Bills Fan in MD

If this team hits 20 years with no playoffs, I'll change my screen name to "8-8 fanboy."

There are 250 days between now and Sept. 11, 2016, which is when I assume the Bills will play their next game. That means 250 more days of speculation, false reports, conflicting information, targeted leaks, checking the status of private jets, etc. before the next time the team takes the field for a meaningful game, which is kind of the point of it all. And for the 16th straight year, it all starts while other teams are gearing up for the postseason.

A solid offensive line and a set of linebackers that can work in Rex's defense.

I'd like to go on record to say that if the Bills ever have a coach who leads them to two Super Bowl rings, I will never call for that coach to be fired, nor will I support any decision that doesn't allow that coach to go out on his own terms. Just saying.

I've been getting closer and closer to this point every year for the last 16 years. I don't know if it's the frustration of ALWAYS looking ahead to the next season, or the trainwreck that the NFL has seemed to become of late, but each year at this time I'm just exhausted with football and ready to move on.

Why wouldn't a 10-5 team be favored over a 7-8 team?

I still don't believe in momentum carrying over from one season to the next, but that still felt great.

Same here.

This is just about where I am on this whole thing. The contrast in effort with Hughes, who was just as badly misused, is telling.

That was really well done.

His signing generated a 229 page thread: http://forums.twobillsdrive.com/topic/143043-mario-williams-officially-a-buffalo-bill/ 225 more pages to go!

He's going to have a monster year next year. That doesn't mean I don't think this isn't the right decision. In fact, it's as good as evidence as there is to show that he basically quit on the team this year. And that doesn't even begin to get into his effect on the locker room. That said, people should start preparing for a 15 sack season from him.

After 16 years of going through these questions at the end of the year, I'm convinced that there's no such thing as "momentum" carrying over from one season to the next -- positive or negative. That's not to say that stability and familiarity aren't important, but when the team gets to training camp next July (much less the opener in September), the past season will seem like another lifetime ago.

I wouldn't have had a huge problem with Wade sticking around. He said some dumb things his final year and made some questionable decisions, but overall he was a good coach.

Sorry, but logic and well-reasoned arguments have no place in this conversation. He's a "legend" -- don't you know?

Thank you. People are also forgetting that the Sabres have a new coach, an entirely new system, and a number of new "veterans." There's just no way a person could watch the games this year and not see that it's night and day as compared to the last couple of years. And damn, I keep forgetting that Eichel was 18 when the season started! I'm wearing a belt that's older.

The most striking thing about this article is how it tries to fit everything into a single narrative. Nobody denies there were some growing pains with the Sabres early on, and nobody is denying that there are problems with the Bills right now. But how that adds up to "the Pegulas may be in over their heads" now is a mystery. Look at the last two paragraphs: "From the outside, it appeared people entrenched with the Bills and Sabres too often were more concerned with preserving their jobs than working toward the greater good. So far, in case you didn’t notice, the greater good hasn’t been nearly good enough for either team. Sad but true, for the Bills, it could get worse before it get better." He's basically admitting that the Sabres are, in fact, getting better. I really don't know what's going to happen with the Bills, but the Sabres have a really bright future and are absolutely on the right track. You don't get that at all from this piece. Adnan Syed

Not USC. http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/14258891/clay-helton-named-permanent-coach-usc-trojans

I felt sick watching him get carted off the field yesterday. Even with the towel draped over his head, you could see how emotional he was. Best wishes for a speedy recovery!

^^^This. Exactly this. It's sad when fans are more emotionally invested in a team than the players and coaches themselves. I have nothing against Dixon personally, but the quote is a perfect example of a player not understanding that after 16 years of this crap, nobody wants to talk about silver linings or intriguing subplots about games without any playoff implications for the Bills.

That's it. I'm going to see if there any Star Wars tickets available. Maybe I can catch a 2:30 showing.

I vote Biscuit as well. And if not him, Billy Joe Hobert.

If nothing else, the emotion in this thread really shows the toll that a 16 year playoff drought has taken on this fanbase. We really are in uncharted waters here, and it's downright shameful.

I don't disagree with anything that you said. The only thing I would point out, however, is that continuity and consistency only work if you choose the right coach in the first place. Yes, the Steelers have only had three coaches since 1969, but you could also argue that they hit a home run three times in a row. All that being said, burning through coaches at this rate also isn't going to fix anything.

That's why I prefaced it with "if." It was meant to be a general statement, and I've said it before in the context of all of the previous coaches. Once it becomes clear that someone isn't the right coach, there's no sense in keeping them around just for continuity.