Gailey In Full Panic Mode?

[The Dean]

I think it is pretty well accepted that if we had wanted to keep TO or Incardona we almost certainly could have worked out a deal. I for one believe that going to 3-4 was what pushed Schobel into retirement. While not a Josh Reed fan, I find it hard to believe we got rid of him without a viable replacement or at least didn't deal with it in the draft.

 

Just a mess, and it IS definitely a mess grossly exacerbated by Nix and Gailey

 

 

The Bills did not cut TO. TO had a one-year contract with the Bills. TO's one-year contract with the Bills had expired.

 

Now, it's true the Bills did not try to RE-SIGN TO, but that is a completely different thing than saying they cut TO.

 

Not having TO on the team has nothing at all to do with their poor offensive performance so far this year.

[dpberr]

Anybody who thought Owens was a factor last year or would be a game-changer this year plays too much Madden and doesn't watch enough live games.

 

Even with Carson Palmer and another wide receiver to take the double team off of him, he's only got 110 yards with 10 catches.

 

I don't fault Nix for not resigning him.

 

As for Schobel, he was done playing football regardless if Buffalo played a 3-4 or 4-3.

[thewildrabbit]

The Bills did not cut TO. TO had a one-year contract with the Bills. TO's one-year contract with the Bills had expired.

 

Now, it's true the Bills did not try to RE-SIGN TO, but that is a completely different thing than saying they cut TO.

 

Not having TO on the team has nothing at all to do with their poor offensive performance so far this year.

scuse me for not phrasing it perfectly to suit you, you are correct he wasn't CUT, they just didn't re sign him so he is no longer with the team.

 

If you want to get technical TO had 55 receptions for 829 yards, he had 69 the year before with Dallas.

 

Those 55 receptions were more then Lee Evans who had 44-612 yards

 

The point was the Bills didn't RE SIGN their leading receiver from last season

 

The guy who took TO's place has been demoted to 3rd string and only takes the field when the Bills move to more then 2 receivers on the field

 

So In regards to your last statement, I disagree. I think it has had serious impact on the offensive performance this year

[PDaDdy]

I've been a strong supporter of Chan Gailey since he was hired. He had a history of identifying the range and limits of his QBs abilities and working with him. So I was more than willing to believe that he saw something in Trent Edwards that I surely never did, and that he'd build an offense around him that would minimize his weaknesses while playing to his strengths. Hope springs eternal.

 

Yet two weeks into the season he benches his personally chosen starter. He did this on the heels of, for example, Brett Favre throwing three picks and the "great" Eli Manning and his "powerhouse" Giants getting beaten as badly as the Bills did on Sunday (worse, without that garbage TD at the end), with the team the Bills had a solid chance of beating last week (the Dolphins) besting media darling Minnesota.

 

I'm surely not saying benching Edwards is the wrong move only that it smells of panic. And then replacing Edwards with Fitzie? If, in Gailey's assessment, he wasn't good enough to dislodge Edwards (!!!) prior to yesterday, why in god's name does he think he's suddenly become the answer? And it comes on the heels of benching Spiller after ONE game.

 

I don't know about you guys, but this change causes me to question everything I thought about Gailey. And by extension, Buddy Nix's thinking.

 

What is there to panic about? He is changing things up to see if he can get something out of the crap talent they have. He is a first year coach. He is not a 3 or 4 year failure who is on the hot seat. There is no panic.

 

The only thing I have questioned about Mix, Modrak and Ralph is that they thought that Edwards was a starter in this league. EPIC FAIL! Now it's just about seeing what they have as the are entering week 3 of year 1 of the rebuilding effort. If you expected more than that you might see this move as panic but you would be way off.

[tennesseeboy]

The Bills did not cut TO. TO had a one-year contract with the Bills. TO's one-year contract with the Bills had expired.

 

Now, it's true the Bills did not try to RE-SIGN TO, but that is a completely different thing than saying they cut TO.

 

Not having TO on the team has nothing at all to do with their poor offensive performance so far this year.

First...I didn't say they cut him. Just that they didn't try to re-sign him. How you can make a statement that a perennial all pro and possible hall of fame player would not have made a difference when replaced by players who couldn't possibly make the starting lineup of any other team is just beyond. me.

 

The point is Gailey/Nix had a glaring problem with a lack of starting receivers and didn't do enough to solve that problem. This is not the worst of their problems on offense (the line and quarterback were probably worse problems...neither of which they addressed either).

[The Dean]

First...I didn't say they cut him. Just that they didn't try to re-sign him. How you can make a statement that a perennial all pro and possible hall of fame player would not have made a difference when replaced by players who couldn't possibly make the starting lineup of any other team is just beyond. me.

 

 

 

Simple, as I am referring to the first two games. The OL was terrible in pass blocking and Trent didn't throw the ball when he had time. Unless TO was playing OT or QB, I can't see how he would have helped anything in the first two games. WR was not the issue in these games.

[Deadstroke]

I see it differently. I think Edwards showed the best physical skill set and sufficient game management during preseason that Gailey felt he could coach him up and gave him the benefit of the doubt that his poor game-day performance last year was the result of poor coaching or schemes. I think after the first game, Gailey and the coaches sat down with Edwards and watched film and marked out what had to change. 2nd game, Gailey went off and watched film and saw no improvement or even regression, and said "OK, the poor game management/decisions don't make up for the better physical skill set, NEXT!" I think Edwards is completely bemused by the 3-4 defense and, if he has any duties on calling the OL protections, may even be contributing to confusion on the line.

 

I don't think it smells of panic. I think it is calculated and was one of the options planned in from the start.

 

Just my opinion and worth whatever you like.

 

 

Good post. Pretty much what I say.

[dave mcbride]

Simple, as I am referring to the first two games. The OL was terrible in pass blocking and Trent didn't throw the ball when he had time. Unless TO was playing OT or QB, I can't see how he would have helped anything in the first two games. WR was not the issue in these games.

It may not have been THE issue, but it certainly is AN issue. Collectively, the Bills' receivers are flat out terrible this year. Whatever one thinks about the wisdom of re-signing Owens, he's better than anyone on the Bills current roster.

 

More broadly, I think you're missing the forest for the trees. The roster is significantly worse than last year's. There is an argument that you need to get far worse before you can get better, but let's not confuse issues and suggest that the Bills this year are making good decisions. They're not - it's the same old same old. The one qualifier is that they're so bad now that they'll get a high pick next year (finally, after being lousy for so long).

[wardigital]

Sirius NFL Radio has said many times, and I agree, that if you aren't committed to Edwards for more than two games then you weren't committed enough to him in the off-season. In other words, they should have brought some new blood in, even if they could only fill a back-up role.

 

So far as the move now, I think it is the right move, but I think it was a mistake on the part of Gailey/Nix that they needed to wait until Week 3 of the regular season to see that.

 

Finally, I don't understand this desire to see Brohm play. He has never done anything particularly inspiring in his Quarterback play. Every coach and analyst that has addressed this issue has said that he showed nothing to indicate some budding potential in the pre-season or training camp. Brohm being mostly unfamiliar to us does not make that unfamiliarity "upside".

 

scuse me for not phrasing it perfectly to suit you, you are correct he wasn't CUT, they just didn't re sign him so he is no longer with the team.

 

If you want to get technical TO had 55 receptions for 829 yards, he had 69 the year before with Dallas.

 

Those 55 receptions were more then Lee Evans who had 44-612 yards

 

The point was the Bills didn't RE SIGN their leading receiver from last season

 

The guy who took TO's place has been demoted to 3rd string and only takes the field when the Bills move to more then 2 receivers on the field

 

So In regards to your last statement, I disagree. I think it has had serious impact on the offensive performance this year

 

Terrell Owens only ran one route last year. Buffalo was a pit-stop for him. The offense was more efficient before we had Terrell Owens, with Josh Reed. Does that mean Josh Reed is better than Terrell Owens and we need to go get Reed back, now?

 

Come on.

[thewildrabbit]

Terrell Owens only ran one route last year. Buffalo was a pit-stop for him. The offense was more efficient before we had Terrell Owens, with Josh Reed. Does that mean Josh Reed is better than Terrell Owens and we need to go get Reed back, now?

 

Come on.

Where do you guys get this stuff... one route? The guy had 55 receptions an was the Bills leading receiver in his first year with the team. Then considering that moronic Jauron cut Langston walker because he couldn't keep up with the "no huddle offense", you know, the one that they would scrap a few weeks later. That the Bills cut Derrick Dockery who went back to the Redskins and has been their starting guard. If Dockery had stayed in Buffalo he would have been the best O linemen on the team last year by far. Jauron fired the OC and promoted the QB coach to OC two weeks before the season started.

 

With all the crap Jauron pulled Is it any wonder why the offense had problems last season, Besides Fred Jackson Owens was about the only offensive bright spot for the team last year. THE LEADING RECEIVER!

 

If Owens had stayed with Buffalo this year he would have been much more acclimated to the QB's and offense and in my opinion would have help this years offense quite a bit.

Dude, get a grip. Josh Reed was Buffalo's possession receiver who was somewhat decent in 3rd down packages, Last season Reed had 27 receptions for 291 yards, Fred Jackson had more. In 08 Reeds best season he had 56 receptions for 597 yards and ONE TD. Kinda crappy for someone who had been with the team for 7 years. Reed had never caught more the 2 TD a year during his entire career with the Bills

 

Reeds biggest problem was that he never seemed to be in tune with the QB in terms of blitz awareness, in which he was supposed to break off his route should the QB need to get rid of the ball quicker. There is a reason the guy is currently out of football

 

The thing that Owens brought to Buffalo was that not only was he a big target at 6'3'' 224, he could also get off the line easier as it was harder for DB's to jam him at the line. Roscoe Parrish is a smurf in comparison at 5'9'' 178 and with Lee Evans at 5'10 197 it means the Bills have two smallish receivers that can easily be jammed at the Lo. So yea, he is missed

[Direhard Fan]

Fitz on Sports Report today as one of the smartest sports players on any field today. Harvard of course. That is impressive. Peyton was 14th. 14 games to go and he will show an improvement that will better our team.

 

Fitz on Sports Report today was ranked as one of the smartest playes in sports. Harvard you know. 14 games to go and we will see.

[CodeMonkey]

Fitz on Sports Report today as one of the smartest sports players on any field today. Harvard of course. That is impressive. Peyton was 14th. 14 games to go and he will show an improvement that will better our team.

 

Fitz on Sports Report today was ranked as one of the smartest playes in sports. Harvard you know. 14 games to go and we will see.

Too bad this isn't chess, we'd kick ass for sure.

[TheChimp]

scuse me for not phrasing it perfectly to suit you, you are correct he wasn't CUT, they just didn't re sign him so he is no longer with the team.

 

If you want to get technical TO had 55 receptions for 829 yards, he had 69 the year before with Dallas.

 

Those 55 receptions were more then Lee Evans who had 44-612 yards

 

The point was the Bills didn't RE SIGN their leading receiver from last season

 

The guy who took TO's place has been demoted to 3rd string and only takes the field when the Bills move to more then 2 receivers on the field

 

So In regards to your last statement, I disagree. I think it has had serious impact on the offensive performance this year

I'm with you on this one. TO would have forced the defenses to at least commit their best DB to cover him, and that would have helped our offense that teeny bit. Without him, no defense even CARES which DBs cover WHICH Bills WRs, because none of them are playmakers (except Lee Evans on long bombs and no other types of routes).

 

And Chan, if I recall, named James Hardy as the guy who could simply replace TO out there. So in that regard, yeah, Chan is looking pretty stupid right now, IMO.

[The Dean]

It may not have been THE issue, but it certainly is AN issue. Collectively, the Bills' receivers are flat out terrible this year.

 

 

How can you tell? I see open receivers with no balls coming their way. I don't see a ton of dropped passes (I think TO lead the team in that stat last year.) As far as I know, WRs aren't blowing their routes. Perhaps you have more info on this.

 

Discussing the WR corp, at least so far this year, is an exercise in futility. Who really knows if the WRs are any good. They aren't getting any opportunities to show anything, and right now I really don't put the fault on the receivers.

[Nuncha]

If he doesn't make the change he's an idiot and doesn't see what we all see: that the offense sucks. If he makes the change he's in panic mode. He's not going to win with people like you and Jerry Sullivan, so are you looking for a lot of "right on!" statements here, or a conversation, or what?

 

I take issue with giving Edwards the shot to begin with (and not giving Brohm et al a chance with the #1s), but this is a pretty conservative league and I understand WHY it happened that way. The Spiller pick should have signalled that this is a regime that is trying, at least, to take the long view. That might make the games excruciating right now, but at least Chan is adjusting to respond to the veterans' (and by extension, the fans') needs while building it up.

 

 

Brohm.. LOL! The answer at QB isn't on the roster.

[vincec]

Lets face it,the fans are in Panic mode, not the coaches.

+1

 

Most of the threads and posts this week have been even crazier than usual. Relax, it's a game.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

Too bad this isn't chess, we'd kick ass for sure.

 

Football is a lot like chess, lots of strategy

People think it's all hittin' and spittin' well that's there all too

 

It's the coach who has to be the Chess Master though.

[RuntheDamnBall]

Brohm.. LOL! The answer at QB isn't on the roster.

That's not the point, pal. The point is that if you're going to have the competition be anything more than a charade, every player should get a chance with the first team. You may be right - in fact you probably are, which I'm sure delights you to no end. Score! You win! Not knowing for sure about Brohm is just a symptom of the real problem here. And if you're right, then Gailey was right to follow the course that he did.

[thewildrabbit]

How can you tell? I see open receivers with no balls coming their way. I don't see a ton of dropped passes (I think TO lead the team in that stat last year.) As far as I know, WRs aren't blowing their routes. Perhaps you have more info on this.

 

Discussing the WR corp, at least so far this year, is an exercise in futility. Who really knows if the WRs are any good. They aren't getting any opportunities to show anything, and right now I really don't put the fault on the receivers.

Go back and re watch the games, most every play Edwards has 3 seconds max to get the ball out or he is hit. . In the Miami game the first series, 3rd play, Edwards got hit and sacked from the blindside after 2 seconds, this happened again in the second series on 3rd down Edwards completed the pass but he was hit from behind and leveled after 2 seconds. Captain checkdown at times has no time to even checkdown, protections have been so bad.

 

Gaileys plan was to use quick timing routes and slants to alleviate the pressure from the pass rush, clearly this hasn't worked because the QB is still getting hit a lot, 7 sacks in two games speaks for itself.

 

I think the fact that starting 2nd WR Steve Johnson has been demoted to 3rd string is also a telling fact, the coaches don't think the WR's are getting the job done. Parrish is now the 2nd starting WR on the team and moves back into the slot when the team moves to more then 2 WR's on the field