billsgpr88

not sure if this was intentional, but great word play

http://espn.go.com/n...knew-snap-count misleading title thread, apparently the snap count was just super predictable

Well, if he gets enough attention as I think he well (and, imho, he should), the ultimatum will be to promote him to HC here or let him walk. And after watching last year's D compared to this, I think it's more than reasonable to say he's as valuable as any player on the team, if not more. As good as the D has been, it still could have been better if the offense sustained drives and didn't give up the 45-second three and outs that we saw so often earlier in the season. He's clearly on another level in understanding the game compared to Marrone and Hackett, and to me the Bills should be absolutely DESPERATE to keep him around for a long time. If that means promoting him to HC, I think that would only improve the team.

By far the best coach for the Bills this year, and I would say he's probably the hottest coordinator in the league right now. Leading the league in sacks and interceptions, this D has bailed out the underachieving offense the entire season. I would take him as the HC over Marrone any day

If anyone single player can change the losing culture of the bills, it his him. Thad Lewis had more fire in his belly this year than ej. I want a qb who wants to win rather than one who tries not to lose. Im sure it wont be the pick for the bills, but a guy like johnny football does not come around often and I have a strong feeling hes gonna be great. ej, marrone, chan, jauron, fitz, tredwards, they had this mopey sullen look in post game press conferences and interviews, with this 'whatareyagonnado?' look on their face. we NEED someone like Jim Harbaugh, or as much as I hate to admit it, Brady, who's gonna flip out when things are going well. This team will never change without someone like this.

wow, didn't realize there were so many !@#$s on TSW

After witnessing the endless collapses that all of you remember too well, I've concluded that I will not watch a single bills game unless the team is .500 or better. I've watched every game since at least the music city miracle and I've absolutely HAD IT.Call me a bandwagon fan but at this point anyone who still watches with their hopes up is just a masochist. I know there's a lot of old school bills fans that have seen it all and can tell me all about the superbowl years (I was an infant at the time), but god d@mnit this team has ripped the hearts out of the fans chests so many times that they don't deserve our loyalty. From this point on I'm not watching them until they've proven to be a winning team. I swear this franchise has lost more games that they should have won than any I've seen in ANY sport. Drafts, training camps, wild card races, all of that hope crushed over and over and over. I'm done

best post of the thread, exactly what fans want to know

before everyone gets their sack-hammocks twisted up in a bunch, this is not (really) an ej thread get rid of hackett and crossman, and draft manziel next year. I am still on the fence with marrone, i think he is a pretty solid leader. that being said, the offense was utterly pathetic today. my last ray of hope was eclipsed by the inescapable fear of the seemingly inevitable, which is embedded in the minds of every fan and member of this truly heartbraking organization. What do you think has got to be done to make this team respectable?

This detracts from the thread a bit, but if Manuel doesnt show big strides in this stretch, do we look for a qb in the draft? I say if Manziel is there, take 'em.

The AFC wildcard potentials keep losing, The last spot is between the 4-3 chargers and the 4-4 jets, hardly an insurmountable lead in the race

yesyesyes, specifically the drive in the 3rd when they ran up the middle twice which lead to a 3 and out. saints score next possession, score is then 28-10 and we played desperation catch up from there

calling in the air tonight

dude, you sound like the one trolling. 2 and 11 from the five and they run when a field goal wins it? you are forcing yourself into a do or die situation on third down, and a punt from there gives the D about 20 yards to defend before they are in field goal range. A third an out on that possession very likely loses the game. And this being after goodwin and chandler burned the secondary to tie the game, proving they could be effective in the air. I do think hackett is getting better, and I'll be the first guy singing his praises if the bills are even competitive with the ridiculous all-star line up on the saints o, but I can't yet let go of what I saw in the pats, jets, and bengals games.

A lot of responses here have objected to my problem with the predictability with the playcalling. When I said I know they are gonna run it, this was at times when the run proved to be ineffective in the drive. I don't think Hackett considers the circumstances of the drive/game enough. Here's a quote for you, and I'm paraphrasing here: when asked about his implementation of the hurry up strategy: If we ever slow the offense down, it is because coach marrone made the decision. I want to go fast all of the time Apologies for not having the source on hand, but I remember that he said something to the effect of this (some of you may have read the same interview, I found it on TBD). My question: isn't that too simplistic? I mean that, to me, was clearly the biggest reason they lost the game against the pats. And I've said it before but this was just inexcusable to me so I will say it again: RUNNING ON FIRST AND 13, THEN ON SECOND AND 11 IN OVERTIME FROM INSIDE THE FIVE. I like all the inside info that all you guys have posted, and it has definitely made me regret the generalizing tone of the OP. But am I the only one that lost my ish at the end of that Bengals game?

Yeah, for your own sake don't watch anything about bills' games on the national networks. They don't know anything about the team (especially the ex players) and just talk about the other team the entire time. I can't tell you how many times I've seen a game preview where they hardly mention the bills, they gotta go on a serious win streak before they get national attention

Trust me, there were a lot more instances than just two but these were the most obvious ones that popped in to my mind. And they were two very crucial moments in the game, and it was clear that the play calling was poor. Honestly, I watched that Bengals game with a bunch of friends and they were all dumbstruck by the running plays on the 3 yard line (most of them weren't bills fans). I mean, is it just me or does running the ball twice on 1st and 13, then on 2nd and 11 just insane? I knew we lost the game then and there. And btw, there's a difference between 'sample' and 'example'. If you want a sample to evaluate, watch the entire jets game again

These. Two perfect examples of situational incompetence: Running the hurry up in the 4th quarter against the pats, punting to them twice when we had the lead and running as little time off the clock as possible, 1st and 13 on our own three in OT and running on 1st AND 2nd down when the next score wins (against Bengals). This alone should have been disconcerting to every bills fan watching

I'm not talking about tricking the defense, I'm talking about sustaining longer drives and utilizing the wr talent we have. If a D knows the run is coming, clearly they can stack the box and limit the ability to get anything more than 4 or 5 yards at best. We are still succeeding despite this because freddy is one of the smartest running backs I've ever seen, but imho it's asking too much to rely on this to bring you all the way down the field. We've seen stevie, chandler, and woods bail us out on third and longs several times this year; if it works when the D knows we're going to pass and we can still do it, isn't that a sign of what the passing game is capable of? And the very few times they've gone deep they have been successful. BTW, just because you have a different opinion from mine, it doesn't mean that either one of us is an idiot, so try showing some respect. People are generally pretty cool on this forum, you don't have to be a sarcastic turd in the swimming pool that is TSW

Scott Chandler seems to be a pretty solid receiver to me. And despite what you've mentioned, do you geniunely like what you have seen when it comes to play caling?

Throughout various threads I have noticed that a lot of you share my opinion in regards to nate hackett: he is often terrible and terribly predictable. I've lost count of the number of times I absolutely KNEW they were going to run the ball (The jets game being the worst example). Constantly doing this on first downs, and often consecutively on the second downs, gets them to 3rd and long which is always a challenge for the offense, as the D knows a pass is coming. Compound this with the hurry up offense, which in my opinion is giving them very little if any advantage, and the D is back on the field before they can find a seat on the bench. Now, I've read the same defense for Hackett all over the place: "Well the bills are scoring 20+ in all the games with a backup qb and injured running backs!" While this is true, to me those facts don't reflect the play calling as much as it does the team's effort, confidence, and resilience, which I would attribute to Marrone, the ultimate leader of the team. I think they could be putting even more points on the board if they stretched the field more often (why else do we have two track star wideouts?) and pass more on first down just keep the defense honest. The defense is doing a hell of a job considering what they got on the field, but how much better would they be if the offense increased their time of possesion (T.O.P. -17m vs Bengals, -6m vs Browns, -8.5m vs Jets). Granted, the offensive play calling looked a little better last Sunday and it seemed like a sluggish o line and inconsistent passing was the biggest cause of the somewhat anemic offense. But make no mistake: when I can constantly predict the calls from my couch, play calling is a legitimate concern

Don't mean to exhaust the topic, but with the Broncos in need of DBs (Bailey reinjured his foot yesterday) and the pass defense being their glaring weakness (last in the NFL), the Bills could possibly get a second , or even first rounder. Any thoughts?

This is similar to my reaction to the post. Our linebackers (and playcalling against the rush) have been weak since the days of fletcher and takeo, even pozlusny wasnt very dominant. And even the better ones like mitchell and barnett were smaller LBs, not prototypical run stuffers. And the tackling has been an issue for years, which seems to have greatly improved this year (with the exception of last week). Granted, the interior d line didnt look great last week but the majority of the damage done were on end arounds and screen passes, where our DBs were completely dominated by downfield blockers. This D can improve, but Kyle Williams is hardly the root of the problem

Gotta get after Hoyer and rattle his cage. Gotta say, besides the jets game the pass rush has been stellar (flacco was hit on a couple of those picks, and Brady got his fair share on opening day). Hopefully we can get chandler involved (don't know why EJ doesn't go to him more, not athletic but big target and great hands), and I'd like to see TJ go deep at least once. Not sure what to expect, but the browns are THE bandwagon team this week, I don't think I remember so many people Jump on so quickly. Ef em I say, Freddie's gonna knock their rush D ranking down a couple of pegs tonite. GO BILLS GO BILLS GO BILLS GO BILLS!!!!!!!!

Totally agree with OP. BTW, great username, favorite version of Hood myself would be Pershing Hall 10.21.95..... But I digress