Dr. K

I have to say, I have no confidence in this coaching staff, except for the defensive guy they got from the Jets. The David Nelson decision is inexplicable to me (and I'm not saying he's a great receiver, but you don't get better by ditching guys like him on a team that has spotty receiving to begin with). The complete loser hired as special teams coach. I expect a 3-win season at this point, with not much prospect of it getting better as time goes on. I'm thinking this is another Gregg Williams staff. It's funny, because I tend to be an optimist w/regard to the Bills. So maybe I'll be wrong about this too and they'll make the playoffs.

I have to say that despite all the hosannahs from most of the people in this forum, I have grave misgivings about this new coaching staff. This seems like an idiot move to me. One where they think they are being so smart but they are not.

My point was that he made the best use (on offense) of the talent he had. Not that the Bills could not have used a better QB. I think you can make a case that he could have used CJ better. But all those guys who thought that because CJ was averaging 5 yards a carry they should run him on third and short were idiots. The earlier opined that Gailey made terrible use of the players he had. That's the thing I disagree with.

I disagree. Gailey evaluated offensive talent well and got as much out of the players on that side of the ball as could reasonably be expected. Do you think, with the QB and receivers on his teams, somebody could have gotten a better passing game than the Bills did? If he'd had a decent defensive coordinator then he'd still be coach of the Bills. I think people are going to be surprised at the steps backward the offense is going to take under this new regime. Maybe a better defense will make up for it, but this quote from Olson about, "So, our job as a coaching staff will be to identify the skill set of the players, who are our best players, what do they do best, and how can we put them in position to be successful and do what they do best." is standard boilerplate talk from anyone who takes over a team. Every failed coach the Bills have had in the least ten years has said the same thing.

Most experts calling for a close game either way. I'm feeling a San Francisco blowout; the Ravens get behind and can't catch up, Flacco throws interceptions. SF 38-13.

I completely agree with this post. When the Bills fired De Haven the first time, the next year they saw a drastic decline in special teams the next year. This is just change for the sake of change. We'll see how it works out.

Do you expect Marrone to get 71 touchdown passes out of whoever plays QB in the next three years?

That's the best case scenario. I hope you are right. We'll see. I tend to be an optimist, but I'm not convinced we are going to see better QB play, or a more effective offense--I think it's likely the new offense will not score as well--but we don't even know who the QB, or other crucial offensive personnel, will be, so that's premature. It would be hard for the defense not to be better, though. I expect a distinct improvement there. Special teams, I'd be happy if they managed to hold their own.

This seems pretty accurate to me. I think Gailey's major mistake was hiring Edwards, and then hiring Wanstadt (and I was behind the Wanstadt hire, thinking it would make all the difference. It did. It got Gailey fired.)

I'm skeptical about the special teams and the offense. I'm pretty much prepared to say right now that, barring a major upgrade in personnel and maybe not even then, the offense will take a step back, not forward, from the 2012 Bills team.

I don't miss PPP very much. The aggravation was not worth the effort, and reasoned argument always seemed to be overwhelmed by ranting--even by me. I'm still just as political, but I express it in different ways. Go with God. Dr. K

I for one will defend Gailey's offense. I think he did a very good job given what he was working with. He made a lot of good decisions. A lot of the people complaining that it should have been a run first offense neglect to notice how much the team did run, or realize that neither Jackson nor Spiller was a Mashawn-type "move the pile" running back--they quite often got stuffed in short yardage situations, and if the team tried to muscle up and run a ground and pound offense the opposing defense would simply have stuffed the box and stopped the--as they so often did in short yardage. The fact that Spiller might average 6 yards a carry did not mean that he could get you two yards when the defense was expecting a run, as we saw many times. The difference between Jauron's offense and Gailey's was night and day. Now Gailey's defenses were another matter--probably the worst Bills defenses over a three-year period since the late 60s-early 70s. That was the true source of the failures of this team over the last three years. A team that could be up 21-7 on the Pats in the third quarter and give up another 45 points in a quarter and a half. I have high hopes for the new administration and coaches, but I am not convinced the offense will necessarily be better. I'm taking a wait-and-see attitude on that. Be careful what you wish for.

You'll be begging for the return of Chan by mid-season. What a joke.

I think there's some truth to this. But if you want to see ineffective passing, go back to the Jauron era. Gailey's passing game was ten times more effective than Jauron's--his offense in general was. The downfall of Gailey's tenure at Buffalo was not the way he handled the offense. It was the complete inability of the defense to function effectively with any consistency. A middle-of-the-pack defense would have had the Bills in the playoffs two of his three years here.

I have a strong feeling that firing Gailey was a mistake. I can't argue that the results he had warranted keeping him, and I'm not really looking to argue with the vast majority who think "good riddance," but I just think we are going to realize after he's gone how much he was able to get out of mostly mediocre offensive personnel. The defense is another story, or course. But I remember how under Jauron the Bills struggled to score 13 points a game. I think we may see a return to those days, at least for a while.

I agree. There is a lot of hysteria on this board right now, and it's not edifying to read. I think Nix has made credible decisions, though not all have worked.

Yes. Glad I could answer your question. Actually, I am one of the few who thinks Nix, with some exceptions, has made good decisions. Even the ones that haven't worked out, that in hindsight people want to fire him for, were reasonable at the time. Also, I do not think this team will get better if you fire the GM and coach every three years.

Just FYI. Current NFL QBs from the ACC: Philip Rivers Matt Ryan Russell Wilson Matt Schaub Michael Vick Christian Ponder

Glennon is tall and slender, it's true. I'm 6'5" and he's taller than I am. The Brooks piece was just FYI. Of course you can dismiss it as BS.

Bucky Brooks suggests why Mike Glennon might be climbing draft boards: http://www.nfl.com/n...mb-draft-boards Incidentally, I taught a class this semester where Glennon was a student (I teach at NC State). Though quiet in class discussion, he seemed pretty bright to me.

Should he have said, "No, all my calls are perfect for the situation. I never make mistakes?" Not that I'm defending him, but get serious. Harvey Johnson John Rauch Kay Stevenson He's got a long way to go yet.

I would also take him in a minute if he were available. I don't think he will be.

Yes. Mike Glennon.

I lived on Bielak Road.

Miami is much better on defense than the Pats and much worse on offense. So against them the Bills looked much worse on offense and much better on defense. All this obsession on how the Bills should have run better in short yardage against the fifth ranked running defense in the league is pretty amusing. I think the offense could have played better, but the Miami pass rush was much better than the Pats', and they were in the Buffalo backfield a lot more. Fitz had enough time, but not a great amount. I questioned some of the play calls, and the clock management at the end of the first half, but overall I think the critics on the board here are a little hysterical about this particular game (some of the other games warrant hysteria, however).