hondo in seattle

Hackett is a young rookie OC with limited NFL experience. I agree he did a good job with the backup QBs and didn't have the best tools to work with. I'm concerned, though, how poorly he used CJ. CJ's yards per carry went way down under Hackett. Another concern is that Marrone used to be a NFL OC. You might think he'd do a better job of mentoring Hackett. Finally, I'm a little bugged by the uptempo offense. Our defense gave up a fair number of yards because they were on the field all the time. We were 7th in most plays faced. An uptempo offense works best when you have an offense that can consistently earn first downs. We didn't have that. Our offense had fewer yards per play than 28 other teams. I think the jury's still out on Hackett but there are some vaild reasons to worry.

It's the coach's job to bring out the best in his players. Crossman doesn't do that. McKelvin, for example, averaged 18.7 yard per PR in 2012. He averaged a paltry 5.6 under Crossman. Bobby April knew how to get the best out of his players and our STs were ranked consistently in the top 5 under his leadership. Football Outsiders has us ranked 30th under Crossman. Crossman's resume doesn't unambiguously scream winner. Yes, back in 2008, his talented Panther squad led the NFL in ST. But with the Lions, he once gave up 4 ST TDs in two games - first team since at least 1940 to give up a kickoff and punt return for touchdowns in two consecutive weeks. Lions fans wanted him out last year as much as Bills fans want him out this year.

Hire Norv as a QB coach, pay him more than most QB coaches, and then have him mentor not only our young QBs but our young OC too.

I wish somebody gave me this sage advice when I joined the board. Great stuff.

Trent Dilfer won a Super Bowl. Almost any NFL starter can contend for a championship if the team around him is strong enough. Otherwise, I agree. I wouldn't want to build a team around Cutler either. If he hasn't solved the flaws to his game by now, it's unlikely he ever will. We're still not sure what we have with EJ. Bear fans know what they've got and it's not great.

I saw the interview and didn't understand Marrone to be saying definitively that Crossman wouldn't be fired. But maybe it was my own hope shading my interpretation of his comments. I don't get the thing about the lack of core ST players. McKelvin is a core player. His PR average was awesome in 2011 and 2012. It sucked last year under Crossman. The core ST player is fine. The ST coach is the problem.

It seems Marrone is blaming the poor performance of the WRs on Ike while blaming the poor performance of the Special Teams on the players. It seems to me Marrone watched enough game video, not to mention live action, to know which coaches need replacing. And I'd be surprised if the players expressed a lot of faith in Crossman. It's disappointing to me that Crossman still has a job. The ST players deserve better leadership. We fans deserve a better product on the field.

Ike Hilliard was fired on Black Monday. At the time, Marrone said, “The evaluation starts with me. We’ve already made one change. Ike Hilliard is no longer with us." He seemed to be hinting that more changes would follow. But so far, nothing. So what do you guys think? Will Marrone make any more changes to his staff? Will he hire a dedicated QB coach? Will he release his buddy, Danny Crossman? Will any other coaches be replaced?

Good to see Kiko is leading in the unofficial PFT DROY voting, garnering 36% of the vote to Richardson's 24% (at the time of this writing). Honey Badger has 8%.

That's kind of like saying the sun will rise tomorrow... just because it always has.

How about guys not staying in their lanes? It looked like a bunch of kids running randomly down the field. There was no apparent organization. No plan. No scheme. McKelvin averaged 19.5 yds per PR in 2011, 18.7 in 2012 and 5.6 in 2013! The special teams have underperformed all year. Which is not surprising because Crossman doesn't have a good resume. I can see no reason to keep the guy.

The GM experiment clearly didn't work. But I'm not really sure who was calling the football shots back then. I don't think it was him. His job was to "whip up kool-aid" and sell it - i.e. sell tickets. His job is bigger now but still on the business side of things. He's not a personnel guy, not a coach.

You hang on to a QB until you find a better one. If your QB isn't clearly a franchise QB, you continually look. You kick the tires on FAs. You're not afraid to use later round draft picks on QBs even if you have a "starter." You keep your old QB until you find someone better. You hang onto young QBs as long as you believe in their potential. But that doesn't mean they start. They can learn on the bench like Rodgers and Brady did. You start the QB who gives you the best chance of winning.

Wonder if the Bills would have paid Chip Kelly 6.5?

Rex has a better resume and gets paid the same as Marrone.

My wish list, as stated elsewhere: * We fire Danny Crossman and replace him with someone better. * We hire an experienced QB Coach - someone who will not only mentor our young QBs, but also assist our young OC with game planning. * Better O Linemen

Great list, lousy season.

I have to say, I don't understand the Russ Brandon bashing. The guy is a Bills fan. He wants the Bills to win. Whether or not he's capable of running a winning organization is still an open question. But he's pretty remote from the product on the field. As the President/CEO, his main contribution to the W-L record is hiring the GM. He hired Doug Whaley. Doug Whaley's ability is also still unproven but Peter King and others praised the choice. Whaley was well regarded in Pittsburgh and was a valid pick. We'll see how it goes. Russ's biggest mistake thus far was setting up the TO series. Players and fans alike hate it. But even his biggest blunder had some logic behind it. I'm glad Russ is trying to regionalize the fan base in order to solidify the Bills place in WNY. It's better to swing and miss than to not swing at all. Championship teams aren't built over night. Wooden was in his 16th year at UCLA when he won his first NCAA title. He then won 11 in 13 years. Brandon needs more time before we can judge him. I don't want to play the role of the Brandon apologist because I hardly have an opinion about the guy. It just seems to me that a lot of collective anger about the Bills long streak of uncompetitiveness is being directed at a guy who has little to do with it.

It's hard to judge position coaches as a fan. I see the Bills one day a week. I don't know what goes on the other days in the locker room or on the practice field. I do know that our WRs were not very productive this season. Was that Ike's fault? Hackett's? The play of our young QBs? Or do our WRs simply lack talent. Hard to say but without evidence to the contrary, I have to trust Marrone on this one. Marrone made an interesting comment that may hint at more moves, "We've already made one change. Ike Hilliard is no longer with us." I'm really hoping Danny Crossman is next. Marrone talks about accountability. Great. Hold Crossman accountable for crappy special teams.

Random thoughts. * Fire Danny Crossman. * Hire a good QB coach. A really good one. Someone who can not only help our young QBs but also our young OC. * Sign Byrd. * Draft another QB (in case, EJ doesn't develop), more WRs and both a Guard and Tackle. Our O Line needs to get better at opening holes for our RBs.

I'd be surprised if Pettine got a HC offer based on just one reasonably good season as both de facto and de jure DC. So the worst thing I fear is Danny Crossman not getting fired.

Once the draft is over, I don't care what round a player was picked. I don't care what the draft gurus said. I only care about what I see on the field. If a first-rounder ends up being a reliable, but unexceptional, starter while our 5th and 6th rounders end up All-Pro, that's a great draft. And I'll be a fan of all three players. I'm a fan of any player who plays in Bills colors. The thing with draft gurus is they're just guys who know a little more than us fans. NFL franchises have entire scouting departments spending thousands of man-hours visiting campuses, analyzing game video, talking to college coaches, attending workouts, interviewing players. Neither Kiper, nor McShay, nor any other talking head spends invests the same amount of time & effort that a team does. Not even close.

PTR, it's all about production. The Eagles are producing more wins this year than last. And are you really knocking Kelly about Foles? Foles was a nobody until Kelly transformed him into a star. Apparently that process took a while because, by all accounts, Vick outplayed Foles in camp & preseason. Eventually, though, Kelly taught Foles to run his offense at a high level. I'm not a Chip Kelly fan by any means. But - if you're an Iggles fan - you've got to be awfully encouraged by his first year. The Eagles had the 15th ranked offense in 2013 but are currently 2nd. Chip is an offensive guy and he's delivering. Marrone is also an offensive guy but his impact has been less impressive. We'll probably finish the season with the same number of wins as last year. Our offense was ranked 17th last year but has slipped to 23rd this year despite running more plays. We averaged 5.6 yards per play last year. This year, we're gaining a paltry 4.8! And you can't blame it all on QB play. Spiller gained 6.0 yard per carry last year. Running in the Marrone/Hackett scheme, he's averaging only 4.5. Marrone was smart enough to hire Pettine as his DC but he hasn't done crap with the offense - his specialty. Marrone may turn out to be a great NFL head coach some day but the naysayers have room to talk based on current production - especially when compared to Kelly's (or Andy Reid's).

I confess that a few years ago I was thinking that maybe the Bills ought to hire Leslie Frazier. He hasn't done much in Minny. I suppose this is another thread, but I wonder who might get axed from Marrone's staff. Danny Crossman would be my first - and only - pick. I think Hackett deserve another year. Besides the axing, I'm in favor of the Bills hiring a QB coach.

Thad has a 2-2 record as a Bills starter and his passer rating is nearly identical to EJ's (.1 higher, in fact). As for our chances against the Pats, I don't really care who starts. Right now, Thad's about as good as EJ. But when I think about next year, I want EJ to start for the game time experience.