2020 Our Year For Sure

For the 3rd time, nobody is saying Dick Jauron is a good General Manager. If you want to go out and hire a real GM, I'm with you every step of the way.

If you think a defensive line where 3 of the 4 starters are Chris Kelsay, Ryan Denney and Kyle Williams, a secondary where a clueless rookie is forced in as the nickelback and the safeties are such lackluster players as Ko Simpson and Bryan Scott, an interior offensive line where 2 of the 3 starters are Duke Preston and Jason Whittle, a WR corps consisting basically of one guy, and a group of tight ends lead by Robert Royal doesn't make for seriously flawed personel...I don't know what to do with you. If these offensive and defensive lines aren't "seriously flawed" what the hell is? And yet, this team might still make the playoffs. But if they do, we'll know it has absolutely nothing to do with the coaching, right?

As long as he's finding ways to win games with seriously flawed personnel, he's the right Head Coach for this team. Maybe not the right General Manager, mind you, but the right guy to cook the meal. Dick Vermeil after 41 games with the Rams, ages 61-63...16 wins, 25 losses Dick Jauron after 41 games with the Bills, ages 56-58.......19 wins, 22 losses Worked out pretty well for St. Louis, if memory serves.

Because I believe the two teams are about even, and we lost a game we should have won at their place. No reason not to be optimistic about that game.

Did you watch Butler before his injury this year? I'm hoping he can help, too...but he's hardly a savior. Things will get better when he returns, but in the offseason we need to upgrade both center and right guard.

The Cleveland Browns were clearly a reflection of their head coach when they went 6-10 in 1991, 7-9 in both 1992 and 1993, and 5-11 in 1995. That Belichick guy must be such a dope! The LA Raiders were clearly a reflection of their head coach when they went a combined 8-12 in in 1988 and part of 1989. By the same token, the Denver Broncos were clearly a reflection of that same head coach when they went 8-8 in 1995, 6-10 in 1999, 8-8 in 2001 and 7-9 in 2007. I don't even need to look at anything more: that Shanahan guy obviously never accomplished anything! The Houston Oilers and Tennessee Titans were a reflection of their head coach when they went 1-5 under him in 1994, 7-9 in 1995, 8-8 in '96, '97 and '98, 7-9 in 2001, 5-11 in 2004, and 4-12 in 2005. That Jeff Fisher guy is such a loser! Great post, great thread! You're a genius!

True fandom.

I've always liked the 'Retard Rodeo.' I see no need to substitute that for a Retard Band.

Oh, okay. So basically you're everything thats wrong with America. Welcome aboard!

Um...yay?

Apparently, some people disagree.

I'm gonna help you get your identity back. Whose hotter: Avril Lavigne or Megan Fox?

They have tried, in their way, to improve the lines. Year 1, they traded up to get McCargo...you can certainly make the case they should have foreseen his failure, but at least it shows they recognized from day 1 they needed to address the lines. Then they brought in Dockery and Walker, who have been unspectacular but decent. They also extended Butler, hoping he would be part of the answer in the middle...that seems at this point to be a failure. Year 2, they brought in Stroud to seal up the middle of the line, which he has done effectively. I suppose they hoped that Kelsay and Denney being healthy together would produce a pass rush, as they did in 2006 with 12 combined sacks. That unfortunately hasn't happened. I also suppose they figured those same 5 guys on the offensive line would be able to "gel" and improve on a decent '07 campaign. That also has not happened. This offseason, there won't be anywhere else to go. Its glaringly obvious that Fowler, Butler, McCargo and Kelsay have not worked out the way they hoped, and at least 3 of those 4 must be upgraded for this team to get any better. Most other positions on this team are solid, so the lines are clearly where their attention should go. I fully expect Jauron, Modrak and company to prioritize both lines. I sincerely hope I'm not being overly-optimistic. After all, other than the McKelvin pick, I really feel they've done a good job at using 1st and 2nd round picks to address spots that desperately needed attention (Whitner, McCargo, Lynch, Poz, Hardy). To me, the offensive and defensive lines are the only spots on this team that desperately need attention, so if that trend continues, we should both get what we want this year.

Steely? That you?

I do think we can beat Miami at home, though.

The divisional games might not kill us. If we finish 10-6, we just need one AFC East team to finish 9-7 or worse. I could see a scenario where New England* wins the division at 11-5, the Bills and Jets are the two AFC Wildcards at 10-6, and the Dolphins miss out.

Haven't you been proven wrong? The team is 5-4.

Well its a must-win this week. How the guys come out Monday Night will tell us quite a bit.

I thought Whitner's injury was a bit more serious?

Great thread. I'm with you. The way the schedule shakes out (CLE, SF, KC), we could very easily be 8-4 heading into a home game with Miami. Sure the last three weeks have hurt...but there's every reason to be optimistic. These are three very winnable games. You would have thought some of these people didn't sit through Gregggg and Mularkey and just hopped aboard the bandwagon when we were 4-0. Haven't any of you ever watched this team lose before? Suck it up! Shut your yappers, and keep fighting. That is what it means to be a Bills fan, to me. "Fight on, my men," Sir Andrew said. "A little I'm hurt but not yet slain. I'll just lie down and bleed awhile, then I'll rise and fight again." Time to rise, Buffalo. Circle the wagons. Go Bills!

Because the team doesn't have one quality pass rusher at the moment. The Giants watch Strahan walk away and Umeniyora go down for the year, and they still have Tuck and Kiwanuka generating one of the better pass rushes in the league. The Bills have nobody. Pass rush is the most important aspect of a defense imo. If whoever is 'buying the groceries,' even if it is Jauron, is unwilling to hunt down pass rushers and blockers instead of cornerbacks, then we need someone else to start going to the grocery store. Still, that doesn't necessarily mean he can't be a good chef.

I think thats pretty safe to say. Are you aware of some of the starting defensive lineups they fielded in some of the wins last year?

I'm not backing him as General Manager, I'm backing him as Head Coach. He has done well with the personnel he has. If you want to analyze his personnel decisions in the offseasons, I (probably ) won't interfere.

I'm sorry, but three straight losses are not going to cause me to give up on someone who has over the course of two and a half years performed better at his job than most expectations. We've won 5 games and lost 4...sure we're down right now, but what makes everyone so convinced we can't bounce back? We are right in the middle of this playoff picture, folks. These are indeed trying times. Its when your team is faced with a bit of adversity that your mettle as a fan is tested, not when your team is 4-0. The greatest coach in Buffalo Bills history once presented his team with the following: "'Fight on, my men,' Sir Andrew said. 'A little I'm hurt, but not yet slain. I'll just lie down and bleed awhile, then I'll rise and fight again.'" Where has that spirit gone, Buffalo? This Bills team was 1-3 last year, and nearly came back to make the playoffs. This year, we packed some early wins into our back pocket to minimize the damage from this snag in the road we seem to have hit. We are one game away from both the AFCE division leader(s), and the wild card holders. What is there to panic about? You can try to suggest that injuries are somehow the head coaches fault or you can give him credit for doing a decent job when the majority of his starting defense was sitting on the sideline last year. Its up to you. You can decide a conservative defensive style can't win in this league, or you can open your eyes to the fact that the Colts weren't any more aggressive with their defensive calls when they won the Super Bowl than we are now. Again, your decision. If you really want to know my opinion, I think its disgusting that Buffalo Bills fans have LOWERED themselves to saying things like, "We're going to lose anyway, so we might as well blitz like its Madden and throw in the towel." This team is sitting a game out of a playoff spot with 7 weeks yet to go! What makes you so sure we're going to lose? Have we not won more games than we've lost this year, running the defense as scripted by Dick Jauron and Perry Fewell? I'm so glad guys like Paul Posluszny, Marshawn Lynch and Lee Evans don't have the type of weak, squeamish mindsets you find in most of the crew on The Wall.

His tenure with the Bills speaks for itself. You can look at this thing any way you want to: you can just scope out the tip of the iceberg and note that he's lost more games than he's won, and conclude that he can never be a winning head coach. If you want to be pessimistic about it, that case is certainly available to you. Or you can dig just a bit deeper, and consider the personnel he's worked with during that time. In year 1, he overachieved. In year 2, he again overachieved. In year 3, he's 5-4 and in the thick of the AFC playoff hunt. Whats to complain about?