Rocky Landing

I keep thinking to myself that maybe I should be rooting for the Pats to win the Super Bowl. Maybe Brady would decide to retire?

I don't want to have to pay for HBO...

Would it be amusing to have Jim Schwarz as our DC, and Jim Harbough as our OC? It could certainly make our practices interesting.

I have a four year old son. That would be a hard pill for me to swallow. It says something that our best RB is 33 years old. That being said, I think that he has, as he does every year, exceeded expectations.

Marrone seems to think so. At least, he thinks Orton gives us a better chance than EJ. And, chances are, the rest of the team thinks so, as well. That counts. And, of course, if we win on Sunday, it will be a team win. That also means (as it has every week), that if we lose, it will be a team loss.

Happy Christmahannukwanzadon!!!

I think it's accurate to take the "all-in" metaphor at face value. Trading for Watkins was part of that gamble, and when you go "all in," you go ALL IN. When you lose, you're out of the game. (Or, in our case, out of the playoffs. Again.)

I suspect that if one reads between the lines of Marrone's recent presser, that he has, indeed, given up on EJ. But, that really isn't my argument. Frankly, I don't see much benefit in starting EJ in a game against a superior division rival, with a team that would likely be rather deflated by the decision from their coach that the game isn't worthy of trying to win, or worthy of starting the QB that he believes gives them the best chance to win. I think the possible downsides for EJ's development (or evaluation, for that matter), could outweigh the upsides. But that really isn't my argument, either. I am much less interested in developing EJ than I am in developing this team. I'm interested in developing a winning culture. This is a "meaningless" game for the Pats, also. Is there any doubt that Brady will be starting? Is there any doubt that all of their starters will be on the field? That's what winning teams do. And, I'd be much happier, as a fan, if we finish 9-7, rather than 8-8. In fact, I'll be much happier, as a fan, at 8-8, knowing that we tried to win every game. Throwing in the towel (against the Pats, no less!!!) should never be an option. Regardless of how we finish, this is not the preseason. There are no meaningless games. Go Bills! (IMHO)

You're right. I'm not going to bother explaining anything to you. I haven't avoided any questions, and there aren't any points that you have made that I don't understand. I just completely disagree with you. Feel free to take the last word.

As did you.

I get to watch the Bills play 16 times a year. If they beat the Pats on Sunday, I would be happy, indeed. If I watched them wander out on the field, pretending it is a preseason game, and not try to win, I would consider that to be a gutless, cowardly move. Of course, that is a moot point, since they won't do that. They will show up, play hard, and try to win-- regardless of the wishes of some fans who "get" something that I don't.

Right. You'd prefer we had a coach who didn't want to win on Sunday.

If you've been a fan for that long, you should consider trying to remember what it was like, and what it means to have a winning culture.

Right. Why even bother trying to win the game? With all due respect, I see this attitude (all too prevalent) as gutless.

I wonder if Orton would say, "screw it," decline his option if he were benched for this game? Obviously (to me, anyway), I would hope that we find a better option at QB before next preseason. But, if we don't, which is not unlikely, I would hate to walk into next season betting "all-in" on EJ, again. KO may very well be starting week one, 2015.

I'm trying to figure out if I might feel myself rooting for the Pats to win the Super Bowl. If they did, would, perhaps, Brady decide to retire? You know, on a high note, and all that?

This sort of parsing, and hand-wringing analysis would be a discussion IF we were looking at tie-breakers. We're NOT. I'm being a realist when I say that we are an 8-7 team. I'm being a pessimist when I say we are going to finish as an 8-8 team, because I believe that the odds of us winning in Foxboro on Sunday are slim, indeed. That is it. People who don't believe that we have improved over last year have an all-too-common short term memory problem. NONE of our wins this season were irrelevant, or gifted to us, any more than any of our losses were stolen from us. You don't have t be happy with 8-8. But calling us anything less than that is cynically disingenuous.

Whether or not you agree with the OP, I have to say this is the most non-sensicle response to anyone I have read in any thread, for... oh, at least a day or two... Essentially, you are saying, "if you take away half of our wins, we've only won four games." Those are some mighty insightful statistics, there.

EJ's ineptitude has been greatly exaggerated by some, and utterly forgotten by others.

Yeah, that should go really well...

You probably say this every year.

I can't remember where I read it, but I did read something (conjecture?) about an announcement about a team moving coming after the Super Bowl. The timing of the thing is the biggest hurdle, I think. Either, a team has to announce that they are moving, and play out the next season or two in a city that hates them, or move and play in one of the interim facilities, neither of which are too attractive, although the Rose Bowl is a MUCH nicer facility than the Coliseum. Neither are up to par with an NFL franchise. I would think the latter plan would be the most economically attractive. But, it will be a hardship for whichever team shows up. Of course, that's not the only hurdle, political, or otherwise. With the speed that these issues are resolving, I would say 2017 at the earliest. But, who knows? There may be a "strike while the iron is hot" thing going on, and at some point, the City of LA, or AEG, or Kroenke, or the Raiders, or whoever is going to have to crap or get off the pot. It most certainly is not a dead issue-- AEG did get a contract extension in October-- but, maybe it doesn't happen in the foreseeable future?

I believe that 2015 has been taken off the table entirely. It has also been widely reported that no team will be approved without a stadium deal. Here is a link to one of the best articles I have read on the subject: http://www.ibtimes.com/nfl-los-angeles-team-2015-stadium-deal-team-owners-are-relocation-hurdles-1763060

The two locations that have been proposed as interim facilities should a team move to LA are the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, and the Pasadena Rose Bowl.

I think there is a very typical, knee-jerk reaction that when there are problems, firing someone is a "step in the right direction." Has Marrone improved from last season to this? Has Hackett improved from last season? Starting from square one rarely takes a team to the next level- especially when the team has been moving in the right direction. Unless one equates "accountable" with getting fired, I don't see how Marrone/Hackett have not been accountable in their respective roles.