hondo in seattle

My fear is this: Rex proves to be an average coach and DW proves to be an average GM. The Pegulas won't fire either quickly because neither is downright bad. But average + average = average. And average doesn't get you into the playoffs.

I'm 57 years old and am from a family where people often live into their 90s. The last time I was in Buffalo, I bought a sweat shirt that reads, "Just one before I die." I doubt I'll get even that.

I just don't know how you can label a .500 franchise a "joke." The NFL is highly competitive and filled with some very capable people. We're middle of the pack, not the best, not the worst. I guess we're a joke if you look at the playoff drought. But the owners, personnel department and coaching staff are all relatively new and you can't hold them accountable for that. They are accountable for this very average season so far. You could argue the Browns are a joke. The Bills are just another mediocre team.

I think Murph is good at his job. Sully seemingly gets paid to be negative. Murph gets paid to be positive. But Murph's's no more positive than many on this site. Some fans just prefer optimism and he strikes me as one of those types. If I had to be stuck in an elevator with someone, I'd much prefer to be stuck with Murph than Sully.

Tom Brady and the Patriots hang 41 on the Bills at home and we should have run more? It did seem odd that we were throwing the ball when our WR corps was so depleted. I just figured it was because ALynn knew we needed to score a lot to keep up with Brady. I was more upset in the Miami game where we should have pounded one of the worst run defenses in the NFL with MG.

I disagree with Rex being a .500 coach no matter what. Rex will post an above average W-L record (less than .500) with an above average roster. He'll post a below average W-L record with below average roster. I do agree that he's a very average coach. If we keep Rex, it'll be on Whaley to turn the team into a winner.

Ayn Rand and Monty Python both within the first few responses. Love my fellow Bills fans! But the OP's point is a fair one to make: the wins and points draw say that when these two teams went head to head, they came out even. Sadly, we all know which team is actually better regardless of the results.

A desperate move by a team that is in fact desperate. Percy might not be good for a whole season, but maybe he can last a half of season. If he stays healthy for just 3 games, that might be long enough for Woods and Sammy to get healthy.

Average coaching and an average roster lead to a .500 record.

In years past, I hardly cared about Goodwin's status. But him being cleared for this game is very good news considering what our WR corps looked like in the Pats game.

Maybe the reality is that his ceiling as a passer is low. Maybe he's a more effective runner than passer. To play to his strengths, maybe the right progression for him is (1) throw to primary, (2) run.

Just a little. There might have been a tiny amount of flawed logic in your OP. Just a dash of homerism, maybe.

Of course it does.

I think Rex's record says he's a purely average head coach. He wins more games than he loses when he has a good roster. He loses more games than he wins when he has a bad roster. He coaches .500 ball when he has an average roster. I can't hate a guy for being average at his job in such a competitive profession. But it did bug me when he was smiling over the challenge flag at the end of the game. How can you smile when you're team got embarrassed in front of a home crowd? Competitors don't smile at a loss.

My wife says she likes when the Bills lose because I turn off the TV in disgust at the end of the game and drown my sorrows in frenetic yard work and household chores. Today I grabbed a machete and started hacking a trail through our backyard forest. When we win, I watch football all day to luxuriate in our victory. F**k football today. I don't want to see any scores or highlights to remind me of this shellacking. And this is enough of TBD; I'm going back to hack some more trail.

I'm 4-3 on predictions this year because I've predicted the Bills to win every game. Not this time. They have their best offensive weapons playing and healthy. Our best offensive weapons will be watching from the sidelines. Even at full strength, they're the better team. Pats 33, Bills 10.

Great guy, great coach, very sad news. Gives lie to the myth that if you keep your brain active, you'll keep Alzheimers at bay.

Exactly right. And one of the reasons the Pats are throwing team is because they have arguably the best QB of all time. We all agree that it would be awesomely helpful if Tyrod became a better QB. But comparing his passing output to Brady's is fairly meaningless.

Tyrod (44) has more bad throws than Fitz (34). That's worrisome. But I'd still like to see yards-per-dropback numbers for TT. He deserves credit for the designed passing plays he transformed into positive running plays.

IMHO Mighty Taco has lost its edge and has become too much like Taco Bell.

I'll watch and then ask myself, "Why did I waste three hours of my life watching this game? Am I a masochist? Why do I punish myself this way?"

UC, I give you credit. You knew you were going to get clobbered posting this idea but you did it anyway.

It's feast or famine when the Bills O gets the ball. Simplifying, either a big play helps us get points on the board or we go three and out. While we're 10th in points per drive, we're only 25th in yards per drive. And we're losing the battle of field position: giving up 2.5 more yards per drive than we're gaining. We're good enough on both sides of the ball to be 4-3 but we need to get better. Losing all our opening day WRs to injury doesn't help. http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/drivestats

Surprised that the statisticians and computers are giving us a roughly 50-50 chance. Flesh-and-blood humans seem much more pessimistic in their odds. This might explain it.

I'm with you... both the biggest surprises and biggest disappointments are on defense. I will add that I'm not surprised Lorax and Zach are capable players. I am surprised that have been playing like outright superstars. Another big surprise, of course, was learning that Roman was fired. I didn't see that coming. I was wondering if last year maybe Richie prepared like crazy because he had a chip on his shoulder and something to prove. Maybe this year he just didn't work as hard - and his age might be becoming a factor.