ko12010

I have no idea why people ever try and say something like this. If anything, Belichek made Brady, imo. Yeah Belichek was mediocre in Cleveland but seriously, who hasn't been there? Belichek is one of the best coaches ever and if Brady is drafted by any of the other 31 teams, he's out of the league in 5 years. Belichek gave Brady a shot and helped develop him into a star. Brady ran with it, having that inner fortitude and motivation that all-time greats always have. There's no one without the other, they both needed each other, but Belichek certainly started Brady on his current trajectory.

They all liked Jauron too. It's hard to publicy trash a guy when he appears to be a good person. They spend so much time with them, there's definitely a bond. Players seem to only publicly call out a hard headed Pr*ck s.o.b coach when things start going bad.

Don't you know that if you ever question the NFL refs, especially in regard to a Pats* game, you're most definitely a paranoid, delusional conspiracy theorist?

There's a difference between greed and ambition/motivation.

Rape Me by Nirvana

So is the opinion starting to change on Wanny? Do we give him another shot? If we get a new HC, he'll likely want a new guy in here anyway so the question might be moot. Gailey's offense is regressing and not clutch and has proved to be a terrible HC. He should be gone regardless.

Possibly the worst thread ever. KW is one of the best players on the team. He was also playing hurt today. What the hell is wrong with some of you people? Someone makes a thread about Stevie and now this? Jeeez

PTR - this is exactly what I thought and feared ever since we got Lee and started talking about "fixing Fitz's mechanics". I am a professional golfer, and I know that changing a motor skill is incredibly tough, whether it is throwing a baseball, football, or hitting a golf ball. First you have to understand the mechanical change, then you have to feel it, then you have to practice it, then you have to do it in game simulation, THEN you have to bring it to the 'real' games, and you need repetition in those and positive results help as well. Think of Tiger Wood's swing changes: he is arguably the best golfer EVER. He has made major swing changes 3x now. Each change took minimum 18 months to achieve and many tournaments after to start feeling comfortable. So basically 2-2.5 years. Not for an average player, but the best ever. Now golf is more complicated than throwing a football, but Fitz making a change in 1 offseason and being able to react in game situations as opposed to thinking and guiding and steering the football was a lofty goal. Add to that Fitz, as a super intelligent Harvard grad is likely someone who uses their brain alot more than say, (no offense) a mike vick in his prime or a Big Ben, and you have a recipe for trouble. Just such an over simplified statement. Really holds no weight in a real conversation on this topic.

I think people have hit on some but not all factors together. And for those who say "Fitz pads stats in garbage time" don't forget that alot of ints come during these times when there's almost no chance to win but we are throwing out of desperation. This is true of almost all the QB's in the NFL. Just don't choose one or the other to fit your argument. That said, here is my take. *When we finally started clicking a little on O (after the 0-8 start) Gailey's scheme was pretty fresh and other teams were a little surprised by some of the talent our 'nobody's' have. But just like with new QB's coming in and lighting it up, opposing teams and coaches adjust. What's frustrating is that like you have pointed out, Fitz really did used to hit on a ton of passes over 20 yds but under the 40-50 mark. His fly pattern ball has always been somewhat hit or miss. Gailey's reliance on the short 1-2 second WR patterns has hurt us. DB's play up and disrupt these rather easily. I know the Pats* pass D isn't great, but Fitz was throwing the deeper patterns really well. *As someone else mentioned, Fitz working on mechanics has made him "think" too much. This is true of any athlete who tries to change a physical motion. It takes time. A long time. Look at Tebow. He attempted to change his motion from college to the pros but one offseason, even as hard as he works, is not enough. I almost wish Fitz hadn't tried to change his mechanics. Hopefully they are starting to come together, but if an athlete is too conscious of the motion that their sport requires, they start to 'guide' instead of throw or whatever they do, with confidence. *More expectations may have played a role in his drop down. He's shown he CAN lead his team back and put his team in position to win, but as for closing out wins, he has to continue to develop this along with the rest of our guys. Too many players, not just Fitz, have not stepped up in crunch time. This needs to be a team effort IMO. *The injuries last year really hurt the offense. We were primarily a running, screen, and quick strike offense before that, but with the injuries, especially to the O-line, we couldn't give FItz enough time to drop back into deeper patterns. Bottom line: I still believe in Fitz. I think Gailey needs to be more aggressive with his calls as far as throwing deeper goes. I'm not talking about fly patterns, but 15-30 yard patterns. I've seen Fitz hit these alot when called. He has the arm strength IMO As the team continues to improve as a whole, I think our ability to close out games and develop a killer instinct will improve as well. My fear is not in Fitz. He has a lot of qualities that make up a franchise QB. I'm more worried about Gailey's mismanagement of the clock/timeouts and his handful of terrible calls a game and Wannstadt. Part of me does trust Nix when he says continuity with this regime will prove the right course. *Disclaimer---IF there is a QB option available that is clearly better than Fitzpatrick, I'm for it (who wouldn't?) But I'd like to see us stick with him for next year.

Gailey is a better offensive coach than Jauron was/is a defensive coach. However, you are correct. How many times have we said this year If Gailey just didn't call the wildcat then or oh if he just gave it to Fred instead of C.J. or if he just didn't call a pass right then! Chan Gailey is an okay coach at best. I believe he is suited for being a college offensive coordinator. As fans, the best we've really gotten is-- "He'd be so good if he didn't do this, or that..." But that's the point. Good and great coaches and players make the right decisions/plays at the most crucial times. I still believe this team has 10-6 talent or better. I believe in Nix's talent evaluation but hiring the wrong coach might be his downfall as well. A GM HAS to get that right. My only hope is that we finally get the right guy in after Chan is hopefully fired and Wannstedt and Gailey didn't do too much damage to the talented players we do have who are underperforming (Dareus, Mario Williams, Aaron Williams, even Gilmore, Shep, etc) For the love of all that is holy can we get a GREAT coach in Buffalo please????????

Obviously the Bills will find a way to suck no matter what the situation, but it is utterly insane how often we get the Patriots* coming off their bye week. It's simply not fair. (I know, I know, the Bills are an irrelevant franchise who doesn't deserve special or even fair treatment in some people's eyes, but it's just not right) That being said, I've always thought that the Pats* must treat the Bills weeks as extra bye weeks being that it is a guaranteed win. But now I'm thinking...it may just be their toughest weeks of prep all season. Seriously. Belichek must have to work twice as hard to keep his team focused and not let up! Haha.

The thing is, you just proved something significant with your post here. Yes, there is a stark difference between the quality of QB on the Giants, Pats, Packers and Bills. But...this is a 32 team league, not a 4 team one. There are 28 other teams out there in our position in that area. If your mindset is that the Bills' brass need to do whatever they can to address this, that makes sense. But don't act like they're ignoring it on purpose. It's not easy to accomplish.

Insane post. Clearly, the defensive coaching is the main reason he is regressing. As are most of our defensive players.

Eaten the sack on 4th down?

It probably just went over your head, brah.

To be a quiet, soft spoken coach ala Dungy you have to COMMAND respect from football knowledge and also from getting W's. Dungy's players bought into what he was selling which allowed him to be himself. We haven't gotten the W's yet so Gailey being the way he is doesn't look as good as when Dungy did it. If we were to start making the playoffs this year and next and become a power, he'd be praised for it. At this point in this team's evolution, we might have been better off with a screamer who would just get these guys to play balls to the wall 100% of the time. And then once the talent level rose to very high find someone who is a more balanced coach if the screamer couldn't get it done x's and o's -wise

Imo this is a good idea. If Smith got some serious reps and had the authority to throw when he wanted, it could work out--at least for a while. Idk how good Smith is at processing info and reading defenses, but he can throw better than Fitz, Thig, and Jax. Smith actually has a very good arm and can make the NFL throws. I'd be all for it. Like you said, he wouldn't do worse than Fitz at this point. It would likely take some teams by surprise and we might be able to take 2 out of the next 3 instead of the likely 0 or 1 with our status quo. It could be Tebow-esque. The Broncos took the league by storm with a unique approach that lasted most of the season. It could be our ticket into the playoffs. If we don't change anything, we're looking at 6 wins maybe 7. Throwing a wrench into how other teams approach us could result in a temporary lift and maybe 9 or 10 wins and the playoffs. It likely wouldn't carry into next season but who cares. We can salvage this season and with all the parity in the league anyone can win it all. Except probably the Chiefs and Jags.

I was just speaking from an arm strength aspect. He's got that. Some of fans here just love a QB with a rocket arm

From what I've seen of Tavaris' play he has a very good arm.

I'm pretty sure that Brad Smith has the option on almost every wildcat play to hand it off, run it himself, or throw. I think blaming Chan for the pass itself isn't correct as it was likely Brad Smith's decision. Blame Chan for even letting that be a possibility.

I know. Sometimes the injection of youth helps--they haven't had a chance to become saturated in the losing aura that surrounds this franchise. It's going to take guys who aren't used to losing to turn this around. It's unfortunate that our veterans seem to be the types that accept futility.

I disagree here. Coaching is causing the players to look much much worse than they actually are. It's coaching, people. Or at least it starts there and then becomes the players fault as well.

Really good post. I agree--exactly what you've just stated is staring us right in the face. I hope Chan and Wanny realize this, as well as Nix. I think Chan and Wannestedt might be allowing their egos to get in the way. I fully believe that this team has enough talent right now to compete for 9 or 10 wins with a solid coaching staff. However, ours appears to be leading us to 5 or 6. With the steps you've highlighted, I think this team is pretty damn good. But we'll have to do exactly what San Fran did as they dug themselves out of their hole--hire the right coach to take the team to the next level once we fill in a couple of these last pieces.

Biscuit - one of my points is that it is NOT so black and white. I don't believe that it is 100% coaching nor 100% player. It is a combination, that honestly takes on an autonomous form of its own. It may start with acquiring a player of tremendous talent, and then coaching kicks him up a notch, and then the player brings himself up another notch, and then the coach pushes the right button, etc... The process goes on like this. I have said multiple times, and I stand by it, if Tom Brady had been drafted by the Bills, which would have been what, in 2000? he would've been out of the league in 3 years. He had no overwhelming physical ability, no identifiable x factor at the time which is why he went in the 6th round. Bill Belicheck helped Brady grow, and as Brady's mindset and body changed from hard work and success, he transformed into the superstar that he is today. Great coaches reveal latent talent, great players realize their latent talent. Again, I truly believe this is a simulaneous process which ebbs and flows between the coach doing more sometimes and then the player doing more sometimes, but always simultaneous. I believe that very few players have ever come into the league that would succeed no matter where they went and were just so damn talented and mentally polished and tough that they could raise a franchise nearly on their own. Peyton Manning comes to mind. But there are many superstars and Hall of Famers who essentially, as if by divine intervention, came into the right place at the right time with the right coaching staff, management, and supporting cast on the field. Tom Brady IS one of these. He will go down as probably a consensus top 3 quarterback to ever play in the NFL, and deservedly so. But he was no Manning, born and groomed to be a great NFL QB. This is why I tend to lean toward Coaching as undeniably our main issue right now. That is why I supported J.P., Trent, and Fitz. They CAN be good. At the right time, right place, and with the right franchise, all three could have had solid NFL careers. But Buffalo has been in such turmoil starting with top management that none of these guys ever had a real chance. What makes me feel like sh*t as a life long die-hard Bills fan right now is that I fear it is Gailey and Wannestedt that are the main issue now. Before, it was lack of talent AND coaching, now it is simply coaching. We have a ton of talent on this team. Nix is damn good in my opinion. He helped build San Diego's roster up into a goldmine of talent that Schotty and Turner simply couldn't deliver with. Nix and Whaley stay - Gailey and stache need to go. And this time - GET THE F******* head coach hire right Buddy! I know he tried and Gailey wasn't our first 5 choices, but we need to get it done with our next coaching staff. Easier said than done but it needs to happen. -So C. Biscuit - I agree with you partially. But I obviously have my own opinions which many here will surely disagree with.

I don't think it's possible for me to disagree with you more. Your sentiments here reflect IMO the attitude of fans who want everything to be as simple as black and white. I think coaches, systems, management are extremely important