Ronin

It was definitely the coaching. Watch the play again, it was an idiotic play call. There was only one receiver anywhere outside the box and not within a handful of yards of the line-of-scrimmage. No one in the corners, no one in the back of the end zone, only one player running a fade out to the left, I forget was it Lynch himself, but even there had the ball been thrown he would have been tackled short. If you're going to call a pass like that, as you said, you need some options. There were none. It was pure stupidity by the coaching staff. How on earth do you get guys open when they're all bunched into a 7-yard by 10-yard rectangle all pretty much in the box. Simple, you don't. They should have had at least one receiver in the right corner of the end zone, the player to the left should have at least crossed the goal line, and as you said, they should have used a play that would have given Wilson the option to run too as another threat. Among the dumbest and most ignorant play calls ever. The fact that it was the Super Bowl merely highlighted that fact. It's a theory. How do you explain it? Carroll and Bevell are stupid? Do they seem stupid to you? They each have a ring and many other accolades. I mean let's see this for what it's worth, this is the household equivalent of sticking your hand into a running garbage disposal to clear it. See my comment above. I could fully understand if Kearse were in the back corner of the EZ and if at least one other receiver was in the EZ not within all but arm's length of a LB, but they had everyone bunched and the one player that went wide would have caught it behind the line of scrimmage. Having Wilson scramble right (or left) with a receiver mirroring him the back of the end zone would have made infinitely more sense if they felt that they had to pass. Is it possible for a coaching staff to be so stupid? I still realize that this does not support that theory per se, but it definitely made me wonder if they were thinking cap for this upcoming season. Think about it, if Lynch gets the ball and scores, then he's easily SB MVP and his FA value skyrockets. Forget about the face of America stuff, that's just Lynch being self-absorbed. I'm personally not a Lynch fan. He's good, but he's also got issues. He's also good, not great. I'm sure you're right though. Just looking for explanations, and I'm not past that one.

That's pretty much it right there imo. He gets the ball, the cost to re-sign him skyrockets. Call me cynical, but I have a hunch that this decision factored in and was made ahead of time by the organization, in general. If so, then they may have saved a few bucks, bucks that many teams would gladly exchange for a SB. Maybe they thought that they'd win from the onset with less of a struggle.

LOL Well, Whaley's still here. I'm guessing that means yet another high-risk low-reward "opportunity.

It's a metaphor for the Pats !@#$ing the Ravens, the other 30 NFL teams, and NFL fans everywhere. That's Bahston Bah Skank

That's the key right there. They do have Goodell in their back pocket. Makes one wonder whether Kraft has pics of Goodell in compromising positions. Anyway, I picked this up elsewhere, and it's funny, because I've always wondered why RBs don't fumble much in NE but either did before they got there or do after they leave. You'd think that this would be huge in the assessment of the deflated balls thing. www.sharpfootballanalysis.com/blog/2015/the-new-england-patriots-prevention-of-fumbles-is-nearly-impossible http://www.sharpfootballanalysis.com/blog/2015/the-new-england-patriots-mysteriously-became-fumble-proof-in-2007 Nicely summed up.

Now, here's the 100K question, did we not know much of this prior to his hire here? I mean his collegiate record sure as hell didn't change. If he had a plan he communicated it, why was it considered better then than afterwards? Yet, so many fans instructed us that Marrone knew what he was doing and how we should be patient and give him the benefit of the doubt.

Did he do anything for Fitzpatrick when he was here?

They're not, but fans have heard it so often and never think about it that everyone believes it.

I've never seen a good offensive team try to mail it in in the 2nd half with merely a two possesssion lead as Tom Clements has today. Nothing but 3's (one 4) and outs other than that one FG drive. Apparently he thought that the game was won. Packers deserved to lose this game for that reason alone and Clements, who sucked here, should be fired. Awful coaching.

Yeah, I don't live far from you and I'm getting the same, all positive. The only negatives have been from fellow Bills fans.

He shouldn't be allowed to make any trades on his own. The last position I want him drafting is a QB after that ridiculous reach for Manuel two years ago. Let's not forget that most draft experts didn't have Manuel going until rounds two through four. Hardly anyone had him going in the 1st. But if you recall, he was the QB that the team had to have according to Whaley. Well, how's that worked out for us. I like the fact that all three, Ryan, Brandon, and Whaley are all reporting to Pegula, but you're right, that situation seems to have sprung more from Pegula's not knowing what he's doing than anything else.

How do you know this? I couldn't disagree more. The only time Spiller's good is when he has huge holes and no one around him, or as they call it, in space. Any RB is much better behind a great OL. But even behind a great OL you still need to get those tough yards and often take what that line gives you, Spiller sucks at that. Maybe the fact that he averaged 3.8 ypc this season weighs in somewhere. He was terrible this season in every game except for week 2 against Miami where he was moderately good. I will never understand this infatuation with a player that has never come close to living up to the hype. Five seasons and people still think he's going to turn from a pumpkin into butterfly. Watch, he'll go to the Jets, as he threatens, and all of a sudden he'll suck according to everyone here.

Does this come as a surprise?

Could the fact that we relied on a 33-year old RB as the oldest one in the league, a role player, a short-yardage "move the sticks" type, and an overrated free agent castoff from another team be the reason? Going into next year we have Jackson at 34, maybe the same role player that does not contribute to winning and who's been overrated since being drafted 9th overall, the same marginal backups and short yardage guys. We need a Thurman Thomas, Antowain Smith, Marshawn Lynch type of RB, not a collection of guys that don't effectively compliment each other. Relying on them for next season would be foolish.

I'm sure that he and Schwartz discussed it. It's highly conceivable that Schwartz wants to be entirely in charge of D and with Ryan around that won't be possible. Given the choice most fans would rather have Ryan and his choices for assistants.

After all, he's done so much for us. I mean where else can you get a RB to pin your hopes on that does nothing for four games while raving about his ability to break long plays when he finally breaks one, but not for a TD, and in a game that we lose. Yeah, it's really tough to not like a player like that. Let's see if Whaley can pull a Mario and give him way more money than he's worth too tying our hands to get something that we really need. That's it, he's a luxury role player. This team needs a starting RB that can play every down.

LOL No kidding. LMAO

Agree with you on the excitement. I don't agree on the talent on both sides of the ball. Our secondary still isn't great but the issues have been masked by the front-7, which generally speaking is very good, once we get Kiko back and assuming we sign David Harris which I think will happen, the front-7 will be as solid as it ever has been in Buffalo, perhaps even elite and capable of stopping the run too. Offensively fans are living in the past. There's far too much reliance on the expectations for Jackson. He's finished. He might contribute in a backup or goal-line role, but he won't otherwise, at least not signfiicantly. Spiller's way overrated. He's purely a role-player and I hope that the team doesn't pay him as anything more if they keep him around. He's not what they said with the speed and moves either otherwise the debate would not rage. Brown is little more than depth and Dixon is mostly a move-the-chains kinda back. We need a solid full-time RB. Obviously we need a QB. We can also use a TE, some OL, and even another WR. I like Woods but I'm not sold that he's the #2 that many seem to think he is. Either way, the offense needs quite a bit of work.

We're not going to be drafting a whole lot of anyone thanks to Whaley. Of the two picks in the first four rounds we'll have to use them on offense.

Hehehe .... AKA Poetic Justice What needs to be changed is that stupid rule about ineligible receivers. NE clearly used that rule to make it appear that an ineligible skill-position player was actually eligible thereby tying up coverage resources. Otherwise he wouldn't have been split. Typical NE, bending rules outside the scope of their intent to favor them. I'm confident that they won't win the Super Bowl and right now Indy's playing better, so we'll see.

I sure hope so.

Come on, if you're Revis and NE makes you a respectable offer, do you come here instead? Use your head. Love Ryan, love Roman if he comes here, Harris may come whom we can use, but Revis, highly doubtful. I mean you'd be thinking that a player that has a legitimate shot at a ring(s) would come here. That's silly. Revis only has a few seasons left before he loses his speed and is no longer a premier CB, he has to maximize his chances. You can thank Whaley for us not being SB contenders this or next season regardless of who our coach would be.

Agree He couldn't have said it better!

All forums are delusional or at least semi-delusional. Even here the majority of posters have been delusional. At least this time their delusions might turn to realities.

I agree with you. But that raises the question, why is he the one charged with the hiring and still here? I mean if that's what's going to happen then Pegula's making a major mistake. That would limit our search for our next GM to guys that want the coach that another GM hired for several years. It would say little for Pegula. It doesn't say much for him now though either that Whaley's still here. The next few weeks should be very interesting.