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Glorify - smorify. I like Tebow, too, and it doesn't have anything to do with Christianity. I like a person who has strong beliefs, regardless of what they may be - it's called conviction, and having the strength to back up what you believe in. I really believe Football, at it's heart, is a game of Conviction. I think you've got to have an Identity, as a team, you've got to believe in an approach to practice, to style, and you've got to, as players, represent that belief, that conviction - and that shows up on the field as heart. Heart, Toughness, Style - we can look back on great teams that represented these virtues, made up of great players who embodied these traits. Those are heroes, rolemodels, and they don't have to be Christian, but they have to do what they say, and do a lot more than say, at that.

I think the point of the post is to say that Buffalo should be able to have a successful 3-4 defense after two years, and especially next year, even if we have a year 1 D-Coordinator, on account of having 3 drafts to run it. On that point, I agree. I think, given the right coordinator/GM combo, from the start, with input from the coordinator on who he needed to fill which positions most - the Bills could have fielded a mid-level defense last year. This year, after two drafts, they should have been able to field a top 10 defense - with the right Coordinator/GM tandem working together. Wade Phillips is one of the better Coordinators in the league, and he walked into a defense that had, before the draft, some quality, early round players on it. What did he do with the draft? I don't recall all his picks, but I know he went out and made sure he had some OLB material. IMO, NT, LB's as a group, especially OLB, and a good CB are necessary to run a 3-4. You've got to have a run stuffer in the middle, a big guy capable of demanding double teams. You've got to have excellent linebackers at least one of whom can apply some heat, and you've got to have a quality cover man. I laugh as I sit here writing this - but, it seems like in two years, Dareus and Carrinton are the only really good picks the Bills have made in the front seven. Sheppard looks like he might be good, but he's not ever going to make the difference on his own. In two drafts it looks like Buddy either believes late round LB's are enough to run a 3-4, or he is beginning at the D-line, and working his way back, with what appears to be a 5 year plan, or so. If the Bills would have insisted on a top level D-Coordinator, we wouldn't be having these posts. Until they are ready to accept they have to pay to get the good Coordinators, they'll have to wait until they get lucky on undiscovered talents, which we haven't had any luck with as far as coaches go - and, once we get any coaches with any talent, the one constant seems to be they all leave town sooner than later, and none are willing to come back (except Marv), even if they were paid great. That says all I need to know where the problem lies with this organization, and it is but one of many trails leading to The Man.

Thank You! I can't agree more!!! Attitude goes a long, long way in the NFL. I believe attitude, or style of play, heart - whatever you want to call it, is the intangible element that fans want to see more than anything else in sports. That is actually what we loved about Buffalo this year early on - although not the toughness, but the idea that a bunch of no names and left overs could rise above their limitations and win because of scheme and heart. When it comes to Football, though, I want to see toughness, nastiness, aggressiveness! I want to see our team go out there and truly expect to keep the opposition scoreless, and if they happen to score on us, I want our Defense to make them regret it all game long. Punish them! Make them not want to come to our house, or face us, period! That part of it doesn't have as much to do with pure talent as it does with pure heart and pure intention. We, on the other hand, go out there and EXPECT to give up points in numbers. All this talk of, "getting better, trying, doing our part to let the offense succeed!" - It's all excuse, loser talk that has permeated this team for greater than a decade! Give me a team that expects to be great, that fights until the last play, every game, that doesn't want to settle for anything but GREATNESS - and plans to be that way! COME ON!

that point is really the end of it - listening to Manning's father, there is no way Peyton doesn't control his own destiny. He practically owns the Colts after that contract they gave him. I mean, if he wanted to be difficult, he could make it just about impossible for them to draft Luck. So, I would say if they are getting rid of Manning, he will pick the team he ends up on. Where would that be? That is a better question than the original post.

I could answer this post in a few different ways. There's a lot of talk about how the Bills have been rebuilding for about 20 years now, and that is true. So, what is missing with the Bills that other teams have? I can point it out to everyone - think Steelers, Patriots, Indy, New Orleans, Green Bay - the best teams in the league, teams that can sustain years of good football. THEY ALL ARE BUILT AROUND AN EXCELLENT QB!!!!! Sure, you can win without one - but look at Buffalo - since Kelly left we've been nothing. You can win without one if the other parts of the team are ridiculously good, defense and running, special teams. But, an excellent QB - just like an excellent coach - can mask the deficiencies of a team to a greater extent than any other position. Buffalo has lacked an excellent coach and an excellent QB since we were in our glory years. That is why I say forget Fitzpatrick - let him be a mentor to a young QB who will give this Franchise hope. The Bills need to do whatever they have to to get that elite QB. So what if they risk losing the good part of a draft; without that QB we will face losing seasons over and over anyway. Besides - I don't want to have been a fan through this muck of two decades only to finally see us winning with a mediocre QB. I want us to finally get some real dynamite! I ask myself, who on this Buffalo team is really, truly an exciting player? Who would I build a team around? My response, to building a team around - Dareus and Williams in the middle, Freddy in the backfield, Wood, Levitre, Hairston, and some of the young secondary. Everyone else is interchangeable. But, no matter what we've looked like in the last few weeks - the right coach, the right GM, the right draft and Free Agency period next year could put us right in there fighting for the division. It really should be put up or get out time next year for Nix and Gailey. There's just no way they should exit year three of their "rebuild" without getting a top QB and having some excitement and promise here. Detroit lost for a decade - and look, they've finally got the pieces to challenge for contention for the next few years. Other teams have done it. Futility is at least acceptable if in the end we get stronger for it. Futility for almost two decades with nothing to show for it suggests the guys upstairs - at the top - can't do it no matter how long you give them.

I can't profess to know enough of the college game, or of the assistant coordinators around the league, to say who would make a good D-Coordinator other than the good Coordinators of years gone by. I think we're looking at three scenarios. One - we just make Wanny the D-coordinator. I think he was brought in as the "Assistant to H.C, and Linebackers coach" instead of D-coordinator, because 1. - maybe he needed the Assistant H.C. title, and maybe they felt they owed it to Edwards or maybe just owed him money, or 2. - Being only in the background, Wanny would be able to look at how all the coaches operated, taught, and he could see where the weak elements were, both with coaching and players. They bump him to Def. Coordinator next season and he cleans out who he thought was not performing up to standard. Not only did the one year give him time to see who worked well and who didn't, but it also gave him time to line up assistants he might want to hire. Then, all of a sudden, it isn't just Wanny taking over same old defense, but Wanny installing a solid group. That would be encouraging. Another scenerio is they hire another proven Def. Coordinator that has had some success in the past. Who that would be, I don't know. But, I would sure love to have Miami's D-Coordinator if they clean house after the season. He knows the AFC East, and he can turn around a unit in no time. Mangini would also be okay, but I don't like the guy's "integrity" Really, andy D-Coordinator who's had success would be nice. The third scenario is that they hire an "up and comer" from an assistant position on another team, or from the college ranks. The FortyNiners D.C. came from college - and although he came from college, he was pretty highly regarded in the NFL anyway. There has to be other guys like him. The trouble with the Bills - they never seem to be able to recognize that talent and bring it in. Just as they have had problems recongizing player talent, they have a habit of bringing in guys on the wrong side of their careers, coaching wise - or just plain miss. I'd love to see INNOVATION though. So, I'd be okay with any of those outcomes - and, if it happened with Wanny like I mentioned, that might be nice.

No they didn't! In fact, one of Buddy Nix's first statements was " your not going to believe this, but this team is not that far away" Then the team went 0-8 and he changed his tune to "its going to take some time" He must have looked over the roster and thought he had enough talent to win, he was right because the moron Dick Jauron managed a 7-9 season from these same players! Most of the talent was there, all he needed to do was find some key pieces and hire the right coaches. He failed in his first draft to rebuild that O line. Instead he brought in an unbelievably bad RT from the Raiders in Cornell Green . Chan Gailey chose to hire a bunch of men who working under him in the college ranks and had no previous NFL experience, big mistake. Plus his second mistake was trying to switch to a 3-4 and hiring the Dolphins LB coach to run it. Chan Gailey spent his off season grooming the wrong QB, he didn't even know what he had in Fred Jackson or Ryan Fitzpatrick or he never would have drafted Spiller or wasted an off season on Trent Edwards. Considering the experience of both these men they shouldn't be making the mistakes you would expect to see from a rookie GM or HC. You know what you are going to have at the end of this 5 year plan.... a new coaching staff and GM. You know - I have to agree with your point about Gailey and Nix both being very suspicious as talent evaluators on their own team. One of the questionable things about Gailey has been his seeming inability to know who has the ability to play good, and who stinks, until they've played half a season. Now, we could point to Tom Brady sitting for a while and say every team makes those mistakes - but, I do think Gailey has a weakness in that regard. Of course, who is to say that some of the success of some of the players, like Fitz, isn't due to Gailey's system, in which case you could say the talent wasn't the driving force behind the success. Bottom line, though - I wasn't saying Gailey and Nix are great at their positions. I was saying a lot of great coaches might not succeed here under the same circumstances. I'd prefer Cowher over Gailey, sure, and a lot of other coaches. But, we can't get there until we fix the first, most fundamental problem - ownership.

Gailey cannot blame anyone but himself because he and Buddy Nix are men who do not believe in excuses. Who among us doesn't know how that goes - you're at work, and something under your "responsibility" goes wrong, or unaccounted for, and although it isn't your fault, perhaps you couldn't have avoided it, you still must take responsibility for it. I can't believe all this talk about running Gailey out of town replacing Nix, etc. Things have gone a bit too far, here. For one, Nix and Gailey said when they got here they knew this would take some time - like 3, 4 years even, to totally turn around. They didn't say they thought they could turn it around in two seasons. So, this poor finish is hard to take only because they looked so good the first half of the season. As for Nix and his job, as well as Whaley's - when this team is healthy it is competitive. We lost a lot of guys - and they weren't peripheral players, they were very crucial players - LT, C, NT, OLB - perhaps 4 of the 5 most important positions on a football team! Yes, we don't have depth. Yes, our starting QB is questionable at times. Sure, the decision to keep CJ on the sideline for most of the second half of this past game was puzzling - but, as far as I'm concerned, until we have a team with some star players who can play with the best, I'm going to be happier with less wins so long as we're not in the playoffs. Until we have some real talent, I'd be more furious over meaningless victories that only go to push us out of position for the best draft picks (Jauron years). We need a new D-Coordinator. We'll probably get one. We need depth. We'll get some more this offseason. We need upgrades at OLB, WR, CB, TE, and RT, and solid players to help with depth. I think we'll find at least three of those players we need in next year's draft, as well as maybe a future Franchise QB. I also think they will be a little more active in F.A., if only because they really do have next year to show a big improvement before serious talk of their job security starts in. If fans want to be upset with anything about the Bills - they should be unified with their disgust and frustration with Ralph Wilson. He is the constant that has put a football team on the field all these years with less talent, less organization, less continuity, less direction than a pro team needs to be successful. If people are angry that the Bills don't have depth - look at the 30 some million dollars Ralph Wilson saved by not signing depth F.A.'s this offseason. He's asking his coaches to do more with a lot less - and he has the audacity to speak as though the Fans are the dilusional ones for expecting to be able to see the team play despite the stadium not selling out. He expects Full support for Half -ssed commitment. Think about it - that is why none of the "Better" coaches wanted this job. They don't want to finish every season with a losing record becuase they weren't given the tools and support they need to be successful. Yet, Gailey fails here these past weeks - when we and everyone around the Nation agreed he was working miracles with a bunch of cast-offs earlier this year - and now he's losing it! What a joke. He isn't the problem.

I totally agree - couldn't agree more, in fact. We need a lot of things, but to be competitve enough to get to the playoffs, we need - if Fitz is our QB, we need a lights out defense. It can't be mid level, it's got to be very good. Fitz is the kind of QB that can win with an excellent Defense, but he isn't going to win games himself, or make everyone around him look better. That is why I'm in favor of drafting a top QB and letting him sit behind Fitz for a year, if he needs it. That would give the Bills fans something to look forward to, and it would give Gailey and Nix and the new D-coordinator this draft and one more to become who they are going to become. Griffen from Baylor looks exactly like Gailey would want, and it might be just our luck (pun intended) - if he comes out - that Luck is in this draft, not to mention the other 2 QB's who are seen as top 1st round talent. If Griffen enters the draft, there are 4 QB's who might be very good to hope to get one from... I'm for taking when it's there to take. We can find a stud OLB every year - we can't find a good QB, in Buffalo, but once every twenty or so years. If the great QB is there to get, get him and don't look back.

I can't give you the X's and O's, but I believe if we have Rex Ryan coaching this same group of players, we'd have a defense at least in the top 15. Take any of the good, creative D-coordinators. They find ways to make a scheme work around the players they have. Why isn't George Edwards doing that? Either he truly does stink - and, I think he does, at least at the D-coordinator position - or, and maybe it is a little of both, he isn't getting any pressure to change from the higher ups. I know that doesn't sound right, but there is a doubt in the back of my mind with Nix and Gailey that they really didn't expect to win much for the first few years. I feel like they came in with the mind set that the team was ran into the ground, that Nix wanted to implement a 3-4 defense that would take 3-4 years to aquire the right talent for, and maybe they aren't changing schemes up because in their minds they need to suffer the growing pains of becoming a 3-4 defense. I know - it isn't that simple or black and white. But, if they were dead serious, first and foremost about winning - if winning was the expectation here this season, there is no way Edwards would have kept this defense up without either a serious change-up in scheme, or we might have seen Edwards canned and Wannstadt replace him. So, yeah, we could see a rush - it doesn't have to come from OLB's. It could come from the secondary, it could come from the D-line, it could come from Moats, or Sheppard, or Barnett - all depending on the scheme.

Yes - I've read a number of comments here about how Ralph shouldn't have to buy the tickets, how it is the job of the fans to be sure the seats are sold. True. You know, though, what really bothers me, and kind of sums up what I don't like about the Bills? - Ralph, through Russ Brandon, saying They will not buy the tickets as if the fans had become accustomed to them doing so, and Ralph had to give the fans a tough lesson here. Lets get this straight: Ralph either expects the fans should have to pay for every game, sell out, so that the remainder of the fans in the area can watch the game - the fans should have to spend the money, or, in other words, fulfill their end of the bargain, yet Ralph Isn't On The Hook For Spending To the Cap? He can spend 70% on his team, effectively assuring - at least his method has - that they suck year in and out, yet the fans are Supposed to pay full price to see the games? Or... He doesn't care one way or the other. It feels to me like it is a bit of both. Ralph is a pitiful owner, in my book. If he's going to pass away, I'd expect him to at least throw everything he has at making a winner, for his sake and the fans. But he will go out like he lived, and the fans can take it or leave it, and he could care either way. I am a fan, and have watched and rooted for this team since I was 12 years old - over twenty years. I see a team that is not serious about winning, or putting forth the maximum amount of effort to win; and, in that case, I can't seriously expect our team to win - why should we beat a team that does all it can to get the right coach, to pay the players, to get creative with contracts so the best players can be together, all in pursuit of one thing - a Championship. That feels like something worth celebrating. Fans will support that. If the Bills had an owner come in like the Sabres got, there would be no lack of support for this team. Ralph creates the environment he needs to continue to behave the way he does, all in the end to save money. Because, when it gets right down to it - Ralph doesn't believe football is anything more than a game with a bunch of guys running around catching balls. He doesn't think it should take over a hundred million dollars a year to put a good team on the field, because, after all, when he was a boy, people played in ten feet of snow, with bare feet, and only on a stomach that had eaten one potato for a week....

A lot of good points here, Ray.

Our needs totally depend on what you're drafting for - if you're drafting to start winning now, as in next year and the next few, then you're also going to bring in a few F.A.'s - if you're planning on winning now. If you're planning on building a team slowly, without the "pressure to win now" attitude, then I think you draft differently - namely, you draft best player available each round. Now, I think we all want to win now, so here are my thoughts on that: 1. We need OLB's - I think we'll see two drafted in the first four rounds, with one in the first unless there is a real all-pro talent at another position of need we just can't pass on. 2. I believe they'll want to get a big, speedy WR - but, I don't know if they will try to get one in F.A., because they typically take a few years to develop. I think the Bills will come out of the draft next year with a starting OLB, another OLB with potential, probably a third or fourth rounder. I think we grab a TE in the mold of Green Bay's, New Orleans, or Gronkowski in New England. We will add a CB, and probably a big guy to groom as C/G, another DE, and a young QB - just because we don't have a lot of talented depth, and there will be good ones available in the draft in rounds 2-3. I wouldn't be surprised if we have three linebackers by drafts end, with seven rounds producing something like: 1. OLB, 2. QB, 3. TE, 4. WR/OLB, 5. WR/OLB (whichever isn't taken round 4), 6. CB, 7.OG Ultimately, who knows. But, I do think we will grab a young Qb to groom behind Fitz and to push him, and since there will be some really good ones coming out next year, I think they grab one in the early rounds. No doubt about LB's. But, here's an idea that we don't really discuss a lot - how about getting a really good TE with speed and hands. If we went for one early - say in the first 3 or 4 rounds, to be what we thought we had in Nelson, and we did pick up another big, speedy WR to stretch the field - imagine what our offense might look like with Stevie Johnson, another fast, big WR, Chandler and a good pass catching TE, with Freddie who can come out of the backfield and catch - that would be a very, very tough alignment to defend against. And, I think Chan ultimately likes that type of a lineup, where the defense just can't load up on one area, but is forced to defend it all. As for defense - with a healthy return of players, I think they lay off the D-line for the most part, simply because Carrington, Darius, Williams are all studs, and Edwards, Spencer Johnson are decent. We are set with Barnett and Sheppard in the middle, but we really need two more good OLB's, one really good one. Safety is set, and we need another CB to go with Florence, Williams, who I think will be starters next year. One great OLB, a dependable third CB, and a solid OLB in F.A. to bookend the group - and our D could be much better. A speedy, good WR to stretch the field, a speedy pass catching TE, and depth on the line, and our offense is dangerous. All of that could be had in one offseason. Let's hope.

Yes - I really like the idea of bringing in Mike Nolan. That guy can coach up a defense. He would have some good young talent here to work with, and I'm sure Buddy would throw him a few choice F.A.'s, as well (as, I think, he will offer any coordinator that takes the job, save maybe for Wannstendt). As much as I think it would be great to have Nolan and Wannstadt working together, I would expect to see Wannstadt given first opportunity at the DC job, and I can't say that doesn't sound alright, too. But, Nolan has impressed me as a D.C. everywhere he's gone, and he tends to turn things around within the first season, too.

I know this game could go bad like the last three games, where the O-line plays badly and our offense looks like a bunch of college kids out there against the pros, and then our recievers don't catch the ball when they do get a chance, and before the end of the first quarter the players are hanging their heads and look to be looking forward to getting home and away from the field and any expectation of them competing. It could go that way again. But, I've been an advocate for Spiller since his arrival. He has talent. Anyone who says he doesn't is just mad that the Bills drafted him while they already had Jackson. If Spiller would have played every game this year that Jackson played, there is no doubt in my mind he would have gotten better with the experience, and I believe he would have had some very exciting plays to go with some of the to-be-expected misses. I wouldn't blame any running back in the league for failing behind a line like ours, right now, so Spiller might just bomb. But, we've seen games where a running back takes over - like Johnson did with Tennessee, and that little extra greatness from the running back opens up the passing game, and give the offense enough life to put up 17 or 20 points. We could see that, and if our Defense comes to life, then we could win this game. There is a chance and I'd like to see it happen. I think Spiller will be a very good running back in the NFL, because the kid has heart, confidence, respect for himself and others - look how he's handled the Fred situation, nothing but support and respect there, we should give him credit for his professionalism - he has the skills, the drive, the will - I don't think his whole life of success was a fluke. Go Bills!

I don't think players are interested in playing for a team that isn't totally, one hundred percent committed to winning. That is why I think Buffalo has such a hard time bringing in quality players and personnel men. As for Gailey and Nix planning on losing - I meant that they come into a situatin where winning isn't demanded until the third or fourth year, unlike other teams who would expect a winner within a few years. Here, whether we fans like it or not, a coach and GM like Nix and Gailey can come in, have 5-11 to 8-8 seasons for three years before there's any mention of a hot seat. There is a different mentality to this team. There is a difference between a team that is capable of going out and being a serious competitor for the playoffs, and a team that doesn't have the personnel for it. Last season, for instance, there was no illusions about Buffalo being a playoff contender. So, knowing that, being realistic about it, I'd say a GM would rather have the good draft spot - whether they'll admit it or not - and, I think they wouldn't necessarily go out and lay down, but they might let their young guys get playing time, experience, building for the future, and like in our summer, here, not bring in enough serious talent and depth to deal with injuries - all signs of a team not expecting to go deep in the playoff race, but rather a team saving it's resources for a run in maybe a year or two. If you think I'm crazy for thinking that, so be it. But I see a team that does some pretty unusual things for "expecting" to win every game, and that is how I interpret it.

There are so many opportunities for people to be on the fence with this team. They start out fast and had, at, I believe, week 8, like a 75% chance of making the playoffs, and now there seems to be no chance. Does that make them all of a sudden a terrible, gutless team, or, is it just that they weren't good enough from the beginning to make it deep into the playoffs? Injuries - we've seen a good number of them for what seems like the last five years or so, more than the usual team gets, I'd say, and quite a bit more in certain years. Does that mean we have a lousy strength and conditioning dept., or that our players are weak. soft, or much less talented than our opponents (as some would have you believe), or, is that just total random, chance? Drafting - do we have a much better or worse statistical record of player development than other teams? Certainly our first rounders have not been great. Yet, is it that they're busts, or were they drafted by the wrong team? Sooner or later one has to ask - does Buffalo misrepresent players, in that they don't get a fair shot at developing under a legitimate system? We've seen a bunch of players walk here and make it elsewhere... so, maybe it is some of the latter, and some of the former? On and on, we can argue and hey, we don't have much of a choice, if we're already Bills fans then we're pretty much stuck with the most frustrating franchise in sports. What luck we'd have if our team suddenly went to pieces the one year our Franchise and Historically great QB gets surgery and his future is in doubt, and we are perfectly lined up to grab the next great QB... thirty years of great QB play with only one winless season sandwiched in. That would be Luck. Where do I land on these questions? - I'm of the opinion that Gailey and Nix short changed themselves from the beginning. I don't think they anticipated being as good as they were mid-season, and I think they expected another season of sub-play. I think they were envisioning another draft before they had to start being accountable. That explains why they went into a season having one player - a starter, no less, be both the starter and backup for another position. That is a real err in judgement. Not to mention they send off the true backup we had on account of $. They screwed themselves with the O-line. So, for those who say, "It's a depth issue, not a talent one. We simply don't have enough depth" - I'm there to counter, Other coaches have done more with less, but it takes the whole franchise being on board with winning, and if Nix and Gailey wanted to be sure they were ready for the worst, they wouldn't have bet the season on their players staying healthy - but they did, and I say it's because they gave themselves 3 years before they were going to be accountable for winning here. To me, that just shows the difference in attitude between SanFran's coach and ours - SanFrans coach went into the season Truly Believing he could win, and his players play like it. Our coach went into the season saying he thought he could win every game, while at the same time stacking the odds against it.

We argue about this stuff - who is responsible for the terrible defensive play - Gailey, Edwards, the Players? What we're doing is avoiding a glaring point, and we've been doing it, more or less, for a long time: whether it is Gailey, Edwards, or whoever - if this style and this poor quality of play were going on for as long as it has been in a place like Green Bay, or New York, or Philly, or Pittsburgh - they would make a change. There wouldn't be "we need to keep working on things" excuses for more than a week or two. This defense has been miserable for almost 2 years under this coordinator! And a big part of the problem is the attitude that permeates the Buffalo Bills, and that attitude is this: that they aren't supposed to be as good as the elite teams, that they are handicapped, whether it be because of the small market, or Wilson, or maybe the history of losing. But, it boils down to everyone accepting this style of play for way, way too long. When Gailey came here he said he needed to change the culture, the mentality of the players and the place. He said when he walks out on that field he expects to win every game. He was full of it. They (and I mean Gailey and Nix) act like they're forced to work with second hand players. Why? How about this: WHY DON'T THEY START ACTING LIKE THEY ARE EXPECTED TO BE THE BEST. WHY DON'T THEY START PUTTING TOGETHER A TEAM THAT LOOKS LIKE IT CAN PLAY WITH ANYONE, INSTEAD OF A TEAM OF CASTOFFS WHOSE ONLY CHANCE AT WINNING IS IF EVERYTHING GOES PERFECTLY EVERY WEEK, ALL SEASON. You can't sustain that. We deserve better, as the long suffering fans of these Buffalo Bills; we deserve to see a winning franchise before it is gone.

I don't know... if you're Nix, and the season has changed as it has, and we've got Wood, Kyle Williams, Merriman out for the year, and we lose Easley, Parrish, sent off Evans, have dealt with injuries to recievers on and off all year on top of that, I think he looks at the season and if he's not in the playoff picture, he's got to want this team to lose out. With an owner who isn't spending, and who knows if Nix would even go after big time playmakers - I can't tell if its his philosophy to neglect the star F.A.'s, or if it is because he doesn't have the okay to go after them - but, the draft is the only place he's going to find talent, and with a team this obviously short on it, he's got to want high draft picks until they feel they have a team capable of competing. I mean, Indy wouldn't have got Manning - and now probably Luck - without going through terrible times. I could see Nix and Gailey saying to themselves behind closed doors, "This isn't going to turn around over night - we need talent, so we suffer through a few losing seasons, etc." That is practically what they said last year, and I felt as if Nix and Gailey expected us to lose last year - they didn't make any attempts at going after quality F.A.'s. And, I felt, back in training camp, that they were okay with losing this year, too, and building through the draft. I've felt since they got here that they gave themselves a 3 year cushion, and that they didn't really expect to be winning much for those first years. Compare that with San Francisco! That is the difference between good coaching, and getting the right coordinators. That SanFran D-coordinator could come in here and with these guys we'd not be giving up all these yards week in and out. It all starts at the top. These men have believed the Bills were handicapped since they took over, and it shows all the way down to the players, the announcers - everyone knows it.

I have to agree here - and I've said it on numurous posts - when a team is getting beat as badly as we've been beat these past three weeks, if that team has players that care more about who they are as a football team than how much they're getting paid, if those players are there to play football, then they won't take getting beat, even once, like we have recently, and act as if it isn't personal. This team has no heart. It has no toughness. Watching this team's defense - I can't be the only one who sees it - there just isn't any of that fire, or meanness, that teams like Baltimore, Oakland, Jets, San Fran has - those defensive players are out there to pummel, to hurt the opposition. They want to make it so that team doesn't want to play no more. Our guys? We get run over, and over, and over - and like the Dolphins said - WE LAID DOWN. There are problems a plenty if Gailey and Nix don't see this and feel as if they need to fix it. Because, you punch a team like ours in the mouth hard, and they don't have the fight to respond.

QB, I propose, is a position you don't necessarily draft based on need. You draft QB when the time is right - and that is when the prospects are there. You don't wait until you need a QB and then go looking for one and hope he will miraculously appear. Just because there is a draft every year, doesn't mean there is a Franchise caliber QB in every one. And, it just so happens it also means that once in a while, there are a bunch of good QB's in one draft. It's just how it works. So, the smart personnel guy will see that when there's an opportunity to grab a QB the likes of who might not be around again for a few years or more, you don't pass on it just because you gave a mediocre QB a contract that is about average for a starting QB in the NFL. You take the QB when he is there to take.

Thank You! This is what we need to be thinking like. Not "we can't draft a QB high, we just gave Fitz that contract", but instead, "we need to have a real, true, elite QB, the likes of which we haven't had in almost a quarter of a century, and if he has to sit a year, fine". We need to look at every way to make our team, not only good, but great, and there is no better way to impove a team for the long term than to procure a truly elite QB - becuase, every other position, save for maybe LT, can be had in F.A. - but, you just never come across elite QB's in F.A. I've been saying all year - 2012 is the year to draft a QB. There are some 4 or 5 that will be excellent. It is the best class since Manning/Rivers/Rothlisberger. As I see it, with the shape our team is in - we need stars. Nix should do what he can, and I know it's wishful thinking because he doesn't like to make moves, but he should do whatever he can to trade up and leave the draft with three or four excellent players, instead of eight or nine mediocre ones. If we came out of the draft with a franchise QB, a beast OLB, and one of maybe a group of WR/CB/TE/OL - I think we could add a few promising developmentals in UDFA, and grab another two or three starters in F.A., and have a totally different team next year. (and, I believe, if you can be sure you'r getting a QB like Peyton or Brady, he'd be worth an entire draft if that is what it took) But, the draft has to start producing stars. We can get all the role-players we need from F.A.!

Maybe if Chan and Buddy get embarrassed enough they'll demand a little more commitment from ownership. I can't believe Chan isn't fuming right now knowing there's some 30 million in unspent potential money that could have given them competent second and third string players. How good are they feeling now about all those undrafted and low round selections?

I would agree with you in principle - because, I've advocated this approach for the last four years with the Bills; draft heavy on one side, make it strong, then draft heavy the other side, and in year three, add the last pieces. Yet, Buddy has drafted D-heavy for the last 2 years - Dareus, Carrington, Troupe, Williams, and Shepphard - I think that is a look at 5 of our last top 6 draft picks these past two years. That's almost half a starting defense in two drafts, and that's just the two year's top three rounds. We're starting Moats, Coleman, Batten, and Searcy, as well - I mean, this past draft was like 80% defense. And here we are, saying lets throw a whole draft at fixing a problem. I might say that problem should have already been fixed. So, it's either our draft picks are not playing good, or we needed to replace the entire Defense, and we're not there yet, or the coaching stinks. And, as is usually the case, it's a combination of those factors. All in all, it is very discouraging to think we have so much still to add to this team before it is really competitive, and I'd put franchise QB at the top of the list..

I totally agree!!! I don't think that aspect of the NFL is talked about enough - but, he did look very much like a player not happy with where he's at. I think Buffalo lured him here (lured, or just implied) by saying he'd be utilized in this way and that - as if he'd be a sizeable part of the offense. I mean, his contract suggested he'd be. And then, either because he plain sucks, or becuase Fitz and Fred played so good to begin the season, he's looked like a guy who is depressed because he only gets to play a few snaps a game. And then, when he is given the chance, he stinks. Spiller, at least, hasn't stopped trying and has the right attitude. You'd think he would be the one acting like Smith, considering his high hopes and being stuck behind Jackson. But he's a kid with integrity. Smith...