BillsVet

Walsh, et al. scripted the first 15+ plays to get a read on the defense and probe what they were doing. I'm not as concerned with that as I am with their inability to do the base Rex needs, i.e. run consistently. And that's partly on the backs playing yesterday and the OL failing to get push. In the latter case, it's not like Tennessee's defensive front were a dominating trio.

There are football people who've made evaluations that 5 games in, were way off the mark. For the Bills to hire Rex Ryan and his brand of offensive football and not improve the OL much, it's a clear lack of understanding between the front office and coaches. Doug Whaley said this off-season that "he has the Bills roster awfully close" to "perennially compete for the postseason and championships." I think even Doug has to reflect on that statement as pure hype.

Well, if there's one position and area Whaley knows it's running backs and pro personnel.

To quote Dick Jauron: "It's hard to win in the NFL." The OP left out rookie owners who are learning the ropes.

Whaley gets kudos here for being adept at drafting defensive players, but his attempts on offense in 2013 and 2014 haven't been so hot. Goodwin, Manuel and Kouandjio are looking increasingly like busts while Robert Woods has been so-so. The best offensive player he's picked (that didn't require a trade up) is a 7th round flyer spent on Seantrel Henderson. Not very good. The OL isn't something they've prioritized and you've got to wonder considering what they wanted to do on offense this year. Roman had no less than 3 first round picks in SF during their better years.

Shouldn't this have been a point last off-season when they hired Rex and Roman to design a run heavy offense and weren't sure who would be the starting QB? Saying OL is a priority now is a day late and a dollar short. The offense was too dependent on excellent OL play this year.

I look at the quick pass like a MLB pitcher who features a slide step delivery to counter base stealers. It's effective with the right personnel. The key is, how do defenses adapt to the quick throw? Rex once flustered Fitz by jamming receivers at LOS and disrupting their timing, which I would hope his Bills defense starts doing. It forced Fitz to throw down the sideline, something he was poor at because he lacked the accuracy to hit on routes beyond about 10 yards. Eli may not be Brady, but most decent QBs with a designed read throwing short who doesn't encounter some sort of disruption in pass coverage is going to be successful.

The blueprint is there for opposing QB's and coaches to get around Buffalo's DL. Yesterday a QB who isn't thought of as elite in conjunction with a better game-plan defeated what the Bills strength was (their DL). And it really looked pretty easy. I know some will say they don't play elite or even good QB's every week, but with teams getting more film on Buffalo, they're one or more steps ahead than the Bills. I don't see that changing unless the Bills change up what they're doing.

Shouldn't the so-called most talented Bills team in years be able to overcome the loss of a rookie OG and the temporarily sidelining of an underwhelming OT? Karlos Williams has more than handled the RB load with McCoy out, and when you've got Harvin, Woods, and Clay, I'd think they could manufacture a passing game even without Watkins. They've got Greg Roman too, who's supposedly a great OC. 4 games in and we're already seeing the injury excuse.

The scary thing is they go 3-1 in their next 4 against weak opponents and continue to try the same approach against good teams. Jim McNally couldn't coach poor OL back in 07-08. I don't think it's a coaching issue as much as it is a talent one. They're playing a guy in Kouandjio who isn't good enough, Urbik who clearly is a liability, and Wood, who's injuries have made him a shell of what he used to be.

Looking at the off-season moves you've got to wonder how many of them were Rex's ideas that Whaley just went along with. He may be GM, but the moves suggest he performed a supporting role given the HC's rep. Yet, Whaley's biggest decisions aren't panning out and naturally he's in damage control mode. Manuel is forgotten as a starting option. Watkins is constantly dinged up. The quarter billion dollar DL isn't effective. The OL is a mess. And, I'd say the QB position is not settled after 3 off-seasons. Whaley's team's are a combined 17-19. He's right to be looking over his shoulder because no one's talking contract extension with him.

Last year some knowledgeable posters made this point. He's clearly not the player he was in 2009 before the injury and it shows. Together with the immobile Urbik and poor OT play it's hard to run the ball, which is what the offensive seems predicated on. As the season continues I expect to see opponents attacking the interior OL, which will continue making it hard to run the way NYG did. Roman had a tremendous line in SF, but his OL in Buffalo is mediocre. I'm sure someone will say the Bills had injuries, but that's a poor excuse. I think the offense needs to go back to the drawing board.

The statement Roman made regarding Cassel's trade was very ambiguous. It's strange that after David Lee praised Cassel's presence in meetings, the team traded their backup QB (and only experienced veteran) for future a 2017 draft pick. It didn't seem like the coaching staff and front office were in lock step on that one. As for Marrone, reports indicated he (perhaps abruptly) departed the draft room when Buffalo decided to move up in the 2014 draft to take Watkins. http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/12118625/doug-marrone-did-not-approve-sammy-watkins-draft-day-trade-buffalo-bills Marrone wasn't a good coach and notably didn't hire good offensive assistants. But his GM also didn't identify a QB who was ready to play, and only found an acceptable option late in the 2014 training camp. And I doubt the Bills sign Taylor in free agency if Rex isn't HC because, as we learned in the off-season, Whaley was selling Manuel to prospective HC candidates.

New Orleans just wanted to revamp their offense with the dadgum fastest and most exciting guy they could get. Spiller just probably needed a 2 game "blow."

This. And Belicheck used to be a defensive guy. I think he startred adapting to the new NFL during the '07 offseason after losing to Indy in the AFC Championship.

In other news Belichick is really a Martian with extra sensory perception who built Tom Brady out of lunar rocks and stardust. That's how the Patriots won last week: Belichick isn't human. And the league needs to hire the Men in Black to expose him ASAP!

Now trades are reviewed and judged after 2 games, or one-eighth of the NFL season? These things take at least one if not two seasons.

Is criticism and skepticism warranted when a GM has produced 2 teams which combined to go 15-17? Because if you want to debate, I will. OTOH, using hypothetical arguments I don't much care for. I remember in 2008 then-GM Russ Brandon was adamant about keeping Losman after Edwards had become the starter. Brandon's contention then was that retaining a backup was necessary because QB injuries occur: http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d807cc3d5/printable/despite-trade-request-bills-anticipate-keeping-losman Why then is that same sentiment not applicable? Do the Bills have a veteran backup the coaching staff believes can play in a short stretch? And why would a team in win-now mode trade a backup QB for future assets which don't help in 2015.

Clearly you've never observed management that knows their jobs are frequently on the line if decisions they've made are not good enough.

Trade makes perfect sense. Rex has control over the game-day roster and didn't feel EJ was worthy of dressing. OTOH, Whaley's rep hangs in the balance (he hasn't been re-signed) and much of that is related to the Manuel selection. Of course "Trader Doug" has no qualms trading the veteran QB to essentially a super-rookie starter. And so now Manuel gets to dress. Which means if Taylor struggles, Manuel's the only option left.

That tends to happen when your arch rival comes to your house and beats you. Unless wins are now optional.

Great observation and thread. I know a lot of Bills fans chalk up NE's success to cheating, but they've been ahead of the curve for awhile now. Back in the early days, Belichick was a defense first coach but has morphed into a more offensive minded guy and makes it a point to talk with college coaches to understand other styles of play. At one time the Bills were at the forefront of offensive innovation. They may not have invented the no-huddle, but they certainly perfected it. And, they had a GM who found the players to fit that scheme. The Patriots have done that with their offensive strategy and it's definitely hard to beat.

Moral victories went out of style here around 2008. Or did they?

How many DC's who have a highly ranked defense then take a year away from coaching in the middle of their career?

Schwartz (EDIT: was) in such high demand that he's now working for the league assisting officials this season.