Dan

I agree, completely. However, Kyle has quite a few years left to play. So, I'd like to see how his career ends, ie does he stay in Buffalo or chase money elsewhere. With Fred, I firmly believe he wants to be a Bill till he retires, which is unfortunately only a couple years away. It is an interesting delimma though. Outside of a few players like Beebe, we're either about to go through 4 or 5 years with no one being put up on the wall... or several really marginal players going up, just to have a half time ceremony. I wonder which way Russ will go?

I think when you look at the last 15 years of Bills' football, there's very few players worthy of the recognition. Maybe some of the current, young players, but we'll have to let their careers play out. Freddie, however, is the only player in my mind that has consistently been the heart and soul of the team and the fanbase. He's been productive on the field; he's one of the few players that I think could have played on any of the great teams in Bills' history. We, as fans of a losing team, have had little to be proud of for 15 years. Freddie's play has been one of them. He plays every play like it could be his last and has earned more than he has received.

The team finished 6 and 10 (hopefully, this can be edited to 7and 9), what can you say to convince a battered fan base that this sub 500 team is any better than the last 9 sub 500 teams? The offseasons are typically based on hype and hope around here, so other than that, what do you see as your first step to not having a10th consecutive losing season?

True, but sitting at 11-4 and guaranteed a playoff birth, I'd say they're considerably better than what they were. And yes, teams can have bad years like the Giants this year. But, that's the Giants with 2 Super Bowl wins having a bad year. Or the Super Bowl winning Saints having a bad year after being rocked with scandals. But, is there any doubt that those teams, with their QBs, are a much better, playoff contending team than all the hapless teams like the Bills without a QB? PS. I'm not saying a QB is the only thing you need. But, a QB is required to be a consistently good team that contends for the playoffs each year. Furthermore, I contend the Bills currently have a good enough team for the playoffs... if they could get a good QB.

ok..that was a damn good read! It all makes so much sense now!

And what was the first thing Andy Reid did...he got a QB. Alex Smith may not be a top 5 QB in the league, but he's world's better than Cassel and the other guys the Chiefs had tried.

I went old school... they're not in demand as much. Probably just took a little fondling. But, I got an authenticated, signed Bruce Smith home jersey.

Get a QB. That's it. A great QB gives you a solid and consistently good team with a winning record. Every player and coach will look better. New players will adjust more quickly. The winning atttitude will magically appear. All when you have a QB that can go toe to toe with Brady, Manning, Brees, Rogers, etc. We have to have patience, as fans. As much as it sucks to say that after all these years of sucking, but good QBs don't develop in one off season. Rookie QBs especially need to be given time to develop 3-4yrs minimum. Now, I'm not saying give EJ time. I'm not saying draft another QB. I'm saying the FO needs to find a QB. And yes... draft a dozen guys, I don't care. Do what it takes (obviously I would hope it wouldn't take all that), bu find a guy. If the FO thinks its EJ, stick with him. If they're like alot of fans, not sure, then draft more guys. Because the bottomline in this leage is... get QB. But, we as fans have to realize that Whaley and Marrone 's careers will come down to who they settle on and how he develops in 3+ years. It sucks, but that's what it is. And until then... all the linemen, WRs, TEs, safties, waterboys, are just fluff.

Exactly! Yes, Thad can be a decent backup. I imagine, Tuel can as well. So can a dozen other guys. Who cares. This team needs a real NFL starting QB. Period. Every position on this team is good enough to compete right now; sure we can upgrade several spots and players. But, until you get a top tier QB, none of it matters. The FO should have one priority... get a QB. I don't care if they draft one with every pick and sign a dozen FAs. Find a QB. There's one thing that's apparent if you watch any football - without a good, consistent QB, you're an average to below average team. Is EJ the guy? After a year of ups and downs, ins and outs, I find it hard to know. So, bring 'em all in and find one.

Fred is an absolute beast of a player... easily my favorite Bill since the Super Bowl teams. I won't buy his jersey till he retires, because if I did get one he'd be cut tomorrow. :-) But I'd be proud to wear his number. The guy literally epitomizes Bills football.

Exactly. Just run the ball... run time off. And kick the FG go up by 3scores. That's the smart play there.

True. But why not try to score, number 1. And why call stretch plays to the sideline, if all you want to do is run out the clock, number 2. Its bad situational awareness in the game. Plain and simple.

This bull **** playcalling to ebd the half and give Miami another scoring chance is exactly why Marrone sucks ass. holy crap

limping off the field a little. hurt his ankle/knee maybe?

Week 16: Miami Dolphins at Buffalo Bills Sunday, December 22, 2013 at 1:00pm TV Network: CBS (TV Map) Announcers: Dedes and Steve Beuerlein (Local Blackout) DirecTV: 704 Bills Radio: On the call: John Murphy (play by play), Mark Kelso (analyst), Joe Buscaglia (sideline) Flagship: Buffalo – WGR550 (550AM); Toronto - Sportsnet 590 The Fan; Rochester - WCMF (96.5) and WROC (950AM); Syracuse - WTKW (99.5/WTKV 105.5) Sirius: 93 ================================================================= Game Preview: Looking for a season-high fourth consecutive victory, the visiting Dolphins can possibly clinch that playoff berth Sunday while trying to avenge an earlier loss to the Buffalo Bills, who will be without their starting quarterback and top receiver. A sprained right knee kept Bills rookie quarterback EJ Manuel out of the October game against the Dolphins, and a left knee injury will keep him from playing Sunday. Thad Lewis, who went 21 of 32 for 202 yards with an INT and no TDs while getting sacked four times at Miami, will make his fourth start of the season and first since Oct. 27. In danger of a fifth straight season of double-digit losses, Buffalo looks to win consecutive games for the first time since Sept. 16-23, 2012, after defeating Jacksonville 27-20 last week. Read more at ESPN game preview... --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scouting Report: Week 16 (from Buffalo Bills.com Chris Brown) NFL.com Video Preview 'Playbook': Miami Dolphins vs. Buffalo Bills NFL.com Game Center Team Stats: Bills Dolphins Total Yds/Game.... 330.5 329.1 Total Rush............. 138.2 95.3 Total Pass............. 192.3 233.9 Points/Game.......... 21.4 22.1 Time of Poss.......... 28.3 29.2 ---------------------------------------------- Yds/Gm Allowed... 346.3 356.1 Rush Yards........... 127.3 117.2 Pass Yards........... 219.1 238.9 Points Allowed........ 25.3 21.1 Source: NFL.com Injury Report: Buffalo Bills NAME POSITION INJURY WED. THU. FRI. GAME STATUS Carpenter, Dan K Illness - - - Probable Dareus, Marcell DL Ankle LP FP FP Probable Jackson, Fred RB Ribs DNP LP FP Probable Johnson, Stevie WR Not injury related DNP DNP DNP Out Manuel, EJ QB Knee LP DNP DNP Out Moats, Arthur LB Not injury related - DNP - - Smith, Brandon DB Ankle LP FP FP Probable Williams, Aaron S Ribs DNP DNP DNP Out Williams, Kyle DL Achilles DNP FP FP Probable Source: BuffaloBills.com Miami Dolphins NAME POSITION INJURY GAME STATUS Chris Clemons S Knee Limited Participation Probable Brent Grimes CB Groin Limited Participation Probable Paul Soliai DT Ankle Limited Participation Probable Nolan Carroll CB Knee Full Participation Probable Jamar Taylor CB Hamstring Full Participation Probable Olivier Vernon DE Ankle Full Participation Probable Reshad Jones S Groin Full Participation Probable Daniel Thomas RB Ankle Limited Participation Questionable John Denney LS Illness Did Not Participate Probable Source: NFL.com Practice Status Game Status DNP = Did Not Participate in Practice Out = Player will not play LP = Limited Participation - Less than 100% of normal reps Doubtful = 25% chance a player will play FP = Full Participation - 100% of a player's normal repetitions Questionable = 50% chance a player will play Out = Player will not play Probable = 75% chance a player will play (-) = Not Listed = No practice status available (-) = Not Listed - No game status available The Odds: Line: Miami -3 even Over/Under: 43.0 Source: The Linemakers Up to date lines... if you're in Vegas. My Take on the Matchup: We're really riding out the season in style this year. At this point, about all I had to look forward to watching was EJ play to see if he had the makings of a franchise QB. Well, that lasted a week! We're back to Thad again and the lost season just lost what little luster there was left. I'll still be watching the game. Although, its really getting difficult trying to figure out why. Maybe Thad plays well enough to be the back up next season. Great. We can all say we witnessed the growth of our back up. So, what's left? Seeing the growth of Marrone as a head coach? Yeah, that's it. Should be a super great game. Go Bills!!

It starts and ends right there. Too much inexerience and it shows. Defensively, the team has improved and just needs more time playing together to fix a lot of their bad play. Offensively, the team has regressed tremendously. The game plans are predictable, simplistic, and not taking advantage of our player's strengths.

We've been consistent in many areas, actually. Just... consistently bad. We consistently have predictable play calls. We consistently allow TJ Graham to run around wide open even though he can't catch. We consistently give up 3rd and long. We consistently go 3 and out on offense, putting our tired defense back on the field late in the game. We consistently allow no name RBs to look like Pro Bowlers. We consistently make too many penalties. We consistently look unprepared for what the other guys are doing. So, if you think about it, the Bills are pretty much doing what they've always done. They're the very definition of consistency.

There is absolutely no way the league doesn't do everything possible to ensure a Brady vs Manning Championship game. Anyone thinking the Fins have a chance at the division title, is just ignoring today's NFL.

The Bills field a professional football team and coaching staff that looks like they belong in the NFL? No way.

A lot of that, I attribute to being a rookie and the game moving to fast for him. It looks to me like he's trying to process everything rather than just play... which is to be expected from a rookie. But, hopefully, he makes strides in reading defenses and understamding what he has to do and adjusting to his receivers and the current game situation and all else.

The problems, as I see it, are coaching and QB. The coaching is leading to piss poor 3rd down efficiency on offense and defense. And the QB is a rookie, making plenty of rookie mistakes in a league where you need a top passer to succeed. The team is young and learning new systems. They need to focus and play consistently. And, that, comes back to coaching. All too often, they stop someone on 1st and 2nd down only to give up 3rd and long. Why? Because the players are losing containment when they need to be coached that a 5 yd gain on 3rd and 7 is ok. Instead, they crash the line to make a big play, lose containment and give up the big play. It's happened forever. On offense, the play calling gets entirely too predictable leading to a lot of 3rd and longs. A great QB can overcome that. A rookie rarely can. Hackett seems to have almost zero situational game awareness and consistently puts his players in the worst position. He's running into the hear tof a defense with an elusive back, from a formation that the entire world knows he's running. He goes empty backfield, shotgun in known passing downs just allowing the defense to T off on EJ. Hopefully, after a year together and another off season, they'll begin to learn to play with more consistency and eliminate many of these mistakes. If not, all the draft picks and free agents won't help a bit. IMO, we need on offense more OL help. We just can't get the consistent push in known running situations. And Hackett seems bent on running CJ up the middle, so we need the big men to make it happen. We also need a big WR that can snatch balls. Anyone see Dez Bryant last night? He made catches that our current receivers just simply can't. Small and fast is good... but big and overpowering is pretty nice as well. Defensively, I think we just need more consistent play, especially from the LBers. Or get a new one or two. Oh yeah, and of course, a QB that can consistently bail out the offense on 3rd and long and not look like a rookie all the time.

How can we get a QB like that on our roster? Dude is looking good!

Screw the other teams and their playoffs... I want the Bills to beat 2 divisional teams and close out the season thinking they can actually win in the NFL. Preferably with EJ taking command of the offense and throwing for 300+ yards in each game (not combined).

True. The game next week is very winnable, very lose-able as well. But, my response was to someone that acted as though being one and done in the playoffs is somehow a bad thing. Given the Bills can't even manage a winning record, I'd love a one and done post season.

I'd rather be one and done, while rebuilding, than eliminated with a month left in the season.