nodnarb

this coaching staff simply is not on the same level. Mularkey is an offensive coach? He hasn't been able to get into a rhythm calling a game YET.

boy, this offense sure was prepared...

somebody call JP on his cell phone and tell him that if he ever sees no defensive linemen on one side of the line, to cut and run. they gave away ten yards and we didn't take it.

Guys, don't do it. I hurt as much as you hurt. But the more you think about it, isn't asking for Donahoe to be fired tantamount to asking for a president to be fired if a general screws up an important mission? The Bills lost the Miami game because of playcalling, first and foremost, on both sides of the ball. I think Tom's main duty is to serve as President. He is in charge of making sure that the franchise sells a product and increases its exposure, etc. He has done a good job of that, from sellouts to luxury suites to the Website to pulling in Rochester to hiring a real agency to produce some pretty damn good ads. (Love that Beatles one). As a talent evaluator, he merely facilitates. The scouting data and opinions are pooled and he facilitates the best choice being made - he doesn't veto or strong arm anyone. I think Tom Modrak has done a good job. But they missed on Mike Williams (If he ever decides he wants to be a football player, I still think he'll be great.), Lawyer Milloy (He hasn't made game-changing plays since week 1, 2003.), Bennie Anderson, several late-round picks which every team experiences, Josh Reed (who seems to be steadily improving in an unspectacular way), and a few others. But they have hit on more than they've missed, and I believe this is an extremely talented roster. McNally has not worked the wonders we expected, but it's true that we haven't had healthy 5 linemen for consecutive games since... Yes, a bit of bad luck plays into it. Not much, and no one wants to hear it, including me, but it's true. But the playcalling has been predictable, peppered with stupid gimmicks that rarely work, and most importantly, DREADFUL GAME AND CLOCK MANAGEMENT. Tom is 0-2 so far for coaches, but if you step back and think about it, I don't think there's any chance that Mularkey will be fired. Why? Because we have a young QB who has taken a while to develop in this offense, and asking him to start over with a new offense will take us back to Losman in a rookie state with a little bit more game savvy. I don't think Ralph wants to start over. I think he wants people to stand up and be counted. Mularkey has a LOT to learn. Sadly, Tom chose to let him learn on our watch. Mistake, yes. But it's done, and now the responsibility falls on the coach to put our talented roster to proper use. Just my opinion, but I do think the ire should be weighted toward coaching.

sherman would be a downgrade, are you kidding me? since he took over in green bay, what have they done?

and as usual, Easterbrook is dead on. Buffalo coaching is embarrassing...not the reactions to it.

I hate when the word 'spoiler' comes out. It means your season was a failure and that's all you have left. Didja hafta say that? I was still pretending we were 8-4 and you ruined my delusion. But I wouldn't be surprised to see the Bills beat the Pats. Just to make last week's debacle that much more painful. Had we won them both, we'd truly be in position to win the division. Alas, we now need to win out and hope miami AND the pats finish 8-8. I believe we'd win the tie breaker scenarios. Na-guh-hap'n

AKC: Interesting post. I'd like to subscribe to your newsletter. Last year, our 2nd half defense was what, #1? The adjustments were great, and I always figured Chuck Lester had a lot to do with that and Jerry got all the credit. I don't know what's different about this year, other than Pat Williams and Spikes, but the 4th quarter adjustments and playcalling on D has been atrocious. I'd like to be a fly on the wall in these coach's meetings. And yea. Obviously we're not able to make the right adjustments at halftime on offense, either. Look at JP's 1st half vs. 2nd half QB rating. Whoo-ey.

i'm surprised that mort aired this even if he heard it. mort has always been pretty tight with tom, or at least it seemed so. the day after a brutal loss, the pain and frustration always subsides into a state of calm acceptance. Still pissed, but the sting is gone. I actually feel bad for both Mularkey and Donahoe. No, I still think they deserve all the criticism one could throw at them. I feel bad because they tried. They really, really tried. They wanted it every bit as badly as we did, and probably much more, being right at the helm of "it". For all the frustration we feel, I'm sure they have it tenfold. And they're both good people. They're not dolts with bad judgment like Mike Tice or pissy as$holes like Mike Martz and AJ Smith. They're both really good guys who believe in what they're doing, and they keep getting upended. It must be very humbling. I hope it's humbling. It should be humbling. So you feel bad for the PEOPLE Mike Mularkey and Tom Donahoe and wish them well, but as the COACH and GM of the team you follow, you can't easily forgive them for failing to adequately build an offensive line in 5 years, for not even entertaining a new contract for Pat Williams, and for continually making the same kinds of mistakes on game day. I count 9 games under Mularkey where brutally stupid and tricksy calls backfired and ultimately cost us the game. I just don't see a lot of LEARNING taking place, and the first thing he said when asked about passing on 1st and goal at the 3 was, "lesson learned". It just gets old, you know? RESULTS are all that matter. Crazy thing is, if Donahoe is our GM next year, I'm going to be behind him. I'll have my much-earned doubts, but I'll be behind him. I actually think he has fielded a very talented team, and his one failure is a major one; his undoing is the offensive line. Not even the famous Jim McNally can help this bunch. If Mularkey is our head coach, I'll be behind him. I'll have even more doubts than I would with Donahoe, but I'll still watch the games, and I'll probably still come here to waste time talking about it all. I'd like to buy everyone who has a football-shaped lump in their throat a beer, but I won't be attending any remaining games this season. Just wanna be a contender, y'know?

you were right. how could we have know, though? mularkey is a handsome meathead. sure, I'd have loved to see us hire Weiss, but I don't believe he was interested in the job in the first place. He wanted Notre Dame and knew he'd get it. The interview was informational. That's the impression I got. The other guys? Eh... At this point, I'd like to see Sam Wyche take over. Won't happen, but playoffs won't happen under Mularkey.

I'll always give a ****. Yes, it's an affliction. And when most fans say they don't give a **** anymore, they still give a **** and say they don't. It's just a temporary salve. Another reason to be fed up with Mularkey...have you noticed that we tend to give individual players CAREER days? That is a HALLMARK of bad coaching. vs. Tampa it was Cadillac vs. New Orleans it was Stallworth vs. Oakland it was Jordan vs. San Diego it was Brees And today? We gave out two career days: Sage Fuggin Rosenfels and Chris Chambers. Have you noticed how Mularkey calls games when things get tight? If you've been watching, you can't have much faith in the guy. He has shown his stripes enough times.

SDS would probably say that it doesn't really matter. It would matter. I think it would be devastating to western NY. Not meteorite impact devastating, or 3 mile island devastating, but devastating.

Heh. There's an idea.

When did you become such a prick? No, the San Diego game didn't upset me much because I knew they're a much better team and we wouldn't have been able to get through them in the playoffs anyway. Before this game, I've never said that a loss was a turning point for the worse for this team. I have always been on the POSITIVE side of Donahoe and even Mularkey until recently, when I continually have seen the patterns in the playcalling that tell me, without a doubt, that Mularkey is not a good gameday coach. He might be able to break down film with the best of them - we can't know that. But what we CAN know, is that he's not getting it done, not even against hapless and rebuilding teams. So you think I'll be posting the same sentiment next week, huh? It must be so much fun in your milquetoast world.

Then why have you gone to all the trouble to host this Website? You spend a large amount of your LIFE here. You're now criticizing fans for being fed up? How's the weather up there on your horse?

huh? So what do you propose? Would you prefer that after games like this we all post things like, "Well, we know this is a bad team, and this is what bad teams do. Maybe next year guys...shux!" WTF? People are fed up because with the exception of the offensive line, there is enough talent on this team to get the job done (meaning make the playoffs) but the coaching consistenly hinders them. What would you prefer people to post? Mularkey is good, give him time? Donahoe shouldn't take the blame here? The playcalling was good, it just wasn't executed? What would spare you the embarrassment? I'm more upset about the Bills right now than I ever have been as a fan. Because I recognize that it's a turning point. I recognize the frustration level among the players is so high, there's likely to be a mutiny. Mularkey has officially lost his team, and it only took him 2 years to screw it all up. What, do you still "BILLIEVE" or something? I think you're criticizing the wrong people.

the players on this team love eric moulds. do you think the team chemistry will be any good from here on out? mularkey has UNRAVELED this team. I seriously have never been so disgusted, including the Gregg Williams era.

The problem is mainly Mike Mularkey. He coaches to not lose. His playcalling is so bad, SOO bad, especially in critical situations, and you can see in those decisions a fear that no NFL head coach should have. Check out the scared look on Mularkey's face whenever a game situation becomes dire. That look on his face is how he coaches. He wants his team to be mentally tough but he doesn't call plays that reflect a mental toughness. He wants his team to finish games but he doesn't call plays that help them do that. And the postgame reporters don't do their job, either. They NEVER ask him tough questions. They NEVER challlenge him.

the postgame reporters don't do their jobs, either.

Doubtful. But I've seen enough of Mularkey's style of coaching to know that I don't like him as a coach. There's a rift in this team, with Sam and Eric and likely others. The rift exists because, I believe, they know how talented they are and they also know how difficult Mularkey makes it for them. Had enough. Donahoe can't pick a head coach to save his own life. Welcome to Bengalhood of yore

We all have every right to be as disgusted as we've ever been. I feel worse right now than I did after the home run throwback. At least the team played a gutsy, fight-to-the-finish game, with far less talent than we have now. I do NOT believe that Mike Mularkey is the right coach for this team. Clearly, something is lacking. I think I know what it is. He doesn't call good games. He tells the team to finish but he doesn't make the right calls to finish a game. Offense AND defense. I think he coaches scared. You can see it in his face when things get tense. He gets that, "Oh sh--, this isn't really happening, is it?" look on his face. Every time I see that look, the offensive playcalling gets predictable, overthought, tricky-dicky, and ineffective. And we lose.

nah. that was a good call that was wide open and JP fugged it up by throwing it late to the wrong shoulder. He makes that easy play and it's game over. the turning point was the 4th down penalty on jabari greer that would have given us the ball back after an incompletion. After that, Mularkey coached scared, and the football gods punished him for it.

Playcalling on both sides in the 4th quarter is what lost this game for us. This was COACHING, COACHING, COACHING. Jerry Gray should lose his job for a performance like this. You don't play a soft dime zone against SAGE FUGGIN ROSENFELS when you can FINISH THE GAME by doing what worked in the first half. And GEE, how is it that *I* knew they'd throw a fade to Chris Chambers against the diminutive Greer, and nobody on the defense did? This is a SOMEONE GETS FIRED type of loss. This season should have ZERO excuses.

anyone hear anything about moulds? He must have done something significant to piss of the coaches - his record of consecutive games with a catch is officially over. and his career in buffalo is probably done, too. Gee, do you think there'll be some interest in him? sad. he's the only guy who has a chance of being a modern bill on the wall.

That's something that TD was WAY ahead of the game on - just when Peerless was at his peak, in terms of production and PERCEPTION, TD sold him like an extended stock, and bought Willis in his place. Good move. I think Peerless is a guy who they knew would be changed by the Big Contract. He has NEVER been tough, he has never been a good or willing blocker, he has slightly above average hands, and he mopes. There. That's my positive post of the week. Perhaps of the month. Nobody in the Bills administration deserves any more than that at this point.