Nihilarian

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.

Hiring Lynn makes more sense to me than the hiring of Joesph...but what do I know. What we fans don't know is what is said in the interview process. I seem to recall that Marv Levy stated that Mike Sherman knocked his socks off with his interview and then went on to hire Dick Jauron. Only one job opening left in San Fran and Josh McDanials, Kyle Shanahan, Matt Patricia, Tom Cable and Kris Richards still out there. It is weird that Mike Smith, Jim Schwartz didn't even get a sniff.

John Elway might be the man to know who to hire, no question. I Just have my doubts about the amount of success that he can achieve given the QB situation, defensive situation. While Mike McCoy might be a real key in the hire because he has shown he can do wonders with most any QB and should the HC falter, his replacement is already on the team.

Still, he might have given a great interview while being a terrific leader of men. The man was the DB coach in Cincy, Houston and San Fran previous to his one bad season as DC for the Dolphins. To me, it's all about coaching and how that translates to the field. Miami was 18th in points allowed and 29th in yards allowed. While that Miami defense did lead the NFL in defensive hurries they were also 21st in sacks. On another note, this type of hire is exactly what the Steelers did when they hired Mike Tomlin. The difference being that the Steelers already had Big Ben at QB and Dick LeBeau at DC and Tomlin was smart enough to keep that DC and defensive scheme intact. The Broncos don't have an established franchise QB and now their top in the league DC is now coaching the Rams defense. Makes no sense to me. I would much rather hire a Kyle Shanahan who took a bunch of top players and turned them into an elite unit. That Falcon offense is amazing and the play calls in feeding the playmakers kind of reminds me of what Ted Marchibroda did with the Bills in Buffalo.

Yeah, Vermeil only won a super bowl with the Rams and they coined "the greatest show on turf" from that offense. Then he went to KC and in five years had a 13-3, 10-6 season

Not to mention that Wade Phillips got no interest as a HC and neither did Jim Schwartz. Also, I don't get the hiring of defensive coordinators who had a bad year and I'm still quite puzzled over the Vance Joesph hire to Denver. Are the Broncos ready to tank this year to get the #1 pick because I just don't get losing Philips who built a great 3-4 to a HC who runs a 4-3. Mike McCoy will certainly help with their offense and unless Elway pulls a miracle out of his backside the defense looks to take a big hit.

I second the thank you jw. Kinda surprising that Whaley still has a job considering that Jan 2016 article by Vic Carucci when it was noted that both Rex and Whaley had one year to "fix the Bills"! Any word on how the owners / McDermott feel about keeping Tyrod Taylor or who will be the new OC, DC?

Funny how things work out.

Dunno why no team is going after Kyle Shanahan with what the guy did with that Atlanta offense this year. The Rams are looking at Wade Phillips as their new DC. ESPN's Adam Schefter reports new Rams coach Sean McVay is "hoping" to hire Wade Phillips as defensive coordinator. Going on 70, Phillips remains one of the most respected defensive minds in the league. He'd be inheriting some highly-intriguing pieces in Los Angeles, though also many more holes than he had in Denver. Phillips also employs a 3-4 defense, while the Rams were 4-3 under coaches Jeff Fisher and Gregg Williams. http://www.rotoworld.com/headlines/nfl/353368/rams-hoping-to-land-wade-phillips-as-dc?ls=roto:DEN:topheadlines

Yea, It's what I remember. Andy Reid had a brainfart and asked him to switch from O-line to be the new DC for the 2011 season. It looks like he split time with Todd Bowles the next year as the defense was pretty bad. I think he was let go and went to the Ravens. http://www.pro-football-reference.com/coaches/CastJu0.htm

On another note! The Rams have hired Redskins OC Sean McVay to be their HC!

I think it does to an extent and it helps to have a fully healthy decent receiving corps. The Buffalo Bills led the NFL in big plays for two seasons now and that is 2015 the Bills had102 big plays with 70 runs vs 32 passes. 2016 saw a dropoff in passes for obvious reasons to 100 big plays with 77 rushes vs 23 passes. It occurs to me that Greg Roman called for more deep passing plays during the 2015 season and those TD bombs have a tendency to scare the hell out of DC's and DB's. I think with a more competent passing coordinator and a healthy fully stocked receiving corps those deep passing numbers will greatly increase. I was really hoping that Mike Mccoy would come to Buffalo whether they kept Tyrod or not. I think the guy could really help fully develop Taylor, Jones or perhaps a rookie in the years draft/

Dunno about a potential bidding war. If it's a tossup between a team that recently won a SB and one that hasn't seem the playoffs in 17 years... CSN's John Middlekauff reports Broncos coach Vance Joseph will hire Mike McCoy as his offensive coordinator. This had been rumored but now sounds like a done deal. McCoy is a strong fit in Denver, where he coordinated under John Fox from 2010-2012. He should improve an offense that ranked near the bottom of the league. McCoy has a proven track record of getting the most out of his quarterbacks. His hiring is good news for Paxton Lynch's development. http://www.rotoworld.com/headlines/nfl/353320/denver-gets-mike-mccoy-to-coordinate-offense?ls=roto:DEN:topheadlines

Sullivan is just giving his opinion and most Bills fans don't want to read anything bad about a new head coach hire. The guy isn't wrong and didn't lie or bend the truth about anything that I read. Most of us were hoping that real change was coming to the Bills front office in terms of actually allowing the GM to solely make the hire. To perhaps hire a new team president of football operations to take the new owners out of football decisions and sadly that didn't happen. I know I would have loved to have Tom Coughlin hired in Buffalo as the VP of football operations and the first time Russ showed up to the cut meetings he would have been shown the door. The dysfunction continues from my view with a GM with no real power, a meddling owner and a guy behind the curtain that nobody outside the org knows what he really does. This franchise desperately needed to hire a Chuck Knox clone! A man who could build a team that would actually contend with the Patriots, Brady, and Belichick. A man who would bring his own director of player personnel with him from his old team to reset the team scouting dept. A man with enough football acumen to be able to make the proper football decisions in free agency and the draft so that the GM's input really wasn't needed. Instead, the team hired a man new to head coaching in the NFL and it could be another Gregg Williams or another Bill Belichick in his first hire. All we can do is wish the guy good luck. Funny how the regimes keep changing and the roster talent keeps improving and yet the Bills are perennially on the edge of being a contender.