Dan

Perhaps you don't read all the posts. Because there's plenty of vile thrown JP's way. One poster in particular as repeatedly wish him and anyone that ever thought he was good would get aids and die. I'd call that hatred. Of course, if you call them on it; they so "oh its a joke". Well, perhaps. But, when 90% of your posts are in some way bashing JP, its hard not to draw the conclusion that there's some strong negative feelings there. And to try and crawfish out of it at that point is a little shallow, IMO. I'm not saying everyone hates the guy, but he certainly has his "detractors" and certainly gets far more of the blame for poor play than many other players. Honestly, when you have posters seriously blaming bad defensive play on JP?? Come on man. But that's all neither here nor there, I suppose. The lines have been drawn and firmly laid in place. I suspect they'll always be that way. I'm not sure many will say he's a great QB (I can't think of any - well maybe 1). I'm not sure any have ever said that. However, certainly many have suggested and stated that he has great potential. Certainly, you'll find several that say he's "good". But, I'd suggest that most that even thought he had potential are falling off that wagon. The haters clearly outweigh the lovers at this point. For me, personally, I liked the guy. I liked what he tried to do. I hoped like hell he'd be our next great QB. And even when he's at his worst, I still cheer for him to do well. Why? Because he's wearing a Bills jersey. As long as he's on our sideline, I'll wish him well and defend him. But, that's just me. I don't blame him because he doesn't have the talent to do what we all want him to do. But, I do give him credit for the effort and the way he's handled his entire time here. Even his most ardent detractors have to admit that he could have been a much bigger locker room cancer and all around sh--. But again, I'd say that's all neither here nor there at this point in the season and his career. As far as Peters, I'd suggest that Lynch is our best player. I love the heart that that guy plays with on every play. Man he's something to watch.

I'm somewhat surprised Stroud didn't get in.

You'd think this, along with MMs offense and a few other former Bills' play, would cause some people to pause as they're running everyone possible out of town, i.e. Jauron, Turk, Fewell, JP, Trent, Whitner, everyone on either line, etc., etc. But, I doubt it will.

There's one thing you can be sure of... no matter what JP does, he's going to be vilified on this board. This complete and absolute hatred for a Bills player that had never said a bad word about the town or franchise is astounding.

Excuse me!?! Excuse me!!? The Chroise cannot take the field for one reason and one reason only.... the immensity of his power would cause a cataclysmic shift in the earth's magnetic field resulting in mass extinction of nearly 90% of the earth's animal species. Until the league finds a way to contain him, Hamdan should not start. But, to even suggest that he may not bring complete salvation to the entire football world is absurd. So, please refrain from posting on this topic again. Thanks.

This single, simple point is perhaps the most disheartening for me. And, ultimately, is why I have firmly jumped on the fire the HC bandwagon. Why does it always seem the opposing team has exactly the right defense called? Or the right offensive play called? How many times over the last few years have we needed that one play only to be stuffed; or they needed that one play only to break free for a TD? Players are supposed to be put in the right positions to make the plays; but our guys are seldomly in that position. That's got to fall at the coaches feet. And there's been little, to no, improvement in this area. Throw in a heaping helping of the other team seems to have our playbook and what do you have? A sack, a fumble, a TD, a lost game, a lost season... again.

It has become painfully obvious, especially for our QBs, that if the defense sends a safety blitz from the end; no one has the responsibility to block him. How many times have we seen it this year?

Interesting. I hadn't thought of that. I really hope he comes back these final 2 games. It would be really good to feel somewhat confident in our QB going into the off season. If he doesn't play again, how much confidence do we really have that Trent's the undisputed answer at QB?

Ralphie? Is that you?

Exactly what I was thinking. He's already at 2.5 weeks for what "appears" to be a relatively minor injury. Is he really in the coaches doghouse? What gives?

Please, I implore you... don't even utter such words around here. We don't want Russ to somehow through the ether get the notion in his head that a new logo is what's needed to excite the fanbase next year. If they adopted such a disgrace, that'd probably be enough to put me over the top and make me walk away.

Totally indicative of how bad it can get... We're just happy the TE caught the ball. He doesn't have to do anything spectacular, just catch the ball and not fumble it and it's an improvement over what we've had for 20? years now.

Pretty well sums it up. Why is this such a difficult thing to understand. We all learn when we're about 5 that if you have the lead, late in the 4th quarter, you run the ball to run out the clock. It's not pretty, it's not sexy, but it's been done that way for decades for one reason - it works. Now, if it were 3rd and long; maybe. If Lynch was getting stuffed all day; maybe. If JP was on fire and Evans (not a FB) was having a career day; maybe. But if your RB is having a great game, your Oline is actually creating holes, and you're on your own 25yd line (more or less); you run the damn ball. There's no need to discuss or complicate the issue. Jauron or whomever called the play screwed up. Yes, JP should have protected the ball. Peters should have at least touched the blitzer. The FB shouldn't have fallen down. But, those are all exactly why you don't call that play - there's too many things that can go wrong. In that situation, you just don't want to screw up. A running play straight ahead is the best way to ensure that. Period. Done.

Had we beaten the Jets, they'd be 8-6 and we'd be 7-7. How's does that make them so much better than us? Where are they if Bret retires? I'd say the Dolphins are an aberation this year. Who saw them coming on like they have? Will they continue next year? That remains to be seen. The Pats* are... well the Pats*. Have you seen the line play lately? They're not nearly as bad as you suggest. I contend that their biggest problem is coaching. Our team as a whole, especially the Oline, has no identity. However, when they line up and take on guys one on one, they do pretty well. It's all this stunting, trapping, pulling crap that they suck at. If the coaches could see that maybe we wouldn't be so bad. The DEs aren't nearly as bad as anyone makes them out to be, although I agree we need to upgrade this position. As well, we need to upgrade Ellison. Yeah, we're 7-9 type team. But, change a few stupid coaching decisions and we could easily be 9-5 right now. I disagree. Evans is plenty good enough when given the chance.

So you really think we need to get a new FO, new coaching staff, and then blow up the team as a result? Seems a little drastic to me. I'd suggest just a better coach that can get more ot of the existing players is all we need. How are the Jets that much better than us? Without the brain fart by Jauron, we probably win today's game. What happens when Favre retires after this season? Where are they then?

AKA, the Jauron meeting with Ralph thread. Seriously though, how do you explain these numbers: Offensive Rankings: Total Offense (YPG) 2007- 30 / currently in 2008 - 23 Passing (YPG) 2007- 30 / currently in 2008 - 20 Rushing (YPG) 2007- 15 / currently in 2008 - 15 Defensive Rankings: Total Defense (YPG) 2007- 31 / currently in 2008 - 14 Passing (YPG) 2007- 29 / currently in 2008 - 11 Rushing (YPG) 2007- 25 / currently in 2008 - 19 Win/Lose Record: We're currently as good as/better than: San Diego Chargers (6-8) Jacksonville Jaguars (5-9) Cleveland Browns (4-9) Green Bay Packers (5-9) Seattle Seahawks (3-11) Granted, I agree we seem to be sucking. But, why does it appear we've improved so much, statistically speaking. So, are we really so bad that we need to blow it all up and start over? Or are we closer than it may appear?

My brother-in-law is a huge Broncos fan. He's just about as frustrated as I am with the Bills. We're pretty sure which Bills team will show up next week, the question is which Broncos team shows up. IMO, it could be a decent game, or the Broncos blow us out. Here's to hoping the Broncos go down, so I can rag on him for a year.

Sorry, couldn't resist. I do agree with most of your most. However, I'd suggest we're better than 4-5 players away. I'd say 2 maybe 3. We need to upgrade Ellison and we need a QB. That's 2 for certain. Trent may still be the guy, but one of the great tragedies of this season has been that we still just don't know. Certainly it can be argued that we need all sorts of other upgrades. But, I'll counter much of that sentiment with.... how much better would we look this season if the offensive coaching and head coaching had resembled anything competent? Today's game was a perfect example. We had the talent on the field to win, but we blew it. The Jets didn't beat us, we beat ourselves. And I think you could say that for about 2-3 other games this season.

Pyrite?

Incorrect. You forget that we would have forced them to use all their timeouts. And why assume a bad punt? Moorman likely puts them around their 30yard line. So in a best case scenario for the Jets, they get the ball at about their 35, with 1:50 on the clock, no timeouts. Certainly not impossible for Favre but not easy either considering they hadn't had 1st down in the 4th quarter. But, worst case scenario for the Jets is Lynch gets the first down and game is over. Why take the ball out of your only playmaker's hands?

JP had a decent drive. yes. Lynch had a great game. Regardless of that... the odds are in your favor to run the ball in that situation. If it were 3rd and 5, I might agree with you. If JP had thrown for 250+ yds and was playing with confidence, I might could agree with you. If Lynch had about 60 yards rushing, I might could agree with you. But the fact of the matter is, everything in that game, up to that point, screamed "RUN THE BALL". There was no need ot get cute and over think the situation. Just run it down their throat. Get to the 2 minute warning. Then decide what to do with 3rd and 2or3.

Do you really not get it or are you just arguing for fun?

They've been saving that play for just the right time all season long! Imagine the patience they've shown all year long knowing they had the perfect play, but couldn't call it and win the game because they were waiting for that precise moment when the season was in the balance. It was so perfectly timed. I'm not sure what went wrong, maybe should have called it on first down?

I'll admit that at the end of last year and for the first month or so of this season, I was thinking Jauron may be just what this team needed - an even-keeled guy that could keep the team focused. But, I appear to have been horribly wrong. I can point to at least 3 games we've lost this year directly to his decisions. I'm now firmly on the let's dump Jauron bandwagon.