Nihilarian

Only because they were forced to start the 4th string rookie QB Kellen Moore. I can see Dallas in the SB this year!

This game for Buffalo will depend on how much LeSean McCoy can play and if he is 100%. When healthy he is a game changer and when not the Bills don't do well on offense

My lord Big Ben is stinking up this game...

HAHA Flacco looking like the mad stork on a QB run just hurt himself sliding...what a putz This might change momentum

Too bad the Bills probably won't see this version of Ben

Nice game between Miami and Jets and both offenses are looking good early. Spiller on the field for the Jets as a receiver

Correct! If you read this article from Peter King MMQB he goes into great detail about the Dallas Cowboys draft room as he spends the weekend with Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys during the 2016 NFL draft. In the Cowboys’ draft room, support staff and scouts and coaches ring three quarters of a large rectangular table. At the head of the table sits, from left to right, mostly a family affair: vice president and director of player personnel Stephen Jones (who mans the phone for most trade discussions); Jerry Jones; executive vice president Charlotte Jones Anderson (Jerry’s daughter); coach Jason Garrett; and just around the corner of the table, executive vice president of sales and marketing Jerry Jones Jr. Stephen Jones is at the nerve center, with direct lines to 31 NFL teams on the phone console in front of him. This simple sentence from the article should give everyone the absolute understanding into exactly who makes the draft choices for the Dallas Cowboys. While contemplating a trade with the Baltimore Ravens that was taking too much time. Jerry makes his decision! “Get Zeke on the phone,” Jerry Jones said. And he instructed the card to be turned in with Ezekiel Elliott’s name on it. http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2016/05/01/nfl-draft-dallas-cowboys-war-room-jerry-jones-peter-king Jerry Jones is still very much running that team as GM with his son Stephen advising him. So yes, Jerry Jones has done a superior job over Doug Whaley. But then, like others have mentioned that Whaley doesn't even have the control over the team that other GM's have.

Gonna be tough being 1-3 in the division and 1-4 in the AFC

Buffalo Bills currently 4-4. What we have learned is the 2016 Buffalo Bills are a completely different animal if they get behind in points or fail to build a strong run game. 9-7 is a real possibility should they beat the teams with a worse record. Things can get better should Mccoy stay healthy and the team gets Watkins back from his injury. 1-3 in the division and 1-4 in the AFC doesn't make the playoff race look good for Buffalo. @ Seattle 4-2-1 BYE @ Cincy 3-4-1 Jacksonville 2-5 @ Oakland 6-2 Pittsburgh 4-3 Cleveland 0-8 Miami 3-4 @ NY Jets 3-5

and with a franchise now worth 4.2 Billion dollars... In 1989 Jerry Jones paid 140 million for the Cowboys and was told by his advisers it was a bad investment as the team was losing 35k a day coming off three straight losing seasons. Kinda interesting because HR Bum Bright had bought the team for 60 million 5 years earlier. The first ever sports franchise to sell for over 100 million and Jones was told he overpaid for it. And yeah, they will more than likely make the playoffs this year at 6-1, 188 PF-130 PA with the NFL's leading rusher and QB Dak Prescott currently has more passing yards than Aaron Rodgers

The Detroit Lions became relevant again in 2011 after making the playoffs from an 11-year absence . The Oakland Raiders are currently 6-2 and looking to make the playoffs this year after not making the playoffs since 2003. Only Buffalo...

I've read every article posted and it doesn't change anything in my view simply because both writers have things wrong. The ESPN article doesn't even get the title of McClay correct as he is simply the assistant of director of player personnel. The last article states that Tryon Smith was drafted in 2011 was McClay's choice and yet all he was at that time was the director of football research and not in any sort of power to make the final decision on any player selection. Do you simply not believe that Jerry Jones was the one making the final decisions on who to draft for years and years long before McClay was even hired by the Cowboys? Did you not read the article that stated that a scout other than McClay had direct influence over drafting Zack Martin with his opinion during the draft! That Stephen Jones himself stated that the HC Jason Garrett was also directly responsible for the team drafting Zack Martin? Read the last line in that article you quoted in which the writer actually gets it right "McClay is going to be at the table to chip in with decision-making, as he should be." and that's all he does is chip in with the decision making as the owner and his son make the final decisions on everything! The one person that old power mad Jerry Jones will actually listen to and concede to... is his own son.

If you took the time to read my post I said he sets up the draft board and leads the scouts. The board during the draft is fluid and not set in stone and it is there by a consensus of discussion by the entire staff previous to the draft! Do you not understand that the board changes after the first few selections and the team is constantly working trades to move around during the entire draft. The man who is working those 31 phone lines ls none other than Stephen Jones. I also said that change started in the basic philosophy of the team in drafting while McClay was the director of "football research". Which means he was not in power to change the entire philosophy of the team or have much involvement in anything other than football research. This promotion for McClay occurred in 2013 and the change had already started in 2011. 1) You said the team has no GM in name and I proved you wrong by listing the team's official website that states Jerry Jones is the GM! 2) McClay is the "assistant" director of player personnel because again, on the official website it lists Stephen Jones as the actual director of player personnel. From another source, http://ftw.usatoday.com/2016/04/ranking-2016-nfl-general-managers 11. Jerry Jones / Stephen Jones, Cowboys "It’s hard to know for sure who’s running things in Dallas. Jerry Jones has the official GM title, but his son Stephen Jones appears to be the one making the decisions. Whoever is in charge has done a fantastic job building this roster over the last few years. The current team was wisely built from the inside-out, as the front office spent considerable resources building up the league’s best offensive line. It’s also avoided the splash moves that crippled the team’s cap in the past." Again, this change started before McClay was in any kind of power to have a say over the entire draft. If you actually knew anything about the Dallas Cowboys other than an article you quoted that doesn't even get the man's title correct. All McClay is the "assistant" director of player personnel and nothing more! You also would know that Jerry Jones has been making the actual draft selections for the longest time. The last few years his son Stephen has been making the selections and is the one solely responsible for changing the foundation of how the team was going to build through the draft. Hey man, believe what you want to believe as I listened to an in-depth interview with Stephen Jones about the draft process and who has had the control over the team the last few years and he himself stated that although Jerry is still involved, just not to the extent he was a few years ago as he is now 73 years old and passing the torch to his sons. This is basically why I avoided initial quoting or direct confrontation because even confronted with direct evidence from several sources you refuse to change opinion even though proven incorrect on several things. Continue to argue if you must as I've made my points.

While I agree that it might be a supremely difficult task to attempt to obtain Thompson as team president for the Buffalo Bills as he is so entrenched in Green Bay. The man was only making 2.5 mill before his extension in 2014 and he is 63 years old. However, Green Bay is currently 4-3 tied with Detroit and one game behind the Vikings. The Packers haven't been to the SB since 2010, and should they falter this year while not making the playoffs it might become doable to make a change. The Packers made the playoffs at 8-7-1 in 2013. Another aspect is if the Packers team president is unhappy with the current head coach in Mike McCarthy (who appears to be joined at the hip to Thompson) because the team hasn't been to another SB the last 6 years. If the team wants to replace McCarthy I'd think that Thompson might just want to go elsewhere and take McCarthy with him. I'd say perhaps hire Elliot Wolf as the new GM but the Bills have gone through enough learning curves with rookie head coaches and rookie GM's. I'd really prefer the team hire a team president with a history of success in being an NFL GM. The only deal I can think of involved GM to team president was Bill Polian being hired away from Carolina as GM and promoted to team president of the Colts.

I was merely attempting to avoid the condescending arrogance that exudes in some posts. The first wrong item on the agenda is the team has a GM and his name is Jerry Jones. Owner / President / General Manager http://www.dallascowboys.com/team/coaches Stephen Jones, Chief Operating Officer / Executive Vice President / Director of Player Personnel The second item wrong is that I linked three articles that basically state that Jerry Jones wanted to make the choice for Johnny Manziel and he was overruled by his son Stephen. The people that make the actual choices for the Cowboys draft picks are Jerry and his son Stephen and all the rest of the scouts the team employs and coaches just give their input into each selection. In fact, in one article I linked it stated, "But Longtime scout Walter Juliff's ringing pre-draft endorsement of Martin has proven accurate for a team that's now 5-1 and running the ball better than any team in the league while reducing the burden on Romo. That article also goes on to say, It helped that Martin started 52 games for Notre Dame. Stephen Jones said Cowboys coach Jason Garrett "had a huge influence on selecting Martin," who has the quick feet of a left tackle (his primary position for the Irish) but is a mauling finisher as a guard. What is interesting to me is that Will McClay isn't even listed on the Cowboys official website. However, he is listed in another article as the Cowboys assistant director of player personnel. http://cowboyswire.usatoday.com/2016/06/18/dallas-cowboys-lionel-vital-director-college-scouting-will-mcclay/ The only thing I see McClay "leading" is the scouts and setting up the draft board. Nowhere did I read that he makes any selection on any player and only offers his advice on each individual like the others in the draft room. Also, McClay was the director of football research for the Cowboys in 2012 and was promoted to assistant director of player personnel in 2013. The changes in the drafting philosophy regarding drafting offensive linemen with a first round pick started in 2011 as the team had never drafted an offensive line the entire time Jerry Jones has owned the Cowboys (since 1989) "I was wrong once...I thought I'd made a mistake, but it turned out I hadn't." ...except you make them all the time and are simply too obstinate to admit it!

This is mostly correct and some choose to not believe it. Perhaps from Jerry Jones own mouth about how he was talked out of drafting Manziel by Stephen. http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-network-total-access/0ap3000000408696/Martin-best-choice-Jones-could-have-made From another story. "So what happened to convince the billionaire owner that his Cowboys were better off selecting Notre Dame offensive lineman Zack Martin than Manziel?" But Longtime scout Walter Juliff's ringing pre-draft endorsement of Martin has proven accurate for a team that's now 5-1 and running the ball better than any team in the league while reducing the burden on Romo. "Walter said, 'I'm going to make a statement that's going to make everybody drop because we've had a couple of Hall of Fame guards, especially Larry Allen,' " Stephen Jones recalled. "Walter said, 'Zack Martin is the most high-level ready offensive lineman I've ever seen since I've been scouting here. "That doesn't mean he has Larry's upside. But as far as ready to start from Day 1, Zack was truly plug and play." It helped that Martin started 52 games for Notre Dame. Stephen Jones said Cowboys coach Jason Garrett "had a huge influence on selecting Martin," who has the quick feet of a left tackle (his primary position for the Irish) but is a mauling finisher as a guard." http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/cowboys/2014/10/17/zack-martin-jerry-jones-johnny-manziel-dallas-draft/17444699/ I've not read anywhere that anyone other than Jerry Jones and his son Stephen are the people that make the ultimate choice on who to draft and they listen to everyone in the draft room for advice. Although, the rest of the people in the draft room besides the Jones family are just cogs in the wheel.

If you had listened to an interview with Stephen you would understand the team's philosophy changed the last few years and he is directly responsible. http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2016/05/01/nfl-draft-dallas-cowboys-war-room-jerry-jones-peter-king "In the Cowboys’ draft room, support staff and scouts and coaches ring three quarters of a large rectangular table. At the head of the table sits, from left to right, mostly a family affair: vice president and director of player personnel Stephen Jones (who mans the phone for most trade discussions); Jerry Jones; executive vice president Charlotte Jones Anderson (Jerry’s daughter); coach Jason Garrett; and just around the corner of the table, executive vice president of sales and marketing Jerry Jones Jr. Stephen Jones is at the nerve center, with direct lines to 31 NFL teams on the phone console in front of him." "Stephen Jones, one observer noted, picked up the phone and called Baltimore GM Ozzie Newsome. “Hey Oz,” Stephen Jones said. “We probably will pick here, but …” Newsome told Jones that to move up from 6 to 4 in the first round he’d give Baltimore’s fourth-rounder, 104 overall. “We need a three to do it,” Stephen Jones told him. “If you change your mind, call me.” If you still don't believe it, read this... http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000387284/article/jerry-jones-damn-mad-about-missing-johnny-manziel "During the draft, Jones argued with his son, executive vice president Stephen Jones, that Manziel would have guaranteed the Cowboys' relevance for the next decade. "I'm still so damn mad at Stephen," Jones exclaimed. "... I get madder, every day, about missin' (Manziel)." "The Bills sent the ninth overall pick along with their first- and fourth-round selections in 2015 to Cleveland in the trade" Three picks in all, two firsts and a fourth. http://www.espn.com/nfl/draft2014/story/_/id/10903086/2014-nfl-draft-buffalo-bills-trade-pick-sammy-watkins-no-4

Have a link for any of this or is it just an opinion? I see no reason as to why a man would turn down a promotion and more money to become team president of just the football side of the team. It's also clear the team wouldn't ever replace Mark Murphy. It seems Murphy might already have a succession plan for when Thompson retires as it has been rumored that they would hire Elliot Wolf the son of former Packer GM Ron Wolf to become the new GM. Elliot is currently the director of football operations for the Packers in the player personnel dept. In that list of top five men, I would think Thompson might be the only guy you could pry away from his current team. In regards to Baalke and Harbaugh while York was involved in the hiring I do believe it was Baalke who targeted him as his primary choice for new HC and went after Harbaugh to convince him to join the 49ers as he was being courted by many NFL teams. http://www.espn.com/nfl/news/story?id=5999744 http://www.sfgate.com/sports/article/Jim-Harbaugh-is-named-49ers-head-coach-3242178.php Same goes for general manager Trent Baalke, who landed his primary target just three days into the GM job. "I met this man about six or seven years ago ... and I fell in love with his energy," Baalke said. "He had passion. It really became evident that this guy had the 'it' factor. He had what we were looking for."

While some might credit Jerry Jones for the team's recent turnaround. If had his way he would have drafted Johnny Manziel Jones has been the GM in name only for a few years and his sons basically, run the team and make the player decisions. Stephen Jones is the COO, executive VP & director of player personnel and he is the older brother of Cowboys executive Jerry Jones Jr. Under Stephen Jones direction the team has taken a different course since around 2011 when the team started drafting offensive linemen with their first round pick which is something they never did the past decade. 2011 LT Tryon Smith-2013 C Travis Federick-2014 OG Zack Martin. The team built a very solid offensive line to protect their aging QB while building a power run game to return to their glory days of running the ball with Emmitt Smith. It was Jimmy Johnson who built the 90's super bowl teams.

It's why I listed just the top ten. While I don't like what Baalke did with Harbaugh or what he has done recently with the 49ers as I think he got into some sort of power struggle with Harbaugh and won. It certainly doesn't look like he has helped the team very much since Harbaugh left for Michigan. However, Baalke was the 49ers director of player personnel 2008-2009 and then became vice president of player personnel in 2010 and replaced McCloughan as GM in 2011. Baalke was a big part of the influx of talent to that team before Harbaugh and as GM is the man who hires and fires the head coach it was McCloughhan that hired Mike Nolan and Mike Singletary and it was Baalke that hired Jim Harbaugh. Anyway, I did recommend the Buffalo Bills hiring Packers GM Ted Thompson who was #2 on that list and promote him to the Buffalo Bills president of football operations! This way he could consider keeping Doug Whaley as GM, who looks to be an excellent judge of defensive players. Thompson would help in the acquisition of an actual franchise QB as is the one who drafted Aaron Rodgers and was about the only person on the planet that believed he could win with him over Brett Favre. Not to mention how good the man is in identifying receiver talent in the second round as mentioned in the note.

The Bills need a football version of Theo Epstein! What the Cubs did was hire the guy who helped the Boston Red sox win a world championship 2x and he brought that winning experience with him to the Cubs. If the new Bills owners want to win and build a franchise that can ever actually compete with the league's best team in the New England Patriots they need to consider hiring one of the current top 10 GM's and promote them to team president of football operations! http://ftw.usatoday.com/2016/04/ranking-2016-nfl-general-managers Scot McCloughan, RedskinsKevin Colbert, SteelersRick Spielman, Vikings. ... Cardinals – Steve Keim. ... Panthers – Dave Gettleman. ... Ozzie Newsome, Ravens. ... John Schneider, Seahawks. ... John Elway, Broncos. ... Ted Thompson, Packers. Bill Belichick, Patriots. Clearly, Belichick and Elway are already in a position of great power as Bill is the team's HC and GM and Elway is the team's president and he has a long history with Denver as their SB winning QB. 2. Ted Thompson, PackersPackers fans are spoiled. Despite enjoying years of sustained success building through the draft, Green Bay fans have actually started to complain Thompson doesn’t spend enough money in free agency. How dare he not mortgage the future of the team by frivolously spending on overpriced players who were not good enough to warrant contract extensions from their former team? Signing free agents is like buying snacks at a movie theater. Sure that popcorn is good, but it’s not worth the $10 you paid for it. Why spend the money when you’ve had the success Green Bay has in the draft? Under Ted Thompson, #Packers lead NFL with 752 games played by 2nd-round picks. No other team has five Pro Bowlers drafted in 2nd round. — Ryan Wood (@ByRyanWood) April 13, 2016 Best move: Drafting Aaron Rodgers and knowing when to hand the reigns over to him. Worst move: Drafting Justin Harrell 16th overall in 2007.

If the Seahawks score another offensive point this season I'll be shocked. So, expect them to win with 8 safeties! Seriously, they are 3-0 at home. If McCoy isn't at 100% then the Bills can't run the ball. If the Bills can't run the ball then neither offense or defense will play to it's potential If that Seahawk defense can handle Atlanta's offense and beat them 26-24. I have a tough time thinking that the Bills offense will prevail on MNF! OTOH those 0-8 teams are dangerous because the odds keep getting better that they will beat some team. With Josh McCown back at QB the Browns almost beat the Jets 31-28. I hope they beat some team before they face the Bills.

Waiting for a player or coach to retire is really the wrong approach and will never work as the Patriots were undefeated with their backup QB playing! The only reason the Bills beat them at all was because they were forced to start an injured rookie 3rd string QB who had won before being injured. At times I feel like I'm bipolar about this team after listening to Rex Ryan boast about how he never had all this talent on a defense before and how the 2015 Bills would clearly be the #1 defense in the league as he thought being #4 overall wasn't near good enough. That he knew how long the playoff drought has been in Buffalo and went on to say "We're going" to the playoffs this year! I actually forgot about his record with the Jets and bought into all this hype and bluster about how the 2015 Buffalo Bills will finally be in the playoffs! And why not, as the 2014 Buffalo Bills only needed one win against a 2-11 team to make it in 2014! This year because the defense didn't perform up to expected standards last year the team needed to draft the players needed to fit a new 3-4 defensive scheme. Even though the team had just been #4 overall in total defense and had been building the defense for a 4-3 scheme. The first three players taken in the 2016 draft were for the defense with a DE, ILBer, and DT / NT. So, instead of drafting more offensive players desperately needed like a #2 WR, TE, RB with an early pick the team drafted a WR in the 6th and a RB in the 5th. Groundhog day? I feel this is just the second year of many groundhog day years as this HC is continually building for a 3-4 style of defense that teams have learned how to defeat. The 2016 defense was supposed to be so much better with the new coaches in Rob Ryan and Ed Reed. The communication to the players and between the players was supposed to be improved as were the penalties that cropped back up against the Patriots. Speaking of the Patriots, that recent game just showed the disparity between the two teams as the Bills don't have a defense good enough to even come close to stopping Tom Brady. Nor do they have an offense that even comes close to competing. You just can't win in this league on a consistent basis with a one-dimensional run first offense with a QB who can't win games with his arm. That Rex Ryan defense has allowed some startling numbers this season that makes me think that this will never be a top 5 defense. ' With 375 passing yards given up to Ryan Fitzpatrick and a total of 493 yards to a bad 3-5 NY Jets team that has only scored 150 points so far this year. With 214 yards given up on the ground in one game to one unknown Miami RB while getting manhandled on both sides of the lines by a bad 3-4 Dolphins team. The actual game wasn't as close as the score suggests. Then to give up 41 points to Tom Brady and an offense that has talent at every skill position with two great tight ends and three really good possession receivers. One of which as taken from the Bills! The team could have really used a player with the nickname 7/11 right now. A mediocre defense and a string of skill players that can't stay healthy with a 4-4 record after 8 games and if those skill players can't come back to help the team the downward spiral will continue.

Good stuff Bo, thanks for posting. I think there are also so many variables to take into account such as the quality of the receivers out on the field the QB is attempting to throw to as I highly doubt most of the Bills players out on the field against the Patriots wouldn't even make the starting roster of the majority of NFL teams. Then both Woods and Clay were dinged up and Clay left the game for a time from another injury. Woods foot must have been bothering him because he wasn't able to make his cuts on some plays. If you look at the NFL receiving stats Robert Woods is the Buffalo Bills leading receiver currently ranked as the 83rd best in receiving yards Charles Clay is right behind him ranked at 92! To put into context how much Tyrod is missing Sammy Watkins, Watkins finished the 2015 season as the 22nd best receiver in yards. Talking about the Bills QB stats playing in games without starting RB LeSean McCoy who is still listed as the 6th best rusher after missing two games and without the only elite receiver on the team you might as well be attempting to feel the nads on a sleeping grizzly because it ain't gonna end well.

It's okay as Rex Ryan will ask the team to keep using #1 picks for his defense all the way up until he is fired in 2019. It's what he did with the NY Jets. One dimensional offensive teams don't go very far in the NFL with a mediocre defense. I for one don't get the love for the bloated one as he was supposed to build an elite defense from day one and all Bills fans get is excuses!