JohnC

Bill, Let it go. That Watkins deal is a done deal made in the past. For you that transaction is like a persistent itch that can't be soothed. Just let it go. Poking, poking, poking you just can't stop poking!

The season is over and the record is in. If you don't want to take note of the difference in the way more successful teams play compared to the stumbling Bills that is your prerogative. The Giants had nothing to play for from a playoff position standpoint. They played hard all game. If you can't see the qualitative difference between the two successful teams I referred to compared to how the Bills played then so be it.

How about making a value judgment about this season and past generation? Just because EJ was starting that doesn't mean the rest of the lineup should play like it doesn't care. Laugh it off if you want but this franchise is in turmoil because too many players on the roster simply don't care enough. It reflects in their performances and record.

There were three teams that had nothing to play for in the last game of the season. Two of them played with heart and one team didn't. If that isn't an indication of the character of the disinterested team that lost in a boring game then you are oblivious to what is obious. How these teams played in each of their respective "meaningless" game says a lot about them. If that isn't a testament to the teams and their organizations then you are blind to what happened and what has happened over the past generation.

The Giants played the Redskins yesterday. The Giants had nothing to gain because their playoff position was locked in. The Redskins had everything to gain because this game meant getting into the playoffs. The Giants played all their players except for their volatile receiver and they played the whole game with intensity leading to a win. New England played Miami yesterday in Miami. This was a meaningless game for the Pats because their playoff position was locked in. New England played their starters most of the game and they played hard all game. They won by an overwhelming margin. Compare the two above examples to the embarrassing Bills who had a coach who was vying for the open HCing position. The Bills played with no heart. They also throughout the game played with little intelligence. When Sully criticizes this historically lame organization for instilling a lack of accountability and maturity he is stating the obvious. This wretched organization reeks within its own culture of failure. Something is grotesquely amiss here. Pointing it out shouldn't be an issue. Tolerating it with resignation and never ending excuses is more of an issue .

The Troup pick had me befuddled. We selected an undersized nose tackle who had a bad back. It turned out that he was an undersized nose tackle who had a bad back.

I have been following the Bills for a long time as many others have. Each season there seems to be a mind-numbing sameness. This team is far from being a SB competitive team. What's obvious is obvious. But even acknowledging where this team ranks I do believe with some smart actions taken by the front office this team can get back into the wildcard race in short order. I have come around to retaining TT, even under his current contract. As many others have said the organization has to concentrate its efforts on rebuilding this shattered defense decimated by a dumb coach. It seems that the accumulation of bad decisions over the years has kept this lackluster franchise stuck in the mud while more smartly run franchises have taken the leap forward. Oakland comes to mind. The biggest mistake this organization can make is to become desperate and gamble too much for short term gains. The hiring of Rex was intended to give this boring franchise a jolt is an example of foolishly gambling. It was a disastrous decision that set this franchise back.

On special occasions I upgrade with Busch Light.

I drink Natural Light. Does that make me a deplorable?

Even if it is a bridge deal having TT for 2 or 3 more years isn't an unreasonable approach to take especially when there aren't many other options. Tyrod and his agent aren't fools. Why should they re-do their deal if the team is without good options? Does TT have good options if the organization decides to cut him loose? I'm not sure but as of now I am very sure that Whaley doesn't have a better option. The deal with his options is not a bad deal for either party. The person who is in a precarious position is Whaley. He is not going to go for a bottoming out strategy in order to be better in the long term. His mind-set is short term, and everyone knows it. As many others have stated use this offseason and draft to bolster this flaccid defense and hopefully with a similar caliber offense from a scoring standpoint this team will be in the playoff mix.

The question that Whaley has to consider is being an okay NFL starter good enough to get his team anywhere meaningful? My position is without any hesitation:"I just don't know??" Is being good enough adequate enough?

Residual contamination.

I'm starting to come around to the TT option because I just don't see a better option. Maybe we get lucky and the sparkling performance against Miami becomes the norm. If at best he becomes a competent starting qb that is a major step up for us. There is even the chance that he can develop into a very good qb and allows this tired franchise a respite from the never ending quest to find a franchise qb. One major trait of TT that I admire is that he is a worker and is very invested in his profession. So whether things work out or not we know he is putting in the maximum effort. That's all you can ask.

This team lacks brain power.

With respect to the highlighted area I have to respectfully disagree with your comparison between the two qbs. Brees took a few years before he became comfortable as a pocket passer. It's not unusual for young qbs to make a quantum leap after a couple of years. It's simply part of the developmental process. TT is a different brand of qb who has to adjust his college run and shoot game to a more complex and sophisticated passing game. Your point that although he has been in the league for five or six years he has limited actual playing time is valid. However, I am still troubled by his development pace in that I'm not sure I saw much progression in his game from a reading and reacting standpoint. Where we may be in accord is that although I have issues with TT's prospects more than you do I acknowledge that as of right now he is still our best option at qb. EJ is gone and Cardale who I find to be an intriguing prospect still needs more time. I don't want to see him rushed. Another area where we think differently but in a certain respect come together is Whaley's status as a GM. I think more highly of him than you do but on the other hand it is obvious that he can longer avoid assuming responsibility for the roster he assembled and its lack of production. He is the one who will be selecting the next HC so he can't make the excuse that his coach is not handling the roster well. I don't believe the GM is going to use his first round pick to select a qb. He needs immediate help to bolster the roster so his position will not be in jeopardy from the very irritated owner who is presiding over two struggling pro teams.

Drew Brees is a future HOF qb. His vision is keen and his accuracy is impeccable. What you failed to mention about Brees is that there were serious questions about his health relating to a shoulder problem. The same issue where the Miami doctors declined to give him a clean bill of health that resulted in that organization passing on him as a free agent. What most of us are hoping is for TT to develop so he can become a reasonable starting qb so this team can compete. The comparisons you are making are an extreme stretch and far fetched

Chemistry isn't the issue. It is seeing the open receiver and then hitting him. I have been patient with him and open-minded about him. But there are issues unrelated to physical abilities that are requirements for his position that I'm not sure he possesses. Everyone who watches an all-22 says the same thing that the play develops and he either doesn't see it or he is not confident enough in what he sees to let it go. That bothers me. As I have said in other posts I'm torn as to whether to let him walk or not. Even if Whaley drafts a qb with a high round pick, 1st or 2nd, (I don't see happening) he still needs a qb who is experienced enough to be the starter. There is too much at stake related to his own job status for Whaley to entrust an inexperienced qb who is not ready to be the starter. If I had to guess I think the organization is going to keep him on board because as it stands he is our best option at the position. I do wish him the best but my doubts remain about his long-term viability. What makes the decision difficult is that TT periodically does show some promise in a game like Miami where he sparkled. But is that the norm or aberration? It's a tough call. I just don't know???

I DVRed the game. When I came home and saw the score I deleted it. Why trade a player such as Kane who can score when the roster lacks scoring? I mistakenly thought this team was going to take the next step up and be a fringe playoff contending team. It isn't. The worst part of following this team is watching lackluster play. There isn't much entertainment value. Very disappointed.

Why did Beerball go incognito? Until Beerball makes an appearance I will each week cut off one of my toes until he responds with his typical pugnacity on this site.

The more the team lost and the more the defense got trampled the more ridiculous and hollow Rex came off at the podium. What is there to say about how he wanted to build a bully defense as the number of runners gaining over 200 yards increased as the weeks went by? Rex was a failure before he was hired by the Pegulas----the people most responsible for this inexplicable hire. His boasting act ran its tiresome coarse in NY and the area was relieved to see him go. His record was a losing record no matter how one wants to burnish it. Finding another job that payed him even more and gave him an extended length contract was an act of self-inflicted stupidity by the ownership. His record, lax coaching and out-dated approach to the game were well known before he was hired. The Rex they fired is exactly the same Rex they hired. The Pegulas were new to the football business. Their intentions were to add some personality to a faceless, boring and irrelevant franchise. What they painfully learned is that a loud style doesn't trump a mature substantive approach to the game. I'm cautiously optimistic that by allowing the GM to have the primary authority in hiring the next GM they are resorting to a more conventional system of accountability and responsibility. If the next coach doesn't work out then there is no confusion as to who is responsible. Make no mistake that the roster Rex had to work with had flaws. It was far from perfect. But that isn't the core issue here. It is: Did the coach maximize the talent he had to work with or did it underachieve? If the games were even casually watched the answer is obvious.

Whether it was complicated or not is not the issue. It's simple: What works the best. If it was a relatively simple scheme then why were players struggling with it? If you saw the befuddlement then the coach should have seen it. Whether a scheme is brilliant or not isn't the point. The point is the players were playing at a lesser level than they did with another more basic scheme. The bottom line is that what the scheme is doesn't matter. The talkative coach needed to put his efforts not only into drawing plays but making sure the players could understand what he was espousing and then execute it to the best of their abilities. What this braggadocio coach didn't understand is if you have dumb players you still have to coach dumb players. Coaching 101 and common sense 101!

Dareus certainly doesn't have the credibility to be a critic of the HC but that doesn't undercut the validity of what he said. Rex failed as a coach for a variety of reasons. He not being able to adapt and adjust his schemes to better suit the players he had on hand was a failing of his, among many. If the players couldn't absorb what he was saying then coach them up so they do have a good grasp of the defensive concepts for the day of the game. That's what practice was for. Rex was smart enough to design plays in his office but he was an utter incompetent when making sure that the players knew how to execute those plays on the field. Maybe instead of having an army of coaches with different voices this fool coach should have thinned out the staff and get himself a little dirty coaching players on the field. Hughes and Dareus are certainly not cerebral players. Having a system that shackles them instead of unleashing them is moronic. What Scwartz understood is not what Rex understood:: Putting the players in the best situation to succeed is the essence of coaching. Stupid hire with predictable results. WTF were the owners thinking when they hired this coaching anachronism. When you hire a huckster you get a huckster!

I hope you are feeling better and are doing well. Looking back for a solution to the present rarely works. Polian did a fantastic job with the Bills. That era is over. Nostalgia in football is a recipe for failure and rarely leads to success. As Sisypean pointed out in his post the junior Polian's work product has not been too impressive.

He is a one man wrecking crew who goes full throttle. He reminds me of Aaron Donald from a physical standpoint. Thomas is 6'3', 273 and Donald is 6'1" , 285. Not the biggest linemen but strong and quick enough to play inside. Could you imagine if Dareus played with the consistent energy and passion that Soloman Thomas plays with? I liked North Carolina's qb, Mitch Trublisky. I think playing another year in college would make him a better prospect. He doesn't have a cannon arm but it is strong enough. He is accurate and he makes use of the whole field in his passing game.

Many of the players on the Bills have an incentive to play well or at least hard because they are also under review. The Bills have a lot of free agents and they know that Whaley has to determine what their worth is from a contract standpoint Lackluster play is not going to enhance an individual players' contract prospects. If Lynn is a serious coaching candidate (and that is what I believe) playing with disinterest is not going to put the particular player in a favorable light for next year. It's tough to get an accurate read on your roster in this type of game. It's tough to get an accurate read on your HC in this type of meaningless game. I'm sure Whaley has a good "feel" about Lynn as a coach and person one way or the other by watching him conduct himself at the facility. I think what is most important for Lynn is his ability in a post season report to the organization his opinions on what has happened this season, what needs to happen to put this team on the right course and what his thoughts are in assembling a staff. If Whaley genuinely believes that his roster is a playoff roster and that it was Rex that mishandled his talent then it favors an approach that leans towards continuity instead of completely starting over with a new coaching staff. That would be a good situation for him and increase his chances to be elevated to the HCing position..