Dan

That's what I would call... Winning the Bye week!

Why is it Brady ..never.. gets hit like Rodgers just did?

You beat me by 10 seconds!

Exactly my thinking. How do you as a new Head Coach not look at the last 2 years of tape and say, lets keep that going? It doesn't take a full year of study, it doesn't take seeing the players in person for a a full season of play. It was blatantly obvious to anyone that saw the Bills play.... For 2 years our defense sucked and the offense was decent. So bring in a new philosophy on defense that takes you back to the players strengths (which they seem to have done), and hire someone that will retain the offense as it was. Sure, over time you can and should introduce additional wrinkles, upgrade players, move on from some. But to do what they've done is an inexcusable. I'm not saying I want any of them fired... I'm just saying they should own up to their mistakes and change what they're doing.

And that is exactly how you fix this offense. Drop this nonsense that Dennison thinks is going to work, and run the plays that the current players ran quite proficiently for the last 2 years. But... I fully expect they won't do that. We'll continue to hear how we need a new offensive line, new WRs, new QB, new every thing and wait a couple years for them all to figure it out. All while having to trust this process to dismantle a top 10 scoring offense, so we can get it to their version of a top 10 scoring offense.

Here's my issue... We saw this 2 years ago. Rex comes in and with pretty much the same defensive personnel, the defensive production falls off a cliff. Pundits spend how much time trying to figure out what went wrong? Now we have essentially the same offensive players (minus a few notable receivers) and we have to try and figure out why the offense is struggling. It's the coaching/scheme.. Plain and simple. Do coaches have their playbooks copywrited or something? Its like one staff leaves, the new ones come in and can't figure out how to do anything. Blame gets placed on the players, so we have to get new ones. Its a stupid cycle that is about as predictable as the changing of the leaves.

We're told to trust the process and should be all happy because we have lots of draft picks to build for the future. And I'm reassured every day by someone here that this time feels different. But here's my issue... The only process I see is a coach and GM that spent the off season cutting talent, to stockpile picks. And now using the playing season as a trial period to build depth. Is that a process to build a winning team or a coach and FO wasting a year while they figure out how to do their jobs? Draft picks rarely light it up in year one. So how can anyone reasonably say next year we're going to be good because we have all these draft picks. IF.. They draft well, maybe we're good in 3 years, assuming all the currently good players are still here, still productive, or replaced by equally good players. So yeah, you can build a solid team for years to come through the draft, but without solid veteran players to rely on, you're just filling holes you dug all the while rookies are being thrown into the fire and make more mistakes than plays usually. In the last 17 years we've seen every type of rebuild, restructure, baby making process imaginable. Perhaps this time is different, but I'm not sure anyone can fault any other fan for being skeptical, especially when we're seeing so many of the same mistakes being repeated. I don't know how anyone can look at current WR situation and think there's a plan there. And that's just one example, perhaps the most glaring, but it's only one example of the FO and HC doing something that you have to honestly stand back and say... WTF are they thinking. In the end, I don't know if its ego, ignorance, or some grand plan that we can't see yet. I just know that sometimes the more things change, the more they stay the same.

That's what I'm seeing. Defenses are stopping Shady and Tyrod can't make them pay with his arm. Whether its Tyrod, the receiving options he has, or both, it doesn't matter. The FO basically got rid of most of the talent at WR and went paper thin depth at the other positions. All I know is I'm sick of seeing every team in the league being able to field an NFL roster, but the Bills. The entire league is engineered to allow passing plays yet we have a mickey mouse passing game year in and year out. It's frustrating as hell. And for everyone excited because we have all those draft picks, you only need to look at Zay Jones to know that pinning your future hopes on all your draft picks being stars as rookies is risky at best.

These two quotes are baffling. How does a coach not really know his team at this point in the season? It seems like a cop out answer. And the offense is one dimensional because they can't pass, and that's why the run game is hitting a wall. Defenses are stacking the box and daring us to throw; we can't and the cracks in the roster are getting exposed. How can a coach say we need to run better when the pass offense is clearly the weakest part of the team?

I think you have a lot of posters, like myself, who enjoy reading the content. But rarely post. Hence if club participation is by invite only, the lurkers and random posters would miss a lot of good discussion. Even threads like tailgating for a game I often read, even though I'm not going to be there. It just allows me to live vicariously through the posters that get that opportunity.

Because if you're not headed for the HOF, you suck and shouldn't be playing. Especially if we already made up our minds!

no worries But on point 2... Yeah it goes back games but those are all games under the Rex D scheme. And we all know what a mess that was. So, it's hard to get too worked about lack of production when they had a buffoon of a game plan. And Dareus... Well he's the classic... I got paid. I'm doing the minimum. I wouldn't be surprised, nor upset, if theycut him and just ate the cap. For all his talent, his attitude and work ethic has been crap.

The problem is everyone is thinking back to how the defense played when Shwartz was here. Those guys, outside of Shaq, are all 3 years older. That's a long time in football years! They should be slowing down and pressuring the QB less with just 4 guys. I'm not sure why its so surprising. It's weird.. What the last 17 years have done to this fanbase, culminating in many of the moves made this offseason and in particular the last month. But, it's like half the fan base is not only expected the team to suck, but almost need them to suck so they can justify their hard-lined opinions. So we see everyone demanding near perfect performances, with every mistake being highlighted and blown out of proportion. Rather than talk about the good game Tyrod had, all people wanna talk about is how it wasn't good enough. Yes, the team wasn't perfect yesterday. And yes it was just the Jets. But so many people seem overly critical. I was expecting to read all the glowing comments today... But I felt like I needed to check the score again, because to read some posts it seems we really lost the game. Not the OP here (mind you). Yesterday was a good game, just about the best way you could have scripted a week one game for this team. Let's all enjoy it. let's give this team a chance. Sure, they're gonna make mistakes and lose games, but yesterday was far and away more good than bad. ...stepping down from soap box...

You're an idiot.

I personally don't have a problem clearing house of all players. But didn't we just see this... A wasted year according to the author, "The 2017 season will almost be a tryout for many players on the roster. The coaching staff and front office will know who they want or don’t want much better next February than they do today." Why does it take a full year, wasted to evaluate players? Why couldn't they have made these moves before training camp? We've seen this with different coaches and GMs. They all want "their guys". So here we go... Starting from square 1...again. Hoping the new guys are better than the old guys. I think it's justified on bioth sides...the pessimism and the optimism for the future. Personally... I'm more pessimistic. Hopefully, i'm wrong.

I don't understand the optimism for this great new plan and foundation that's going to result in a winning franchise in 2-3 years. What has this current FO and coaching staff done to warrant such unabashed optimism and confidence? Other than dump half the players on the team and roll out of the gate wth pretty abyssal performances in 3 consecutive preseason games, where's this confidence that all is right in the world coming from?

I'm guessing you were there in '91, '92 screaming for Reich to start over Kelly too? So you're sick of a guy that shouldn't be starting in the NFL and you're solution is start a 4th round rookie? Explain how you know Peterman is already a better starting QB than Tyrod. There's pretty much no chance Tyrod is gone this preseason, either. And considering Tyrod has never played the RB or Punt Returner, I don't know how you can make that claim either. You're rant seems unfounded in reality, to be honest. And a pulled hamstring in week 3 of the preseason is definitely a big deal for any player, especially your starting QB. I'm sorry but wishing for an injury to any Bills player is not something I think of when I think of die hard Bills fans. It's pretty sad what 17 years of sucking has done to this fanbase.

Why on earth would you wish for our starting QB to pull his hamstring on a stupid run? Perhaps you should think about why you're a fan of this team. Not everyone wants to see a 4th round rookie play. Nor does everyone think a "fair assessment" is warranted. I just don't understand all this Peterman love.

Who cares. Preseason or practice games or whatever. The only 2 problems with the preseason games... 1. They make season ticket holders pay for seats as though they're real games when everyone knows they're not. Just stop penalizing season ticket holders, or drop the price to reflect what they are...practices. 2. People are so jonesin' for football, that they all (fans, media, betters, everyone) try to pretend they're regular season games. They're not. Stop watching, stop putting them on tv like a real game. Stop marketing it as though... Football is back. It's not. It's just a practice game. In other words... If the world could just grasp that these games are just fancy practices, stop worrying about wins/losses, stop thinking about preseason stats, stop the marketing hype.. Then all other discussion becomes mute. The NFL created a false problem by over-hyping a practice game in an effort to make money. Now they need to fix the fabricated problem? I think its all ...rediculous.

I don't recall every claiming to be intelligent. But the intelligent ones seem to be lost in the sea of discontent.

I see lots of these "tank" threads... And people claiming to love the "plan" the FO has. But, who says there's any plan whatseoever? And where did this notion come from that we could dump all the good players from the team, lose alot of games, get the #1 pick, draft best QB ever. Then win in 2018 with rookie QB and a roster full of no other good players?? And why does anyone have any faith in this FO to suddenly start picking star players? They have zero teack record with picking good players or coaching them into a winning team. I think the drought has turned this fanbase from an intellegent, football-loving group. To peopel that think the off season is more fun than the football season. It's really perhaps the most pathetic thing I've seen...when a large portion of the fan base has completely given up on the season in August and is looking forward to next year's draft. This is what ..we've.. all become. We don't eve nhave hope anymore. So far all I can see from the current coach and FO is they've taken the last thing we Bills fans had to cling to. We can't even hope to compete like a decent team any more.

Except that several, at least, of the recently released players have been pretty productive contributors on their new teams. Its not like they got traded/cut and are now out of the league. So I'd say they've let NFL talent walk. The problem with the Bills has been crap coaching and a FO that has been clueless at building and team. And until, the new coaches and FO actually field a professional team, there's little reason to think the new bunch is better than the old bunch. Maybe they are, but maybe they're spinning their wheels just like everyone for the last 2 decades has done. Bottom line... No one has helped this team field a winning team. Not a single player, coach, scout, GM. Dump them all, keep them all. I honestly don't care. Just figure out how to compete on an NFL level, already. But, I'll say this regarding the trade - all the talk of the Bills finally having a plan is just that talk. We have yet to see this "plan" actually produce anything on the field. And it looks, at this point, that we have a solid 2-3 years of mediocrity before we know if these guys are better than the last guys.

You don't ..build.. a team and get better if you trade your good players. These aren't just bad moves, they're idiotic.

Pretty much my sentiments. I just want to see a professional, competent ..team. Although I care less about the win, because once the 2nd half gets there, the score is pretty much irrelevant. However, they should all look prepared, focused, and competent. I just want to finally say... The Bills are able to field a real NFL team.

Thank you! I'm trying... and you do make many good points. Maybe by September, I'll work my way back into the hopeful phase. Lol. But your last sentiment is really all I've hoped for the last couple seasons. Yeah, we all want playoffs and more...but at this point we need an organization that can just consistently field a good, hard hitting team each week. Then actually win more games than they lose each year. That's how far this franchise has fallen. More often than not, they don't even look like a professional football team, let alone actually win games they should.