BillsVet

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.

With all the money spent this season, one has to wonder if the Bills have been built to compete in the modern NFL. Millions on DT's, RB's, trading up for WR's, and signing UFA TE's. It didn't work today against a team they've got to beat...at home no less.

Is that in coordination with a local sleep clinic?

Haters gonna hate.

I love the reasoning sometimes on TBD: either you're fan or a hater/basher. No middle ground, no criticism permitted. For those high on Whaley, why haven't the Bills signed him to a long term contract extension yet? I suspect his last deal signed just before ascending to the GM role was probably a 3 year contract...which puts him through the 2015 season. And if he's the personnel genius some have made him out to be, it stands to reason ownership would be getting him locked up ASAP.

All GM's make mistakes.

I can confirm he was a deputy sheriff with a WNY county.

With Cassel's new deal, the Bills spend about 3.6% of their cap on QB's. The starting DL before a Dareus extension is about 28%. One would hope the deal gets done soon, but their lack of cap space (now about 7M) is the byproduct of their spending spree this off-season. I'm not saying they shouldn't have signed/re-signed Hughes, McCoy, Clay, and Harvin, but there are decisions to be made and they affect other players. The one common denominator here is the Bills chose to reward outside people, save perhaps Hughes, before Dareus. Again, hopefully they come to terms this week.

I heard it was Schmitt's...the same beer Adam Sandler and Chris Farley did an advertisement for on SNL back in the early 90s.

It's amazing what happens when business/marketing/PR and their people aren't as dominant in the decision making process. Now with football people making personnel decisions, the product is improved and the increase in business follows that.

Wait, Barnwell's not a Bills fan?

I'm still amazed Mat Castle didn't make it.

Not surprising the amount of straw man arguments used to defend the organization. I could just as easily claim the Bills (EDIT: the Pegula's) haven't extended his (EDIT: Whaley's) contract because he's not won them over. But the trades speak for themselves the past 2 years: A 6th for Mike Williams in early 2015 Brown for a 4th in May 2014. Trading a 1st and 4th to move up 5 spots to draft Watkins in the best WR class since 1996. Trading down from 41st to 44th in the 2014 draft, which netted Kouandjio and Cyril Richardson. A 5th for Matt Cassel this year It's been hit or miss.

Excellent post. Whaley's contract most likely expires after the 2015 season and his decisions need to work out quickly. And now that he's sharing power with Rex, it's interesting to see who stays and who goes. A lot of the guys he's drafted/signed/extended are either not here or not starting.

He'd better be thinking up how he can explain dealing a 4th for Brown and a year later rumored to be trading him. Since the Hughes trade, Whaley's pro personnel decisions have been very questionable.

Brown is a guy Whaley liked long before they made that trade with Philadelphia. And now they're working on dealing him? Chip Kelly is probably laughing over this news.

How about an announcement he's getting a Bryce Brown tattoo?

Kennesaw Mountain Landis rolled over in his grave after this decision. At this point the courts have completely undermined how pro leagues discipline players. What need is there for a commissioner if they cannot discipline players for compromising the integrity of the game? Litigation and people in robes all too often have become the arbiters of everything in society. This was a league issue, not a federal court case. Edit: Landis is not an admirable figure in sports history.

I think a lot of respected journalists over the years knew/know there's been plenty of dysfunction at OBD. Reporting on it would probably not endear them to fans, and so that knowledge is kept under wraps. But with the attention to the NFL growing tremendously over the last decade plus, we're seeing it more than ever. Whaley's worked in a NFL front office for going on 20 years, 5+ of which have been at a more senior level in Buffalo. If he still needs OJT, then I further question his capacity to be a NFL GM.

Does this mean Kryk is on the TBD bad reporter list now? Seriously, the Pegula's were reportedly interested in hiring a football person to oversee that side of the franchise not long ago. Sounds like that individual would come in on matters like this. But what's clear is that a lot of moves this off-season were pushed by Rex: Harvin, Clay, Incognito. You've got to wonder if Whaley feels like his influence is diminishing with Rex the HC.

If by short time you mean 3 years than yeah, Whaley's made them better. All the way from a 6 win team in 2012 (the year before he became GM) to essentially 8 wins in 2014. I'm not sure why you wouldn't expect some measure of criticism on the top personnel guy after this fact. Except it's not that black and white. You can choose to believe that to fit your opinion or look beyond the surface to understand other issues are in play here.