thewildrabbit

He served his time in prison and paid his debt to society, lost his fortune and iconic status. The world will never look at Vick like they did before his conviction, what owner would be foolish enough to even hire the guy now? What team would want peta picketing their stadium? Michael Jackson never went to trial for being a pedophile because he settled out of court with the family involved for 22 million dollars and prosecutors dropped the charges for various reasons *cough cough*. yet America celebrates his death like he was a hero and icon.

Sadly, there is more truth in that statement then most will admit... The Bills are outmatched by the Patriots in every area, coaching, talent, front office. It will take a miracle and lots of luck to pull out a win at NE. The Bills will not win at home because Belichick will have the Bills scouted by then and know each offensive call and exactly where the ball will be going. Until Ralph Wilson decides that he wants to win the super bowl and opens up his wallet and hire's a name coach / GM / president that can actually challenge Belichick , and Bill Parcells in Miami.Until that time the Bills will continue to be wannabe's who sell out every year because of superior marketing, and yet fail to have a winning season. I'm not an eternal optimist, rather a realist and I will not purchase season tickets just to socialize and be with family and friends at games. I'm not going to financially support a team and owner who refuses to spend to get the best. He had one of the best and fired him for one reason or another, Bill Polian. It all starts and ends with the owner,clearly it is more important to him to sell season tickets then it is to win. The Dolphins owner got sick of losing and hired Bill Parcels, 1-15 next year 11-5 Falcons owner got sick of losing and hired Thomas Dimitroff from the Patriots to be the new GM, went from last to first in one year. Ravens owner got sick of non playoff wins and fired the SB coach and hired an unknown in John Harbaugh, who was smart enough to hire Cam Cameron as the OC, who drafted a rookie QB and made the playoffs. It can be done if the owner is smart enough to hire the right people, clearly that hasn't happened since Bill Polian.

I saw an interview with Drew Brees after he had just left SD and stated he learned the most when Marty Schottenheimer benched him for throwing interceptions. He stated that those few games he was not playing made him realize that he needed to be more careful with his passes. I think Edwards didn't need the benching to learn that and is very careful were he throws. Brees won an NFL QB competition a few years back, I watched in amazement as that guy hit everything with pin point accuracy, he obviously won the competition easily. The Knock on Brees is the to short thing,at barely 6' the guy can't see over the mammoth O Lineman and needs to use lanes, although not many QB's better in the NFL ATM. His replacement in SD, Phillip Rivers is 6'5" and needs to bend into a crouch to get the ball from center, kinda funny to watch.

That five or six game stretch occurred when Josh Reed was Injured and Edwards virtually had no open targets and yet the OC kept calling shotgun passing plays. I really feel bad for Edwards knowing he has such a tool calling the offensive plays. Granted Schonert seemed to call the worst when JP was under center, but just know with a back up in the game and the opposing team is dropping six+ into coverage and only rushing their front four Schonert still calling nothing but shotgun passing plays. It was almost like he didn't understand the defensive coverages and kept calling pass plays no matter what. If Jauron fails this season it won't be because of the defense, it will be because the offense still lacks a dominate tight end and fullback. It will mean that when the Bills need 2 yards on the ground in the middle of a snowstorm the OC will still be calling passing plays. If he does manage to call a run with a fullback in the game it will more then likely fail because the team was more determined to learn the "no huddle" then basic short yardage schemes. Knowing the meat of the season comes down to who plays the best in November, December and January makes me realize the Bills will not be prepared to run the ball effectively when the snow and wind dictate that they must.

Why do some of you insist on thinking RW will not fire Jauron! He has fired coaches during the season in the past. He fired Wade Philips and never paid him the balance due on his contract. Al Davis is most noted for firing coaches and then not paying them also, ask Mike Shanahan if he ever got paid the last few years on his contract, or Lane Kiffen I'd have to say Ralph Wilson will only fire Jauron if there is enough public outcry for his head, he would have to go 0-8 at least, perhaps 1-9 might do it also. Knowing he wasted 6+ million on TO might just irk him enough to make a change.

What Brett Farve managed to do in the NFL over 17 seasons is the stuff legends are made of... I can recall reading comments by several NFL head coaches looking at Jim Kelly and wishing they had a QB as tough as him, and Kelly missed a ton of games, in fact he was on the sidelines for that historic comeback win over the Oilers. Farve didn't...miss...a...game..in...17 seasons. Payton Manning is closing on that streak but he has been sacked far less then Farve, it remains to be seen if Manning can eclipse those records.

Gotta love direct TV and the Sunday ticket. Best part is the super fan pack and the shortcuts. If you missed a game over the weekend and want to watch it in HD on Mon,Tues with no annoying commercials and announcer hype as each game is around 25-30 min

Last season Farve was on a team of coaching fools with Mangini being the exception, although he is more defensive minded and had little say in offensive play calling according to Farve. It was Brian Schottenheimer who kept calling passing plays knowing his star QB had a very serious injury, which made no sense at all considering the Jets had the leading rushing attack in the AFC at the time. They stopped running the ball and tried to throw out of the shotgun almost every play the last 6 games... sounds familiar doesn't it

He has never missed a game in 17 years...Started 275 consecutive games,including playoffs The NFL's only 3 time MVP... Holds virtually every significant NFL career passing record, including touchdown passes (442), completions (5,377), attempts (8,758) and yards (61,655), plus most wins (160) as a starting QB plus won a super bowl, something both Marino and Kelly wish they had done. If those stats don't say great, then nothing does.

When every football analyst out there questions the drafting of Maybin a DE over a LT after trading away Jason Peters it gives me pause to think that the current coaching staff is defying the logic of replacing a player when they lose a player. Considering the Bills could have drafted OT Michael Oher, DE Brian Orakpo or DE Robert Ayers. The latter I'm reading has been tearing it up in Denver and meanwhile Maybin is trying out for LB,,, This current coaching staff is good at defying logic though, I suppose implementing the "no huddle" over a power running game with a completely retooled O line is the epitome of defying logic. Time will tell, the season is only weeks away.

Will Trent be out of his body cast by then?

I'm kinda hoping that Brett doesn't sign with the Vikings at all...for a reason. But then I can see TE getting injured early in the season with with this haphazard O line strung together by this toolbelt of coaching giants I can also see Fitz getting hammered by the Jets Kris Jenkins, who knocks him back into the 80's. With Hamdan running for his life in every other play someone on the coaching staff might start to think the no huddle wasn't such a good idea and perhaps setting up a power running game might have been the better idea. By week 7 and facing the Panthers on the road are the Bills seriously considering bringing back JP?

I tend to agree that Ralph Wilson will look to avoid paying Jauron the last two years if the team falls on its face this season, but that will not stop him from firing him if it goes really badly. Look at Al Davis, Shanahan is still trying to get his last 2 years out of his Raider contract. Owners can find ways and reasons to break a contract and not pay. Lets not forget that he fired Wade Phillips for refusing to fire some assistant coaches and I seem to recall reading that RW never paid him the remainder of his contract. I can only think of one person I'd go after If I owned the Buffalo Bills, the one guy who has a history of rebuilding broken teams and getting them motivated and into the playoffs after years of losing. Martyball

The guy needs to learn LB coverages, even if he still plays DE. The more he learns at different positions the move valuable he will be, provided he can master one of course. I still can't get it out of my head that the first time he lines up at DE, they will run right at him.

The new O-line guys are super intelligent and play with "a mean streak". Which means absolutely nothing if these guys don't learn the proper footwork and technique. There are many 300 lb college pukes who never achieve a a thing in the NFL simply because they are smart and nasty. In college, it is men against boys, in the NFL its men against monsters. Last season Kris Jenkins couldn't be stopped by any of the 3 players attempting to block him in that first Jets game. He made both guards and the center look like little boys trying to stop a freight train, that is one reason all 3 are gone from Buffalo.

I look at Indy and see the 90's Bills, great QB, great receivers, brilliant offensive scheme that was implemented by an older assistant coach who knew how to setup an offense properly. It shows that Bill Polian still knows how to build a winning team. The Colts could go to the big show again as I don't see them changing the offensive scheme, even though the OC has retired. From what I'm reading the change is in the defense that is undergoing a major overhaul to move away from the Tampa 2.

You clearly didn't read the OC's statement in the Buffalo news stating that the Bills offense was hamstrung by the fact that opposing teams were doubling and rolling coverages to stop Lee Evans from getting the ball. Plus the fact that the Bills lacked an effective tight end which also limited the offensive passing game, hence the reason the Bills offered KC a #3 for Tony Gonzalaz When Josh Reed went down with an injury the entire passing game went with him, the bills were lacking a decent second possession receiver. This season should be quite different as the Bills now have TO, opposing teams can't double both Evans and TO, and they will be unable to stack the box with that double threat on both sides, which should open up both the passing game and running game, yeah...smile PS, plus the Bills have some really good young receivers that could step up this year. On a side note, I sorta agree with the clown statement considering some of the play calls last season.

Actually, I have NEVER seen a head coach completely retool the O line like Jauron did this year, never ever. No head coach 3 years into his job overhauled the entire line so that every player is in a different position.That is the stuff that the Lions head coach might do this season to rebuild that horrid offense. That is what Eric Mangini did his first year with the jets, spend 2 first round picks on the O line so that 3 years down the line the might have a playoff caliber O line, and they do. Instead, DJ wasted his first years years on FA's that didn't work. Everyone says lack of talent, the guy has had 3 years, 2 more then the coaches at Atlanta, Baltimore and Miami. That and the fact that most everyone on this board thinks the two rookies and a back up center will be better then the experienced players the Bills started last season. Suddenly these same coaches and scouts gained some miracle of insight and just know that these 3 new players can perform better then the players they judged should be starting last year?

On paper you can say the Bills look better then last season simply because they acquired TO, and his presence should open up the passing game. I'm not sold on the rebuilding of the offensive line at all, that is a move you make when you start the rebuilding process and not 3 years into it. Nobody really knows at this point if the O line will perform well enough to give Edwards time,or give Lynch a lane. Lastly, Jauron is still having nightmares from 2 seasons ago when the Bills were pounded by Brady to Moss / Welker over and over... 56-10 or 38-7 ring any bells? If I were him I'd also try and acquire as many good DB's as I can. We Bills fans will know exactly what we can expect from this season after that first Patriot game, If Buffalo can win that one game on MNF,or even have a good showing and not get pounded by Brady, it just might give us all hope that the playoff drought might be over.

More like shotgun pass...shotgun pass...shotgun pass... punt The befuddled no huddle

Brett

Ahhh, nothing like SKOOBY snacks... laced with crack. Did Trent Edwards suddenly morph into Joe Montana? Did the Bills O line suddenly get traded to NE even for their O line? Did OC Turk Schonert morph into Ted Marchibroda? Did RW trade with Robert Kraft, DJ for Belichick even up? Aww man, same old coaching staff and players, save for the new guys on the O line and that really good wideout who doesn't catch well in cold weather. Baby steps, I'd be happy this year with 4 wins in the division and one of those against the Patriots

While we are on the subject of that 1st round pick and Maybin vs Orakpo, why not Michael Oher? If Maybin does develop, it might be 2-3 years or more before he is a major factor on that Bills D line. With Oher, I know he had some trouble in college and lots of teams took him off their boards, but I never did find out what kind of trouble and exactly why so many teams passed on him. The Bills need a tackle to replace Walker at RT and I'm not convinced that any of the multitude they have in camp can get the job done. He was named a second-team SEC offensive lineman after his sophomore season and a first-team SEC offensive lineman after his junior season. At 6'6'' 322 and drafted by... you guessed it, the Baltimore Ravens

Yea,well look back at the Buffalo Bills history: 1967: Prior to the start of the season the Raiders acquire QB Daryle Lamonica from the Buffalo Bills, for Tom Flores in a trade of single callers. Lamonica would prove to be the final piece of the puzzle and he won the AFL Player of the Year while passing for 3,228 yards and 30 TD passes, as the Raiders dominated the AFL on the way to a 13-1 season in which they rolled over opponents by a score of 468-233. In the AFL Championship Game the Raiders continued to roll destroying the Houston Oilers 40-7 at Oakland to advance to the AFL-NFL Championship Game. Bobby Chandler ring a bell? Jim Kelly ALMOST went to the Raiders, Al Davis was courting Kelly and sent two Raider cheerleaders to join him on a trip to England. Bill Polian stepped in and RW finally coughed up the dough to sign Kelly. Bruce Smith ALMOST went to the Bronco's for 2 first round draft picks after his contract was up and he wanted to leave the Bills, again Polian steps in and resigns Smith. Bruce Smith, Thurman Thomas and Andre Reed all Left Buffalo and signed with other teams All Pro LT Will Wilford With Polian gone... All Pro LT Jason Peters All Pro G Ruben Brown All Pro DT Pat Williams All Pro CB Antoine D. Winfield Angelo Crowell... Jim Leonhard... So perhaps they weren't all pro while in Buffalo they did go on to have very successful careers and be named all pro later on.

First let me say I'm not to keen on the "zone" blocking scheme the Bills utilize , so I think that who ever coaches the Bills is restricted to what style they use. Next, The Bills have been a revolving door at every position the last few years except LT with Jason Peters. Then what you gotta understand about the O line is one word, "continuity", players usually need to play together on the line for a few years before they develop into a completely functional cohesive unit. Like I stated in other posts, the Patriots draft linemen and they sit on the bench and play special teams while leaning their position for a few years so that when needed they can step in and not miss a beat. Most really good teams have some depth on the offensive line so if one is injured another can step in and not much of a drop off occurs. The Bills have been searching for a center and guards for years it seems, the one position that was locked down by an all pro was traded away... Any coach can only do so much with the talent he is given to work with, what Jauron should have done when he first got to Buffalo is what the Mangenius did with the NY Jets, draft some linemen his first year. Its what Parcells did in Miami, you always start with the O line and once that is solid you move on, everything on the offense revolves around the O line.