BillsVet

First off, you have an excellent avatar. I think most fans care greatly about the final record, but it's painfully obvious little has changed from an 08 season where the team finished 2-8. No offense with a defense that eventually breaks down because EDIT: the offense can't score points. 43 offensive points in 3 games. Scoring on d or special teams will not happen each week. I hope that when Nelson comes back he's the TE getting targeted as much as Fine was. Of course, they'll need to run some decent routes that stretch more than 6 yards. The Bills have talent, but I temper that by noting their depth is perilously thin. And for Dick Jauron, the peril is too perilous.

Buggs is barely on the field, and isn't featured when the team goes to 5 DB sets. He, like the other backup LB's, is another UDFA or rookie with very little experience. This roster is rounded out with these low cost options, who, when the inevitable injury occurs, cannot possibly fill in at a decent level. I can't understand for the life of me why what we've seen is good enough for some people. It's almost like there is this instant rationalization of failure as a way to make one feel better about mediocrity. They should be 2-1 and favored in Miami. Once again, if a team rebuilds for 4 off-seasons and doesn't make the playoffs in the fourth one, how is that successful? Can anyone say this franchise is headed in the right direction? I sure can't.

Buffalo's defensive issues go back to the the scheme they run. I'm not crazy about the Cover 2, but the Bills are susceptible to the run late and this isn't the first season that's been the case. The 2007 home Giants game comes to mind. Of course, the offense hasn't really helped them out much. The offense has only scored 43 points in 3 games.

The off-season has become more interesting than the regular season. Here's how it goes: 1. Free Agency 2. Draft 3. Mini and Training Camp 4. Regular Season failure 5. Talk about next season

Can you imagine making the playoffs? I can't either, because it's been almost 10 seasons now. Yesterday's game was reminiscent of the losses to SF and NE last year. Nothing has changed, and yet we're optimistic because it's early. They're not any better than that 2-8 finish from last season.

Fixed that for you. The fans in Chicago saw this show from 99-03, and it never ends well. Why do we think it's going to be different either. Coward-Gate

In the salary cap age, I'm not looking for team wide talent like Buffalo had in the late eighties and early nineties. It's just not going to happen. Polian, to his credit has focused on the positions hardest to find, like QB and DE. Indy doesn't have names at LB, and rarely do those guys stay with the Colts. BP lets guys like Cato June go because he'll replace them. But he's got someone behind them who has some experience and feels is ready to play. The defense played well for 3 quarters and tired in the 4th. Reminded me of the NYG game in 2007 when the same thing happened. That's not all on them, because if the offense scores some points, the defense isn't on the field as much.

Three weeks into the season, the Bills have experienced quite a few significant injuries. Butler and Schouman out for the season, Posluszny probably 6-8 weeks, and now McKelvin and Whitner. The former may be for multiple weeks. Quite a few fans around here in 07 chalked that season's failure up to injuries. It's almost as if we search for outs to explain why the team is so miserable. Inevitably there will be posts about why injuries, and not inept management are responsible. Never mind that the four backup LB's on the roster all are UDFAs that weigh less than 230 or the OL is one of the youngest in NFL history. Those items don't matter, because they're shorthanded at many positions once again.

And our chances for the top overall pick. Maybe we'll settle for a top 10 pick again.

Is this good enough for you CB 97? Walker being the answer at LT, only to be replaced by a super rookie in Bell and two other rookies starting Having absolutely no depth at LB, and being forced to start Ellison? For the record, the backups at LB are: Corto (ST'er), Buggs (UDFA 225#er) N. Harris (converted SS) and Ashlee Palmer (weighs about the same as Buggs). Skill players are nice at WR, RB, and CB. But both lines have some issues, and they're showing 3 weeks into another season. Don't give me the younger excuse, the team's been rebuilding since DJ and company took over in 2006. If Brandon's making personnel decisions, these are the examples.

Brandon is not making decisions, RW is. He doesn't have any experience as a scout of personnel director like every other NFL GM has. Brandon could not fire DJ, or he would have. No one seems to understand that Brandon isn't qualified even if he had the power to do anything. The failure is RW's for elevating a non-football man into the most critical football position in the front office. And RW has assumed the role himself, despite the fact he is nearly 91. Brandon just seems like a face they trot out their during the off-season moves this team makes which don't translate to winning on Sundays.

The team is built to make money, especially when the owner won't fire a HC with that terrible record against winning teams for fear of paying him not to work. RW is making the decisions, and if that's not sobering, we're in a division with Parcells, Belichick, and the big money Jets. The only way to win in Buffalo is if the team invested in talent evaluators and a real GM who knew his business. Unfortunately, RW is under no pressure to field stellar management. He's also afraid of another Donahoe who had so much control it scared RW into never letting that happen again. Ralph is 91 in about three weeks and he's not making long term plans for anything. He wants to go out his way, and if that means the team is profitable and bad on the field, so be it.

Why should the thinking change? No one's going to alter anything which sells out every game and 55k season tickets for the 08 and 09 seasons. The team remains a business first and strives to win about 5th in the order of importance.

Did anyone say, "it's just a NFC game" last year when Buffalo defeated the terrible Rams early last year? Did anyone say "it's just a NFC game" when SF beat Buffalo 10-3 last year? The answers are no and no respectively. Win the games. Or have DJ coach your team and lost to AFCE games, AFC games, and NFC games.

Forget it around here. You make valid points about management and direction they've taken this team. There is no GM, and the owner makes the big decisions. They've made so many personnel mistakes, it shows they're not going full-tilt to find the best talent. For the record, Ozzie Newsome is pretty good at evaluating talent. By comparison, the Bills have a marketing guy as their supposed GM.

Remember this thread? Coward-gate The more things change, the more they stay the same. TBC was a proponent back then of DJ, and it's amazing an actual football fan continues spouting off about something so obvious.

9 years without a playoff appearance. 13 years without a playoff win. Some of the most debilitating losses in team history since 2006. HC who has no guts. HC, as Jerry Sullivan points out, is 2-21 against winning teams since 2006. If you'd like to be optimistic, keep living in fantasy world. Nothing has changed.

I was at the game today, and man did it remind me of late last season when the team self-destructed in the final ten games. Fans can say TD set this franchise back, and he did. The 04 and 05 drafts were a disaster aside from Evans. But Marv and DJ followed those up with drafts which focused on smaller players. When they did take a lineman, it was McCargo who is a complete bust and on this team because they're thin at DT. The Bills are 22-29 since Levy's hiring. Just like TD's era hurt the current, so too did the 06-current era when we effectively had no true GM.

There's only one thing that matters at Miami next week... Tony Sparano versus Dick Jauron TS out-coached DJ twice last season, and it should be noted that DJ was in his eighth full NFL season as a HC. Sparano is already a better coach than DJ ever will be, and makes the most out of a roster with severe issues.

Edwards is completely lost at sea without a life jacket. He's had only one HC in his career, and that guy is a loser. That's not to say TE is completely without fault. Today's game shows he doesn't trust his receivers to be where they're supposed to. And the slightest mistake will cause him to retreat into a shell. DJ's play conservatively has permeated the entire team. Now, all we've got to look forward to is TO blowing up, because DJ ain't going anywhere until at the earliest after the season. It'd be against RW's philosophy.

Some things take time to hash out. This board was crazy about the 2006 draft...until recently. Really 2 decent players in Whitner and Williams. Aside from that is pretty much garbage. Smart educated fans knew when DJ was hired in early 2006 that he was bad. And nearly four years later he's confirmed what smart people already knew. But we're supposed to give it time before we can draw a conclusion. Yeah, whatever.

Rucker was dumped by possibly the worst team in the NFL and you'd recommend signing him? What will Parrish bring after this game? Probably a late round pick. Who on the veteran street free agent list would you sign? No one has taken a shot on Runyan, and I've got to believe he's not up to it. And yes, Buffalo needs to use TO more. And while we're at it, how about Lee Evans as well. Those two are the highest paid decoys in the league.

Where are the fans who thought DJ would change when he kept his job about 9 months ago? Hmm? He is what he's always been and does anyone want to admit they figured DJ would improve in his 9th NFL season? He has not nor will he change...EVER.

Who can possibly believe this man will be fired after last season? He finished 2-8 and could not get the axe! This man is so utterly incapable of winning, either with lots of talent or not. He is an absolute perfect match for Ralph's franchise. He'll work for less and the team demands little of him. Meanwhile, the real goal of this team is to sell tickets, and they did that sufficiently.

John, it's abundantly clear that DJ is a very good man. The stories of him in HS illustrate this, let alone his complete inability to throw players and coaches (Turk) under the bus for any reason. But it's hard to give the benefit of the doubt to someone who's recorded 1 winning season in 8 and cannot beat playoff teams in the regular season. I think most Bills fans realize this, but it's painfully obvious he needs a lot of talent and breaks to go his way. He's not inspiring, and I'm not referring to being a Cowher type who yells. Just someone who anticipates, makes good decisions, and doesn't draft DB's early and often in the NFL Draft. BTW, thanks for returning. I look forward to more discussions on football and other interesting topics.