Dan

Absolutely disagree. Discipline, teaching fundamentals, game day adjustments are just a couple of the ways a coach ..directly.. affects the players on the field

The offense make the defense do pushups all half time... Obviously they're too tired from our bad offense.

The defense is close.

I'm not good enough to know if Whaley or the rest of the FO actually know what they're doing. So, I can't speak too much to all that. Other than to say... At some point you are what your record says you are. And the Bills under Whaley et al. struggle to win 9 games and have yet to make the playoffs. At some point... You gotta hold people accountable, right or wrong. Regarding Rex and the coaching staff... I didn't like the hire then and I don't like him now. His hallmark is an undisciplined, sloppy team. And that's exactly what we have. Players getting suspended, getting days off from practicing, cheap penalties, mistakes, and lack of focus.... That's how I best describe this team. And it all stems from the head coach. I got no problem with Rex getting shown the door, I would have done it after last season's complete fail. Tyrod.... I want to like him. But, in the end, he just doesn't see the field well enough and is just inconsistent enough to cost us games. Yeah, he's good and the offense scores and all, but how many times have we needed a pass on 3rd down just to watch the ball sail or see him scramble. At some point, he has to make defenses pay. Rarely does he do it. I'm torn. I want a better QB, but he geniuinely seems to care and does do a lot of stuff good. Pretty much every other player and position on the team... See my comments on Rex. Get a new coach and many of them would turn it around. I firmly believe that. Are they all pro bowlers? No. But few teams if any have more than a couple of 3-4 true stars. The rest are role players that perform when needed. A perfect example of that is Woods. He's not Watkins, but he doesn't have to be. He just needs to be the safety valve when Watkins is doubled. We have plenty of those players. They just need a coaching staff to keep them focused, healthly and playing with a solid game plan. So, to the OP's point.... yeah, we've beat bad teams and lost to good teams. Occasionally, everyone plays tough for Rex. But can they do that consistently, week after week? Rex's teams have never done that. Do I want the whole team blowed up after the season... No. Do I want Rex gone... Yes. Other coaches have shown that you can come in and win in the 1st year. We're close, we just need to find the guy that can do that... and maybe a QB that can actually throw downfield with some accuracy. Or see if Tyrod needs glasses (ala the Wild thing).

Exactly. That's my question.... So our chances hinge on the Jags beating TN? If so... We might as well call it over now.

They could fire the GM, the scouting staff, and coaches... Set up a poll here of who to draft and have 1 of several posters here submit game plans each week, and make the play call. ..and I honestly think they'd do better. It defies the laws of nature that they can go this long without finding a competent QB or figure out how to string together enough wins to make the palyoffs. So, you ask for a name... I say they jsut need to pull their heads out of their asses and do what we all know needs to be done.

For me... The bolded part is what this loss put on clear display. I kinda half expected a loss, even started a thread suggesting that a loss today doesn't necessarily mean the season is over. But, here we are at 6-6 and more often than not, even in half our wins, we all end up with tangs of this feeling in out guts. This is not a disciplined team. It's the team Rex has has put together, the defense he wants to run, the QB he wanted... And this is what we are. Undisciplined, full of holes, and mediocre record. I have no reason to have confidence that Rex will suddenly figure it all out. 2:50 left in the first half, up by 4... What do you do? Go into a shell and piss away a possession. On the flip side, the Raiders get the ball with 30 seconds... What do they do? ...throw the damn ball down the field and get a FG to end the half. Pretty much pathetic.

To your first point, yes I would agree. When Tyrod won the starting job last year, it was obvious. He was a better QB and looked far more poised and prepared to lead the team. So, I wasn't then nor am I now, pining for EJ or some other QB. But, I will say, Tyrod's level of play seems to have leveled off this year when I was hoping he would continue to improve. Lots of really good QBs have bad halves, even bad games. But, the good ones turn it around and keep fighting. I give EJ a lot of credit for doing just that. Yes, he deserves a lot of blame for losing that game. But, the defense deserves a lot, as well. I know it's gotta be a black and white world, but can't we live in a world where even the worst players, like EJ, are capable of doing something right? I'm not saying EJ should get a shot here, I'm just suggesting that he's not the complete trainwreck so many people say he is.

I have to agree with a lot of this. I like Tyrod. I want him to be THE answer. And he's certainly the best starting QB the Bills have had in quite some time. However.... The offense goes into a shell far too often and has serious issues converting 3rd and long. That, IMO, is when the QB earns his money. He makes great plays with his legs and occasionally with his arm. But, all too often, he misses the throw on 3rd down. And I find myself wondering why we never hit receivers in stride? So, I like him. But, I'm still waiting to see how the final games play out before I go all in. What I'm afraid of the most, is he's one of these guys that does just enough to look good at times and get your hopes up, but never really puts it all together to consistently put wins together. But, to be fair, EJ played a really good 2nd half, threw for 2TDs, and left the field with the lead. That loss was not all on him, it was the very definition of a team loss.

Agreed. But one thing you can be sure of... Everyone always wants more money. So whether you have part time refs, with great full time careers, or full time refs with with lower overall salaries... They're susceptible to bribes. IMO, it's less about the quality of the salary they make and more about the quality of man they hire.

Simplification of the rule book certainly is a big part of it. The fact that no one can tell you what a catch is anymore is all you need to reference for that. But, also, there's no consistency with the penalties? The "hit" on Bradford's head on thursday night, should not be a penalty (in my opinion). But because the rule is you can't touch the QBs head in any fashion, and they've called roughing the passer when a defender whispers too close to Brady, makes it an egregious over sight by the ref that likely cost the Vikings the game. I think the overly complicated rules, allow for two things... Inconsistency in their enforcement and lack of focus for the refs. That is, the refs are so busy looking for all the various nuisanced penalties that they miss blatantly obvious things. Combine those two and it's hard not to think the league is fixing games. The only other conlusion is that the refs are patently incompetent. Maybe neither is true but when you watch a game and see wildly inconsistent, ticky tack flags, it's hard to draw any other conclusion. So I say, simply the penalties and combine that with full time refs that can work on consistently applying the rules.

I've been saying this for years. Find a dozen or so plays that your players can execute at a high level. Then change the formations and personel to disguise those dozen or so plays. But keep it simple, do what you do best, and don't be predicitable with package plays and formations.

Ahhhh.... Makes sense. I didn't realize they were doing walk throughs. Shows ya what I get for thinking before I have a full load of coffee.

Do they still say... Practice like you play. ? I just wonder if the best teams in the league also practices where it looks like the players are half walking through their routes?

Not a problem. I guess your attitidue (amd mine) comes with age. There's more to it that just wins and losses. Sure, winning is what its all about. But, at some point its about the whole journey as well. The memories. The cheering and hoping with family. The pride of being a Bills fan. Its why we're all here. Maybe the Bills will win out, maybe they'll lose out. But, honestly, after week 2...who would have thought we'd be in December still with a shot? I, for one, thought the season was done and was looking at potential new coaches. It's been a crazy season... And we got at least 5 more games to go!

Absolutely, great perspective and attitude. Thank you.

Interesting... Am I reading that correctly? The Raiders and Dolphins games are most important to our playoff hopes. Loses to either of them lowers our percentage the most. That is definitely how the Bills typically do it! The last two weeks are showing me that the Bills are starting to change their ways and not lose those kinda games. Granted, they don't make it look easy. But they didn't lay down against the Jags, they fought hard and pulled out a solid win.

Maybe my self defense mechanisms are kicking in too! I don't want to lose this game, nor do I pretend to know all the possible playoff permutations. But, it just seems to be that of the 5 remaining games, this is the one we ..could.. lose and it would do the least amount of damage. In other words, if I had to choose, lose to the Raiders or Steelers? I think the Steelers is way more important to win.

...is this week the week? A post in the postgame thread got me thinking... Most everyone here agrees that 10-6 is what we need to possibly make the playoffs. So, we can lose one game and still have a shot. If that's the case, isn't it best if we lose the game this week against Oakland? We need to beat PIT and MIA, to help us jump ahead of them in the playoff chase. Losing to the Jets hurts us in the first tiebreaker - division record. Losing to the Browns would be ...well embarrassing and demoralizing. So... would it really be so bad if we lose to the Raiders this week? Is this really the game that will define our playoff run? Or is it the following couple of weeks?

There's a ton of positive to say about the game. Perhaps most notable to me, they played tough for a full 60 minutes and all 3 phases contributed to the win. No one on the team quit or lost focus. That's a big change for Bills' teams and more than anything, I think, the reason why we won the last 2 games. It also goes unnoticed, because the Jags didn't score, but the call on the 2pt conversion was perfect and ensured the game would only be tied and not lost on a last second score. That was a good call and great execution.

I still haven't watched a game. ..just been that kinda year. Although after the 4 game losing streak, I'm not sure it matters. But I haven't washed the game dat shirt... So there is that! I suggest don't shower for the whole week. We need all the help we can get next week!

If we can go 10-6, that means we can lose next week and still be alive!

Exactly how I feel! I sum up the this team, Defense and Tyrod, as being... Inconsistent. But we're still in the thick of things with 5 games left and all the inconsistency on the field. It's hard to complain, but I just don't know. I guess we'll just have to see how they finish the season. We have little room to falter, if 10-6 is what we need. The one thing I do like is this team plays a full 60 minutes. There is no quit in them. That's definitely a step in the right direction.

Watching Oakland. They look every bit as good as their record says they are. No way Rex's D can stop that team.

If Belicheck were really a genius, he'd sit Brady all year. Then every team they play would have to just declare it a loss because Brady wasn't playing. It'd be a brilliant way to go undefeated! ps. Given the way this season started, a new OC, then add in all the injuries, toss in the fact that we're saddled with a bumbling HC... I'd say 10-6, especially considering we're currently 5-5, would be a successful season regardless of playoffs. That would be our best record since... Well since who can remember that long ago.