gobillsinytown

The key to any consistently successful team is the overall program. It takes a great GM to put together a personnel department that can find good players in each year's draft, regardless of where the team is drafting. Then the team has to have people who can evaluate each year's group of free agents and, most importantly, how each one might fit into the team. Then there has to be a solid coaching staff to develop the players. So in a nutshell there has to be a good program in place. This was a term that Polian used constantly when he was rebuilding the Bills in the 90's. He's instituted the same type of program in Indy. And every year, the Colts always seem to turn low round draft picks into quality players, and plug in free agents to compliment what they have. Same with the Steelers, Patriots, etc. I also think the two critical areas on the field are O-Line and defensive front seven. Comparing the Bills of the 90's and the Bills of this decade shows that the 90's team had a great program in place. They routinely turned low round picks into starters and quality players along the O-line and front seven. This decade? It's hard to really name anyone that wouldn't be subject to debate. Program first, then everything follows from that.

A lot can happen in 70 days.

Post of the day!

I think his statement needs the proper translation: "We don't have an NFL caliber quarterback on our roster. The guy that used to start has multiple concussions and is afraid he might get another one behind our disaster of an offensive line. So I'm going with the guy who has the best chance to survive." You should probably ignore everything that Fewell says. It's called "coachspeak", and it's not going to reveal anything about what he's really thinking.

GM first. The GM builds the program. All consistently successful teams have a good program of scouting, drafting and developing quality players. What's the difference between the Bills of the 90's and the Bills of the last decade? Program. Polian did it in Buffalo and has done the same thing in Indy. It's not easy to do, but that's what they have to do if they're going to be good again.

This post sums up the Bills' problems for the last ten years. In the 90's, the scouting department and the coaching staff routinely turned low round draft picks and free agent pickups into quality starting O-linemen. And the same for the front seven on defense. Every year, someone from the 5th or 6th round would become a starter or quality backup. Or they'd pick up a free agent. Until the organization develops a system for doing that again, the Bills will continue to be mediocre. Every quality team in the league has a system that works in these two critical areas. It starts with the front office, scouting department and coaching staff.

I don't think it was the route running so much as reading the defense and making adjustments to the route based on the coverage. That's why it generally takes longer for wideouts to make the transition to the NFL. Hardy never had to do that in college. As you said, he just ran whatever route the QB told him and went for the ball. Can't do that in the NFL. I hope he makes the transition, but it seems like he's had plenty of time. Let's hope he puts it together or it's another bust for the scouting department...

It's also a standard medical protocol. It has nothing to do with any single team. It's a league wide rule. As one previous post points out: Concussions are serious. They need to be taken seriously. Just ask Al Toon. He had seven of them during his career with the Jets, and now he's permanently disabled. Felser knows better than to write like this. We all know Jauron's a bad coach, but trying to take this out of context and turn it into something it's not is bad reporting.

The "elephant in the room" as far as the subject of relocation goes is this: The economy. Any team wanting to relocate at this point faces a major hurdle, in that the capital funding markets are still moving very slowly. Even with a so-called "sure bet" like the NFL, investors are going to be very hesitant to lend capital at the moment. Obviously the Jags are a perfect example of the NFL not necessarily being a "sure bet". And with the cost of new stadiums now at 800 million to 1 billion dollars and all the other associated fees to enter the NFL owners club, I would be suprised if we see any relocating of teams any time soon. At least until the overall economy makes some sort of significant improvement, which in my opinion is 1 to 2 years out. I'm also starting to wonder if Ralph has been more affected by this recession than most other owners. Aren't most of Ralph's businesses related to construction? The construction industry has been one of the hardest hit sectors since the recession began. I wonder if that's the real reason Ralph is so focused on the costs of running the team....maybe he's using the team's profits to pump up his other businesses? D

I didn't see the game but the ESPN gamecast stats show he had one tackle. It's a start I guess.......

If you get a new owner, you better hope to god that there's a rock solid committment to keep the team in Buffalo. If not, you'll really have something to complain about.

I was at that game. The hair on the back of my neck stood up watching it. If Maybin is anything like Bennett in the pass rush, he won't be a bust.

Unfortunatley, I don't think Mr. Vick has any idea of what he's in for. Everytime he does anything considered to be "shady", he's going to get a ton of scrutiny. It will be interesting to see if PETA is at any of the Eagles' games this year.

Maybe it's because we're so sensitive to any negative national news about the Bills and Buffalo in general. Or it could be that most "reporters" either in traditional news organizations or on the internet are generally lazy and don't really take the time to research their work. I think it's a little of both. I also think Ralph is a target for a lot of age bias, which is interesting because this country's population is getting older ever year.

Since we're trying to improve the educational/career value of our site, I thought I would add the following from Wickipedia: "Douchebag, or simply douche, is considered to be a pejorative term in North America, the United Kingdom and some other English speaking countries. In some English speaking countries the term is not well known. The slang usage of the term dates back to the 1960s.[6] The term implies a variety of negative qualities, specifically arrogance and engaging in obnoxious and/or irritating actions without malicious intent. It is generally used for males only."

There is one benefit of having an "old, senile coot" for an owner: He doesn't really care what anyone thinks about him, so you're generally going to get his honest opinion. He was very frank about the CBA. He gave his honest opinion when most of the rest of the owners were afraid to do so, becasue they might be perceived as "greedy". Of course, Ralph was skewered by ESPN in the most juvenile of ways. But then again, Ralph doesn't care what ESPN thinks. So fast forward to today, where the CBA now looks like mistake. Factor in the current economic situation, and the CBA is completely unworkable going forward. This is "white elephant" in the room: The worst economic downturn since the depression has affected every aspect of sports, including the NFL. It's a fact that even the premiere sport in the country has been (quietly) laying people off. That's also true of individual teams. It's going to make for some very interesting negotiations between the players and the owners, but I think a deal will get done, because both sides understand that a strike would be a disaster for both sides, even for the number one sport in the country.

Can't have enough corners in the AFC. Or at least he can run around in training camp for a while, give some of the starters a rest and pick up a few paychecks.

I'm not......you have to have lots of corners and lots of special teams players in this division.

Most teams make or break their drafts today. Plenty of future pro bowl players come from the second day.....this is where we find out if the scouting department has got their shiat together!

You can't have enough corners in this division. Not a bad pick at all. I love some of the posters on this board. Reminds me of the Eagles boards. Plenty of whining going on there about the Peters trade.

I can't see it happening. I like JP, but his confidence is shot. He's been getting his ass kicked since college behind a hideous offensive line, and I don't think he really ever recovered from that.

I also think it has something to do with Brady's knee. Maybe it was more damaged than they're letting on. The infection he got after the operation may have set him back even further.

Karma has a way of catching up with dirty players, usually in the form of penalties at critical times. I despise players who leg whip, take shots at knees or deliver blows to the head with intent to give someone a concussion. To me, there's a big difference in playing tough versus playing dirty, and it takes a real man to play tough. Guys who repeatedly play dirty should not be on the field, becasue that goes beyond the game and into injuries that can last a lifetime. Any player who plays consistently dirty should be fined (100k plus per infraction) or suspended. If Goodell is serious about cutting down on dirty play, he needs to put some teeth into the fines. Handing out a 15 thousand dollar fine to someone who make 3 or 4 million a year is like fining one of us 25 cents.

You make a good point. The center is the key to the line, especially if you can find one that understands what the DL is trying to do in terms of stunts, loops, and other tricks. The center usually makes the protection calls for the rest of the line. As far as the size of the Bills' line - if they're big and athletic that's one thing. If they're big because they're overweight, that's another. Especially if they're not following their in-season diets. That extra weight wears them down as the game progresses.