BillsVet

Have to believe the Rogers people were just losing too much money.

Wouldn't surprise me. The Bills are typically behind league trends by a few years and know by now that having a large WR or more athletic TE is what most good offenses have. Besides, they've invested in a first round pick and need to provide him more weapons if he's going to succeed. I think this team goes offense in round 1, as they did last year.

Forgive me. I have trouble not criticizing a franchise when it's on rebuild 2 (or 1B if that's your perspective) in the past 4 seasons and has managed to go 22-42 during that time. Ironically, your point about me critiquing should be paralleled with your penchant for being an unabashed homer unwilling to ever say anything negative about a team which can't win 35% of their games in the past 4 seasons. Check my posting history if you'd like to research the point you made about my availability. That's simply throwing something against the wall and hoping it sticks.

Here's another narrative widely pushed attempting to demonstrate separation from the Nix years. How about of the 22-25 starters/players with significant PT from 2012, how many rolled over into 2013? I can think already of several who started and played significant minutes from one year to the next. SJ, CJ, FJ, Graham, Chandler, Wood, Urbik, Glenn, Pears. Mario, KW, Dareus, Gilmore, Byrd, AW, McKelvin. Not quite 50% turnover. Over the past 8 seasons, the Bills have not built a roster, using the draft primarily to replace departed veterans. Perhaps that's changing, but we'll know if their direction changes if Byrd is retained. If not, another self-made hole needs to be filled.

Similar to the narrative that Kolb was signed to be the starter so Manuel could sit behind him. Not many first rounders the past 3 drafts who are picked and subsequently sit major time behind a veteran. I dare say Manuel was there to start from day 1, but they wanted someone pushing him in camp. Fine, but the guy pushing had a significant injury history that repeated itself twice in the span of a month.

There's been a lot of talk over the years out of OBD, notably the Nixisms like this proverbial baby. Buddy had a big hand in building the 2013 Bills and it should be clear by now his tenure didn't come close to matching his braggadocio. After all, winning NFL games at the rate a very good major league baseball player hits isn't what I'd call being "not that far away."

And we're always 2-4 positions away from fielding a playoff team.

This sums it up from Sullivan's column: "The fact is, they went 0-8 against teams that ranked higher than 25th in total offense in the NFL entering the weekend. They played against one running back who finished in the top 15 in the league." Beating lightweights and losing to the big boys has been Buffalo's MO for years now. Someone will cite Carolina, but that team was different 3 months ago than they are now. Stats are nice, but wins are better and that defense isn't getting it done across the board.

Brandon, and to a greater extent Whaley and Marrone have all their eggs in the Manuel basket. It's all on their hand-picked QB. I love the insane strawman arguments, but what's even better is cherry-picked stats. And when someone is desperate, saying because you don't work in the NFL or have played football above HS that you're not able to have an opinion. To the off-season!

Maybe Russ will demand the HC fire ST coach. If he refuses, then perhaps they'll fire the HC and then sue him for breach of contract. Ah, the good old days when Buffalo could go .500.

A new marketing campaign from Russ Smithers and the boys in the front office that hypes their first round pick. Cosmetic changes and continued hype of a further tarnished brand.

Marrone has big coaching staff decisions to make after just one season. That doesn't give me confidence he knows what he's doing going forward.

Five straight seasons of ten losses or more. Call it the curse of Jauron.

Don't know what happened to the guy, but maybe the lifestyle went to his head. Who knows, but I don't remember this stuff happening last year with Gailey at the helm. Perhaps it was happening but nothing leaked out. I can see Dareus traded in the offseason for a mid round pick. The gifts of Nix that keep on giving.

Didn't they run for the bus in last seasons finale at New England? My how things have changed.

Brandon saying the series will be re-evaluated is simply pandering to the fans who see the Toronto series for what it is: a cash grab so Buffalo can remain in the field with the big time owners. There's a competition among owners to earn the most, and while Buffalo won't compete with Dallas or NYC, playing in Toronto moves them closer in that race. Unfortunately, the end result is a team playing at no better than a neutral field which ultimately hurts them. The Toronto series is the epicenter of all that's wrong with how Buffalo is run. While every team needs to profit (it's a free market) the downside here is that it impacts success on the field. I suspect they can't get out of the deal, nor would they leave money on the table. If they could, it would give Brandon a lot of credibility and remove the idea he's running it more to profit than most teams are managed.

He negotiated the deal, right?

Good question. As a much reviled BN columnist noted tonight, a very good defense and a solid running game isn't enough in the modern NFL. The issue remains that they didn't answer the QB question going into 2014.

The idea people are talking about an undrafted free agent on his fourth team in his four seasons versus the teams' first round rookie QB says all that needs to be said. The answer to the QB question remains unanswered going into 2014.

This is the second rebuild in 4 seasons, the third is 8 seasons, and the fourth in 13. I think the Bills lead the league in attempted rebuilds, and they can't even blame Al Davis. Rebuilding, with the right management and personnel decisions, can happen quickly. It's not a 3-4 year process anymore.

I recall getting a text in 2009 saying RW had fired DJ. Brandon was the GM at the time and obviously didn't have the latitude to make that decision, which defines the dysfunction at OBD. Owners hire GM's. GM's hire coaches. GM's and coaches pick players. Owners collect the profits. We can see that when owners interfere too much and won't let football people make the decisions necessary, things don't work. Washington, Dallas, and Buffalo are prime examples. Heck, even Mike Brown figured that one out and Cincinnati is going to the playoffs for the 4th time in 5 seasons. Brandon is an extension of RW and isn't about to deviate from how the team's been run post TD. The fact this thread is started tells me that Brandon's tough talk doesn't work like it used to.

I'm more interested in what the team does under Brandon's watch than what he says, specifically when it involves money on players. They didn't offer Levitre a contract, failed to come to terms with Byrd, and re-signed Eric Wood. While the past 14 years aren't all his fault, the Bills have been managed from the highest level in a way inconsistent with winning in the modern NFL. I sense patience with Brandon is already waning, given his penchant for marketing talk and failing to then live up to the hype.

Well, forgiveness is the best medicine.

They'll most likely lose 10 or more games for the 5th straight season. Would you prefer I wait longer?

May God bless you and yours during this Christmas season.