JohnC

The non-thinker over-thought the situation. The only person he outsmarted was himself! When one thinks he is smarter than he really is and acts on that premise you have a classic example of what it is to be a fool.

The Bills aren't being targeted with bad calls. It is a pervasive problem for all teams. You missed the point of my post. There was a mechanism in place to correct an obvious mistake. The talkative HC was not attentive enough and didn't have the right people doing their jobs to instruct him to throw the red challenge flag. The Bills lose primarily because of their own ineptitude. When you hire a goofball from your own division with a losing record you have no excuse to not know that you hired a clown who acted like a clown in his previous job he got fired from. The Bills are a historically losing franchise because of its own organizational foolishness. It gets tiresome hearing excuse-making baby-criers rationalize how discriminating actions are done to the Bills to cause them to lose. What's next? Blaming our mounting losses on the inflation levels of the opposition balls?

The more the Kane, O'Reilly and Rhinehart play together the more integrated Kane seems to be with his linemates. Kane is the most feisty player on that line and on the team. Eichel needs to play with better finishers. Gionta is a drag on the line with Eichel. Does anyone know the nature of Ennis's injury?

I brought up the point in another discussion that if prior to the season we got the type of performance from TT that he is currently providing most fans would be ecstatic at that level of play. What has changed/colored the perception of TT (and the team) from a prospective positive view to a more negative view is that our defense under Rex has faltered to a very unexpected level. If this defense would have played anywhere near last year's level TT and the team would be having an enthusiastic response. In my opinion this team would be in a comfortable wild-card position. If it is determined that TT is our designated franchise qb with no equivocation then our draft strategy will be a conventional approach, i.e. draft the highest rated player on the board. If it is determined that TT has too many limitations to his game (which I don't subscribe to) then it is imperative that if a highly rated qb prospect is on the board then we need to seize the opportunity. I have little regard for the loquacious Rex. I consider him to be a self-promoting huckster whose loud act has distracted others from examining his actual record. This team was in position to take the next step forward. The selection of this HC who was fired from a team in which he left in shambles has created a mountain of obstacles when we only had a little hill to climb. Whatever happened to the concept of "due diligence"?

Let me mildly turn your comment around. The Bills do have a first round pick. If they believe that Lynch or any other qb prospect is capable of being a franchise qb prospect should they seize the opportunity? I would say yes. I like TT a lot more than many others who post. Am I sure that he is going to be a starter caliber qb? No, but I think so. For me how TT plays and determining what his standing is as a qb is more important than even making the playoffs, especially since our clownish HC has dramatically reduced the odds of making it this year. What do you think?

Check out Rex's record with the Jets. The longer he coached the worse the team performed. He left the team in shambles. He had an unimpressive six year record with the Jets. The dour former HC thoroughly outperformed him when they went head to head. With Rex and the Bills what you see is not inconsistent with what transpired in New York. Marrone is understandably not very liked. But in his short two year stint his team did get better in each year. That upward trajectory didn't play out for Rex in NYC. Why was this coach more known for his antics than for the performances of his team hired? Makes no sense to me!

When you have a recourse to correct a wrong you don't not use it because the officials should have gotten it right in the first place. That makes no sense. Very often the called play on the field is a tough/close call and the HC doesn't want to risk using up his time outs. That wasn't the case in this situation. It was clearly a catch and acknowledged by everyone who saw it on the video. What this goofball HC needed to do was pay better attention on the sideline and keep his head in the game instead of having it up his arse. He was in a position to right a wrong and help his team. He didn't do it.

We screwed ourselves out of this game. The big talking HC had the opportunity to challenge the play. He didn't. He is a better talker than thinker. Being a bull shitttt artist didn't help him when he was supposed to exercise good judgment on the sidleines.

A mock draft has us taking an offensive lineman. http://fansided.com/2015/12/02/nfl-mock-draft-week-12/32/

When you are considering someone for a job one's six year record in a similar position should be a major factor when considering the candidate for the same position. He was fired by the Jets and quickly hired by the Bills. Very perplexing and very odd! It is a mistake to believe that Rex was not on board with his GM's personnel moves. It wouldn't be surprising if RR disagreed with some of the GM's moves but in general they were in accord on most of the moves. The hiring of Rex Ryan made no sense to me. It's still very early in his tenure but he is living up to/down to his prior record with his former team. It is a fact that Doug Marrone's team dramatically outperformed Rex's team when they competed against one another. The longer Rex was with the Jets the worse his team performed. I find that ominous for someone who was given a five year contract.

Chandler is going to have an opportunity to play in the playoffs. I'm happy for him. He is basically a utility TE who has hung on for quite a while. Good for him.

Listen to the record (youtube posted by BuffanAtl post #64) that Rex accumulated with the Jets and going against Marrone. His dismal record speaks for itself. If his six year record as a HC isn't enough of a context for you then I don't know what it could be. The Bills defense under Petine and Schwartz were superb. Under Rex with much of the same personnel it is mediocre. That should be enough context to make a reasonable judgment.

When you allow yourself to get hustled by this buffoon you deserve what you get get! The longer he was with the Jets the worse the team got.

I'm sure I am in the minority but the outdoor hockey games have run its course and lost some of its luster. I'm not against it but it should be done less often. The novelty of it has been exhausted. The Pegulas have done a terrific job in making Buffalo a hockey destination. The hotels and restaurants should be grateful for such a visionary developer whose exploits benefit the region.

I agree with your comments. The influence of fantasy football and the accumulation of stats may indirectly have contributed to the scales tipping toward the offense. When training officials and directing them towards things to call and not to call it is difficult to teach and instill the concept of good judgment. As it stands because of the excessive amount of penalties and reviews there is little flow to the game and consequently it is less enjoyable to watch.

The trend on clamping down on DBs started when the Colts played the Pats in a playoff game. The Pats consistently mugged their receivers before the ball was thrown. They got away with it. The Colts understandably complained about that playoff game. Entering the next season the refs were instructed to make it an emphasis not to allow the DBs to "touch" the receivers. As you noted the Seahawks more than any other team were willing to test the boundaries of the interference rules. The restrictions placed on the DBs in their coverage of the receivers has not only handicapped the defense but has damaged the flow of the game.

It is often wrong to compare franchises in different sports. Baseball is less capped than football and basketball. But for historically bad franchises, such as the Buffalo Bills, much of its failure are due to its own organizational ineptitude more than its lack of resources. Ralph Wilson was more stringent with the purse than most of the other owners in his sport but that didn't fully explain his team's lack of competitiveness. Ralph was notorious for hiring less than competent people who unsurprisingly made peculiar decisions. Did anyone expect Marv Levy to be a capable GM? He was followed by the marketing gentleman, Russ Brandon, and then was followed by the good old boy, Buddy Nix, who would not have been considered a legitimate candidate for the position that the owner selected him for. KC Royals just won the World Series. They certainly don't profligately spend money. The St. Louis Cardinals are in my estimation the best run franchise in their sport. They have solid financial resources but are not known to recklessly spend money. In the NBA San Antonio is not a major market and they are not known to be undisciplined with the way they handle money. Yet they have been consistently good and smartly run. The central point I am making is obvious. If you don't smartly run your franchise, in whatever sport you want to consider, you will not be successful. Rex Ryan had a six year run in NY. The longer he coached the team the worse it got. He got fired from a team he left in shambles. And yet this mercurial organization found this bombastic fool an enticing candidate to be their HC. As the renowned philosopher Forrest Gump has wisely stated: Stupid is as stupid does!

The team that Ryan inherited was an upgrade from last year's 9-7 team, especially on offense. Although our OL still has issues it is markedly better with the addition of Incognito. It isn't great but with the exception at RT the line is competent. As much as some people complain about our qbing situation it is better with TT than it was with Orton. The addition of playmakers such as McCoy and Clay definitely increased the potency of the offense compared to what existed last year. The staffing of this year's defense was very similar to last year's staffing. Adding Darby at CB was an upgrade. Without a doubt doubt injuries have taken a toll. But Ryan inherited a top tier defense and by any measurement he he has downgraded it. The altering of the defensive scheme has diminished the performances of Dareus and Mario, who were top tier players under Schwartz. Anyone with an ounce of objectivity has to acknowledge that the unlikeable Marrone got more out of the talent he had to work with than the current self-promoting huckster HC has gotten out of his roster. It's not surprising that this sloppy HC leads a team that is frequently penalized and doesn't consistently play with intelligence. What is evident to anyone watching these games is that coaching matters!

This was a legitimate wildcard playoff team What happened? The organization hired a dope to be its HC. He can't consistently win on the field but he can out dazzle the other HCs at the podium. When you hire a huckster you get a huckster! This organization sabotaged itself with its bad hire.

Henderson is respectable on running plays. But on passing plays he whiffs too much. Not holding your block on passing plays is bad enough but completely missing so often and jeopardizing the well being of the qb is not acceptable. He is worse than being ineffective; he is a major liability out there. What does it say about how the coaching staff thinks of Kujo when he can't get playing time on the right side? The sense I get when watching him (just an opinion) is that he is regularly lost in a fog. Sometimes we get too impressed with a player's physical stature and don't focus on the most important issue: How does the player play? With him I see too much befuddlement and not enough progression. I agree with your positive assessment of Wood this year. What has helped him a lot this year is playing alongside Incognito. RI is the anchor on that line. He kicks out to the left and right as well as any guard I have seen in a long time.

Evidently you didn't see Colin Brown play guard for us? Henderson is an all-pro and potential HOF candidate compared to him? I'm going with the Bills in this game. TT will play well and the critics will parrot out their same chatter that he is not good enough.

It's difficult to criticize such a heart and soul player. But from an offensive standpoint he has little left to contribute. He is still a responsible player from a defensive standpoint but when the play is in the offensive zone he lacks potency and is not a threat. To a lesser degree Moulson is a diminishing player who is not doing much to enhance the play of Eichel. The core of this team is very young. O'Reilly, Risto, Eichel, Rhinehert, Pysek, Kane, McCabe will be getting better together. So the future is bright. They not only are going to be good together but they are fun to watch.

Bocephuz, As I have said after all your weekly posts regarding the OL they fairly capture the quality of play of the OL. What is evident is that this OL is definitely an upgrade over last year's OL. It would be much better if the weak link RT played at a more competently level. Without a doubt Incognito is our best player on the line. He is playing at an all-pro level. He was a terrific addition. And as you pointed out Urbik who replaced the struggling Miller has played solidly.

WGR was talking about how Gionta has not been producing and is simply a drag on offense. He is a high character player who is nothing more than a grinder at this very late stage of his career. A more offensive minded player would enhance Eichel and put him in a better position to score. I also get the sense that Moulson is at the end of the line. If he doesn't score around the net, which he isn't, then he is mostly a non-contributor. O'reilly is one of the best two way players in the league. The statistics he garners as impressive as they may be do not tell the full story how much he contributes to this team. It's amazing how much a leap forward the Sabres have made from last year to this year. They are a fun team to watch. I consider them a fringe playoff team that will be in the hunt to the end of the season.

In this game Kane seemed to be better integrated with his line mates. In the prior games it was evident that he possessed high end skills but was a lone ranger player. In this game he played played well within his unit. The line of Kane, O'Reilly and Rhinehart is good now and should get better as the players get more familiar with each other. In the Detroit game Ristol and Kane were the best players on the ice.