Dorkington

So many experts predicted the winners of the Superbowl!

Exactly. At the very least, with things being "new" (again), it'll be exciting for a year... maybe two.

Ditto. But the Bills preferred that as well, and tried to renegotiate the contract, and Fitz had none of it... hence why he's on another team now.

If he wasn't the Jets coach, I'd probably love the guy.

I'm a bit split. There's been pros and cons at almost every position of need... I'm cautious, as usual. HC... overall .500 in college. BUT, he's new and exciting and different, so maybe it's what the team needs. QB... replaced a mediocre guy with another... BUT we drafted a guy who could very well be a stud (accurate, strong armed, intelligent, big, fast, etc) WR... got rid of experienced players... BUT drafted a NFL ready guy, picked up a speedster and also took a chance on someone who could turn out to be a game changer. OL... let our best player go... BUT we had/have some solid depth there, so maybe it'll be ok? DL... underachieved last year... is really good on paper, so hopefully with a new DC, they'll live up to it. LB... picked up a couple mediocre players, drafted a guy that might be decent... new DC could also help, so maybe we'll get better here. CB... need more talent at this position... hopefully with more pressure on the QB, our weaknesses here will be mitigated. S... refusing to extend our most talented player behind the DL... BUT... reports say we have a former CB that might fill in nicely.

Good to know.

Rex/Sanchez vs Marrone/Kolb? I'd probably take Rex/Sanchez and hope I drafted EJ so I could release Sanchez. But, that's because I acknowledge the past (Rex's coaching experience vs Marrone's), and I tend to play it safe with that sort of thing, myself. If neither have any past whatsoever, then hell, it's a coinflip/grab bag situation. Hopefully Marrone ends up being the next NFL genius and not just another in a long string of Bills disappointments. Kolb has NFL experience, at least. So I think it's fair to compare Sanchez and Kolb... and frankly that's like comparing **** to crap, as far as I'm concerned. But this all originated from me seeing the logic in placing the Jets above the Bills due to having more proven pieces at areas of importance, HC and QB. So really, saying the Bills parts have no past, is simply agreeing with my original sentiment.

I love reading these stories haha. Glad to see people saving money. Wonder if any DTV reps read here.. hmm.

The team is on a down turn, definitely. But he still has an overall record of 34-30, and, more importantly, a 4-2 playoff record. Six more playoff games than the Bills have played in that time frame, and the eight years previous to that.

I thought he had his procedure after week 7... Games 8-16, he had 7 sacks, but the last two weeks of the season he had zero. Focusing on a period of time with those last couple games weighted heavily doesn't make much logical sense to me. Hell, if that's the case, can't I just choose a few bad games that Byrd had to reason why Mario is "better"? Fact is, Mario played pretty well after the bye week, but had a couple bad games. All football players have a couple bad games, even when they are healthy.

Curious. Why are you quoting just those 5 games?

Is there any team other than the Bills that'd take Chan/Fitz, or Marrone/Kolb?

Ah, I thought he had some time to sign and still get paid the full season's contract. Thanks for the clarification.

When's the last time the Bills made the playoffs? When is the last time the Jets made the playoffs? What has our new coach done in the NFL? Rex has more experience, and has coached a relevant team in recent history. Does that mean the Jets will have a better record? Hell if I know. But I'm not going to sit here and say Marrone is a better NFL coach without actually seeing him coach in the NFL.

Dear god I hope so, that collar last year was painful.

If Mario plays at the level he played at after he had his wrist worked on, then I'd rather keep Mario. Byrd is really good, don't get me wrong, but I think Mario has a bigger effect on our defense.

He's maintained his starting job, and has been fairly durable. More than Kolb can say. As far as EJ, he hasn't played a down in the NFL, and all the "experts" are down on him. All I'm saying is, from a "general NFL news" standpoint, their position makes sense. Personally, I think the Bills and the Jets are about even going into the season, and that even level is pretty low relative to the rest of the league. We have more talent on paper, but they have more coaching experience on paper.

So, I'm assuming no long term deal will get done. Where does that leave us? I'm a bit unclear on the Franchise tag... I saw some stuff about not signing it until November and still getting paid?

Jets have a more proven coach. And, sadly, a more proven QB. (Yes, that's with acknowledging that Sanchez sucks) Edit: Not saying I agree or disagree, but there's logic behind it.

Meh, I doubt he'll get in any real trouble. I feel like this sort of thing always gets washed away when it comes to pro athletes.

I think a big part of it is that we are going in with a very unproven coach (on paper, at least), a "vet" QB that couldn't keep a starting job anywhere and a rookie QB that all the "experts" were low on. Is it accurate? We'll find out.

Yup, definitely fair. We should be bottom of the pile until we prove otherwise.

The lateral was ruled correctly.