2020 Our Year For Sure

Agreed, I can't understand how he missed him! Quinn had no idea he was coming and was standing like a statue. Just bring him down!

First of all, are you under the impression that the players decided to blitz? Are you actually unwilling to credit the coaching staff for their own schemes? Secondly, I don't think Jauron is the greatest coach in the world. I think we don't know what he is yet, and we won't until he has the personnel he needs to run his system. He needs quality interior offensive linemen, and the Cover 2 must have a defensive line that can generate rush on its own. Indy had Freeney, Mathis and Booger when they won it all. When Tampa was dominant, they had Booger, Simeon Rice and Warren Sapp. Jauron's 13-3 Bears got 19.5 sacks combined between two players. The Bills d-line just doesn't match up, and thats why their record doesn't match up either.

I admit readily that the playcalling at the end was the one major error from the coaching staff. Why in the world would you rely on a 45-yarder, against a wind that was a major factor in special teams play all night long? They had plenty of time and two timeouts, and Edwards finally looked confident on the pass to Royal. There's no defending their decision to set up a tough kick from Lindell, rather than trying to make it a chip shot. Still, that call never would have existed if Trent played better, or Jackson didn't fumble, or McKelvin or Simpson stepped up, or Corner connected on the sack. This team was put in a position to win the football game, and the players repeatedly allowed this game to slip through their fingers. And ya know what? Yes, the field goal may have been shorter, and the outcome of the game may have been different, if the playcalling at the end was more aggressive. But that doesn't change the fact that Lindell is perfectly capable of making that kick. One more example of players failing to make the plays this team needed to win.

Did you forget to post the part where he throws Jauron under the bus?

I'm not commenting on his overall performance at all. And I'm not taking anything away from how miserable Trent was. ALL I am saying is that McKelvin had a chance to make a big play that would have won us this game, and did not make it. Is that in any way untrue? My point is that several players had chances to win this game for us, and did not do it, so I don't want to hear about coaching this week.

McKelvin did do his thing on special teams, and I was surprised at how well he held up when Greer left. He had a great night. Still, he had both hands on the ball for what could have been a game-winning interception. He's just one of several guys who had chances to put a tick in the win column for us, and failed to step up with the game on the line. It wasn't an easy play, but it certainly wasn't an impossible one either.

Glad to see you can change it up. There really isn't much to complain about concerning the coaches this week. The one thing is that I think the posts attacking them for not being more aggressive on the final drive are valid. Why rely on a 45-yarder into the wind? Edwards looked confident on the throw to Royal...why not roll with that? They had plenty of time, and two timeouts...if you can set up a chip shot field goal, I can't see why you wouldn't try to do that. I understand Edwards had thrown three interceptions, but the wind had been a major factor on special teams throughout the game, and if Edwards has a check-down option, you've got to trust your guy to take care of the football. Serious error there, imo. What really lost us this game was individuals just not stepping up when they had a chance to put it away. Lindell's field goal was no chippy...but step up and make it anyway! On Cleveland's final drive, three times we had reasonable chances to make plays: Corner missed an easy blindside sack, and McKelvin and Simpson both failed to come up with game-winning INTs. Its the players that let this one slip away.

Individual players not coming up big, and not making the plays they needed to make, is what cost us this game. Jackson's fumble is one instance. But off the top of my head, if any of the following plays are made, we probably win this game. -Lindell's field goal -Corner missing a point-blank sack on the final drive, Quinn didn't see it coming -Ko Simpson fails to make an interception on the final drive -Leodis McKelvin fails to make an interception on the final drive Other than Corner's sack, none of these are particularly easy plays...but none of them are impossible plays! Any one of these guys could have won us this game, and the truth is that the players just didn't step up and get the job done with the game on the line. The coaching wasn't perfect: the one obvious error imo was the absence of any further passes at the end to try to set up a shorter field goal. But don't talk to me about coaching this week. The running game came together, the pass rush stepped up (thanks in large part to schemes), but the players just didn't win the game when they had reasonable chances to do so. This is a young team that let a huge win get away from them.

Actually Michelle Tafoya had something semi-interesting to say on one of the earlier 'Teams at 20' updates. She said the Bills have been working all week on a "walking defense," with guys moving around pre-snap, to disguise whose coming and hopefully generate some pass rush. Whether that just means we'll be using the creep more often as we were earlier in the season, or something different, we'll see. At least they're trying something.

We are not worthy. GO BILLS!!!

This thread needs more crayonz, less everyone else.

"Oh snap!"

He's 9 games into his career, I'd hardly write him off. But when he was drafted, I figured he was a long-term project to bring along for whenever they let Schobel go. Nothing has really changed. What we need is a contribution from the left side, imo.

Thanks for posting this, KG10. I'm too lazy to check the blog myself.

And yet, even after ripping the team apart, at this juncture we're a pass rusher and an interior offensive lineman or two away from seriously competing. If whoever is running this thing sees that, it shouldn't be long until we have the kind of roster that can make a legitimate run. Maybe we need to bring in a true GM in order to get some linemen...but there may be some hope that the committee can figure it out, no? There are some intelligent people in that room. It seems pretty clear at this point that the battle is being lost in the trenches, and some of the measures they took when they first got here (Fowler, McCargo, re-signing Kelsay) haven't gotten the job done...so you'd think they'd be ready to go back to the drawing board and try once more to fix the lines.

There isn't a player or coach on this team who doesn't take their share of complaints on TSW. Its been inordinate for Jauron this season in particular, and I think that has something to do with it.

What would make a thought like that pop into your head? Just wondering.

It does always seem that the Head Coach gets more criticism than is deserved when things go south, but I think there's more to it than that. The fact that the Bills haven't offered the public one guy as the "face" of the current administration is unique. When things go wrong, fans need someone to blame...its easy when its clear that Tom Donahoe or Marv Levy is running the show, but when you have Brandon/Guy/Ralph/Jauron/Modrak/whoever in the front office, people don't know who to complain about. So the natural response is to cry for the head of the guy who has 3 new interviews a week posted on buffalobills.com...because thats the only voice they hear emanating from One Bills Drive.

Me too. I think its really cool of him to have one, and actually check it a couple times a week.

Would've been nice to get Reed back. Trent really needs a reliable guy working underneath like that, and I'm not sure anyone else can fill that role. This is a blow.

Nobody is saying Dick Jauron is a good General Manager, only that he's a good Head Coach. If you want to go hire a real GM, I'm with you every step of the way. I think the fact that this was the only thing you found to attack in my post makes my point: that the weakness of the lines is all but indisputable, and most coaches would be hard-pressed to fair significantly better than 5-4 given this personel.

How 'bout those Hawks, huh? Unreal.

I think you meant to say, "She was linked at one time with Jeremy Shockey." Sorry.

I don't pay much attention to NCAAF, just never really interested me. Apologies, your mockery has gone a bit over my head. But let me point this out. Right now and in most cases for several weeks, our personel is as follows: -a 1-man recieving corps -a group of tight ends lead by Robert Royal -an interior offensive line on which 2 of the 3 starters are Jason Whittle and Duke Preston -a defensive line on which 3 of the 4 starters are Chris Kelsay, Ryan Denney and Kyle Williams -a secondary that fields a clueless rookie as it's nickel back, and safeties Bryan Scott and Ko Simpson What precedent is there for coaches doing much better than 5-4 with comparable personel? To me, a team so flawed at the LOS on both sides of the ball owes something to it's Head Coach if the ship stays afloat. And if we win Monday, the ship certainly is afloat, as we'll be tied for 2nd in the division and a game behind the leader with a healthy 6 games yet to go, and @KC and SF next up on our schedule. Sounds to me like whoever the coach is of this team is actually doing a half-decent job.