BillsVet

I really don't think enough fans realize how bad it is to miss the playoffs for eight consecutive seasons. Sure there were multiple GM's, but only Arizona and Detroit have joined us in not making the playoffs since the late nineties (I don't count the expansion Texans). That means 28 teams have gone into the postseason since we last did. The salary cap was designed to make everyone equal, and give teams a chance to win every now and then. I don't care for that strategy, but it's been around since 1993. And most teams have had some measure of success. Except of course the Bills and Lions. Ralph bought some time by hiring Marv. Now that Levy's retired again, this sort of talk will continue until another big move is made OR the team starts winning again. I don't see a big move coming, so winning is the only option. DJ is reverting to his Chicago days and hiring bad coordinators (at least PF) and making bad gameday decisions, but I'm supposed to be optimistic?

Bill, I honestly think the DB first approach is over for DJ. Everyone in the world knows how much he's allocated toward the secondary, and it still isn't enough. You could have Ronnie Lott, Night Train Lane, Champ Bailey, and Lester Hayes and it wouldn't be enough with that front four. On April 25th, when the Bills are up and Mack is on the board or some top OL or DL, I'll spontaneously combust if they go DB.

MM wasn't ready. He had kinda of a quick rise into the HC ranks, and as a result needed more experience. He's going with what he's got in ATL, a young talented QB, Roddy White at WR, and a good RB in Turner. The OL is better there, and ATL is more than respectable. The Bills front office, regardless of it being led by TD, Marv, or Russ, never seems to time their coaching decisions right. Greggo was a mistake, as was MM at the time. Now DJ comes in with experience, but not much more. The Bills biggest mistake has been the lack of a talented coach, regardless of previous experience. Mike Tomlin is someone I like, and he'd only been a DC with Minnesota. Same for Del Rio. We just never find the right up and coming guy for a HC.

Let's not split hairs here. Those guys played solid football when called upon, particularly Boss and Bradshaw. It may not have been week 1, but they were ready, regardless of which round their name was called. The big issue with this team is depth, and when injuries mount as they inevitably do, you've got to get production from the rookies. The Bills obviously don't trust their picks, and DJ will play them only when he's out of options. That's a mistake, and something I feel occurs because DJ knows this season he must make the playoffs. He's mitigating risk by not playing them, but stunting their long term growth. You could argue it's because he doesn't want them to fail and lose games, but that's life in the salary cap era.

Having continuity with the right personnel is elusive, and right now that OL with Walker, Butler, Fowler, Dockery, and Peters has played 20 games over 1.5 seasons. It's not continuity, it's poor play. Plain and simple. There is no question they must go OL early this coming draft. Alex Mack from Cal and Jonathan Luigs from Arkansas are the best C prospects, with Mack a blue chip caliber center. He has excellent mobility and plays with mean streak. I think retaining Greer is a necessity, unless they're gambling McKelvin and Youboty will be better next season. To me, the knock on Youboty is he can't stay healthy. Even McGee is a UFA after 09.

MM might be a fine OC, but I think his chance at HC duties is over. How many guys get a second chance...oh, wait. I don't think Greggo will get another HC job either. Some guys are find coordinators, but can't translate that into a HC role. Wade Phillips is another. Unfortunately, we've had all three as HC since 1998. Beerball, don't put words in my mouth.

Teams like the Giants that receive immediate rookie contributions are the exception, not the norm. Last season, everyone talked about players like Aaron Ross, Ahmad Bradshaw, Kevin Boss, Steve Smith from USC, and Jay Alford. Those guys helped, but most team don't get that sort of production. A draft class which all helps from Day 1 is few and far between. Someone talked about the CB development of Darrelle Revis, 14th pick in 07 versus McKelvin the 11th selection in 08. That's ridiculous, especially because there are so many variables between the Jets and Bills defenses. Frankly, the Bills have to get production out of these guys, but the coaching staff knows this is a make or break season. Trusting rookies is risky, and DJ doesn't care to chance a young kid making a mistake. Patience is a virtue with rookies, and many fans, myself included, want these guys to be playmakers out of the box. Rare is the player, aside from perhaps RB's, who makes an impact their rookie season. Still, it would be nice to see one of them (McK, Hardy, or Ellis) step up and make a play. It's been awhile since Hardy caught that pass in Jville.

He also seemed to come on every corner blitz the Jets ran against Buffalo last season. I think the Jets just trusted Revis more last year. They almost had to with guys like Hank Poteat. McKelvin is playing behind three decent corners on that roster. He would not make the difference at CB anyway this season. The only way the CB's can be more successful is if the front seven could get to the QB. And we know how that's going.

We expected McNally to come in and make the OL into something special. When it didn't happen, I thought it was just McNally past his prime. Into the second season with Walker, Butler, Fowler, Dockery, and Peters it's apparent McNally wasn't the problem. I'll go broken record here, but not drafting OL early these past five seasons is more apparent with every game. There is simply no blue chip talent beyond Peters on the OL. Even his play has been sub-par. Maybe Bill was right when he said we devoted too many resources to the secondary while eschewing the OL. Devoting four late round picks to the OL these past three drafts is proving to be unsat.

Shanahan has those 2 SB wins, but lately he's been mediocre. What's worse, he has personnel control since Ted Sundquist was fired. That defense hasn't been good in a long time, and part of that's on Shanahan.

Del Rio's season last year has thus far not been duplicated. I think he's okay, but I've got to see more before annointing him as top tier.

We know the parity which exists in the NFL with respect to players and teams. But looking at some of the coaches in this league, it's no surprise there are few above the rest of the pack. I believe a successful HC must be a regular in the playoffs and have remained successful for more than three seasons. Additionally, a good HC has a good eye for talent, adapts in-game to their opponent, and finds the right ways to motivate their team each week. In the AFC, Jeff Fisher, Tony Dungy, and Belichick to fit this criteria. Mike Tomlin needs a little more time, but seems to be another one. With the NFC, probably only Tom Coughlin, Andy Reid, and Jon Gruden can be called above average or better coaches. Ken Whisenhunt and Mike McCarhty seem to be moving up, but I'd like to see them beyond 1-2 seasons. I'm not a fan of Jauron, but it's not as though he's an exception within the NFL. There are guys like Brad Childress, Herm Edwards, and whoever's coaching the Raiders to look down on. Then again, none of those guys will ever have another shot to prove they're not good enough. They all are with historically bad franchises which are stuck in reverse. One could say the downfall of this franchise was the lack of a HC. Phillips excelled with superior talent, but when given far less, G. Williams, Mularkey, and now DJ find ways to lose games.

Teams with the best football minds in the front office more often than not produce the best teams on the field. We haven't had a great executive football mind since Polian left in 92. The remnants of his work remained competitive until 99, but since their departure, it's no coincidence the on-field Bills have suffered. Like him or hate him, Parcells knows what it takes to win. And he's doing it with less talent than Buffalo has along with a rookie HC. To me, the Bills begin and end with Mr. Wilson. I believe Ralph still has immense control over this team and being directly involved with DJ's extension proves this. Unfortunately, he only makes a move when it's affecting business. After 2005, he needed something to get the fans excited again. He reached back for the old hand in Levy, and masterfully got people interested with that PR move. It didn't matter who Levy hired as HC, the memories of the late 80s and early 90s were back. Now we're seeing that PR moves don't necessarily translate into wins and it's actually having better football minds that win games. Less than 3 years later, we're left with the re-upped DJ who is showing what got him fired in Chicago 5 seasons ago. Combined with a quasi GM minus personnel experience, we're left wondering why those players with big contracts aren't winning. Maybe, just maybe, they're not the right ones. The prospect of nine seasons without a playoff appearance in the salary cap era is dumbfounding. I love the Bills, but it's hard to get excited when confronted with inept coaching and lackluster effort each week.

Jauron's proven as a HC that beating these teams is his secret. Beat up on perceived cupcakes and inflate the final record. It's been demonstrated this occurred in Chicago, and we witnessed it in Buffalo the first four games. For once, I agree with P2P, and the long term future some trumpeted to be bright isn't quite that way. I don't hear the thanks Marv shouts or the DJ for COY anymore. We need to evaluate this team when the season is complete, not 6 games in. At this point, the Bills are showing signs of a severe lack of coaching, motivation, and most importantly, talent.

The line is not mobile enough to handle a zone scheme, nor tough enough in the center to handle bigger DT's. IMO, those two items result in a team which hasn't run the ball against anyone this season. It's strange that Jamal Williams was bottled up two weeks ago, yet Kris Jenkins destroyed the interior OL. I'm no OL coach, but strength and agility combined make for a good OLineman. Whittle, Preston, Butler, and Fowler are stop gap players who belong on the bench. Most disturbing of all, the group of Walker, Butler, Fowler, Dockery, and Peters played 15 games together in 07 and so far 5 this season. If they haven't gelled by this point, it's because some of them aren't talented enough. Give the Jets credit for motivating Jenkins to play like he did with Carolina a few seasons ago. They have the best DT in the division right now.

If this keeps up, we'll be fast forwarding to the bickering Bills of 1989, minus the playoffs.

Maybe if you were a Bears fan from 1999-2003.

Didn't Miami beat us last week without much of a running game? So we can't do it to other teams, but out opponents can beat us minus a ground attack. Hmmm... Maybe it's coaching too.

This team is not very deep, and does not have the depth necessary to win despite injuries. It's appalling how thin that team is at LB, S, CB, TE, and WR. I could understand a position here or there, but the downside of C2C is you forego spending on depth. And of course, it maximizes the bottom line as well. The salary cap era is about parity, as we all know. It doesn't mean absolutely you can't find depth in the FA market and draft. Guys like Fred Jackson are the players you need when the inevitable injury occurs. Worse, the absolute reluctance to take a chance on a rookie is strange. Like it or not, draft picks in today's era must play earlier than most coaches would like. But to bench guys because they're young has become a hallmark of this season. Then again, we've got another 3 years of DJ. We all know Ralphie doesn't want to let a guy go before his deal is up.

You don't criticize the coaches, yet those are the very people in this organization picking the players. How do they avoid any heat for the performance these past few weeks? That's three losses in four games, and it's amazing how DJ fans want to redirect the problems of this team onto the players alone. How about not having a pass rush? Where's the effective blitz? I though DJ was a defensive guru, but I'm not seeing it. If you want to blame this on injuries, there are 31 other teams in the NFL dealing with injuries, and it's not an excuse. You think NE is crying about Brady being gone? Deal with it, that's what you'd be advised. The coaching is not fine. It wasn't fine in Chicago, where DJ's OC's and DC's were mediocre. It wasn't fine with Fairchild. And it's not fine with Fewell, although I believe the jury's out on Schonert.

This is DJ footbal. It's been well stated here that his brand of ball is about not making mistakes and not taking risks. He'll gamble from time to time, but it's generally not a good one. The defense was supposed to be better. Fewell has done nothing but run the same defenses at opponents and get vicitimized in the short passing game. That, and the well documented lack of a pass rush. The offense is plain vanilla. Short passes, and an inability to capitalize on opponent's weaknesses. Against Miami it was not running the ball versus a poor run defense. Today, it was the lack of running the ball. That's not a trend, that's a long term problem. Since the beginning of 2007, that team can't run the ball consisntently, even when their opponent is bad defensively. Through it all there is DJ. Accepting no responsibility and basically doing what got him fired in Chicago. He's just made to look good because he's gone 7-9 with less talent for two seasons. He's got some players now, and he still is bad.

I think, again in hindsight, taking a CB sets the Bills up with options when McKelvin begins understanding the pro game. McGee and Youboty go UFA after 09, with Greer hitting the market after 08. They can't sign them all, but having a few rookies signed long term gives them the opportunity to work them into the rotation. I'd like to see McK play better, but I'm not sure the Bills had that problem elsewhere when they drafted.

I thought you were an all the way front office fan? Geez, the guy was the 11th overall pick in the draft, and heaven forbid he's not playing super half way through his rookie season.

I think Youboty plays in this one, although McGee may not. That leaves Greer. Frankly, at this point in the season everyone has some injuries. It's all about who exploits the other teams' losses more. If there's a game to prove that the secondary can be true ball-hawks, this is it.

CB's are great to have, but Denver sports probably the best tandem in the league with Champ Bailey and Dre Bly. That could be argued, but the Broncos defense is dreadful. The pass rush must make themselves known on Sunday, although it's clear that having HOF DB's at both CB spots, FS, and SS doesn't make up for a bad group of DL. Priorities being what they are, DL, specifically veritable pass rushers will always be a priority unless you already have them. The Giants had Strahan and Umenyiora and still drafted Tuck and Kiwanuka. That's worked out well.