BillsVet

We know Brett Favre is making many of the bad decisions for NYJ that he did in GB from 03-06 when he threw 85 INT's. The Bills meanwhile have only 4 INT's this season to show for in a defense that must get turnovers to be successful. Two of those are from Terrence McGee, who is still nursing a sore knee. If there is a time for the secondary to step up, it's this week. Favre will make risky throws should the Jets go down early. Obviously, the pass rush must show up, but I think Brett forces things again and this should provide the DB's a chance. Kansas City recorded only one sack of Favre last week, yet induced three picks. The Bills have lost two games this season in which QB's winged the ball short and Buffalo had no answer. Hopefully "bad" Brett comes to Buffalo this week and continues his bad throws.

I object when fans say that Fletcher always made tackles down field. It was easy to think this, because Fletcher didn't look like a classic LB. It's just ironic to me that many fans did not realize how weak the Bills were at DT for 2006. IMO, that shortcoming translated into the LB's and DB's having to make more tackles, many of which were downfield. I think the Bills yielded 140 rypg in 06, and that figure didn't change much in 07. Before he was injured last season, Posluszny made a bunch of tackles, though very few made mention that they were downfield as well. Both Poz and LF made tackles sp far off the line because the front four could not control the LOS either year. Fletcher is a quality player whose durability is never in question. He's not a game changer, although he made plenty of TFL's in his time as a Bill. I realize the front office wanted a total rebuild and their own guys, but IMO it was a mistake to let go an experienced MLB who could play the C2.

I'm sure someone made an executive decision to re-sign those guys or not to. Marv was the GM, or person who led the personnel side of the house. I love Marv to death, but giving him credit for things that worked out (like Peters' last deal) must be tempered with criticizing the front office which he led, for moves like Kelsay's deal. As much as his position wasn't a classic GM type role, the buck should stop with one person, and the front office made the call to re-sign Kelsay, almost necessitating giving Schobel big money.

After the Dallas fiasco last season, it's nice to see the Bills doing the same things - allowing receivers a cushion. People talked about the great pass defense in 2006, but obviously something's changed which allows teams to repeatedly throw on a secondary minus one player from 06 - Nate Clements. When you run the C2, everything revolves around the pass rush. Not getting there will leave these CB's on an island, and with only 4 INT's in 7 games, something needs to change.

Chris Kelsay with 4 sacks in 30 games? That's unbelievable. I realize it's not all about sacks, as some DE's would remind us, but 13 sacks in 7 games is poor. I would not argue at all with a first round DE next spring, providing they have answers at C and TE for 2009. D'Brickashaw Ferguson needs to be the swinging door he can be this Sunday.

TD was a jerk, that much was sure. The Steelers chose wisely when TD was allowed to go in keeping Bill Cowher. I can't help but wonder if TD's budget from RW for a coach wasn't what most teams have. That's completely speculative on my part. I think it can be reasonably said that RW isn't high on paying coaches top dollar. Paying big money for coaches guarantees nothing, though on gameday a good coach makes their team better by putting their players in the best position to win. One could argue the Bills (EDIT: haven't) had a visionary HC since Marv departed after 1997. Only a roster stocked with talent can mitigate bad coaching, and Buffalo almost did that in 2004.

How about giving these guys more than half a season to demonstrate themselves? For all we know, McKelvin may develop into a top flight CB. And expecting Hardy to pull an Anquan Boldin is absurd. Rarely are rookies immediate impact players, save for perhaps the RB position which is based more on instinct. There are star players in the league right now who weren't Pro Bowlers their rookie season. The draft is about 2-3 years down the road anyway. Getting production out of rookies is a bonus. Heck, the 2006 class still doesn't have three complete seasons, and some of those players are still developing.

That free agent class from 06 is/was downright horrible. That's an understatement, and considering the money doled out to Tripplett (18.5M) Royal (12.5M) Fowler (7M) P. Price (10M) Nall, Bowen, A. Thomas, K. Thomas, Reyes, and perhaps the best of them all, Andre Davis who departed after that season. People point to the NE signings after 2000, but there's no comparison. Show me a Vrabel type player that Buffalo got that season. How Royal was even on their radar is alarming.

For the record, I don't equate abdicating responsibility with throwing someone under the bus. Brad Childress is a conservative coach, but diming his players and coaches out (see NO game and punting to Bush) is reprehensible. Thankfully, DJ isn't one of those types. However, every post-game conference is becoming the same. May as well play a tape of the previous week. I agree with your last sentence there, and I'm miffed at why they haven't changed their plans when it's apparent they're not working.

When he's had the most obvious opportunities, it hasn't happened. We'll never know everything which occurs behind closed doors, but that alone should not preclude us from wondering just when coordinators are checked by the HC. I cannot explain last year's debacle on offense with SF. To be honest, the offense never really improved over the course of two seasons, and little changed over that period. If the HC stepped in, it produced no effect. Yesterday's defense (with PF now in his third season) was eerily similar to the way it looked against Arizona. In that game, the Cardinals run game was not anything special, but their passing game was. Yesterday, it happened again, only it wasn't a strong armed QB like Warner with his complement of WR's doing it. I'm not a proponent of micromanagement, but abdicating complete responsibility to a DC or OC is not responsible coaching. And if things aren't changing, and you're losing in the same fashion, the HC ought to take responsibility.

Jauron has proven that he will not overrule a coordinator, no matter how bad things are. Fairchild's play calling was never explained away in 07, and the blame was placed squarely at the feet of SF. DJ received little criticism for choosing him, and subsequently permitted SF to drive the offense into the ground. Choosing coordinators is a big deal, and DJ has never been particularly good in this area, especially offensively. SF became a whipping boy, and for good reason. Should the defense continue Having a gameplan is important, though adjusting it when things aren't going well is more crucial. The reluctance to change by this coaching staff is alarming, considering they've been beaten by two QB's who used the short passing game to nickel and dime the Bills defense.

I'm not crazy about the C2, but it can work. Pittsburgh ran a variant of it back in the 70s, Tampa Bay featured it for many years, and the Colts won a SB in 06 playing the C2. When you have the right people and they're covering their gaps it's extremely effective. Of course, the coaches must draw up a gameplan, which I believe is lacking in Buffalo. The weakness of the C2 is stopping the run, and the Bills did that yesterday. Unfortunately, the strength of a C2 is that zone, which was compromised. I'll be very interested to see how they adjust against the Jests this week. I'm not sure the defense can do much worse with that lineup than the AZ and MIA losses. I'm starting to believe they don't have the pass-rushers, despite nearly 125M in their DL.

Every team in this league has that rough game which proves that they're not invincible. I thought Buffalo's bad loss happened in AZ. They came back after the bye week and beat down SD, though now they're almost right back where they were after the Cardinals, save for a concussed Edwards. IMO, the greatest flaw is a lack of in-game adjustments from the staff. That, and moving from the run late in the game when it was working. Schonert and Fewell, along with DJ were widely praised when things were going well. Now that they're not, they deserve some criticism. To blame this entirely on the players is short-sighted.

If Buffalo goes 3-3 in the division, that's underwhelming to me, considering their start. Miami is not a playoff team, and the Jets and Patsies could become victims of the tight AFC playoff race. That said, there aren't many "should-win" games on the schedule. Even @KC won't be a cake-walk and after today's loss, I'm not going to assume any wins. Buffalo overachieved with that barren roster in 06 and 07. But this year, that excuse is gone, along with the bad roster. Now, they've got some legit talent and losing today doesn't make me feel any better about the direction the team is going. They've lost 2 of 3, and looked outmatched, both on and off the field in both losses. I group coaching and drafting together, because it's apparent DJ has a lot of say on draft day. That's fine, because he's the guy ultimately who has to win with those picks. But if it doesn't work, he's doubly to blame and not playing McKelvin at CB is a move that tells me a lot about a lack of faith. Whitner and Simpson both started as rookies two years ago in the wake of injuries. Why can't McKelvin play with McGee hurting?

I refuse to assume Buffalo will see double digit wins. I look at the schedule before each season, same as you. I happen to think the first seven games of the season do nothing, absolutely nothing, to predict the remaining schedule. Yeah, they're 5-2, but that's only good if the season ended today and the teams with the best records moved into the post-season. Unfortunately, that's not the case, and the Bills will not ride their five wins into January. As for coaching mishaps, who put together that gameplan, offense and defense? Pennington was killing a secondary that has been infused with no less than six draft picks on the roster from 06-08, and two starters from the TD regime. So DJ is helping pick the players who are now all poor in your mind? Which one is it, bad players or bad scheme? Either way, DJ and Fewell aren't getting it done. Gameplanning is something that is at the heart of this game. Frankly, the Dolphins aren't a 1-15 team and we both know that. But they're not better than the Bills, home or away. Baltimore shellacked them last week, and they start a rookie QB. The Ravens stuffed the Wildcat, while we allowed that gimmick to get a couple first downs. I see Sparano getting more out of their roster than should be expected. They line up guys like Camarillo at WR, and nobodies in the secondary, yet still find ways to win. What I'd like to know is, why do people so vehemently defend DJ? What has he done as HC to merit such praise and lack of criticism?

This is the same tired refrain used after every loss. Next loss will be, "did you think they'd go 14-2", etc. Today's loss was eerily similar to the Arizona one. A Bills staff very much out-coached by their opponent. I'd add that Sparano is 3-4 in his first season as a HC with what I believe is sub-par talent. Jauron's been a HC for 120 games and 7.5 seasons. Who today had his team prepared to play? Apparently, we'll use this "you were expecting" excuse until things get out of hand. Apparently you don't realize Buffalo lined up against a team one season removed from going 1-15.

It's now two out of three bad games for the team. 4-0 to start and 1-2 these past three games. I wouldn't call that once in awhile. It's more like a mini-trend. It will take a great deal to convince me that DJ is the coach of the future for this team. Unimaginative play-calling, no answers on defense, a resistance to playing rookies when veterans like McGee are hurt, etc, etc. It will also take a few more ugly losses to convince some that DJ isn't a very good HC. They can't afford to lose to the Jets, which is something most Bills fans didn't think was a must win a month ago.

Any credibility you have is lost with that post.

Who selects the coordinators? It's none other than DJ. Remember his OC's in Chicago-Shoop and Crowton? Neither are in the NFL anymore. Fairchild's back in the college ranks. Sense a theme here? DJ doesn't find quality coordinators, and never has. Fewell is as unimaginative as his boss is. That's all the evidence I need. Every DJ proponent needs to go back and review his Chicago years, one game at a time. For a guy with such a poor career record, he's convinced a lot that he's a capable HC. DJ will never make a good team excellent, but he can make a good team sub-par. Nearly 120 games as a HC have demonstrated that beyond a shadow of a doubt.

Very poor result from a team with clearly more talent on both sides of the ball tha Miami. We're witnessing in Buffalo much of what happened in Chicago: two bad to mediocre rebuilding seasons in 99 and 00. In the third (2001) plenty of bounces allowed the Bears to go 13-3. So far so good? I know Buffalo had to give him a contract, you certainly don't want a lame duck HC this late in the season. So they made the deal. Today, little things finally showed up, as they did in the Arizona game. Soft zone coverage, unimaginative play-calling, lack of talent at positions like C and TE. Playing an injured an experienced vet CB when he was repeatedly victimized. As bad as Buffalo played today, their coaching was worse. Miami's rookie HC, along with Dan Henning at OC and Paul Pasqualoni at DC outcoached Jauron, Schonert, and Fewell. Just think about that for a moment.

With the offense stalling today, I'm starting to wonder whether it was Fairchild who was terrible, or a team effort between HC and OC. The defensive game plan was unimaginative, and victimized repeatedly by short routes that our soft zone is, well, soft defending.

It's too bad the he can't convert his preparation of the team into Sundays. We've seen it all too often than Jauron makes the safe call, and many times it hurts. In some ways, DJ is like Gregg Williams, minus the bombastic opinions. Gregg and DJ both wanted to do things their way, especially on defense. Last week, Baltimore blitzed the Wildcat when they lined up in it, but DJ went with his base 4-3 today. This trying to reinvent the wheel is what makes DJ the low caliber coach he is. I was waiting for a PA pass at the goal line, but alas, they went predictable. Surprise, surprise. You are absolutely right, this failire to depart from the gameplan when it clearly isn't working is alarming, and nothing different than DJ's prior seasons. .

I find it amusing that a rookie HC and former OL coach outcoached DJ. The latter gets his extension, and promptly goes out and lays an egg. Guess Parcells does know what he's doing with a HC. I can't get over running three plays near the goal line in the first half. So much for that imaginative WCO that Schonert talked about. How does the 27th ranked pass defense play that well against us? Or is it scheme? The (Edit: secondary) with all those draft picks and inheriting Greer and McGee, plain stunk. DJ obviously will not start rookies in Corner and McKelvin even with an injured CB in McGee. We draft a guy in the first and fourth, yet they're not ready to play half way through the season. Overall, the conservative gameplan mindset is alive and well. We've learned that no matter what, DJ will not adjust, but rather try to out-execute other teams. He lives and dies by it, and in his career it's proven more of the latter.

On offense, the team has struggled at tight end since 2006. The franchise has known what they have in Royal for more than two years. It's a theme in other areas as well, but DJ and the coaching staff has avoided playing rookies for much of this season. Unless absolutely necessary, only McKelvin and Hardy have played. They used a fourth on Fine, let's see him in there. He can't possibly be worse than fumbilitis Royal.

The difference between Jauron in 06 and 07 versus 08 is players. He just has more talent to work with. I don't think that after seven years as a NFL HC that the light has turned on and he's now Vince Lombardi or Bill Parcells. If the Bills are fine with extending him, so am I. Now that Buffalo is a contender for the post-season, the expectations will rise. There won't be anymore "I hope we get to 9-7" talk. The story of this season and future campaigns will be making and succeeding in the playoffs. The coach has to be even better in the playoffs, and it's not out of the question to ask more of the HC at the critical junctures Buffalo will reach down the road.