Fan in Chicago

This season is the turning point for MM. In a way, he is using this season to find the hard workers, find his own identity, impose his personality and try out tricky plays. Blame lies with TD that he did not build up the team with adequate number of good players and did not pay attention to depth.

Thanx for respecting my difference of opinion. If he did not blow it in the press conference, it speaks of his self control. He could have well blown a fuse and a steam valve in the locker room. Which is the right thing to do as opposed to ripping his team in public.

If he had given details, this board would have smashed him for washing the team's dirty laundry in public.

I have a different take on the Bills situation brought to a head by the EM situation. Consider what has happened with player moves: - Releases Bobby Shaw - Bench JP for non-performance - Benched Sam Adams - Speaks out against lack of effort on WM's part - Tries MW at LG, fails, corrects mistake - JP comes in for injured KH, plays welll and gets starting job for good - Asks for EM suspension I see a trend here. MM seems to be taking more control of the team and sending a clear message. If you are hard working and perform well, you are assured of your place in the starting line-up. If you are not trying, lazy you will be reprimanded. I ask all of those calling for MM's head one question - If Bill Parcells was our head coach and did the above, wouldn't we all be saying he is a hard ass, a disciplinarian and just wants performers on the team ? MM wants to make Buffalo into a Pittsburgh like team of blue-collared type players who play hard every day and work as a team. No living on past glory (EM), no beating your chest (WM), no lazy a$$ play (Sam), no detrimental activites (apparently Bobby Shaw) Bottom line, MM seems to be getting more in charge around here. He would not have made all these moves if he was 'constrained' by TD or RW. Feel free to fire away at my assessment. Don't say that a lot of conclusions based on little information. This is end actions that we all have seen that drove my thoughts.

And I don't understand what you mean by studying the psyche of coaches. How does one go about doing it ? It is easy to point to a losing record of a team and blame the coaches for it. But it is difficult to make that decision divorced from the talent level of the team. Truth be told, we did not keep PW but have had several key injuries on defense. NC cannot regress overnight - I think the lack of a good push at the DL has put too much pressure on the secondary and they cave in at key moments. With the disgusting OL we have, how much creativity can a coach have to stay competitive. Our STs are very very good - do you credit April, the players, MM or a combination of all ? I vote for the combo answer. Bottom line, we have not given MM adequate time or talent to help us understand if he is a good coach or not. On the other hand, I put a lot of blame on TD and think we need to get rid of him.

I had suggested the same a couple of weeks back. Not sure if he has the business smarts though. Maybe he can handle personnel while someone does the business side of things. You got to give TD one thing - his negotiating skills. We do need the next GM to have that to keep the cap under control. Ron (?) Wolf was also suggested by several on this board. Not sure where he is or if he is willing to join the Bills.

As I could not see the game, I have a few questions about how this progressed. It sounds like EM was being double covered early on giving LE the opportunities. Was coverage really rolled to his side later ? If yes, then shouldn't EM have gotten open more often ? If he is indeed the playmaker (sorry NC), he should be able to revel in single coverage. Or was he on the bench when LE started getting double covered ? What am I missing ?

Why ?

Took me a while to get my eyes off his avatar and to his post

Hey, I don't have time to discuss this any more. I have some babies to kill before I can be accepted to the dark side.

Well that first line justifies the action then - It is dangerous for TD's job and career It is inappropriate to bash management as you fans are only supposed to support everyone associated with the Bills And finally ... it obstructs the rose colored view of RW and shows him reality. I have changed my mind and now support the actions of the staff against the sign.

I sense sarcasm... No wait... there is already a smiley there.

Now that post I agree with. I just hope RW knows about the fan discontent and gets rid of TD at the end of this season.

Well stated !

Are you also in favor of not carrying 'Fire TD' signs to the stadium ? I do not see why such posts deserve a separate sub-board. This board exists to express our collective (or individual) elation or disgust at the performance of our team. Over the past several years, general opinions expressed on this board are directly related to future actions by the Bills. Examples: RJ will never make it in the NFL, GW does not make a good head coach, Flutie is more jazz and no substance. I really think the 'Fire TD' semi-consensus on this board is going to result in him being replaced this coming off-season.

As you can tell by my responses to several threads, my sarcasm detector does not function. All the Sony products I bought in the past may have subliminally sent a DRM-equivalent to scramble my brain ...

I am not comparing it to any other situation as I am not fully aware of the patdown details. All I am saying is that fans have a right to protest as arguably attendance is more than going therejust for entertainment. This is not like going to the movies where tickets cost a fifth of NFL games and if the movie sucks you walk out with no hard feelings. Fans take the team and its performance seriously and it has direct implication to regional businesses. Having a team is a privilege and management should be able to hear it when the team is doing well or badly. If I want to protest against the way a team is being run or the way a player is playing, I cannot walk into TD/MM's office and give my thoughts. To the average fan, the best way to advertise their feelings is through signs such as these. If fans can put up signs that say 'Bills are #1' then they should have an equal right to say 'Fire TD'.

This is unbelievable - such signs should be allowed. It is not provocating or suggesting violence or obscenity. Instead of worrying about the legal ramifications or suing anybody, protesting fans should try their best to be caught by camera. This is the one time the media can help us by freely advertising fans' discontent with the administration.

Let Tom Clements go now and get SM as our O coach NOW. Start preparing for next season.

I will extend that thought to include some players as well. I have said this often that we need not chase away every non-pro bowler on this team. There are perennial under-achievers who need to be shown the door (Coy Wire, Bennie, Josh Reed) but others that we need to keep albeit with re-structured contracts (MW, EM). Bottom line, TD has to take the blame for the abysmal talent all round. Given what happened to Pittsburgh with and after TD, I really think he needs to go. Another random thought - maybe all the gadget plays and trickery that MM is pulling is preparing for next season. He is trying things out, knowing in his heart that the team with low level of talent is not going anywhere this year. So why not experiment at this time ? Then next year if (and that is a very big if) we add real talent to the O and D, he can pull all stops and really execute on the O side.

hence my point - if he is a very good OC, let us get him. We need some exciting offense here. Remember late 80s when we were a defensive team and went on a run cos of the new offense ? If Mariucci gets released in mid-season, I wouldn't mind getting him NOW and getting a jump start on next season.

Still doesn't hurt to see if he would like to be an OC for us.

My personal thought is that TD will be gone before MM. Another idea, Steve Mariucci was an offensive coach and is obviously a failure as a HC. Considering nobody will hire him as a HC, maybe we can get him to be our new OC. As with GW (who is doing well in Washington), it may be better for SM to step down to being an OC and excel at that.

- Re-structure and keep EM. Get another WR through FA that can compete for the #1 spot - MW: keep and re-structure - Keep NC at a cap-friendly contract - Cut/release/whatever Coy Wire, Josh Reed, Bennie Anderson - In free agency, bolster OL and/or DL. - In the draft, go OL and DL in first 3 rounds (4 picks) with best available player when we pick. How many and what positions depends on who we snag in FA - Try to find a clutch kicker (yes, I still don't trust Lindell)

A streak is a streak in today's NFL. They may not be unstoppable, but I think we are not one of the teams that can. This is the worst I have felt about our team since I first became a football (and Bills) fan 14 years back.