BillsVet

I have a feeling there's going to be a lot of buses going by OBD in the coming weeks. And more people ending up under those buses, both coaches and front office types.

In one respect, I think Marrone's group is just like previous coaching staffs that couldn't get it done in Buffalo. These coaches are wedded to a philosophy come hell or high water and they're going to go down trying to make it work. That's OK if there's synergy between the personnel group and coaches like there is in Seattle where Carroll gives Schneider a personnel "shopping list" and they get the right players. The Bills don't have that, nor will they anytime soon. And so you get a massive OL that can't move to block for scat-backs like Spiller. Or passing plays that the defense know is coming. Or lining up 3 DL on 3rd and 15 and getting no pressure on a QB who's playing behind a very questionable NE OL.

The owner needs people he can trust who will advise him on how to get his team out of 15 years of irrelevance. That includes finding personnel people who'll get him the QB. Conducing a top down review will give him fresh perspective as opposed to hearing the buzzwords of Brandon or listening to the OBD lifers and toe-liners blame departed types. And of course, TPegs needs to know which dead weight to cut and how to re-organize the franchise. It sounds like they're starting by moving Brandon over to the financial side with no input into anything football related.

The personnel and coaching decisions going back to 2013 (when Whaley took over) make little, if any sense. And for the record, I recognize he wasn't the official GM until May 2013, but Buddy was being eased out of the decision making process during the 2013 off-season. They're staring at busts with their 2013 1st round QB and perhaps the 2014 2nd round pick OT who doesn't dress. They just IR'd (for a back problem) their first UFA signing in 2014, who has a history of back injuries. They failed to adequately replace Levitre in 2013, doing so with castoffs who hurt the team. This year, they're starting 2 rookies on the OL and a displaced RT at RG who flat out stinks. They never tried to acquire a proven veteran QB until the final week of their 2nd pre-season. That led to lost games in 2013 when they started a rookie UDFA and a journeyman QB (on 4 teams in 4 years and now out of the NFL). They got what looks like an outstanding WR in the 2014 draft, but not before selling off their top pick in 2015 to do it when they weren't 1 player away with a QB who has major accuracy issues. As for the coaching staff, the rookie HC in 2013 proceeded to hire several SU cronies, notably the OC who had never served as a position coach in the NFL. And last year the rookie OC was charged with being QB coach to a raw rookie as well. This worked so well that they finally broke down and hired a QB coach and an offensive assistant (who previously had failed as OC in SF) in 2014. Whaley owns this now and I hope Accorsi or Wolf advocate for massive changes at OBD that are accepted. Either Whaley gets overruled frequently, or his acumen isn't as high as some would like to believe.

So many things to discuss after this loss. But I still don't understand, if this is a team with marked improvement in talent, why they can't have all phases of the game working at the same time. It's the NFL and teams are always scheming to stop what you do well, but when the defense is excellent, the offense isn't good. Or, today, the offense was passable and the defense broke down. If the talent is improved, then is it coaching? It ain't the Big East and NE is no Rutgers or UConn. We coach like it is though sometimes. The Bills continue to be pretenders and aren't ready for prime time either.

Ernie Accorsi or Ron Wolf consulting would be a welcome relief after years of the OBD lifers running the show. I'm sure Accorsi or Wolf can provide what is needed to fix what's wrong at OBD. If LaCanfora is correct, the Pegula's already understand the financial side of the house has interfered with the football side. As has been said numerous times, you don't invest 1.4B into a NFL team and then not evaluate what's going on. There will be changes after this season regardless of the result.

Their first UFA signing this year...and he's on IR, but not before getting 5.5M guaranteed. Not a huge contract, not a good decision either considering the back injury history.

Sorry. Looks like Vikings and Lions. Only got to see one game in country that 2004 season...the season finale loss at home to Pittsburgh. Ughh.

Right now that coaching staff is looking outstanding. Philip Rivers has rebounded back to being a top 5 QB, but credit also has to go to Mike McCoy, Frank Reich, and John Pagano.

That's two and a half years ago. Players regress and progress, the result of injuries, scheme change, whatever. Wood re-signed IIRC in the off-season to a decent sized contract. It's OK to ask if the guy's living up to it given how they've struggled running the ball, albeit yesterday against a solid defense. For all the people who hate Sullivan, he sure seems to get a lot of attention.

I'm going to go ahead and disagree because it's not about being able to make the throw. All NFL QB's can, but can they do it when the game's on the line on 3rd down? Manuel's inconsistency rears its head much more often and the likelihood he'd have nailed the throw to Goodwin is not high. The fact EJ isn't a veteran is not why Marrone pulled him. It's because he held the team back in terms of offensive play-calling and his inability to make plays, i.e. throws downfield. Excellent win. Looking forward to the NE game.

Darren Sproles...I think he grew at least 1 inch since last season.

It lends credibility to the concept of finding a veteran guy who can be efficient and make a few plays. Somewhat like KC did with Alex Smith. Of course it has to be the right player in the right scheme, but looking at the QB's who've played decent minutes in 2014 already (I counted 45) half of them had 7 years or more experience. 16 have 10 or more years in the NFL. So it seems teams are admitting that QB's need more seasoning. The 2011 draft specifically saw some guys go way before they should have. I think the value on QB's is beginning to level out, as in not over-drafting them based on need like Minnesota did a few years ago with a guy like Ponder who was widely believed to be 2nd round material.

The conspiracy is someone posted 5 threads with the same title.

They had the 8th overall pick and they traded down to 16 to get the guy thought by the braintrust to be their franchise guy. You don't win in the NFL by giving up 8 for 16 and a 2nd rounder unless you get something from both picks. It's not enough with players aging, contracts expiring, et al. Justifying the pick by saying "well at least they hit on the 2nd rounder" is weak. Just because something isn't a total loss doesn't mean it's a good decision.

In his first mini-camp no less. http://www.tomahawknation.com/florida-state-football-fsu-noles/2013/5/20/4347866/ej-manuel-buffalo-bills-offense-easier

Sometimes teams get lucky. And sometimes teams get lucky in their quest for a QB. I'm not going to go crazy and expect the guy to throw for 300 yards every game, but a look at his starts going back to 2010 (when he did start) show that he's capable to make plays. And given the weapons he's got and experience, I don't think it's insane to expect some W's as a result. Cautiously optimistic on Orton at this point.

What kind of front office do you have when you expect Kevin Kolb to a) remain healthy b) give him a 2 year 6.1M deal (with 2M guaranteed) and c) expect him to push/mentor your rookie QB? Not a very good one. These moves they've made at QB going back to when Nix came aboard are head-scratching to say the least. It's hard to tell where Buddy's bad decisions ended and Whaley's began.

Peter King spoke to this earlier this week: http://mmqb.si.com/2014/09/30/buffalo-bills-benching-ej-manuel/ I think EJ has always been someone who did specifically what was asked of him, which worked in college. At the pro level there's a need to adapt and be creative, which he's not accustomed to being on the field.

There hasn't been a sense of urgency at OBD for years. So long as RW was alive, the OBD lifers were guaranteed to have jobs regardless of the results. That may sound harsh, but things changed dramatically when Mr. Wilson passed. The entire tone of the place changed, as evidenced by their trade up to grab Watkins. The GM's, HC's, coaches, and players may change, but the result has remained the same. It's the senior people who've been there for this duration who impact the on-field result more than some can imagine. Hopefully Pegula has an organizational review conducted during the latter part of this season. There's some people who've lasted longer than they would for most teams.

Guys like Mike Williams, Robert Woods, and others have a vested interest in who the QB is. Wasn't it Williams' mother who joked with him about the lack of targets as compared to his Tampa years? Nice answer Orton had for Buscaglia. Almost better than Bryce Harper and his "clown question bro" response.

I haven't seen a Bills HC be this authoritative in years, and it's not surprising that it's taken place after RW's ownership. There's been a lot of self-preservation going on at OBD for years and finally someone's not standing for the status quo. We heard rumblings in February that Marrone and the staff weren't satisfied with the trainers. Brandon swiftly put that fire out by forcing Marrone to toe the line. And then there's Marrone yelling before practice a few weeks ago. His coaching life is at stake and for once there's a Bills HC who isn't going to accept the crap OBD forces on that HC. It wouldn't surprise me if Marrone pushed for Orton knowing EJ was still a project and there was some waffling. After all, it was Whaley who said they were good at QB earlier in the off-season. And Jason Cole had a report that players and staff told Marrone in the off-season EJ wasn't good enough.

If you take the games EJ's finished for Buffalo, then Marrone's career record as a HC is 6-8, which is the same as Belichick's first 14 games in 1991 with Cleveland. Ergo, Marrone and Belichick are the same. And people want to fire Marrone? Makes no sense. No sense at all. Doug Marrone's done more in his life than most people who post on TBD, so anyone who criticizes him is clearly not bright.

He can't dance but he can play QB. I'll bet Orton's downed more bottles of Jack though

Those Indianapolis teams were built on Manning (most teams are built on superior QB play) but they shaded more toward the offensive side of the ball. It's why the first DC, Vic Fangio (now of SF) had to leave. The Colts allocated more resources to the offense and needed to have a T2 defense which could bend. Fangio wanted otherwise, and I think those Colts (through 2007) had a suitable strategy given their QB. Polian wasn't perfect, and naming his kid as heir apparent at GM wasn't a wise move. But he's one of the best GM's in NFL history.