pro bowl WR in Jennings, a Pro bowl LT in Chad Clifton. plus their receiver corps and O line is far superior to what Buffalo fields The Steelers have a pro bowl C in Maurkice Pouncey, again their receiver corps is far superior to anything Buffalo fields Plus both teams have great tight ends which is key in helping a QB out of trouble. Also lets not forget that two of the Bills O line were plucked off the waiver wire, two are always injured. one is a rookie

So basically what you are saying is the O line isn't allowing him the ability to step up in the pocket. My take is it isn't allowing him to float in the pocket either, or take 5-7 drop back passes. Which is why they traded away Lee Evans. Because without the time in the pocket for the QB to throw deep, a deep receiver threat is almost useless in the short passing game. Unless of course you are trying to get a short passing game working and trying to draw the CB's up the field and away from the TE and slot WR. Plus if you do have a deep receiving threat like Lee Evans he can draw double coverage leaving the #2 WR singled up. Then there is always the chance that the CB doesn't bite on the go, you have a wide open speedy WR for a TD every time. Building the line should be a priority this year, especially of almost basically ignoring the line the last two years.4th & 5th rounders that will need 3 years to develop just don't cut it. A speedy deep threat should also be at the top of the wish list.

Spiller had one 100 yard game so far, big woop Freddy is still way better in almost every area, running, catching, blocking, 3rd down back most teams may not utilize a 2 back set much, but having two top backs is a necessity in today's NFL Knowing how this FO works Jackson will probably be shipped out for a 5th, somehow the Patriots will end up with him and win another SB

Hey man, WTH is with you? You MUST be imagining things...the Bills win ?....the Bills are too decimated by injuries to win another game! The Bills don't have enough talent, Fitz will be OK, but they need runners and WR's and a TE that can stay healthy to win Still the offense scored 6 points all game, Spiller had 100+ yards and a TD, Rayner 4 FG's, punt return for a TD, 2 defensive TD's. so the special teams and defense took the day. Best play of the defense all year....but, but, but, they have no OLB, no pass rush, no talent. Does this mean George Edwards keeps his job as DC?

My thoughts are that perhaps Gailey has been reluctant to use the kid because he doesn't want him out with a torn ACL or worse. If that were to happen he would really have no viable option at RB because Choice sucks. Or, he wants to bring him along very slowly for some reason Spiller did get 18 touches today, so Chan might have finally gotten thinking his job isn't that secure, so whats the point of using Spiller sparingly if he isn't the HC in Buffalo next year

If the Bills ever decide to draft for that O line and get some top tackles to give Fitz more time to throw, he will have more games like he did in the first part of the season. Also a speedy deep threat would help open up that short passing game more

Jests getting beaten by the Giants, Phins losing to Pins...Bills score 40pts....but only one offensive TD

holy cow 40-14 Johnson a 17 yard int return, Tebow really stinking in this one

I wouldn't get too happy... Now gailey has an excuse to keep edwards for another year...

its good to see Gailey finally using Spiller this game, still don't understand why he stopped using him in earlier games

33-14 defense scores, getting turnovers again

It was Mike Mularkey who got rid of Rusty Jones, preferring to hire his friend for the job. Jones was hired by the bears in 2005 http://www.chicagobe...asp?coach_id=18 This was one of the most boneheaded moves allowed by this team the last decade...in a serious series of boneheaded moves this past decade! For the life of me I just don't get why this owner allowed this team to be so dysfunctional for so long. He had the right idea with Tom Donahoe as president, it just didn't work out with that particular man. So fire him and hire another president, and also hire a GM like every other successful team in the NFL. A president that had some actual football acumen that was in touch with reality would have never allowed most of the things that have transpired with this ball club over the last 15 years The Raiders have "commitment to excellence" as their slogan. The Bills should have "nothing but stupidity here, just makes me wanna shout! "