Sisyphean Bills

Well, the trading deadline has passed.

Dick Jauron.

As long as he's running his sprints at full speed and getting his cardio stuff done on Wednesdays.

Gotta disagree. The tackle situation is a train wreck between the stupid front office moves and the injuries. But, the interior of the line hasn't been all that. The rookies do have talent, but they are rookies and they've had their moments of pure !@#$ up. If they can stay in one piece, learn, and get stronger, maybe down the road the Bills will have some excellent OGs. Finally, Hangartner may be the smartest C in the NFL, but he has also played damn poorly at times. Nobody that appreciates good line play will be confusing him with one of the top pivots in the NFL.

And what should the fans do for entertainment while the organization is waiting for Tinker Bell to play at the level of an average NCAA Bowl Subdivision OT?

The whole point of him going to the UFL was to get a chance to play and improve. And, yeah, that's pretty much what has happened. (But, it's understandably hard to quell the raw excitement of seeing yet another Bills 1st round pick fail. )

Well, maybe he can play RT. That way he can get back on the field and contribute to the offense at the same time.

I think the Giants, Colts, and Steelers just sort of underscore the importance of the organization overall. The Giants have gone through multiple QBs, changed defensive systems, changing coaching staffs, and they just win. The Colts and Steelers have their own formula that they stick with. Focusing on the QB, the Giants made a fairly bold trade to get their current QB and benefitted from some bad blood between the Mannings and the San Diego organization. The Giants also committed to him and stuck with him through some early struggles -- many people declared Eli a bust after some bad games and many INTs early in his career. Big Ben is a QB that won Super Bowls very early in his career, but if you follow his development, he is only just now truly emerging as a complete QB in the way Peyton Manning has been in recent years. All three of these franchises have a formula and develop leaders and excellence at all levels of their organization.

Nice post. Not sure I agree with the conclusion though. The Giants, for example, have been very successful since the 80s. Sure, there have been a few bad seasons mixed in, but their "bottom" is typically around .500 football -- which is the top for the Bills. The Colts were a dysfunctional mess until they re-did their front office and hired Bill Polian. Since then, they have been a winning program. Some sort of statute of limitations is in order perhaps, because other than Peyton Manning the Colts have undergone a steady re-tooling process. The undefeated Colts team of today resembles the one that started the string of winning seasons very little.

I'm all for trading Roscoe Parrish for Big Ben.

Yes. A rookie with talent could easily surpass Tinker Bell and could anchor at LT for a decade. Bell is not and never was ready to be a starter. He was an economic expedient.

Why do we assume Brandon is going to happily step down and give up his position?

Is it really that surprising that this team focuses on marketing and accounting given the members of the "inner circle"?

How bad is it that we are pining over mid-tier players? And, yes, I'd take Fletcher back, too. The dude is indestructible, unlike Mr. Brittle Middle.

I believe Dick had a lot of say the first 3 years. After the free fall last season, he was kept on but Ralph himself hinted that there had to be changes made in the structure of football operations. It wasn't lost on Ralph that the certain people in the organization lobbied for Jay Cutler but instead Dick and Marv determined the journeyman-like Donte Whitner was going to be a cornerstone of the franchise. This past draft and the complete overhaul of the OL do suggest that there was a change in the Bills muddle huddle yes-think at the top. Still, before "crowning their asses" for picking a few lineman, I do have to say that it was a weak overall effort by the "concussed brain trust". While I like Wood and Levitre, the Bills desperately needed tackles after pedaling Peters, as Walker was barely pedestrian as a RT at his best. Only those with the Kool-Aid IV tubes thought otherwise, and the fans are paying for the front office believing their own bluff and delivering another hollow, wasted season. Unsurprisingly, the Bills have arguably the worst set of OTs (and cheapest) in the NFL. The Maybin pick was a pick for potential over production, which was a huge gamble (yet again) for a team in desperate need of upgrading its talent level. The Maybin pick was in some ways like the Willis McGahee pick; with Willis they took a guy that wouldn't play a down when Gregg Williams was in playoffs or bust mode based completely on their projections of his potential. AM is looking more like a Corey Moore than a Dwight Freeney at this point.

I have certainly noted a lack of overflowing optimism from the Bills players WRT Trent since the beginning. They toe the company line, sure. But, I can't recall another player going out of their way to declare Trent "the Leader" of this team. Indeed, after he went down this year, players voiced support and confidence in the understudy. Which would be rather surreal on many other teams. The fact players are running out in the streets in support of an illusional (at this point) QB in Vick is crossing the company line and a sign of cracks in the carefully whitewashed facade. Is there a sense among the players that Trent was anointed by the HC and handed the job? Sort of tough to win in this league if your QB has the inspirational character of a wallflower.

I know what you are saying, but when I read comments about "the first 5 games of last year" I keep thinking of the Raiders game. The Raiders. The team was in total chaos with the coach and owner stabbing each other in the back. And, they owned the Bills most of the game. Sure, the offense came off snooze-control in the last 4 minutes of the game to mount a furious comeback and all against a dysfunctional team that would fire their HC soon thereafter. But, that game smelled real bad. Not as bad as some clunkers since. But, if Edwards plays like he did then, stick a fork in him and wish him luck in the UFL.

Maybe he is still concussed. Two of the better performances in his career were the first two games this year.

Did you guys actually even see the Music City Miracle? The Bills special teams lost the game. Just tackle the guy with the ball, for crying out loud.

Cash-to-cap enables competitive continuity.

I'm still awaiting my refund from Donte's playoff guarantee. He's marking time until they trade or cut him.

Who really thinks Vick can step in and lead an NFL team with his baggage? The Eagles already have veteran leadership on their team and he's just a gadget player filling out their roster. The Bills front office would prove beyond a shadow of a doubt their bumbling incompetence knows no bounds if they bring in Vick as their "savior" when the guy hasn't shown diddly squat this year, say nothing of his limitations when he was playing years ago, or the lack of credibility he brings to the field. Who'd going to lay their career on the line for the poster boy of supreme !@#$ up? Speaking of which, how's the "leadership" T.O. brought to this offense working? The guy sits out Friday practices because he's 35 years old and he told the coaches he'd rather participate during W, Th practices because those practices are more physically demanding (think about that for a second) and he doesn't need to go through the walk-throughs, red-zone, and game planning stuff. And, our very own Dick "Bill Belichick coach-alike" Jauron agrees with him.

The Raiders take a lot of heat for drafting Darrius Heyward-Bey for his raw speed. But, the Bills pick of Maybin is of the same ilk. The Raiders think they can teach Darrius how to be a football player, how to run routes, and how to catch a football. They can't teach speed. For the Bills, they think they can develop Maybin and teach him how to be a football player. The guy started less than 1 full season of NCAA football. But, he has that good burst off the ball that they can't teach.