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I do not understand this front office. How did they think that the o-line would be successful with Brown starting at LG? They knew it was likely that the team would lose Levitre, so there is no excuse for not finding a replacement in the draft or through free agency. There also were many CBs available in free agency. Should have signed a veteran CB in free agency. We had the cap space. Makes no sense to me.

Spiller (knee) Carrington (leg, carted off) M. Williams McKelvin (hamstring) Dareus Any updates on how bad these injuries are? Are there more players to add to list?

EJ threw way too many deep passes today (and most were way off target). The Bills had so many opportunities on offense, but EJ played one of the worst games I have seen in years.

I agree about EJ, but the offensive scheme seems poor.

Why does EJ keep throwing long passes when he is pressured? Are there any outlets/slants? Is it EJ or poorly designed plays?

A really poorly played game and bad coaching for both teams, but I don't care if we win.

Even with so many players out, defense has played well enough today, although we still have problems with the rush defense.

EJ and Rogers are killing us today. Seems like a lot of guys are out: McKelvin, Dareus, and Spiller. Not sure if Spiller is injured, but it was Choice and Fred for the last two offensive series.

We are being outplayed and outcoached. Hackett is a return to the horrible OCs we had before Gailey. They need to adjust the pace of plays if needed, and it was needed in the Bills last possession before the half ended.

Defense played well, especially considering the offense played poorly overall. New England does not look like a powerhouse this year. I think our division is weak this year.

In looking at our prospects in an objective manner, it is difficult to come up with a scenario where this team will have a winning record this season. I am expecting much worse. We have a rookie QB who missed a good part of the preseason, a mess of a secondary, particularly with Gilmore out of action for a significant period, a rookie starting at MLB flanked by castoffs from other teams, an inexperienced group of WRs after Stevie, and a weakened o-line with the loss of Levitre. With all of these potential negatives, what I hope for from this team is better coaching, particularly on defense, a QB who will flash athletic talent and leadership abilities, an aggressive defense, a group of WRs that will show speed and quickness, and overall improvement as the season progresses. Clearly, we deserve better after 13 years of ineptitude, but if the team can show progress and give us comfort that we have the right coaches and QB for long-term success, at least we can hold on to some optimism if it is a difficult season. It also would be nice if EJ outperforms Geno Smith this year.

I still have no confidence in our front office. How can we expect to win with two rookie QBs, no starting caliber CBs after Gilmore, an offensive line with a below average LG and RT, a below average group of linebackers, no overall depth, and a very young group of wide receivers? I try to be optimistic, but this seems like way too much to overcome this year. Clearly, we are rebuilding again, not reloading. If EJ develops during the year and our draft picks show potential, that would at least be a start to a better future.

Nix hit on some of his first round picks (Spiller and Gilmore), but not much else (not counting this year because it is way too early to tell). Any second round picks and lower that are making any kind of a contribution to this team other than Carrington and Glenn? His drafting was horrible, particularly in the later rounds.

I doubt we will find any waiver pick-ups that would help immediately, particularly since they would need time to learn the scheme and playbook to be effective (assuming they are good enough to contribute). Kind of shocking to me to go into the season with this group of CBs. With Gilmore out, could be the worst group I have ever seen on an NFL team. I hope Byrd is back for game one, because the safeties have not looked good either.

Does he count for a roster spot or is he excluded until activated?

In terms of free agency, I don't believe that we have "upleveled" safety or QB. We will see about LB. It will depend on the play of Hughes and Lawson, but I am not sure whether either player was particularly sought after. I excluded WR because we opted to try to improve that group through the draft. Our o-line could be added to the list, since the free agent acquisitions we made are inferior to the players we lost (Levtire and Reinhart).

I don't know what the offseason plan for free agency was for the team, but as executed, it was horrible. 1. Levitre. They knew that they would not pay him top of the market before he hit free agency, so not finding an adequate replacement is inexcusable. 2. CBs. We needed a second starter and a third corner this offseason. Instead, the Bills re-sign McKelvin to an oversized contract and do not pick a CB in the draft. 3. LB. We will see about Lawson and Hughes, but Bradham has been a disappointment and Lawson was only a part-time player for the Bengals. The Colts gave up on Hughes. I am not optimistic. 4. Strong Safety. Do we have a capable strong safety on the roster? 5. Tight End. Seems that we are fortunate that Chandler has returned quickly from his ACL injury. Otherwise, the position is very weak. 6. QB. Enough has been written on the board about this. We had a lot of needs, and we failed to address them, even with significant cap space.

The front office only will deserve kudos if EJ develops into an above average starting QB.

Whether it is their fault or not, the Bills picked the wrong guy to compete for the starting QB position or to be the competent back-up. That is where we are. Now we need to see whether EJ is the QB of the present and future, which may take at least two years to fully play out. Really difficult to find both a future starting QB and a veteran QB to challenge for the starting QB position in one offseason, particularly when the draft for QBs is the worst in years and the veteran QB market is weak.

The Bills have obvious holes at CB and left guard. The linebackers are either unproven or looking for a second chance to show that they are not busts. The QB situation is poor, but not with out hope, although it is unrealistic to think that EJ can play like Luck or RGIII in his first year, particularly after missing training camp time with an injury. The wide receivers are young, but with potential. Putting all of this together, the only way that this team will have an improved record this year will be if the coaching is superior to previous years. We need to hope this is the case.

Hard to argue with any of this. Bills need to prove it on the field, and they have not done so in more than 10 years.

Not sure that Hackett is fully responsible since Tuel was the quarterback for most of the game. I like the idea of an uptempo offense, but we will see if we have the right personnel to run it. If it is not effective, Hackett will need to be able to change things up, otherwise the defense will get killed.

Theisman had one good point during the telecast, which was if the Bills are going to run an uptempo offense, they better get first downs, otherwise their defense will be on the field most of the game.

At this point, I think there is enough of a body of work to make judgments about McKelvin. He is an amazing athlete and maybe the new coaches will make a difference, but I am not sure a lack of instincts can be fixed.

I don't get the re-signing of McKelvin. He is not a starting caliber CB and his kick returning abilities were not enough to justify his new contract.