BillsVet

You're treading an extremely thin line around this board with that comment on Whitner. Being a leader and non-bust isn't a reason to build DW up, but that seems to be the reason most cite regarding DW. He's a good, not great player and isn't better because Michael Huff can't start for the Raiders. Game changers are what this team needs Even though most players don't become that, every successful team has their share. It's a difficult thing for a safety to be a game changer, given how far off the LOS they usually play. You can see how plays like McKelvin's make problems go away quickly. Without his INT return, that game may turn out different. Looking back, many fans thought DT was the way to go in 2006. Yes, we're not experts, but the Bills fan base (some of them) know that you prioritize OL and DL before small players. DJ and Marv thought otherwise, and we can only wonder what if in 2008.

Buffalo could only beat one team this week. I'd have liked to see better defense, but scoring 54 against any NFL team is excellent. I'll take it. Regardless of whether Buffalo makes the playoffs, a huge void exists in the front office. Far too many times this franchise has made poor personnel and coaching decisions. Anyone who thinks Russ Brandon can perform GM responsibilities minus the backgroud hasn't looked at the 31 other teams who either have a GM or a someone working in the position without the exact title. Even though a salary cap exists for players, nothing is there for coaching and front office executives. RW has made it a point to go thin at these crucial positions, and we're seeing the result. I have a hard time believing Buffalo can compete with the other three teams in the AFC East. Without a proven talent evaluator in the GM role, I don't see things changing anytime soon.

If it was the RT for KC, MacIntosh, then that's even worse for Ellis. If anyone remembers MacIntosh, he's the fat journeyman who KC has had to go with this season. He's horrible, and if Ellis can't play well against him that's bad. Ellis may not be ready, and even Kelsay is better. He needs a lot of work in the offseason.

I thought the same thing. Seeing QB's running into tacklers is never a pretty sight and I hope TE doesn't make it a habit. But how can you not remember Rob Johnson? It's clear Buffalo needs to get stronger on the interior OL. They had the benefit today of playing a team with a pathetic DL and it showed. With Jenkins and Wilfork in the division for awhile, I'd expect Buffalo to prioritze interior OL on draft day. If they don't, it'll be more of the same until they fortify the middle against big NT's.

I can remember leading up to the draft and right after how people questioned McKelvin's hands. The scouting reports were he didn't get enough INT's at Troy State. Well, I think his hands are just fine after today's performance. Thigpen's throw which resulted in the INT return wasn't horrible. But as the announcers said, it was a better play by McKelvin. The kid has enthusiasm, which on this team has obviously been lacking in recent weeks. Playmakers are what this team needs so desperately of late. McKelvin's showing he can be one.

For one day, I can ignore DJ, the lack of a GM, drafting DB's early and everything else holding back the franchise. Putting up 54 against a NFL team is priceless. Hopefully Buffalo can use this win to help next week against SF.

MFCMT, you really sparked a crapstorm with that one. All the pro-Bills we don't need a real GM front office fans will be out and about now. Unfortunately, Buffalo has the worst front office in the AFCE, and probably only a step above of Oakland, Detroit, and Cincinnati. What I'd like to know is how drafting a Whitner has solidified this team's ability to stop the run. DJ's build through the secondary mindset really didn't start to work until Buffalo acquired Stroud and bigger linebackers. Let them keep believing the secondary is the most important part of the defense. Then again, Buffalo hasn't had a statistically high ranked pass defense since Clements was on this team. Of course after he left, they've had issues defending the pass.

I like to look at where the Bills have drafted on defense these past three years: 7 DB's (Whitner, McKelvin, Youboty, Simpson, Corner, Wendling, Cox) 2 LB's (Posluszny, Ellison) 2 DT's (McCargo, Williams) 2 DE's (Ellis, Ah You) It's easy to pick apart drafts, but taking 7 DB's in three drafts has hurt. When you consider that when Levy and Jauron took over, the Bills had Clements, Greer, Milloy, and McGee, it's hard to understand all the resources allocated toward the secondary. When they did draft a DL, it was a bust with McCargo. Priorities on defense begin at DL, then LB, then secondary. We're seeing how a lack of a real pass rush affects the entire team. Spending picks on DB's is worthless without a front seven to help them. What I can't comprehend is that many of the things which killed the Bills in recent years are still appearing. They still allow long drives and fail to get turnovers. Those have been problems all three years DJ's been HC. Having a C2 base defense requires you get turnovers. Unfortunately, without a pass rush that won't happen anytime soon.

I love how so many threads and posters here are declaring that Trent isn't the guy. That's based on four bad games. No one was saying that when he was playing well the first four games. He has a lot to learn, and he knows it. Give him the rest of the season because I think he'll do well. As for the Dimitrioff approach, it's ironic he didn't rid the Falcons of Lawyer Milloy. He's a high paid and very veteran player. But he's played well and Buffalo letting him go looks stupid. I give Arthur Blank a lot of credit because he handed over football operations to Dimitrioff and didn't look back. He was led on by Parcells, and previous he had to deal with the Vick fiasco. No one in the NFL deserves success from an owners standpoint like Blank does. However, the challenge in Buffalo is to win despite Wilson. Ralph's meddling 1950s style of leadership is wearing thin. The one time he's gone out and hired someone to handle football operations blew up in his face with Donahoe. Regardless of previous experience, RW needs to find another guy. Brandon is a business guy, and no one in that front office is a going to be the next GM. Atlanta has done well this season, and they look like they've found a QB post-Vick. Maybe Wilson can find an up and coming type who'll come here and restore some pride. They must find a GM asap.

PFW Article 11-21 Regardless of how the quarterback actually feels, the bloom has clearly fallen off first-year offensive coordinator Turk Schonert’s rose, not to mention that of Jauron, who signed an extension earlier this season. Nevertheless, don’t expect Jauron or any of his coaches to be shepherded out of town this offseason. Jauron, like many of Buffalo’s head coaches who preceded him, is intensely loyal to his assistants and won’t fire a member of his staff just to appease public sentiment. For as much heat as Edwards has taken (and rightly so) Schonert's a rookie play-caller, and it's clear he's run out of answers this season.

Ralph might pay for one trip to Salvatore's Italian Gardens, without the hotel. Seriously, the Bills are required by the NFL to spend a certain amount on players. It's usually about 85-90% of the cap. There's nothing that says they have to spend a minimum on coaches. Now more than ever the NFL is a coaching league, and unlike baseball, coaches can mean a win or loss in a majority of games. We've seen how bad decisions influence the final outcome. Things like wasted timeouts, exceesive losses in challenges, gameplans which do not adapt to opponents, and on and on. A well paid coach doesn't guarantee success, but if you can't attract the best talent in coaching, it means you'd better have supreme talent on the field to make up for it.

Very true. I've often wondered why if Ralph could hire a marquee name like TD for President/GM, then why couldn't they let TD find a bonafide HC? I agree with the idea that there was a line drawn for how much they would pay the new HC after Wade left in 2000. TD was a jerk, but I think he was bright enough to know the NFL is a coaches league. And he picked coordinators both times. Littman's position in all of this is very murky. We never hear much about him, but it's evident he and Ralph do a lot of meddling in football operations. The result is 8 and most likely 9 straight non-playoff seasons. RW and most likely JL find new ways to push people away, and it's not going to change until the inevitable occurs. I don't expect the Bills to ever resemble the late 80s/early 90s teams that had excellent depth. The awful front office decisions that have been made since 2000 are proof enough that Ralph/the front office/Littman are all incompetent when making football personnel decisions.

And 56,000+ season ticket holders believed competing was going to the playoffs. If only they'd known. I will admit I am a season ticket holder, although I've got to believe that number won't be as high next season. I go to games with two people who've been season holders since 1996. They've never watched a home playoff game in 13 years. One said to me after the Cleveland game that he was just tired of losing. I've never seen him that dejected, but it's wearing on people. The marketing people just can't keep beating a dead horse, which is what Bills fans are becoming. If DJ stays, I have to wonder how they can keep selling tickets, considering the team is always rumored to move, the current squad isn't very good, and the front office never changes despite being as mediocre as they've been.

My post was sarcasm, based on a downright hilarious thread which developed earlier this year. It involved what appeared to be a younger guy talking about how "with it" he was despite going to an "Ivy League-caliber" school. As far as being on this board, if you want to let on who you are, fine. But I don't make a habit out of it. The problem with people in their late teens and early twenties who populate this board is they haven't been watching football as closely and long enough to know the pains of this franchise. And if you talk to those who watched the team since Day 1, you might better appreciate their struggle. It's been nothing but mediocrity since 2000, which isn't a whole lot different than the late 60s and early 70s. Back then it was a fight between horrible and mediocre. It's a trend with the Bills, as someone said in another thread, that Buffalo gravitates between long periods of mediocre and short ones of success. The Bills were good in the mid 60s, mid-70s, early 80s, and late 80s through late 90s. The last eight years (during the salary cap era) have been demoralizing. Other than the Polian years and results, Buffalo does indeed move between bad, mediocre, with a sprinkling of success. It's fine if you want to be that optimistic, but you need to see more of just the past 8 years. Which I'm guessing is what you've really watched intently. As for DJ, he's had immense personnel control over this team. If it's too young, he shares a great deal of blame for that.

Great point bolded there. That's sums it up. As for Trader Bill, Polian had negotiated contracts with Kelly and B. Smith, which prompted his promotion to GM. He wasn't a big name, and thank goodness the stars aligned when he was hired. Levy was an also-ran HC who many people forget was pretty fiery from time to time. There are enough NFL Films clips to demonstrate this. Polian and Levy worked well together, and it was a situation which hasn't been duplicated since in Buffalo. Perhaps it happened because the NFL was simpler before the cap. Then again, Polian seems to work well with Dungy so maybe it's not out of the question either. All in all, I agree with this. Buffalo's only saving grace is that they're not completely awful like Detroit is. Although now, the Bidwell's look good because their team will make the playoffs, leaving only the Bills and Lions as not having made the playoffs since the 1990s.

I've been ready for the 2008 season since free agency started in February. When Stroud, Mitchell, and Johnson came via trade and UFA this was an energized fan base. The draft, mini-camp, training camp, and pre-season only heightened expecations. But as in the previous few seasons, we're left with a monumental let-down which has demonstrated how far the Bills are from respectability. Over the past eight seasons, the marketing department has done a fine job of creating hype which ultimately is never met. Perhaps it can't be, but 56,000+ season tickets sold is evidence that a lot of people bought into a team without as much talent in the front office, on the field, and coaching like we thought. Right now, I still think this team is in rebuilding mode, and it's going to take more than cosmetic changes to get this team on track for success. I resolve to never again get too hyped up about a team that hasn't demonstrated any success since the 20th century. I will also not get hyped if Jauron is fired, a real GM is hired, and the team makes personnel moves that look good in the off-season. Only when they can physically beat good teams consistently and gain a playoff berth will I start to think optimistically about this franchise. Until then, it's best to keep expectations low. Especially when you consider the cloud of uncertainty hanging over the future of this franchise isn't going away anytime soon.

Tell that to the 56,000+ season ticket holders. I think they expected a good team, and the marketing folks clearly played that angle well.

As long as you keep on the anti-DJ bandwagon.

Murra, you've seen the light. I listended to Jeff Fisher this morning on Colin Cowherd's show. What a stand up guy, who despite that 10-0 record, admitted the team played poorly in the first half against Chicago. Obviously, it's easier to admit something's wrong when the overall record is 10-0, but Fisher tells it like it is, and I think that's all you and I are asking for DJ. I'm not asking for him to throw his players or coaches under the bus, but admit that they've been bad and that they know they must win every week to see the post-season.

Maybe he's a paid fireman who loathes volunteers.

Did you, by chance go to an Ivy-league caliber school? That would clinch it.

Thanks for posting that. I was happy to see AW being that frank about what's going on at OBD. Most of his pieces have centered around keeping things even-keel. I think even the writers are beginning to wonder if there's a light at the end of the tunnel. Turk has already told everyone if they knew football like he does, not to mention the quote about kneel-downs at the end of games skewing running stats. It's nice to see someone in the media question the direction instead of playing cheerleader.

This thread has obviously been hijacked by the pro-Jauron crowd, a gradually shrinking audience that is content with mediocrity. Every coach on that board had potential, and eventually met that: Jimmy Johnson won a SB in his 4th year in the league. Bill Walsh in his 3rd. Dick Vermeil went to the SB in his fifth. He took the Rams to the SB in his third in STL. Jeff Fisher went to the SB in his sixth. Bill Parcells had already won 2 SB's by the time he started with NE. He won a SB in his fourth with NYG. He went to the SB in his fourth with NE. Tom Coughlin had four playoff wins in his first five years as a NFL HC. Mike Holmgren won a SB in his fifth season as a HC. Tom Landry inherited a brand new franchise in 1960. And it was a far different era back then. Cherry-picking stats has become the norm around here. Unfortunately, only about a 5-11/6-10 record will influence the Jauroniacs how truly bad and mediocre his entire career has been. And it would take another 2 years of that garbage which Jauron has given this proud franchise to prove it to some of you. If you think DJ is the man to lead this team to the SB, I want to hear why, not mindless stats which tell me nothing. I want to hear how his gameday decisions on the field are superior. I want to hear why drafting DB's will make this team better. I want to hear how calling runs into the interior OL to set up a lengthy FG is the way to go. I want to hear how he motivates his team. And lastly, I want to know how it's possible that a coach could have a winning percentage of .433 over his entire career of 9 seasons and still not win a playoff game. You'd honestly want to hold onto a coach like that?

You cannot be serious. This is a HC who's been in the role now more than 120 games in the NFL. Many HC's never get that far because front offices realize they can't get it done. He's 54-68 in those games. How much more evidence do you need to declare this guy as unsuccessful. According to pro-football-reference.com, only Dom Capers, John McKay, Joe Kuharich, and Norm Van Brocklin have coached as many games with a worse winning percentage. Being a HC is like being a fighter pilot. Either you're successful, or you're not doing it anymore. For DJ to have survived after the Chicago stint is remarkable. And one more thing, if DJ is responsible for acquiring players like we all know, then isn't it his fault when a great many of them can't perform? Stop making excuses.

There was a lot of good said when DJ's young 06 and 07 teams struggled and he kept a calm demeanor. I can't believe that in the midst of a four game losing streak, that we act the same way on the sidelines. When you're not doing well and acting calm, it tells me you don't care or are just trying to ignore those problems. I think in this case it's the latter.