All_Pro_Bills

I have to agree we haven't seen a lot of stellar play out of Donte this year. That said, IMO most of the Bills defensive backfield woes are the result of a subpar front seven. Specifically, the undersized DE's and a lack of size and speed at the linebacker position. For example, I look at Jim Leonhard starting for the Ravens and recall him making a few plays for the Bills, but not being overly effective in the secondary. Yet he starts for the Ravens defense and effectively blitzing, tackling, and making plays in the secondary. We've got to get some pass rushing DE's, and upgrade at LB, and put some consistent pressure on the QB or this team is going to struggle to reach the .500 mark again next season. If that happens I suspect we'll see a lot more big plays out of Whitner and his pal's on the backend...

You are right; the Bills have spent a considerable amount of money on free agents and locking up some players on the roster to long term deals. Whether or not those investments prove to be wise or foolish is a subject of debate. Mr. Wilson is spending money on players. But where he falls short is in spending for FO and Coaching. If the Bills truly do not have the talent then it’s the fault of those whose job it is to go out and identify and acquire those players. And the coaches whose job it is to take whatever talent a player has and work with them to help it reach its potential. But for arguments sake was it really Ralph who hired Dick Juron? Didn't he come with glowing recommendations from the then pseudo GM Marv Levy, after he went through the interview process of prospective coaches three years ago? So shouldn't we blame Marv for recommending Juron rather than blame Wilson for hiring him? So perhaps Wilson's fault is not his own judgment of coaches but rather his judgment in assessing the recommendations of his advisors? That said I still think the blame ultimately falls at the owners feet...

A key reason why these sales are being consumated before the end of 2008 is expected changes in capital gain and estate tax rates. The new administration is sure to propose legislation in 2009 to raise these taxes on the 'rich'. Whether you agree with that philosophy or not, the result is these sales are happening now to avoid higher taxes. Any tax changes passed in 2009 will be retroactive to January 1, 2009. If Ralph is as frugal as some suspect, would he be looking to sell the team before the end of 2008 to avoid the higher tax rates on either himself or his estate? To this point have not seen or heard any rumblings about the Bills being in play.

I had my suspicions earlier and since life is cruel to us Bills fans I am not surprised. For those of you unlucky enough to get the NFL Network, a replay of the Bills-Jets game is on tonight at 8 PM ET. Personally, I'd rather get a colonoscopy than watch the ending of that game again. On a cheerful note, holiday wishes to Bills fans everywhere......

If I was Juron I would definitely sit Losman. The coaching staff and JP both know he's not going to be here next year. But the coaching staff gave him the opportunity to play and sell himself to the rest of the league as a viable free agent option. Yes, I hated the play call and thought it was stupid when your running game was destroying the Jets defense but Losman had two options on that play. 1) pass to the FB, 2) if that wasn't there, throw the ball away. Instead, he decided to improvise, holding the ball and then coughing it up. He just had to follow his orders, so don't think, just do! Winning that game could have generated some interest in him but he blew it by pulling his cowboy stunt and I can't see any reason why some other team would want to consider him as a viable QB option (1,2, or 3). Play Hamdan. Its no secret Losman is not going to be here next year and it will give us a look at the 3rd QB. Plus give us diehard fans a reason to watch which I for one won't be doing if he's under center against Denver.

Enough talent is not the problem. The root of the problem is not having good talent evaluators. And great coaching that is responsible for helping that talent reach its potential. We can't even win a game in our division this year. Look at the Jets. Patriots, and Dolphins front offices and coaching. Face it, we have inferior management and coaching (with a couple exceptions like B. April). And the core problem is an owner who sees no reason to resolve this handicap.

This seems implausible, a nightmare. Has any group of people suffered more than Bills fans? They ought to create some Federal bailout fund to compensate us all for pain and suffering. Economy sucks? No problem. Lose your job? Piece of cake. Can pay your bills? What's the big deal. You can torture us, even kill us. We're Bills fans. Anything you do to us after the season we've been through won't faze us one bit. But seriously. My question is: how is this going to play out with the fan base? The season ticket holders, etc. I live out of town and come back for 1 game a year. Make it a weekend and visit with old friends, wings, etc. So a couple nights in a hotel, food and entertainment, tailgating, travel expenses, tickets, and a couple hundred bucks my wife drops every year in the field house store after the game. In my current mindset I can't see myself shelling out the cash for a game next year if the same crew returns. I also subscribe to NFL Sunday Ticket so I've seen it all this year. How do you season ticket holders feel?

Running backs are unstopable so what do you call? A play action pass. Sure Losman coughed up the ball but he should never have been put into that postion. Great call. Is Raplh laughing now? Because I am not.....

Sis - I wouldn't disagree but its not my point. All I’m seeking to do is isolate the impact of one variable on the system. In this case the system is the Bills and the variable is the coach. Swapping the identity of the coach, in this example with Belicheck, would improve the result by at least a couple wins. It’s possible some other coaches might do worse. I’m not saying Juron’s a bad guy or a bad coach. I just disagree with the notion that this roster with this schedule would still be 6-7 no matter who is coaching and nobody could have done any better.

While its possible to win without a great QB I'd agree that in the majority of cases its a necessary ingredient for success. There are a couple differing opinions on the impact of the HQ, I won't get into that. But let me ask, does anyone believe the if Belicheck had the current Bills roster and was confronted by the same circumstances (with injuries, etc.) that he wouldn't have been able to squeeze out a couple more wins? Minimally 8-6? Regards...

We've had 3 head coaching clunkers in a row. Just using the law of averages we're due to hit the jackpot sooner or later. Ralph is a classic command and control manager who cannot find it in himself to delegate to his subordinates. People like that are fearful of high competency, high skill people. Sooner or later the coach is going to get fed up with being directed and the top is going to blow off the arrangement. He would never hire a coach that would demand the autonomy and authority of a high profile coach like Cowher. That marriage would be doomed to failure from day 1. If we don't get another on the job trainee or 2nd rate reject then I'll be pleasantly surprised. Ralph has as much chance of bringing in a high profile coach as Al Davis does in Oakland. Wonder why they've sucked since 'Chucky' left? Both owners are old guard types from the same mold; want to call all the shots with Ralph being a little more discreet about it so big Al gets all the negative press in the national news while Ralph flies under the radar.

Consistency in head coach Front office that identifies and signs good talent through both the draft and FA An awareness of when to let players go (Bledsoe) - especially if you get good draft picks in exchange Proficiency, if not strength, in defense (ranked in top 1/3) A very good QB Good o-line and d-line A couple of star players but none of whom attract unwanted or negative attention That's a good list and great insight summarizing those attributes. One I'd add is the use of a consistent and repeatable system in building your team and the approach to the game, which eliminates switching philosophies numerous time (e.g. the Steelers have followed basically the same approach for over 30 years). So onto the hard part, doing it. Look at each one of these winning attributes and ask what is keeping the Bills from embracing each of these qualities of a winning organization? For arguments sake I'd say its ownership and front office management failures. Look at coaching talent. Switch Jeff Fisher with Dick Juron and you'd tell yourself with a straight face that the Bills and Titans would both have the same records they have now with their current coach? Some will say funding in small markets vs. big markets is a factor. But I've never seen the results of an external of each NFL teams books so I suspect while a few teams are making an obscene amount of money the rest are doing pretty good too.

The sad thing is why doesn't Ralph want to build a team that wins? Either his sense of reality is distorted or he just doesn't care. Given how long this has gone on I suspect its the later. So sell the team now to a group commited to building a winner in Buffalo and avoid higher capital gains and/or estate taxes that the new administration is going to impose on transactions starting in 2009. As someone who has backed the Bills since the early 80's I find it difficult to entertain the idea of boycotting the team in any manner. But I understand the sense of frustration, anger, and grief people are feeling.

Everyone seems to agree the defense could use a talent upgrade at a couple key positions, most importantly at DE and LB. But I’ve never questioned their effort. If you give up less than 17 points you should win most of those games. If the pass rush was just average this defense would be generating more turnovers and big plays. Most Sunday’s the opposing QB could be wearing a white tuxedo and not have to worry about the dry cleaning bill on Monday. Give almost any QB that much time and he’ll pick about a secondary. The offense on the other hand, specifically the O-Line just doesn’t seem to make any effort or have fire in their guts. With a couple exceptions these guys have played like slackers this year. Every game I see the graphic about the Bills having one of the ‘biggest’ offensive lines in the league, maybe the biggest. Unfortunately big without athleticism, smarts, strength, and a SOB mean streak doesn’t cut it in the NFL. This O-line should be knocking the snot out of D-lines if only they’d show some passion and fire. Some would argue this is a reflection of the coach but that’s another long painful subject.