TC in St. Louis

I lived in Wisconsin for many years, and I still have some friends up there. They're good people. They love their team almost as much as I love the Bills. Therefore, unless they are playing the Bills, I root for the Packers. They've got nothing else to do up there. I'm rooting for them. I also have many friends from the Boston area, and I am turning my back on them because I cannot stand the Patriots. I hope that Tom Brady and Gronkowski do a chest bump and are impaled on each other's egos.

That Minnesota tight end is fantastic. I don't think he'll be there in the 2nd. However, we can compensate for that by signing the tight end free agent from Denver.

I guess I just didn't care for the automatic "no" from 3 of the 5. No hesitation. I'm thinking a dominant defense wins championships. Our defense was really good, great at times, but not dominant. If that happens, all hell will break loose, and teams will fear us.

They had a little chat with Rex, and at the end ran a quick straw poll among the talking heads. Will the Bills make the playoffs next year? 3 quick no's and a couple yeas. We were 9-7 under Doug, and now we have Rex Ryan. These people know nothing. If Rex and his group turns us into the number one defense in the league, we will make the playoffs. I have no doubt whatsoever.

We spend a lot of time pondering and thinking about a team that hasn't made the playoffs in, well, you know how long. Schwartz did a good job. Our sacks went down. The defense overall got better. The run defense was the big improvement. Spikes was important in that. But let's look at the Oakland game. Wtf happened? 3rd and 22 and give up a 50 yard pass? Inexcusable. Blame Doug all you want, and I do too. The offense stunk against Oakland. 13 carries for 13 yards. But our defense made some big mistakes and they are just as responsible for the loss in a game we had to win. I thought we'd miss Pettine, but Schwartz did the job. Now I think we'll miss Schwartz, but Rex will get it done. Somebody wrote that Kiko is overrated. Not particularly. He made a ton of tackles. But he also over pursued on a number of occasions, and that hurt. Better coaching, better team. Clear eyes, full heart, can't lose.

I think Schwartz did a great job, but the key to that run defense was probably Spikes. If they keep him and Kiko comes back, look for an even more dominant defense. Check that. Look for a dominant defense. Our defense was very good, but not dominant.

I don't think money is an issue with the new ownership. I think they will sign whomever they can, as long as it makes cap sense. I see us signing Hughes, Spikes, Searcy (unless Rex brings in his safety from NY), and I think they will extend Dareus. The guy spent about 400 million over market value just to get the keys to the Dodge. He will scratch out some major bank to put greatness on the field. I hope he doesn't go crazy like Snyder and throw good money after bad, like Haynesworth.

Manning played with a torn quad. He's still way better than 90% of the QB's in the league. I'd give him a big old welcome if he chose to play in Buffalo.

Seriously? Hiring Rex Ryan will result in people watching the Bills and maybe saying intelligent things. Last year tons of pundits had us winning anywhere from 3-6 games, largely ignoring us. Now that we have a real bona fide head coach who makes headlines just by being himself, people will be watching. I live in St. Louis, and I've had more people ask me about the Bills today than in the past 10 years. Just watched the piece on ESPN with Jaworski and his pals, laughing about our quarterback situation. We shall see. Good coaching will help.

I don't care. It's nice to be relevant for the first time in a while.

I'm just glad to have Rex Ryan looking at legitimate NFL coaches for this position. I think we are close on offense. A good coach with a power running game and nasty OL could translate this into a great team. I would go for Iupati and Incognito. Plow right thru the East.

Love this hire. A real football coach!! Players love him, and he will guide us to the greatness the fans truly deserve. Historic moment.

Anybody remember Fred's run v. Chicago? How about his 22 yarder v. Denver, also on the road? He's a guy who you can count on to fight for every inch. And more often than not he will get you the first down. Unless the line completely folds, you can count on Fred Jackson.

We shall see. I think he is the heart and soul of this team.

Fred still has gas in the tank. I want him on the team. Sorry to see Wheatley go. But he's the first domino to topple in that offensive coaching staff. he probably sees the axe about to fall, and makes a move.

Just about everything I've read since Marrone walked leads me to believe that the players on the offense deserve a fresh start. All of them. I believe that Eric Wood and Cordy Glenn went backwards. The second fastest guy in the history of the NFL draft sat there like a bump on a log. Marquise Goodwin. CJ Spiller and Fred went south. I believe that we have the talent to be a very good offense. We have veterans in Henderson and Wood, a growing star in Henderson, some superior athletes waiting to play (Cyrus and Cyril), and a couple other veterans (Hairston, Pears, Urbik, Williams) that just might be terrific if coached properly. If they keep CJ, I think he'll bounce back. However, I also believe Bryce Brown has the natural ability to be a star. Fred has one more good year in him. We have Watkins, Woods, Hogan, Goodwin, as our top 4 wideouts. Tight end needs improvement, although I like Chandler's ability to get open and make nice catches. We need a quarterback. EJ is a quarterback. I like him, and I would not go into the ota's with just EJ and Tuel. That is stupid. I think our new owners have committed the resources to win now. I actually believe that Doug Whaley is the right guy for the job. I think he'll sign a guard and maybe a quality tight end. And he will find an answer at quarterback. A lot of people find this whole ordeal as tortuous. I'm enjoying it. I'm glad Doug Marrone is gone. I'm glad Kyle Orton quit. Moving forward.

Kurt Warner

I hope the new guy does give EJ a fair shot. I know Pegula will want to do what's best for the team to make the playoffs. If there is an opportunity to bring in a better quarterback, I believe they will do that. I don't believe that EJ is done. i don't even know that he's dug in as a starter. We shall see. Keep the D together no matter what.

The article posted on tbd by the Syracuse guy....cynical, funny. Says Doug has enough money to hire a nose specialist for each of his nostrils. But the line that got the real chuckle out of me was this: Doug's publicist has convinced the football world that Knute Rockne has come back from the dead and that he's chewing gum, wearing a visor and staring blankly from the sideline. That's good writing.

I thought it was a good idea to bench Manuel after the Houston game. He couldn't handle the pressure from Watt, and the OC made no adjustments to help him. I think he's been a real trooper working on the sidelines, and from what I read, he spent a lot of time after practice working on his game. He has talent. He has size, speed, and is pretty smart. It might be fun to see what a good coach can do with him.

If this head coach came in and asked for a raise for him and his offensive coaching staff, I would have asked him to explain the Oakland loss. How could a team only get 13 yards in 13 carries against the #27 run defense in the league? How could you possibly justify an extension and a raise when your team could not win a game against a 2-12 team? A game you had to have to stay playoff eligible? How did you manage to lose that game? And then wait for the reply, which probably would include throwing Whaley's line to the wolves for being outplayed. I might have said, "Let's see what you do next year." And then he walked out. Quit on everybody. Pure speculation. No good coach would allow a team to fold in that Oakland game. He had to go.

So you compensate for your loss of the 19th pick by signing a top flight free agent guard, like Iupati. Consider it a wash. You're gonna have to solve your quarterback crisis soon. Don't give up on EJ. Who says he can't make the throws? He has a great arm. He just needs coaching.

Maybe I should have named it "No obvious franchise QB's at number 19" There are always going to be examples of 2nd round, 3rd round, sixth round, udfa qb's who become stars. My point was anybody who is pinned as a franchise qb would be long gone anyway. Aaron Rodgers was an exception. He was rated 1 or 1a with Alex Smith, and the Niners just made the wrong pick. There was no other team that year looking for a qb, so the Packers, who had Favre, made this luxury pick. He sat for a few years and became a great quarterback. Who is to say that EJ Manuel won't benefit from being on the sidelines for a year or two? He does have great talent. That's another topic. I say we'll sign the equivalent of a first round pick offensive lineman in the offseason that will compensate for losing pick number 19. And we already have Bryce Brown, who compensates for the 4th.

A lot of people still criticize the Watkins deal, but we gave up what became the 19th pick. Question: What franchise quarterback is going to be available at the 19th pick? Answer: Nobody that we know of, or they wouldn't be around at #19. Question: How many wins did Sammy Watkins add to our record? I'm going to say 2 or 3. He made a difference. Question: If we kept the 9th pick, who would we have chosen? The tight end from North Carolina. Ebron. How many wins would he add to our record? He hasn't done jack squat in Detroit. Question: How do you think Sammy Watkins would do with a quarterback like Manning? Answer: Better than he did in Buffalo. He's awesome. I therefore conclude, and offer for speculation, that we're in fine shape. We wouldn't have gotten a franchise QB next year anyway. We may have one standing on the sidelines. Maybe Marrone just ruined his chances of excelling. Maybe we should see what EJ has to offer. The team can sign a free agent guard with the equivalence of a first round pick, thus compensating us quite easily for the trade of that pick. We're fine. Shred away, my friends.

I posted this last Thursday....that the Pegulas saw this coming.....they knew about the clause, and used it to their advantage. They knew the team is better off without that arrogant bum, so they set him up to quit. Saved a ton of money. Now that the truth is out about Marrone, they look like geniuses. (in case you don't believe this, look up my post from last week, it's there) Since they put all this money down to buy the team, you must know that they knew what was going on. An idiot could see that the problem was the offense. The defense was excellent, but the way Marrone ran the offense was offensive. He had to go. And he walked right into their fastball when he asked for extensions and raises for everybody. The team is in good hands. They may have tried for Polian, but are probably better off without him. He's 72, and isn't too far from being too old for this kind of job.