Gray Beard

I assume you mean a 5th of cheap gin

I hope there are some good basketball games on today, because I predict some boring football games. I think a Pats* versus Hawks Super Bowl will be pretty entertaining, once we get past all the hype, commercials, and inevitably annoying halftime show.

After almost every game this past season people would post on this forum that the pass to run ratio was all wrong for the Bills. Too many passes, not enough runs (sometimes approaching 2 to 1). Putting the game in the hands of a second/third rate QB. Not letting the large and non-agile lineman just plow ahead and run block. If the next approach is to reverse this ratio and have a "game manager" approach for a QB, that seems logical to me. If and when the Bills get a first rate QB, then the passing game can be more of an option. I think the new coaching staff knows they don't have a first rate QB on the roster, and trading or drafting for one is not a safe bet, so featuring the run game is the only logical thing to do.

http://centralny.twcnews.com/ There is a poll on Time Warner News Central New York Homepage... Why is Doug Merrone not finding an NFL job? Bad Luck Bad Timing Bad Karma So far Bad Karma is the dominant response

There should be a "not sure" choice. He will make the Bills more likely to be mentioned on SportsCenter just because of his personality. He is a defensive minded coach on a team that needs offensive help. He will soon be either loved or hated, depending on his success rate along with his personality and sound bites. This isn't your grandfather's Bills.

Because of Tasker, there is a ST player in the Pro Bowl. Because of Tasker, there is a penalty for a gunner to purposely run out of bounds. Tasker CHANGED THE GAME!!! Isn't that the point of being a Hall of Fame Player?

I agree. There was a thread started by Hopeful recently about trading for QBs. His point was that even if a team thinks they can live without a certain QB on their roster, and if he has any potential at all, then they won't trade him unless it is for impact players, and not for mid-round draft picks. Trading impact players for a less-than-sure-thing QB will just cause most people to start questioning Whaley's intelligence all over again. (Me included.)

I recently posted some statistics that confirm this. He has an average that is among the best in the league, but he also has more long runs than almost all of the top RBs. Those long runs bump up his average and disguise the fact that he has so many runs for small gains or small losses. I felt as though in the past two years he was learning to hit the line and settle for a couple yards rather than immediately try to go around the outside, but that is not his game. Like many other posters, I have been wondering if he would be better as a slot receiver instead of as a RB. Maybe his next OC will try some experiments like that.

Lingerie League doesn't count?

Marrone, Hackett, Schwartz Whaley, Brandon, Pegula Who stays and who goes?

I have often thought that "Penny or Bernadette" is the "Ginger or Mary Ann" question of this generation. I am in the Bernadette - Mary Ann camp myself, although it's a tough call. Especially the Penny versus Bernadette question. As far as a coach, I think that some question regarding EJ Manual, Offensive Line, working with Schwartz, etc. are all good choices.

My choice, too!

Leach, Mangini, Singletary

He's a New York City guy. He hates deers, whether they were in his yard, or ground up and in the freezer.

I agree with both of these thoughts. I think Whaley has done a better job than his predecessors, but I said at the time I was against trading up, and I still feel that way. Sooner or later the Bills will probably have to pay big bucks to get some other team's backup QB to compete with EJ in training camp. That is not a good position to be in, but that's where Whaley has put the Bills.

There is so much right with this post, I don't know where to begin.

I have always thought LF was a class act but he was always stuck with below average QBs. For his sake, I would like to see him finish his career somewhere with a good QB. I doubt it will be NE because of cap space.

add me to the NO list as well

I agree, he should apologize, but this is Sully. He was made to look stupid and small, so instead of apologizing and moving on, he may decide to escalate the situation.

Unfortunately, Sully has the motive and opportunity to publicly annoy Sammy and anyone else who is a Bills player or fan. He will take this as motivation to ridicule Sammy whenever he drops a pass from now on, no matter whether or not it was a bad throw or good coverage.

wouldn't be too sure about that. it seems like many teams think that is a clever tactic. i can't figure out why, but they do.

I always think it is interesting that consensus on this board and other forums that I visit is pretty consistent. Everyone agrees on what the team needs. I think this list is very good. Why can't the people calling the shots see the same needs and act accordingly?

what if Marrone knew he would have to fire hs friend Hackett? Would he want to stay here still? Think "Mularkey syndrome." He gets his $4 mil, he doesn't have to fire Hackett, and he knows he will land on his feet. Will he bring Hackett to his new job? As QB coach, or some other lesser position perhaps? I think it will be interesting to see what happens.

When will we find out if Marrone did a Mularkey move? Perhaps he knew Hackett would get canned, and he decided he didn't want to be in a position to still be here after his friend was fired. I'm not sure if that makes him a good guy or a jerk. He also knows he will land on his feet somewhere. It will be interesting to see where Hackett ends up.

I don't think it was panic. He gambled. He didn't necessarily lose. Sammy is very good. Sammy has been playing injured with several tweaks and bruises. My concern is that he may be more fragile than anyone thought he would be, but we won't know if that is true until he has been in the league for a few years. The train wreck at QB is hard to figure out. Last year, Thad played pretty well, and the plan at draft time was probably that between Thad and EJ the QB position would be good enough. Who knew that Thad would wash out in pre-season, and that EJ would not show progress with more playing time. The plan to get Orton off his couch was probably not in the conversation at draft time.