BillsVet

I said that Brandon gets more face-time than the GM (of Football). The front office is screwed up regardless of how much press time the GM is made available for. No one's been more wrong on this board in recent memory than you. And no one keeps defending this team more fervently than you do. Who did hire Marrone? Was it Nix? The guy being eased into retirement in early 2013? Or was it the Assistant GM, ostensibly being groomed for the position at that time? Or was it the recently "empowered" Russ Brandon who took to the microphone at Marrone's intro PC to tell the world what the team had decided on. If you read between the lines, it's clear Brandon was the biggest vote in the aforementioned triumvirate of 3. People believe whatever Russ Brandon tells them to. Where he gets credibility is beyond me, given his penchant for promising so much and delivering so little.

When did 2 years of Whaley (and 3 with Nix) become overnight? I suppose if they play to earn a paycheck, make the fans feel all warm and fuzzy, and lose close games they've appealed quite well to some. I tend to believe it's somewhat important to win as quickly as possible. The Cardinals have stunk, got better (under Kurt Warner) stunk, and now are the top seed in the NFC. Yet it's acceptable for the Bills to bumble along to another non-playoff season.

The GM admitted it was a win-now season. Why does that change now? I could understand if the Bills had an elite or very good QB who was injured early on and replaced with a backup. Look at the Cardinals. Playing in a tough division with the defending champs, they've lost their QB and still managed to beat KC at home yesterday. At 10-3, they're probably in the playoffs barring something absurd happening. How did they do it? 15 years of no playoffs. The longest streak since the playoff format was changed in 1990. If the GM says they have to make the playoffs and don't, how that's acceptable to fans is beyond me. BTW, Buffalo's wins have come against teams with a combined 38-53 record. Nothing says mediocre like beating up bad to average teams and then getting spaked on the road and at home by the better clubs, whose combined record is 49-29.

Not looking to pick a fight here, but I'm not sure Whaley is as highly regarded around the league as you note. The trade for Watkins, the selection of Manuel (despite what some suits say) and clumsily handling the QB position make me think his talent evaluation is mediocre. He's been a part of this team for going on 5 years and in that time the Bills are 28-49. Certainly not all of that is his fault, as Nix's disastrous decisions impact this team, but there's still major personnel decisions he's gotten wrong.

The problems are larger than the coaching staff. It's the people hiring the coaches and the GM's who need to be escorted out and then replaced by competent types. I recognize that's hard for much of the fan base to understand, as personnel executives are infrequently seen or address the media. I can't remember the last time I've seen Doug Whaley speak in public, although Brandon's always find himself in front of the camera. That said, it's time for things to be re-structured at the top. The coaches are a symptom of the dysfunction, not the disease itself.

Quick question: Who in their respective roles is more successful? WR Mike Williams formerly of TB who entered 2014 with 215 receptions, 2947 yards and 25 TD's? Or Doug Marrone, 13-15 as a NFL HC? It was the Bills GM who made that trade, ostensibly without Marrone's input or direct conflict with the move. What does it say about a personnel department who acquires players the HC doesn't like?

Prediction's for the game: Todd O'Connor: 73-0 Bills. Orton throws 9 TD's. Bill Swerski: But, Todd 7 touchdown passes was the record. Todd O'Connor: Was the record.

Both times the defense has lined up against a premier QB, Rivers and Brady, they've lost. SD took their foot off the gas late in their game and NE scored 24 points in the second half. For this defense to be considered "elite" they need to start stopping top offenses. That said, having an offense keep those QBs off the field is necessary to help the defense. Not being able to run the ball makes that hard.

One would think the Bills would know after all these years that having a top QB should trump drafting RB's, DB's, WR's, LB's, and C/G's. Yet, from 2006-2012 Buffalo spent 12 of 16 picks in Rounds 1 and 2 on those positions. The exceptions were 2 DT's (Troup, Dareus) 1 DE (Maybin) and 1 OT (Glenn).

Makes you wonder what the priorities of the franchise were until new ownership came on board. Guess the Pegula's told Russ the days of squeezing more profit by selling games were over. And of course Brandon adhered to that guidance.

So Russ' gets to announce the idea he and OBD implemented to score more cash is now dead? Is Russ the winner or loser here?

I remember going to the home game vs. GB in 2006. The Packers were the league's worst against the pass and JPL managed to throw for only 102 yards that day. Now, I know Jauron and Fairchild weren't offensive masterminds, but a QB who can't do better than that probably isn't going to succeed in the NFL. QB's take time to develop, but watching EJ play he's not even remotely close to being able to adapt on-field. He came from a system (like most college QB's do) which didn't require much more than reading half the field and making a throw to his primary receiver. Now that he's moved on to the NFL that's not going to work and I've seen nothing from year 1 to year 2 in improvement. If there's little to no gain in that time frame, the chance a QB will become successful is minimal IMO.

If you think the decision to "retire" Nix was made the day of the announcement or after the 2013 draft you're fooling yourself. And why would the Bills, as backward as they can be, allow the outgoing GM to make the QB pick for the future GM? Because I'm sure they were planning ahead after that 2012 season ended and figured that was the time to make Whaley GM. And that they needed a QB because Fitz wasn't good enough People act like finding a QB is mostly luck, i.e. draft positioning or finding someone off the street or perhaps in UFA. It's not. If you identify a guy (which Nix couldn't or wouldn't do) that you like, it may take some maneuvering to move up and get him. Which Nix patently refused to do, preferring to let the draft come to him. It's time the Bills stop waiting for their ship to come in re: QB's and start making their own luck. Their handling of the QB position across multiple GM's and HC's has been atrocious.

Was Duke a Nix or Whaley pick? Because Manuel wasn't a Whaley pick, but I'm thinking if Duke turns out OK then he's a Whaley pick. Better ask Russ. LOL at this thread. They're 7-5, play 3 of the best NFL teams in the next 4 weeks (2 on the road), all in a season where the AFC has 11 teams with 7 or more wins. How do people climb the mountain every year only to be dropped off? Everything would be a lot different had they won games they should have.

One game in a QB's rookie season predicts a career? On the road playing a decent defense that had stopped Peyton Manning 2 weeks before? Sure dude. Point is, at QB the Bills either A) don't invest in good options or B) don't invest at all. This is a hallmark of the organization going back years. The only time in recent memory before Orton they sought a decent backup veteran option was Fitzpatrick, who they stated from the get-go was only a backup and not a threat to Trenative. We know how that went. Buddy Nix set this organization, i.e. Whaley, up for failure when he stubbornly refused to draft someone in 2011 or 2012 (not much was available in 2010). And so Whaley was left to pick from a bad lot in 2013, which gets us to Orton after Manuel failed.

Were they headed in the right direction when they lost to probable playoff teams like SD (at home) NE (at home) KC (at home) and then in a must-win game, couldn't score double digits against Miami? Beating up on NYJ and CLE is nice. Losing would be embarrassing. Yet, they come up small when it matters most despite, as many claim, having more talent than they've had in years.

8-8 still means 15 years with no playoffs. And that's the longest streak since 1990 when the NFL went to a 6 team post-season format for each conference.

If they can't run against one of the worst run defenses in the league, who can they run against? It's not like they'll make good adjustments in the second half anyway.

A familiar refrain over the years and lately.

It's going to be an interesting off-season, and I'm not just talking free agency with a rising cap.

Buffalo's already invested heavily in WR's and it hasn't gotten them into playoff contention. The trade for Sammy, Woods 2nd/2013, Goodwin 3rd/2013, trading for Mike Williams, and others. They need to spend their dollars elsewhere, but the fastest way to winning isn't on the market next year nor probably available in the 2015 second round: a better QB. The primer failed to mention an upgrade at GM and HC, which is hopefully is how you answer the above issue.

There is a huge disconnect between the personnel people upstairs and the coaching staff. Goodwin drafted in the 3rd last year and doesn't play when healthy. Trade for Mike Williams, who, at best plays sparingly. Corey Graham was getting 4M per and wasn't seeing the field. And then there's guys like Kouandjio who flat out aren't good enough. The takeaway is it seems Marrone would rather lose with his guys than win with someone else's.

First, no one knows if they'll be able to restructure Mario's deal with him playing as well as he has. But his hit is around 19-20M each of the next two years and that's huge whether the cap is 123M or and expected ~140M. Second, we don't know what Hughes or Dareus will command, but considering both are having their second straight high-performing season, it's safe to expect they'll want top-5 money at their position. For a DE, that's at least 10-1M per and a DT probably more. Third, there are a few players who'll need extensions either after this season or after 2015. Glenn is still their best OT (and they're weak there), and they'll need to look at whether they want Bradham who enters his walk year after this year. Meanwhile, at some point they're going to need to get their QB, which seems further out than this defense should have to wait. And we haven't even talked about improving the CB, G, and TE positions. They've got a cap hit of ~123M right now for 2015 and if the cap is 140M in 2015, they'd need to get Mario down at least 7M and hope Dareus and Hughes take no more than 20M total for that year in cap dollars. AND sign their rookies, albeit minus a first rounder. Those odds are long and doesn't include money for Bradham or Glenn. That's a tall task and unlikely, unless other cuts like Mike Williams, Kraig Urbik, and Keith Rivers are made. I'm not even sure that'll clear enough space to do all of this.

Having just finished Polian's book, it's interesting how he described the Colts' team building strategy. Everyone knows they chose to build around Peyton (franchise QB's take 15-18% of the cap) and paid other offensive stars big dollars. That means sacrifices on defense, so they employed the Tampa 2 which allowed for younger players to play (who cost less). There's more to it than that, but you get the idea The Bills obviously don't have the franchise QB, but they'd be spending a huge amount on their DL if they re-signed Hughes and Dareus. Considering Mario's deal (it may be restructured) and Kyle Williams' deal runs through 2016, that's a lot of money there. They need to improve the OL and Glenn will want an extension after this season. Meanwhile, Robert Woods will be in his walk year after 2015, as will Alonso. These are all critical questions for down the road, but the Bills will probably have to pick either Hughes or Dareus. Normally I'd be inclined to take a pass-rusher, but Dareus is a talent who can't hit the market.

Buffalo should beat up on the Jets. I'm where I am now because the Bills came up small when it mattered: home against SD, NE, and KC. Those were all debilitating losses we'll point to when the season ends as examples of why this team was a pretender. Emotions are predictably high, like say when you destroy a bad NYJ team. Logic tells me this team isn't bound for the post-season, save for about 4 wins in their final 5 games. But we'll see.