JohnNord

There’s so many tweets in that thread mocking Hopkins for finishing 8-8. As far as Hopkins himself, very talented WR, but I’m not a fan of his personality. He comes off as so smug and cocky. I noticed this during his press conference after making the catch. Funny this was his quote afterward. He said something like those “those guys made a great play but not as great as I.” Just thought this was funny because most people learn to master possessive nouns at about 10 years old In the end this play has more of a pair ice effect for the Bills that the Cardinals. Rumor was - it was Jack Easterby who wanted to get rid of Hopkins

If you can’t comprehend evaluating three years of work versus 1 defensive series I don’t know what to tell you. You seem to be hell bent against Pettine. I don’t care one way or another, I just think that overall he did a good enough job and feel that these firings were done to deflect the heat that LaFleur himself faced. According to some that defense in one series was enough to get Pettine fired. Glad most of us take a more logical approach.

Oh sorry....I didn’t realize we were talking about 1 defensive series. Not his entire 3 years in Green Bay. My bad That’s exactly what he’s doing, I think Pettine comes back if they make it to the Super Bowl. Though his defenses still get gashed on the ground

Not surprising...he’s basically the sacrificial lamb for the playoff upset. I thought he did a good job in Green Bay

Not that it wasn’t tough, but some matchups looks a lot harder in January than they did in October - Pittsburgh, Denver, SF, NE etc. A lot of fans predicted they would win the division at 10-6 or 9-7. That’s my point, making a judgement or prediction now is pointless because will look completely different when the season starts. So why get excited about what appears be to a good schedule before we know what the teams will look like?

So In January, the upcoming year’s schedule means nothing. I remember last year fans were saying “Ugh look at Bills schedule - it’s so tough” Also games against SF, Denver, and NE on the road looked a lot harder than they did this fall.

Sounds like a possibility that he might trade down

Very tough to bet against KC but against the Bills they played at a very high level. Can they do this 2 weeks in a row and if they can’t, is TB good enough to capitalize. Who knows - This is why I hate betting!

I think the Bills want to bring him back but the problem is, unlike last year he’s going to get other offers.

Great news for Riverboat Ron!

You aren’t wrong about the press amplifying comments from those end of the year pressers. So many interpreted McDermott saying “we need to run the ball” to mean that they would be reverting back to a ball control, ground and pound offense. It was pretty clear to me that he was referring to running at times when it would be advantageous because the defense is protecting versus the pass. Especially considering this happened the past two weeks. I guess it’s a long offseason so they need something to write about!

I don’t think the Bills cut Morse either and I think if you improved guard play would help elevate his performance But given the comment about physicality it does make you wonder. Here is what Sal had to say about it:

The rumor was that he was a player on the Bills draft radar in 2017 so it would make sense.

Of course....that’s because you can’t replace all 53 players on a roster at once. That logic would give any past regime credit for the previous regime’s success. Like I said, Beane and McDermott got rid of a lot of Whaley guys in 2017 and by the end of 2018 almost all of them were gone. Did Marv Levy and Buddy Nix helped end the drought too because players they drafted were on that roster as well? Come on, man. Can Rex Ryan take credit too because he coached many of the players who ended the drought? This goes back to my original point how some people will bend over backwards to validate Whaley versus accepting his tenure for what it was.

Interesting but based on how he played this season I don’t see him making much of an impact. Also, I can’t remember which reporter said this but someone speculated that the Bills workout might have just been done as a favor to Olsen to drive up demand and salary. They speculated the Bills were never seriously interested. Don’t know if it’s true or not but it’s an interesting thought

Because C. Biscuit and several others here tried to rationalize that Whaley was a good GM, when he was just as ineffective as the other GM’s during the Drought

LOL no he didn’t. They ended the playoff drought after they fired him! McDermott and Beane essentially re-tooled that roster and got rid of all of Whaley’s guys. As far as the “hate” he gets. It’s because he was no more successful than Marv Levy as GM who many consider to be a joke. In 4 years his teams won an average of 7.5 games. A half game better than Marv...congrats I don’t know I think you both are right. Allen was a little rattled but it was because no one was open. KC used 6 defensive backs and 1 LB because they weren’t threatened by our RB’s or TE’s. Their defensive line also beat our OL straight up. It led to him panicking and forcing the football rather than take the 2 yard dump off which he knew probably wouldn’t move the sticks. Constant pressure for a 4 man rush + 6-7 DB’s in coverage = no open receivers

I’m Not sure that it would’ve made a difference but it does make you realize how big that bye week might end up being for the #1 seed. We’ll see what TB does next week

The only good thing about this situation would be all of the reaction for all of the Miami Tua stans LOL

“They were a great team without a great QB.” How many teams can you say that about in NFL History. Just about every one

I’m not saying he’s not qualified - he’s commenting on the game like a lot of former coaches or players have. But let’s not ignore the context. There’s a lot of irony here.... someone who failed in a leadership role criticizing the person who did the very thing that he came no where near accomplishing. Oh yeah, and the person he criticized is likely responsible for his firing and possibly the reason he’s out of the NFL. Also a few things that don’t compute here: Not only did Whaley never find a QB, he bet the future of the team on the wrong on by drafting a “generational talent” who was at best a #2 WR in the NFL. On and averaging 8 wins (really 7.5 wins) in Buffalo is not something to pat him on the back for. The Levy/Brandon/Jauron era is largely considered a joke and they averaged 7 wins a season. I feel that Whaley shouldn’t be held in any higher regard than the other GM’s of the Drought Era. None were very good - so why go out of your way to defend. He made more splashes and won more off seasons but in the end no one knew how to build a winner

There’s a lot of excuses being made for Whaley and if baffles me. He was not in the best situation given how the Bills were run. I’ll give you that - but it also seemed like the GM role was too big for him. People want to point out to individual moves as positives (many of which occurred when Buddy Nix was GM) but Doug has no clue about the organizational transformation which needed to occur in failed organizations like Buffalo. Fortunately, McDermott did. He also had no clue how to build a football team. Bottom line, he was not a good GM and should be held in the same regard as Buddy Nix and Marv Levy when it comes to GM’s

The way some fans rationalize Doug Whaley as GM is almost comical

He never got to hire his own coach? Because Doug will tell you otherwise. I disagree that he was a good GM. He was able to find a few good under the radar players through FA and made a good trade to get Shady. Doug also completely mismanaged the QB position with EJ Manuel. Outside of that, he was poor at the draft and worse - he had no idea how to build a team. IMO Whaley’s ceiling is a Director of Pro Personnel. He was in over his head as GM and the fact that he hasn’t gotten another opportunity in the NFL over the past 5 years is probably proof The difference is the QB’s. Mahomes was not rattled by the blitz and knew where to go with the football. Josh did not Also don’t underestimate the impact of KC’s defensive line which had 2 All Pro players completely beat our OL.

This would be a horrendous hire for Houston.