ny33

We'll need a running back or two on the second or third day of the draft.

It's too bad we didn't grab Smith this past offseason...

In what world, other than your own, is this an appropriate comment?

I'm not criticizing Hackett for being a "poor Q.B. manager." I'm saying that I think we might be able to get significantly more out of our QBs with a QB coach in addition to Hackett. Hackett can, obviously, still add value to helping QBs develop, but we need a QB coach as well.

Today's game exemplified this glaring issue for me. A rookie O.C., with a rookie H.C. and two rookie Q.B.s, should not be serving double-duty as Q.B. coach. Tuel looked composed, has good footwork and clearly knows the playbook well, but his mechanics and arm strength leave a lot to be desired. I would hope that a good Q.B. coach can help immensely with that. Buffalo messed up in this regard.

Recognize a) that he is a second-year receiver and b) Chris Hogan and Marcus Easley are far worse options. I agree with NoSaint that, if better talent is available to replace him and Hogan in the off-season, the team should do so (Easley will stay for STs). Have faith.

He's on the way to the hospital now. Per Tafoya, "his heart rate and pulse were fine." Good news. Wade Phillips is now taking over as head coach.

Jason Campbell, if only...

Per the sideline report, he was "speaking, but eyes closed and looked to be in extraordinary pain."

Yeah, man. Alcoholic and drug-addicted QBs who are so far gone that they go to rehab have been so successful in the NFL. Let's not forget your stellar scouting report on John Skelton. Seriously, please stop posting QB-related "advice."

I don't think he's a *bad* hire. To reiterate, I simply don't believe Brandon's claim that he looked at 1,000 hires and determined that Lyons was the best available candidate. This may or not be insignificant, but I cannot find a single snippet of information outside of the articles on the hire on Lyons. There is nothing on his background in any previous news articles; you would expect that someone employed at the same company for twenty five years would have some articles on his work for the firm. I'm not hung on up the fact that he didn't work at a top consulting firm, but am concerned by the fact that he has been marketed by Brandon as "an East Aurora native." We have been told very little about his actual work for Xerox, which concerns me.

I was in Cleveland for the Bills-Browns game as a guest of a friend who works in the analytics department there. I toured the front office and spoke with a few people about their team and their backgrounds. I can't divulge names, but several of them had come from either Bain or McKinsey; a new hire, not in the office yet, was a colleague of one of them at Bain. Front offices recruit heavily from the "Big Three" consulting firms. Sector-agnostic consultants are a huge asset and recruiting target to sports front offices. I'm not knocking the hire- I think Lyons will be ok- but I don't believe Brandon's claim that Lyons was their best candidate out of 1,000 applicants. Brandon looks to people from his network first for hires. Edit: This is one of the best threads I've read on TBD. While some of us may disagree, I appreciate the civil discourse and informed opinions from many posters here.

He's an electrical engineer by training with an M.B.A. Those are pluses. Lyons' role at Xerox was a, per the below link, "data analytics expert responsible for analyzing raw data and transforming it into useful information to create solutions for business." http://www.bizjournals.com/buffalo/news/2013/10/30/bills-follow-through-on-analytics-hire.html That's the right skill set. My concerns are the fact that a) Brandon is emphasizing the fact that Lyons is a WNY native; the above article mentions how he'll work with a former Syracuse "administrative football assistant," Stephen Brown, who joined the team with Marrone. I'll get flamed for this, but Brandon is clearly engaging in significant cronyism. His hires are in stark contrast to what Jimmy Haslam has done in Cleveland: Haslam is hiring the best people from the best firms. The Browns have a close relationship with Steven Levitt, the UChicago economics professor who wrote "Freakonomics." Levitt has consulted the front office on how to hire for their new, revamped analytics department. This is in stark contrast to Brandon's strategy of hiring qualified- but not the best- people from Syracuse/WNY for the front office. Time will tell which strategy is best.

You're using revenue as a metric? You have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. McKinsey is a management consulting firm which is a huge feeder for football franchises. The vast majority of Xerox's revenue comes from processing services, IT outsourcing, document management and, yes, printers. Its consultancy is second-rate; as an IT consultancy, it is far behind firms like Accenture, Booz, and Deloitte. I know some people in the Cleveland Browns front office- another rust belt city- and they hire directly from firms like Bain- a legitimate top consultancy- or economics departments from places like UChicago. This is a second-rate hire. Why are you defending it?

Only the Bills would hire a "Western New York native with twenty years of experience at Xerox." Real franchises hire people from top consulting firms, like Bain, B.C.G., and McKinsey, or top accounting firms like Deloitte/KPMG. Russ Brandon is a joke. Look: Lyons is an o.k. hire, with solid experience, but I don't expect the team to hire the right people under him. Expect Russ to instruct him to hire Syracuse and U.B. grads, rather than the former associate consultants hired by most N.F.L. firms.

Lance Moore has done nothing this year. Any idea why?

http://forums.twobillsdrive.com/topic/162893-fire-danny-crossman%3B-now/ http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/02/05/panthers-hire-veteran-assistant-bruce-dehaven/

Dude, this just isn't true. The 2011 Packers had a weak running game and the WORST defense by yards allowed per game. There are many more examples of teams that lacked a solid defense and run game, but this is a very recent, and glaring, one.

That's not enough CB depth; an unproven Brooks/Rogers as our 3rd CB is not even close to good enough. Good teams are careful not to blow the cap (unlike the Raiders of old), but don't waste cap space when it's there. We certainly could afford to have signed some of those players to front-loaded contracts with our cap space this year. Jared Cook is an athletic weapon who would provided an additional dynamic receiver to the team. Many good teams have two solid receiving tight ends.

Sure. a CB like Sean Smith, Brent Grimes, a tight end like Jared Cook, or a tackle like Jake Long were all within our cap space (could have significantly front-loaded the contracts) and would have been huge additions for this team. I have never advocated re-signing Levitre.

Yep. The vast majority of the "front office" is exactly the same. Wilson, Brandon, Littmann, and Overdorf- who have presided over seasons of fiscal savvy and on-field ineptitude- remain on the team. Ralph's goal is to minimize his estate tax liability and ensure that his heirs receive as much as they can, which is well within his right, though public subsidies of football mean that he has some obligation to put a solid product on the field. Nothing will change until Ralph's front-office puppets have zero say in player expenditure and the G.M. has full control of player operations. There is no defending the team for some of the decisions they have made, like cutting Fitzpatrick and wasting the one-time cap savings. None. The team is run for profit with football success as an ancillary goal. People need to realize that. Things may be improved, but until we have an owner, like Arthur Blank, Steve Bisciotti, or Mikhail Prokhorov, who wants to win at all costs, the team will never be 100% committed to a Super Bowl title.

Why are you promoting a poorly-written, unedited fan post on another website?

We could easily be 0-6, too.

Tell that to the Chiefs (6-0 with Reid and Smith so far), the 2012 Colts (11-5 with Pagano, Arians, and Luck last year), the 2011 49ers (Harbaugh led the team to the NFC Championship, then the Super Bowl with a first-year Q.B. the next year). I could go on, but good teams and organizations find a way to win. Nothing will change in Buffalo until Brandon and Litman, Ralph's long-time puppets, are gone. Stop making excuses for the mediocre Marrone.

Teams with owners that want to win at all costs don't operate like that. Brandon is a Syracuse native who knew Marrone, and Hackett, from that connection. Hiring Marrone was, in part, due to Brandon's "regionalization" strategy. Our ST coach is a long-mediocre NFL coach. Good teams don't let accountants like Litman have influence on their cap spend.