BillsVet

It's decisions like this which remind me of when they started A Train over Fred Jackson. Or played an injured McGee at Miami last season. Or insisted on starting Losman late last season. Or refused to start Jabari Greer. This coaching staff refuses to make changes unless it's so obvious a blind man could see it. I'm not sure if it's a matter of pride, indecision, or just plain ignorance. Either way, I would think they'd know what they've got on the roster. Apparently for three years running they haven't.

They'd take one big cap hit, but I wouldn't be so sure they'd finish 7-9 with their schedule. Based on how bad the starters on both sides looked tonight, they could be 4-12. The nice thing about the cap is, it measures cap dollars, not actual dollars spent. I suspect the Bills wouldn't be able to cut those guys without surpassing the cap max.

I'm still amazed the team will start Schouman, who weighs about 230, at TE. Who's he going to block? Opposing DB's? If Stupar is the best blocker of the group, he'll be getting plenty of PT next to Walker and Butler and helping them block 3-4 OLB's.

I'm paraphrasing here, but didn't Steve Tasker say earlier in the telecast that the Bills believe Fitzpatrick can win them some games if needed. Sure, maybe at the HS level. Otherwise he's someone who should be joining JP in the UFL. It's the third preseason game, and the team has no identity, no attitude. They've never had that this decade.

Does DJ let Schonert have the QB throw the ball more than 12 yards downfield?

I thought this team was one of the most disciplined penalty wise in the NFL. Apparently that doesn't kick in yet. Special teams haven't been all that special this season.

Money talks in UFA. Unfortunately, the Bills aren't concerned about winning as much as they should be. Don't get me wrong, all teams' bottom lines are the number 1 priority. However, when you've gone 9 straight seasons without the playoffs, don't cry poor to me and expect sympathy. I recall people saying in advance of free agency that the team would definitely go out and spend money. They didn't, save for a released WR who they had no intention of signing before his release on 3/4. How is it that small markets in Pittsburgh, Indianapolis, and Green Bay win repeatedly? It's having a solid front office which replaces talent and keeps their best players. Buffalo does not have it, and 9 seasons of losing are the byproduct.

Make no mistake RW runs the team. And his personal advisor is the team CFO, Jeff Littman. Russ gets the little decisions, but this is a team run by a 91 year old and a financial guy who told RW to fire Bill Polian. This team's leadership from owner to HC is among the worst in the NFL.

He also got a 47 out of 50 on the wonderlic. So he's a smart guy. Nevermind that Carolina decided after one season starting they needed to spend a 2nd on Ryan Kalil. He's smart, works hard, was cheap, and had a name that wasn't Fowler or Preston. Otherwise, there's no change.

They are scary bad. Hangartner's on his back, Wood got abused on that sack in the first quarter. But the front office knows what they're doing. Don't worry.

6 penalties, 3 turnovers, 21 points allowed, 0 sacks. All in less than a half.

"Buffalo Bills 2009 Football...We try hard and love our coach. He tells us it's hard to win"

The Bills are the most over-hyped team in the NFL. And every year they leave plenty to be desired by seasons end. So much for having a marketing guy play the role of GM. The entire front office needs to be nuked, and the coaching staff given their walking papers.

For the flight home?

Firing DJ is like wiping your nose while you've got a bad cold. It's temporary relief, buy the idiots in the front office still remain. And they're the disease no one talks about.

Just like Obama's hope and change If you can sell that many season tickets, mediocrity must be enough

After this season DJ may want to explore his UFL options-as perhaps a quality control assistant

The notion that Schonert was a rookie coordinator last season is folly. This is a man who's played or coached for more than 20 seasons in the NFL. If he doesn't have the ability to adapt to what defenses show, he never will. That said, I hope he learns from his mistakes last season and we'll know soon enough whether the no huddle approach works. If it doesn't, this will be a long season.

Everyone with a pulse knows the Bills struggled against the 3-4 last year. Tonight, I'm interested to see how they fare against a team implementing the 3-4, as GB hired Dom Capers to replace the fired Bob Sanders. It may be just a preseason game, but the starters should receive more snaps tonight. The other thing I'm interested to see is how the starting OT's can handle pass-rushing OLB's. Aaron Kampfman, a pretty good 4-3 DE is making the move to 3-4 OLB and can rush the passer. The front three of GB's 30 front consists of Cullen Jenkins, Ryan Pickett, and Johnny Jolly. I don't think there's a greater question out there than how Turk Schonert adapts to what defenses show them. Green Bay won't show too many different looks, but the Bills haven't seen the 3-4 yet in the preseason.

Apparently TO is actually Maybin's agent. Who would have thought.

I can't believe how he defends a coach with 1 playoff appearance in 8 years working for a team with 0 post-season berths in 9 seasons. Give the guy credit, he's never been wrong. Never. If the Bills had no talent last season, then Miami was a college team. The Dolfelons had no business being more than 6-10, but their staff came up with a soon-to-be copied offense which helped disguise their shortcomings. Isn't that what a coach is supposed to do? Right, I forgot you could plug in Elmer Fudd and Buffalo would still lose. Elmer doesn't have the talent to win, even though he's had lots of personnel input since Day 1.

It's those dastardly Nielsen ratings. Reminds me of the old SNL skit with Belushi playing William Shatner trying to avert his show (Star Trek) being shut down. Hard news (murders, robberies, kidnappings) sell. It's why the news doesn't lead off with the local Easter Egg hunt. The same principle goes for sports: people don't care about the nice guys, they want to hear about TO, Plaxico, Vick, Ochocinco, et al.

I'm sure you haven't watched the team much over the past 9 seasons. As has been pointed out, there is a disease in management on this team, and no one has addressed them. If your management, i.e. owner, GM, HC, is out of whack, the on-field product will as well. It's like that in any organization, and Buffalo does not have savvy experienced NFL types at GM and HC with a 91 year old owner deciding whether the coach stays. On field, the Bills chose to build from the outside in. They've failed to adequately address the DL and OL from 06-08, then drafted three rookies in 09 to make up for it. Meanwhile, the've drafted far too many guys off the ball and wonder why the OL needed an infusion of new bodies. The DL hasn't generated any pass rush since forever, and oh by the way, it's the same group there as there was last season. The truth hurts, and in this case feel free to be hopeful. But recall what transpired last season and then tell me why with a harder schedule this team will succeed.

Eventually turn around? Based on what, DJ's press conferences? It's easy to be optimistic this time of year because there haven't been any real games played. This is how each season starts, with plenty of optimism and emotional feel good articles. Then the Bills play the games. BTW, how many times does this board need a post with "calm" and "down" in the subject line or the text of the post? I'm calm, even though DJ still coaches the team.

Hard Knocks reveals almost everything in Cincinnati Reading this, I would hope things aren't this bad in Buffalo. Of course, RW hires and fires coaches, but Mike Brown takes things to extremes. 18 seasons with only 1 playoff appearance and mostly sub .500 records and he's unwilling to cede control to a qualified personnel guy? IIRC, someone purchased a billboard in Cincinnati telling Brown to hire a GM. Frankly, I wonder what Roger Goodell thinks when he looks across the league and sees teams like Cincinnati, Oakland, Detroit, and even Buffalo struggling to compete. Meanwhile the Steelers, Patriots, Giants, Eagles, Chargers, Titans, and Colts of the league consistently get into the post-season. There's little the commissioner can do in the end I suppose.