BillsPhan

So let me get this straight. I try to give credit where credit is due, and I'm wrong. Fitzy still sucks, he only played well because the Pats have a horrible defense. I call out Edwards for not blitzing more, and I'm still wrong. Blitzing would have only made it worse right?? Here is what you will find out against the Jets this Sunday, however. Fitzy will still play well, despite the fact the Jets have a great defense, because he is a better NFL quarterback then Edwards. That does not mean I'm saying he is a great QB, or even a good solid starting QB. I am simply saying he is an NFL capable back up QB with some moxie and confidence who will move the ball for the Bills - yes, even against those might Jets defenders. Secondly, I expect more blitzes and pressure from Edwards because his front 4 offered none, and no matter how crappy his LB'ers are, they can still sprint in after the QB and maybe possibly pressure him into a quicker bad throw or God forbid, even sack him. So please feel free to tell me how much is "wrong" with this opinion, I feel it will be proven to be fact this week. Fitzy will play well, and the Bills will blitz more. Will they win? Most likely not, but at least they should play better - at least on defense, anyway.

Great points...12th last year running the ball is a lot better then I thought they were ranked. Who knows just how badly Trent Edwards made the O-Line look during his time under center?? That Jets' defense will be a great test to see if Fitzy can continue getting the ball out and downfield, and if Lynch and company can continue their 4.0+ averages. But I expect to see some pressure "packages" from George and his vaunted 3-4 defense coming against Sanchez this week, that's for sure!

Well its' just too bad that any NFL team, especially our favorite one, finds it necessary to waste a full season in today's NFL. With free agency and the salary cap, at least one or more teams find themselves going from worst to first in their divisions every single year. And of course this strange 2010 season where there was no salary cap due to this idiotic collective bargaining greedy crap the owners and players are once again dragging us through, any team had the ability to spend any amount of money they wanted to try and win now. Buddy could have signed Julius Peppers instead of Dawan Edwards, for God's sake! But alas, 90 Million on one football player is stupid for even a huge market like Chicago to spend, so of course I'm dreaming that Wilson would even consider such an outlandish contract. Although watching Peppers basically take over the last 5 minutes of the game against the Packers last night almost made his outlandish contract seem like a bargain!! So between Ralph's "cash to the no-cap" and Nix's policy of "building slowly mostly through the draft", the Bills "Are What We Thought They Were!!!" (Gotta love that Denny Green!)

If George Edwards, Gailey's hand-picked linebackers coach he promoted up to DC, wanted to run the identicle soft schemes with almost zero blitzes Perry Fool used to run before him the previous 4 years, then why on earth did he make almost every front 7 player have to learn to play new positions in a brand new 3-4 defense?? I understand what Gailey is doing with his offense. He gave Trent every chance to "be the ball" as the wise Chevy Chase once said. Edwards not only was not the ball, he also could not bring himself to throw the ball when the real bullets started flying after his "pretty preseason." So now the Bills have a real NFL caliber QB, who despite his "bad arm", managed to throw for over 250 yards and a 93 rating his first game - on the road agains the Pats - no less. Fitzy could be another Trent Dilfer - managing a great running offense behind a great run blocking O-Line, while depending on his even greater defense to win games for him. Except of course the Bills are not a great running offense and their O-Line is god-awful, and the defense is even worse then his offense, and that of course will obviously lose almost every game for poor Fitzy this season. But who cares? I love the guys moxie and confidence compared to Edwards' fear of failure in the pocket. And we all hope the O-Line improves as the year wears on. But this defense is inexcusibly bad. Blitz, George, blitz! Who cares how good Brady was at reading your blitzes? (not that he had even one to read all day anyway!) How much worse could Brady have torched your defense by blitzing?? And maybe the blitzing could have made a little dent in that "run defense" of yours!! Perhaps have slammed Benjarvis Green-Smith-Jones-White for some losses in the backfield a few times?? Yes, maybe George Edwards should be the next Edwards on Gailey's list to "cut" from the team, if he can't come up with better game plans then that crap against the Pats he through out there last Sunday!

Very nice homily. Of course I'm not sure what the fu** you are talking about when you say the Bills "lost playoff game after playoff game" in the 12 years under Levy?? While you were living around the east coast, I went to every home playoff game during that era and of course watched every road playoff game during that era. For the record: From 1986 through 1997, the the Bills went 10-3 in playoff games, (including going 9-1 at home) and 0-4 in the 4 consecutive Super Bowls, for a total Levy era playoff record of 10-7-0. That equals out to .588 winning percentage for all playoff games the Bills played in with Marv as their head coach. Please go back and check the Cleveland Browns' playoff record from 1965 thru today. (1964 was their last NFL Championship season.) I would wager that almost every one of those die hard "Dog Pound" Brownies fans would kill for an overall .588 playoff record over any 12 year period since 1964, and oh by the way, the Browns Super Bowl record still stands at 0-0. Amazing, but that proud franchise has never even made it into one Super Bowl. Finally, when you say that the 12 years watching Levy coach the likes of Kelly, Thomas, Smith, Reed, Hull, Tasker, Bennett, Talley, Reich, Metzelaers, House Ballard, Wolford, Lofton and the rest who made up those great teams, was arguably the hardest time to be a Bills fan, you are talking out of your a**. For those of us who are true die hard Bills fans, they were obviously the very best of times! If you were to whimpy to stand tall and defend those great teams despite losing all 4 of those SB's in a row, then yes, you are a shi*** pessimist. As if any franchise is ever going to play if 4 consecutive SB's again. That is something I am proud to have been a fan of, and always will.

You are either Robert DiNero in Taxi, or Robin Williams' genie in Aladin. Either way, "You are RIGHT Sir."! Nix was perfectly fine to see what he had, and Gailey was 100% right to hand it to Edwards to see what he had. I'm not the least bit concerned about the offense (well, the O-Line is pathetic, but Nix told us right off the bat that not only was he not "the smartest guy in the room", but also that his style of rebuilding was via the draft 90% and inexpensive free agents 10% way back in January, so it's not like we should be shocked.) My real concern is with this damn defense. I complained about Gailey hiring old buddies with zero experience for his two coordinators, and my fellow posters out here basically told me "that's how it always works." Well, no, that is not how it always works. Please check out who the OC and DC of the KC Chiefs are to prove my point. Charlie Weiss and Romeo Cronell are not old buddies of Todd Haley. They of course are old buddies of the young guy who took over control of K.C. after he helped build the Pats into 3 time SB winners, can't remember his name, but please don't remind of that fact....I know it. But I also love it. The GM could care less about Haley feeling comfortable and "secure" picking his own guys, after just one year. He brought in two of the best coordinators ever in the NFL who also led the Pats to their 3 SB wins, and lo and behold, look at how improved those 3-0 Chiefs suddenly are. Which brings me to George Edwards, Chan's ol' buddy who never coordinated defense before in the NFL. Gee does it show?? Nothing like making your entire personnel switch positions and/or schemes only to run the exact same sit-back no-blitz crap that the former DC ran the past 4 years!!! It's the defense that has me the most upset, the offense will do just fine the rest of the season. Chan may have to fire yet another Edwards from his team before this season reaches it's merciful yet productive top 3 pick end!!

The article was excellent and the writer has a good sarcistic wit, but his question and your repeating of his question on the thread is hardly difficult to answer. Collins is the easy over-whelming answer, despite the fact that both Bledsoe and Flutie may end up in the HOF some day. They both left Buffalo with barely a gallon left in their tanks. Between both of the rest of their careers, the biggest high light for either one was Flutie drop-kicking an extra point for the Pats in garbage time during a regualar season game....that was awesome. So exactly what NFL quarterbacking success did Dan Darragh and Ed Rutkowski have after being dumped or leaving the Bills? I don't remember Darragh playing anywhere after backing up Jack Kemp for a few years and Rutkwosksi became Erie County Executive, but did he ever throw a pass for another NFL team after the Bills??

I don't care how good or bad Brian Brohm really is. I just want to be able to have a zero chance of ever having to watch Trent Edwards play quarterback for the Buffalo Bills again. I had no idea an NFL coach had to work a freakin' "miracle", just to be able to cut one horrible quarterback from his team, or at the very least, "miraculously" move him down to number 3 on the depth chart.

Hey, all those Irish names sound alike, right??

Trent Edwards is the back up quarterback for Fitzy this week. linky: http://blogs.buffalobills.com/2010/09/20/qb-pecking-order/ It seems to me, if all three QB's were supposed to have an equal and open competition for the starting position, then Brian Brohm should move up to number two behind Fitz, while Edwards moves to the back of the line, or simply gets cut....today, before the offense even has their first practice for the Pats tomorrow. Are we to believe that Brian Brohm would be a worse option, if Fitzy gets knocked half way to Albany by a blitzing Pats' OLB that Green or Bell forgets to block, then Trent freakin' Edwards?? How is Brohm supposed to feel right about now? Edwards looks about as bad as any QB has looked over two games, in what, the history of the NFL, the coach yanks him, and still Brohm remains number 3 behind that stiff?? What a joke. I said that somewhere Dick Jauron, Alex Van Pelt and Turk Shoenert were laughing their asses off after the Miami game. Well, they still haven't stopped laughing, and now their sides are hurting and tears are flowing from their eyes they are laughing so hard! Way to come in here and clean up that offense, Mr. QB-Guru Gailey!

The Bills don't need to trade for Andy Hawk. Who knows how good Hawk really is, now that he's been pushed out of the starting lineup as a former top 5 draft pick earning over 4 Mil. per season. They should trade for the Packers best back up tackle and a draft pick if they could even get that much, if they really want to trade Lynch to Green Bay.

Michael Vick? Really? I hate Vick, and hope the Bills stay away from him and draft Locker or Mallett in April. Of course you're right about the line. Maybe Gailey can get over himself and all the articles he's been reading about being a QB coaching "guru" now. His O-Line sucks, so he better start designing quick 3 step drop passes - INCLUDING quick passes to Evans, for naturally talent-challanged but tougher minded Fitzy to succeed with.

Everything depends on this Jim Kelly "mystery group" who Kelly claims have already asked Ralph about buying the team, and will be in the running when Wilson dies to buy the team from his heirs. But if they or some other savior or group of saviors don't succeed in keeping the team in Buffalo, I will no longer follow the franchise. If they leave Buffalo the new team will most certainly change the name from "Bills." Even if they kept the Bills name for some crazy reason, I will only continue to root for the BUFFALO Bills anyway. How many Colts fans do you think rooted for Indy from 1984 to 1996?? I would venture to say somewhere around zero. I'll still enjoy watching NFL football, and will most certainly root for the old Buffalo Bills franchise to lose every game they play.

Nice. You called it and I'm glad you ended up being right! I am extremely happy to see Chan bench Edwards sooner rather then later! It sucks that Nix Russ and your "ol' pal Ralph got together last off season and collectively decided to leave Gailey with only Fitzy and / or Brian Brohm to replace him.

No, he doesn't have the right to excel at his chosen profession, which is football. Michael Vick, in fact, is a convicted felon. Every company in the USA has the right and excercises that right to ask on their applications if you have ever been covicted of a felony, and then that company has the right to choose not to hire that convicted felon for that reason, if they choose not to. I'm not saying he does not deserve to be forgiven, or to try and find employment. Although he no longer has the right to vote as a convicted felon, he is still an American citizen, and every American citizen deserves the chance to work, if a company will hire him. However, I said it when Vick was on the news every day when he came out of prison, and I will say it to you again now. The NFL had an opportunity to clean up it's act by drawing the line and not allowing convicted felons back in. That's it, just the convicted felons that have to serve time in jail or prison. The NFL has that right, and they should have taken advantage of it by voting that rule in while Vick was sitting in prison trying to figure out why torturing and killing dogs was so important to him. And it's not just because he was convicted of illegal dog fighting. How about being convicted of carrying an unlicensed fire arm into a public bar and it being so blantanly illegal you have to go to jail for it? Bang - conviceted felon, goodbye and have a nice life, Plaxico. And let's not forget Donte Stallworth, being convicted of "accidental 3rd degree manslaughter" or something like that, but yet still having to go to prison for killing a man with his car. Couldn't cut a plea deal to stay out of the big house Donte? Oh well, good luck finding a job with that felony on your record. Hey, it might have made the poor framily of that innocent man who lost his life feel a tiny bit better anyway!!

Owning an NFL franchise is unlike any other type of "business" on this planet. Let me ask you a question; if your "business" earned you a gross profit of around 20 to 30 MILLION Dollars by simply opening your doors without having to improve any aspect of it for 10 years at a time, would you be "worried" about what your customers really thought, when they continue to buy your products regardless?? Welcome to the "business" of owning the Buffalo Bills my friend. Ever hear that old old saying "They are laughing all the way to the bank"? Ralph Wilson lives that saying, at least he has for the past 10 plus years, anyway.

This from Cornell Green in todays' News: "Any time you lose a game it's always frustrating," Bills tackle Cornell Green said. "We've just got to execute, man. Everybody's got to execute their plays and do their job. It's very frustrating." Well I don't know about you, but I sure feel better hearing that. They just have to execute, man. Excellent. And to think I thought they got blown out because the Packers were more talented and better coached! So let's all look forward to next week at New England coming off that crappy loss to the cocky Jets yesterday, shall we? We all know Brady and Belicheck will be prepared and focused to rebound, but they may not know Green's secret. Despite the Pats' best practicing and game planning this coming week, New England won't know that the Bills will "just be executing, man"!

Sorry, I still love my dog....just sayin'. p.s. - Vick would still suck running around this awful OL anyway. He might have a few fantastic plays, and then get his knee blown out trying to run for his life and his head telling him to do something that his body can no longer do.

No, you really can't "almost guarantee" anything, because there are no trades out there where teams would give the Bills anyone that can help them now, and Gailey's ego won't allow him to bench Edwards for at least a couple more weeks yet, in my humble opinion. If Lynch does get traded to the Packers this week, it will only be for draft picks anyway.

At New England, Sunday September 26th, 2010, 1:00 P.M. I'm a die hard Bills fan. I don't miss watching any games they play, good or bad, win or lose, for over 40 years now. I watched 'em all in the late 60's with stiffs like Dan Darraugh and James Harris playing QB. I watched em' all when Fergy struggled through the mid to late 70's after Saban quit again. I watched em' all through the mid 80's after Knox and Fergy left, featuring the two consecutive 2-14 seasons starring stiffs at QB the likes of Joe Dufek, Bruce Mattheson and a washed up Vince Ferragamo. And I've watched em' all these sad past 10 plus-seasons this new century. I might tell it like it is quite sarcastically, but I never miss watching them play, and I never stop rooting and hoping for them to WIN.

Yeah I remember the "talk". But where were you when I was trying to bring those dreamers back to Earth with my realistic (perhaps a tad sarcastic) comments to their lofty posts predicting the Bills to go 10-6-0 and make the playoffs?? I can't remind them now that I was just trying to tell them not to expect such great things back then, because now I am just this negative Bills-hater who only wants to say "I told you so." That's B.S. - I love the Bills, they have been my only favorite NFL team since I was 9 years old going to games with my Dad at War Memorial Stadium! Of course I do not "hate the Bills." The only thing I hate is the amazing lack of talent across the board my favorite team has this season. And I'm not thrilled with Gailey or G. Edwards coaching of these talentless players either. At least Gailey committed to the run and had the Bills very much in the game until the horrible 3rd quarter. As for our defensive coordinator, G. Edwards, he coached like a fool from the 2nd half kick off on. All this talk of how great his secondary is must have gotten to his head, because he didn't blitz more then just a few times the entire 2nd half. Nice job George, I'm sure Rogers and his receivers appreciated that as they blew a close game wide open with easy completed passes all over the place! And oh by the way, when will G. Edwards decide to come up with a "scheme", "package" or "alignment" that has someone, anyone, cover a tight end 15 to 20 yards down the field???? The rest of this lost 2010 season, if I were Chan Gailey, this is what I would do: 1) Cut Trent Edwards today. 2) No matter the opponent, their defensive "packages and schemes" they use, or the circumstance during each game, I would make it mandatory for the offense to run at least 35 - 40 times per game, and allow my other two talentless QB's left on the roster to only throw 10-15 passes. 3) On defense, I would blitz and then after that, blitz some more. If all else fails, then I would just blitz. As we compete for that coveted number one drat choice next April, I figure at least we would kick some butt physically since we cannot match up talent-wise!!

Great link, great play, one of the few real highlight reel plays out of the Bills all of last season. Here's the problem. As far as Fitzy being the starting QB, if I wanted to waste my time and I had access to every play Fitzy ran last season, I have no doubt I would be able to post more plays on U-Tube where he looked just as bad as Edwards did, then resembled that gorgeous pass and catch to T.O. U-Tube link of yours. Fitzy is smarter then Edwards as a QB, he has more fire and passion then Edwards as a QB, but damn it to hell, the poor guy just doesn't have the physical talent to be successful as a full time starting NFL QB. Hey, someday he may be a great OC or even head coach in the NFL. But game to game, over a full 16 game schedule, he will end up putting almost identicle stats and won-lost record that Edwards will put up. They are the same guy, in different bodies. One has the great arm that will enable him to throw for around 2,500 yards despite the fact he has zero pocket presence and is scared as hell to throw the ball down field, and lead this team to about 5-11-0 record. The other one has good pocket presence and good instincts to move around in the pocket and is not afraid to throw the ball any time, but his lousy arm and lack of speed will only enable him to throw for around 2,500 yards, and lead this team to about a 5-11-0 record.

You should write for Lettermen. That is hillarious. Especially after that C-Gun (short for CRAP-Gun) spread formation Gailey had them start off last week worked so well with Edwards attempting more passes then runs. "Designed to put up a quick 7"??? What offense are you designing, Mannings' Colts or Bradys' Pats?...perhaps Brees's Saints??? If Gailey sends the Bills offense out in a passing no-huddle offense to start the game against Clay Matthews and his blitzing buddies on the Pack defense in ear-splitting fan-crazed Green Bay with Trent Edwards behind that O-Line, the only thing that design will "put up" is a quick punt, sack - fumble, or defensive TD for Green Bay within the first two minutes of this sorry football game! I would give Chan the man more credit if he lined up his offense in a two tight end, 1 wide out 2 back I-formation utilizing the full back leading the I, "designed" to run at least 40 rushes against a stacked defense with up to 9 guys in the box, the entire freakin' game. Even if Morman would need an ice bath in the locker room after the game by punting 14 times, at least the Bills would use up clock and maybe even keep the Packers down to 28 points.

Very good assesment. I'll translate it into a shorter version adding a touch of reality into the mix just for fun: Packers 42 Bills 3 Reasoning: The Packers are legitimate SB contenders, while the Bills are legitimate 2011 top 5 draft pick contenders, and the game is in Green Bay. Reality does indeed bite, doesn't it?

No argument on him being the best 6th round pick for the Bills. Grant Guthrie was a decent kicker 40 years ago for a few years, but that's about it. However, check out some of these picks from even lower rounds in Bills history: *Jay Riemersma - 7th Round, 1996 (tight end in the Pete Metzellars mold who started a few years after Pete went off to Carolina with Frank Reich.) *Kurt Schulz - 7th Round 1992 (starting fee safety throughout the 90's) *Mark Pike - 7th Round 1986 (2nd best special teams player in Bills history) *Bob Chandler - 7th Round, 1974 (one of the best all-time receivers in Bills history, great blocker during the O.J. glory years) *Jeff Wright - 8th Round, 1988 (starting nose tackle for Bills Super Bowl teams after Smerlas left - great pass rusher for his smaller size.) *Carlton Bailey - 9th Round, 1988 (shared starting LB duties with oft-injured Shane Conlan next to Ray Bentley during SB years - terrific hitter with good speed) *Keith McKeller - 9th Round, 1987 - (Naturally talented receiving tight end who never rose to full time starter, but was more famous for actually being the "K" in the SB era "K-Gun" No Huddle offense.) *Rob Riddick 9th Round, 1981 - (Worked his way up to starting running back after Joe Cribbs bolted for the USFL and had some very productive years before Thurman came along in '88) *Mike Lodish 10th round, 1990 - (Was a very reliable back up nose tackle behind Wright during the SB years.) *Greg Cater 10th round, 1980 - (Bills' starting punter for about 5 years or so.) *Will Grant 10th round, 1978 - (Bills' starting center during the Knox playoff years and beyond, ended starting at center for Buffalo for almost 10 years.) *Howard Ballard 11th Round 1987 (Became the starting LT from his rookie season and remained the "House" that protected Kelly's blind side throughout the SB years until he left for Seattle with free agency. *Charles Romes 12th Round, 1977 - (Bills' starting CB during the Knox years and beyond, similar to Will Grant's time.) Taking value and draft position into consideration, House Ballard may be one of the all-time steals in the 11th round of the draft in NFL history. Unfortunately for him, after punching his free agent ticket to Seattle in the prime of his career, he was ravaged by knee injuries and was never Pro Bowl level again.