BillsPhan

I was at the game with my future wife, and we both cried our eyes out during that anthem. You know, I seem to remember that our game may have been the second major sporting event on TV since the Gulf War started, although I could be wrong about this. (After missing the playoffs for 10 straight years, thinking back to the actual beginning of the greatest Bills teams ever is really getting more and more difficult!). Was there an NHL game on national TV from Chicago played perhaps the Saturday evening before our game, where I remember the fans taking the roof off old Chicago Stadium during that anthem? Whatever, I'm glad you brought our National Anthem up for that game, since I did not attend the SB the next week, and was there at our game to experience the anthem, as opposed to watching Whitney Houston on TV.

Loadholt and Oher are RT's now, just finishing up their rookie seasons. When McKinnie gets a couple more years along in Minnesota, don't be surprised to see big Loadholt switched over to left. And I don't know who the starting LT is in Baltimore, but Oher looks like he's good enough to switch over if needed too. Besides, even with Langston Walker penciled in at LT and a healthy Brad Butler moving out to RT, I still thought the Bills needed to draft the best OT available with either one of their two first round picks, after they traded Peters.

Pete Carroll does nothing to excite me as head coach of the Bills. I'm surprised he even wants to come back to the NFL, after finding such great success at USC. But maybe the Seahawks know something, or have a feeling about the guy this time around. I always use Bill Belichecks' first job in Cleveland as my reason not to rule out a coach his second time around.

Sure I'm aware of that contract extension they gave him that was more then fair earlier in his career. But are you aware that the Eagles not only paid him his top payday immediately, but that they also traded a first round draft pick to the Bills for the privalege of being able to pay him all that money? And despite their disapointing playoff game this past weekend, Peters did help the Eagles make the playoffs again this season, and that he was voted to another Pro Bowl? Maybe if the Bills would have drated Mike Oher with the Maybin pick, or Phil Loadholt with the Wood pick, I would not still be defending Peters right now. But as Peters begins his off season workouts in Philly, as their starting LT, coming off 3 consecutive Pro Bowl seasons, who exactly is the Bills starting LT beginning his off season workouts up here?? If you "are aware" of who that player is, could you fill me in please???

In reality, of course the Bills can sit around and wait. Waiting for Bill Cowher to see if any other jobs open up until the week after the Super Bowl, for example, should be no problem at all for the Bills brass. In the meantime, they continue to interview other qualified candidates on their list. Buddy Nix is in charge of the FOOTBALL operation, so he can obviously still continue to direct his scouts to prepare for the draft with our without the head coach being in the room. If the Bills finally came to terms with Cowher, let's say for example, Monday February 15th, that would still leave he and Nix another 9 weeks to huddle up and decide what to do for the 2010 draft. And even if Cowher still says no on Monday the 15th of Feb, they hire the next guy on their list, who also still has 9 weeks to huddle with Buddy to prepare for the draft.

I'm new to this board, but when the Bills traded Peters, I was pissed. Pro Bowl left tackles don't "fall off trees", no matter how egotistical and "over-rated" die hard Bills fans might think he is. Considering the Bills were starting "bartenders" (as Ralph Wilson used to call third stringers in the old AFL days) at left tackle after the weekly starter would go in IR a game into his career, it seems it would have been money well spent to pay Peters what his asking price was to lock him up for 5 more years in Buffalo.

Whatever this alleged announcement is, I hope it will be the last "rumor" coming out of Jim Kelley and Thurman Thomas. They are all over the place making comments about the franchise, or allegedly making comments about the franchise, and frankly if they are going to be involved in something meaningful, I wish they would either do it or shut up about it. Jimbo is my all time favorite Bill, and of course I watched every yard Thomas gained during his Hall of Fame career. But unless they have something substantial to add to the improvement of the team TODAY, then they are wasting their time hanging around the team on the sidelines and in the media.

We have all been there. I had seasons for 15 years. From Chuck Knox through Jim Kellys' last season in '96. Went to every sub zero game. Went to road games every year, even went to one SB game in Minneapolis. (Leave it to me to pick the cold weather city to go to my first and only Bills SB - despite how good the Redskins were that year, I was absoutely convinced the Bills could not possibly lose 2 SB games in a row, and I had to be there when they won.) But don't worry. You will reach an age, as most of us do, when you simply cannot stand going to the Ralph anymore. God bless the amazing die hards that have never reached this point. But most of us do. Today, I just act like an idiot watching the games...on TV.

NY jests 10 (Sanchez throws 3 picks) Cincy 21 Philly 14 c'pukes 31 (Dallas has the ship righted in time for the playoffs) pats 24 (Hoodie and Tommy have just enough to win a wildcard at home) Ravens 21 Packers 28 Cardinals 10 (Last year can only happen once for the Cards)

I voted for Jimmy Clausen, who I feel will be the best pro QB coming out this season. If not him, then the Bills really have to pick the best QB on their board at number 9. Sure, I watched the 6'4 255 Lb monster of a LB, McClain, playing for Alabama last night, he's the real deal. And there will be some talented OT's and DT's left on the board at #9. But come on - Jim Kelly's been retired for 14 years now! Isn't 13 drafts of ignoring the QB position with their top pick long enough?? No one will convince me that it isn't. Simple, Buddy Nix and mystery head coach: pick your best rated QB on your board at #9.

Your "hunch"? So you really don't know that Thurman is drinking again, right? So you wrote this reply even though you know NOTHING about Thurman Thomas??

No problem, I'll stop "cryin about it". And am I to expect that noone else out here will complain about anything else the Bills do from now on, or if they do, you will call them out on it, as well??

I guess it's the hiring of Buddy Nix as the GM, after they went after high profile Shanny and Cowher, that makes me laugh. And oh by the way, I'm not the only one, listen to or read up on Sully's recent thoughts on the Buddy Nix hiring. It's like they made a cursery effort to go after the best, and when that didn't work, they stopped interviewing young, sharp minded EXECUTIVES around the NFL, and just handed the GM job to good ol' Buddy who just happened to be already working at One Bills Drive. How could I be the only one to see this? Ralph should have said; "Since Russ and I could not get the coaches we wanted, we have now settled on 70 year old Buddy to do the job for us." Like I said, typical.

Yes, I believe its called having an opinion. Do you have one yourself, or do you just want to slam my post? In addition, I was also trying to add an element of humor to it, as I wondered out loud the order in which Wilson and Brandon have done things since they fired Jauron. So what do you think? Obviously I'm not admitting I know nothing, since it is a fact that Wilson and Brandon interviewed Shanny in Denver before they hired Nix. If you come back and say they did that because they tried to offer Shanny the GM / Coach job together, then that would make sense. But then the Cowher interview after they hired Nix, and not including Buddy, doesn't make sense, does it?

So the egotistical Man-"genius" stays. Holmgren is the President, and now he's going to hire a GM too. Wow. Randy Lerners' adminsitration payroll will be quite a chunk. Of course, I'm not sure how Holmgren will co-exist with a GM working under him. It makes me wonder why Lerner paid Holmgren all that money. Same deal in Washington. Bruce Allen is the GM, Shanny's the coach, yet Shanny gets "final say" in all personell matters? Sounds like a recipe for a lot of yelling and screaming if you ask me. Of course it doesn' appear that our own Buddy Nix will be revelling in his own power himself. Oh well, at least he'll be able to describe out draft choices with flare in April, anyway!

This is so typical of the Ralph Wilson led Bills since the late 90's. First, Wilson and Brandon travel to Denver to interview Mike Shannahan. Then they make "covert" trips to North Carolina, where they may or may not be having secret contract negotiations with Bill Cowher himself. They made the Shannahan inteview public, but refuse to admit anything regarding Cowher, beyond one interview trip they made together. (Of course, all of this secret contract negotiation talk is most likely b.s. anyway, and there is nothing more to admit beyond that one trip.) THEN, they hire their GM, Buddy Nix, and THEN Ralph Wilson tells us Buddy Nix will hire the next coach. Now that's funny. The two highest profile coaches available sit down with Ralph and Russ, the first one had no idea who the GM would be, and the second one (Cowher) didn't even speak with Nix, if indeed Nix was the GM when he met with Ralph and Russ in the first place. And now, it seems Nix and Brandon are FINALLY going to interview THEIR first coaching candidate together - Leslie Frazier the DC in Minnesota this week. For all I know, Wilson is going along, sitting with Russ in the front seats of Wilson's Jet, while Nix sits in the back row with luggage!

After Tom Donahoe hired Greggggg Williams because Greggggg gave great "interview", it's been downhill ever since. Mularkey was an improvment, but he quit on Marv Levy. And then Marv tried to hire his own Mini-Me with DJ. You really can't blame us, after those three misses, for wanted a coach who has won it all, can you??

Let's take a look at the 12 playoff teams' head coaches this season. Bill Belechick was a DC under Parcells twice wrapped around a failed job as head coach in Cleveland for a few years. Norv Turner, now there's a retread for you, did lousy at head coach in Washington, but was an outstanding OC for a couple teams, seems to be doing amazing things quietly in San Diego this season as they enter the playoffs as SB favorites in many pundits eyes. Who the hell was John Harbaugh before the Ravens hired him?? Now he enters his second conseutive playoff season in Baltimore. Marvin Lewis, SB winning DC from Baltimore, still chugging along in Cinti, second playoff season in 4 years for him. Rex Ryan, big mouthed big man in Jets nation, DC last year in Baltimore. Jim Caldwell? Long long long time assistant coach in Indy. Mike Sherman was an OC before GB hired him. Same with the ex-Steelers OC now head-coaching Arizona. Andy Reid was an OC before he began his long stint as head coach for the Eagles. Wade Phillips was one of the very best DC's in the NFL along with being a head coach a couple of times before Dallas brought him in. Ex OC head coaching in Minnesota, and finally an ex OC head coaching in New Orleans as well. Now, what was that you said about "retread coordinators sounding like a receipe for average results"??? Of the 12 head coaches of this seasons' playoffs, I know that at least 10 were ex coordinators. Caldwell and Harbaugh may have been coordinators too, I'm just too lazy to look it up.

The only choice the Bills should ever consider at the number 9 pick is of course QB. They will get one of the best ones coming out this season (and there are some good ones), and since its' been "only" 14 years since they have not been able to replace Jimbo, it's finally time the Bills used a top 10 pick on the most important position in football. Don't give me the late first round choice on Lost-man as a recent investment in a QB. In most cases, the drop off from top 10 to the bottom 10 picks in the first round talking QB talent is high. (Of course not all cases, lest we ever forget that Tom Brady was picked in the 6th round, and Joe Montana was picked in the 2nd (or was it 3rd) round!! Anyway, now that the Bills have their "football" guy in Buddy Nix running the draft, he should have no problem finding OL talent beginning in the 2nd round and later. This year, at number nine, they MUST take the best QB on their board. In my humble opinion.

I don't get it. The Giants are hot to hire DJ as their defensive coordinator. Now I read that the Bears are hot to get Fewell back and make him their DC. Two teams that both have been in the SB within the past 4 years, think that those two coaches would improve their respective defenses. How on earth could the Bills, who had BOTH of them working together at the same time for 3 plus seasons, have had such terrible defenses during their time together??? Only in good old Buffalo. The Bears and Giants have always been proud of stopping the run like....forever. So they both want the two guys that combined to put one of the WORST run defenses over a 3 year period in NFL history out on the field for the Buffalo Bills. Say all you want about the players the Bills drafted and signed during their time together, if these guys are so highly thought of as respective DC's for such excellent franchises, logic dictates that they should have been able to finish higher then freakin' number 30 against the run at least one of those 3 seasons together!