hondo in seattle

As I've listened to the players and coaches over the past couple years, there are a couple themes in the commentary about EJ: 1. He doesn't have an accuracy problem so much as he has a timing problem. The poor timing makes his accuracy look bad. 2. He also has a problem with confidence. It's not a given that Lee can fix either of these. But Lee's been working with QBs since 1975 so I'm guessing he's had to deal with both issues many times before. Let's hope his treasury of experience can lead to improvements in EJ's game.

I'll concede the point - you guys are making convincing arguments. But, as a Bills fan, I'm still glad were in a position - thanks to revenue sharing and the salary cap - to spend as much as the big market teams. I never expected, though, that either would provide perfect parity. And I'm not sure I'd want perfect parity. I don't want to feel random luck determines the Super Bowl winner - and the distribution of SB wins. I like thinking this is a merit based system.

I've watched maybe two PBs in the past 10 years. The wrong players often go, and the players who do go don't put out optimal effort. I agree with May Day - they might as well play flag football.

Does this speak to Doug's desperation? Apparently his agent has been starting up all sorts of rumors, leaking untruths to members of the media, trying to generate some interesting in Marrone, all to no avail. So Marrone takes a OL coach - with a somewhat more exalted title - just to land a job and stay in the NFL. But the position he takes is probably just a temp job because the coaching staff is probably going to get fired at the end of the season.

La Canfora has a lot of sources - some of which are unreliable, like for example, Doug's agent.

You and most everyone else from what I've heard. But he is indeed smart about football. Someone reported he was very disappointed not to be considered for our HC opening when we hired Marrone.

Some of us predicted his next gig would be as an OL Coach. His resume as an OC is pretty weak. He was OC in name only at NO and neither developed the scheme nor called the plays. His offense in Buffalo sucked. That experience doesn't recommend him as an OC. His resume to be a HC is actually stronger than his resume to be an OC. He did achieve a winning record his 2nd season. Then again, he more or less quit on the team and apparently didn't get along with the FO. So what FO would want him as a HC? So here he is as an OL coach. Too funny, but not unexpected.

Jax hires Marrone as Asst. HC/OL Coach. Too funny.

I think it was this more than anything. And Lynch is so reticent I doubt if he said much to reassure them. But hindsight is 20-20 as they say the trade looks just awful now.

Ryan worked for Billick for something like 9 years (and performed very well for him). This makes me think a few things... 1. Billick knows Rex very well and is qualified to evaluate him. 2. Billick probably likes Rex and therefore may not be entirely objective. 3. Billick's evaluation of Rex is skewed by his knowledge of Rex as a successful DC and less influenced by his more limited knowledge of Rex as a HC. With all that in mind, Billick makes some good points though none were earth-shaking novel insights.

There may be some truth in this. But I think many losing teams would love to have the 4th ranked defense - a defense good enough to produce 9 wins when paired with an impotent offense. As far as the Bills not being an attacking defense, didn't we lead the NFL in sacks? Weren't we also good at take-aways? I know what you're saying about the style of defense we played, but Schwartz produced the stats an attacking defense is supposed to produce. Depending how much of our success you want to attribute to Schwartz, you would think there's a lot of accomplishments on his resume to make him an attractive candidate.

The salary cap equalizes - to an extent - the one thing that could be equalized: spending on player salaries. This helps prevent big market teams from dominating the NFL the way they do in baseball. It does not equalize the distribution of good owners, good scouts, good coaches, or even good players. To do all that would be goofy: * We could allow, for example, the 6 worst teams to pick a HC from another team. * We could allow the 3 worst teams each year to hire a current GM of another team as well as scouts from other teams. * We could allow the very worst team to sign any QB in the NFL regardless of their current contract. * The fans of the worst 4 teams each year could be allowed to choose a new owner from the existing pool of owners. I think absolute parity would be boring. The drama of football includes the rise and fall of dynasties and heroes. Instead of parity we have a meritocracy that isn't driven entirely by money. Each team will achieve what it has the will & talent to achieve. This gives hope to all 32 cities. Hope, btw, drive attendance, TV viewership, souvenir sales and so on. I think the salary cap works exactly as intended.

Another Lee thread?

What a disappointing article. I have eaten Kobe - and other types of Wagyu - several times. Or at least I thought I had. I've had "American Kobe" and "American Wagyu" as well. Now I wonder if I've actually ever had real Kobe.

Of course! If he was any good, he could take a 5'1", 270 lb WR with no hand-eye coordination and coach him into the Pro Bowl. The talent of the WRs he had to work with in New Jersey is no excuse for his lack of success. Rex is an idiot for hiring this guy. The fans on this board should approve all position coaches to avoid these kinds of gross lapses in judgement.

Generally, I do. Lee is a little different because we have prior experience with him. Plus, Rex tends to be loyal to a fault. But I'm not unhappy with this hire. Just curious about what others may be able to add to the story.

I also agree with this. Great offensive line produce rushing yards, almost no matter who's toting the ball, and make their QBs better.

I'm sure there are guys who coach on the defensive side of the ball who understand defensive techniques and assignments but don't have a sophisticated understanding of offensive football. But to be a top-notch DC, you have to know the intricacies of offensive game planning. If you want to take away the things that work for your opponent, you need to understand what they are and why they work. Since we're making military references here, let me add this: "If you know yourself and know your enemy, you will win every battle. If you know yourself, but not your enemy, you will win one then lose one. If you know neither yourself nor your enemy, you will be imperiled in every battle." Sun Tzu

Pettine got the Bills defense up to #23 in the rankings and that accomplishment won him a HC job. Schwartz takes over, loses his Pro Bowl safety to free agency and his rookie phenom to injury, and moves the D up to #4 in the rankings. But he gets barely a sniff for a DC job. Something doesn't seem right.

You mean athletic but crappy accuracy throwing the ball?

What do we really know about Lee? Geno might have been worse with another QB coach. He might have been better. Who knows? Same with Fitz (who actually had his 2nd best passer rating and yardage totals in his one year working with Lee). It's not hard to go back and see the QBs that Lee has worked with and how they performed. What we don't know is what Lee actually contributed, or failed to contribute. There are too many other variables to consider: OC, scheme, WRs, protection, the health & effort of the QB himself, etc. Besides a couple short stints as OC and offensive quality control, Lee has been coaching QBs since 1975. I'm assuming he's learned a little something in all that time. Bill Parcells once hired Lee to coach QBs for the Fins. I think Parcells may know a little something about evaluating QB coaches. If Lee is good enough for Parcells and Rex, I'm thinking he's good enough for me.

It sure seems like Hackett wasn't ready for the NFL though I recall Freddy saying Hackett was "handcuffed" or something like that. Hackett is a human being and I have sympathy for (almost) all human beings. Hackett is also a smart, enthusiastic young guy. I think and hope he learns from this experience and eventually becomes a good OC in college or the NFL some day.

I'm reading "Collision Low Crossers" - the book written by a journalist who was imbedded in Jets organization for a full year with keys to the building and an office in the personnel department. He writes, "There are six basic fronts in football. Teams usually play one, typically either the 4-3 with four down lineman and three linebackers, or the 3-4. Rex featured all six fronts, each packaged with dozens of variations." (p.16) I imagine seeing a lot of scheme variations and personnel groupings next year. Didn't Rex once face Brady with 0 linebackers - only down linemen and DBs???

Kelly, I think you're right. I think that good OCs understand defenses very well and good DCs understand offenses very well. So why did Rex fail on offense? Here's my best guess: (1) He gave his OCs almost complete autonomy. He appreciated having autonomy when he was a DC and felt he owed the same to his OC. (2) Tannebaum and Idzik didn't acquire a lot of talent for the offense (or for the team in general) as you noted. (3) Rex has a passion for defense. Supposedly he has a notepad next to his bed and as new defensive ideas come to him, he writes them down. He doesn't have that same enthusiasm for offense.

It looks like Marrone won't be a HC this year. If Rex gets to the Bills to the playoffs, will that effect Marrone's chances next year? Will it look like he under-performed with a talented group of players? Will people question his decision to leave/quit what is turning out to be a good situation for Rex?