2020 Our Year For Sure

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.

George Wilson.

9-23 is more Greggo than Jauron, of course.

That isn't the point. Its the people who want Jauron canned who speak in absolutes...i.e., "Jauron is a loser and will never be successful." The people who are happy Jauron was extended tend to speak more moderately. For example, "Jauron could be a good coach, as he's done a decent job so far." A list like this just shows that there's precedent for someone to perform similarly to Jauron at the beginning of his tenure, and later on have real success with that team. Its far from proof that Jauron will take us where we want to go, but I think it does indicate that some of the pessimism around here is unfounded, based on his performance to date.

Interesting. Whats the real difference between the two positions, Bill?

Sig.

Damn. Will we ever get to play the Browns in a normal game?