rcatty

http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2015/09/14/after-patriots-afc-east-still-trio-zeros/I3CQidbEbK2yAhzJ8pqzUN/story.html?p1=Article_Recommended_ArticleText I hope the Bills see this and post it on their bulletin board !

Sure, and if we ever get to the playoffs he will be sure and lose in the first round.

Orton might have been serviceable had the offensive line not been so bad. He clearly was a guy, that if given time, and minimal pressure, could perform. Whaley brought in 4 new guys for the line. Three out of four were busts. Repairing the line needs to be their first task. That might begin with a new OL line coach.

Now we are really in a hole. We have no first round pick, and Whaley has shown he can't be trusted on choosing/finding a QB. The only solution might be to find the best consultant type scout(s) out there, and task them with the sole objective of identifying viable candidates. One can't leave this to our scouting department alone.

He also got OJ, who would become the premier running back in the league. Don't forgot the league was dominated by running the ball. Rauch's approach was to split him wide, and throw him passes. "hey, I've got potentially the best running back in the league....I think i'll split him out and throw passes to him"....that will really show how smart I am".....NOT !!!! Today's modern version of that thinking is..."hey, I just traded away my first round pick for Sammy Watkins...I think I'll throw the ball to Fred Jackson for 2 yards" It took Lou Saban returning here for his second stint as head coach to realize how misused OJ was. Saban announced upon his signing, that we would be running the ball. Period. The rest is history. OJ went on to dominate the league in rushing, and was a force that was at times, unstoppable.Saban, while conservative, perhaps to a fault, understood fundamental football, and how to get the best out of players.

Agreed, Glad you see the light ! Merry Xmas, and Happy New Year !

Nobody was jumping for joy with the trade. Although Flores and Powell were well known players and some would say that Powell was top shelf, I think the general feeling was more perplexed than anything. Don't forget many of us thought that Lamonica should have been starting. Lamonica rarely failed as a frequent, relief backup QB. Apparently, Al Davis saw it clear as day, while Collier...who knows what he saw..... I have no problem with Collier as a defensive coach...he was no Lou Saban, and oversaw the dismantling of a championship team. There are those of us who will never forgive the Lamonica trade. We had it fed to us for several years as Oakland became a cutting edge team. with Lamonica at the helm. Dam two Lamonica MVP years for the Raiders, and we had him here !! Talk about stupidity. Oh yes, that was the start of years and decades of historic failure, ineptitude and general incompetency.I might note, by the way, that Dick Gallagher our first general manager who put together our Championship teams left in 1967, the year of the trade, and after Collier's first year, which ended in defeat in the AFL Championship game.

Inaccurate. Really? The trade, which will go down as one of the all time worst in professional sports, was made in 1967. That trade was so good for Buffalo that it propelled the us to a 1-12-1 record in 1968, and a 4-10 record in 1969 ! Don't tell me that a player we got in the trade had a good game or two after the trade, or that someone got injured and he was finished. That's ridiculous thinking, the bottom line is that the "proof is in the pudding". It's like saying the Drew Bledsoe trade was a great trade for Buffalo. Yes, Bledsoe had a good year, and some good games after the trade, but he was finished shortly thereafter. No one would say it was a good trade for the Bills. Bellichek fleeced the Bills, dumping a soon to be washed up QB to the Bills for a first round pick. That was no different than Al Davis acquiring Lamonica from us. The last I remember, Lamonica went onto MVP status! Collier a good coach? An innovator? His record shows his level of innovation, and he was the guy coaching the team that gave Lamonica away. You trade away an MVP, and go 4-10, and 1-12-1, and you want to anoint the guy as some innovator? Lotsa luck ! Get your facts straight. I was there watching the games! As for the great coach Johnny Rauch. Apparently, another Al Davis reject. Rauch had OJ, and used him so effectively that Juice averaged 622 yards per season. I personally sat in the stands and I would like to have a dollar for each time he flipped OJ out of the backfield and split him out. In 1969 OJ had 30 receptions! Rauch's teams with the Bills were awful, going 4-10, and 3-10-1. However, in fairness to him, the Bills were in the early stages of what would become a decades long history of failure, and ineptitude. Yes, Rauch was part of it and added his own twist to it, but he was just a cog in the wheel of misfortune.

That's right....Kemp had many an off day, and the fans wanted Lamonica. Saban, many a time, would pull Kemp for Lamonica, and he, Lamonica, would pull the game out! Lamonica could never beat Kemp out for the starting job but was a heck of a "relief pitcher" ! I don't know if you are joking or not, but there was nothing wrong with Lamonica's arm. He did have a slow release but was fairly accurate with the ball. He seemed to have good command and leadership qualities, and never had much of a problem moving the team. Jack Kemp was a born leader and way ahead of his time with respect to race relations. Everybody loved Jack. His personality carried him very far, and likely exceeded his arm strength. He was perfect for our power running team, leading us to two AFL championships. But Lamonica saved many games ! There was nothing wrong with Lamonica's eyes or arm. He did the job here. He was stuck behind Jack Kemp, and the budding geniuses in the front office thought they were smarter than everyone else, and made one of the worse trades in football history. Just look at our record after the trade, and then look at what Oakland did. Great idea. Make a trade with two of the smartest minds in football, Al Davis and Bill Belichek.You have to be sharp enough to know that Davis and Belichek are light years ahead of you., and would never give you a QB if he was worth anything. Hence, Flores was ok, sort of like faded vanilla pudding, but Bledsoe was exhausted when he got here and had hardly anything left in the tank. Davis and Bellichek can smell talent a mile away. Joel Collier and the Bills crew of the late 60's would not know it if it hit them in the face. Here's a great example. Remember Johhny Rauch, the "great" coach of the Oakland Raiders that Davis let slip away to the Bills in the late 60's? His great idea was to use OJ as a decoy.....need I say more !!!!

The trade was the start of the demise of the franchise. Heretofore we were a cutting edge team, with great drafting, top-notch coaching, and even some innovation (yes, we had the first ever soccer style kicker in Pete Gogolak). Once Lou Saban left we were finished. Joel Collier took over, and that began the slide to more than a decade of awful coaches, and drafting. I was a teenager in those days, and didn't quite realize that we just had our pockets picked by a coach from Oakland named Al Davis. Davis would go on to distinguish himself as cutting edge, and we would be left on the cutting room floor. I still get sick when I see highlights of Lamonica throwing 70 yard bombs that connected. Worse yet, I get doubled up in agony when I hear the term "mad bomber". Ouch.. all of this still hurts, and its only been almost half a century. "Honey, where did you put the Pepto Bismol" !!!!

Note that just about every player's performance on the offensive side of the ball has regressed under Marrone-Hackett. Watkins, Goodwin, EJ Manual, Orton, Spiller, Glenn, Wood, Urbik, Pears, Henderson, Jackson(age), Chandler (about the same) all have regressed. The only guys who look like they have improved are Robert Woods, and Chris Hogan. Remember under Chan and line coach Joe D our line (virtually unchanged from today's personnel with the exception of Henderson at right tackle) played lights out or at least close to it. Today they look awful? I'm talking about Wood, and the two guards? Throw in Cordy Glenn with that mix, as well. Either the blocking scheme and/or coaching must be to blame.

This is the last guy you want to see here. Forget about his arm. It's connected to his head, and that's where it goes all wrong. Here is just one sample from the Chicago media: http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20141216/sports/141218770/

For the right money, they'll "un-retire" real quick.

He built three winning and competitive teams. I'll take him any day over what we have now. Read his book, and tell me how washed up he is. Furthermore, he loves Buffalo, he is on the wall, and if you listen to him speak, you can grasp that he is very, very bright. They guy likely has more knowledge in his fingertip than Whaley has throughout. He built three winning and competitive teams. I'll take him any day over what we have now. Read his book, and tell me how washed up he is. Furthermore, he loves Buffalo, he is on the wall, and if you listen to him speak, you can grasp that he is very, very bright. They guy likely has more knowledge in his fingertip than Whaley has throughout.

The last time I looked they have Super Bowl ring(s) on their fingers. That tends to indicate they understand how to get things done. That's good enough for me.