mjt328

What makes you think the Colts can't keep it up? They were a perennial playoff team for over a decade - with 2 Super Bowl appearances and one Super Bowl win, until the Manning injury last year. That whole team was built around Manning. It was clear they had no backup plan at QB and after a couple tough losses, the team QUIT. It should have been very clear that talent-wise, Indianapolis was better than it's 1-15 record in 2011. Now that the team has some hope at the quarterback position, that veteran talent (Reggie Wayne, Dwight Freeney) is stepping up again. Not to mention, Andrew Luck is getting better almost every week. Even as a rookie, there is a good chance he will be a top 10-15 quarterback by season's end. Don't be surprised if they upset New England this week...

I've watched a lot of Ravens/Texans football this year, and this is not accurate in the slightest.

I guess it's hard to make headlines about a rookie wide receiver running the wrong route. The media has no idea what to do if they can't blame the quarterback or head coach. The offense played well on Sunday. The defense didn't. The final playcall was a good one, and had a good chance of working. The throw by Fitz would have been good and probably a touchdown - if Graham would have made his cut in front of the defensive back (which is what he should have done).

I'll stick just to the AFC to keep things simple. If the playoff started today, these would be the AFC's playoff quarterbacks: Tom Brady, Joe Flacco, Ben Roethlisberger, Matt Schaub, Andrew Luck, Peyton Manning Last year's playoff quarterbacks: Brady, Flacco, Roethlisberger, Dalton, Schaub, Tebow The year before: Brady, Sanchez, Flacco, Roethlisberger, Manning, Cassel The year before: Brady, Sanchez, Palmer, Flacco, Manning, Rivers Once in awhile, a team with an average quarterback can sneak into the playoffs. But the odds are very slim. And they very rarely have continued success year after year.

Intelligent football discussion? Among schizophrenic Bills fans? Fitz craps the bed week after week, and everyone in Buffalo (including Buddy Nix) is in full agreement that we desperately need a new quarterback. He puts up a good performance and suddenly he isn't a problem anymore. Give me a break. > Week 1 against the Jets, Fitzpatrick's terrible throws were the main reason that we got into a big hole. 3 picks and he couldn't even throw for 200 yards with the Jets playing soft the entire 4th quarter. > Week 5 against the 49ers - 125 yards passing, 0 tds, 1 pick and 3 points. Nothing more to say. You can't beat anyone with the quarterback playing this bad. > Week 6 against the Titans - He had a decent game statistically, but threw the game-losing interception with 3 minutes left and a 6-point lead. Traditional Ryan Fitzpatrick. > Week 7 against the Texans - Fitz was up and down all day. The Bills failed to get in the endzone for the second time this season. 9 total points. Fans are too worried about figuring out the BIGGEST problem on the team. One week it's the quarterback. The next week it's the linebackers. The next week it's the coaching. The next week it's Aaron Williams. The truth is, we have several problems. And it doesn't really matter if Fitz is contributing to more losses, or if Kelvin Sheppard is. We need to get better at both positions. Here is the bottom line. Even if Fitz isn't the worst player on the team, it's very hard to get a starting quarterback outside of the first round of the draft. Mid to late round picks rarely work out, and free agent options are almost always backups. Proven QBs are never available for trade - and when they are, they also require high draft picks in exchange. Other positions are easier to find. For instance, good linebackers can be found almost every year in the 2nd-3rd round - and often later than that. There are frequently good free agent options, and teams are more willing to part with linebackers by trade.

Honestly, I think the Colts are a better team. They have a 3-game lead on us. And our head-to-head matchup is in Indianapolis. I find it very unlikely that 9-7 will be enough to make the playoffs. To have a shot, we will have to win out. And even though our remaining schedule is relatively "easy" we still have to play three division games (which we almost never win) and two games against teams with winning records (which we almost never win). Although - in typical Bills fashion - I could see us winning the next 6 games. Then with the playoffs on the line, losing 45-0 to a Tim Tebow led Jets squad.

Our defense is terrible. Bringing in another veteran to compete can't hurt.

Fitz has been up and down like this his whole career. He has had plenty of time to prove that he can be consistent in the NFL. It's never going to happen. Over 16 games, he may play like a Pro Bowler for 3-4 games. But he will also have 5-6 games that he is a liability and costs us games with his bad decisions. It's time to move on.

I've been calling this since Week 1. The Bills will win 6 of their last 7. They will finish 9-7, just barely missing the playoffs... yet taking themselves out of the chance to draft one of top 3-4 QBs. Don't be surprised if they wait until the Jets in Week 17 - with playoffs on the line - to blow it either.

Nobody respects our franchise. They are a complete joke to most of the media and the fans. A couple of weeks ago, I was watching the Denver-New England game and Phil Simms made the statement that "Peyton Manning started the No Huddle Offense." Not a single mention of Jim Kelly and the Bills (who tore up the league using that offense 10 years before Manning came into the league) - or Boomer Esiason and the Benglas (who actually started the idea). The disgusting part is, Simms played QB the same time as Kelly and Esiason and knows exactly who first made the No Huddle Offense big in the NFL. He just doesn't think Buffalo or Cincinnati are important enough to mention.

I mostly agree with that list. Philadelphia will almost certainly be drafting a QB early next year. Michael Vick is a free agent after this season and they are already talking about turning to Nick Foles. There were rumblings in last year's draft about them moving up for Ryan Tannehill. Oakland would be smart to start looking towards the future, but they are not generally a smart franchise (similar to Buffalo). Carson Palmer has had some good games, so I would expect them to wait another year. Dallas is an interesting one. It's really hard to blame everything on Tony Romo, but somebody has to be the fall guy. That team has been underperforming badly for years. I could see the Cowboys moving on if they don't make the playoffs - which they probably won't. However, Denver drafted their QB of the future last year with Brock Osweiler. And I highly doubt that San Diego is going to give up on Philip Rivers. He's not elite (like most thought he was going to be), but he's way better than average and he's probably got quite a few years left in the tank.

Defenders usually get a 15-yard penalty for legal hits on Brady. If we hit him after the whistle, Roger Goodell would probably eject the entire Bills team, kill Ralph and drive one of the moving vans across the Canadian border.

I wonder what that means for Ryan Mallett. Is his development behind, or are they just smart enough not to put all of their eggs in one basket? I'll admit that I was VERY big on us drafting him back in 2011. I was upset that we passed in the 2nd Round. I was furious that we did it again in the 3rd.

Fitzpatrick is not a game manager. He's a gunslinger who has terrible accuracy on medium to deep throws, and who is regularly atop the league in interceptions. One of our biggest problems is that Fitz ISN'T a game manager. Our coach wants him to throw 30-40 times a game, instead of handing the ball off most of the time. Alex Smith is a game manager, and his team is one of the best in the NFL.

These are the things that motivate players to sign with a particular team: 1. Money 2. Chance to Win a Championship That is about it. As much as people like to believe otherwise, free agents don't reject Buffalo because of the weather, the club scene or because the hotels suck. They don't pick Buffalo because it has a family-friendly atmosphere. I've lived all over the country - Philadelphia, Houston, St. Louis - and I visit my family in Buffalo very frequently. Every city has positive and negative points. I just don't think those things are deciding points for players. Tyson Clabo didn't want to come here in 2011 because he wanted to be on a contender. Period. His priority was winning. Mario Williams came here because we offered him a massive contract. Period. His priority was money.

Exactly. I would trade positions with KC this year in a heartbeat. Our season has been just as embarrassing, but at least they should be able to grab their QB of the future. Most likely, we will still rattle off 3-4 more wins to knock us out of contention for one of the top QBs again.

By hiring the right front office and coaching staff, a legitimate turn-around CAN be done in one season. But that requires doing a lot of things right - most of which the Bills have done wrong. > Finding the right guy at quarterback is a big one. We have screwed up big here. > Drafting strong is another. Our first two drafts are starting to look like complete losses. > Picking the right coordinators is another. Our defensive assistants have been pathetic. > Having a plan is also important. We wasted 2 full years of building a 3-4 defense, only to scrap it in year 3. Buddy thinks the fans need to show patience, because he believes one-year turnarounds are too rare to count on. But the problem isn't patience. The problem is that we are making the wrong decisions.

Let me guess. The Bucs got a 5th or 6th round pick for a solid starting cornerback.

The coaches are saying the same thing, so it doesn't surprise me that players are spewing the same nonsense. They keep saying that if we eliminate the "big plays" that our defense is playing well. I guess the real problem is that we are giving up about 25 big plays each game.

Actually, that sounds about right. The Bills have a few winnable games in the second half of the season. No matter how bad they are, they have to win some meaningless games. That way we miss on the playoffs and a good draft pick.

Drafting any position is not a sure thing. But in this league, you have to have a good quarterback. The Bills have to take a chance. Look at the Dolphins back in 2008. They passed on Matt Ryan for Jake Long. Long turned out to be possibly the best left tackle in the NFL. But Miami has regretted it ever since, because having the game's best left tackle is worthless if he has nobody to protect. At this point, I don't care if the Bills "reach" for Barkley, Smith, Jones, Bray... The first pick in the draft HAS TO BE A QUARTERBACK.

Tebow probably isn't the ideal choice, but I'm just ready to move on from Fitz. I don't really care who it is. If we go after Tebow, it shouldn't be at the expense of adding a quarterback EARLY in the draft - and possibly adding another veteran to compete in the offseason. I'm all for the Seattle approach... Let's not put all our eggs in one basket.

First of all, Super Bowls are a team accomplishment. Matt Light has the same resume (5 Super Bowls/3 Wins), but you don't hear anyone comparing him to Anthony Munoz... or even someone closer to his era like Jonathan Ogden or Willie Roaf. Kevin Faulk was there for all 3 wins and the first loss, but you don't see his name thrown up there with Walter Payton and Jim Brown. You wouldn't argue that Barry Sanders and Ladainian Tomlinson (0 Super Bowl rings) were inferior running backs to someone like Brandon Jacobs (2x Super Bowl champ). So why do we do that for quarterbacks? - Brady, Aikman, Roethlisberger, Eli Manning, etc. Same thing with the 16-0 season -- (Bob Griese anyone?) Brady's 50 Td season was impressive, no doubt - but it's not like he sustained that pace for a career. It's the same reason I didn't put someone like Kurt Warner above him on that list. Most of his years, Brady has been a check down passer and game manager - with overinflated stats because of the way the NFL rules have changed.

First of all, THE main reason for that team's success is Bill Belichik and the coaching staff. And even the year that Brady went down and we played twice against Matt Cassel, we were 0-2.

I could care less what the majority of football "experts" say. They are wrong. These are the same morons that consider Ben Roethlisberger and Eli Manning sure bets for the Hall of Fame, simply because they have championship rings. The media looks at Super Bowl wins (should be considered a team accomplishment, not an individual one) and the stat box (which can be very misleading) above all else. I prefer to watch a player on the field before making an assessment of how good he is. Brady is a good quarterback, no doubt. He is extremely accurate, has great pocket awareness and makes excellent decisons. But 99% of his success has come from dumping the ball off to an uncovered receiver (Welker, Branch, Brown) or running back (Faulk, Woodhead) with a pass that travels less than 5 yards in the air - then proceed to watch them do the rest of the work. I refuse to consider that CRAP better than a player like Jim Kelly or Dan Marino - who made a living out of destroying defenses with pinpoint downfield passing.