BillsVet

Because 25 years ago RW hired the greatest GM in modern NFL history. He's due to get lucky again, isn't he?

London Fletcher made a lot of tackles and people around here called him overrated. Next to passer rating, tackles are the most worthless statistic in the NFL. And according to ESPN, the Redskins have 3 of the top 10 tacklers in the NFL on their team. And guess what? Their defense has stunk it up this season. Besides, two of those guys were DB's: Laron Landry and Deangelo Hall. That's never good. I think RW likes him and didn't want him going anywhere. And so he ordered Overdorf to get it done without much input from Nix or Whaley. Complete speculation on my part, but I can't see another NFL team vying for his services or offering anything close to what Buffalo did. Nor can I see experienced personnel guys like Nix or Whaley pushing for the guy to get a new deal. It's almost as if they had some extra money burning a whole in their pocket and decided that Kelsay's been a good soldier so he deserves more for not grumbling about the embarrassing nature of this franchise.

Fanvision is something being considered to retain ticket sales. I believe this year was the first time the NFL experienced a loss in ticket sales since the late nineties, no doubt influenced by the availability of games at home and better (and cheaper) televisions with HD. Cowherd was talking about it a few weeks ago.

Sad thing is, RW as an owner lives in a bygone era when the margin of error wasn't as small as it is now. I don't think he or the people advising him are willing to admit or invest in the resources to win at this stage in his life. He doesn't understand that having a GM and a HC who are ahead of the curve are absolutely necessary. So he's hired has-been's, never will-be's, or people just plain unqualified for the job.

Seriously? He was a LDE in Greggo's defense and that was like a century ago and now he's being used as a LOLB in the 3-4. Buffalo hasn't played the 34 since 2000, so I think a lot of fans lose sight of what's being asked of whomever plays this position. Bills 34 LB responsibilities This is an explanation of what's expected of a LOLB (what Kelsay plays) and he's not good enough in coverage to handle the job. His agility and quickness allow opposing TE's to run all over the field, as Jermichael Finley and Gronkowski/Hernandez have done the past 2 weeks. He is a two down player in this defense being paid as if he's a three down guy. A normal front office would use their pro personnel staff to evaluate who's working in the new scheme. And Doug Whaley being the man heading that department, I can't for a second believe he advocated paying decent to good money for a part time player. This move came from someone else, which is more indication that football people aren't making the football decisions, regardless of Nix/Whaley/Gailey being on board.

It's another point of view, that's for sure. Not that it's grounded in reality, which is always a problem on OBD. Homer pollyanna's don't score well. But you knew that.

Record-wise, the 00-10 Bills won't be the worst era in team history. But then again, teams these days have more opportunity to get better and faster. There's UFA, a salary cap, revenue sharing, et al. In those previous years that were worse on the field, the only way to win was to draft well. So while the past 10+ years doesn't look as bad on paper and certainly not on the field, going this long and being this mediocre to bad is harder to fathom. It's hard to compare eras, although the attention to the game is exponentially greater. And while RW has threatened to move, the team is on more uncertain footing now than it's ever been, JMO.

How many players need to be disgruntled or express dissatisfaction before people realize something's amiss at OBD and has been for a long time?

Played with Miami? Experience as a backup playing 3-4? Why not?

Or like Brian Orakpo or Clay Matthews Jr.?

Fair enough. If I had the opportunity on a rebuilding club to select the best DB or best DE, I'm going with the latter. Brady and Rodgers made that secondary look awfully pedestrian the past two weeks.

You could have Darrelle Revis and Nnamdi Asomugha with Polamalu and Ronnie Lott for your secondary and without a pass rush it's nothing. Having rushers with the right scheme was proven in SB 42 when NYG battered Brady and stopped their high-powered offense. You draft pass rushers first and then find corners. Kinda like drafting OT's before RB's.

So who's Buffalo version of Warren Sapp, John Lynch, and Derrick Brooks? And does this make Monte Kiffin and George Edwards equal as DC's? Reality is that Buffalo has far less talent than TB had in 1996 on defense. TB went 6-10 in 96, and thus did not bottom out. The Bills will not play .500 ball the rest of the way and will not win more than 4 games. Proclaim that negative, I don't care, but the situations are vastly different.

Really? Marcus Stroud has all but been put on the missing persons list although Dwan Edwards is decent to good. Unfortunately, the defense is among the league's worst against the run. And, in passing situations they play guys like Ellison and Bryan Scott at LB to make Kelsay play DE where he gets no push whatsoever. Kelsay will play a lot more 43DE than 34OLB if games continue the way they have. Ironically, people bashed guys like Fletcher because the team overall was bad against the run (140rypga in 06). I see now we're excusing a guy who happens to play in a bad defense proving once again it's a unit issue, not one guy.

Jim Overdorf strikes again. Senior VP of Football Administration who ordinarily works with the salary cap. But with no cap this year, he's turned his attention to cutting former starting QB's abruptly and then re-signing underachieving and well-spoken players who do not make plays. A great day to be a Bills fan!

Someone said in a thread about a week ago that there is a strange dichotomy happening in Buffalo. We have a team in Buffalo because RW is alive, but his ownership is holding back the team's ability to succeed. This is a deep issue that requires some thought, but we know that RW is unable to make long term decisions, which all teams must be constantly doing. Prospective players and executives don't seem interested in working here and therein lies the problem: people want answers that the front office can't provide because they simply don't know when the inevitable will occur. I think RW, Littman, and the family know the plan, but few others do. Either way, that info ain't making it's way out.

Don't place your sign on one of the walls around the field: the team has banned signs there. Maybe they're going TD and banning fan contempt for the organization. It'll get a lot worse too.

That will happen this year. And being that many fans know Kelsay is not good is a reason why. I can see the final 2 home games drawing 35k.

The NFL, IIRC, does not allow public ownership of a franchise. GB is the first and last exception to that. I wouldn't waste his time with EZ colors or uniforms because that's left to people far beneath him. I'll be interested in reading GE's column next Tuesday, although I'm not sure if he'll be deferential to RW or draw some conclusions about the state of the team.

From TMQ yesterday: "Next Week: Next week's TMQ will be nonencyclopedic -- on Sunday I will be attending the Jets-at-Bills game as guest of Buffalo owner Ralph Wilson. Should I raise with him the issue of O.J. Simpson's name on the stadium wall?" Perhaps Easterbrook could ask about Lou Saban or even Cookie Gilchrist instead. Or perhaps ask what his plans for the future are. What say you?

At least he sounds sad saying it. Funny how everyone shows up when something good happens. When it isn't, the lowest guy on the front office totem pole is thrown to the wolves to answer why gutless executives make illogical moves. Then again, the guy's making 3M a year coaching a third rate NFL team as opposed to coaching a college offense.

Since you asked, ATL is 20-15 since beginning a total rebuild after Vick was sentenced, Petrino bolted, and Parcells spurned Arthur Blank. And it began with a rookie QB, a no-name HC, and Mike Mularkey as their OC. I'm not guaranteeing success for them, but they beat NO in the Superdome, and look like that could be dangerous in 2010.

Welcome to TBD. Appreciate your candor and never think you alone in expressing this viewpoint.

Do you honestly believe that people want to come to Buffalo anymore? Thurman Thomas was cut and found out about it on ESPN. That's class. A far lesser player, Trent Edwards, was cut and his teammates learned of it on...you guessed it, ESPN. We have reports players are not happy about how this went down. Think those players don't have friends around the NFL. Coy Wire has all but admitted the Bills are dysfunctional and third rate and he's one of finest people in the NFL. NFL executives and the players pay attention. So do players' agents. This issue is more complex for some of the simple simon's on this board to understand. I wish more Bills fans went and studied other teams to see how a successful franchise is run. Because this team makes decisions that defy all logic. How do you win when you can't convince good HC's to interview and RW has a history of telling those same HC's what to do? You certainly don't luck into winning, that's for sure.

You're on board with bottoming out and hiring qualified GM's to make the decision on a top draft pick then? For the record, Dimitroff was faced with taking either Ryan or Glenn Dorsey. It was not clear cut (we have the benefit of hindsight) and Dorsey was considered. He chose Ryan, hired Mike Smith, and the Falcons went from 3rd overall pick to 11-5 and a playoff appearance the following season. Dimitroff knows after working in NE how to build a team.