Sisyphean Bills

And you'd be wrong again. Ralph Wilson flat out admitted that Modrak's opinion on various draft picks and team needs was ignored by the inner circle of decision makers. You might want to watch a game or two. No doubt, he's doing a great job as Ralph Wilson's errand boy.

That question may answer itself as to why the Bills would think to make a trade.

Well, "release now figure it out later" is our motto.

Add: Trentative suffered yet more injuries.

Well, I've posted in the past that it was really looking like nothing more than a PR move to assuage a certain billboard...

No. 2010 is uncapped. 2011 has no agreement at all.

It does say that the process is still parked in the garage, which should make one ask why there was any need to fire Dick Jauron in the middle of the season.

If Fox resigns, he does so knowing he already has a better deal in place. No way is he dumb enough to walk away with nothing but the opportunity to toss his name in a hat.

Nobody with any credibility is saying it. That's different though. I totally agree. Our QB situation is bad. On the other hand, I wouldn't pass on a great player at another position in the draft because I think I have to draft a QB. If there is a great QB there, and I don't just mean gaudy numbers or the school he played for, and I'm convinced he can make the transition to the NFL, then I take him. But I don't pass over a kid that looks like a sure-fire Pro Bowler at position X just to reach for the QB.

Thanks for the clarification, jw. It is greatly appreciated. Yes, professional sports does tend towards the paranoid. The Bills just seem to be a little more to the right of the curve is all I meant. They never release any information about contract terms, etc. whereas other teams don't mind sharing a tad of information with the fans. It's not universal, of course. They did announce their decision to go with the no-huddle offense in mini-camps.

That's exactly the sort of move I could see Ralph making. Hire a 70 year old part-timer that was talking about retirement a few years ago. That is the sort of energy and vision will lead the team for the next decade and maybe beyond.

But some of those losses were contributed to by special teams gaffes and 4th quarter meltdowns by the defense. Not to mention that it is hard to imagine "great QB play" when the QB is playing in a remedial offensive system with no creativity, running for his life, and has questionable playmakers around him. Just having a QB that can hit T.O. in his stone hands producing more drops helps how exactly?

The argument that all the Bills need is a Peyton Manning holds no water as well. Peyton Manning is arguably the best QB to ever play the game, most would have him in the top 2 or 3 at minimum. Despite the Super Bowl rings, MVPs, and supermodels, I don't put even Tom Brady in the same rarefied air as Peyton. A rebuilding plan that involves and necessitates the Bills finding and developing the next greatest QB of all time is a plan doomed to stark, unequivocal failure. Manning is a living legend, a once in a lifetime caliber player that transcends the game. Any sort of argument that uses him as the baseline is nothing short of absurd. Obviously, a team can't win consistently in the NFL with terrible QB play. We're Bills fans; we know this first hand. But, it is possible to win with a solid running game, solid defense, and steady error-free QB play. Last year, the Ravens, Falcons, and Dolphins all turned it around in 1 season using this formula. The Titans had the best record in the NFL last year behind an incredible running game and nearly made the most improbable comeback in NFL history this year. The Jaguars are a couple seasons removed now from the two headed attack of Fred and Maurice that led them to the playoffs. The Chargers have evolved away from a running team and into a passing team only recently, like the Steelers, Cowboys, and Giants. Lost in the Saints success this year is the fact that they were a dominant running team as well. We have Super Bowl teams with QBs like Rex Grossman, Trent Dilfer, etc. Here is exhibit A for the "all" you need is a QB believers. Do the Bills need to upgrade the QB position? Absolutely. They have to have a QB that is smart enough to read defenses and exploit what is out there. They have to at least try to keep the defense honest.

I think Overdorf was just an intern back then. Yes, it was that long ago. <sigh>

Severe case of QB myopia. You should go preach this to Bill Parcells, by the way.

Not sure how to parse that first sentence, JW. Do you mean he was trying not to reveal that the Bills were interested in Shanahan? And, do you mean that you think he wasn't being truthful about not [really] knowing the man, Coach Shanahan? I take quotes from Ralph to be pretty close to his honest opinion. He rarely has shirked away from calling a spade a spade as far as I have seen. It's perfectly in line with SOP that the Bills try to keep their cards close to the vest, of course. Anyway, thanks for the reply.

Culture of losing.

Looks more and more like Lurie and Banner knew what they were doing all along.

True that (and I understood what he meant). Still, that doesn't change my original point though. Ralph had never met the guy that was head coach and acting head of the football operations in Denver for 14 years and widely considered one of the top minds in the game. Ralph baldly admitted he had zero connection with the guy.

One story was that Overdorf unilaterally decided Lawyer Milloy was not worth his contract, released him, and told the coaches later.

The trouble with the injury thing is that bad players missing plays can lead to injuries. Being out of position and reaching, going half-assed, missing a block that gets someone killed, being thrown like a rag doll into someone else's feet, missed tackles and taking the wrong gap responsibility that force the small safety players to make all the tackles and take on pulling guards that outweigh them by double the mass ... these sorts of bad plays by bad players lead to injuries which lead to more bad players making bad plays. The Bills could have spent money to bring in better players. The accountants didn't want to do it. Instead they went with UDFAs and special teams players and played half the season with 2 linebackers on the field.

Improving the pass rush was not a bad idea. Of course, they didn't do that. They got a "great first step" and 0 production which helped Dick Jauron get carried out of the building by the Sayonara Boys mid-season.

This is the worst team. There are really no valid excuses for the state of the 09 team other than complete incompetence.

A blind man can see that maintaining the status quo is not improving the situation. Fans are obviously frustrated to know that the Bills appeared to get a jump on this process only to see teams like the Browns -- the Browns! -- and Redskins pass right on by... Which is a way of saying, can't wait to read your next article as the situation starts to clarify a bit more.

You must be kidding or clueless. Do you remember Ralph saying, "I don't even know the man," when asked about the Bills pursuit of Mike Shanahan? Mr. Wilson is 91 years old. He's not out there pursuing the best young football minds by attending clinics and conventions, etc. That's why he pays Mr. Smithers. He doesn't have many connections to the best minds in football. Quite the opposite in fact. He's been involved with creating situations and firing the best minds in football; that's not a connection, that's poisoning the well. He hired Marv Levy because, as he said, that he didn't know who to hire or even where to start, so he called Marv to see if he had any advice on how to fix the franchise and as they talked it occurred to him that Marv might be the positive influence that he wanted for the job. When you look at the 50 years of Bills football, there is overwhelming evidence that Ralph has few connections and rarely, and only when forced, goes outside his own organization for help. Since the Bills have historically had 1 winning season out of 3, this directly contradicts that Ralph knows, appreciates, and can hire many of the elite minds in the sport. He's not chummy with much of the new NFL ownership: he, Mike Brown, and Al Davis are widely regarded as out of touch ownership that are living in the past and who have turned down opportunities to remain competitive as the NFL has evolved. Edit: That doesn't mean that he won't get it right this time. I do believe that he sincerely wants to bring a winner to Buffalo. But, I have to discount any blind homeristic balderdash that Mr. Wilson is well-connected and his unflappable decision-making consistently targets putting the best football team on the field.