BillsVet

The NFL and the owners of their franchises don't care about people like me and some of my friends who spend 60 bucks on individual game tickets. The lion's share of a franchise's income is derived from a sharing of the television revenue, which, IIRC, is about 100M per. Ticket sales, merchandising, and advertising is a far cry from that. But where individual teams also make big dollars is the luxury suites, which obviously are based on the stadium. And so, building stadiums has become the main mechanism to increase revenue. IIRC, 20+ teams having built new digs in the past 20 years indicate the league is encouraging teams to do just this. We know the Bills aren't getting a new stadium anytime soon, and even if they did, the corporate presence in WNY isn't enough to sustain the income NFL franchises want to make from suites and partnerships. The corporate world is all about getting bigger. No one is content to remain at the same level because maintaining isn't growing. The NFL is the same way and I think Buffalo, without some serious changes in the local economy, is going to be left behind for greener pastures.

I trust Russ Brandon. He talked about having an analytics department in January and lo and behold, 10 months later we got one. He talked about the roster being better after Nix, and lo and behold we're 4-7 now. He talked about Buddy Nix being the GM for a long time and lo and behold a few weeks later 'ole Buddy was retired. Why would anyone not trust Russ?

The W-L record will always be the most illustrative metric to determine a team's success, but of course it's more nuanced than simply those numbers. The 2006 Bills were rebuilding and proceeded to go 7-9 under DJ. But the 2008 Bills, which got off to a 5-1 start and were in their 3rd season of rebuilding finished 7-9. Same record, but expectations were far different. While 7-9 might be acceptable in 2013 (the first year of another rebuild) it won't be in 2014. And, if a team is showing something during a season, then expectations can rise with their performance. The reason W-L record is being used here is, as others have said, frankly because the franchise hasn't accomplished a winning season for so long. They are the exception to almost the rest of the league and, as one would expect, people don't trust them. And that includes many fans who aren't buying what they sell like they might have in say 2002-04.

Remember, the Bills won 7 games in '06, which was Jauron's first season. Unfortunately, they didn't answer the QB question and defensively improvements didn't materialize thereafter. These final 5 games will say a lot about where the "new" look Bills are heading. They have to show the potential to get better, or they'll remain a 6-8 win team. Manuel progressing goes a long way to surpassing where the Bills have been for the past 9 seasons, which was a 4-7 win franchise.

The question for 2013 would be whether they'd be in year 0 of the latest rebuild or year 1. The former happens when a team doesn't answer enough questions about the important pieces it takes to win, namely the starting QB and whether that individual succeeds. We don't have enough evidence Manuel is the guy, with positive and negative signs which aren't uncommon for rookie QB's. The best example of a year 0 to a rebuild happened in 2010 when few questions were actually answered during the season, like who the long term starter at QB would be and the defensive alignment. It seems like this year there's some clarity about the latter issue and perhaps a better solution to the former.

It's hard to discuss a team that's 19-40 in their past 3+ seasons and be sunshine and rose petals. My point with OL is that there is a demand for lighter, more mobile types. A case in point is guys like Pugh and Kyle Long who weren't anticipated as first rounders yet they were selected there. I focus on first rounders because it means a team thinks they were worth using most likely their first pick in a draft. You can disagree, but it goes against the trend. Instead, I see a conflation of the argument in order to suppress the argument entirely. There really is no debate, just individuals who aren't willing to go against what the team is doing because they're fans. It's not illegal to be both a fan and objective.

We've had this discussion before and I know you'll disagree with me. Recent drafts show teams are valuing OL, particularly guards, who are more on the nimble side and less the mauling types who aren't as mobile. Take the first round tackles selected in 2012 and 2013: Fisher, Joeckel, Johnson, Fluker, Pugh, M. Kalil, and Reiff. 6 of those 7 are guys under 320 with Fluker the lone exception and he's strictly a RT type. Or the guards in those 2 drafts: Cooper, Warmack., K. Long, DeCastro, and Zeitler. So, out of 12 first round OT's or G's, 10 are under 320 (Fluker and Warmack). I think that's a trend.

Talent or bodies? Signing guys from other teams' practice squads, particularly from a team with a GM like Ozzie Newsome is not something I'd highlight too quickly. The Bills roster remains in flux because they're rebuilding. And it's ironic this team chooses to look for bigger offensive lineman, a trend which goes directly against the rest of the league as teams are looking for more mobile guards who can pass protect, not maulers.

I thought it took 3 years to evaluate a rookie? I could understand 2 years but not less than 1 season. They've played well in spots, but pronouncing them the best draft class is premature.

Jets are the top ranked run defense in the league. EJ better keep them honest or it'll be a long day for Buffalo on both sides of the ball.

I can only conclude Hackett went to the promotion theory class Russ Brandon offered over the summer. Clearly Hackett scored highly.

If you're facing 3rd and 1, who do you call on? Spiller and his higher YPC or Jackson? Spiller and his east-west preference or Jackson? Because if I'm in 1st and 10 and you get 5 yards it's not as valuable as gaining one on 3rd and 1.

I'm not going to re-hash my arguments against taking Spiller. He's made some plays and while injured as well, like the Cleveland run. And no, Marrone/Hackett/Manuel did the running game no favors by not providing an option. Jackson seemed to fight for every yard, but he typically doesn't go down on first contact. Spiller tends to do just that and doesn't get the extra yard given his frame. Speed is nice, but I'll take a healthy and slower Jackson in those circumstances.

You can't have a back getting negative or no yardage so often in a close game. Everyone knows he's capable of breaking a big one, but that's not always enough when it's close and teams are clamping down on the run because they know you can't pass. Jackson is a better option right now, which tells me a lot about how this new coaching staff feels about Buddy's first draft pick from the last (failed) rebuild.

The question isn't so much if Ralph is to blame for this season and their latest rebuild. We know RW is out of the picture so far as management decisions are made. The question is whether Russ is an extension of RW. If that's the case, can they be successful with that style of management in the modern NFL? History says no, they can't.

It's hard to discern whether Whaley is part of the solution or problem at this point. He was Buddy's top personnel deputy for a few years during some bad drafts, particularly high picks. Their UFA acquisitions have been fairly hit or miss and pro personnel is Whaley's thing. Mediocre to average drafting teams have no hope in the modern NFL. You can't spend your way out of the basement and being only average on draft day means you're digging a hole that few, if any teams get out of. The jury is out as much on Whaley as it is Marrone, Manuel, and of course, Mr Smithers himself, Russ Brandon.

Brandon and Whaley aren't replacing Marrone or drafting another QB high anytime soon. The former's legacies are directly tied to the latter and changing things now opens them up to further criticism. Cameron? Dude was fired from his OC gig in Baltimore, who then went on to win the SB. No thanks.

Only 3 years ago the Bills began a significant rebuild with a new GM, HC, new defense and a strange refusal to bring in a new QB. The low point was Chan Gailey admitting after another defeat in Minnesota that he'd learned something about his team. Chan never admitted what it was, but probably meant that he knew his team would roll over when things got difficult. Flash forward to 2013 and we're in a similar scenario. Sure, there's a rookie QB who's been injured, but the play Buffalo has received all along there hasn't been good enough and no one's sure if Manuel is the guy. The play-calling is unimaginative, they lose close games, and it appears the team can't remain motivated when they fall behind. This is becoming year 0 of the rebuild, not year 1. Hopefully Buffalo doesn't follow the course Nix/Gailey did a mere 3 seasons ago.

It's an unpopular sentiment, but it depends on who one assigns blame to. Certain individuals at OBD and in Detroit have been around the entire time and cannot lose their positions no matter what the record or playoff-less streak is.

So the Bills are crap? I wish you'd be more optimistic. LeBeau has 2 SB wins in the past decade as a DC. I'd say he's proven himself.

Does Marrone now pull a Gailey and say he learned something about the team a la Chan after the Vikings blowout in 2010? And when will P.T. Brandon be available to the media?

Love the sig BTW.

If only Marrone would go Jim Mora at the post-game PC. Won't happen but stating "we couldn't do diddly-poo offensively" seems apt.

I was being sarcastic, sorry there. I just see so many excuses and was anticipating what some will offer when the game is over.

It's a rebuilding year anyway, the QB is rusty, the QB is a rookie, it's windy, they played hard, PIT is better than their record suggest, BUF was playing on the road in a tough venue, etc. What's the narrative going to be after this one about why the Bills couldn't win?