Sisyphean Bills

Having an average LT (in Buffalo's case they don't even have that) was adequate for the 9-7 Cardinals last year because they played in a bad division, had great talent in other areas, and had the ball bounce their way just enough in the playoffs. If they had the ability to replace Gandy with a stud LT, they'd do it in a heartbeat.

Didn't mean Gibbs comment as any sort of deep revelation on the meaning of life. It was comment he made about why he liked the game of football so much. Today, we'd call his philosophy "smashmouth". And, he wasn't the first and wasn't the last to subscribe to that philosophy. But, the point was that he had a conviction about what worked and how to achieve success, which he did in two sports at the highest level of competition. He wasn't all about "working hard" and "getting better at everything" so "maybe the ball will bounce our way this time".

What strikes me about all that mental pablum you quoted is that it all seems absurdly fatalistic. If everything lines up just right, the luck runs your way, the weather is good, the other guys make mistakes and you don't, the officials help you out more than the other guy, and ... In summary, it comes out as "we'd want to win but, golly, who knows if that last second kick will go through the uprights or not?" Joe Gibbs once said that football is a game that rewards toughness, strength, and teamwork. If you can impose your will on the opponent, physically overpower them, and mentally wear them out, they stand no chance and you are rewarded with championships. Of course, what does Coach Gibbs know? It's not like he actually won anything ... oh, wait.

I suspect the training wheels were put back on as the coaches attempted to reel it all back in and mitigate the damage that a sputtering erratic offense might cause -- minimize risk taking. Especially when the defense had a lot of green new players and players at certain positions being carted off in waves.

Must be part of the "hurry up" concept. Get it all over quicker. Sort of like the band-aid removal lie parents tell kids: "If I rip this off really fast it won't hurt so much" which is always followed with shrieks of pain.

Losman has the physical gifts, but he never put it together. He was too prone to awful decision making and pressing to make plays happen when the play just wasn't there. He may have been enough of an athlete to get away with that approach at Tulane, but in the NFL, he was up against superior athletes and the risk/reward was tilted almost completely against him. While JP should enjoy much of the blame for that, the Bills organization didn't do him a lot of favors. He did develop during 06 and especially after the "bye" week, when the Bills re-tooled the garbage OL. But, with all things Losman, every step forward was followed by a train wreck. Apparently, there was some interest by other teams but Losman made a characteristic bad decision and decided to wait for an offer where he'd be declared a starter. At any rate, it is hard to put a sh---eating grin on and feel overly ecstatic that the Bills completely wasted yet another 1st round pick on the QB position and got one 7-9 season (when JP was the undisputed starter) out of it. Yippee, fuggin doodoo. Grossman apparently decided to drop the "1st round" mentality and took a minimum contract to compete for the 3rd QB spot (and maybe the 2nd) -- but with that contract, the Texans have nothing at risk and could dump him on the QB trash heap in a heartbeat.

Looks like Grossman signed with the Texans to compete for their #3 job.

Is he going to get some tattoos on his face to compete with Chad Johnson? Gotta keep up with the other divas!

I'm confused though. Wasn't the point that Jauron is a great coach? Was that because the 07 the team had no talent but the turnover differential was good? Or was it because the 08 the team had no talent but improved significantly in almost every area other than turnovers? (Of course, the quality of the competition in 07 vs. 08 has nothing to do with the latter "analysis".)

But there is no cause and effect between a "fast tempo" and being "an aggressive offense". Nor between a "fast tempo" and "keeping defenses on their heels". And why would not having a huddle be the best way to develop a line that's never taken a snap together before and will, without a doubt, not be on the same page all the time? When Dan Orlovsky ran the 2 minute offense last year, it didn't translate into success and victories.

Instant 3 and Out

Langston Walker is the starting LT, right? Is he now pushing the envelope of superior physical conditioning? Because running the K-Gun, when it works, doesn't just mean the defense gets gassed. The offense, and especially, the offensive line simply cannot take various snaps off to catch their breath. It'd be nice to have an offensive identity other than gimmickry.

T as in turnover?

Nothing for some fans. Everything is on the right track and continued mediocrity or worse is perfect so long as there is a carrot of hope dangling just over the horizon.

The Taser The Quickie Don't Blink Just Turking Around Dick This

The key difference is the teams being compared. The Patriots are a near-dynasty in the last decade and are 3-1 in Super Bowls since the Bills last sniffed a playoff berth. For a contending team that already has the proven players, coaches, and systems the attrition of a few good players is amortized much better than when a team that is struggling in the bottom 1/3 of the heap is trying to pull themselves out of the cesspool. Teams at the bottom looking up can't afford to give away the top talent they develop to other clubs; doing so is an exercise in treading water at best.

Don't know about alcohol, but a facebook problem for sure.

I think Levy and Mularkey had winning seasons in Buffalo. In fact, the Bills have never had a head coach prior to Jauron post 3 straight losing seasons in his first 3 seasons. Bullough, Rauch, Johnson, and Ramsey were all fired before they got to that point. Even Kay Stephenson and Gregg Williams posted a .500 record and they were gone in 3. And, Wade Phillips never had a losing season.

Buffalo nickels?

All of these moves were this off-season. Where is the track record in that? Really, this argument is nothing but ample speculation since no one knows how these moves will work out this year or even 3-4 years down the line. It's sort of curious that a move such as drafting a S is offered as continued positive progress when this same regime drafted 2 safeties just 3 years ago. Likewise, they drafted a TE in the 4th round last year as well and a TE/FB the year before that.

Not sure that is quite what Felser is saying. Felser wrote, "It’s hard to understand why they would be miffed at Parrish." The paragraph before he wrote, "The guess here is that the Bills were miffed." The article is about the Bills chaotic attempts at team building. They let players go when they have no one behind them to replace them. They fill one hole one year and make more holes to be filled in subsequent years. They let their home grown players walk in free agency too often and bring in free agents that don't even fulfill their contracts. So, no, Felser isn't saying the Bills are being petulant, whimsical, and are annoyed with Parrish for being short. But, he is questioning the wisdom of dumping a potential playmaker, a guy they've been developing and who has demonstrated true ability as a return man, a guy that isn't a cap breaker, at this time. I don't think they are annoyed with Roscoe per se, but rather that the coaches feel Parrish is another player that doesn't "fit the system" and as such he can be let go now and replaced sometime in the future.

Another fat guy with maturity issues and ballerina feet...

He might have hung out with Corey Williams and Leon Williams and maybe even Willie McGinest. Those are some potential Bills perhaps.

Agreed and that's what I was getting at in post #67. I don't buy that comment about handed the job as the actual reason. (Though I understand his point that it isn't a very strong selling point really. It indicates an indifference to performance and the development of players already there. What's to say they don't hand out the same promise to the next guy to come through the revolving door?) I took his comments about losing as closer to his true feelings. The Bears were in the Super Bowl not too long ago and now they have a franchise QB in Cutler, so that doesn't look like a bad situation at all. He has a history with Lovie Smith and the situation in Chicago seems more stable.

"Jones has made it clear that Owens was cut to help improve locker-room harmony." "Jones said, 'I did not think (his personality) was disruptive to this team. I did not. As a matter of fact, you have a huge percentage of our team—coaches and otherwise—that thought his personality was a positive thing.'"