Dr. K

This sure does remind me of a Rob Johnson-Kevin Kolb situation.

These are exactly my sentiments. Gaily was 100% right to bench him. But bring him back next year.

Sign him and bring him back, but give him a brain transplant. He's a well-meaning idiot.

I think they have moved in the right direction. But this off-season and draft are going to be crucial on deciding whether they continue. We can argue about the coaching and strategies, but the fact is they need more depth and better starters. If they don't draft well and make at least a few credible moves in free agency, then whatever progress they have made means little. I think it's all about personnel evaluation and roster building. After that, it's development of players and coaching. I think they ahve shown signs of improvement in all of these areas, but I am not totally convinced yet.

If the Bills don't re-sign him it will pretty much make me give up hope on their being a first-class franchise. Stevie is exactly the kind of player you need to keep. Yes, he could be better, yes tey could use a reliable deep threat on the other side, but they've developed him, he has considerable value, and letting him go only creates another hole to fill when they have serious holes already and not enough depth. In the current NFL, every team is going to lose significant players to injury every season. It's not bad luck or bad training, it's the nature of the game today. The Bills need to keep their better-than-average players and seek more. If they can't keep Stevie, then it's a sign they are not a serious team.

This attitude of "cut him he's not good enough" is why the team is continually spinning its wheels. Yes, Kelsay is not the kind of player I want to see as the best the team has to offer. They are paying him too much for what he does. This team needs to be one where players like Kelsay are outshone by numerous others on the field. They have to draft or otherwise obtain players better than Kelsay. But you also NEED players of his ability because you can't have stars at every position. Otherwise you HAVE NO DEPTH. Which is one of the major problems with this team. Cut Kelsay and then what? Draft a rookie to replace him? Where does that leave you? YOu draft somebody hoping he will replace Kelsay eventually, or draft somebody who plays behind or next to him that's better. Eventually you let him go or have him playing backup. And if that better player gets hurt or needs a blow you play Kelsay instead of some guy you picked up yesterday from somebody else's practice squad. Same goes for all those shouting to cut Bell. Aside from the fact that I think Bell, healthy, is better than Hairston, there's not enough depth on the o-line as it stands. You need at least three offensive tackles who can play. If you can get someone better than Bell, get him. But don't just let Bell go when he can be a valuable player either starting or filling in.

Don't be an ass. I'm not trying to justify anything. If you read my other posts you know I readily admit the many problems this team has. But it seems schizophrenic to me that they could go 9-7 in 16 consecutive games, and 0-14 in the games before and after that stretch.

CJ had almost 170 yards of offense by himself and two touchdowns. And this was on 12 carries, and 9 receptions. What do you expect him to do? This isn't "I told you so." It's to counter all the people on here who insist he's a bust.

So what about the Bills team that, in the 16 games from the middle of last season to the middle of this one, went 9-7? Was that a complete mirage?

Yeah, I'm familiar with "regression to the mean." I had thought Fitzpatrick might be one of those players (they do exist) who make a quantum leap in their play to a new mean and stay there. But you're probably right.

Changing coaches so often doesn't help a team, IMHO. But I do think that if Chan survives he is going to be on a short least next season. If they start badly, he will be out the door. I do expect some changing of the coaching staff after the season is over. I think Edwards is gone, whether the trouble of the defense is his fault or not. Probably some other changes, too.

Bill, I'm curious. Did you really think that Pears played better than Bell did? Did you not see the trouble he was having with Cameron Wake, the penalties he took that hampered an already struggling offense? I generally have thought Pears has played better than anyone would have expected, way better than any RT they have had recently (which I realize isn't saying much). But I did not think this was a good game for him .

My spirits are low regarding the Bills. How could they not be? The most frustrating thing is seeing how far Fitzpatrick has regressed. I did not think he could play as poorly as he did last week, but in the first three quarters he was easily as bad. I don't know what to think about the team as a whole. Occasionally the young players show some flashes—Aaron William looks like he will be good, and Dareus of course. The more Spiller plays the better he looks--I even saw him pick up some blitzes today. I think the o-line is much better than last year's overall, but inconsistent and missing Wood. They need more pass rush, they need better receiving, they need better quarterback play from somebody. The defense still makes horrible blunders--the blown coverage on the first TD pass to the tight end, the 80-yard-run by Bush. If they could just stop making these mistakes they might actually stop someone. But these are frail hopes given how lousy this team is playing. I can't imagine anyone feeling very optimistic about this team.

Pears took two crucial penalties and was was having trouble with Wake all day, allowing one sack. The only penalty I remember on the other side was taken by Hairston. After one of the Pears penalties one of my pals joked, "They shouldn't have renewed his contract." I'll have to re-watch the game play by play, but my suspicion is that your vision of Bell is clouded by the fact that you just can't stand him because the Bills let Peters go and expected Bell to replace him. I don't think you will ever got over that. But I could be wrong.

Bills win this one going away.

I was at the Colts game, sitting in the end zone of the Rockpile. As I recall, James Harris was the Buffalo QB, and the game was played in a snowstorm (though I could be confusing that with a different equally humiliating loss). Those late 1960s Bills were much worse the the mid-80s Bills or anything we have seen in the last decade. It doesn't make what we're suffering now good, but it's the plain truth.

I've tended to look at the positive side of Bills personnel decisions; even when I've felt they were wrong I've given the management the benefit of the doubt. But according to reports Johnson is asking for something around $9 million or less per year. If the Bills let him walk, then I just can't see why I should invest any more emotional energy in this godforsaken organization. For the last ten years their personnel moves have been about replacement, not improvement. They draft players. Many are busts--but every team makes mistakes. What kills me is that when they get someone who can play, even if it isn't at a pro-bowl level, they just let him go when his first contract runs out, and are on a treadmill of having to draft somebody else to replace that person. No wonder they have no depth. This chicken**** way of running a football team is not worthy of support. Stevie, with all his flaws, is one of the few young, quality players on this team. If they let him walk because they won't pay him what another team will, I give up in disgust. I close the iron door on this ridiculous cheapskate organization.

No. I just have a functioning forebrain. I'm prepared to criticize Fitzpatrick's play. For instance, his underthrows on two intercepted passes that would probably have been touchdowns cost the Bills the Giants game. But that's a rational argument, not the moonshine you are selling.

So.... it's different for different athletes.... because "when it matters most" can't be measured..... but it depends on when you can change how you are perceived... because every team has obstacles... some more than others... a touchdown at the start doesn't count as much as a touchdown at the finish.... but it always matters.... but it's not about scoring.... because stats don't matter..... because stats translate into hopelessness and losses..... I think I've got it now. To sum up: IT'S COMPLETELY SUBJECTIVE, CAN'T BE MEASURED, AND IS DIFFERENT DEPENDING ON THE PLAYER. Makes perfect sense when you put it that way.

I find this extremely unpersuasive. You might as well believe in voodoo. It's like the concept of "clutch hitting" in baseball, which sabremetric studies have shown does not exist. It's just an excuse to B word, which is of course your perfect right. Rock on. After game five this season you would have looked like an ass saying this. After game eleven you think you are a genius.

I expect the Bills to play another spirited game and at the very least be in this one to the end. I think all the injuries will be put behind them and the team will focus on doing what they have to do. The young players will see that this is their chance to get better and make a point. I think the young secondary will make fewer mistakes. The offense will pick up where it left off last week and move the ball. Spiller will play better than he did against the Jets (and I don't think he played poorly). If they could somehow come up with a pass rush I'd feel pretty good about them heading into these last five games. But at this point I don't see how they are going to get any heat on the opposing QB. They just don't have the horses for it. The other question is whether they can stop the run, which they have been extremely inconsistent in doing--though I think they are more likely to firm up the run defense than get to the QB.

Then go somewhere else. It's not like your moaning is fresh or original. There are multiple threads every day full of miserable posts exactly like yours.

I don't know if anyone has posted this yet, but ESPN has a nifty playoffs calculator at this site: http://espn.go.com/nfl/playoffs/machine If you play with it a bit, you'll see that, as we all know, the Bills have only the slenderest chance to make the playoffs. Even if they win out, which is hard to imagine, they would still require the Jets to lose at least two more (which is not at all impossible), and for either Pittsburgh or Baltimore to go into a complete tailspin and lose four out of their last five (don't hold your breath). There may be some other scenarios, but they are even more unlikely. Still, it's fun to play with and see how the outcome of single games can alter the seedings.

You let Bell go and who is your offensive tackle backup? People complain the team has no depth and then everybody wants to cut players who would at the very least constitute quality depth. You go into next season with Hairston and Pears as the tackles? You are counting on getting a backup tackle better than Bell? I say keep all three and draft another or buy one through free agency. But I agree that pass rush is need number one.

Fair enough.