Paup 1995MVP

totally agree New Era. On his best days Fitzie is a good, but not great QB. The problem is that he has absolutely no upside from where he is now. Stats mean nothing. Winning is all that matters. In crunch time, he never gets it done. Look at the games we lost. Cinci-second half he was brutal. Giants-second half two horrible picks. And could not move us in the last two minutes. Jets game-did nothing. Cowboys-nothing. Dolphins-Ugh, Terrible!! Second Jets game-pretty good, until the last drive. Stevie dropped one, but missed him wide open in the end zone, and could not get us in. Titans game-missed receivers all over the field. Inside the red zone he has been good at times. But watch him enuf over the past two years, and any true football fan knows that he is not a top QB. Sure we do not have great receivers, but he just can not throw an accurate ball consistently. I am not suggesting that we have to have Rogers or Brees. But watch Fitzie compared to those guys, and other top QB's, and there is WAY too much of a gap between their ability and Fitzie's.

Why is everyone such an apologist on this board for every Bills player? Come on fellas. Sure our front seven is weak. And Carrington and Dwan Edwards stink. But what has Dareus done to improve the players around him? Not a thing. It is his rookie year, and he does need some help around him. But looking at what game HE specifically is bringing every week, (besides the Washington game) you have to be somewhat underwhelmed. He almost never disengages from the O lineman who is blocking him, and rarely gets push into the backfield. I agree that it is way too early to make a complete judgment on Dareus. However, so far he does not look like a dominant game changer. And moreso than that, he does not look like he plays with any sort of edge or chippiness to him. That being said, he has noone with KW out to learn from, and that is a big problem. Can everyone believe how poor our front seven is? I just can not believe that anyone can accept the Defense that Nix has put together. Other than Barnett and Dareus (and neither has played anywhere near great) none of these guys should be playing NFL football in my opinion. Just a collection of small, slow unathletic football players. Maybe it is the scheme. But week after week, no team in the league gives up as many big plays, leaves guys wide open, or gets fewer stops than this group of losers. Amazing.

What good moves are you talking about seriously? How many good players has he brought in? You mean drafting CJ Spiller when we had two very good running backs? Or bringing in Tashard Choice after Fred got injured? Seriously man, why are you trying to support an organization that is 9-19 since taking over? You may not think they are horrible. But the results speak for themselves on the field. Is 5-7 acceptable, with a very good chance of finishing 5-11 after starting the year 5-2? I WILL NOT accept that. I want a winner. I deserve a winner. We all deserve a winner. Going into Dallas and getting blown out. Are you kidding me? Getting blown out the next week by the Fish. Give me a break. Someone needs to be accountable. If Chan can't right the ship VERY quickly he, and that hayseed from Alabama need to hit the road. Yea the depth we have in Coleman, Moats and Batten are really helping us win. And don't forget about Andra Davis, Dwan Edwards, Torrell Troup and Alex Carrington. They have sure stepped up.

This season is a low point for every Bills fan that really cares about the team. We started out 5-2, and have gone in the TANK ever since. This happened in 2008, and is happening again now. You blame our 5 game loss on injuries. I don't think so Mr. Pollyanna!! Every team has injuries. That is why we have a 53 man roster. Everyone on your roster needs to be NFL caliber. Half the guys on our roster are sadly not at that level. And most of the others would not start on a majority of the teams in the league. Look at our defense-absolutely pathetic. We have one LB who can play. Our D line is just as bad. Maybe Dareus will be a stud one day. But he has not shown me enuf to anoint him as anything but just another guy at this point. The secondary has been a joke. McKelvin, Mcgee and Florence as your top three CB's? Enuf said. The Offense has nothing at WR. Don't tell me that Stevie J is a big time player. He has not dominated at all this year. Woo hoo-he averaged 8 yards a catch against Revis. The best receiver on the team is Scott Chandler. He actually is a player. Not a gamebreaker, but he can play. Think about thinks with a little more intellect before talking like Mr. Martyr. This has been a HORRIBLE run since 2001. When things looked to be turning around, they have collapsed again. I think most of us feel desperate about the situation because we do not see an organization, including a head coach that has what it takes to turn things around. A lot of us feels like management just does not care. And they may not, to be quite honest. But I will always support them. Just don't make judgments on others when they can come back and root or not. We all have our ways of grieving about what has become a very bad situation as far as this team is concerned.

Spiller is nowhere near the type of player that Sproles is. Sproles is small, but runs with much more power than Spiller. Part of that is becuase he is much more compact/lower center of gravity than Spiller. And part of that is because he is a much tougher runner who knows how to lean forward at the point of contact, instead of running straight up like Spiller does. And also Sproles is much quicker than Spiller, (and almost every other RB in the NFL for that matter.) To be honest C J Spiller runs with as little power as any RB I have seen play in the NFL in sometime. He just gets absolutely no push when he is hit by a defender. The guy needs to put on 10-15 pounds if he wants to be an NFL RB. But that is not the issue. The issue is that we had TWO quality RB's in Marshawn and Fred. Yet we drafted another RB when we had great needs at just about EVERY OTHER position on the team. (a top pass rushing DE or OLB sure would look good right now) That is incompetant management to the worst degree. Any argument to the contrary makes absolutely no sense!!

I think what you said completely says it all about this team. There are three difference makers playing currently. And when healthy Levitre, Wood, and George Wilson could start for any team in the league. (I know a bunch of you love Mangold, but Wood is only negligibly behind him, especially in run blocking) That being said, this team is a disgrace. Looking back since the 2001 season, the team has been anywhere from above average (six game win streak against marginal opponents in 2004 and 5-1 start in 2008) to very mediocre to below average under Jauron, to downright bad over the majority of the rest of the past ten and a half seasons. But I can not remember a more disgraceful 3 game performance than the past 3 weeks. We were completely outplayed from the opening kickoff in all 3 games. And more than that, we did NOT COMPETE!! At least under the skeletor, we usually competed. And who does that fall on? The Head Coach!! I can not see Gailey lasting beyond this season unless a dramatic turnaround takes place over the next 6 weeks. The culture of losing has to stop. It is not ACCEPTABLE!! The head coach has to set the tone, and Gailey is not doing that. But lets not give Buddy Nix a free pass either. The talent level on this team is AWFUL. Sure we all can not stand our D Coordinator, and I agree he is not tricking anyone with his Vanilla defense. But come on, have you looked at our front seven. Who is a dominating talent on D line and LB with K Williams out? Darreus at some point may dominate, and has shown glimpses. Barnett is an athlete who is solid, but not elite. After that it is all garbage. Heard, D. Edwards, Spencer Johnson, Carrington, Troup. Out of these 5, maybe Carrington could be a backup on some teams, the rest would not even be backups on most NFL teams, but on the Bills they are in the starting rotation. The situation at LB is just as bad. Batten, Moats, Coleman, A. Davis, Sheppard, Kelsay. None are playmakers. And our corners are even worse than the front seven. I swear Drayton Florence has got to be the WORST starting CB in the NFL. As for the offense, I think we all can see the lack of NFL talent at a lot of starting positions and at just about every backup position. Watch the Patriots play. It is more than Tom Brady. EVERYONE on their roster can play. And even on some of the lesser teams such as the Chiefs, Seahawks, Rams, etc. there are lots of up and coming young players sprinkled amongst the solid veterans such as Derek Johnson for the Chiefs. Instead the Bills continue to draft and bring in marginal talent, who get injured and are replaced by the same marginal talent. And that starts with the marginal GM and Coach we currently have. If the higher ups have not been in a coma the past three weeks, they will have to acknowledge how poorly the football side of things is being run by Buddy and Chan. And lets hope to god they clean house after this season and bring in a GM (maybe Whaley) and a tough guy Coach to start bringing in TOUGH football players, and set a certain standard of play. (Has Fitzy ever gotten in the face of one of his teammates? God I miss when Jimbo used to just get in everyone of his teammates faces to will them to the level he expected them to perform at!! Do all you veteran Bills fans remember the attitude he brought to the team? It really looks like this team could care less about winning. Fitzy is an absolute cream puff who is not fit to lead an NFL team. Happy Thanksgiving to you all. Sorry for the length of my post. I am a diehard Bills fan who still longs for Bryce Paup flying around the edge to wreak havoc in offensive backfields. I just want to be proud of my team. That every week we will be a nasty team for any opponent to play against. I pick the Bills against the spread every week in a friendly pool I am in. This week I find it very difficult not to pick against them.

Wow, you must be Fitzie's agent or something. Because I have watched every snap he has made as a Bill. And while I like Fitz and think he is far from the biggest problem on our team (Our lack of pass rush and inconsistent OT play is much more glaring) his accuracy for a starting NFL QB is brutal) He misses wide open receivers in every single game. Watch the rest of the NFL and most starting QB's do not miss an open receiver if they are standing vertical. You never see Brees, Rivers, Brady, Manning, Big Ben, etc miss open receivers unless they are getting flattened. Sure he will make some plays, and he is definitely a gamer. But his accuracy is not good enough at this point to win the 10 plus games a year needed to be a consistent playoff contender. You don't like me throwing water on your illusion that he is our next Jim Kelly or even Doug Flutie who with a little bit of defense can lead us to the mecca of success, I am sorry. But that is my conclusion from watching him play the past year.

Most NFL QB's do not make some of the throws that Fitz does. Such as: the horrifically underthrown ball to Steve Johnson late in the Detroit game that would have sealed the victory. The underthrown ball against the Bears that was picked in the 4th. And what about the floater that was picked late in the KC game? Fitz does not suck. But he does not make a LOT of big plays. Compared to who we have had playing before at QB-he makes plays. But he is completing 15-20 yrd square ins. Those are passes that NFL QB's are SUPPOSED to make every time. Us Bills fans are just not used to it. What separates the mediocre from the excellent is making plays at crunch time when the game hinges in the balance. Any QB can complete passes early in games. No pressure at that point. Do it with the game on the line and that wins games. Unfortunately, Fitzie has not done that. Will that change? I don't see how. He does not have the cannon to do that. And his accuracy for a pro QB is awful. Is he fun to watch? Yes. But will he win a lot of games for us? Very doubtful. The proof is in the pudding. Your QB needs to lead your team to victory, not be a complimentary part. Fitzie has just not done that.

Ur post is just plain stupid and wrong. The OP is correct. Our draft picks have done next to NOTHING this year. For a team that is 1-8, NOONE including Spiller is making any kind of an impact. Do you really think that our draft picks look like studs in the making? That Carrington can not even dress given how few playmakers we have in the front seven means he just really sucks, or the coaching staff has no clue. The same can be said for Maybin. That he can not even dress ahead of Coleman or Moats is really shocking. What other team in the league would not at least try and play the 11th pick in the draft?

Are you kidding me? Lee Evans is not OUR number 1 receiver. When Roscoe is playing he is not even our number 2 receiver. He can beat one on one coverage on the fly pattern some of the time. And not do much else. Fitzie always looks for Stevie J. when it is clutch time.

You want to believe that Gailey will lead us to something special and that is admirable. But to be quite honest, I think he is a terrible game manager. His challenge of Roscoe's catch late in the game was deplorable. The play calling against KC on the last drive and in OT was awful as well. (Unless you have a top 5 QB and an O line that will give your QB time to throw, there is no way you throw every down from an empty backfield which is what we did against KC.) And why do we defer to the second half whenever we win the coin flip? Get your offense the ball and lets roll. Gailey is 0-8 with the Bills. Our best chance to win a game will be this week against Detroit. However, you and everyone else know it will be a struggle for us to win ANY game this year. And a lot of the blame has to fall on Gailey. Drafting Spiller and trading Marshawn was just a terrible move (Spiller looks like he has never run the football in his life) Marshawn was much better as a rookie. I will be very pleasantly surprised if Gailey can turn this team around. I have my doubts and am one of the few on this board who would not be surprised if Gailey gets the ax after this season. What credibility does a head coach have who wins 0-2 games in a season? With no cred, why will the players even bother to follow him. The next 8 weeks will be quite interesting. If we don't win this week, the bottom will start to fall out.

It is absolutely criminal that Kelsay is starting anywhere on this team. He is just awful. He played as bad a game last week as I have ever seen a front seven player play. He was abused or was just plain out of position on every single play. It makes absolutely no sense for him to start again. I would let Moats, Coleman and Maybin rotate at outside LB for the entire game. How are these guys going to improve if they never play? On the D line I would bench Stroud and Edwards and Johnson. (watch his play and he is not the answer to our D line troubles) and rotate McCargo, Carrington and Troup in with Kyle Williams on the D line. The sad thing is looking at the names of our guys, there really isn't much talent there. The cupboard right now is just BARE. Anyone who doesn't rip Buddy Nix for putting this garbage of a defense (and offensive tackles for that matter) on the field just doesn't get it. I find it absolutely mindboggling how a professional sports team can have so little talent at so many positions. It doesn't make sense. But I still watch them and root each week for a victory as much as if we were heading to the Super Bowl-now that doesn't make much sense either.. LOL

There are no positives when you are 0-7 and you had the ball in the opposing teams territory on 3 straight drives at the end of the game, and you get ZERO points. Bad teams find ways to lose. NOONE on the team stepped up and made a play to win the game. That is the sign of a bad team coached by a very bad head coach who does not has his team believing they will win. We did not run the ball when we were on the KC side of the 50 on any of those drives. Gailey should be fired for such bad play calling. After KC got the ball at their 31 with a little over a minute to play. We did not stop them on one single play. Pathetic. Nothing is positive when Chris Kelsay-who I think is the worst OLB in the league by far plays every single play, and your first round pick from last year does not even dress.

The play calling was horrible on the last drive of regulation and both drives in OT as soon as we crossed midfield. We do not have a good enough O line to run empty backfield 5 wide against any good front seven such as KC. A couple of draws to Fred on the last drive would have made a huge difference. Even on 3rd and 10, a draw gives us a shot at a FG instead of an intentional grounding. Gailey has a terrible feel for the game. One thing we do not have which just about every other team in the league has is a big tight end to throw to for key catches over the middle. Shawn Nelson was not on the field for one offensive play today (correct me if I am wrong) and we do not send Martin out on pass patterns. In a key situation most teams throw to the big 6'5" TE over the middle. Instead we are constantly looking for Roscoe and Lee when they know we are throwing. Big difference. Gailey is a lousy game manager who is not putting his team in the best position to win. His play calling in crunch time is as bad as any coach we have had this past decade.

I totally agree. Howard was terrible today. The guy has NO Business starting in an NFL game. Fitzie was running for his life most of the game because of Howard. It is a joke that we have guys like Howard and Kelsay on the roster, let alone starting. We play with a lot of heart, but a lot of the roster including the starters are not NFL caliber, let alone NFL starters. Nix brought all of this on by refusing to bring in Offensive lineman with much ability. Very rarely do you see a starting NFL OT get just jacked up. But Howard has absolutely no leverage to stonewall his man. He is a very bad player. And Bell is not much better.

You are absolutely pathetic with your rant Ice. Do you really think that any rookie QB is going to play better than Fitzie did today, or for most of the season for that matter. This team has NO playmakers on defense from D line thru the secondary. We have zero talent on defense. Do you hear me? ZERO!!! This is the worst defense I have seen in the past twenty years of football. We get NOTHING from our front seven, and our safety's are also the WORST in the league. NOONE was around Todd Heap on either of his touchdowns. No QB will win with this defense. We need to sign two or three O lineman in free agency and draft all defense. I would seriously get rid of just about everyone on this defense. They absolutely SUCK. Fitzie is a leader. With a solid defense, he will win us at least 10 games a year. We have forgotten what it means to have a defense that shuts teams down. Your offense doesn't have to be perfect to win. We need so much on defense. It would just be foolish to draft a QB when you already have someone who you know is usually good, and sometimes great, and sometimes blah, but never terrible.

Do you even watch the games Green Lantern?? Whitner is terrible. He can NOT cover anyone and the angles he takes on tackles are terrible. We are terrible in coverage in the deep middle of the field because of Whitner, Byrd, and our inside LB's. Whitner has NOT improved since his rookie season in coverage. His instincts to anticipate a play are nonexistent. And while he can give an occasional big pop near the line of scrimmage, he is too small to be an intimidating presence like most strong safety's in the NFL. He has no upside. Keeping guys like Whitner, Poz and Kelsay are a huge reason why we suck. They are NOT NFL starters, and please watch the rest of the NFL before you start going off half cocked about who is a solid NFL player.

I don't know who is responsible for making all the wonderful picks (sarcasm fellas) at One Bills Drive for the last ten years, but I will say this after watching a full day of NFL ball on the Red Zone channel (with no Bills to watch-can watch ALL the other teams) that without a doubt we have the LEAST talented roster in the NFL. (I will admit that Tampa and Cleveland looked horrible today) And that is because we can not draft, and we can not sign quality free agents. It is as simple as that. Modrak, Jauron, Marv, Donahoe, Malarkey, Greg Williams, Nix, Gailey. These guys can't do their job to save their lives. Our roster is garbage. And Nix has done nothing to show me that he has any clue either. None of our draft picks are producing. On a team that refuses to sign top end free agents-that is a hell of a problem my friends. Spiller, Troup, Carrington, Moats, have showed absolutely nothing. Easley and Brannen are out for the year. Is Wang on the roster? Callaway was cut and I am not sure what Levi Brown is doing either. It is a hodgepodge of garbage. Combine this with signing marginal free agents like Edwards, Davis, Torbor and Green, and add the players who are here from past regimes, and you have a roster that may not win any games. Fred Jackson is starting material. And Fitzie can gut it out as a starter, and could do so for several teams. But other than those two who else would start on most teams? I personally don't think Lee Evans is a top two receiver on a lot of teams. Definitely a three, but not a two because he is not physical in the slightest. And CJ Spiller looks lost so far. On Defense, our corners are not horrible, but none are truly talented at their craft. Watch the physicality on both sides of the ball by most teams, and you will see how far we have to go. And I don't think Nix is the guy to get us anywhere near the promised land. He could start by doing more than getting rid of the flotsam like Merideth, Edwards and Chris Ellis. Make a statement and get rid of Poz, Kelsay and Stroud. All three are deadwood. That might wake up a few of the others to actually hit someone or maybe make a block.

Your analysis fits Poz to a tee. He lacks the athletic ability to be a good linebacker at the NFL level. Not enough speed and power. And he has poor instincts on where the play is heading. I don't think he starts for most teams. I would keep him as a backup, but nothing more. His pass coverage skills are atrocious. Some of you say keep him so we don't have another hole to fill. Why keep subpar players on your roster? It doesn't make sense. He is no better than Ellison (who is very physically limited-but has a better feel for the game) or Digiorgio before his injury. I think Poz has NO upside from where he is. I would get rid of him, Donte, Stroud, Kelsay, Torbor, Maybin and Scott for starters. We need a ton to compete on defense in the future. I don't see Poz as part of that.

Dude, Your analysis of the game was spot on. The weakest spots on the team are LB and O line, particularly OT. But don't be fooled, the D line and the interior of the O line is not much better. With a solid O line, Fitzie is a middle of the road starter in the NFL. Give him some time and he can keep drives going. He will never be a stud, but he understands the game and will always try to hit the correct receiver. (never afraid to put it up, but has some lapses in accuracy.) The problem is our line other than Levitre is just not very good, and that includes Wood and Hangartner. As for the Defense, I have never seen a team with such unathletic LB's. Poz, Kelsay, and Torbor have no business being on an NFL roster. Davis is the ONLY one who has a clue, and he would be a backup on most teams. I honestly think Poz has regressed since his rookie season. He is not reacting to anything and looks like he has the quickness of a Division 2 college player. He is definitely a shell of what he was playing at Penn State. Have no idea how this regime plans on stocking this roster with NFL players. Again, thanks for the excellent post.

Are LB's are all useless in coverage. Poz down by the goalline where he had to cover 5 yards (that is it) had absolutely no ability to stay with Simms-Walker on the short crossing pass. Same with Kelsay. Combine that with Byrd and Whitner NEVER converging to the post on any pass play and the deep middle is pathetically wide open. The 2nd TD to Lewis was as bad of team pass D as you will see. Noone was in position to make a play on the ball or the receiver. This is one of the worst defenses from a talent standpoint that the NFL has seen in at least 20 years.

Dude, You said it all. I completely agree. Just a shame what is on the field across the entire defense and the O line. We are the worst team in the league because we have just horrible talent everywhere but RB, K and P. It is not fair!! A lot of our starters would not even be a backup on many teams. And that includes Poz who can not cover ANYONE. And don't forget our supposed great DB's. Why don't our safeties cover the middle of the field when the tight end is running between the hashes?

You are a MORON. The guy is rightfully pissed off about the team and you rip him for making legitimate points. You must be just a knucklehead in real life. Do people like to punch you in the face often? I hope you're a tough guy because people like you don't last long where I come from.

Your first premise is correct. Wood is not a servicable lineman at this point in his career probably because of his leg. (and I am not giving him a free pass) If you start on O line in the NFL you need to be much better than he has shown. However, D. Bell is even worse. His technique on the hold was ridiculous. All he had to do was fall on the D lineman down by the goalline because the guy was taking himself out of the play. Instead he hogtied him around the neck. Just a dumb mistake. He is really too small and not powerful enough to start on the Oline in the NFL.

I am laughing when you say that Stroud is worth a 4th round pick. His NFL career is OVER!! Him and Green should be cut tomorrow. Marcus Stroud can not tackle any longer even when he is not being blocked. He NEVER dominates, and kind of floats around the field. Spencer Johnson who is not great by any means makes many more plays.