Jukester

Isn't it the opposite? The iPad saved his face.

I liked this part: 'Bradham also is bullish on his evolution as a defensive playmaker and emphasized Pettine's proclivity for "a lot more blitzing ... so it'll be a lot more fun."'

No. Madden and Enberg are still around. Olsen died in 2010 of cancer. I just meant that those guys were synonymous with my early football watching days and it's very sad to see they're getting very old or passing on.

I think buddy's board is: Smith Barkley Manuel

RIP. Sad day indeed. Summerall/Madden/Enberg/Olsen were staples of my football life as a kid and into adulthood.

Here's a link to EJ's take on his visit with Gruden: http://www.phillymag.com/eagles/2013/03/15/the-ej-manuel-diaries-grudens-qb-camp/ "Obviously, a lot of what he and I discussed is between us two, but I left Coach Gruden as one of his all time favorites." Here's the full list of all his diary entries on the same website: http://www.phillymag.com/eagles/category/ej-manuel-draft-diary/

They should've also addressed the grabbing of the facemask when stiff-arming. Right now the running back can basically grasp the defenders facemask and push/twist his head as part of the stiff-arm. I can understand the open handed stiff arm but when they clasp the bars of the facemask that should be a penalty, just like the defenders would be called for.

Agree. I bought a new laptop (non-touch screen) which came with Win8. I don't use the new Metro interface much, mostly go thrpugh Win7 mode. And i had to do a few free tweaks to make it work the same, e.g. adding the start menu. I do mostly work related stuff using MS Office applications which you can't do on the Metro interface. There are some useful apps that can be downloaded like a smart phone although i haven't explored it much...I do like the newsreader and weather apps, but don't use the integrated email app at all. Skype app seems more limited than the usual desktop version. Internet Explorer app is horrible - cumbersome to navigate, no tabs, etc... Overall, metro seems to be a gimmick geared toward touch screens and to get MS into app market. But if you're not paying for an upgrade or if you have a touch screen, you may as well get Win8. You always have the option to go Win7 mode. Metro interface is very different but Win 7 mode is the same as always (except for the start button/menu). And unless a person has never used a computer before, the learning curve is minimal even for Metro. My wife, who is not tech savvy by any means and hates change, was perfectly comfortable with Win8 in a few days.

This made my day. Thanks.

Nix has been a disappointment. His biggest failure is that he trusted Gailey too much regarding the QB position. Gailey was sold on Fitz after the first 6 games of 2011 and convinced Nix to extend him. From that point forward, Nix's priority was defense and WR before addressing QB because they were convinced they could be a playoff team in 2012 with Fitz as the undisputed starter. It unraveled quickly this past year as expectations didn't come to fruition. And why they didn't cut Thigpen when they traded for TJax is beyond my understanding. Waste of a roster spot. Nervermind the fact that he passed on Wilson, but to have drafted TJ Graham (projected in 7th rd or FA) in the third round in itself is grounds for dismissal...and he traded up to do it! All of us were dumbfounded when the pick came in. Many of us (including me) tried to see the positive side of it and give it the benefit of the doubt but time has a way of slapping you back to reality. Hope all the reports of Nix bowing out gracefully after the draft are true. Would've preferred it to happen right after the Marrone hire.

Thanks for posting. Very interesting read about Marrone's background.

For those that haven't had a chance to listen/view the press conference yet, here are some tidbits. Only words at this point, but as with most of you, my initial ambivalence is giving way to a bit of guarded optimism. On coming to Buffalo: I had some opportunities to make a choice and I’ve chosen to be here. I can’t tell you how excited I am to be the head football coach. I can’t tell you how excited I am for my family and I to move up here. We’re looking forward to it. I’m excited about working with the people in this organization, but I’m especially excited about working with the players On being the head coach and responsibilities: I think the main thing is when you’re the head football coach, you wanna make sure that you’re truly the CEO of the program… that you know what’s going on on offense, you know what’s going on on defense, you know what’s going on on special teams. So from a management type of style that’s who I am. I have to make sure we know how we’re going to win games and make sure I’m managing all those three phases. It’ll be with the coordinators. I’ll be heavily involved with game planning. College vs Pro approach: A lot of players right now are thinking ‘Is he gonna take a college football approach mentality or a pro football coach mentality?’ this is the nfl, this is the highest level. I’ve been a player in this league, I’ve coached in this league. So I have a good insight to the NFL. I’m excited about taking those principles and those approaches we’ve used in the NFL and discussing that with the players and making sure they understand what my expectations are and what their expectations are of me as a head football coach. On coordinator search: It’s gonna be thorough. We’re gonna pick the coaches that best fit what we would like to do. In doing so, I want people that wanna be here, and that’s the one thing I can guarantee you. The coaches that we speak to are gonna be coaches that wanna be here, coaches that don’t have an ego, that understand a work ethic, and that are willing to work with these players and get the job done. What I’m not gonna do is put a parameter around exactly what I’m looking for from a certain position. Obviously for the coordinators we want people with thourough NFL experience, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Offensively we want people with NFL experience. So I think our coordinators we want to make sure that they’ve been in this league. This is a very very difficult job, being an NFL coach. At the end of the day we need to find the best fit where we’re gonna be most successful. Analytics: As far as analytical process for what we do in football obviously we’ve been using that quite a bit. I believe no one knows that….but we’ve used quite a bit of it in New Orleans when we were there. We wanna be innovative. We wanna use that to be on the cutting edge and push us forward. It’s part of what we do. It’s part of our planning. It’s part or our process.

Why go back to last year. Fred was hurt earlier this year. Remember Miami thurs night game? Spiller lit it up whenever he touched it....yet there he was standing on sidelines in stretches. T Choice in on third downs and in red zone. Galley is one stubborn fool .

Wow. Wouldn't make sense but that's exactly how Ralph likes it.

Yes, this team does have enough talent to have made the playoffs this year. Before the season, we as fans expected it and the players expected it. As much as they say the games are played on the field, coaching is our downfall yet again. Tenn, Indi, StL, all winnable games. Possibly steal another, i.e NE and we are in. Think back over the past 3 years and look at all the close losses. Most have a similar pattern of bad decisions and outcomes. Good coaching changes many of them to wins.

Exactly. I saw the same thing. He was a little slow and an inch short on their last touchdown or he would've knocked it down. He's been picked on a lot in the last couple games. All part to the learning curve for a rookie CB. Tough situation to be put in. Hopefully he won't lose confidence and only get better.

You've got more faith in the guy than i do. I'd expect that either of them would still be holding a clipboard. The fact is Chan doesn't think Fitz has played poorly and i don't think he'd bench him for a rookie.

Everyone outside of Chan sees how ludicrous his coaching decisions and statements to the media are. This obviously has to extend to the players. They're doing an admirable job of being PC with the media but it's gonna blow up eventually. I think even Fitz has been disappointed with Chan this year and that's his most vocal supporter. We can only hope that Buddy sees reality.

Agree on everything you're saying except i don't think he's lying to the fans. In his own mind, he truly believes what he's saying. We need a fundamental philosophical change in our head coaches. Why do we continue to hire these guys that play not to lose, who are constantly afraid of making a mistake. You haven't won in 13 years. Take a shot at the end zone. Go for it on 4th down. Kick a 50+ yard field goal. Play your most dynamic players. Draft and start a rookie quarterback. What do you have to lose??? It's so infuriating.

Yes, but that's back up in my opinion who is no better than Fitz. I'm talking about a possible franchise guy

We’ve learned a lot about the mindset of our head coach over the past 2.5 years and I started thinking what’s going to happen when we get the next rookie QB in here (hopefully next year). Does anyone here really think that he’s got a legit shot to start opening day, assuming he's worthy? I’m fairly certain there won’t be any open competition for the job in training camp and Fitz will still be the starter. Guarantee the guy won’t even see the field when Fitz is crapping the bed early in the season. Chan has that old school mentality which says that veterans will always get the benefit of the doubt and younger players need to wait their turn even if they’re more talented…see CJ situation. You see young QB’s starting in their first year quite a bit now and they learn on the job and are better for it by mid-season. I just don’t think Chan is open to that. Hypothetical: Bills drafted Russell Wilson in the third round last year instead of TJ Graham. Would Wilson be the starter today?

Ball-less, Indecisive. Doesn't use best players. Coaches not to lose. Get him outta here. Really nothing more to say.

I think Chan's a mediocre OC masquerading as a head coach. We've all seen how he overthinks the game plan and leans to the pass. Do we ever run on two consecutive plays? Empty backfields with short distances, especially third down. Yet we'll go pass happy all the time. CJ spiller having a great game against Miami but standing on the sidelines in the red zone with Choice in the game. Same thing yesterday in the 4th quarter. There was a shot of CJ on the sideline at one point kind of looking all around him..almost pleading someone to let him back in the game. Unreal how Chan just doesn't get it. He said this morning it's because they've allotted a number of plays for each back. Wow. Players are finally starting to go public on playcalling. From Stevie: "How I see it, I think we need to let our quarterback call these plays," said Johnson. "He’s out there on the field. He sees the adjustments that need to be done. I think we just need to let him make the adjustments on the go. I think that’s the way we can move the ball better. He did it a little bit in the game and we moved the ball. That’s how I feel about it. In the fourth quarter, we were pushing it. We were in a groove. He was hitting C.J. (Spiller), getting his run plays, doing the pass plays, and I just think we should just do it more often." Johnson continued when pressed by reporters: "The play calling is cool. In the situations, we are the ones out there on the field. He knows what to check into and check out of. It’s different when you are looking from the booth and say, ‘Okay, they might be in this’ than being out there. That’s just my take on it. I just think that he has the ability to control the offense 100 percent. I think we should take advantage of that." http://www.buffalorumblings.com/2012/11/26/3691056/colts-20-bills-13-postgame-comments-chan-gailey And as far as defense, he's come out and said publicly that he has almost zero input on that side of the ball, leaning fully on his friend Dave who "has more experience with defense than I'll ever have." This team is better than it's record. Coaching is attrocious.

Ding Ding. I think this is the one that most people noticed. I'm pretty sure it was right after a play where it wasn't a perfect pass but a catchable one. He left the huddle early and clearly looked pissed. I totally agree that he was just showing his frustration at not catching the ball and not because he was upset at fitz or the team or being a diva, etc....

Not with VY on the roster and a 3.75 million cap hit for Smith. If you see value in that and no one else on the team able to pick up 3rd and 2, so be it