CookieG

2 cats and our beloved Coonhound, under a Mulberry bush. After he was put to sleep the vet asked if we were going to bury him in our back yard. I reminded him it was against a city ordinance. He just put his hand on my shoulder and said, "eh, do it at night.". 2 days later we received a sympathy card from his office, signed by everyone who works there.

I could see Beane going before McD. It depends on how much say McD has on personnel decisions. But McD looks better as a coach than Beane looks as a GM. A top flight OC will be needed, but the situation is more than that. Its going to take a guru on the offensive end to be in the front office with enough persuasion/pull to make the right decisions. Whether McD or Beane on the offensive talent side, based on who they passed on, who they let go and who they brought in over 2 years.....they don't have an eye for it. Some have the talent to evaluate offense, some have it for defense, a very few have it for both. The guy will not only need a talent for offensive talent seeking, he's going to be the guy that says, "we need this center (or guard, or right tackle or whatever) MORE than we need that DE you want to spell Murphy". he's going to have to keep them in focus. Will they find such a guy? They should, I'd say its mandatory. Will it happen? Good question. These guys to seem to have a pretty good opinion of themselves, and there is no reason they should, not when it comes to the offense. But $100 million in cap or not, if they don't, you're looking at best, to a Jeff Fisher environment where offense always takes the back seat and you're 9-7 in a good year. At worst, its a Jauron situation or worse.

I feel for ya. My dad's generation had the AFL championship years. I had a few years of the Electric Company, a few very good Chuck Knox teams and then, of course, the SB years. My oldest just turned 21 and I know he's got very few good memories of the Bills. I'm a rotten father. You were born in the Era of the Never Ending Rebuild. I'm sorry.

Well, I sort of did, years ago, but that was with help. We broke a timing belt on one of our cars and of course, some valves were bent. It was older and we were going to dump it, but a friend looked at me and said, "I bet we can fix it." So we towed it up to his place. Of course, he had nearly a full mechanic shop at his place (had a side business fixing small engines) and he actually had a valve grinding machine. i did most of the tear down and putting back together, he did the precision work, the grinding, lapping and making sure the guides were still good. In that area, there was lots I wouldn't have known how to do or what to check. But the tearing down was a task and a half. Its like you said, its the things you need to take off just to get to what you need to replace. It was so far beyond just the exhaust and intake manifolds and the timing belt. It was, among other things, 2 engine mounts, AC compressor, PS tank, air cleaner housing, alternator, throttle body, etc. Its like a house of cards, you have to start from the top and work your way down. But for $200 in parts ($150 of which was the gasket kit, I think there were around a dozen gaskets) and a few evenings, we got it going again. Yeah, it was an experience, and there's definitely a feeling of satisfaction when the engine fires. The motor was always good, but after that work, it was very good. It had more power than a motor with 150K+ should have. So I think we did it right.

I'm like that too. I wouldn't rip an engine or a tranny apart, too much precision work. But changing a starter, an alternator, water pump, stuff like that, I can usually do. The parts that can kill you if not done right, like brakes and suspension parts that make me most nervous. but that has its good side, you just end up being more careful to do it right.

That's true in a way, but putting them back together and driving on them are 2 different things. An example from way back. A neighbor put a new master cylinder on his truck. I watched him test it out by backing out of his driveway, roll across the street and then halfway up the drive across the street. He didn't know that you have to bench bleed a new master cylinder. Everything else, he did right. He's lucky there was no traffic at the time. I lost my brakes, again, many years ago, when a seal ruptured without warning. There's no more helpless feeling in the world, and I remember it vividly to this day. That's why I'm paranoid with them. There's no such thing as a small brake leak or pedal travel that can "come back up through pumping". On the good side, as someone else said, with car repair, you can usually find step by step tutorials and usually a Youtube video. And since this is about car repair, the greatest on the fly car repair...ever

Yeah, its one of the easier repairs to do, once you know what you're doing. I've been doing mine as long I've owned cars and I can do 2 wheels in under an hour. Buy a set of pads with a lifetime warranty and you're good for as long as you own the vehicle. One warning...the nasty bleeder screw. I had a stuck one for the first time last winter, they're a B word to get off when they are. Heating, PB Blasting, quenching, rapping, Easy-Outing, all failed. I ended up having to buy a new Caliper. It took 20 minutes after that though. I will say that if someone is not comfortable working on them...don't. Brakes are something on a vehicle that you can't half-ass. If they go, you're dead.

Well, on the offensive side at least. Someone asked me the other day about this elsewhere...and asked, you can't think of anything good he's done? On offense...outside of the Allen pick, which is an unknown...I thought about it and came up with nothing. 2 fill in RB's maybe..but its not like our fill in RB's were bad before he got here. I don't know how as a GM, you can come in professing that the offense needs to be completely rebuilt, go through 2 years and not upgrade a single position on that side of the ball. A kid playing Madden GM or someone who read Rotoworld for a few days would have probably come up with one or 2. $90 million in cap space or not...I don't know where these guys have shown any ability to improve an offense. My only hope is that they realize their limitations and hire someone who can.

Besides the catch phrases of "culture change" "character" "culture over strategy" "trust the process" and others are sounding hollow right now. Philosophical phrases usually do when success isn't there. It just sounds annoying and people tune it out. And its really sounding hollow when you're seeing WR's brought in who won't learn routes, others who put in a half assed effort, people who quit in mid game, QB's who were signed but "not who we thought they were"..and now a guy who was kicked off his team for a temper tantrum, all run contrary to the preaching of the FO. Genuine culture change comes from the top. It can't be preached in. The rest applies to the offense. Quite simply, they don't have the FO talent to build an offense. First, I don't know who takes an offense that was 10th in scoring and determines that complete rebuild is needed...instead of building on what's there. Chip Kelly maybe, but then, he's out of the league. And at least has a history of creating potent offenses, albeit at the college level. But even after that decision was made, after 2 years...that's 2 drafts, 2 FA periods, 2 camps... How many players brought in are better than the players who left? Im not even talking about areas of the offense, such as the RB's, OL or receivers...I'm talking individual players. After all these changes...you'd at the least expect some young studs who just need experience. We've got Allen, Dawkins and sorta Zay Jones who might qualify in that category. This is after 2 years. That's enough time for them to show some ability to judge players on the O side of the ball. They've shown nothing. In many ways, less than nothing. A gazillion dollars in cap space and 1- draft picks are nice, but not if the FO doesn't know what to do with it. When your CIO has just tanked your tech stock portfolio, giving him more capital to "rebuild" the tech stock portfolio he just tanked should give you some concerns. If I'm the Pegulas, I'm not thinking the F word with either McD or Beane. But I AM urging them...in no uncertain terms, to bring in someone for the FO who knows something about the offensive side of the ball. An offensive guru from the scouting/GM ranks...someone with a proven track record for eyeing talent on that side of the ball. If the McBeane braintrust made an honest self evaluation on that side of the ball, they'd agree. If they give a flat out refusal, I'd be concerned. Now, at this stage, I think its crucial. You cannot waste this opportunity.

Someone needs to go into his room, go to his nightstand, and swipe his copy of Dick Jauron's "How to Build a Winning Culture with a Bottom 5 Offense". Bad, bad reading material.

I'm smiling, I thought the same thing. The Chiefs weren't even looking for a QB at the time. Not only did they want to draft him, they were willing...and did...trade up for him. The other team that wanted him was NO, as the successor to Brees. 2 teams that understand what a good QB looks like wanted him. That's enough to at least say, "what do they know that we don't? " We're getting that answer now.

mmhmm The year before the process began, the Bills O actually outscored the Chiefs' offense (with all of those weapons) and by a pretty significant margin... offensive TD's (after subtracting defensive and ST TD's) 2016 Bills 46 2016 Chiefs 34 There was an offense available at the time for Mahomes to fit into. They CHOSE to dismantle it. Its on the Process. They bought this offense, its up to them to answer for it.

the downside of Andy Reid. Not that I think Watkins is bad, or that someone else might not have given him that much...but he's got real deficiencies on the defensive side of the ball, money that could have been spent on that side. For as good as their offense is, their defense is horrific.

The new Lamonica...in more ways than one.

Lol., he made the explanation to fool some guy in Riverside who doesn't like him and never will. So he's not only a mediocre QB who only completes passes to wide open receivers, he's a dishonest, mediocre QB who only completes passes to wide open receivers. Ty for exposing him as a fraud.

Beane just said to his contacts in Carolina..."You owe me for the Benjamin trade!".. They felt guilty.

Nah, I've gotten the pleasure to watch him each week and it all hasn't been just lobs to WR's. And some plays that looked easy really weren't. For example...Game 1 58 yard TD to Hill. At first glance, it looks like a quick pitch and catch where Hill does all of the work. But when Mahomes explained it, it was a little more complicated than that. He saw that the LB had bit on a play fake and that Hill had saw it also and adjusted his route. (I"m not even sure if Hill was the primary target presnap.). As an added bonus, the RG whiffed on his block (NEVER TRUST FRENCH LINEMEN!!). So in a matter of around 1.5 seconds, he made a play fake, 2 post snap reads (the LB and Hill's route adjustment), threw the pass nearly sidearm, off balance, and hit Hill in the hands and in stride.. There's a reason the entire scouting staff and the entire coaching staff fell in love with him and that the term "special" has been a common adjective used by his coaches and his teammates. That said, I really wanted him in 2017 and would do it in a second in a do over. And I wasn't a big Allen fan this year. But he's impressed me more than I thought I'd be impressed with him. If both work out as planned for their respective teams, if the Chiefs get the next Aaron Rodgers, but we end up with the next Big Ben...I'll live with it.

Ha, it was a fun game to watch but easy on the Top 25 talk. I mean, Kansas did the same thing to Rutgers a week ago. They beat Central Michigan too. But Kansas got beat pretty well by a not so great Baylor team today. I'm happy they're winning though. I got to catch the 1st half and was flipping back and forth between them and Georgia-Mizzou PS. I heard a blurb that it was the first time since 1981 that they started 4-0. Damn, they were D-III back then. My brother was on that team and I knew a few other guys.

Show me where he changed this game.

To the contrary. We'll fall to 3rd or 4th and take the best defensive player on the board. Because the defensive genius we hired can't be a defensive genius without a defense full of studs. Of course, in the 2nd, we'll have to take a CB, because they messed up the year before in FA'cy. The observations of how bad the OL is will be put on a back burner because.... wait for it.... "you can always get those guys later in the draft." So in the 5th round, we'll draft the 13th ranked OT or OG and people will be excited about the guy. And he'll be expected to fill the 4 spots that need to be filled. And next September...there will be talk about how bad the OL is until game 3, when people start watching the next defensive stud to take the following April. Now THAT'S some last 20 years Bills' history. Sure as the sunrise.

an above average grade for 24 members of a team that was getting blown out by halftime? Yeah, that's a pretty generous grading system.

that's why I think your premise is half right. It isn't so much with the HC is offense or defensive minded, its finding the guy to run the other side of the ball that can be the key. As you said, McVay did it in LA. Pederson did the same thing in Philly with Schwartz. "Surrounding yourself with good people" doesn't mean getting yes men or people who think like you do. More often than not, its getting people who are more skilled in other areas than your forte. It applies at the GM level too. I really think this org. needs one of the best offensive minds in the area of talent evaluation. Someone with a vision of how an offense is supposed to work and finding the right people for it. Because based on the people they've let go and the people they've brought in...they aren't showing much in this area.

To the best talent evaluator for the offensive side of the ball that he can find and make that person his number 2 man. He might think he can evaluate players for the offense, but he can't. I'm not sure what people expected with this offensive line plus Nathan Peterman behind them, but what happened yesterday isn't shocking.

I think Buddy had more talent for evaluating O linemen, I have little doubt he gave the recommendations on Wood and Levitre in 2009. Russ sure didn't. But I also think he thought a little too much of his evaluation skills and believed he could just find the guys in later rounds or UDFA's. Problem is, he never did find one, much less several. He was also fixated on recreating the Charger's defense in Buffalo so the offense was pretty much ignored.

If that ain't the truth. Buddy was still GM when Levitre left, btw. And he had a list of practice squad players and UDFA's of about a dozen. And he'd say something like, "the fans will be surprised about the quality of these guys." Uh huh... I can understand not wanting to pay Levitre 8 mill per year, but damn...it was pure dumpster scouring for his replacement. And I remember people being cool with that. There were enough using the standard "why don't we see what happens.." or "You don't know what Buddy's plan is!" Whaley was a little better when it came to the Oline, but not much. Beane is...lol...wow...he needs to bring in a player evaluator who knows something about Olinemen.