BillsVet

So do I. Reminds me of the Super Bowls. I apologize for that, the uniforms look good.

Going to be a long one.

Why wouldn't anyone trust Buddy?

Nevermind. I see Werder said that in a quick interview with Sage Steele. If true, wow. You wonder who the source is that would say something like that.

Where'd you see that clip? Couldn't find it on espn.com

And he has just 9 touches in the past 3 games, 7 of which are receptions. Spiller is quickly becoming another in a long line of busted or underachieving first round picks. For all the talk about Nix knowing personnel, his first pick at Bills GM says otherwise so far.

Gotta have pass protection, particularly on the edges to throw deep too. OL look better when they're not asked to pass block for more than 2 seconds because there's no way a defender can get to the QB in that time. This is the reason why the value of an OT who can live on an island in protection is generally taken in the first or second round.

Hold on a second here. The loss of 2nd year man Donald Jones with all of 30 career catches is contributing to the team's lack of scoring? I'm sorry, but the Giants have been without Hakeem Nicks and they continue to play well. Houston's been doing OK without the services of Andre Johnson, right? This problem is much deeper than not having someone who'd be perhaps a 4 WO or backup LT on other teams. As for those LT's, Bell is hurt every year it seems and Hairston is a bad-bodied rookie. Levitre can play in a pinch but will never be a long term answer there, which forces the likes of former street FA Chad Rinehart into the starting lineup. By this point in the season injuries are hurting every team in the NFL. Losing your former UDFA Z receiver and two replacement level OT's shouldn't drop a team down 2 TD's per game in scoring from Week 3 to Week 8.

This is not an argument existing only in absolutes, e.g. a coaching OR a talent thing. It's a combination of both, and my point remains that the Bills coaching cannot make up for less than adequate talent. Gailey is better than anything the Bills have had in more than a decade, but a team needs good coaching and good talent to be a playoff team. Over a season of 16 games, coaching isn't going to win enough games to be a playoff team. There's a lot of season left. Awards aren't given out for doing well for half a year.

Since Week 4, defenses have successfully countered what Buffalo was doing well. As an offense, Buffalo is averaging less than 19 offensive points per game since playing Cincinnati. That's an indicateion to me that they can't counter what defenses are doing. Like every team, Buffalo needs to adapt to what other teams are throwing at them. It's not as simple as going back to what worked, it's developing a scheme to be one step ahead of opponents. Teams will always take away your strength, and good coaches can tell by now what Buffalo can and can't do. The Bills need better talent on both sides of the ball, because coaching alone won't win games.

I have to believe Nix and Gailey both agreed they'd find ways to involve Spiller in the offense leading up to the 2010 draft. A season and a half later they either can't figure it out or the player isn't what they thought he was. Regardless, that's an indictment of their personnel evaluation skills which leave a lot to be desired. Then again, Modrak was here at the time so perhaps that can be thrown onto him to exempt Nix from more criticism.

IIRC, the NYG and their trio of pass rushers, Strahan, Tuck, and Umenyiora made life difficult in the SB not long ago. Sure a team needs corners, but give me a guy who gets to the QB and it'll make those DB's look better than would a secondary with average pass rush. The value is in pass rush first IMO, and I want OLB's if they're running a 34 not DL doing that for me.

It's not CJ's fault that he's behind Jackson, but in 21 career games, Spiller is averaging 5 touches per. Teams can and do involve 2 backs into their offense, but the HC and his staff have seen fit to not use him as often as one would expect. I'm sure Gailey has a reason for this, but if there's a time to use him, I would hope it happens soon.

Symbolism over substance. Which unit is he going to be captain for, the bench warmers? Is that after the special team's captain and is Rex getting a special assist from the league to do it?

So the bad picks are from the guy who was fired and the good ones are clearly Nix when he was National Scout? Does that make Byrd a Nix pick too? He's a DB after all.

Village Idiots? This comes to mind... Idiots

Sure, there's a precedent. Doesn't mean it's good one. War Memorial and the Aud in 2011 dollars cost a pittance compared to what it'll take for RWS to undergo renovations and yearly upkeep. We're talking about paying out probably 100M or more for renovations now and perhaps 3M+ per year for maintenance. Panem et circenses.

Why is the state and/or local governments responsible for subsidizing sports teams ? I'm hitting at a hornet's nest here, but the government is most likely going to be asked to pony up 100M+ now with more each year to keep the Bills. That sounds like Buffalo once again leveraging the threat of moving to get money this state doesn't really have. Or at least money that they need to raise taxes/fees to pay for it. NYS already has one of the worst business climates in the county, features some of the highest property taxes versus property values in the nation, and shows no sign of improving economically, particularly in WNY. Everyone wants the Bills to remain here for the long haul. The question remains, is there a cost too high for the taxpayers, and if so, how high is it? And does the receipt of additional income taxes from players and increased revenue on 7 game days a year truly off-set or even pay for this? And does a team that takes in 40M per, sells a game to Toronto, and benefits from not owning the stadium deserve more subsidies? I guess we have to do it because they'll leave.

Scheme and game plan can cover up for personnel issues occasionally. But 6 games into the season, that's getting harder to do now that teams have all that film on Buffalo's defense. The issue, regardless of who's running the defense, is a lack of personnel. Buffalo has no one who can regularly get to or pressure the QB and blitzes aren't a long term solution.

Or that so many cheerleaders for every move the team makes can start so many threads ripping that columnist.

My issue with Nix remains that he wastes resources or doesn't maximize them. I'm specifically talking about not getting value out of his draft picks or in some of the UFA's signed. Merriman's getting 7M over 2 seasons for very little. Spiller was a 9th overall pick who's a part time player. Brad Smith is getting almost 4M per season to be a gadget player. Cornell Green got a 3 year deal and lasted a half season. Last year's 2nd and 3rd round picks don't appear to be starting anytime soon. Small market GM's can't do this and build a roster with talent at the integral positions and some depth. On the other hand, he signed Barnett and saved the team money over what it would have cost to sign Posluszny. He took the BPA at a position of need in Dareus, who I think will be the foundation of their defense for many years. I can't say either draft is a disappointment, because it's far too soon. Even outstanding GMs like Ted Thompson and Ozzie Newsome make mistakes. The key is limiting them and getting value out of your draft picks and UFA dollars, which I don't think Nix is doing as well as playoff caliber franchises.

Well, they're 4-2 and they took a risk that just didn't work out. No big deal, right? As if the Bills have 7M to invest in players with lengthy injury histories.

I've been here all along. Where've you been? Nice try.

Nix' best decision so far has been Gailey. But in order to be a good team and remain that way, the GM needs to make more better decisions. The change to the 34 was heralded but thus far has sucked a lot of resources and still isn't much better than year 0 of the rebuild. The options at OLB consist of late round picks and UDFA's and their pass rush is not good. The OT's struggled against the Giants, and arguably their best one struggles with injuries. And most of all, the first pick Nix had has become a part time player. This is an ultra competitive league where only the top 12 teams advance to the post-season. In order to be one of those, a GM needs to 1) convert top picks to starters, 2) make good decisions in UFA, 3) hire the right coach and 4) re-sign your top players. I'd say Nix has accomplished the third, done OK in 2) struggled outside of Dareus with 3) and is incomplete with 4). That's okay if you want to be a 7 to 9 win team, but insufficient to be a perennial playoff team.

Great thread OP. Just because Buffalo is 4-2 doesn't mean there aren't long term personnel issues that haven't been solved in Nix' 2 years as GM. Gailey has definitely covered over a lot of these talent issues and has the team playing hungry, but to win in the AFCE they need more talent at multiple positions, such as OT and OLB. FJ is signed through 2012 and Buffalo, I believe, will eventually increase his pay. I just find it ironic that many of the major players on the roster aren't Nix draft picks or UFA signings: Fitz, FJ, Johnson, Levitre, Wood, and Byrd. Dareus has been very good and Barnett a good signing, but giving guaranteed money to a guy clearly washed up and not offered much if anything by 31 other teams should say something about Nix.