2020 Our Year For Sure

Clear cap space, sign LeBron and Bosh.

Hilarious.

Offensively, I want to be one of those teams that can win games without our quarterback doing a whole lot. I want to be one of those teams that, even when defenses KNOW we're going to run the ball, we can line up and stuff it down their throats. I honestly think we're pretty close to that. The running backs are excellent, and compliment each other well. Four out of 5 linemen are in place in my opinion. Preston, being the 5th, has really come along the last few weeks. Really encouraged by the way we've been running the ball, especially against Kris Jenkins and the Jets. We might need an upgrade at center to get a smash mouth running game, but I'm beginning to think perhaps not. I do wish, though, that Schonert would committ to the run a bit more. I hope his vision eventually lines up with mine. We have no quarterback? So what! Lets pound the rock inside until defenses can't catch their breath, and then run it some more. Again, it seems like we're coming along, and are on the way to being this kind of offense. Defensively, I want to be a team that can get a pass rush with only its front four. I want the team to perhaps surrender some yardage, but make up for it with strong redzone play, and turnovers in bunches caused by a disruptive, athletic line that allows us to drop 7 back in coverage and still get a rush. Basically, this is what a quality Cover 2 defense is supposed to look like. I think we have most of the pieces of a secondary that can make plays with a strong pass rush. Unfortunately, I don't think our line is anywhere close to where I'd want it to eventually be. This is where we should focus on improving in the offseason.

The point is, we've tried hiring a new crappy coach every three years. It doesn't work. If we fire Jauron, we're just going to get another crappy coach. There is absolutely no reason to think otherwise. Ralph Wilson and Russ Brandon would be making the hire. Instead of bringing in a new crappy coach and letting him go three years from now, lets stick with a crappy coach, who, for all his faults, does have a few encouraging traits on the other side of the coin. Continuity is really the only card we're holding here.

Think about how jacked up their fans will be for a minute, there.

I dunno, BB. Most people like ham.

Right, but the Bills don't really sign those stars, so they get more of the downside to free agency than the upside.

How about Hammy?

Sure can. He coaches the Buffalo Bills, who were losing to good teams well before Jauron got here.

As soon as the Bills were mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, Losman became the third stringer. Personally I wouldn't have played Losman in the Jets game, but I can see the thought process.

I love Greer, but I believe they made the decision to let him go when they drafted two corners in the 1st and 4th rounds last year. And though Youboty is unreliable, his emergence means we have some pretty good depth at the position. It wouldn't have been smarter to use the picks elsewhere and re-sign Greer, intead of recycling cornerbacks, would it?

People said the same thing about Langston Walker coming from the Raiders, and he's worked out pretty well here from what I can tell.

Even the most optimistic among us are beginning to have serious doubts about this team ever winning the big one. Boy, is it ever a tough pill to swallow..

muahahaha

Evans gets open plenty. It isn't his fault he doesn't have a quarterback to get him the ball.

The most pivotal positions, quarterback and defensive line, are where our weaknesses are. The coaches aren't perfect, but they are not what held this team back, in my opinion. If you're swapping between two hapless passers and you can't get a sack to save your life, you're just not going to the playoffs, period.

Agreed. DE, QB and C should be our top priorities, in that order. A team just can't win games with the level of incompetence we've seen from these quarterbacks this year.

And when we all join him there, the messiah will come?

I'm for sticking with Jauron as well. He's got to be better than whatever crap Russ Brandon would drag in.

Yup.

As somebody pointed out above, we're probably going to have to re-up Peters this offseason to avoid another episode like we had during the preseason. Inking Peters and Haynesworth might be more than this team is willing to spend in one offseason.

Yeah, Lynch has been good for about one drop a game of late. I don't think any of them had much chance at being big plays though, so at least there's that.

My mouth is watering. Sounds like just what this defense needs.

No. Its the quarterbacks. The pass protection has been good this year, and the receiving group is passable. There is no excuse for them to drop back there and stand around as if they don't even know the playcall, because they "can't find anybody." Time and time again they sit in the pocket until they either take a sack, or check to Lynch/Jackson. I've had it with the ineptitude at the QB position. Chris Brown made a post in his blog about one of these losses (if memory serves, it was an Edwards game, possibly the MNF) that recievers were open all game long, and the ball simply never found them. We've seen people say that as the season went on, Edwards stopped anticipating that recievers would get open, and trust the system and his WRs...and instead would wait until guys were wide open to let it fly. And even of the recievers who were wide open...he failed to see far too many of them. The running game is not that bad...15th in ypg (113.9), and tied for 13th in ypc (4.2). You can't pin this on the linemen. Its specifically the quarterback position that has held the offense back, imo. Losman has always recieved a lot of criticism for holding the ball too long, with good reason. But he doesn't hold onto the ball just because he likes doing it. He holds onto the ball because he just does not know where to go with it, because he can't find secondary recievers and he can't read defenses. Thats why he hardly ever takes a three step drop, steps up and wings it...instead, we get pat-pat-sack, or pat-pat-checkdown. He hesitates because he doesn't know what to do. For too many games, we saw Edwards put that same defficiency on display. The ball wouldn't come out on time with the play, and when it did finally come out, it was to his security blanket. People will say "I don't know if I'm ready to give up on him"...but are you really ready to just hand this guy the starting job next year? This is the most critical position in sports. We need to bring in somebody who has a clue.

Motivation is not the problem. Most of us expected to be blown out Sunday, and they went down 14-3 to a superior team in a hostile environment. It would have been easy for a team that lacks passion to crumble up and go through the motions...but they clawed their way back into the game, as they've done multiple times this year. Again, motivation is NOT whats missing. Its coaching and/or talent, depending on your point of view.