BillsVet

You do realize APUS that Buffalo has won their games against KC, STL, SEA, OAK, SD, and JAC? Playing tough defense against those teams, in addition to SF and CLE, should not be difficult to do. Combined W-L for teams Buffalo has beated: 18-60. Talk about a great schedule, yet no matter what, Buffalo still can't get to the playoffs. It's time to demand more from this franchise.

Ralph should give his position as president to Brandon. In accepting this, RB must hire a new GM who has complete control in football operations. The GM can hire the new coach, and will be responsible for getting this team back to respectability. Do away with the COO position, and let Brandon have a hand in marketing this team. He won't have any say in how the team is assembled, either in UFA or the draft. RB can market like a SOB, but it won't matter after three inept years. They need to find someone who knows football right now.

That's avoids the issue. Polian never had to fire Marv, because BP had already stocked that team with more talent than at anytime in franchise history. Marv only had to keep the ship steady, which he did. The point here is that a GM needs to run football operations. All good owners find football people, and give them the leeway to run football operations. They don't meddle and inhibit their football people from making football decisions. Indianapolis has Polian NY Giants have Jerry Reese Atlanta has Dimitroff Miami has Parcells/Ireland New England has Pioli/Belichick If more fans looked league wide to see what works, they'd realize this team's 59-82 record is the result of a bad GM (TD) and two guys who had no clue what they were doing (Marv and Russell) I'd love to bestow praise on Marv, but his time as GM is quickly worsening despite having retired a year ago. The results of his decisions are being felt everyday, especially his uninspired pick of DJ and the joke coordinators he brought with him.

APUS, you may have heard of a guy named Thomas Dimitroff in Atlanta. Perhaps not. He's a first year GM in this league that has the Falcons very close to a playoff berth. Jeff Ireland is a new GM, although working for Parcells. It's not an excuse in this league to be new in your job. John Harbaugh can't say that in Baltimore as HC. Neither can Mike Smith in ATL. It's not an excuse, although it's people like RW who can't find it to spend money in an area that would give him a better team. Parcells was hired to make Miami a winner. He's done that. Dimitroff has done it in ATL. Polian continues to do it in Indy. Ozzie Newsome is a fine GM in Baltimore. Your excuse is so poor, especially considering that there are a host of new GM's in the league who win in their first season. Unfortunately, our GM is not experienced in anything but designing marketing campaigns and saying "yes" to RW.

I hope this season has made Brandon realize that he's not ready to be a GM in this league. Tannenbaum, Parcells, and Pioli/Belichick run circles around him. I'm just surprised Russell actually spoke to the press. IMO, Brandon can be elevated to President, taking the position from Ralphie. A condition of the title would be he must hire a real GM who handles all personnel moves. Brandon can play supervisor, but all football decisions are made by a GM with previous football executive experience. The GM then hires a new coach, and will not be hamstrung by unrealistic pay limitations on who to hire. The GM has final say on draft day and in UFA. He should get permission only to sign FA's and ensure to the owner that any players brought in to Buffalo are worth paying to play for the Bills.

Guy has been Pro Personnel director for about 8 years. Same as Modrak as Amateur Scouting director. Nothing's changed but their titles. Brandon is nothing more than a business/marketing manager whose department will have a hard time selling tickets this coming year. He has not worked in personnel one second before being unnecessarily promoted to a position he has no business handling. Levy may have brought Polian's science, but he left his textbooks at home. IMO, the personnel people made four picks in two years. Whitner (at 8th overall) Lynch, Poz, and Edwards. The rest are pedestrian, or bad. That includes Butler, Ellison, Simpson, Youboty, and McCargo. Miami also invested money in a real talent evaluator like Parcells, who brought with him from Dallas Jeff Ireland and Tony Sparano. I think you're waiting for something to happen that never will: success without real front office people who know talent. Modrak might be fine, but the guy who should be bringing it all together is not suited for the job. And I'm talking about Brandon.

Ralph should start by investing some money in hiring a legitimate GM. BTW-the front office has been together for about 8 years. That's Guy, Modrak, and Overdorf. Brandon is just a business guy they propped up into a job he has no idea how to do. People said Huizenga was crazy to pay Parcells all that money. Where are those people now? A team 1-15 last year is 8-5 this year. The Parcells investment has paid off in spades, but yet Ralph eschews common sense and does it his way. Well, his way has resulted in a team that's gone 59-82 since 2000. Marv ain't coming back either. He did nothing but answer fan letters and participate in photo ops anyway. He took the job because Ralph needed a big PR move to get fans in the seats after TD tried to censor them from complaining. SD-you of all people should admit that ML did very little, his hiring of DJ was a mistake, and that RW is one of the poorest owners in the league, above only Mike Brown, Al Davis, and the Ford Family.

Fine assessment there Dean. It's true that Ralph ensured the team remained in Buffalo, but he's not doing much lately with them. Since 2000, the team record is 59-82, which is better than places like Oakland. I go to home games, but each one feels like a punch in the stomach. The past few, (NYJ, CLE, and SF) have left me wondering if it's worth it to buy season's for next year. I'm a Bills fan, but it doesn't mean I have to accept the way this team is going. It would be one thing if the team had been poor for nine straight seasons. Unfortunately, we Bills fans must worry if the team will even be around A.R.-after Ralph. Those two elements have made for a very dissatisfied base, which I'm sure you know, is only becoming more vocal in their (edit) dissatisfaction.

You're brilliant, it's almost as if who went to an Ivy League caliber university or something. I'm sure at times you spoke to janitors you had pity for as well, right? Sorry Bill, this thread was spot-on. But this guy is destroying it. Kinda like what the OC doesn't want to do to his feature RB.

Great subject. It's readily apparent that Buffalo's coaching cannot beat decent teams. As of today, the combined record of teams Buffalo defeated stands at 18-60.

I posted in Bills thread that the team, particularly the offense, has quit. I take absolutely no pleasure in saying that. None whatsoever. But it's clear the coaches are steering this ship without a legitimate plan in place. DJ sealed his fate today IMHO. He is a nice man, who never throws his players or coaches under the bus. For that he should be commended. But his coaching acumen isn't suitable for the NFL.

What's most disconcerting was the lack of heart in this game. After last week's game, it seems like whatever motivation was left in this team left. I think it's finally safe to say DJ has lost this team. For all the even-keelness, his coaching philosophy has failed miserably. EDIT: I do not think the defense ever gave up. But I believe their gameplanning, along with offensive futility, puts too much pressure on them. They did not give up a TD after the first quarter, albeit to Miami.

***circus music***

You mean like...."TurkEY?" Couldn't get hired as an OC anywhere after 10+ season as a QB coach in the NFL. Why did anyone think he'd revolutionize this offense? I didn't back in January when he was hired.

Are we better off now that 3 years ago though?

Dean- You're trying extremely hard to protect the ML/DJ three years of futility. FWIW, Milloy is playing very well in ATL. But of course, he didn't fit the system in Buffalo, so he could not have been good anymore. People talk about the bad game Clements had against Dallas, but he's been a fine performer since SF signed him. Fletcher continues to produce. All three rarely, if ever miss games, which may their finest attribute. If after three years this team goes from 5 wins to 7, that's not progress. As a matter of fact, I'd say they've regressed plenty this season alone.

No, but he and his hand-picked staff can burn timeouts with the best of them. That and get out-coached by head coaches like Tony Sparano, Mike Singletary, and Romeo Crennel. Coaching is the problem in Buffalo. And while you're at it, know that DJ has a lot of say in who plays for this team, so it's either his fault, or his fault. Take your pick.

Are the Bills better off than they were three years ago? That should be the central question to this mess, not invoking the TD. If you had told me after 05 they would go 7-9 in 06 and 07, yet only be 6-6 after two seasons of rebuilding while playing a schedule of teams which combined to go 54-90, I wouldn't call that progress. I'd call that mediocrity. But in the simplistic world the poll designer lives in, the Bills are either good or bad. Anyone thinking they're bad doesn't understand because the team is 6-6. Unfortunately, that ignores the opponents, type of wins, and lack of improvement. It conveniently forgets the team has had ample opportunity for success, yet squanders games that a quality team should win. The greatest shortcoming around this board are fans who ignore the rest of the NFL and isolate only on the Bills. If more of them looked league wide at trends, along with improving and worsening teams, they'd realize the Bills should remain in the latter category. It is not normal for a team to consistently ride the .500 line and never get awful or very good.

I'm still wondering why it's acceptable to so many Bills fans that Russ Brandon be the nominal head of an organization which has realized so little success in the preceding years. Find a real GM, and they in turn will find good coaching. At the same time, that GM will gather the right executives to locate and keep good players. Everything flows from the front office and it's definitely hard to overcome bad decisions.

DH67 it's nice to be optimistic for optimism's sake. But this team is done. When you repeatedly lose games you should win, then the fight goes out of the dog. Losing five of their last six has been a serious blow and isn't easy to recover from. We don't know the nature of the locker room, but suffice it say players aren't happy. Not that they won't give it their all tomorrow, but it's hard to work for management (the coaches) who can't effectively do their job. The players won't say it publicly, but I suspect they know their game preparation is sub-par right along with gameday decisions. Nine years of futility are finally showing their mark, and the fans have responded. On this board and elsewhere the ire of fandom is growing with each loss.

There is a premium to pay in free agency. Using UFA is a penalty for drafting poorly, which at times both TD and Marv did. As a result, some teams depend on UFA more than others. It's not an excuse that every team pays more for players because some don't. When is the last time the Giants, Colts, or Packers paid big dollars to a free agent? They draft well, meaning they don't dip into UFA as much. And it gives them cap flexibility because they don't rely on UFA to build their team. RW paid big dollars when TD was GM and he still couldn't get a winner. Spikes, Milloy, Fletcher, Bledsoe, all were big FA's or trades which didn't help the team into the playoffs. But he's also signed Dockery, Walker, K. Mitchell, Sp. Johnson, and traded for Stroud. He still hands out dollars, even though he's not able to match some of the huge signing bonuses. I highly recommend the book, "The GM" by Tom Callahan. It tells the story of Ernie Accorsi, Jerry Reese's predecessor as GM for the Giants and explains how a successful front office operates. Scouts can deliver their advice, but whomever makes the decision to take a guy is what matters more. And the Bills do not have the GM to bring everyone together on draft day and in free agency like the Giants have. No matter what, Accorsi and Reese are the reason why the Giants are so strong. Part of the reason Buffalo is weak and without depth is because they don't spend near enough to the cap, and have been hamstringed by bad GM's like Donahoe, Levy, and now Brandon. Contrary to many on this board, the Bills front office is a mess and insufficient. Scouting is one thing, and I believe Modrak is fine as Director of Amateur Scouting. Guy is a mystery as Pro Scouting Director, because he's not the final decision maker in whom the Bills go after in UFA. Their record there is not good, but relying on UFA is not the key to success anyway. Because the Bills front office is organized strangely, it's hard to pin blame on any one person. Ultimately, blame should go to Ralph for not hiring legitimate GM's that relied too much on Jauron for help in the personnel game. Neither Levy nor Brandon were/are prepared to handle what a GM does.

I remember not long ago how the buzzword around here was "progress." People were falling all over themselves to talk up the team progress from 06 to 07. We couldn't look at the final record, many fans noted, because a host of players went onto IR in 07. We now know that as a garbage excuse, particularly when Baltimore loses 16 for the season who still wins. Not to mention they're playing a rookie QB and feature a rookie NFL HC. NFL IR as of Week 14 This is a question probably better suited for an election, but are the Bills better off today than they were in 2005? If you consider the combined record of Buffalo's opponents this season is 54-90, I don't believe they are. And despite an easy schedule, 6-6 is all they are. It's no longer progress, it's regress and there remain no legitimate excuses for not making the playoffs this season. I agree SB, Buffalo blew up the team unnecessarily. Letting veterans like Clements, Fletcher, and Milloy looked good on the balance sheet, but the effect on the field wouldn't be known for years.

It doesn't matter how much talent you have, but how it's used. Right now, coaching is what limits this team. When you can outgain your opponent nearly 2-1, and come away with only 3 points against a team going nowhere, something is wrong. Marv's hiring of DJ was the first and ultimately most destructive decision, because no matter how they drafted, you need to use those players correctly. DJ's handling of Lynch in that game was abhorrent, but to comment that he didn't want to "destroy" (his words) the back is patently absurd. ML had 1 carry in the fourth, but the real story is DJ didn't question Turk about his use of a feature back in a close game. We know DJ selected TS, and we're seeing that was probably another bad move. Marv hired DJ. That was a bad move. End of story.

I posted about this after the SF game. The front office, led by Marv and now by Russ, makes or made far too many bad moves. Levy's Legacy It was convenient to think that a HOF coach would bring great results as a GM. Three seasons after being named GM, the truth is readily apparent that it did not happen. There's a thin margin of error in the NFL. Buffalo can't outspend anyone, which requires the scouts and decision makers to score on draft day each year. That hasn't happened obviously and we're left with poor depth, and a team which cannot beat teams it should.

It's a matter of example. I can't believe Marv Levy felt the need to take 3 DB's in the first 4 rounds of 2006 while neglecting the OL and DL for that season. Marv had been out of the game 9 years when he became GM. I'm confident that Marv leaned on DJ to make personnel decisions that year and next, based on information from Guy and Modrak. Enter Russ Brandon this year. I'm confident he didn't tell DJ about NFL personnel during this past off-season, and leaned on the HC for his experience. Again, Guy and Modrak provided the scouting reports. I understand a team making the decisions on players. The beauty of the Bills front office organization is no one knows who does what. So placing blame anywhere is immediately questioned.