Sisyphean Bills

If you believe what Schonert said, Jauron has already had a big hand in setting the table. Jauron has been insistant on reducing the complexity of the offense. If you believe what Jason Peters said, then the Bills play book that Schonert was using was already markedly smaller than the one the Eagles use. AVP and Studesville may not have a lot of options. "What do you think? It's 1st and 10." "Flip the coin, man." "OK. It was heads. Damn." "Ha! We run it. Call our running play." "Well, that sucked. It's 2nd and 11." "I thought we'd execute that play better this time. It's almost like they're in our huddle. Well, flip the coin." "Tails." "Call the pass play." "Damn. They had TO quadruple covered again. Nice scramble, though." "It's 3rd and 9. Flip the coin." "This is Skeletor speaking... you guys are getting too fancy! Dumb it down!" "Heads." "Call the run play. ... April, get the punter's leg uncramped quick."

Yep. One interesting data point was the Braves, which declined in value. Baseball has a lot of problems, though. I'm not sure I'd call it a "success story". It certainly sits nearer the back of that bus than the NFL, which has been the hottest growing sport the past 40 years or so. It hasn't totally failed, so I guess that is a form of success.

Bowen, Chambers, Stupar and Rhodes.

We practiced cuts on Friday, and we did a great job with it.

Maybe they got confused and started to fax one of the lawyers...

From what I hear, he just got cleared to play the other day.

The ship sank. Sharky says, "It's feedin' time!"

They do have to consult thousands of lawyers and fax a mountain of paperwork to a shredder in Albania for these cuts to be superrighteous.

No big deal, my friend. I just disagree that it is better. Dockery had a bad year last year. The entire line took several leaps backwards when McNally retired, frankly. Fowler was worthless and Preston was a play killing mistake waiting to happen. I actually like Butler, though he is stiff as a stick and brittle around the edges as you say. Still, he's no puss. I like Wood's potential very much, as you do. I think he could be a special player. But, he is going to make mistakes. He is going to get his ass kicked by some men with very bad attitudes. He's a green rookie. I expect he will take his lumps and fight through it and be a better player -- not give up like, say, Fowler. I'm going to be watching Hangartner. He's a smart guy, but he is not a big and physically imposing presence. Hopefully, he can anchor the pivot, but I saw him get his ass kicked in pre-season at times. I do like the potential of the kids, but this offense is a wreck.

Bell is essentially a rookie. He has as many NFL snaps as Wood and Levitre. As for Walker, I'd be on the phone with Runyan right now. And, I know fully well that Runyan is a RT. Runyan on a peg leg would be an upgrade over the Walker.

Um, sorry, no. Two rookies and a utility interior guy are not an improvement. Especially when one of the bad interior players from last year is now playing RT. Specifically, Walker is a big downgrade at LT, a rookie is at LG, Hangartner can probably remember the snap count so let's call that one an upgrade, a rookie is at RG, and one of the bad interior players last year is now the RT. I like the rookies' potential and hopefully a next year these kids will be through the shell shock. But, there is no way they are ready now and they are going to struggle most of the season. (It should also be mentioned that Schouman looked like so much garbage as an inline blocker so far. Robert Royal was a clown as a receiver, but Schouman is a lousy blocker.) Hopefully, the interior gets better over time; but, for now, the OL as a unit is definitely not "much-improved" over what it was 12 months ago. We'll see how much worse on MNF.

Cutting Maybin would be a big surprise.

Hopefully, they are talking to Runyan.

http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNew...E53M3KD20090423

So, the dust cloud is still rising from the implosion, but the spin is the offense is fixed. Might want to let them get into the building and have a single meeting before declaring victory. Edit: OK, you were kidding. Good one. I'm still laughing.

Convert it to a useful format, like text. Then post.

Maybe they are evaluating based on merit rather than seniority. That's a step in the right direction.

Maybe the Cowboys should just split off and form their own "league" like the Harlem Globetrotters. Then, they don't have to share their revenue. Nor is their popularity in any way inflated by their association with the rest of the NFL and a league that strives for competitive balance.

Yes, but what style of hat will he be picking the plays from? j/k

On Sirius the other day, some Bills fan called in and asked the hosts if an NFL team wouldn't practice against the defense they were going to face in a game. Tim and Pat jumped all over the guy saying that "every NFL team" works against all the different NFL fronts all camp long and runs the opponent's defense all week in preparation for the upcoming game. Yet, Trent Edwards said the Bills do not practice against the 3-4 front and that he has to "learn on the fly". So, something is clearly askew. "Impeccably prepared."

I'm not sure how much stock one should put in players' comments on Van Pelt. They could've hired Bozo the Clown as the OC and the players would universally say, "I think it is a good move." The players always do -- unless they are crazy desperate to lose their job.

I suppose in light of today's firing of the OC 10 days before the 1st game that this team is still fine, heading in the right direction, and just underachieving a little. The 5-11 question was straightforward and in reference to previous claims that the 2005 Bills team, which went 5-11, was in fact a talentless shambles. This judgment has been used to show that Levy had no choice but to blow the entire thing up with a nuke. Of the starters on that 2005 team, it is interesting to note that roughly half of them were still playing in the NFL 3 years later. Evans, Reed, Schobel, McGee, and Kelsay are still starters in Buffalo. The weakest units with the fewest players still in the NFL: <insert drum roll> ... the offensive and defensive lines. (What a shock.) And, of course, we can throw in QB with both Holcomb and Losman falling by the wayside of the road. As for Mike Mularkey; he's probably not too upset with his position with the Falcons given what happened today.

You're not going to fool other professionals on very many snaps. They're pros after all. You have to have a core competence. You have to have an identity. You have to be able to execute something. The Bills starting unit this pre-season has had nothing. OTOH, you have to have enough different competencies at this level to be able to exploit the weaknesses of the defense that you are facing. You aren't going to win running straight at 9 men in the box 50 times a game.

I don't recall the incident you cite. However, bald faced lying does not seem in character for what I know of Dick Jauron. I have seen many of his post games and I can say unequivocally that he is extremely precise about what he says. He has often, to the point of numbness even, used very ambiguous terms in discussing things with the media. "We need to get better." "We think this is going to work." As a leader and a highly respected man, I find it preposterous that he would talk with the air of heightened diplomacy in one press conference and then make sh-- up out of thin air the next time he was in front of a camera. Take the topic of this thread. People are claiming Mr. Wilson fired Schonert and Jauron is just being a patsy and taking the blame for Wilson. Jauron having final say on his staff written into his contract, a legal document, notwithstanding. The fact that Mr. Wilson honored Jauron's original assessment that it was best to keep the staff intact notwithstanding. The fact that Wilson is an honorable man and he is good to his word on a deal notwithstanding. Turk has a reputation to live up to. This conjecture is quite plausible. Most probably, Turk had plenty of input into the play selection and Jauron made the final decision. So, it was Jauron's call, he was not flat out lying. Further, it may not have been the call that Turk thought was the best, which led to some spirited discussions.

Not necessary. I was ambiguous in my post. To be clear, I wasn't questioning your statements. And, I understand why you might be a bit cranky. All too well.