Sisyphean Bills

Ah, but starting these "we vs. us" board fights does serve as good distraction from debate and discussions of the game.

19-0!

Parcells coaching the Bills is a wild flight of fantasy. Parcells?!? In a relative backwater like Buffalo working for Buddy Nix and Smithers?!? Even less likely than getting Mike Shanahan, which most talking heads correctly put as "no chance at all."

It's pretty obvious that the new Bills regime is going in a new direction and blowing up what Dick Levy tried to build. The strength of the Dick Levy implementation was the defense and that is the first phase of the game being dismantled and rebuilt from the ground up. It's actually not an entirely new strategy as Dick Levy started their era by letting Spikes, Fletcher, Milloy, et.al. go so they could install the Tampa-2, which was the "What's Cool" defense at the time. On the other hand, this time around the rebuilding is starting from the trenches rather than in the secondary. Maybe this time around they'll make some good decisions that pan out and have the time to address their overall plan. Though with Ralph's age (not the mention the age of our first-time and once retired GM himself), time is not exactly on their side.

Probably because of the amazing development of Reggie Ball.

The only fan that counts is Ralph Wilson. Nothing happens at the upper levels of his franchise without him making the decision. Blaming the average ticket buying fan (most of whom buy tickets regardless of the what decisions are made or the consequences) remains a cop-out. We might be further along if Donahoe had stayed. If Donahoe stays, chances are Wilson maintains his retirement distance and does not re-insert himself as President. If Donahoe stays, Marv Levy is never hired. If Donahoe stays, Mularkey stays. If Mularkey stays, Dick Jauron is never hired and given de facto control of football. Donahoe made a lot of mistakes in his own right, but there is a chance he could have turned it around. Donahoe's firing curiously enough did not involve a house cleaning, so most of the exact same people that gave Jauron and Levy/Smithers input never left. It's odd because the typical regime change involves moving in your own people (which was what happened when Donahoe was hired and most of the Bills previous front office ended up moving to San Diego together), since they are people that the GM knows and trusts and have been trained with the same philosophy. It just underscores what a bad move Dick Levy was and how unprepared they were to take over the team. Jauron couldn't attract experienced coaching assistants and Levy was, in retrospect, just coasting through town and lending his name and popular face as a favor to his friend. By the way, what sort of "fan" is it that wants their team to do poorly? Disappointment when your team makes ridiculous decisions that blow up in its face consistently, the moves that a laughingstock makes, seems like a fairly normal emotional reaction for a fan that cares. I know, I know. Trust the professionals because they know what they are doing. Well, the Bills have paid professionals for years to make decisions and it is patently obvious they do not know what they are doing. To think someone who is doing a damn poor job is above criticism, that the criticism should be squelched completely, and that censorship will somehow make things completely different, demonstrates a lack of reflection on cause and effect.

To me, this is not a good thing. In fact, it is one reason I think the Bills might be further ahead now if they had fired this guy years ago. Why are the team's true draft direction and the apparent (rumored) evaluations and road map of their top college evaluator completely and totally out of whack? The fact that the team takes bust after bust in the draft and then there are these "leaks" that suggest Modrak would've chosen some Pro Bowler or Rookie of the Year player leave a strong stench of spin. Why are his opinions, if they are so can't-miss, routinely ignored? Perhaps it is a bit of playing it both ways? Rating a number of players about the same and letting someone else take the heat for making the "wrong" final decision? Take the Cutler idea. Modrak was in the building and involved to some degree in the decision to trade up for JP Losman. Partly that was done because Losman was considered better than anyone in the next draft. Yet, Modrak plays a discordant tune years later saying he would've conceded Losman was a bust even earlier and drafted Cutler as his QB. It begs the question: are these leaks just self-serving spin or is the Bills organization just so inept that nobody is on the same page or is it both?

Pretty much. 2006 was the first and high point of the Dick Levy era, which is a bit of a stick-in-eye to the Losman haters. The Bills played the toughest schedule (2.9 SOS), finished with the best combined offensive and defensive rank (pts), finished the season 5-4 with 3 of those losses by an average of less than 2 points. From there it was all downhill. (Makes the "stay the course" comment by Marv seem all the more laughable.) The second season featured a 2-5 run to the bus and by far their worst point differential (-102). Losman not only didn't continue to improve, he lost his grip on the job. The third season was the free fall year (2-9 run to the bus) when the bottom dropped out after a quick start "earned" Dick an extension against a truly weak schedule and featured more QB carousel with Edwards not being able to stay on the field and Losman losing his grip on simple execution of the basics. Then the fourth year was the train wreck that ended the ignominious Dick Levy era, with the bargain bin free agent QB picked up because he wasn't a threat turning into the starter, a guy off the Packers practice squad starting a game, and the guy Jauron had spent several seasons "developing" as his possible future at the #3 QB being tossed into mid-season retirement.

Tom Modrak was hired by Tom Donahoe and was Tom Donahoe's buddy. Modrak has little interest in calling the shots and Donahoe was a control freak -- a perfect match. After Donahoe was canned, it appears that Modrak continued to make his lists and file them into the decision making black hole that was Jauron + Levy/Smithers. Dick Levy's master plan was to build a team in the model of a dome team with one of the most dominant QBs in the game -- not exactly a good plan when you play outside in the elements and don't have a QB. Modrak's experience with the PA teams wasn't in scouting Tampa-2 players and whatever you want to call the Jauron offense ("Dumpster Fire" comes to mind).

Neither Losman nor Mularkey were ready to excel at the positions the Bills organization handed them.

Please enumerate. 1) He hasn't been eliminated from the three legged mule derby after OTAs. 2) ?

It should have been, "It's hard to win in the NFL being outwitted, outplayed, and outlasted."

Well, I wasn't being serious for starters. As far as a trade, given what seems to be a decline in the Tampa-2 defense, I suppose players that are best suited to that defense are actually not in very high demand at all. The Chicago Bears might take him if they have some DT injury issues. But, yeah, between his general failure to get on the field, failed trades of the past, and his being a 3-technique Tampa-2 guy, the window on his career seems like it might be closing soon.

It's absolutely ridiculous how much money the Bills threw away at the WR position last year given the plan for the offense, given the QB's skills, and the hope that they could blow up the OL and a new one would just materialize. Hope is not a plan.

Yes, but the time between the light going on and his shoe skidding was 0.1 seconds faster than the world's fastest quick draw artist could pull his gun.

Trade bait.

It means nothing really. For all we know, not every team is "passing" on T.O. There may be teams that are interested but not at the price or terms he is asking, or he may not be interested in said team, or he may not be interested in playing football any longer (ala Schobel), or he may be rolling the dice and extending his off-season (ala Brett Favre), or whatever. On the other hand, assuming that T.O. does want to play and wants a similar deal as he had last year, one should note that the Bills paid T.O. very well last year including giving him the option of skipping practices at his own discretion in turn for his very limited production on the field and, perhaps more importantly, a spike in season ticket sales. The only other team in the rarefied air of ineptness that the Bills occupy is the Detroit Lions, and their front office may not be considering such a ticket sales gimmick as necessary or part of their plans. I suspect T.O. will have to choose between retirement or being a part-time mercenary for hire at much reduced pay and as a stop gap for a team with injury issues. In answering the question, "What have you done lately?" T.O.'s portfolio simply isn't that of an A-list free agent.

Seems to fit the decision-makers stated agenda of getting younger.

Unfortunately, the Jauron Bills tried to back off defenses with the quick passing game for years now (how many posts were there praising Trent Edwards' quick release?) and it didn't work. If your team can't hit a 3-pointer in basketball, the defense doesn't have to defend it. It's just that simple. [General thread comment.] There is a wide disparity amongst play callers in the NFL just like everything else in the game. It is exactly like there is a difference between having Peyton Manning or JaMarcus Russell as your starting QB. The Bills have upgraded that aspect of their team in a move that may be something like going from Josh Freeman to Kyle Orton. (Sorry, I'm not going to drink the Gailey is the best offensive mind in the game Kool Aid until he shows us the baby.) How much that will impact everything else, we shall see.

Troupee, Claussssen, sticky keyboards and tighty whities...

Cool. Rock on, Zeke!

Maybin. Maybin not.

How about this then? Do you think Kelsay and/or Maybin are going to be decent in coverage? Do you think the loss of Aaron Schobel will have an effect on an already feeble pass rush? Is standing up really going to make a huge difference for Maybin, who barely registered a tackle let alone any pressure on a QB and heaven forbid a sack or any havoc as a rookie? The defensive front is a huge question mark, and the strength of the team was not at LB last year (they ended the season playing a SS at LB). Hopefully, the rookies and free agents will help with the gutting of the front 7. But, the secondary is also being asked to transition right along with the rest of the defense. And, though I credit Jauron with drafting and developing a quality stable of DBs for his Tampa-2 scheme, it is an unknown if all of these guys will be as effective in the new scheme. And if the front 7 turns into a train wreck, it may not even matter or be noticed.

Someone better stop drinking from the firehose of grape kool aid...