thewildrabbit

Right now Tony Sparno fired as Dolphins HC also, and Todd Bowles the defensive secondary coach was named interim HC! If I'm not mistaken Mike Nolan is the DC of the Dolphins and has established himself as one of the best DC's to run the 3-4 defense.. Nolan might be slightly upset at the Dolphins for making Bowles the interim, if at the end of the season he isn't given the HC job then Nolan might be available to be the assistant HC / DC for some other team PS. You guys keep bringing up Wannstache as the new DC, scuse me but wth has he done to help this defense this season? He was hired to help Edwards, I don't see a significant improvement anywhere to promote him.

Here we go again, the QB as the focal point. If a team wins its the team, if the team losses its the QB. Face it, this team sucks, the defense has been a sieve all year, plus they no pass rush! No pressure on the opposing QB means the other team has all day to pass. Plus they can't stop the run very well. The only thing this defense did better this year were the takeaways in the first few games, once those stopped, that bad defense was exposed for what it really is. ...a bad defense. The offense has always been a finesse short passing team, once opponents shut down the short game the offense was screwed. One decent WR, the TE was injured and a rookie starting, the O line in shambles again this year. Once Eric Wood went on IR the rest of that line was exposed as what they are, a bad line. Once Fred Jackson went on IR the Bills no longer scared any defense as they have no run game and no viable deep threat WR as they traded away Lee Evans. Jeez, I wonder if Marshawn Lynch would have helped in the running game this year, 2 former #1 pick's traded for 2 fourth rounders. Blame the QB because the team stinks, go ahead and cut him. Draft a rookie and watch him turn into another JP Losman....another Trent Edwards, because this franchise refuses to build a line or power running game.

Welcome to the DECADE, and then some of frustration!! Chan Gailey himself stated that the team has lost its confidence... no kidding Sherlock....that happened in week 9 against the NY Jets, when the Jets held the team down and rubbed its nose in dog poop! Tell me, what is different from this year under Gailey then it was under Jauron from an injury standpoint....nothing has changed! Gailey brought in 3 new S&C coaches and still this team is decimated by injuries! Tell me, what is different from Jauron's lame Tampon 2 to George Edwards terribad 3-4? Still can't stop a running team, and they went from pretty decent against the pass (yardage wise) last season to even worse then stopping the run, the defense stinks yet again! Tell me, what is so exciting watching a team that plays well on offense for 5 games and then falls on its face, 2008 all over again. Chan gailey and Dick Jauron have a bunch in common, Gailey was good at one thing like Jauron was, passing game Gailey and passing defense Jauron, no team can win being one dimensional! Plus, teams have figured out Gailey's ":finesse" style of offense and it stopped working. Gailey is actually a better head coach then Jauron, even with a bunch of assistants that had no previous NFL experience the team played hard for him. Very few mistakes by the players considering how young and raw the team is. Plus he is more likable then Skelator by the fans in just about every facet. But you know what, bottom line this game is about wins and losses... at 5-8 and eliminated from any playoff chance and 3 games to go. the Bills have a chance to finish 8-8 better then Jauron ever did in Buffalo.- 7-9 to duplicate what a moron accomplished -or 6-10 duplicating what the moron and Perry Fewell did, or 5-11 one game better then last season. I stated after watching the NY Jets pound the Bills into submission in week 9 that they probably wouldn't win another game this year. I bitterly complained about Gailey all off season and then retracted all that after he won 5 games, and had 9 to go. At that time the only 2 losses were to the Bengals and Giants by 3 points each. Then in week 9 the Jets exposed this team in so many ways, they stole their heart away.

This team, this franchise, this front office, the Buffalo Bills fans have been enamored with getting a top pass rusher since Aaron Schobel was injured. Clamoring year after year to draft one.So Jauron takes a gamble and drafts an undersized speed DE who only played one year in college and that huge gamble is now paying off for a hated enemy in the NY Jets!!. Now another problem since Schobels injury is this coaching staff is so inept that they couldn't get Maybin to realize his potential in Buffalo. So Buddy Nix himself decides to take a huge Jauron like gamble in bringing in an injury prone OLB, that gamble failed also. Mean while the offense suffers... even Trent Edwards would have benefited from an upgraded O line. Fitzy is in dire need of a line that can protect him for more then 2-3 seconds so he has an actual option of throwing deeper passes like the rest of the QB's in the NFL. How long do you think Brady-Brees-Manning-Rodgers would last behind a line that only allowed short passes. This team needs O line help as much if not more then a pass rusher, and given the fact that this regime doesn't have a clue on how to find a top OLB in the draft as they have shown that over the last 5 years. Perhaps if Von Miller had fallen in their laps things might be different. However, this GM has shown he knows what to look for in O linemen, even picking up some off the waiver wire that helped somewhat. Plus he drafted a LT that might develop into a decent player. Drafting a OT might not be as sexy or as visually impact-full as a pass rusher but one could easily be a game changer the same way a top defensive player would be. History has shown that this franchise only wins when they build a top O line, every regime seems to fail to understand this.(save Polian-levy /Chuck Knox/ Lou Saban) You would think a supposed offensive genius like Gailey would see that, he didn't. Instead he tried to setup a fast paced spread offense with a short throwing scheme. Opposing teams quickly figured out his offense and shut down his short game. With a bad line that can't protect the QB for 5-7 step drops on a consistent basis his offensive game plan went into the ceramic convenience. Lets hope he is smart enough to realize he needs to build that line, and drafts a top tackle with that #1 pick 65 AFL Champions-- LT Stew Barber-LG Billy Shaw- C Dave Behrman- RG Al Bemiller-RT Dick Hudson. (This O line= two, 2nd rounders, one first rounder) 1980 AFC East Champions (11-5) LT Ken Jones-LG Reggie McKenzie C Will Grant- RG Conrad Dobler- RT Joe Devlin ( this O line= three, 2nd rounders) 1990 AFC Champions LT Will Wilford-LG Jim Ritchter-C Kent Hull- RG John H Davis- RT Howard "house" Ballard ( this O line= 2 first rounders. Kent Hull came from the USFL great player and another steal by Bill Polian) Looking back at what the Bills did in the past to build a winning team was to spend high draft picks on the O line, and find great players like C Kent Hull.

Exactly... Teams that give Rivers a problem can also get to him quite often. This Bills team has no rush... Rivers is going to set passing records against this inept Bills defense

The two most needed areas are O line and pass rush IMO. Since as of right now there is no OLB rated lower then #19 Courtney Upshaw. Unless they want to go DE The Bills really need to look at an OT with that first pick, and finally lock down an area that has been weak since trading away Jason Peters. After this year I'm hoping that Gailey realizes he can't get by with a sub par O line in the NFL. He needs linemen that can hold block for longer then 2-3 seconds http://espn.go.com/nfl/draft

Yea well, in 2009 the Texans were tied at 13th with the NY Giants for total defense. Huge difference from being middle of the pack to #1 overall. On that matter the 2009 Buffalo Bills were 19th in total D under Jauron -Fewell, and the run defense got better with Fewell as HC. To the abosoulate worst defense against the run in the history of the franchise under George Edwards, and Gailey retained him. Perhaps because that Jauron build secondary was #3 in overall yards allowed in 2010. I suppose all those DB's that Jauron drafted finally made an impact! But then what happened this season? The very same DB coach that was with the Bills under Jauron is still here under Edwards. This year the Bills are 19th in passing yardage allowed 24th in rushing yardage allowed and 22 in overall total defense. If you watched any of the games this year that Bills 22nd ranked defense sure looked worse then 22nd against Dallas-Miami- Jets. They played better last week against the Titans missing several key players on defense, go figure. The Buffalo Bills could spend their entire allotted draft picks all on defense for the next 5 years and I highly doubt that defense will ever be a top defense under George Edwards

I just can't get over that avatar,and "the Baby sharted" Is that the baby from Buddy Nix's show me the baby line? If so, too much... Anyway, what most posters here, and most Buffalo Bills fans just don't get for whatever reason Is ... this owner doesn't care if the Bills field a winning team. What he care most about is filling the stadium and making a profit, winning is secondary to this owner. When the fans stop buying season tickets, stop buying merchandise and the team is in real jeopardy of not making a profit to support the FW family! Only then he will sit up and take notice. Only then will he might actually spend the money to hire a top HC. It looked for awhile something might happen with Bill Cowher, someone in the Bills FO was throwing around the possibility that the Bills would spend 10 million on a real coach, I wonder who shot that idea down.

The OP makes a great point when he states that all the Texans did to make their 30th ranked defense into the top defense in the league this year, was to hire Wade Phillips! I don't shiv a git what anyone says about how lacking the Bills defense is in player talent, its a bunch of crap. Look at the Texans who were 30th in total defense last year, and all their fans were also complaining they didn't have the "talent" Then the Texans hire a stud DC and he transforms them into a dominate defense in ONE YEAR!! Not some 5 year plan to find more talent, which is the going excuse when teams fail to produce. This has been the failing of this franchise since HC Marv levy as he was the only one with enough balls and confidence in himself as a head coach to find and hire a great OC in Ted Marchibroda. That was the sole reason that vaunted Bills offense of the 90's was #1 in the NFL was because of ole Ted! Marv didn't know squat about offense or defense, his specialty was special teams. Before Marv stepped down as HC he also offered Tom Coughlin a job as DC, Coughlin took a job as HC instead. Going back to Chuck Knox who came into Buffalo and turned around the team with a mediocre QB, drafted a RB and ran to set up the pass. Ground Chuck they called him, built a playoff team out of nobody's in 2 years. . Took a bunch of young players that had no clue how to win, brought in some veteran players to show them how. Its the coaches that make the difference between bad-good teams and great teams. Behind every super bowl winning team there are top coaches that got them there! While I also believe the ability to find talent is also a big factor, usually the smartest coaches also have the ability to find the best players. Look at the Steelers who don't ever get their first round draft pick wrong, they don't miss on coaches either. They have the very best 3-4 DC in the NFL, and he has their defense in the top 5 every year. I also think he has great input into who the draft. Bottom line is: this team needs both a top OC & DC. Gailey can manage the game but he needs someone else calling plays.

I agree with the OP to a degree, except that this regime should have built the offense their first year! Instead of building the O line into a big powerful great unit first thing, they tried to get by with 3 men on that line that should be back ups, if that. Nix brought in a complete waste at RT in Cornell Green. After Green was cut Nix had better luck pulling guys off the waiver wire then he did by giving Green 2 mill a year. Last year the offense alone could have helped win more then 4 games if they had built the line properly Then this regime tried to build a 3-4 out of a 4-3 Tampa 2 scheme and has failed miseriably for 2 years now. Players that don't fit the scheme, a DC that doesn't have the required experience to set up a 3-4, call it and game plan it. Chan Gailey is supposed to be a QB guru and an offensive wizard. From my perspective he really isn't very good except in the passing game. The problem with his offensive scheme is he relies on "smoke & mirrors" to deceive the opponent as his offense is a finesse quick short passing scheme. The problem is this is the NFL, which equals Not For Long if you can't build a diverse offese. Once opponents shut down his short passing game by jamming the receivers at the line and disrupting the timing, the offense was figured out and exposed. Because Fitz has no time to throw 5-7 step drop passes because the line can't hold blocks longer then 3 seconds. This made Gaileys offense very one dimensional. Two years wasted in my view. Jauron had several 7-9 seasons, so far what has Gailey done in terms of wins...

For fuks sake, look at the teams that Brady -Brees -Manning- Rodgers all play on, do the Bills have one all pro on offense anywhere? O line, WR-TE anywhere? the answer is NO! Perhaps this year at RB for awhile Fred Jackson looked like a pro bowler until he went on IR. Fitz even looked like a pro bowler after 5 games, its just that teams caught up with Gaileys offense and he has no plan B to counter when defenses shut down the short passing game. Fitz doesn't have a pocket or time to step up and throw 5-7 step drops, so where does that leave him? .

good point The Bronco's are winning with anything but an "elite' QB in Tebow The 49ers are crushing it with a scrub at QB, a top defense and a power running game...same as the Texans

Teams have been squatting on those short throws because that's all Chan Gailey has in his game plan. He setup a makeshift O line for the specific purpose to primarily utilize the short quick passes that Fitz excels at, with the understanding that he didn't need a great O line if the QB can get the ball out in 3 seconds or under and before any pass rush can get to his QB. The problem is like DD pointed out is that teams are playing up on the line and bumping the WR's out of their routes to disrupt the timing and this causes Fitz to hold the ball longer then he should. Which also causes Fitz to start hurrying his passes and can't get into a rhythm. What also doesn't help is that the O line was patchwork to begin with, partially made up from a few guys off the waiver wire. Not to mention the fact that the best player on that line and starting center is on IR, the starting LT has been out for months and a rookie 4th is now the starting LT. Starting WR's on IR, the starting RB on IR This current O line wasn't build with the intention of calling 5-7 deep drop passes, simply because the O linemen lack the talent to protect for a 5-7 step drop on a consistent basis. If you look at the 49ers and their stout running game, along with a top defense... they have shown you don't need an elite QB to win and make the playoffs. Same thing with Denver, Tebow is about as far away from Brees-Manning-Brady- Big Ben as you can get, yet he is winning! This regime blew it by not building that O line the first year, I highly doubt the Bills will ever make the playoffs with Nix & Gailey

Teams have been squatting on those short throws because that's all Chan Gailey has in his game plan. He setup a makeshift O line for the specific purpose to primarily utilize the short quick passes that Fitz excels at, with the understanding that he didn't need a great O line if the QB can get the ball out in 3 seconds or under and before any pass rush can get to his QB. The problem is like DD pointed out is that teams are playing up on the line and bumping the WR's out of their routes to disrupt the timing and this causes Fitz to hold the ball longer then he should. Which also causes Fitz to start hurrying his passes and can't get into a rhythm. What also doesn't help is that the O line was patchwork to begin with, partially made up from a few guys off the waiver wire. Not to mention the fact that the best player on that line and starting center is on IR, the starting LT has been out for months and a rookie 4th is now the starting LT. Starting WR's on IR, the starting RB on IR This current O line wasn't build with the intention of calling 5-7 deep drop passes, simply because the O linemen lack the talent to protect for a 5-7 step drop on a consistent basis. If you look at the 49ers and their stout running game, along with a top defense... they have shown you don't need an elite QB to win and make the playoffs. Same thing with Denver, Tebow is about as far away from Brees-Manning-Brady- Big Ben as you can get, yet he is winning! This regime blew it by not building that O line the first year, I highly doubt the Bills will ever make the playoffs with Nix & Gailey

the problem is the guy will be long gone by the time the bills pick, 10 teams have a worse record atm and the Bills are tied with 4 other teams at 5-7. 14th -15th ? Mock drafts already have this guy going in the 6-7 range to the Redskins or Dolphins Correction, if the season ended today.... 13th pick... Courtney Upshaw --- Zach Brown http://wgr550.com/Bi...4669?pid=186703 I'd rather see them keep losing and tab a top O tackle, that's just me tho

And if you were to put any one of those 4 behind the Buffalo Bills half assed O line, with one decent receiver, a slow TE that they don't call plays for. Game plans that call for the QB to throw throw throw into a stacked prevent secondary.....all four would have been on IR by now as none could have escaped the rushes. Lets face it, Chan Gailey will never ever be confused with Sean Payton who can formulate a game plan against an opponent and if that doesn't work he tries something different, unlike Gailey who just keeps trying to force the pass. The Buffalo Bills must think highly of Fitz to pay him what they paid him! 59 million over 6 years and 29 million guaranteed. Base salary 33 mill over 3 years ...so yea, I think the BB FO thinks Fitz is elite

Chan Gailey informed Fitz before last years draft that if a QB was there that they liked...they would draft him! Obviously Cam Newton was that guy, and Carolina took him with the #1 pick. I would think if there is a QB that Nix-Gailey think is going to be great like Newton has shown, they will draft him. Otherwise this team has more pressing needs, a OLB pass rusher, a LT and the list goes on

To RW its a business first and a pro football team second. If you think about how long this man has been the sole owner of this franchise, thru good times and bad in the real world... its amazing! OTOH, its just sad that he has such devoted fans and he really is more concerned with his bottom line then winning a super bowl Championship.

You make a great point, look at the Texans defense last year # 30th in total defense compared to this years defense under Wade Phillips currently #2 !! wow, to go from one of the worst to one of the best and basically all they did was hire a top DC!

No they didn't! In fact, one of Buddy Nix's first statements was " your not going to believe this, but this team is not that far away" Then the team went 0-8 and he changed his tune to "its going to take some time" He must have looked over the roster and thought he had enough talent to win, he was right because the moron Dick Jauron managed a 7-9 season from these same players! Most of the talent was there, all he needed to do was find some key pieces and hire the right coaches. He failed in his first draft to rebuild that O line. Instead he brought in an unbelievably bad RT from the Raiders in Cornell Green . Chan Gailey chose to hire a bunch of men who working under him in the college ranks and had no previous NFL experience, big mistake. Plus his second mistake was trying to switch to a 3-4 and hiring the Dolphins LB coach to run it. Chan Gailey spent his off season grooming the wrong QB, he didn't even know what he had in Fred Jackson or Ryan Fitzpatrick or he never would have drafted Spiller or wasted an off season on Trent Edwards. Considering the experience of both these men they shouldn't be making the mistakes you would expect to see from a rookie GM or HC. You know what you are going to have at the end of this 5 year plan.... a new coaching staff and GM.

It all comes down to who is evaluating the talent, the 49ers have drafted smart thru several head coaching changes and already had the talent in place for Harbaugh to be successful.OTOH, look at the Browns and Bills and both have had bad evaluators for decades on both clubs. The Browns passed on big Ben... but the Bills have made some equally boneheaded moves for decades. This has even hit the Patriots, now that they lost both Thomas Dimitroff and Scott Pioli, Bill Belichick now just trades back to get more picks because he hasn't been very good at finding top players without those two men. I look at Buddy Nix and his first draft stinks, his second was better, but he still failed to find adequate depth on that line. Now we wait to see what he does in his 3rd draft and free agency. If he continues to fail to find a top pass rusher, top LT and allows Gailey to keep the same bad defensive coordinator. then this entire regime could be gone after 2012. If I'm the owner of the Buffalo Bills I'd take a long look at the Packers scouting dept and find out who is their best talent evaluator and hire him, as they clearly have the deepest talent pool in the league. Then I'd think about hiring the Packers OC to replace Chan Gailey, along with a top DC...instead of men that have no previous coordinator experience.

Not if the Bills were to hire someone like Bill Cowher and let him do both jobs like Jauron did, that would be a way to make him worthy of a big paycheck.I can only dream about stuff like this, the Bills building a power running team and super defense like the Ravens-Jets. Along with a decent O line that would allow Fitz to throw deep. Chan Gailey as OC with Cowher as HC would have been a great combo OR... hire a HC like Joe Philbin who has been the Packers OC since 07, the man groomed Aaron Rodgers and that high scoring offense into what it is today. The one thing the bills would need to do with this hire, is hire some scouts away from the Packers as they have the best talent in the NFL ATM.Finding and hiring a top DC would also be key.

I think he loves the NFL, his fans, and HIS football team. He would just rather be 100% certain he will make a profit. You look at other football franchises like the Raiders and Al Davis who spent a ton on players. He was forced to sell part of the team, as were the Dolphins and other teams. RW plays it close to the vest and while he won't ever have to share his team while he lives, it will never win again either.

I agreed with Edwards Arm that the way they were winning was unsustainable. When I wrote that post I didn't realize that the passing defense would actually tank worse then the run defense this season. They went from a top ten secondary last season under the same coaches to one of the worst against the pass. Jeez guys, If I could figure out how to stop Chan Gaileys offense back in Oct. after that Cincy game, you had to know that DC's around the league could also. I Think what bothers me the most right now is Chan Gailey is looking an awful lot like ex Bill OC Turk Schonert. He keeps calling for pass plays even when the opposing defense is stacking their secondary! Instead of figuring out that he needs to run the ball more, especially when the RB is doing well. The Bills get down by 7 points and Gailey panics and just goes pass mode the rest of the game. Never mind the fact that the opposing defense is in a prevent, and hell bent on stopping the pass and rushing the passer. Kinda a perfect time to run the ball right down their throats. This last game against the Titans typifies what I mean. Spiller was actually doing very good 14 carries for 83 yards and Gailey just stopped running it! What gets me is when Fitz is having a tough time Gailey doesn't even try and build a steady running attack. I have to say I've lost faith in Chan Gailey when it takes him an entire season to figure out what he is doing wrong, and not just a game or two. I've also lost faith in Buddy Nix for failing to build this team properly and letting Gailey keep Edwards and that 3-4 Sad to say Bills fans with need to endure another 2 years of fail, another Jauron clone who is only good at one thing (passing offense) and even when that fails he just keeps forcing it.

For one thing if he didn't sign this season he could go to any other team that offered him more. Looking at all the teams desperate for stability at QB and FOs realizing that Fitz can get it done with a less then stellar O line,I'll bet he could easily find another team to pay him more then 10 million Like someone else pointed out 10 million is rather cheap for what he does. Lets also not forget that the guy needs a freaking line, WR's and RB's all of which have been decimated by injuries. Is it Fitz's fault that when teams go into a prevent to stop the pass the HC still calls pass plays instead of even trying to run, even when his RB is doing well. The Bills are lucky they have Fitz, wait until he isn't playing and the bills need someone else to step up, then you will see what that O line really looks like!