Bob in STL

My thoughts in no particular order: We got beat in the trenches on both sides of the ball. Missed Dareus today and Glenn was playing injured. Right side of the OL got owned. Shady tried but was not 100%, its up to the coaches to pull him sooner and let the backups play. WR depth is gone, so passes to Clay and O'Leary and the RBs should have been emphasized. Saw confusion, delay of game penalties, bad clock management ala Greg Roman ... I thought we were past that? Lorenzo is a hell of a player and Special Team did their job today. Our Inside LBs finally had a bad game. Both Preston and Zach Brown were blocked all day long, this is were Dareus would have helped to eat up blockers. Tyrod needed a big game and did not deliver. He is not going to get great support by the running game and defense every single week. He missed throws, held the ball too long, and is afraid to throw over the middle or into tight spots. We needed him to break out but he played his usual game and could not carry the team today. I was surprised the Bills did not answer for the hit on A. Williams? The game got very chippy at the end and I expect the rematch in OP to be a Bills victory. This one left a bad taste.

You need a link? He is not in game shape, he spent four weeks away at rehab, or ADHD support group, or whatever excuse the guy is making this week. He could not finish a practice and got hurt in practice, hard to understand? Shady's hammy tweak was completely different and the guy worked hard to be ready to play. Don't even compare the two please.

I can't blame Dareus since he didn't play but I agree that he hurt the team today. Weed suspension when he makes sick money. Then he shows up out if shape and gets injured in practice. He is not the kind of player you can build around, despite his considerable talent, you just cannot count on him.

It will be fun to see what a talent like Shaq can do and the best part is we are not having to rely on him to make plays. We can bring him along slowly and add another dimension to the defense. Maybe we see him play a few plays in Miami as a tune up, then be ready for the Pats* the next week.

I was at the Rex Home Opener last year versus the Colts. The Lower Bowl stood the whole game, even Rex commented on it. It really bothered my wife. I was ok with it but there really was no reason to stand the entire game. That game we broke tradition and did not tail gate in the far ECC lot. Big mistake. We saw drunks jumping on folding tables and starting fires. We saw fights in the parking lot. We saw topless girls dancing on top of busses. Just before halftime I saw a drunk guy taking a piss in a sink in the men's room right next to a young boy washing his hands. I read that sucker the riot act. Finally, as I was leaving the men's room a fight broke out inside the bathroom, right by the door. I am just tired of it all. A few weeks later we went to a game in Dallas versus the Seahawks. Totally different experience. We had so much fun without all the drunken behavior, fighting, and the profanity laced tirades. What I suspected is true ... The Ralph (as it was called then) has become a lousy place to see a game. This year all of my funds for Buffalo games are going to the Sabres, no dollars will be spent going to New Era Stadium. I am still a Bills fan, just decided to take a break from the home games for awhile.

We keep seeing the effects of the revolving door of coaches, coordinators, and players. We draft players, then move out the coaching staffs that drafted them, the new staff cleans house and draft another group of players suited for yet another "system". We have no identity .. we spend three years trying to establish one, then fail and start over. Until we invest in a proper GM and a Head Coach, and stick with them, this will continue no matter who the players are. So the new OC will speed up the offense?? Great in that this should avoid delay of game penalties and wasted time outs ... BUT ... if they do not execute the play this will put even more pressure on the defense. When I look at the recent QB play, the weakness of the offensive line, and the lack of playmakers at WR I highly doubt we will see any improvement at all. So we shall see. Go Bills (as usual).

You are correct, no decent GM will want the above organization structure so it needs to be blown up. The coach should report to the GM, so should the Contracts/Salary Cap guy. The budget comes from the Owner, if Ownership delegates it to someone else that is his prerogative.

Yes ... The GM is the Czar. No need for another layer. The coach reports to the GM BTW.

Nope. It is their team and their money. Talking to the coaches and the players is not meddling, if anything it could create a beneficial atmosphere if done properly. At year end, after our 5-11 finish, just hope they do these things: 1. Keep Bandon away from football decisions - I think they reclassified his role to do just that, so they need stick to that. 2. Replace Whaley with a proven GM ... and knock off all this Football Czar talk, just hire a GM that eats and sleeps football. 3. Let the new GM evaluate the team, let the new GM fire Rex, let the new GM pick the coach, let the new GM run the draft, let the new GM run free agency, let the new GM handle all that is football. 4. Be willing to suck up the money to eat the salary's they have in place from listening to Brandon and Whaley in the first place.

He hardly did all the dirty work but he was an excellent player. Hansen, Talley, Conlon, Odomes, Kelso, Tasker, Hull, Richter, Woolford, Ballard, Metzelars, ---> these guys were all excellent players that complimented the HoF super stars on the team.

I hope your right. I see another finish in the 8-8 vicinity (plus or minus 2 games). We could be 6-10 or 10-6 depending on whether leaders and playmakers start to emerge on this team. Team that win have guys that hate to lose and won't make peace with losing. We have some talent but for a long time we have drafted low character players. I'll keep watching, cheering and hoping ... but I stopped thinking they will win just because I am a fan.

Thanks for the report. With the Raven playing with two safeties deep you would think we could find seams in the intermediate ranges? I think Watkins and Clay were way underutilized in this role ... of course the pass protection was very poor and Tyrod was off all game and never got into a rhythm. PS: My daughter was there and she said the Raven fans were really nice to her and her group of Bills fans.

fixed. the formula today: 50% bad protection + 25% bad game plan + 25% rattled QB = no deep shots down the field. Not many experienced QBs could have found time to go deep today. Tyrod's problem was that he did not make plays, save the one pass to Clay, when he got out of the pocket and had his chances. Roman is not only responsible for the putrid game plan but the blocking schemes and protection are part of the OC's responsibility. Ok, the OL was poor and lets not forget the running back blitz pick up was as bad too.

I take some issue with #1 and #2. The attendance was very good for a team that in not very good, especially with a fan base that has to deal with talks of a move for the past several years. The owner sold them out and publicly stated he was moving the team on many occasions. What would have happened to attendance in Buffalo given the same circumstances? The politicians did what politicians do. The team had impossible demands to meet. The current dome in St. Louis is a fine venue for a dome. It would be extremely wasteful to have to build another stadium here to keep the RAMS but that is what the city was up against. St. Louis got jerked around at the last expansion when the NFL chose Jacksonville, clearly a mistake. Remember the people here got swindled into buying PSL's, that gave them the "right" to buy seats. The NFL cashed in big on the Rams move to St. Louis and will cash in big on the move back. I have lived in LA, Baltimore, St. Louis and Buffalo. LA has the worst fan base for the NFL. St. Louis is a pretty good football market, there are still St. Louis Cardinals fans out here. By the end of their 2nd losing season in LA no one will care about the Rams in LA. The stadium will be empty again. There will most likely never be another NFL team in St. Louis. I will agree with that.

The behavior at Bills games is often out of control. I've been to 12 nfl stadiums. The drunken idiots at the Ralph are the worst.

I can't see Pegula hiring Polian after last year and this whole notion of as "czar" is media fluff. Pegula was looking for consulting help from Polian last year, and not necessarily anything more. Then Marrone bolted and Polian claimed the job was bigger than he wanted to take on. Now that Polian has his Gold Jacket he is ready to consult? Terry may have moved on. Pegula can, and mostly likely does, talk to many people in a consulting role on a variety of topics related to his many interests. I can see him hiring a President of Football Operations, not as magical mythical czar. I don't see that position as a consulting job, that is the guy who will hire the GM and various college/pro personnel people. This will be the guy that sets the strategy.

Not seeing a great year here but overall solid. He is playing like an above average center. The media says he is a team leader, maybe because he is willing to talk to them ... they have a closer view than we do. On the Redskins game goal line stance we was owned.

The Bills players under Levy had them all the time. Polian covered his coaches and players, the coaches stuck by their players. The players held each other accountable. Started as "bickering" but they figured out the dynamic and they had the chemistry. Players only meetings are good. They show that the players are owning the problem and working it out. I've posted this many times. This team is lacking in leadership. From Rex/Whaley on down. Rex sets the tone, the players can pretty much say what they want and do what they want. They are individuals and treated as such. Apparently accountability is lacking to (see comments by Watkins). Ok, Jackson was as leader but is now gone. I don't buy that Eric Wood is a leader, his play has been so poor that he cannot talk about others. Mario and Shady are quiet, brooding types. Dareus and Glenn seem to be disinterested. Felton and Clay are new. Graham shows some leadership, maybe Richie, that's about it so far. Preston Brown and Tyrod are young, potential leaders. Leadership matters, and we ain't got none. On top of that, no matter what you do, or don't do, Rex is going to stand up and support you and accept the blame in his condescending manner. We don't have player elected team captains. Many teams have the same captain's every week. You can do this and add some new coaches selected players each week, based on their play and readiness. The way that Rex picks captains for a game is a joke and lessons the value of being a captain, you cannot grow leaders this way.

Yes. He is there to let Rex run the defense. The good news is that Rex will stick by him so if you want to get rid of Rex just start firing his key people. He'll quit the game.

I too liked the way Rex started out, I fell for the marketing schmaltz as he embraced our community, our Bills History, and our fan base. I bought in into it. I very quickly became concerned about the quality of the product on the field. All the little things that decide close games --- penalties, clock management, use of signals and head sets, two minute drills, third down performance, special teams, and half time adjustments ---- we took a big step backwards and actually have not improved in any of these phases of the game. I do put this on Rex. Attention to details .. it is the HC's job to see these things are covered. The players have a lot of freedom, and I guess that is the way it is for modern players, they like to express themselves. Problem is there is no accountability on this team. Rex publicly takes the blame for everything when we know his players are underperforming. They underperform because of the country club atmosphere and the buddy-buddy relationship they have with him. Heck, even the picking of captains is a problem. It is an honor to be a captain of an NFL Team. A honor that should not be taken lightly. You need the REAL LEADERS to represent the team. Rex uses the Team Captains as some kind of inside joke side show and it really irks me. IK "what's his name" a captain against the Jets? Our entire underperforming OL the captains against the Jags? Shady McCoy the ONLY captain against the Eagles? No accountability among the players, no real leadership. Easy to see why when you look at it. Clearly a few veterans, like Mario, do not like the way the club is being run.

Nice way of demoting him into leaving. ?

Yes. I agree. Add in a healthy Kyle Williams. Brown looks really bad in this Rex Defense, whatever it is.

Why would anyone attend next week games? ... to sit among Dallas Cowboys fans and boo your team of course. Seriously, this will be a game that the fans will voice their opinions to Terry and Kim.

Great talent but not the kind of player a building team can count on, especially at his age. Shady is a bad fit in Buffalo and he clearly does not want to be here. After his selfish and childish behavior before, during, and after the Eagles game my mind is made up on him. He looked like crap on the short yardage runs. His backups outplayed him today. How much more convincing is needed that he is not the answer. Shameful waste of cap space IMO.

Really sad. The team is lacking real leadership. We have some "good" players that don't want to be here. We have some others that should not be here. Usually this situation gets worse before it gets better.