Patience Grasshopper...it may get worse before better

[Beerball]

Leonidas

[Red]

Leonidas

 

Great article.

 

I like Gailey and I like Nix. I like the Whaley hire.

 

For the life of me, I can't figure out why Tom Modrak still has a job with the Bills. IMO, he's been nothing but a double-agent for the AFC as he keeps stocking us with garbage. John Guy was equally as wretched and thankfully he's finally history.

 

Hopefully, Modrak will be gone soon and Gailey, Whaley, and Nix can continue to install the right attitude. I can see them finally building a winner. I don't expect our season to be a winning one this year, but I do think that we finally blast past mediocre into playoff bound in the next couple.

[BuffaloBill]

I believe we will need to be patient this year - I simply hope the defense takes root and one of the QB's steps up.

[BillsPhan]

Leonidas

 

"I get the feeling some people around here would be pleased with just being 9-7 and having a winning record again. Well, where do you want me to pick the seven losses? And why even bother to play those games? That's not what we are going to be about."; says Gailey in that article.

 

Oh really? As it looks right about now, there will be closer to 12 to 14 games that "they should not even bother playing". As far as what his Bills are "going to be about", it is more of the same losing football unless Wilson/Brandon/Nix finally decide to bring in some quality UFA's next year, and every year after that, even if it is only one or two per season, until they mesh with the supposed better drafted rookies Nix will be bringing in! Cornell Green and Dwan Edwards are not anyone's opinion of quality free agent signings! Nor is Andra Davis or Reggie Torbor, for that matter.

[Thurman#1]

"I get the feeling some people around here would be pleased with just being 9-7 and having a winning record again. Well, where do you want me to pick the seven losses? And why even bother to play those games? That's not what we are going to be about."; says Gailey in that article.

 

Oh really? As it looks right about now, there will be closer to 12 to 14 games that "they should not even bother playing". As far as what his Bills are "going to be about", it is more of the same losing football unless Wilson/Brandon/Nix finally decide to bring in some quality UFA's next year, and every year after that, even if it is only one or two per season, until they mesh with the supposed better drafted rookies Nix will be bringing in! Cornell Green and Dwan Edwards are not anyone's opinion of quality free agent signings! Nor is Andra Davis or Reggie Torbor, for that matter.

 

 

Again, look at the Steelers, the Pats* and the Colts, the most successful teams of the last ten years. They don't bring in big-name free agents, or rather, they very rarely do. Once every three years or so ... maybe. Who was Pittsburgh's last big-ticket FA? The Colts? Those teams are the best in the league over time, and they don't bring in any one or two big-ticket FAs, "even if it is only one or two per season." You might do better as a fan of a team that actually takes that approach, the Redskins, say, or the Cowboys.

 

If you're going to be a Bills fan, it's better to expect what they have already said they are going to do, which is build with the draft and fill in the gaps with lower-level FAs. Otherwise you're going to be moaning forever, about something all of us already knew about. It's like hearing somebody moaning every morning that the sun should come up in the west sometimes.

 

The draft is plenty to bring in the huge majority of your players, with low-level and mid-level FAs with time left on their contracts filling in the gaps.

 

As for "not even bothering to play," Gailey is just saying that he plays to win every game. Fair enough. That doesn't mean you win. This year, they're likely to win very few. But I want Gailey imprinting the team with this mindset, that they should go out and expect to win every game. When they can at the same time put a talented team on the field (2012?), an attitude like that will serve them very well indeed.

[akm0404]

Patience indeed.

 

We must patiently await the arrival of the two pieces that nearly always must be in place for a team to be successful. Wait for it...drumroll...

 

A coach and a quarterback.

 

Right now, I suspect we have neither.

 

Look at how hilariously simple it was for the Redskins to turn from a team that was somehow WORSE than the Bills last year to a team that can thrash it, with hope abundantly leaking from every orifice.

 

Bring in a big name coach like EVERYONE wanted (except the coaches, because NOBODY wants to come to Buffalo), and bring in a respectable quarterback (no _good_ free agent quarterback with options would come to Buffalo, so the draft is the only option there and you know how we feel about that).

 

Two pronged attack for guaranteed respectability and relevance in the NFL.

 

We are zero-pronged.

 

Instead, we promote from within (the fungus among us, so to speak). We roll out the same guaranteed fail re-treads. We cheap out on a coach who nobody who follows the league even had a CLUE was a candidate for ANY job.

 

But hey, things are changing! We're doing things DIFFERENTLY now. If by different you mean roll out the same scrub players, run a fail offense that, even if it somehow manages to succeed will still make you want to drive a rust-covered icepick through your eyeball, run by a coach who will run some dumbass fake snap into last timeout of the quarter to punt the ball away. Channeling his inner Jauron, one might imagine. I remember a Georgia Tech student who posted on TSW when Gailey was hired, who to paraphrase said something along the lines of, "Expect more third and long draw plays and more punts from your opponents 35 yard line than you can imagine". I believe it, and it's been but one game.

 

So, we shall endure yet another meaningless fail of a season, mired in the same stagnant mediocrity and irrelevance that has plagued us for a decade. Savvy fans will hope beyond hope that the team will somehow find a way to lose enough games to strong-arm the team into drafting a quarterback, instead of another corner back or running back. Fortunately, it looks like the quality of players on the team should be enough to seal that fate. I still fear enough overachieving to lock us into another worst-case-scenario 6-10 season.

 

Do you think I want to root for the Bills, the team of my youth, the only NFL team I could ever watch every single play of every single game, every single year, to lose all of their games? Hell no. You think I want this? Do you really think I want it to be this way?

 

We are all stuck in an abusive relationship with the Buffalo Bills. Every year they slap us around, and we get real upset about it, we call the cops. But we don't press charges. We can't. We'll be back. And they'll still be the same. Until real change happens. Not promote-from-within change. Not fire-some-useless-coaches-and-bring-in-some-new-ones change. Not our-owner-is-so-old-and-thinks-that-luck-is-the-most-important-factor-in-consistent-winning change.

 

Change can only happen when the Buffalo Bills fall under new ownership. New, dynamic owners with dogged determination to win. Young, vibrant work-a-holics who understand the climate of the modern NFL.

 

An owner that understands the one simple tenant of consistently winning in this league:

 

A coach, and a quarterback.

[Coach Tuesday]

Again, look at the Steelers, the Pats* and the Colts, the most successful teams of the last ten years. They don't bring in big-name free agents, or rather, they very rarely do. Once every three years or so ... maybe. Who was Pittsburgh's last big-ticket FA? The Colts? Those teams are the best in the league over time, and they don't bring in any one or two big-ticket FAs, "even if it is only one or two per season." You might do better as a fan of a team that actually takes that approach, the Redskins, say, or the Cowboys.

 

If you're going to be a Bills fan, it's better to expect what they have already said they are going to do, which is build with the draft and fill in the gaps with lower-level FAs. Otherwise you're going to be moaning forever, about something all of us already knew about. It's like hearing somebody moaning every morning that the sun should come up in the west sometimes.

 

The draft is plenty to bring in the huge majority of your players, with low-level and mid-level FAs with time left on their contracts filling in the gaps.

 

As for "not even bothering to play," Gailey is just saying that he plays to win every game. Fair enough. That doesn't mean you win. This year, they're likely to win very few. But I want Gailey imprinting the team with this mindset, that they should go out and expect to win every game. When they can at the same time put a talented team on the field (2012?), an attitude like that will serve them very well indeed.

 

There you go again, telling everyone to accept your opinion as gospel or go root for another team...

 

The Saints won the SB last year in large part by bringing in two key, "high profile" free agents (Brees and Sharper), and by paying big money to a defensive coordinator. My point is only that there are other examples beyond the Colts and Steelers.

[Cash]

Wow, I've never heard a coach express confidence in his team before. I'm sold -- playoffs here we come!

[Green Lightning]

I understand that after ten years of futility, fans want success now. I disagree that we need a new owner and we don't have the right coach and GM. Fact is we don't know yet about Chan and Buddy. Time will tell and like it or not, we need to give them time. Deal with it.

[Dr. K]

There you go again, telling everyone to accept your opinion as gospel or go root for another team...

 

The Saints won the SB last year in large part by bringing in two key, "high profile" free agents (Brees and Sharper), and by paying big money to a defensive coordinator. My point is only that there are other examples beyond the Colts and Steelers.

 

Brees wasn't in any way shape or form a "high-profile" free agent. He was a quarterback with a bum arm, who had just had surgery in the off-season, and who had had one good season after three mediocre-to-bad ones.

[thewildrabbit]

""Gailey is the right coach at the right time for the Bills.""

 

I remain skeptical and apprehensive about that statement because so far I just don't see it. What the team desperately needed after Jauron was an influx of better schemes, both offensive and defensive.

 

 

We were all hoping that when a new offensive minded HC was hired he would completely revamp the play book and significantly change the offensive scheme. So far I haven't seen that change, and more to the point...the QB's and offense looks basically the same as last season. I realize it was only one preseason game but I think we all expected better play from the offensive passing game.

[Beerball]

""Gailey is the right coach at the right time for the Bills.""

 

I remain skeptical and apprehensive about that statement because so far I just don't see it. What the team desperately needed after Jauron was an influx of better schemes, both offensive and defensive.

 

 

We were all hoping that when a new offensive minded HC was hired he would completely revamp the play book and significantly change the offensive scheme. So far I haven't seen that change, and more to the point...the QB's and offense looks basically the same as last season. I realize it was only one preseason game but I think we all expected better play from the offensive passing game.

because they are

 

You won't win consistently any of the 3. Toss in the fact that our tackle situation is awful and you're going to see bad QB play from QBs who are mediocre to bad to begin with.

[EastRochBillsfan]

Patience indeed.

 

We must patiently await the arrival of the two pieces that nearly always must be in place for a team to be successful. Wait for it...drumroll...

 

A coach and a quarterback.

 

Right now, I suspect we have neither.

 

Look at how hilariously simple it was for the Redskins to turn from a team that was somehow WORSE than the Bills last year to a team that can thrash it, with hope abundantly leaking from every orifice.

 

Bring in a big name coach like EVERYONE wanted (except the coaches, because NOBODY wants to come to Buffalo), and bring in a respectable quarterback (no _good_ free agent quarterback with options would come to Buffalo, so the draft is the only option there and you know how we feel about that).

 

Two pronged attack for guaranteed respectability and relevance in the NFL.

 

We are zero-pronged.

 

Instead, we promote from within (the fungus among us, so to speak). We roll out the same guaranteed fail re-treads. We cheap out on a coach who nobody who follows the league even had a CLUE was a candidate for ANY job.

 

But hey, things are changing! We're doing things DIFFERENTLY now. If by different you mean roll out the same scrub players, run a fail offense that, even if it somehow manages to succeed will still make you want to drive a rust-covered icepick through your eyeball, run by a coach who will run some dumbass fake snap into last timeout of the quarter to punt the ball away. Channeling his inner Jauron, one might imagine. I remember a Georgia Tech student who posted on TSW when Gailey was hired, who to paraphrase said something along the lines of, "Expect more third and long draw plays and more punts from your opponents 35 yard line than you can imagine". I believe it, and it's been but one game.

 

So, we shall endure yet another meaningless fail of a season, mired in the same stagnant mediocrity and irrelevance that has plagued us for a decade. Savvy fans will hope beyond hope that the team will somehow find a way to lose enough games to strong-arm the team into drafting a quarterback, instead of another corner back or running back. Fortunately, it looks like the quality of players on the team should be enough to seal that fate. I still fear enough overachieving to lock us into another worst-case-scenario 6-10 season.

 

Do you think I want to root for the Bills, the team of my youth, the only NFL team I could ever watch every single play of every single game, every single year, to lose all of their games? Hell no. You think I want this? Do you really think I want it to be this way?

 

We are all stuck in an abusive relationship with the Buffalo Bills. Every year they slap us around, and we get real upset about it, we call the cops. But we don't press charges. We can't. We'll be back. And they'll still be the same. Until real change happens. Not promote-from-within change. Not fire-some-useless-coaches-and-bring-in-some-new-ones change. Not our-owner-is-so-old-and-thinks-that-luck-is-the-most-important-factor-in-consistent-winning change.

 

Change can only happen when the Buffalo Bills fall under new ownership. New, dynamic owners with dogged determination to win. Young, vibrant work-a-holics who understand the climate of the modern NFL.

 

An owner that understands the one simple tenant of consistently winning in this league:

 

A coach, and a quarterback.

Man, what a buzz kill you are. I'm glad you've got the whole season figured out. No sense in watching then I guess as the outcome has been pre-determined.

 

And Washington, yea they put a whooping on us in the first pre-season game. Man did they turn it around. They got everything we (you) wanted; a highprofile/expensive coach, a great qb, even one of the best LT's in the draft. Superbowl bound I'm sure.

 

Honestly, give me a break. We all know this team needs a lot of work. But there have been a ton of changes around here. It's going to take the whole pre-season for them to work out the kinks. But before you go writing off the whole freakin season, why don't you give these guys the benefit of the doubt and see what product they put on the field come Sept 12.

[BuffaloWings]

""Gailey is the right coach at the right time for the Bills.""

 

I remain skeptical and apprehensive about that statement because so far I just don't see it. What the team desperately needed after Jauron was an influx of better schemes, both offensive and defensive.

 

 

We were all hoping that when a new offensive minded HC was hired he would completely revamp the play book and significantly change the offensive scheme. So far I haven't seen that change, and more to the point...the QB's and offense looks basically the same as last season. I realize it was only one preseason game but I think we all expected better play from the offensive passing game.

I still want to know how a statement like that can be made after 1 preseason game. Of course you're not going to see that change.

 

If we were able to say this after Week 9, then that's saying something more significant. Even then, you have to realize that this whole re-vamp of a team is a work in progress. Gailey may not be dealt the best hand, but you can't assume he's going to fold or turn it into a royal flush...not now, at least, and probably not this year.

[Koufax]

Oh really? As it looks right about now, there will be closer to 12 to 14 games that "they should not even bother playing".

 

Which ones? And if you are willing to bet, I would like to take the over on your 2-4 win estimate. I don't see the tea leaves that show this team so much worse than any of the last 8 years when we failed to win fewer than 5 games. I guess we can let the season play out instead of trying to win a preseason pessimism contest, but I just want to be on record against the "we are doomed" threads. I hope we play for the future and develop young guys and am willing to put up with the learning curve if that is what it takes, but I think Chan is not interested in losing football games for the big picture. And I think he has a more talented roster than Mauron had last season. So why is he going to fail so much worse than the last season perfect storm:

 

1) Our QBs are terrible? Yeah, that has been that way for a while...nothing to see here.

2) New defensive scheme to learn? Okay, some room for growing pains, but didn't DJ put in a new scheme and win 7?

3) Our line is terrible? Is it worse than last year? Experience and the probability of fewer injuries has me saying no

4) Our schedule? Nobody knows the strength of schedule from one year to another...there is too much turn over in teams.

 

So I'm still not clear on the arguments why 2010 is supposed to be so much worse than 2009 when we won six games.

 

Go Bills.

[Gabe Northern]

He understands that this team is mentally scarred, and that this fan base still adores its team but expects the worst. This is a build-it-from-the-ground-up operation.

 

This is the key. The team is a collection of losers, waiting for that decisive play each game that will send the team to yet another defeat.

 

That needs to change.

 

In the process, the defense will be much worse. Going from a conservative cover-2 to an aggressive 3-4 with most of the same personnel is going to lead to a number of big plays, out-of-position OLBs getting exposed, an undersized front getting physically handled, and a talented secondary learning it doesn't have the same protection it used to rely on.

 

Putting this together with a team that returns the O-line and offensive weapons from a year ago means 4-12 is very much in play.

 

But maybe they'll finally have the loser beaten out of them, as keeping it close will no longer be the name of the game.

[akm0404]

Man, what a buzz kill you are. I'm glad you've got the whole season figured out. No sense in watching then I guess as the outcome has been pre-determined.

 

And Washington, yea they put a whooping on us in the first pre-season game. Man did they turn it around. They got everything we (you) wanted; a highprofile/expensive coach, a great qb, even one of the best LT's in the draft. Superbowl bound I'm sure.

 

Honestly, give me a break. We all know this team needs a lot of work. But there have been a ton of changes around here. It's going to take the whole pre-season for them to work out the kinks. But before you go writing off the whole freakin season, why don't you give these guys the benefit of the doubt and see what product they put on the field come Sept 12.

 

 

Sorry to make you feel sad, but that is the reality that I see as a fan of this team. You don't have to agree, it doesn't matter much to me. I think that my diagnosis of the failures of this team are founded on reality, and it is my opinion that a coach and a quarterback are nearly always required to find success in the NFL. It is also my opinion (and I don't think it is really a huge stretch to say this, objectively) that we are severely lacking in both regards.

 

The pre-season IS the time to try to figure out what the season will hold. Most respected NFL analysts are doing just that, attempting to analyze how teams will fare in the upcoming season. They are usually more right than wrong, and unfortunately, I think they are probably right about this team. It doesn't make them buzzkills, or negative nellies, or not "true fans" to look objectively and prognosticate how teams should fare based on their composition. It doesn't pre-determine the season - very rarely a team generally expected to do badly will over perform. I desperately hope this is the case, as it makes me happy when the Bills win and sad when they lose. But, what I really don't want to see is for them to over perform to their usual 6-10 record, thus preventing our ownership from being "forced" into drafting a quarterback with the #1ish pick in the draft.

 

Because as I said, I feel that you can't win consistently without a top-flight coach and quarterback. Do you think that Trent Edwards or Ryan Fitzpatrick or Brian Brohm are likely to be top-flight quarterbacks in this league? If yes, then I'd postulate that you aren't watching a lot of football. Because they are terrible. Seriously bad. Very sub-standard quality. Do you think that Chan Gailey is going to suddenly become a top-flight head coach in the NFL? History suggests that he won't. The things I've seen with this team suggest that he won't. Maybe we'll be surprised, but I'd rather invest in a proven winner rather than hope for a different outcome the umpteenth time around.

[thewildrabbit]

I still want to know how a statement like that can be made after 1 preseason game. Of course you're not going to see that change.

 

If we were able to say this after Week 9, then that's saying something more significant. Even then, you have to realize that this whole re-vamp of a team is a work in progress. Gailey may not be dealt the best hand, but you can't assume he's going to fold or turn it into a royal flush...not now, at least, and probably not this year.

Because the QB's practice practice practice in OTA's, mini camps and training camp, with Edwards getting first string reps you would think he would be the most improved under Gaileys coaching... I didn't see any improvement did you?

 

We are not talking the mechanics that players like Levi Brown and Tim Tebow need to work on, as Edwards and Fitz are ok in that dept, we are talking plays and schemes to get the receivers open and allow the QB's to hit them.

 

I didn't see any improvement in the offense, it may as well have been AVP or Turk Schonert calling the offensive plays. Perhaps Gailey is running a vanilla offense just to get the players the reps needed for the start of the season. Even so the offense should have played much better then they did... as DJ and his staff of clowns is no longer the excuse.

[EastRochBillsfan]

Sorry to make you feel sad, but that is the reality that I see as a fan of this team. You don't have to agree, it doesn't matter much to me. I think that my diagnosis of the failures of this team are founded on reality, and it is my opinion that a coach and a quarterback are nearly always required to find success in the NFL. It is also my opinion (and I don't think it is really a huge stretch to say this, objectively) that we are severely lacking in both regards.

 

The pre-season IS the time to try to figure out what the season will hold. Most respected NFL analysts are doing just that, attempting to analyze how teams will fare in the upcoming season. They are usually more right than wrong, and unfortunately, I think they are probably right about this team. It doesn't make them buzzkills, or negative nellies, or not "true fans" to look objectively and prognosticate how teams should fare based on their composition. It doesn't pre-determine the season - very rarely a team generally expected to do badly will over perform. I desperately hope this is the case, as it makes me happy when the Bills win and sad when they lose. But, what I really don't want to see is for them to over perform to their usual 6-10 record, thus preventing our ownership from being "forced" into drafting a quarterback with the #1ish pick in the draft.

 

Because as I said, I feel that you can't win consistently without a top-flight coach and quarterback. Do you think that Trent Edwards or Ryan Fitzpatrick or Brian Brohm are likely to be top-flight quarterbacks in this league? If yes, then I'd postulate that you aren't watching a lot of football. Because they are terrible. Seriously bad. Very sub-standard quality. Do you think that Chan Gailey is going to suddenly become a top-flight head coach in the NFL? History suggests that he won't. The things I've seen with this team suggest that he won't. Maybe we'll be surprised, but I'd rather invest in a proven winner rather than hope for a different outcome the umpteenth time around.

another doom and gloomer. yea.

 

You didn't make me sad in the least bit. Perturbed maybe, but definitely not sad. I don't think you heard a thing i said. First of all, how many well respected anylsts are out there? Most of them are a joke, and if you read here regulary that is generally agreed upon. I really don't care what they think after one pre-season game. This thing isn't going to right itself overnight and shouldn't be evaluated on one preseason game that was missing a lot of starters.

 

Say what you will about Gailey. I personally like him and see a change for the better with this team. From what I have seen, he will be a top flight coach. That's great you're going with the odds of history to prove he's not a top flight coach. The safe thing to do I guess. But just go ask belicheck and Levy what their first coaching jobs were like. And in fairness to gailey, he's done pretty well wherever he has been. so our assessment of the coach differ. Regardless, no one is going to be able know how good or bad he truly is untill the season starts to unfold.

 

As for the qb, I agree a good one is needed. But I also believe Brohm possibly can be molded to be that person. Do I know this will happen? no. but there is a chance. Based on his college career and his physical tools I think there is a good chance. You can postulate all you want about how much football I watch. There's NOT much to see regarding Brohm. He simply hasn't been given much of a chance yet. Either way, we have who we have this year and it'll have to do. All the holes haven't been filled on this team and like it's been said a million times, they are going to build mainly through the draft.

 

Bottom line is, neither of us really know what this team is going to be like. you have your reasons to think they will suck badly. and I have my reasons they will do better than expected by the "anylsts". But one thing I am pretty certain of is one pre-season game does not determine how the whole year is going to go. Get back to me mid season when we all have a real body of work to evaluate.

[Hplarrm]

The draft is plenty to bring in the huge majority of your players, with low-level and mid-level FAs with time left on their contracts filling in the gaps.

Is this really true? I have not checked the actual numbers lately for the Bills (or more importantly for the teams we aspire to win like) but are e these teams really made up huge majority of the players being men they drafted. I would not be shocked if this is simply not the case.

 

I doubt that is the case.

 

Particularly in today's NFL where player movement and mobility is increased and the general demand is that a team wins now, while there are some teams that may well have 51% (or actually lets say 66% of their rosters which would constitute meeting the huge majority standard you have declared as being the norm), my guess would be that what you say may demonstrably not be true.

 

Yes, the Bills have a roster pockmarked by having no players from quite recent drafts still on the team, any ranking of how many draftees are still on the team not too long after they drafted would likely find the Bills near the bottom of the league. However, whether this is a cause of their losing ways or a side effect of other errors has not been demonstrated by those who want to make either case.

 

Further, though my guess is that there are probably cases of successful teams with a significant number of roster spots occupied by players they picked, my guess is that though this is likely true for the Pats (a reflection of their policy and ability to stockpile draft choices) it is unclear whether their winning records are a cause or effect.

 

Certainly FAs from Antoine Smith to Randy Moss have played a key role.