gobillsinytown

Pettine is doing what's right for his career. I would be surprised if he gets the gig though. I live about an hour away from Cleveland and the rumor is that the Browns want someone with at least some HC experience at the NFL level. That being said, it seems like owners are going with a youth movement when it comes to the HC position, so I suppose he's just as much of a viable candidate as any of the other coordinators that they've talked to. Anybody who's thinking of taking the Browns job has to have some second thoughts about Haslam though. Letting Chud go after one season made no sense at all. Some people in the area are thinking that Haslam is the second coming of Dan Snyder or Jerry Jones.......completely unwilling to give up control and let the football people make the decisions.

I'm sure she's a nice lady and everyone makes mistakes, but forgetting that there's a custom made assault rifle in the back of a rental car isn't a very bright thing to do. Thankfully nothing came of it and hopefully the Tannehills will make securing their firearms a priority the next time. I don't have a problem with gun ownership at all, but too many people are just too careless with their weapons.

Yep, I would absolutely love to have the feminine overhand arm motion of Philip Rivers. For the amount of money he's making, I wouldn't hesitate for one second to get in touch with my girlie side.

Fitzy is a good guy, no question. He'll never say anything stupid in front of a mic. I would doubt you'd catch him out at a strip club at 2am. He's an extremely bright guy. That being said, he just doesn't have decision-making skills and arm to make all the throws needed to be a starting NFL QB. It's not a knock on him as a person at all, but he just doesn't have it. He could be a good backup now that he's got a lot of experience, but not for more than 2-3 games.

I think the majority of players will take the settlement. Sure, they can opt out and file their own separate lawsuits, but my guess is that the NFL attorneys will drag those suits out for years, especially if there is a precedent-setting settlement being offered.

I think it's helpful to understand that these guys are human beings. It's harder to fire someone you like than it is to fire someone you don't personally know. How many of us in our careers know someone who is bad at their job but still keeps it because they're friends with the boss? It's a common problem in the NFL just as much as it is in the general workforce. The NFL has its fair share of hacks that have their jobs because of friendships with the coach or management, and I don't see the Bills as being any better or any worse than other teams. Losing magnifies these problems. When the Colts were winning with Manning, Bill Polian having his son on staff was thought of as "grooming his successor". When they started losing, it was "nepotism".

The Colts had the advantage of drafting one of the best QB prospects in recent memory. Luck's ability makes up for a lot of other drafting mistakes. The Bills don't have that type of guy at QB at the moment. The Colts haven't had to go through much of a learning curve with Luck, which makes the rest of the team building process a lot easier. The Bills had that same luxury once they brought in Jim Kelly. The point being is that, IMO, the QB position is by far the most important on any team. Get that one right, and building the rest of the team is a lot easier. It's not for lack of trying with the Bills. It's lack of ability on the part of the scouting department and management. Let's hope they got it right with EJ, because if they didn't, they'll be starting all over again.

Guys with character issues definitely take a little extra thought when it comes to drafting them, but it doesn't mean that can't learn from their mistakes. Bruce Smith was suspended for four games in 1988 for violating the league's substance abuse policy, believed to be cocaine. Bruce wasn't an angel, but I think he learned from his mistake. We have to remember that these guys are in their late teens or early 20's when they're drafted. Being good at football doesn't make them infallible. I think all of us can look back on their teens/twenties and think of at least one stupid thing that we'd like to forget about. Same for these guys. Some learn from their mistakes, some don't. The hard part is guessing correctly as to whether or not a player can move on.

I remember reading one of those NFL preview magazines in the early 90's that made the statement: "It generally takes a quarterback five years to understand an offense and (Jim) Kelly arrived right on schedule". In the modern era, a quarterback gets maybe three years, depending on whether the staff that drafted him survives that long. Obviously the quality of the team around the QB matters, but usually as the QB goes, so goes the team. This is why all of the teams that struggle have an unsettled situation at QB. So for example, how long do the fish stick with Tannehill? He's been a decent game manager, but is he going be the guy that gets them over the top? And of course, the jury is definitely out on EJ.

This is part of a league-wide rollout. The NFL has a gleam in their eye for fans bringing their tablets, laptops, etc to the games so they can look at "exclusive content", like game film snapshots and stats for fantasy players. Obviously it won't be free. The league's been getting the technology and software stuff worked out over the last year or so. Probably will take another year for the full roll out.

He's not playing for three reasons: 1. He's devastated and greiving. Her death was unexpected. 2. The game has no real meaning. 3. See #1 above. For all the talk about Marrone being a hard*ss and petty disciplinarian, he's doing the correct, compassionate thing.

EJ is not RGIII, but as far as the coaching staff is concerned he is. Their success or failure is tied to him, so looking at it from their point of view, risking him in a meaningless game, against a team that needs the win to get an edge on home field advantage, would seem to be pushing their luck a little too far. They're counting on him for next year, so aggravating the injury to go 7-9 instead of 6-10 doesn't make a lot of sense. Let's all hope EJ stays healthy next year and progresses, or we'll be drafting a QB in the first round again.......

As long as it isn't the Patriots, I'm fine. But, it would be fun to watch the Pats* get to the Superbowl, and then get manhandled, with Brady throwing at least two temper tantrums during the game, and Bellicheck with his head down, not talking to anyone on the way out, missing the post game press conference, and getting fined by the NFL. Oh, and Brady's supermodel wife bitching at the reporters again would be good.

I get the feeling they do. They just beat a team with everything to play for. Knocked their starting QB out of the game, and generally pushed them all over the field. So I think they will bring it. The only problem I could see is that they will be so keyed up that they get sloppy, which Brady will exploit into a blowout. So hopefully they'll play heads-up, clog Marsha's passing lanes, and squeak one out.

I haven't been to a game since 1999, so it's good to hear everybody for the most part had a good time. I've been to games in Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Detroit and Philly, plus all Bills home games from 1987 to 1996. In all that time, the behavior of fans at the Ralph wasn't any different from fan bahavior at any of the other stadiums. There will always be a minority of fans who can't handle their alcohol. I'm actually suprised that there isn't more violence in the northern stadiums. Thinking back over this past year, most of the serious violence has happened in places like Oakland, San Fran, and Seattle, where the weather is a lot better.

He'll learn from his mistake. My guess is that he just got tired from being jabbed and poked on every play, but it happens on every play. He'll also learn that it isn't a good idea to punch someone with a helmet on.

It's way to early to give up on EJ, and the coaching staff is tied to his success or failure. That being said, he'll get one more year. The good news is that Thad is a pretty capable backup, and IMO a team needs two QB's during the season. No way does the team draft a QB in the first round. They might go for someone in the later rounds. As far as the coaching staff......there is a clear youth movement in the NFL. More often than not, teams are hiring younger head coaches and assistant coaches from the college ranks. So hiring younger coaches with less NFL experience isn't the problem. It's hiring the right coaches.

This is an interesting discussion. After reading through most of it, I think the long term success or failure of any team comes down to: Quarterback. Solid drafting. Strategic free agent acquisition. A quick glance at the top teams in the last five years shows that they started building around a quarterback. Teams with unsettled quarterback positions have less success. So it would seem pretty simple: Just get your quarterback, right? More teams that not don't get the franchise quarterback decision right. The Bills have placed their bets on E.J. This year was a wash IMO because he missed five games. Next year bill be the key.

If he's having issues as a result of multiple concussions, he should probably retire for his own health. If anyone here remembers what happened to Al Toon, who kept playing through concussions during his career, and how debilitated his is now, then Kevin should hang it up before he gets another one.

Whether it's Miami or the Pats, both will get beat in the first round, so I like that prospect. But I would also like the Bills to head into next season with some momentum. As far as the draft.......IMO it's a crapshoot, so whether they draft 8th or 6th or whatever doesn't really make any difference to me, because there's no guarantee a higher position is going to guarantee a better player.

Kind of like Washington did with Shannahan and RGIII? As of two days ago, Shannahan put Dan Snyder's favorite toy up on the top shelf for the rest of the season. Big Brand Football is really working out well there. That being said, I understand your frustration. But IMO a quality team has to be built systematically through the draft and strategic free agent acquisition.

I know there's not much to talk about on the board since the Bills are 4-9, but I'm wondering when we'll all eventually give this up. Football teams are not one man organizations. IMO, the most important thing a GM does is to correctly evaluate the people that he hires, and put them in the best position to be successful. Throw in some luck and a lot of hard work, and a team MIGHT be consistently successful. But the key word in my mind is "team". Everyone contributes. A GM can have the finest pedigree in the league, but if even a few people on the staff aren't 100% behind him, it won't work. One look at the Redskins proves it. They have all the pedigree they can handle in their front office, their coaching staff and in their players. But as of right now they're not a team. Just a collection of highly paid egos who cannot function. On paper, they should be a playoff team every year.

Just to give this discussion an international flavor, I redid this again: I will never go to a European soccer match in Brazil again. We got there a half hour before the start of the match, waited in lime for about 2 hours with no standing room and people hitting us with their vuvuzelas. We finally got in around the middle of the first period. The score was 0-0. As we got in the usher wouldn't let us go to our seats, because he was worried that the stands in our section would collapse because all the fans were jumping up and down at the same time, trying to break the boards. Which took us to the end of the first period....the score was 0-0. I have been to many european soccer matches, showed up at the same time, did the same things, but never got ln late like that... Then I proceeded to go in after the riot police went in with clubs and hauled off all the fans in our section. There were 7 of us all together and half of our seats were taken by some young punk hooligans, each carrying a homemade knife. Also, the seats were in the very center so I had to walk through the whole aisle, where everyone is standing, and barely any room to get by, meanwhile there was a near-goal. So I go to a fully armored policeman and tell him to get these drunk idiots to move, they are disarmed and dragged off by their hair and we finally get to our seats.... Midway through the next period, 1,000 fans in front of us were hammered as can be, and one of them actually fell on me after being pummeled with a homemade club, She could barely stand up what with all the blood streaming down her face... Once again I had To go get a riot policeman. The score was 0-0. Later in the 3rd period there were twelve guys with their shirts off, each carrying a piece of wood they had ripped out from the stands. They were screaming and pointing at some fans of the other team who were similarly armed. I don't necessarily mind that, but they were doing it wen when there was nothing happening on the field.....which was all the time. He then kept trying to club my friend in front of me, and after 3-4 times my friend was unconscious. The riot police fired tear gas to clear out both groups. Later, towards the end of the match, with the score still 0-0, a drunk guy has his shirt on and is almost crying because he's bleeding and he's leaning against one of the other women, so pathetic.... Then as I was leaving to use the slit trenches at the end of the show, some fan knocked a sign from out of my hands as I was leaving my seat with the molotov cocktail he was carrying, then to top it all off there was a riot where people were hurling rocks in the street near our parking lot as we were leaving and some riot policeman almost hit us with their armored personell carrier... Then it took us 3 hours to get home through the clouds of tear gas........ We live an hour away. The match ended with the score 0-0. I am not making any of this up.

I had season tickets from 1987 until 1996. I've also been to games in Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Detroit. Nothing I saw in any of those stadiums was out of the ordinary, when taking into account that when 60 to 80 thousand people come together in one place, a minority who can't handle their alcohol are going to get out of control. There were eight of us who had tickets together in the same section at the Ralph, and during all that time I can remember only one incident in our section where somebody gave us a hard time. As is typical, he was someone who had a temper problem to begin with, and being drunk didn't help. We got through it by ignoring the guy, and he lost interest. What happens at the Ralph is not uncommon at all. The only difference I see now is not in the amount of violence, but in the extreme nature of some of it. I think that's a reflection of a significant increase in the overall stress levels across the country due to the worst economic decline since the great depression. People deal with uncertainty and stress in different ways, and combined with a few beers, people who don't handle stress or uncertainty well will act out much more quickly. Unfortunately, the fan experience depends on luck. If you're sitting around people who just want to watch the game, the experience will be fine. If not, expect some trouble. The best way to handle trouble is to go find security. They get paid to handle it, and since the cost of security is built into the ticket price, the fans are paying for it anyway.

It generally takes a quarterback 3 years of play to fully understand an offense. Even the best who have ever played had rough spots in their rookie years. I'm not pro or anti E.J. because it's too early to determine whether he can consistently play at the NFL level. Ultimately, the W-L record will decide the issue.