BillsVet

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.

Tell that to Tony Sparano and Mike Smith. While you're at it, ask John Harbaugh as well. The NFL is a league built on parity where most teams have roughly the same talent level, hence all the 7-9, 8-8, and 9-7 clubs. When you've got a guy who makes good decisions, can manage the clock, and puts players into positions to succeed, you'll win. Most of the franchises do not have elite coaches. Surprisingly, it's the teams that do which make the playoffs year in and year out. I'm referring to Belichick, whoever Pittsburgh has/had, Jeff Fisher, Andy Reid, and perhaps Tom Coughlin. And there are plenty of up and coming coaches. You cannot tell me with a straight face that an average to above average coach would have gone 2-8 in the final ten games last season.

Wait until the league has a player strike/lockout after the 2011 season when De Smith and the owners can't agree on a new CBA. Ultimately it's the fan who's left out in the cold who pays the PSL's, higher ticket prices. The league just assumes it'll never end, but situations like Crabtree make it hard for the blue collar fan to identify. It's a free country at the end of the day (well, as of this writing) and Maybin is allowed to get all he can. But he's playing a dangerous game and not endearing himself to the fans. That leaves a lot of work to do when he eventually signs.

George Young was the architect of those fine Giants teams of those two SB teams. I would say he and Polian were at the top of NFL execs for the time period. The difference was in who they hired to coach those teams, and who those coaches hired as coordinators. The Parcells/Belichick pairing was truly one of the finest in NFL history. But the Bills had more talent, as evidenced by recent HOF ceremonies. In that game, I agree NYG had the better coaching. This is precisely why it blows my mind that RW does not see the worth in finding a quality HC. Perhaps it's because that money does not count against the cap or he doesn't trust his people to find a good one. Then again, the people in the front office are those he's put there.

I go to games with a friend of mine who's had season tickets since 96. After the Dallas MNF game (and he's not normally as upset as I am) he said simply, "I'm tired of losing." It's not just the losses, it's the way they lose. MNF vs CLE and DAL. Sunday night to NE 56-10 in 07. The season opener vs Denver in 07. DJ tears the heart out of you. And thanks for the SB XXV note. Thought I'd heard that.

Wasn't it Belichick who told his defense that Thurman Thomas needed to run for 100+ yards for them to win? If I'm not mistaken, that was mentioned on the Super Bowl program NFL Network runs.

Many fans who follow the Bills fail to watch what happens across the rest of the league, save for major transactions like Favre and Vick. They therefore do not realize that most teams do not miss the playoffs 9 seasons running and aren't a clinch in their 10th try. If anyone doubts that DJ stinks, ask yourself how many times the Bills have won games against teams they weren't favored to beat. And then ask how many times they've lost to teams they should have beat. Buffalo's HC has been bested by HOF coaches, mediocre coaches, and rookie coaches. He rarely beats better teams, and finds ways to lose to bad teams. I am most concerned that DJ's close to the vest try to win on the last possession mindset is setting into the mind of the QB. Trent gets ripped for being a checkdown QB, but I'm beginning to wonder if it's what the coaches are feeding a young guy starting his 2nd full season. I wouldn't say that if DJ had such a fine record with his other QB's.

If Maybin is that desperate to get on the field, he should have the audacity to tell his agent to get something done. If it's anywhere near what the 12th pick received of course. Most irritating here is that 29 first rounders, save for true malcontents Andre Smith and Michael Crabtree, have signed their rookie deal. I won't read too much into what Posluszny said, but they do need him on the field. I'd love to blame the team, but they've been drafting in the 8th-12th spot for years now. They've worked out deals with Whitner, Lynch, and McKelvin. Why is Maybin any different?