JESSEFEFFER

Could have easily been talking about the declining Dallas Cowboys he coached in his first go round. That could not have been an easy group to coach. Maybe the worst. Aging superstars with big bank accounts whose best football was behind them and played under the direction of other coaches.

A fair question. I think that in the NFL that if there is a quarterback ahead of you on the roster that has been drafted and/or paid to be "the Man" then your options are limited. He was traded to one team and chose another. As a free agent he must have had other options. As smart as he is, it's not surprising he'd look around and identify the best opportunity. Not surprising he'd pick the Bills-it was a wise choice.

Finishing strong would legitimize this coaching staff. That would be huge. A win against any playoff contender in a meaningful game especially if it were the Jets or Pats would be a shot across the bow for next year. This would be a way bigger boost to the men in the locker room than a few spots in the draft order. Git 'er done Fitz.

This is getting interesting. Yes I can compare his play this year to Kelly's in 1986. Their losses are very similar. Just like I can compare their ages (soon to be 28 for Fitz while Kelly was comparably 14 1/2 months younger. I hold this as an example to refute those convinced the late game failures are evidence of what his future production is to be like. As far as the "immeasurables", he has some going on. I'll start with 99th percentile smart, gutsy, and having the support of the team (he even passed the T.O. test-not easy to do.) He also has no problem standing up and owning his mistakes. Something you'll recall Jim Kelly having a big problem with early in his career. Oops! I just contrasted Fitzpatrick to Kelly. Am I allowed to do that without having my football intelligence questioned?

The thing is deny the point!!! Or consider and accept it. It would be that often times situations, events, or people we have come to view as being great did not immediately show as such. Let's see how he progresses and where he can lead the team. Kelly had many 4th quarter failures in 1986 but the fact that they were in those close games largely becasuse of him was undeniable. Many were not sure that he was Hall-of-Fame/franchise caliber. Not just that year either. The whole play Frank reich thing. Maybe you missed it. A Quote I remember from Jerry Sullivan about Jim Kelly as being just a "bumpkin that throws footballs."

If you are not old enough or can't remember the 1986 season here's a link: '86 Bills It was filled with a lot of games that remind me of what we have seen from these Bills. A QB in his first year under a new coach (actually two) and alot of late game, "in the clutch" failures. Past performance predicts future results right up until it no longer does. Keep an open mind.

My analogy would be from the movie "Some Kind of Wonderful." Don't go lusting after some superficial, high maintenance, socialite (Lea Thompson) when your life long, mechanically gifted, loyal best freind who happens to clean up real nice (Mary Stuart Masterson) is everthing you never realized you could want or need. All we saying......is give Fitz a chance.

Lot's of people wanting to say that Ryan Fitzpatrick is or isn't worthy of being the Bills" #1 QB going forward. I cite the following: 1) Quick decisions & quick release = very tough to sack. 2) Stands up in the face of pressure and delivers accurate throws-downfield. I'd like to see the numbers on this but when a pass rusher is coming in unblocked he does not wilt. He's got guts and can take a hit. HE CAN BEAT PRESSURE!!! 3) While he has a few flyers-he very rarely has a misread. Wunderlick score aside, he obviously has a clue. 4) While they haven't won much with him, the losses are looking alot like those they had in 1986, if you catch my point. 5) The offensive line and receivers were supposed to be bottom of barrel. Well they don't look like it with him playing. Raising the level of play of one's teammates is the primary sign of a great player, in my way of thinking. 6) He can make plays in the "other" category. A scramble and a dive for a first down or a key block when a back reverses field. I am waiting for him to closeline a defender after a pick or fumble recovery. I think he'd deliver a blow. He is a football player. I think the Bills could win 3 or 4 of their last 7 and go into next year looking like an organization that has an idea. Having a smart, tough, quick thinking, gunslinging, humble, team first and calm under pressure QB to lead them isn't so bad. All this says in my mind that as fans we should let this play out and not let Fitzpatrick's draft round or college team cloud our judgement. Keep an open mind and let his play speak for itself. It's been so long since we have seen consistently productive QB play that it seems many of us have forgotten what it looks like. I think Chan knows it when he sees it.

If you are a Canadian Bills fan, you can come to the Ralph and be one of the 73,000+ there on game day at your will. If you are one of these fans you aren't at all likely to think that the game in the Roger's Centre is much of an attraction. You'd avoid it just like the fans on this side of the border. Now if you happen to be a Bears fan this is the one chance you have to see your team live and the inflated prices and lack of gameday ambiance is much easier to overlook. It is pure supply and demand economics. Only an elite Bills team could have created any buzz in that environment and they have been far from that these past few years. None of these factors are conducive to a great NFL experience.

The point I'd make is that the HC should make sure that the filed goal is the last play of the game. Wade panicked.

in the 4th quarter. In a continuation of a discussion from a few weeks ago regarding the coin toss, deferment, and the third quarter choice of which endzone to defend, why would the Bills choose to kick with the wind in the 3rd quarter? Think of all the crucial kicking plays that occurred in the 4th quarter and how the wind affected the outcome. Word of advice to Chan, it is normally windy near the lakeshore in WNY. Sometimes it is very windy. When playing close games in windy conditions, it is best to have that advantage in the 4th quarter when you are playing the endgame of either trying to hold a lead or make a comeback. It mattered yesterday.

The question has been asked often, How could Tom Modrak still have a job with the Bills? Given some of the poor draft outcomes it is a legitimate question. Given that we rarely have insight into what the information was that was provided, how it was used and by whom, it is plausible to think that he remains because his draft boards have been better than the ultimate decisions that were made. In evaluating the quality of his work, there would be a HUGE data set. Hundreds of draft eligible players every year for multiple years. We have some anecdotal information that suggests that there have often been picks made that deviated from their draft board which have ended poorly. As an organization they are in the perfect position to analyze this. They know the boards as they were set and they know how the information was used and by whom. Tom is still there while many of the other decision makers are gone. To me that makes it easier to believe those anecdotal, draft room stories.

This is the kind of information that I find fascinating but that we rarely get because we aren't "in the loop." The fact that Modrak is still a part of the organization is telling. Usually it takes some kind of disastrous outcome to find out how/why certain decisions got made and by whom. In the case of a college scouting director there would be a huge data set to evaluate. Not just the grades of your picks but the grades that were given all the others. Being good at evaluating players is one thing, making the right decisions is another.

One thing clear to me that explained a lot of their moves was their eye on the bottom line. Faneca, Jones, Coles last week, getting Clemmens to take a pay cut, maybe cutting Tony Richardson. They knew all along that Revis, Mangold and Ferguson were getting new deals and these other moves were made to accomodate them. IMO, paying a corner $150 million over 10 years will hurt the quality of the team almost everywhere else. This is why he is still sitting.

"Just plain stupid these guys are." JP is that you?

Kind of a small sample set but it does look like he has an ability to avoid the big hit. When you play the game at a faster speed than the defense that becomes possible. Thurman was like that and so was Flutie. There is a lot to be said for self perservation.

There still is. The rule was changed in 2008 to include a defer option. Here's one link: My link

This is the basis of the poll, if you can accept it. 1) Most games in the NFL are close. 2) Most close games are decided in the 4th quarter. 3) Given the clock rules, there are typically more plays run in the 4th quarter. 4) Wind is a factor in most Bills home games. 5) By deferring until the 2nd half you let your opponent choose which goal they will defend, assuming you take the ball to start the half. 6) Whether you are ahead or behind it is better to have the wind in your favor and against your opponent, because of the effect it has on both the kicking and passing game. 7) My little brother gets extremely pissed when the Bills are playing the 4th quarter against the wind because even though they won the toss, the HC gave away the option to dictate how the 4th quarter would be played by deferring. 8) By taking the ball at the start of the game, the only way the opponent can dictate the 4th quarter would be by kicking off at the start of both halves, effectively creating at least one, maybe two, extra possessions for the team that won the toss.

"I am the Head Coach and Trent Edwards is the starting quarterback of the Buffalo Bills and if you don't like like it you can get out of town!!!" Maybe Chan ran into Bill at the rogers Centre. "I am the Head Coach and Trent Edwards is the starting quarterback of the Buffalo Bills and if you don't like like it you can get out of town!!!" Maybe Chan ran into Bill at the Rogers Centre.

Take the Ball or defer? Here are the scenarios: Deferring is the choice of most, I believe. Why? I suspect most coaches value their first offensive possession of the second half. After having seen the way their opponents are playing them, they believe that there can be something gained during halftime to use at the start of the second half. If your team manages to close the first half with a score, your team has the chance to put two scores on the board before your opponent's offense sees the field again. Choosing the ball at the start of the game seems like a weak thing to do, especially when you're the 2009 nBuffalo Bills. What advantage did that offense ever have that could dictate play to the defense? Not so surprising that Dick Jauron usually deferred if the Bills won the toss. I think this because ............... It drove my brother nuts if they did this because by deferring he would give up the ability to insure that the Bills would have the wind advantage in the 4th quarter. Face it, most home games do have abnormal wind conditions. Even when swirling, the prevailing direction is toward the tunnel end. Given that most games are close and are decided in the 4th quarter and there are usually more plays run in the 4th anyhow, doesn't it make sense to have the wind in your favor for the two minute drill? Or when trying to make that game deciding kick? How many times did they give away this advantage? How many times did it bite them in the butt? I think the 2010 Bills could win some home games by just running the ball into the wind in the 3rd quarter and burning clock and playing the 4th with the prevailing wind. Don't tell him, but I think I have come to my brother's way of thinking.

In his defense.............. He is hustling to the ball all the time. Actually running plays down from behind. Often you see him running "off camera" only to return back to the play. He could benefit form developing some some smarts about how he chooses to get to the ball. The "dirty" plays discussed were overblown. The "hit" on Fred Jackson was no hit at all. There was not a "pop" to be heard on the video from the contact. It was a "two hand touch" manuever from an angle that knocked Fred off balance. I've seen the same thing in flag and touch football. You rally to the ball, extend your hands and end up knocking the guy down. The roughing call on McNabb was questionable too. Aaron lunged at him (not even using his 1 step)during the release, hit him across the upper body (not the helmet) and took him over backwards to the ground. The weight of his body did not land on him either as it was just his arm and shoulder over McNabb's body. The actual contact with the ground looked violent and late but it was just the end of a legal hit, IMO. McNabb's lobbying had something to do with it. Being switched to LB, which many thought was a better fit at the NFL level, was not going to work immediately. In fact there are a slew of college rush ends that are/have been converted. It's something of a trend. It pretty much makes any such draftee a project. Many of college football's best pass rushers are these hybrid players. Maybin, Coleman, Moats, Batten on the Bills, Orakpo, English, Scot are some others. Watch Steve Means at UB. He is a 240 lb. end that will probably get a shot at the NFL under similar circumstances. The punkish behavior is not atypical. It's lifestyles of the young, rich and famous. Remember the "Love Boat" in Minnesota? I'm sure there has been plenty of cross border traffic by the Bills players over the last few decades. In his defense he is not married and did not commit a crime and I did not hear any report of him mistreating any of his "guests." That being said, I think his career would benefit from some maturity sooner rather than later.

To say it kindly, he is an "unpolished" football player and human being. In his defense I can remember a young Bills player that used to act like an idiot after every nice play he made. It was embarrassing to see it. One time he laid flat on the field, pounding the turf and flopping around like a fish-out-of-water. He had a four game drug suspension and the Bills supposedly hired someone to tail him because he was hanging around with some questionable characters. His ego was huge before he did anything in the NFL and he was known as a tough personality for the press to deal with. Given all that, he would develop into the best defender in Bill's history and one of the best in the history of the NFL. I think he married well. I'll choose to wait and see on Maybin.

I read the entire thing and I generally like the "metrics" angle to analysis. At least some opinions are based on something real. That said I have two comments: 1) The past is a good predictor of the future up until it isn't. For instance I think it is entirely likely that the Bills get comparable QB play to the 'phins and the Jets. Assumptions about their situations are projections based on little evidence. Heck, JP had a better 8 game stretch than any of those three. 2) There is no "i" in Schatz but there should be. At least that's his tone toward every move this franchise has made. He really has no "metric" to evaluate those.

Freddy has always tended toward the more bombastic takes on situations. I remember he talked about how there would be "more lilly pads floating in Lake Erie" when asked about players crossing the picket line during the strike. His buddy Jim Haslet was one who ended up crossing. I wonder how that went over. I think Fred's radio show is the perfect forum for the way he thinks. To say that Chan Gailey is a coach that "no one knows" is more of the same. Most fans that have paid attention to the NFL over the last two decades would have at least heard the name numerous times. What he lacks is a well publicized reputation with which most could identify him. He doesn't seem like much of a self promoter to me. He seems principled and competent but not flashy. Being one who much prefers substance over style, I feel like he is going to be an effective leader. He doesn't need to act like he's in charge he just is. I could envision that being a problem in Dallas given the personalities on the declining team he inherited.