hondo in seattle

I agree - not with the mad part but the rest of this. I was encouraged by CK's play last year but not impressed and confident enough to commit to him as our starting LT.

You're right. That's why I would have voted for him. But the argument you could make is that those teams would have won even more games if TO had been a better teammate. Would a strong, team-first coach like Vince Lombardi have wanted Jerry Rice on his team? Absolutely. Jerry was an amazing individual talent and a good teammate who inspired his fellow players to better themselves with his work ethic. Would Lombardi have wanted TO? I'm not so sure.

I lived in San Francisco when TO was there. And TO quickly built a reputation as a me-first, disruptive kind of guy. He might have behaved well with the Bills but he did not earlier in his career. Part of the impact you have as a player is the impact you have on your teammates. Some players - like Jim Kelly - get 'bonus points, for their leadership. I can see why certain selectors would assess 'penalty points' to TO for his anti-leadership traits so to speak. I hope/think these selectors don't intend to keep TO out of the HOF forever. I'm guessing they're just denying him the honor of early entry. TO will eventually get in. Btw, I personally would have voted for TO in his first year of eligibility. There was just too much undeniable talent there, too much production. I get it's not fair to compare receivers of different eras, but I've got to point this out: TO has 3 times as many 1000 yard seasons as John Stallworth and Lynn Swann combined and they're both in the HOF. Nonetheless, I can't vilify those on the other side of the argument. Performance in the huddle, locker room, meeting rooms and on the practice field count. These also effect a team's chances of winning.

If we sign Rich Wagner, we can play Ride of the Valkyries every time the Bills score.

Dude, I don't agree with the OP either but neither one of us has cause for personal attacks. We're all Bills fans, brothers in arms, comrades in shared misery. We should be civil to each other.

This is good for a 5th post. But... #1. Trading TT would be difficult. #2. Just because we "aggressively" pursue a trade for Romo doesn't mean we'll get him. There are a lot of QB-hungry teams that would compete with us if Dallas was willing to make a deal. And Romo might veto a trade to Buffalo. He's accustomed to a newer, shinier city and a much different climate. #3. Why would we 'tell the world' that CJ will be our QB of the future when it's likely that he's not? What's the benefit? #4. Drafting a WR would not entice Romo to play in Buffalo. A new domed stadium could add a little interest. A fat contract might too. But an unproven, rookie QB won't mean squat to a veteran on the edge of retirement. #5. I agree with this wholeheartedly. Every fan in WNY agrees. The parking lot attendants at OBD agree. We need a RT. #6. Get healthy on D? How can anyone argue with that? But how do we get healthy? Maybe Whaley should spend the offseason in medical school. And let McDermott do his thing? Geez, I hope so. I hope we didn't hire McD to do Rex's thing. Not sure what the point is here. #7. No one knows the future but it seems probable that if Romo is your starter, your backup is going to see a lot of playing time. Based on what I saw from CJ last season, going into 2017 with CJ as Romo's backup would scare the heck out of me.

The media is right about half the time. The problem is figuring which half is right and which half is wrong. I'm guessing this tidbit from Vic is in the wrong half. I'm guessing the plan at OBD is to start TT again, keep developing Cardale, and draft another QB. And maybe add a vet and let the coaches figure out which ones to keep.

Thanks for the clarification, PD. Good posts. For me, this is interesting stuff. I think when we hear the word "coach," we automatically expect that NFL coaches are coaching technique. In fact, they all spend a lot of time getting players to memorize the plays, know the game plan, understand the scheme, learn tendencies from film study, etc. And players don't spend all their time with their position coaches. They also have time with the trainers and strength & conditioning coaches. So some coaches, depending on how they manage their time, don't actually have any to teach fundamentals. Bill Walsh, an exception, said that the 49ers identified something like 30 individual techniques that a lineman had to master in order to excel in the NFL. So when he ran the club, they practiced those techniques over and over until they mastered them. They had a similar approach for each position. This seems like common sense, but apparently not.

This doesn't surprise me because we've heard it many times before. Fitz said that the first time anyone tried to coach his mechanics was when he came to the Bills. QBs have said they spend time with with QB gurus like Tom House because they don't get that kind of tutoring on fundamentals with their teams. Etc. I don't know if Donald Jones puts the blame in the right place. But he has no reason to lie about some position coaches not teaching technique. And Polish Dave is right in hoping our coaches are better than this. Guys don't come out of college with perfect technique. Someone needs to coach them up.

If we're not a talented team, then the GM and not the HC should have received the blame. We should have fired Whaley and not Rex. But if we think the roster is talented but Rex didn't know how to best utilize his roster, then we fired the right man. And the Pegulas were right for keeping DW.

Exactly right. Tyrod's salary would preclude us from signing a high priced franchise QB if one became available. (Currently no good QBs are FAs). But having Tyrod doesn't prevent us from drafting a QB who'll get a rookie salary.

If you're going to look at offensive points scored per game, you have to do that for other teams as well. And you'll see that 25.9 points per game is good offensive production. So the fact remains, that the Lynn/TT combo was pretty dynamic. The question is whether TT actually had very much to do with that success. My own opinion is that there was great chemistry between Roman's play design, Lynn's play calling, Shady's running skills, and TT's own athleticism. There was a ton of synergy involved. And while Shady's ability as a back was the most important element, I think all the ingredients mattered. But it's obvious from this thread that others vehemently disagree and we'll never reach a consensus. And I guess it doesn't matter. Roman won't design this year's plays. Lynn won't make the play calls. TT may not even be on the team but if he is, it will be in an entirely new offense that might make him look better - or worse. All I can do is wait and see.

As Brock Osweiler proved last year, the market for flawed QBs in the NFL is amazingly hot. Even mid-tier QBs are worth a lot of money. Teams with bottom-tier QBs will pay a lot to snatch up someone like Tyrod up if he was a FA. Until we draft and groom his replacement, I think we need to keep Taylor. Some worry about Taylor's cap hit. It's called the cost of doing business. While Taylor's cap number does prevent us from signing a high profile FA QB (who would we want, anyway?), it does not preclude us from drafting and grooming a QB. While I see the flaws in Taylor's game, like the ones Rodak mentions, I don't see a compelling alternative.

First of all, we don't know if Marrone thought he was a hot commodity. In fact, he says he did NOT expect to get another HC job right away and that's not why he left. Second of all, it's entirely different. Marrone had the opportunity to walk out of a contract and still get paid. Marrone had to act and by his actions made it clear he didn't want to be in Buffalo. Taylor wants to stay and - in any case - has no choice. This time it's the team, not the player, who has to choose. The two situations are not analogous.

Dude, it's fine to have an opinion. It's fine to disagree. But it's uncool to attack other people. We're all Buffalo Bills fans - brothers in arms, comrades in mutual suffering. It's bad enough we have to face the disappointment of games lost and opportunities missed. Life hands us enough misery, we don't need to add to it with personal attacks.

I do think it's likely that the D will get better. But I'm afraid the O will get worse. No knock against the new offensive coaching staff but I think there was a great chemistry between Roman's play designs, Lynn's play-calling, and the combined running skills of Shady, TT and MG. When Lynn was calling plays and TT was under center, we averaged 27 points per game. I don't think the new coaching staff will match that.

Kinda sad, kinda funny, mostly true.

It took me a moment to understand just what you were suggesting. And then I laughed. And now I almost feel duty bound to root for the Pats. But I just can't do it.

Trumps disapproval rating is something like 53%. If everyone who said something negative about Trump got fired, our economy would collapse. I'm not sure why this is on TBD. But I'm all for freedom of speech.

I don't think many players give many teams 'discounts.' But I do think some players will play for the Pats for less money than they could get elsewhere. I think players want to win, want to play in Super Bowls, want to see what it's like playing for Belichick. The Pats have built up a tradition of success and now that tradition reinforces itself by giving them a competitive advantage in recruiting and retaining FAs.

Nick Foles was transcendent in '13. Over 9 yards per attempt with a 27-2 TD to INT ratio. The rest of his career has been undistinguished. He must have thought 2013 was his breakout year and that he was well on his way to a good/great NFL career. Funny how things work out. I wouldn't be opposed, though, to the Bills picking him up if the price is right.

The first football game I ever watched - when I was maybe 9 or 10 - was between the Browns and Cowboys. The 'Boys were the best team in the NFL's Capitol Division back then. The Browns were the best team in the NFL's Century Division. I decided I was rooting for the Browns and have been something of a Browns fan ever since. I'm a much bigger Bills fan, of course, but I don't give a crap about any NFL team outside the Bills primarily and Browns secondarily. So either I'm cursed by rooting for perennial losers. Or I am the curse. When I root for a team, they lose.

I'd prefer Tyrod, McCown and Cardale. Go Bills!

I asked my wife if we should buy the car. She said, "No, no, no... it looks like a funeral kind of car" and walked away. My wife is from the Philippines so some of her cultural references confuse me. Do they use colorful stretch limos for funerals in the Philippines? I suppose it's possible. I've seen pictures of cars with poles and pole dancers used for funerals in China. Then I considered the drought and how this car has been on the road for all those non-playoff seasons. And then the funeral reference made some kind of weird sense to me.

Looking back at last year, OT was the position that frustrated me the most (yes, even more than QB). But we have so many FAs and so many needs, Whaley needs to be very busy this offseason.