Koufax

Terrible pick at #11 with Orakpo and Matthews on the board. We all know that. That doesn't matter the day after the draft. Overpaid player because of his draft position. That you can change by releasing him, and he isn't overpaid by the Jets. I don't think has any ability to be a 3-4 linebacker, and that was a big issue. He is a undersized specialty 4-3 end. Those are good to have when playing 4-3. We play 4-3 a lot and absent draft slot and contract he could be useful in that role. I'm glad he is having some success and not out of the league. A little sad it is with the Jets and we will see him twice a year. But as PTR said, it wouldn't matter in Buffalo, because there is the pressure of past baggage, our d at the moment, etc. I don't think he would have worked. Maybe a piece Wanny could have used in our 2012 4-3, but oh well.

Need to get a pass rush, which is quite possible with the wreck of an O-Line that the Chargers have and the total lack of time that Rivers had a couple weeks ago against Denver. I think we are unfortunately getting the Chargers at a bad time, when some key players (Malcolm Floyd) are getting healthy, and they still have something to play for, and when they are starting to click as an offense. It will all come down to whether we can pressure into sacks and INTs or not. If our sack and INT numbers are low or non-existent I have a tough time seeing us winning this. That said, I see a 4 sack, 2 INT day and a Bills win. Go Bills.

+1 I'm a regular reader of Bill's posts, and have usually thought them to be interesting and insightful, but the fact that he can't let go on Spiller, and is taking out a decade of questionable drafts on him is a little like watching Fox News. Entertaining, but not really fair or balanced. At least we got an upgrade from last week's conditional 7th. The guy isn't CJ2K, but he is a talented football player who I am glad to have on this team with Freddie great but getting older, and anybody who touches the ball 25+ times a game is an injury candidate as we see. I'm disappointed that this team now has four weeks left to only dream of 9-7, and can't even pretend on keeping a playoff miracle alive. I think Edwards should be fired NOW so that Wanny can get settled in and we can make our 4-3 adjustment final ahead of time, evaluate people more clearly in those roles, and figure out the DE/LB needs we have for this off season. That said, the defense came up big in the second half, and it was our O that let us down. I agree that Pears is a backup tackle. Right now we are Bell and Hairston as our tackles, which is passable at best, and I would love to see someone better than them added to the roster. Bell's injury however and his slow recovery has put Hairston ahead of him, so it looks like it will be Bell who sits if he ever gets healthy, and that's a shame because Bell+Hairston > Hairston+Pears. Now the Bills roll into San Diego next week, for a game I was excited to go see when both teams were 4-1, and I'm not sure if I will bother to go or not.

Ignore your TV screen. Spiller is a bust right? He should be cut and join Maybin and McCargo right? I wonder how Bill in NYC will spin this one into Spiller is useless. The kid can play. I look forward to having a healthy Freddie back, but Spiller can play.

After Edwards is fired, we need to figure some things out. Wanny is a 4-3 guy, Troupe is a bust, and Kyle and Dareus are best as 4-3 tackles. I don't think Chan cares on the D, and if Wanny is the DC and wants to run a 4-3 for familiarity or personnel, then our "needs" change. 4-3 with Carrington, Dareus, Kyle, and a super pass rushing DE is a nice line and can finally start to get pressure with 4, which is our huge huge weakness this year. I'm a BPA guy every round, but that is a philosophy, not a decision maker because you will have guys on your board close enough to be a toss up. So pretending at the early picks we have realistic tossups at different positions and aren't taking an inferior player because "we need him" when the year 1 contribution isn't as important as the year 2,3,4, then my thoughts are as follows: #1 need: Pass rush. 4-3 DE or 3-4 OLB. I think 4-3 DE, and those are guys that tend to have plentiful choices in the teens we will be picking in. Let's just hope we go with Orakpo or Matthews and not Maybin this time. #2 need: CB. Need more of these to stop Tebow and the running Broncos...wait, I mean the other 30 opponents who know how to throw the ball and spread it around. McGee is getting up there and coming off a big injury, McKelvin is turning into a special teamer, and we don't have a lot of bodies to help Aaron Williams out. #3 need: OL. I'm happy with a guard or tackle who upgrades us. I'm happy with Wood and Levietre. I'm cautiously optimistic with Bell and Hairston, but want to see us get better with this unit and get another guy who can be a star. #4 LB: beyond the pass rush, we probably need another, including an OLB even if we are back in a 4-3 and our pass rush guy at #1 is a DE. #5 WR: I don't see this as as huge a need as other people seem to. Stevie, Nelson, Brad Smith, possibly Roscoe, and fitting in CJ when Freddie is healthy. I would love a great talent, but I can't imagine passing up a pass rusher at the kind of picks where elite WRs are available. Go Bills.

We need Cincinnati to go 2-3 to pass them for the #6, and that is not all that unlikely. Mostly we need for them to go 2-2 to have a chance going into the final day. They have the Steelers and the Texans the next two, so that isn't too crazy. We also need the Jets to go 3-2, and that's less likely (but again, they can be 3-1 into the last game to give us a chance). We don't care about Baltimore or Pittsburgh both of whom we won't catch, and we don't care about the Pats who we won't catch. But one game at a time, and if we win this week, and the Bengals lose to the Steelers, we are one step closer and things get one step more likely. The "why not hope for a higher draft pick" is fun for the fan who does a million mock drafts, but winning football games has for the 35 guys who will be back next year matters more than sliding up a few slots for the 7 new guys, especially when we are talking about the 8-20 range that we are. Wins matter more towards winning, and rooting for losses unless it will knock you out of the #1 slot is pretty self defeating.

How about we beat the Titans (the best of our next 4 opponents), and get to 6-6 and then see. I think each of the next four games is winnable, but each coin toss could also come up heads and getting four heads in a row is a 1 in 16 shot. But I think we can win this week, and then see about next week. We also need things to clear up with Baltimore and Houston so that the Patriots can take off the final week to make that game winnable and make things interesting. I don't see who is a lock between Cincy and the Jets to get to 10-6, and we will have tie breakers over Tenn and Denver if we win out. So we are completely alive if we win one game at a time. But that is the hard part, because Tennessee will be a tough opponent for us. I think it is crucial for us to win, get back to .500, and keep playoff scenarios alive for another week. I don't think this team has much of a shot of making the playoffs, but being able to be in the hunt one more week is important for the players. I would love for us to at least have playoff scenarios in the last couple weeks instead of being officially eliminated, whether we make the playoffs or not. Go Bills!

I am quite happy to be a Bills fan. This team was not supposed to be 10-6 when the season started, we got some good breaks and played some good football, then had things fall apart a little losing: our top D-Line, or top O-Line, a top LB, and our best player, among others, and we had a lousy couple weeks on the road. We can still be anywhere from 5-11 to 10-6, and I'm happy, excited proud to watch this team try to win its 6th game on Sunday so we can worry about our 7th, and as long as we have weeks left in the season, I am hoping for another win. For JTO and the tank for higher picks idiocy, I give you some recent examples: 2010: Spiller went #9, Dez Bryant went #24. 2009: Maybin went #11, Clay Mathews #26 2008: McKelvin went #11, CJ2K #24 2007: Lynch #12, Revis #14, Bowe #23 2006: Whitner #8, Ngata #12, Mangold #29 2005: No Bills pick, but Williamson, Rolle, Rogers 7-8-9, while DeMarcus Ware #12 and Aaron Rodgers #24 2004: Lee Evans #13, Wilfork #21 All things being equal, higher is better, but having a young team lose games after a promising start is not "all things being equal". And in every draft there are plenty of busts in the top 12, and in every draft there are great players in the second half of round 1. So just keep trying to win every game, and that will help us get better more than sliding up a few slots in the early mock drafts. Go Bills!

I completely disagree with the lose out helps us mentality. This team needs to do everything it can to get the 6th win, then try for the 7th, 8th, etc. Build a winning culture and an improving culture. The 53 guys on the roster matter more than the 7 guys we add next June, and losing will hurt the development and confidence of the guys on this roster, and hurt the appeal we have to free agents. Right now I just want to beat Tennessee at home to get us to 6-6, so we can take on SD, Mia, Den, and NE one at a time. But I do agree with the OP that we should fire Edwards as soon as possible and move forward. I think now is the best time, but if Chan and Buddy think such a change is better suited to after the season, I can wait.

A couple of quick responses: Agreed our pass rush is our to priority to improve. I still hope that in the draft we pick the BPA seven times to add as much talent to the team as possible. I think that with similar grades we will be able to focus some on the pass rush in the first part of the draft, but if at any pick the DE/OLB player isn't the best or close to it, I am happy passing each time. You don't care for Spiller, and I think that impacts your assessment of him. Maybe if you were talking 19 rushes for 55 yards or something your point would be valid, but getting bumped on the way to a huddle takes away from any real criticism. I personally thought he ran pretty well, but had no holes. He also was much better in protection, but still has a lot to learn. We get the next five weeks to see him progress and find out his role, but I think he is going to be more important to this team than Roscoe, and that seems to be the label you are giving him (actually, the conditional 7th, now a 6th indicates worse). Disappointing penalty and drop by Stevie, but he is getting beat up a little bit too much I think. The penalty didn't lead to the points by itself, because if we just kick that ball to the 15 and they run it to the 35 (-15 from a typical kickoff), Sanchez probably doesn't put points on the board, and if so more likely 3. The guy also caught 8 for 75 with a TD on Revis, one of the worst games ever for one of the top receivers. Got open for the one he dropped to, and was open again on the one thrown behind him on the end zone. Pretty great routes against the best, I think he can continue to mature and be a force for us. And his TD celebration would have been awesome if he didn't go to the ground. Needs to talk to his choreographer about that because shooting, turning into a jet, and crashing the jet all while staying on his feet would have been awesome and legal.

Every win counts more for the value to the 35 or so returning players on the 2012 team more than the improved draft position. There is no Andrew Luck in the difference between 5-11 and 10-6. But the crushing carry over of turning a 5-2 team into a 5-11 team would have a big time hangover. Right now we have to try to find a way to get to 6-6, then worry about the next game. But finishing a season on a 9 game losing streak is not a way to build a winner. AND there are always great players in the second half of the first round to go along with the Maybin/Whitner picks that show up in the top half. We need to go 3-2 to not have a losing season, and that would be a nice step forward for this team and put us on track to make a more successful playoff run next year.

A loss is a loss, but this one was better than the last three. Signs of life, but hopefully Edwards has some backup career plans.

That's one on Fitz and one on Stevie this drive, each of them taking a TD of the board Fun game, but need to find a way to close it out.

Threw behind Stevie or that is another TD

Can we at least get Smith in if we are going to try to Tebow it to the end zone?

Great block by Spiller to get extra yards and let him get out of bounds.

Clearly offsides, but Stevie Stevie Stevie

Well, one play away, and our defense gives up two big ones. One minute to redeem the game Offense and pick up for a depressing unit.

One play here for the win D. Come on! Can we get Maybin in there for 3rd and long pass rush? Oh wait, nevermind he plays for them now.

Big time hold on that play. We are winning the turnover battle but losing the ref battle.

And how was that not offsides by the left end?

I agree with CJ. How is that not 15 yards? Throwing him to the ground after the whistle.

Another against Revis Island!

Pears has been better than what we had last year, but I think Bell/Harriston is our best tackle pair, and I hate dumb dead ball fouls.

Remember when we would never run a short route over the middle? I love when Fitz does that and we get 2nd and 2.