ChasBB

Home field advantage is huge in December games when the weather gets blustery. The crowds cheer louder for the opponent than for the Bills. It is like having 9 away games ever year while every other team has 8 away games. What a disadvantage. The series needs to end and end now.

This fake field goal attempt (and similar decisions from what I gather) probably did him in: and Bears fans talking about it after - kind of funny: http://www.sportshoopla.com/forums/chicago-bears/125413-detroit-lions.html

D'oh, I knew I didn't think that one through - couldn't figure out what you meant, but pretty obvious now - my apologies.

Sounds like a data-gathering ploy to me -- every submission will ask for personal information, of course.

Can we hire Pettine's dad? Mike could never beat his dad coaching against him in high school ball.

Beat me to it - was going to post same - except I might make it 55 or greater. Might even make it fewer than 3 points for shorter field goals. 1 point inside the 15, 2 points for 15-35, 3 points for 35-55, and 4 points for > 55. Ha, this would be an analytics nightmare! I would like to see a crossbar on the TOP of the goalposts - have to get it in the square or else no good. Would also eliminate those judgement calls where the ball sails directly over one of the posts. Snap it 2 yards and then watch it get blocked - by your center's behind. Don't think that's gonna happen.

I've seen posts on this forum and many on-line articles that the NFL benefits by moving the draft to TV sweeps periods, which is in May for 2014. Don't know how true that is or not, but certainly a good possibility.

I say make him the highest paid safety in the league. He's earned it and if the Bills are serious about keeping good players then they should try to retain him.

Agree - I listened to the press conference and I didn't get the impression Thad wasn't someone they intended to try to keep. They could have said a little more in support of Thad than was said, but I didn't get the idea he wasn't wanted, either. I hope the Bills make him a very attractive offer to keep him -- he is a VERY serviceable backup and now knows the offense. He needs to be kept.

I assume author listed needs in order of priority, though he doesn't really say. If so, I would move a run-stuffing LB up the list based on being 23rd against the run. To be at or near best in the league in terms of picks and sacks only to be shredded by the run makes LB a top priority.

I've got an advanced metric for you -- it's called the WIN COLUMN

In EJ's defense, the missed blocking assignments were pretty glaring. That said, EJ needs to get better at reading defenses and recognizing where the blitzes will be coming from and adjusting accordingly.

Well, I think I know where you're going with this, but not 100% sure. I suspect you are saying that Nix/Whaley have done a better job of keeping players than it may seem. These players are ones I can identify as re-signing: Ryan Fitzpatrick Fred Jackson Tashard Choice David Clowney Drayton Florence Terrence McGee Corey McIntyre Shawne Merriman David Nelson Garrison Sanborn Brad Smith Tyler Thigpen Kyle Williams George Wilson Probably several others, too. I just don't think you let a guy like Levitre walk. Not unless you at least have a promising prospect on the squad (which they didn't).

Agree -- stupid little buzzword that means absolutely nothing w/o action to back it up. You don't just say "players have to be accountable". You MAKE them accountable by benching them when they screw up. You tell a player, straight-up, "You screwed up and now you're going have an opportunity to SIT and think about it". That's accountability!!

Keep EJ around and let him compete for a starting spot next year -- against next year's 1st rd. QB selection. EJ has done nothing to solidify himself as an NFL starter. Buffalo absolutely should take the top QB available in the 2014 draft. The problem (to front office) is that they'd be admitting they made a mistake. So, in typical Bills fashion, they'll make ANOTHER mistake and NOT take the top QB next year and insist EJ just needs more development (which might be true, but too risky to pass on a QB next year given EJ's performance this season). Sadly, this means that Skip Bayless was correct.

I'm pretty sure they've both sucked this badly at the same time at least once or twice in the past 30 years, but this year is certainly a contender for worst.

Talk is cheap. Russ & Co. like to talk about "keeping our own players", but when the time comes to step up and make it happen, they fail (Levitre, Byrd). Can't help but think a quality left guard could have helped win one or two of those close games and we might still be talking playoffs today.

The players did a nice job of following coach Marrone's instructions to "play like a Bill" today.

We do not need Toronto. We need to WIN. Winning will draw in all sorts of fans. We survived for decades without regionalizing as far north as Toronto. Sure, population has declined, but the team just needs to win. And maybe the state, county, & city politicians could actually make WNY a welcoming environment for businesses so the population would actually rebound. Wake up leaders. Jobs is the engine that makes it all tick and there just aren't enough of them in the Buffalo area.

There was a procession to the Capitol on Sunday that CBS covered, but you are right - actual funeral on Monday. Irrespective of Rozelle's decision, I still admire Wilson's decision and the fact that he led the way and would have even forfeited the game against the Boston Patriots had he not been able to convince other AFL owners to postpone the games. But I kind of agree about no need to drag Rozelle down - sounds like he got some bad advice.

Have to admire Ralph Wilson's principles -- great article -- http://www.rbj.net/article.asp?aID=202695

I agree with this. The upcoming draft is supposed to be a QB-rich draft, but the Bills will not take a QB in the high rounds due to EJ - who has ultimately not proven a thing here yet. A few positive glimpses here & there, but has not shown he can be a franchise QB. Oh, and with the weaker part of the schedule coming up, Buffalo should win enough games to screw themselves out of a top-6 pick anyhow. The curse of mediocrity continues.

Phew, this is so much better. For a moment there, I thought we really sucked.

This link has some interesting information on the security of team's ipad playbooks ... http://profootballta...afe-and-secure/ I like this excerpt: "This doesn’t mean teams won’t at least try to come up with ways to access the information. Football routinely incorporate military principles and mindsets, compelling coaches like Bill Belichick to always say as little as possible for fear of divulging too much to the opposition. It’s understandable, then, that some teams will be looking and listening and hoping for whatever edge they can get, even if it means hacking iPads." Art Modell once said "I'll pay anyone here $10,000 if they can tell me what Ernie Adams does." when Adams and Belichick worked with the Browns. Adams is known to have a passion for military history and probably does incorporate military principles and mindsets in securing the Patriots' playbook -- and possibly hacking opponent's playbooks, as well, for all we know. This is just the sort of thing someone like Ernie Adams does. I hope Buffalo has a guy who is equally as diligent in protecting the Bills playbook. The comments at the end of the link are good, too -- "I wonder how many players use “password” as their password?" -- so true.

Great question! Sorry, I cannot really provide much in way of an answer, but just wanted to give this a bump because I've often wondered about this myself.