Nihilarian

9 rec for 180 yards. 2 TD's....JAG! It's clear to me that some Bills fans that were disparaging the guy have no clue what they are looking at on the field, and neither does Doug Whaley.

Atlanta might have the 25th ranked total defense in yards. They were also 4th in the NFL in defensive hurries! (Buffalo at the end was 17th, despite the more sacks.) Aaron Rodgers was under constant pressure all game. Plus, their new HC Dan Quinn built that defense very similar to the Seattle Seahawks defense with a decent secondary and fast linebackers. Like I said earlier, It isn't just all about the QB! Matt Ryan has been with the Falcons for 9 years and just now they are getting to the SB. That Falcon offensive line has two #2 picks at OG and one is Andy Levitre, a #1 pick at center in Alex Mack and a #1 pick at LT in Jake Matthews. So that Falcon line is very solid and the Packers didn't sack Ryan all game. It looked like he was under not much pressure either. While Falcon QB Matt Ryan had an MVP year. He was also supported by some great offensive coaching in Kyle Shanahan as OC, An excellent receiving corps with one of the very best WR's in the game in Julio Jones with 1409 yards this year. Plus, the Falcons have a thunderous run game with two solid pounders in Freeman and Coleman. That Atlanta rushing game had almost 2000 yards this year with 20 TD's. Look at that Atlanta Falcon front office with Rich McKay as team president, Thomas Dimitroff as GM and Scott Pioli as assistant GM. Basically, three GM's and two are from the Patriots. Google those three names to find all have achieved great success at what they do. The Falcons are really very good at talent evaluation, unlike other teams. This year's Atlanta Falcons have the whole package at work, great FO, great set of coaches, players, a solid team with the highest scoring offense in the league.

The same teams keep getting into the playoffs and keep winning the super bowl, Pittsburgh 8x-(6-2), Dallas 8x-(5-3), New England 8x-(4-4), Denver 7x-(2-5), 49ers 6x-(5-1), NY Giants 5x-(4-1), Packers 5x-(4-1), Washington 5x-(3-2), Oakland 5x-(3-2), Miami 5x-(2-3), Indy 4x-(2-2), Vikings 4x-(0-4), Buffalo 4x-(0-4), LA/ ST Louis Rams 3x-(1-2), Ravens 2x-(2-0), Bears 2x-(1-1), Chiefs 2x-(1-1), Seattle 2x-(1-1), Eagles, 2x-(0-2), Bengals 2x-(0-2), Saints 1-(1-0), Jets 1-(1-0), Buc's 1-(1-0), Titans 1-(0-1), Cardinals 1-(0-1), Falcons1-(1-0), Panthers 1-(1-0), Chargers 1-(0-1). Rivers, Romo, Palmer, and Cutler I'd say that window has closed on those QBs in my opinion. First of all, Tyrod Taylor probably could win a SB if given a great team around him like Peyton had in Denver. Given the situation in the Buffalo Bills front office, I'd say those chances are pretty much nil. It's the same teams keep getting to the SB and keep winning it because they know what it takes to get it done and they move the world to do it. With Pittsburgh, it's the same family. Dallas two owners. Denver the same owner and the QB that lost a bunch of those SB's is now the team president. Oakland, it was Al Davis. Minnesota it was Fran Tarkington, Bud Grant. Buffalo it was Bill Polian, Marv Levy. In Miami it was Don Shula and no matter how much money the new owner spends he hasn't gotten it right yet with multiple team presidents, GM's, coaches. Most fans out there think it's all about the QB and that is only one part of it. Atlanta QB Matt Ryan is in his 9th year and has still never seen a SB. Maybe this year for Ryan and the Falcons.

Massive learning curve? Russ Brandon took over as de facto GM once Marv Levy retired in 2007 and has had the power to run the entire team since that time. Rex isn't the only smooth talking snake oil salesman. So from 2007 thru 2010, it was Brandon. 2010 thru 2013 it was Buddy Nix. May 2013 to date it has been Doug Whaley. It was Brandon who led the search that eventually found Rex Ryan and fully supported his hire, as did Whaley. Brandon has been involved in football operations for 10 years now and what did he learn? He learned it's better if he steps away. Buddy Nix had a lifetime of football to prepare him to be a GM and what did he learn? That the team is better off without him! Whaley had been with the Steelers for 10 years before coming to Buffalo in 2010 and was promoted to GM in may 2013. What has Whaley learned in his four seasons as GM? No franchise QB just yet and 23 free agents this year. Still, no decent RT and Denver's Vonn Miller or the Raiders Khalil Mack or the Texans JJ Watt can move over to face that turnstile Buffalo has at RT! That the team goes into each season paper thin at some positions because the scouting dept in Buffalo stinks. What Whaley has had is an incredible amount of luck so far in the Colts GM wanting to dump Bill Polian's last first round pick, so he calls Buffalo and trades that first for a 3rd round scrub. CJ Spiller doesn't sign that huge offer that Whaley made him and instead signs with the Saints. Chip Kelly gets a wild hair up his arse and decides he no longer wants his best RB so he picks up the phone and calls Buffalo... What you don't get is that almost everyone in the world of the NFL was advising these new owners to hire an NFL experienced senior adviser to help guide them through owning an NFL Team. The NFL even offered an adviser. Instead, they chose to listen to their then team CEO Russ Brandon who told them that "they would know who to hire as the new head coach after they interviewed all the candidates." That was how the old Buffalo Bills worked with an owner that needed the team to make a profit to support him and all his hobbies like horse racing and collecting fine art. Ralph Wilson lived in Detroit and kept the team in Buffalo because he knew he had a rabid fan base in Buffalo that loved their football team. He could keep the ticket prices low to keep the blue collar fans coming to the game and still make a huge profit every year as long as the team was on the edge of winning. Anyway, Terry Pegula was rewarded in hiring Rex Ryan as he saw the season tickets sale take a jump to the highest amount the team had ever sold. Which basically reinforces that he did something right in making that hire. At this point, it looks like it's going to take a lot more losing and empty season seats before Terry Pegula realizes he is doing things the wrong way in hiring his own choice for the team's head coach. SSDY

So true! The simple fact that Doug Whaley is still with the team leads me to think that Russ Brandon still has control over his puppet. Now this Bills team is on a similar 7-year journey like the Buffalo Sabres in that after tanking for years and years while hiring a better head coach they are still dead last in the Eastern Conference. Kind of depressing to think that in 2021 the Bills still might be a bottom of the division team. Andrew Luck is one of many young QB's that have the ability to win a Super Bowl and yet lack the talent all around them, GM, coaches, players, scheme. So the Colts were bad enough for one season to snag the best young QB of the decade but then fell on their faces with the wrong guy as GM. What stinks for Colts fans is now that window of opportunity of when the QB wasn't one of the highest paid players in the league is now closed so the team can't afford to build around like they could have in his first few years in the league. From the looks of things, the current Buffalo Bills are also at that point and they don't even have their known franchise QB. Will Whaley dump Tyrod so he has more money to find above average players at other positions in free agency so mediocre can be medicore again?

We all want that 90's Bills team back again and it likely won't ever happen anytime soon because finding that sort of talent in all phases of a team takes a great degree of change. It's not just finding the right GM... it's not just the team's scouts to find player talent at every position... it's not just about finding that elite franchise QB. Those 1990 Bills first started to be built in Buffalo the day that Ralph Wilson hired Chuck Knox in 1978. When Knox came to Buffalo he also brought with him his director of player personnel from the Rams in Norm Pollom. From there the team scouting department started to change as he hired different scouts. Pollom also recommended hiring a young man to be the Buffalo Bills new pro personnel director in Bill Polian. The team now had the right man at the top who could identify top player talent and had a vision of the team he wanted to build. In order to compete in the same division with the Miami Dolphins, a team that had owned the Bills the entire decade of the 70's. Polian wanted to build a team that was "tough'' in every facet, top to bottom. I believe it was Polian who hired the teams S&C trainer in Rusty Jones who Marv Levy called his secret weapon. The Bills had the right medical staff at that time too as QB Jim Kelly had pins put in his shoulder during his senior year at the U because of a severely separated shoulder. Those doctors had speculated that Kelly might never recover his full throwing motion and they were wrong. Thurman Thomas was also a question mark in the draft as he already had so many miles on him at Oklahoma and he blew out his knee. So he wasn't drafted until the second round where the Bills were confident that Thurman would be a great player for them. I think that when Bills fans read that these new owners are Billionaires that they automatically think that the new owners will hire the very best people to build a super bowl winning team. The best GM, the best doctors, trainers, scouts, coaches and so on down the line. Some of us are still waiting for that to happen and sadly not much has really changed since Ralph Wilson owned the team. 8-8, 7-9 is so Jauronish. It's going to take more than just luck to build a super bowl contender in the AFC East.

I get the impression that Doug Whaley doesn't want to keep Tyrod because he will eat far too much of the cap space to be able to resign all the mediocre talent. For all the Whaley lovers out there who say he has added more talent to the team over anyone since the playoff days need to recall that no GM has had to pay a franchise QB and still be able to build a viable team to compete in this division. Look who those GM's were, Marv Levy, Russ Brandon, Buddy Nix and none had ever been an NFL team general manager... pretty low bar. What direction is the team going to take in this years draft, free agency? Will the team keep Tyrod Taylor? Will the team draft to rebuild the 4-3 again? Will the QB finally have a full quality receiving corps? Will the RT position ever be upgraded with a quality player? Woods expected to hit an 8.5 mill per. Gilmore expected to hit a 12 mill per. With 24 Bills players hitting free agency and the team will attempt to keep 16 to 18 of them? It was reported that the new owners gave an ultimatum to both Whaley and Ryan to get this team fixed or both would be fired and yet only one of them is gone. http://buffalonews.com/2016/12/11/power-struggle-behind-bills-potential-coaching-change/ Gonna be an interesting offseason.

Whatever happens, I have no faith that this team will make the right selection in the draft. Will Whaley draft to help the new HC with his 4-3 defense or help the offense. So many free agents and if the team pays and Keeps Tyrod it puts a limit on what the team can spend to keep it's own players. QB, WR, RT, S, CB ?

Contrary to what you or others may think, sitting on the bench doesn't necessarily teach you everything there is to know about how to read defenses. Nothing prepares a player for the NFL more than stepping on the field and actually playing as it takes awhile just to get used to the speed of the game. If you don't believe me ask a QB player or coach. To the fans that think sitting on a bench, in the film room or holding a clipboard equates to years of actual on the field playing experience...it doesn't! First of all, he was playing, actually starting in a brand new system in Buffalo in which he needed to learn the language, the plays, the protections and to start reading defenses on the fly. Nothing, and I mean nothing will prepare a young QB to play in this league more than actual playing in the NFL. The late, great Bill Walsh stated it generally takes four years of "playing" experience to fully develop a QB. Second, Take a look at this year's league leading QB and what he looked like when his superstar WR only played in 5 games instead of 16. That 2013 Atlanta Falcons team went 4-12 and that elite franchise QB didn't play anywhere near what he is capable of playing because he lost his primary target in Julio Jones for 11 games that year! Tyrod Taylor was throwing to a severely depleted receiving corps this year with Woods the leading receiver with 10 game starts, 51 rec for 613 yards, 1 TD. Clay 15 games, 57 rec for 552 yards, 4 TDs. Goodwin 29 rec for 431 yards, 3 TDs. Watkins 8 games 28 rec for 430 yards, 2 TDs. If you look at the first few games Sammy Watkins was still injured and basically did nothing in those games. I'm sure that Taylor also missed his number one first down maker in Chris Hogan who is now a Patriot. Just as a comparison Sammy Watkins played in 13 games in 2015 and had 60 rec for 1047 yards, 9 TDs. Then take into consideration that the Bills had a new OC for the majority of the year who didn't call as many deep bombs as Greg Roman called in 2015 at around 10% less. As for Brees, it is a perfect example in terms of starting because he sat his first year and went 8-8 in his first year of starting and then regressed in his second season starting for whatever reason and was benched for it. He also played far worse than Taylor has done as he went 356 attempts for 305 completions 2108 yards with 11TDs, 15 INTs! He played so much worse that the team used their #1 overall pick in the draft that year on a QB to replace him and eventually did replace him. After two seasons of playing experience, Brees then developed into a far more accurate superb passer going 11-4 with 400 attempts, 262 completions 3159 yards 27 TDs, 7 INTs. Some QB's take longer to develop and some less

Well, if the team dumps Tyrod and goes for Hoyer, Romo or Cutler then they will want someone who can run a top passing offense. If the team keeps Taylor and wants to make sure their money is well spent it would be wise of them to hire Cam Cameron if for nothing else than get that run game going like it has been and to develop a QB in either Taylor or Jones. Just look at the QB's the man has developed in Brees and Flacco. If not for Taylor just think of the good the guy could do for Cardale Jones. I'd put Cameron in the same slot as Anthony Lynn, Greg Roman in terms of a run game coordinator, only he has a better record of actually developing some great quarterbacks. JMO

Yeah, the Buffalo Bills wouldn't want to be like them.

To all those Bills fans who think they know what a QB will develop into after watching play him for two years. I watched a kid get drafted and sit on the bench in his first season with a bad HC, bad team. The next season he got a new HC and coaching staff and he was able to start. He went 8-8 that first year while completing 60.8% of his passes for 526 attempts for 320 completions 3284 yards with 17 TDs, 16 INTs. Not bad for a rookie starter, err most of you would say a second-year player. That team had a 1000+ yard rusher and some decent receivers with 538 passing attempts vs 466 rushing attempts. In his second year of starting the guy was benched after he went 2-9 with 356 attempts for 205 completions for 2108 yards while throwing 11 TDs, 15 INTs. with a 57.6 completion percentage. He stunk it up and deserved to be benched! Now up until this point, the team had thrown more than they passed the ball the previous two years and this year the teams OC took a different turn and called for 450 passes vs 525 rushing attempts. This same starting QB who was benched the previous season suddenly started to get better in a run first team. That year this same QB who stinking it up was doing great. This season that in his third year of being a starting QB he went 11-4 with 400 attempts for 262 completions for 3159 yards with 27 TDs, 7 INTs. The team made the playoffs. His OC was Cam Cameron a man who tutored him and also went on to develop Joe Flacco into another SB winning QB. Anyone guess by now who this QB is? The point being is that it would really be foolish to dump Tyrod Taylor at this point. Unless the team changes their offensive philosophy to a pass first and wants a different bridge QB who will throw more. What the team should do is hire Cam Cameron away from LSU and allow him to develop Tyrod Taylor. The team will find out soon enough if he develops further or fails to do so. This team also needs to upgrade the WR, RT positions asap.

Alex Smith made quite a few comebacks in his time at KC and if not for a holding call the Chiefs would have tied that game with a 2 point conversion. The final score was 16-18 so it wasn't out of the realm of possibility that the Chiefs win that game or get to the SB this year. Smith went 11-4 this year and Buffalo would be so lucky to have him at QB. I think the Bills would be incredibly foolish to let Tyrod walk away this year as it generally takes 2-4 years of actual game playing experience before a player realizes their full potential. It really can take less and longer for some players like Trent Green who took 6 years. Rich Gannon took 13 years and his first three were on the bench. Jim Plunkett was the first overall pick by NE in 1971 and bombed for 9 years until Oakland acquired him, benched him for a season and he went on to win 2 SB. Teams can no longer wait more than a few seasons for a QB to develop sometimes it just takes time. I keep posting that the Chargers gave up on Drew Brees and drafted Eli Manning/Phillip Rivers to replace him after he was benched in his second season. Looking back at how things have gone for Rivers and Brees which QB should the Chargers have kept? (Brees didn't injure his shoulder until the end of his 4th year and he threw for 27 TD and 7 INTs that year) The Bills need to bolster their WR corps and finally fix that RT position and perhaps Taylor will develop into a better player this year. It will also help to have a top OC and QB coach but it isn't looking good at this point.

I think it has more to do with the current QB situation in SF with Kaepernick and Blane Gabbert, and the 3rd is Ponder. Not to mention that the entire team looks like it needs a rebuild from the bottom up as they went 32nd in defense and 31st in offense. They have no receiving corps, no RB, no DE's. The once vaunted best O-line in the NFL is a shell of itself and the defense which was a top 5 defense for three years 2011-2012-2013 is now worse than a shell. That team is a tire fire right now and that is being kind! Plus, the Patriots GM probably said no too. The owner should have crucified the GM rather than fire him.

I agree as many sites have already stated that they think Taylor will find a new home very quickly should Buffalo dump him. The Chargers, A Lynn might want Taylor In if Rivers wants out. There is already a rumor that Elway is looking at Taylor with his magnificent long ball and ability to not turn the ball over. Bills fans forget that deep ball from 2015 because under Lynn it dropped about off 10% because he didn't call as many deep passing plays as Roman. If anyone can further Taylor's development it would be Mike McCoy. The Bears have an excellent RB in Jordan Howard and their run game would get even better with a QB like Taylor. Jay Cutler is gone and I suspect that while Chicago might draft a rookie QB this year they still might want a better bridge QB. Currently, there are a bunch of ball control offenses in the NFL that currently stink because their QB position is bad and would love to have a QB that is average and doesn't turn the ball over. Like I said I would hate it to see Taylor on the Jets or Browns in leading them to the playoffs while the Bills struggle with some scrub behind center.

Jeez, I think you are so off concerning the current Bills receiving corps. If Watkins could stay healthy for a season he may eventually put up a Julio Jones type year and that is one gigantic "if". Past Woods, Clay everyone else was basically worthless. This team needs more than one solid WR and TE who can play a full 16 games. I look at Atlanta, Green Bay, Pittsburgh, and NE with a slew of talent at receiver with envy and wonder if Buffalo will ever see that much talent on the offense. I also wonder if Whaley will every find a quality RT before he is fired. I would really hate it to see the Browns, Jets make the playoffs with Taylor at QB.

He is right about Norman as the Panthers stated he was a system CB and would fail wherever he went beside Carolina, Then they drafted three CB's in the draft to replace him and they were the ones that fell on their faces. I would think when you let a top talent walk at any position that the team should have an adequate replacement ready to step in and they clearly didn't. Last year the Panthers went from 11th in passing yards given up to 29th and I was questioning why the team wanted to interview McDermott in the first place. To me, this sort of resembles a Rex Ryan type hire only this man has no experience in being an NFL HC, considering the man didn't do so well in his last year with his prior team. I know McDermott will bring 10k times the energy towards his job vs Rex, it's just we don't know if that focus will be effective. Right now I'm in a wait and see mode and am hoping that McDermott hires a knock the socks off OC and keeps Tyrod to maintain continuity with the run game. I'm really not thrilled with the DC hire as Frazier kept getting fired as DC in Cincy, in Minnesota as HC, and in Tampa Bay. The scheme that these guys run seems more dependent on drafting elite players rather than looking for a certain prototype build and coaching them into a system. JMO Whaley has control over the draft and roster so let's hope he drafts some offense in a top quality WR or two and a quality RT.

It will really depend on who they bring in for OC. Right now I'm so confused as to what happens with Tyrod Taylor. From what I perceive the new HC likes him, the owners like him, the players like him. The GM does not like him and if Whaley has control over the 53, which he does. Tyrod could be history and the team could be looking for a new QB in free agency and or the draft. Kinda funny to me that the team spends two first rounders and a 4th on a WR who was a star in an offense in which he caught a ton of screen passes...comes to Buffalo and they don't throw screens to him. On this note, it wouldn't surprise me to see the Bills go after WR Mike Williams or Deshaun Watson.

Why wait? He said he and Rex would be gone if they didn't fix the team and only one guy went. I think it would be pretty stupid of this team to give up on Tyrod now with him being developed by two advanced run game coordinators. I really was hoping to see what Mike McCoy could do with this offense. Or how about a HC that submarines his own team to get fired Dick Jauron did that exact thing the year he was fired.

I turned on ESPN and caught a bit they used after Whaley stated he has found the secret to winning games which he said was "To win in this league, you need two things: players and winning". It was kinda like a SNL bit and rather hilarious. Almost as good as "This is the game of football," "Injuries are part of it. It's a violent game that I personally don't think humans are supposed to play." This reminds me of Hank Bullough back in the 80's, "that really took the sail out of our winds", or "The spare of the moment" "We keep beating ourselves, but we're getting better at it" or "he's making improvement throwing the ball where he is throwing the ball.

Clearly, they didn't use a search firm to hire Rex. So, perhaps they will have better success this time around. My thoughts are McDermott will only be as good as his coordinators and QB. Leslie Frazier is now the DC and he runs a 4-3 scheme and was the DC for the Bengals 2003 (28)*-2004 (21st), Vikings 2007-2009 (13)(8)(18), Vikings 2010(18), Tampa Bay 2014-2015(25)(26) and was the HC of the Vikings in between while his last job was the DB's coach of the Ravens 2016. It remains to be seen who the new OC will be for the Bills in 2017 and if Tyrod stays or goes. On the outside looking in it looks like Whaley wants Tyrod off the team and the owners want to keep him. If Whaley gets his way and dumps Tyrod, as I see it about the only way this team has a successful season is if they bring in Cutler, Romo or draft a rookie like Deshaun Watson. I'm hoping for the best and yet I need to see it on the field before I lose my skepticism. * points allowed.

Welp, now I know why Whaley wanted him as he will have control over the roster and Sean will just do the coaching. haven't heard who is reporting to who just yet.

Ken Whisenhunt is out there and he would make a great OC IMO

Bill Musgrave did a decent job with the Raiders and no idea why they allowed his contract to expire and not re-up. That Raider offense really carried the team this year. Someone mentioned Cam Cameron who did develop Joe Flacco and runs an offense just like Anthony Lynn, Greg Roman.