Shoutbox

Definitely the best 4-3 LB group in Bills history (circa 1964). The best 3-4 LB group in Bills history was probably Bennett-Conlan-Bentley-Talley (circa 1990).

I guess I'm rooting for the Broncos to win it all. I like Peyton Manning, so it would be cool to see him win a Super Bowl for two different teams (I believe this would be a first in NFL history). But honestly....anyone but the Patriots....

With Arizona out of the picture, wouldn't that make Buffalo a top destination for Lovie Smith?

Good insight, Dr. Trooth. Regarding tidbit one: I wouldn't quite throw Fitz, KW, or Mario into the same category as the others you mentioned. Fitz is earning a salary commensurate with a mediocre starting NFL QB. KW has been consistently awesome until the past 2 seasons, due to very fixable leg pains. Mario should also be fully healthy and more productive with a better DC and maybe a better RDE opposite him next season. As for tidbit two: hope you're right. I'd really hate to pass on Bjoern Werner or Manti Te'o for the next Blaine Gabbert.

It should be noted that the VAST majority of starting QB's in the NFL today were taken either in the 1st round or during the very first few picks of the 2nd round. Schaub (3rd round), Wilson (3rd round), and Brady (6th round) are the only ones bucking this trend whom I'd rather have over Fitz. Of all the dysfunctions to complain about with this Buffalo Bills franchise, not drafting 6th/7th round QB's is still pretty low on my list.

Since the Kelly/Reich era, it actually seems like the Bills have been making an honest effort about every 3 years to land the next franchise QB...up until Nix took charge: 1995 - drafting Todd Collins in the 2nd round 1998 - trading a 1st rounder for Rob Johnson 2002 - trading a 1st rounder for Drew Bledsoe 2004 - trading up to take JP Losman in the 1st round 2007 - drafting Trent Edwards in the 3rd round One important reason why every post-Kelly QB has failed is because of the abysmal OL, which began unraveling when unrestricted free agency was introduced in the early 90's and never really recovered until Nix came to town. So where did Nix go wrong? Drafting Aaron Williams instead of Andy Dalton or Colin Kaepernick in 2011. Then drafting TJ Graham instead of Russell Wilson or Kirk Cousins in 2012.

Winning games is never boring. And with a defense routinely finishing in the top 5 instead of the bottom 5, you'll have a lot more fun on Sundays. The four most important upgrades on defense, in this order, are: 1. New coordinator 2. New starting RDE 3. New Starting MLB 4. New starting WOLB MW, KW, and Dareus should be better next year when fully healthy. Gilmore is only going to get better. Byrd must be re-signed at all costs. I've seen enough from Searcy, Brooks, and Bradham to think they can develop into quality NFL starters with proper coaching. Carrington, Anderson, Moore, Sheppard, White, McKelvin, Williams, Rogers, etc... provide decent depth but more is needed. Also, Barnett and Wilson really looked like they hit the wall at this point in their careers. Time to cut these two (along with Kelsay and McGee) and use the cap savings on Byrd/Levitre.

Because the pass rush - while improved - was still woefully inconsistent this year, particularly for a 4-3 defense that refuses to blitz. Mario is solid, but Moore and Anderson are backups. Another 10-sack-per-year DE starting opposite Mario would do wonders. Also, quality 4-3 cover OLB's are much easier to find in rounds 2 through 7 than are good pass-rushing DE's.

Here's my top 8 for Buffalo's draft board (as of 12/31/12): 1. Smith, QB, West Virginia 2. Werner, DE, Florida State 3. Te'o, MLB, Notre Dame 4. Moore, DE, Texas A&M 5. Jones, OLB, Georgia 6. Joeckel, LT, Texas A&M 7. Lotulelei, DT, Utah 8. Milliner, CB, Alabama After Geno Smith, I feel like the drop-off between the QB's whom teams will reach for in the top 10 and those who will be available in the 2nd/3rd rounds is negligible.

By having a ridiculous mock draft. That's how. A more realistic option would be Alabama's CJ Mosley. He's a 3-down 4-3 WOLB with definite Pro Bowl potential and high character. He'll probably get drafted somewhere between picks 10 and 20.

You, sir, are a leading candidate for the 2012 Two Bills Drive Internet Tough Guy Award. Good luck, dude!

We have a bunch of players barely over 30 who aren't looking too good this season: Wilson, Barnett, Jackson, Scott, Kelsay who has never looked good but may be permanently done now with the neck injury, and of course McGee... Pro football is truly a young man's game.

Spiller has 2 years left on his contract after this one. We BETTER re-sign him...otherwise you know we'll be drafting another 1st round RB....

I think the Bills lose any playoff tiebreaker with the Steelers or Bengals due to strength of victory, so the only reason they are still mathematically alive is because of the faint possibility of a tie during the week 16 Bengals vs. Steelers game.

I'm sorry, but this is just way too funny on a gloomy Monday morning. Everything about Buffalo is incompetent: the football team, the hockey team, the economy, the local government, and now even the fans...

I don't want to see Gailey fired if his replacement is just going to be another tired, proven head coach failure like a Wannstedt or a Turner. Who knows...maybe this blind squirrel will find his nut next season.

Because getting abused in the playoffs is much less embarrassing than going 13 straight seasons without even qualifying for them.

Troup is done? You know that for sure? You know something about his health that the rest of us don't? Is he finished just like Carrington was finished by the beginning of this season?

END OF THREAD.

I think the increased playing time for Moore and Searcy has also helped the defense.

Wow! A complaint about Ralph bamboozling the fans, a Jim Mora "playoffs!?" clip, and a proclamation about how a top 5 pick equates to eventual success while picks #6 onward are irrelevant....You just completed the cliched pessimistic Bills fan trifecta! Congrats! And thank you for your novel contributions to the thread!

All of the AFC games (Colts, Jags, Dolphins, Jets) are must-win. No doubt. They MIGHT be able to get away with a clunker against the Rams or Seahawks. It really depends on what's happening with the Steelers. If they choke away a couple of games because of Ben Ruthlessraper's injury, then both wildcard spots are in play and that would substantially improve the options for a 9-7 team with a 7-5 AFC record. Way too many playoff permutations to bother with at this point. All we know is that the Colts game is must-win. Consider this to be our playoff game for the season in the likely event that we don't get to see the real thing in January.

The Bills received some help today! The AFC is now separating itself into 3 distinct groups: A. the 4 likely division winners: Texans, Ravens, Broncos, Patriots B. the 4 teams that are all but mathematically eliminated: Raiders, Browns, Chiefs, Jags C. the 8 wild-card contenders: Steelers (6-4), Colts (6-4), Bengals (5-5), Bills (4-6), Chargers (4-6), Jets (4-6), Dolphins (4-6), Titans (4-6) As I've said earlier, this Sunday's game against the Colts is quite clearly of the MUST-WIN type. No one disagrees about that. And for all the scoreboard watchers, we want the following to happen this week: Pats over Jets, 8:20pm, Thursday Jags over Titans, 1pm, Sunday Browns over Steelers, 1pm, Sunday Raiders over Bengals, 1pm, Sunday Seahawks over Dolphins, 1pm, Sunday Ravens over Chargers, 4pm, Sunday

For the Sunday scoreboard watchers, we want: Chiefs over Bengals (1pm) Broncos over Chargers (4:25pm) Patriots over Colts (4:25pm) Ravens over Steelers (8:20pm) The latter two are the most important. Next Sunday's game against the Colts is must-win and should have a playoff game atmosphere for the Bills' coaches and players.

Which Barry are you referring to? Barry Foster? Barry White? Marion Barry? Barack "Barry" Obama?