hondo in seattle

I'm tempted to ditto this but since I live near Seattle, I predict this Super Bowl will feature the Bills and Seahawks.

It's where I live. I'm excited to have a new coaching staff that - on paper - seems to be qualified and new personnel leadership that - on paper - seems to be qualified. But my optimism will be of the cautious variety until I see results on the field.

I'm worried about the secondary in general... Darby seemed to regress his sophomore year. Seymour didn't look like a starter when he got to play last season. Poyer was the 69th ranked safety last year (PFF). White's a rookie. Maybe McD will work miracles with these guys but I think there's cause for concern here.

Poyer was rated by PFF as the 69th best safety in the NFL last season. But given how dysfunctional the Browns D was last season, you have to wonder how much Poyer's poor play was a factor of their poor scheme, poor communication, etc.

I think that's the interesting thing, GB: Rex was not a good head coach. And yet he went 7-8 last year. So the roster couldn't have been horrible if a bad coach can tickle .500. Our biggest roster losses (Gilmore, Woods) were replaced by high draft picks. This year's roster is comparable to 2016's roster. If McD has truly assembled a better coaching staff and is a better leader & coach than Rex, shouldn't we win 8 or more games this year?

There are no surprises here. Neither Beane nor McD have a background with TT. Why would they say he's the established Day One starter? Shouldn't there be open competition at every position every year? If one of the other QBs clearly outplayed TT in preseason, why wouldn't he be named the starter instead. Every season, every team will put their best 22 on the field. If TT is not one of the 22, he'll be on the sidelines. Obviously, right now TT looks to be the starter this season. McD acknowledged as much. But things can change, as McD has also acknowledged. Nothing Beane or McD has said has either encouraged me or discouraged me regarding the QB position. They've said only the things they kind of have to say.

Years ago when Buddy Nix was hired to be the GM, King wondered why we brought Nix out of retirement when we could have hired an up-and-coming personnel star like, for example, Doug Whaley of Pittsburgh. Then we did hire Whaley and the drought continued. King is so much better connected than most media guys and this interview is pretty neat. But his take on things isn't always on target.

I'm the father of two daughters. I don't want sexism to work against them in whatever fields of endeavor they pursue. So for the sake of daughters everywhere, I always cheer on the advances of women in traditionally male fields. Congrats to Beth! Great news!

I know the Tuna never bought into it, but most coaches kind of inherently understand some form of the "Pygmalion Effect." In short, the Pygmalion Effect says that people tend to perform as they are expected to perform by authority figures (parents, teachers, coaches) to perform. When you treat people like winners, they tend to behave like winners. When you treat people like losers, they behave like losers. So, of course, most coaches will express confidence in their QBs. And that makes it hard to discern coach-speak from actual opinion.

A bunch of youngsters for sure! This could be very good. Marv and Buddy were clearly stopgaps at their ages. And probably didn't have the fire of a young guy out to make a name for himself. If Sean and Brandon turn out to be good at their new jobs, we could retain them for a number of years and create something of a dynasty. It's a big if. But football insiders seem to think highly of all three including Schoen. I'm cautiously optimistic.

Schoen wasn't the entire Miami scouting department. The scouting department is a team of its own. Saying you don't like the Miami scouting department is like saying you don't like the New Orleans Saints. Therefore we shouldn't sign any players from the Saints? Personally, I'd sign Brees in a heartbeat if he wanted to come to Buffalo. Like any team, the Miami scouting department has more-talented guys and less-talented guys. Apparently, Beane has identified Schoen as one of the more talented guys. Unless you have good insider information, I don't know why you'd want to second-guess him. Except that we're Bills fans and second-guess everything.

You don't fire people for past mistakes. You fire people to avoid future mistakes. With Brandon not involved in roster decisions, what future mistakes do we solve by firing him? Do any of us truly care if he gives us more bad slogans? I only care about the product on the field and that product seems to be firmly in the hands of Bean and McD. Brandon's fate is irrelevant to me - and most fans. Holy Crap - apparently I'm past my peak! I wonder if the owner I work for is looking to replace me with someone younger with "a fresh set of eyes." If so, it's age discrimination! I can run circles around those young pups!

I don't know if Brandon and Overdorf are any good in the roles currently assigned to them. So I don't care if they're fired or retained. We have new folks (McD and Beane) in charge of the product on the field and I'm happy enough with that.

I empathize. I have one of those shirts that says "Just one before I die." Here in Seattle, few can decipher it but any Bills fan would know immediately what we're talking about. I used to think like this: I will probably live - given family genetics, health factors, etc. - about 32 more years. Probability says I should witness one Bills Super Bowl win before I die. But that's assuming each year each team has a 1-in-32 chance of winning and that's clearly not accurate. The Bills are obviously cursed and their odds are longer. So maybe I should be more realistic and just ask for one playoff appearance before I die.

Argument by anecdote isn't persuasive. It might have been reported at the time that Overdorf controlled all contracts - but that doesn't make it true. Lots of stuff in the media is wrong. In any case, it was a long time ago and none of us know what power Overdorf yields today, if any. Very true.

I'm embarrassed that while most of my fellow Bills fans are intelligent, reasonable people, others are both opinionated and clueless at the same time. I've heard nothing but good things about McD and Beane. I'm hoping for the best but as a jaded fan who's suffered years of disappointment, I always fear the worst. Rationally, I have no opinion. I just don't know enough about the attributes, talents and character traits of these two gentlemen to have a strong point of view. As a fan, my 'due diligence' consists of watching what they do in their new roles. We're just beginning that process. In my job, I have to review bench plans for my business teams. One of the ratings we can give someone is "Too New to Rate." I'd give both McD and Beane the rating: "Too New to Rate."

When you go to a restaurant, do you really care who has final say over the staff? Or is the product and experience you're getting the truly important thing?

Thanks for the insight! I know virtually nothing about Beane. It's good to get some info from folks who know more than I do - rather than reading the ranting of people just as ignorant as I am. As fans we won't know for years if Beane is a good GM, but it's encouraging that multiple sources with direct knowledge of the guy think highly of him.

I used to be an officer in the army and would break down the reporting of our operations as follows: * 1/3 was somewhat accurate. * 1/3 was wrong * 1/3 was flat out stupid. I'm not sure it's naivete or hubris that makes us believe we can evaluate the GM search when all we know about it is what few nuggets appeared in the sports media which I guess is no more accurate than the news media. We all assume McD recommended Beane. But if so, so what? It might be a very good recommendation. And how did Pegs identify the other candidates? Did he hire a search firm? A consultant? Did the search firm or consultant participate in the interviews? Does Pegs have a group of unofficial advisors including people like Bill Polian? Maybe Polian praised the hiring of Beane because he championed Beane. We just don't know. And yet we judge.

Horribly sad. Condolences for the Berman family.

I am amused by the people who have strong negative and positive opinions on this hire. How much do any of us actually know about Beane or any other Assistant GM? I'll wait till I learn more before I form my own opinion.

You may be right.

Exactly right. While it wasn't at the same level, I'm sure Elway learned a lot from the process. At the same time, Pat Bowlen could see Elway had an aptitude for this kind of work. An example from the other end of the spectrum. Being a good player in no way, shape, or form makes you a good evaluator of players. Would Manning be another Elway? Or another Millen?

Spend some time in the San Fran-San Jose area and see if you still think so.

I know John Elway has had some success, but this idea would make me nervous. What does Manning know about organizing, mentoring and leading a staff of football scouts, let alone evaluating college talent?