Sisyphean Bills

And yet he was vastly better than anything since. There are actually two constants with the Buffalo Bills. Ralph Wilson and Jeffrey Littman, CFO. One of the big black eyes that Donahoe takes almost universally is his coaching hires and how bad they were. Well, what if the long time CFO was rejecting all proposals that came across his desk that would've required the "strapped" Bills to pony up a competitive contract to land a better candidate? What if it wasn't Donahoe's decision to watch on the sidelines while other teams snapped up the top coaching talent? With free agency, it just isn't possible for teams to stock talent to the rafters like the Bills did in the late 80's and early 90's. Yes, your team needs talent; however, coaching is part of the competitive advantage formula. Getting the cheapest coach available, pre-greasing the skids so he can be dumped, hasn't been working. When they say Dick Jauron is a very good coach for the Bills, I think they understand that Jauron is not highly paid. He focuses on the fundamentals and his philosophy can keep a team in the middle of the pack and "with a mathematical chance" into December. Maybe NFL insiders know that coaches of Bill Cowher's caliber, for example, are not going to come to Buffalo.

Instead of pretending you weren't engaged in a JP vs. Trent debate, why don't you just focus on whatever it is you do want to say? Trent is the starter and Jauron is going to ride him regardless.

So, want did you think of the halftime adjustments? The stated goal of the franchise is "to compete". 8-8 and being in games is competing.

The lack of picks is a reflection of having no pass rush.

The standard "debate" (being highly charitable) is that "JP just loses" and "Trent just wins". It isn't a real debate because no other evidence is allowed and no other arguments are acknowledged. Of course, the original premises, "JP just loses" and "Trent just wins", are factually incorrect and the whole house of cards collapses under its own staggering stupidity.

The handmuff worn backwards was entirely too comical. He did seem distracted and mystified trying to figure out how to twist his arms around and into the backwards muff. I also noticed that every time there was a break in the action he got bundled up in his overcoat. Did he leave it running so as to keep it warm?

The wins are not simply due to Trent and only Trent. He flat out sucked on Monday and yet the rest of the team nearly bailed his rancid performance out of the ditch. If Rian hits a long kick at the end of the game, the Bills team could've won a game against a bad opponent and in spite of a horribly inept effort by Trent.

John Elway went to Stanford and played in Denver in the snow. He somehow dealt with it. Maybe he just wasn't a pu55y cat.

Keeping the score close isn't a correlation of playing hard. A team can play hard and blow away their opponent. A team can also play hard and be outclassed physically and be blown out. Keeping the score close is more related to the approach of taking the air out of the football, shortening the game, and playing a prevent defense.

Instead of "born loser", would "proven many times over loser" be OK?

The difference between that throw and all the others was that Trent had no choice but to torque that ball right down the field because the game was almost over. It was a last ditch drive; he had to throw it. It sure does seem that this team's strategy is to sleepwalk through 2 or 3 quarters or so and then turn it on in desperation at the end and hope they come out smelling like roses. It was working in their favor earlier in the season, but it blew up in their faces on Monday.

Is Florida International?

I wonder if this has been happening every week for the last month. Changing up the coverages to take away the opponents weapons is something that many NFL teams do. It is a proven strategy. And, if we are consistently ill-prepared for it and unable to cope and adapt to it, I think that speaks volumes about our coaching staff and, in particular, our rookie OC's own preparedness and by implication our HC's abilities to keep his staff on track. Having said that though, the fact that Edwards studied and expected one defense and then became obviously rattled and clearly ineffective in his own offense when he saw a different look is a very bad thing. The hype about him was that he was brilliant, had a quick release, great at reading defenses, and a quick decision maker. Well, on Monday he was none of that. The offense he's in didn't change, the players around him didn't change, and frankly he had plenty of time on most of his attempts. Bottom line: he either didn't know what to do or was incapable of doing it. The hype has to go back in the closet, and Trent needs to go back to square zero and learn how to direct an NFL offense in a way that attacks an NFL defense. He also now has to work with, essentially, a rookie offensive coordinator, who is trying to invent his own all-new and improved wheel on the fly by introducing random plays and gadgets from other schemes and systems but keeping the Martz terminology to avoid confusion.

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I think the question was whether he sucks less.

I'm not convinced Trent was playing "superbly" during the winning streak. In the Oakland game, it wasn't until the end of the 3rd quarter before the Bills offense could get out of its own way. Against the horrible Raiders, for crying out loud.

Trent Edwards is/was all fouled up. His timing was non-existent. He was glacial in his reads and recognitions. Assuming he was reading and recognizing anything at all. He had no confidence at all. And, his accuracy is gone. On some of those dump-offs to a totally uncovered Lynch, Lynch had to make a circus catch before he could get going. Was he frozen mentally and physically? Geesh.

Bingo.

Because c) Cowher would accept any Bills offer is an impossibility.

Rich Kotite is available.

You should send a letter to the Buffalo News. That's just plain stupid and inexcusable.

The hangdog look as he walked on and off the field pretty much told everything about his confidence.

One reason: Ralph Wilson. Why would he change his ways now?

Re: the 4 or more seconds in the pocket thing. The Browns were rushing 3 and dropping 8 at times and the Bills line was able to hold up (so long as Preston had plenty of help). But, can you imagine how bad the Bills offense would've looked if the Browns had a good pass rush? Edwards would have been a pat, pat, sack dummy. If it hadn't been for Marshawn and Freddy breaking terrible attempts at tackles all night, the Bills offense wouldn't have done a thing.

Memories of the modern era.