BillsVet

RW wanted Lynch badly (after the McGahee comments) in 2007 according to many reports. What's the sense of having a college scouting director, scouts, heck a GM when the owner knows all and sees all? That said, Polian may be trying to motivate Hughes for next season. BP isn't the type who drafts for the coming season anyway, although Saffold's progression is something he's kicking himself for not recognizing. The league is infatuated with pass rushers, both DE's and OLB's that people reach. Even BP is apparently human on draft day now and then.

SD hits on high picks and they hit on mid round guys like Shaun Phillips. They get contributions from all over the place, most notably their 1st round QB and former UDFA TE. Still, the Chargers rebuild took a full four off-seasons and 3 regular seasons. I don't think most fans have the patience in Buffalo to wait that long before the team is good. Who knows what will happen by 2013 with the lease expiring. The point is that Buffalo as a small market team needs to find 3-4 bonafide NFL starters every year. From 2006-2009, it appears they've got K. Williams and Levitre who I think are good players. And then there's Whitner, Posluszny, Wood, and Byrd in the average category. That's just not going to cut it, especially when you play those Pats 2 times per.

The player Spiller is most compared to is Chris Johnson, 24th overall pick in 2008. In his rookie season, Johnson rushed for 1228 yards on 251 carries and caught 43 passes for another 260 yards. That's almost 300 touches, and the team also featured Lendale "tequila" White that year. This may not be a Spiller problem as much as it is a HC/OC issue for not getting him the ball. It's also noteworthy that Gailey is calling almost 60% passes since Fitzpatrick became the starter. Part of that may be just playing behind, but it's not exactly comforting knowing how high a pick Spiller was and the fact he's not involved in the passing game much either.

In all seriousness, what is the plan beyond repeatedly saying they'll build through the draft? I'll grant that the OP should have thought the QB thing through, but he's not far off. This franchise doesn't have all the time they had in SD.

Teams don't succeed on offense because they've got great interior OL play. It's good to have, especially against 34 NT's, but winning in the NFL means passing the ball and having OT's who can play on an island against good pass rushers. The Bills have rolled the dice far too many times on practice squad types and late round picks and the result is more sacks and QB hits yielded. I think Fitzpatrick knew this early on Sunday and it showed. Just for the sake of argument though, look at Baltimore's starting O line on Sunday: Oher, Grubbs, Birk, Chester, Yanda. That's 2 1sts, a 2nd, a 3rd, and a top free agent from 2009. What I wouldn't give to have Steve Bisciotti for an owner who gives Ozzie Newsome the freedom to do what he does best: find talent that wins games.

Lots of luck. And not the Andrew kind. I'm talking about being lucky, which is what the franchise is banking on per the owner last December.

On the day Shanahan was fired in Denver no less. Talk about an owner who wants a winner. Bowlen may not be well, but he's not worried about financial considerations in the face of a lockout. Denver's a mess, McDaniels is an imperious youth, but the pocket book isn't Bowlen's primary concern like it is for RW.

Don't forget an off-season of film study, OTA's, training camp, and 4 pre-season games.

It proves they're down to a few warm bodies and found another one on the street who'll come in, maybe give a Chris Draft type performance, and then be cut in the off-season. This is what happens to teams who are physically inferior: they rack up the injuries and regardless of whether there's a TV in the weight room.

Belichick's coaching tree continues to die.

This is kinda predictable. Whenever things are so bad, and fans inevitably complain about another lost season, someone chimes in and say why care. The same could be asked of you, who will quibble and provide reasons why success is just out of reach. If the team is always climbing the mountain, falling to the bottom and starting over, why care that others care? Taking the self-righteous approach and declaring yourself above it all is the only response when there's no way to explain this decade.

Yeah, because winning is overrated. You do realize this franchise is averaging about 6 wins per this decade, right? The same team with 1 winning season in that same stretch. We get that anyone who rains on your homer parade and isn't glowing about the team bothers you. It's called the ignore button Hondo.

I'm seriously saying playoff caliber teams have good pass rushers, DE or OLB. NYJ, PIT, IND, BAL, KC, SD, NYG, PHI, ATL, CHI, GB, MIN. NE and NO seem to be the exception right now.

This retort is what drives me nuts. We're not supposed to expect our starting LT to somewhat contain their best pass rusher? Well, every top team in the NFL has a very good to elite pass rusher, save perhaps the Pats and they've got Belichick. So it stands to reason your LT better be able to handle a top RDE or ROLB and many times without help. If the goal is to have a team of mediocre to average talent, this mindset works perfectly. If by chance the objective is to have a playoff caliber team, Buffalo needs improvement from both OT's.

I don't nor did I ever see Bell, Wrotto, Meredith, Green, Cordaro Howard, Ed Wang, et al as starters. You don't find OT's all that often in the late rounds, UDFA's, from practice squads, or in the street free agent market. Buffalo disagrees and predictably loses by hoping these guys can play. And that's why I advocated drafting tackle help earlier in the draft because UFA offered so little. But, it was more important to take a part time RB who has 260 yards from scrimmage this season.

And there was much rejoicing...

Draft tackles in the top 2 rounds, not projects in the 5th-7th. And that's why Cordaro Howard and Mansfield Wrotto end up being your starting OTs. The starting OT's were not hurt, and both were turnstiles. The OL was decimated to begin the season. They had 2 NFL ready guards and a center. The OT's were a mix and match of bargain bin pickups and unproven guys from practice squads and their interior OL depth was, well, completely inexperienced.

Off topic here, but, Spiller has 68 touches from the LOS in 10 games with today's 35 rushing yards his highest total of the season. His 258 yards from scrimmage leaves a lot to be desired. If Chan is the offensive genius some fans think he is, what prevents him from including the 9th overall pick in their game plan? I've seen one play this entire season where Spiller was used creatively, that being the screen pass near the goal line at NE. And if someone says it's pass blocking that precludes Gailey from inserting him, I'm going to puke. So far, the pick is living up to what the reality based fans called it: a luxury pick for a team needing help at more important positions.

RW has to pay a heck of a lot more in guaranteed money. The pick might still be a bust, but this time it'll hurt RW where it matters most to him.

No, but it's how gomer homers avoid the real issue that the team isn't good and remain miles from competing with the big boys. It can't possibly be bad coaching and worse players. Never.

The real story is why Buffalo went into the season with: 1. A LT who is returning from an ACL tear backed up originally by a former GB practice squad scrub. Now, it's anyone's guess who that is. 2. A RT who was a Raiders cast-off and predictably released. Now, the spot is held by a practice squad castoff from Seattle. 3. A swing tackle cut during the season, another signed as a UDFA during the season, and currently a guy from the Seahawks practice squad. 4. A chief backup interior OL with no one with NFL experience. 5. A RG, while promising, who was returning from a devastating injury. He's been dinged up this season, and the backup is a former Steelers practice squad guy. When you enter the season razor thin in depth and with so little experience, it's inevitable that injuries will quickly decimate you. And people wonder why they have issues blocking anyone in the run and pass game. It is no consolation that the opponent had a solid pass rush because you've got to beat teams like this if you're ever going to make the playoffs. End of story. But they played hard.

Bright spot? Staying in contention for the #1 pick and RW having to pay 50M+ guaranteed to a rookie.

This isn't even funny anymore.

Oh well. They're playing really hard. Good enough for me.

Great we can run the ball down 24 points. That'll surprise 'em.