Bob in STL

I think Edwards is not a fan of football, period. The guy is just aloof. He seems to lack leadership skills. From watching him on the sideline and in the open practices I just do not see him as a guy that the teams rallys around. You could see the offense rally around Fitz, but not Trent. Fewell's decison to play Fitz over Trent speaks volumes.

Yes right, because that lousy Pats* defense only won 3 Super Bowls.

great stats. I like the 15 TD's they picked up on the ground. Some of that is the D fearing that Warner can actually throw on you in the red zone but still. Looks respectable.

Not embarrassed by Nix at all. He is a football guy, not a polished chairman of the board. Polian was rough around the edges as well and he challenged the media all the time. I like the fire and I like the attitude.

Good info but I would not count Pitts. True he subbed for Marv foi 3 games while Marv has having surgery but he was never hired as a coach. Neither was Fewell, he was an interim coach. Johnson was interim and then stayed the next seaon. He was interim a second time and thankfully, he did not stay the following year. Johnson, Ringo and Stephenson were all atrocious as HC. Rauch and Bollough were very poor as well. Rauch tore apart the last remians of our championship teams and let good players like Jim Dunaway and Ron McDole leave or be traded. He also used OJ as a "decoy" for two season.

Great analysis. Not. Look at all the players lost on their defense first. That tells the srtory.

Az is built to pass and they pass a lot. Not fair to rank his skill and knowledge on one stat. Lets give the guy a chance. He is not developing the games plan or calling the plays on game day. Gailey is handling the offense, this guy will assist. Maybe, ... just maybe, he is a good coach?

Our interior has some good talent and even some depth if we can keep Incognito. My plan would be: 1 - Draft an OT in the first or second round, someone with real LT skills. Someone that can anchor the line. 2 - Sign a starting caliber veteran Free Agent to help us right now if the rookie needs time to develop. Add verteran leadership and depth. 3 - Toss Kurt Chambers, Jonathan Scott and Andre Ramsey to the OT abyss from which they came. LT - Draft Pick and Vet Free Agent compete with Bell LG - Levitre compete with Hangartner C - Hangartner compete with Wood RG - Wood compete with Incognito and Butler RT - Butler compete with Draft pick and Free Agent and Merideth. May the best 5 win! We must have competion and depth. We need hungry, mean and nasty players up front. Looks like we might have a few in the middle already! Get er done Buddy.

Thanks for making me laugh.

good comments but clarify what you mean by LB $? Are you suggesting his pay would be different if he was a LB versus a DE?

Easy to look back isn't it. Eric Flowers was drafted by John Butler about 100 years ago so let's get off of that one please. Why not lament about drafting Booker Moore or Walt Patulski? "McCelvin" might have a good career ahead of him. How abut giving him at two full seasons before you throw him over board. We have been through the Maybin-Orakpo-Cushing-Oher thing a million times. I personally liked all of the above better than Maybin. We have who we have. Time to move forward.

We need blockers. Did you miss the 2009 season. We need offensive tackles. Unless we can get a legitimate NFL caliber starting LT in free agency, we will have to draft one in round 1 or 2.

I agree. Draft linemen on both sides of the ball and build a foundation. Parcells does this everywhere he goes. The Jets did it. Imagine Sanchez with our line? The Blueprint to success is right in our face. To compete in the AFC North you need to be string in the trenches.

So Ralph offers a guy a 35% raise, the guy doesn't take it, and then goes to one of the wealthest clubs at the time .. because that club's owner broke an agreement that Ralph would not break ... and you blame Ralph for being cheap? Then you believe that this incident is the reason why Scott Norwood misses a FG in the SB, against that same team 25 years later. Makes sense to me.

Lets blame Ralph for EVERY single player that left here over the 50 years. The coaches and GM had nothing to do it.

You need to understand the situation. Back then there was not a common draft. College players were drafted by both leagues. That was tough enough for the upstart AFL to have to compete with the NFL for rookies. Maybe Ralph should have given him a raise but none of the owners would have taken part in a bidding war either. Ralph did them a favor and sent a message for the better of the league at that time. About that same time Ralph was helping to negotiate a sweet TV deal for the NFL. His lending money to help Al Davis in Oakland and the Sullivans in Boston (Pats*) were key to keeping the league together. Ralph is in the HoF because he was a key builder of this league. He works as a partner with his fellow owners for the better of the league and the fans. Today he is no longer well connected in the league. He is not buddies with Jones, Synder and that other clown in Boston. He is not perfect. He has made mistakes, but your barking up the wrong tree on this example.

Gogolak's jumping was a major moment. Another one was when Joe Namath signed with the Jets instead of the NFL St. Louis Cardinals. The NFL really took notice of this. A few years later Namath of course went on to lead the Jets to the first AFL Super Bowl win in SB III. Joe "Willie" Namath gauranteed the win against Don Shula's powerful Baltimore Colts. I was so proud of the Jets. Back then you rooted for the AFL no matter what. It's different now of course.

Not from the NFL ... They picked up Cookie Gilcrest from the CFL and he was probabaly the best all around football player in the league. Maybe both leagues? He loved to block and seemed to want to hurt people. He had tailback speed and could block like a pulling gaurd. He was bigger than most linebackers and stronger than most lineman. He was our first 1,000 yard rusher. He could catch and throw. He even kicked for the Bills for awhile! Off of the field and in the locker room he was troublesome. He was always asking for more money and looking for ways to make money. One year Ralph let him sell Christmas Trees in front of the Rockpile! (Rockpile = War Memorial Stadium) They traded him to Denver which was the worst team at the time. He had one more good season and then he started to fade. Great stuff. The Bills had some of the best players to ever play in the AFL.

bobcat in hibernation?

I was reported in a recent news article. First Buddy said he did not favor one years wonders (reference to Maybin, and also said that Modrak was pushing for Cushing. We need to have Nix stand up and be accountable for the draft, just like Donahoe was, and Butler before that, and Polian before that. There is no one to blame since Donohoe left because no one was fully responsible for running the football side of the business at OBD.

I third this.

I am amazed at the press, especially CNN/SI and ESPN, for bashing the entire city because the team has struggled. There is no accountability in the media. So much BS is printed and reprinted that the BS start to become real. I was once told by a very wise person that "Perception is Reality" ... Now I get it.

What we don't know is who has been making the picks over the last 10 years? Donahoe was in charge fo the draft during his regime. Afetr that there was this "Inner Circle" consensus for making decisons. So who made ther calls? Levy? Brandon? Ralph? Jauron? all of the above? some of the above? Modrak alegedly did not get invited into the "Inner Circle" until last year. It just amazes me at how poorly this FO operates. It is hard to blame Modrak when he is clearly not the GM. Reports have already leaked out that he did not like the Maybin pick and was big on Cushing. Buddy knows if Modrak is competent or not. If he keeps him around then there is your answer. The more important thing is that Buddy will be responsible and accountable for ALL of the picks here on in. Keep Ralph and Brandon out of it. Buddy makes the picks. He should only be listening to Modrak and his people for their analysis, and of course Gailey and his staff for their needs. Modraks reputation is still very good but his track record has been tainted by Donahoe's flamboyance and the past crimes of the "Inner Circle".

Please stop making sense. Its so much more fun to bash an old man.

Perfect! I am happy that some Nix has some gonads. After 4 years of Jauron this could be interesting.