Mort Chat

[Travis]

Stating the obvious here but the firing of Bill Polian was the lynch pin in the overall collapse/demise of this franchise. That is all on RW.

Edited September 29, 2010 by Pizza Junction

[BuffaloWest]

Mort would sound more believable if he'd quit bringing up TD. TD started out ok, but then became paranoid, that began his downfall. Everyone keeps pointing the finger at Ralph for al lthe problems. Maybe it really isn't him making the bad decisions, but has been Littman and Overdolf. Granted RW has hired them, but would be interesting to know if that is where the problem really is.

Look , You are missing the point here. Everyone is so quick to say "Mort is bashing The Bills". The truth is that no one ever really wants to come out and say anything bad about an owner, coach, organization etc because the NFL is a relatively small business and if you want to keep a job in The NFL, you are better off keeping your mouth shut and staying friendly with everyone. You never know when you'll be working with the guy you bashed. Many businesses are like this.

 

Without coming out and saying verbatim "Ralph is out of touch and his assistants are jackasses who meddle with the real football people", Mort is saying what every real NFL insider already knows: "Ralph is out of touch and his assistants are jackasses who meddle with the real football people"

 

Folks-This is as close as you will get to the real honest truth from an insider, and the real reasons why the Bills are a horrible organization. Thank you Mort for your honest insight!

 

Yes-Donahoe sucked. He has yet to land another job in The NFL. He may have micro managed and created a bad environment, but the reason why he did it was because the guys on top of him were doing the same thing to him. The negativity started at the top and rolled downhill.

 

We are a mess. You know it, I know it, every NFL insider knows it.

 

Giving Kelsey a $24 million extension is the same as Ralph making Russ Brandon, a marketing guy, the GM of an NFL team. Kelsey and Brandon said and did the right things, kissed the right butt and gave the impression that they were team guys. Jauron did the same thing and got an extension after having won nothing, an dnever even finishing above .500. Apparently performance isnt a criteria looked at when they give raises at One Bills Drive.

[Travis]

Look , You are missing the point here. Everyone is so quick to say "Mort is bashing The Bills". The truth is that no one ever really wants to come out and say anything bad about an owner, coach, organization etc because the NFL is a relatively small business and if you want to keep a job in The NFL, you are better off keeping your mouth shut and staying friendly with everyone. You never know when you'll be working with the guy you bashed. Many businesses are like this.

 

Without coming out and saying verbatim "Ralph is out of touch and his assistants are jackasses who meddle with the real football people", Mort is saying what every real NFL insider already knows: "Ralph is out of touch and his assistants are jackasses who meddle with the real football people"

 

Folks-This is as close as you will get to the real honest truth from an insider, and the real reasons why the Bills are a horrible organization. Thank you Mort for your honest insight!

 

Yes-Donahoe sucked. He has yet to land another job in The NFL. He may have micro managed and created a bad environment, but the reason why he did it was because the guys on top of him were doing the same thing to him. The negativity started at the top and rolled downhill.

 

We are a mess. You know it, I know it, every NFL insider knows it.

 

Giving Kelsey a $24 million extension is the same as Ralph making Russ Brandon, a marketing guy, the GM of an NFL team. Kelsey and Brandon said and did the right things, kissed the right butt and gave the impression that they were team guys. Jauron did the same thing and got an extension after having won nothing, an dnever even finishing above .500. Apparently performance isnt a criteria looked at when they give raises at One Bills Drive.

+1

[Buftex]

i think donahoe should have stayed also. he did not kiss the buffalo media's a$$ and wound up getting a bad reputation as a result. a great deal of fans were swayed because the media perception of him was fostered upon the fans. i think his two major problems were : he never hit on the coaches and picked johnson over flutie. he could still be here based on his accomplishments, but too many variables (pressure from the media) contributed to his being in a place where ralph pulled the plug on him, which was unjustified.

 

 

I agree that TD should have stayed, but, in all fairness, he was let go as much for his inability to co-exist with his subordinates, and his boss, as he was the performance on the field.

[Dr. Fong]

To me it just sounds like just another shot from afar by Mortensen, who never forgave Ralph from firing his buddy Donahoe.

 

Looking back the Donohoe era was like a golden age. Man, that's depressing.

[2003Contenders]

I'm in the very small minority that actually thinks we might have been better off with Donahoe than without him. I know this sounds crazy, but he is the last executive to field a winning team. Hell, even a .500 team.

 

He's the last executive to field a top 10 unit of any significance. I believe the Bills defense was 3rd overall in 2003 and 2nd overall in 2004, I could be wrong, but I know they were very high.

 

How about his ability to find undrafted talent? Jason Peters is the last Bill to be voted to the Pro Bowl. Jabari Greer is a great cover corner for the Saints.

 

His first couple drafts weren't bad either: Nate Clements, Aaron Schobel, Travis Henry, and Jonas Jennings all were taken in the same draft, and all were very productive for the Bills.

 

Yes, he had his notoriously bad misses - Mike Williams, Losman, Bledsoe, McGahee, but I believe he felt the pressure to win was so great he never truly set out a plan to rebuild a team from the ground up. That may have been his biggest flaw. Its strange how he could find talent in later rounds but reach so bad in the earlier, and supposedly easier rounds.

 

My buddy read a book about building an NFL franchise, and Donahoe is quoted a lot in it. He took over a team that had devoted 30 million dollars to players that weren't even on the team anymore. I'm no CPA, but that's some terrible bookkeeping by the previous administration.

 

All good points. The beginning of the end for TD was the day it was formally announced back in 2004 that Gregg's contract would not be extended. It was clear in the press conference that TD was not thrilled with this decision and he went on to lament some of his challenges, directly bad-mouthing some of the Buffalo constituency in the process. He may have been right in what he said that day but many fans never forgave him for it. That 2006 team had boasted a top 3 defense that year but was let down by a declining Bledsoe and lousy offense.

 

As you said, TD did some good things, but Mort shouldn't overlook his blunders either:

 

1. Going with RJ over Flutie. This one wasn't such a problem, as Flutie was on his last legs -- but in keeping RJ around they operated under the possibility that he could be their QB of the future. Thus, they side-stepped drafting one that year. Gregg maintains that he wanted to draft Brees. I am not sure if I buy that or not. Even if it was true, Brees was a slow starter -- it took him until his 4th year to get cranking, and he would likely have burned out in Buffalo by then. Also, remember that as an expert at ESPN, Donahoe had opined that Flutie was the superior QB to RJ. Even RJ had told his friends that he expected to be the one to get cut. This tells me that someone BESIDES TD made that decision.

 

2. Drafting Mike Williams. We know now that it was a huge mistake. However, at the time it seemed like a very good pick. McKinnie obviously would have been the better choice, but his demeanor I think had the Bills worried. If you recall, McKinnie pulled a Crabtree and held out with the Vikings for several weeks into the season. Big Mike was actually pretty good as a rookie -- and I had I high hopes for him heading into his sophomore season. Of course, it just went downhill from there. Is TD to blame? Sure. Is this with the full benefit of 20/20 hindsight? You bet.

 

3. Trading for Bledsoe. After 2002 this looked like a victorious trade, as Bledsoe became the first QB in Buffalo history to pass for over 4000 yards. After the laughable 2001 season, he brought a respectability to the franchise -- and his presence served to inflate the value of Peerless Price, with whom TD was smartly able to steal a 1st rounder from Atlanta. It was impossible to gauge that Bledsoe would fall off the mountain as fast as he did. Based on just 3 years of production, giving up a 1st rounder now makes it a bad trade, but sadly the Bledsoe years (2002-04) were the best that the team has had over the course of this decade from hell.

 

4. Drafting McGahee when we had other needs. I have to say that there was some flaws in the logic with this pick that extends beyond the obvious fact that the team had other pressing needs, most notably at WR, TE, OL, and DL. The flaw was this: McGahee was coming off a severe knee injury that had caused him to fall toward the end of the 1st round. The Bills spent so much time delving into the nature of the injury and the prospects for a full recovery that they neglected to ask the question about whether or not a HEALTHY McGahee was a worthy first-rounder. He's shown flashes and is still in the league after all these years -- but he probably wasn't worth all the fuss, when a decent OL (Steinbach) or TE (Dallas Clark) were more conventional choices there.

 

5. Drafting JP Losman. When it is all said and done, this one may go down as the worst mistake that TD made during his entire tenure with the Bills. The Williams pick had been costly, but this one was magnified by the fact that the team gave up a 1, 2 and 5 to get Losman. Moreover, his presence led to (perhaps) a knee jerk release of Bledsoe -- and 3 more years of trying to figure out whether or not JP would ever be the answer. I have always blamed Sam Wyche for this one. Wyche was present at the Eli Manning workout at which Losman supposedly put on a clinic of his own. There was never denying JP's talents -- he just didn't have the total package. How sad is it that a 6-10 record the previous year only netted the 13th pick overall in that year's draft? For comparison's sake, the Bills went 6-10 last year and wound up with the #9 pick in April. Had that happened in 2004, the Bills could (and WOULD) have taken Ben Roethlisberger.

 

6. Allowing Pat Williams to walk. In terms of TD himself, this is the most unforgivable decision that I believe was all on him. He claimed at the time that he didn't want to empty the bank for a player that was beyond the age of 30 and likely past his prime. Obviously, he was wrong about Williams' expiration date. Worse, the Vikings signed him to a very reasonable deal. I think TD was guilty of playing hardball in this situation and ultimately put off Williams and his agent. That is the same sort of tactics that we are seeing with AJ Smith out is San Diego.

 

7. Coaching hires. First and foremost, we will never know what limitations were placed on TD by Ralph, who is notorious for not wanting to invest big money on a head coach. Would the Bills have been better off with Gregg at the helm for another few years? Maybe. He certainly had his shortcomings, and maybe his fate is to be a fantastic DC but not a good HC. Mularkey looked like a good find in 2004, but when someone imposed Losman on him in 2005, things went south in a hurry. And, when the infamous octogenarians forced him to fire his assistants, he wound up quitting himself. And we wonder why the team had such a hard time finding someone willing to be the new Bills head coach this year!

[mattsox]

I agree with Mort. I think this franchise would be in far better shape today if TD had been left alone. Sure, he made some bad moves, but he never overpaid schlock like Dockery, Walker, etc. And, I do think that Buffalo had a much more solid franchise, before he was banished.

 

Yeah. I believe he made some good moves. The bad thing about TD was his stubborness. He really started getting stupid with the drafting of JP Losman and of Course Mike Williams. He did fail big by not keeping Winfield, Clements and Pat Williams and Jonas Jennings. Those were some solid players we needed in key positions. But to play devils advocate: Williams still plays in the NFL and JP has won a championship in the UFL. Alot of his players made a differece and the man made moves. He got the Defense better in 2003 season. He got big name free agents in here and got this team out of cap hell. He got us a QB, Yeah Drew Bledsoe and Yes Losman was the heir apparent. He made moves and did things consistantly via draft and Free Agency. If he was bit more consistant he would still be here, and may have gotten us all figured out. But ya never know. Going back I'd love to see what he would have done in the offseason before the 06 season.

 

All good points. The beginning of the end for TD was the day it was formally announced back in 2004 that Gregg's contract would not be extended. It was clear in the press conference that TD was not thrilled with this decision and he went on to lament some of his challenges, directly bad-mouthing some of the Buffalo constituency in the process. He may have been right in what he said that day but many fans never forgave him for it. That 2006 team had boasted a top 3 defense that year but was let down by a declining Bledsoe and lousy offense.

 

As you said, TD did some good things, but Mort shouldn't overlook his blunders either:

 

1. Going with RJ over Flutie. This one wasn't such a problem, as Flutie was on his last legs -- but in keeping RJ around they operated under the possibility that he could be their QB of the future. Thus, they side-stepped drafting one that year. Gregg maintains that he wanted to draft Brees. I am not sure if I buy that or not. Even if it was true, Brees was a slow starter -- it took him until his 4th year to get cranking, and he would likely have burned out in Buffalo by then. Also, remember that as an expert at ESPN, Donahoe had opined that Flutie was the superior QB to RJ. Even RJ had told his friends that he expected to be the one to get cut. This tells me that someone BESIDES TD made that decision.

 

2. Drafting Mike Williams. We know now that it was a huge mistake. However, at the time it seemed like a very good pick. McKinnie obviously would have been the better choice, but his demeanor I think had the Bills worried. If you recall, McKinnie pulled a Crabtree and held out with the Vikings for several weeks into the season. Big Mike was actually pretty good as a rookie -- and I had I high hopes for him heading into his sophomore season. Of course, it just went downhill from there. Is TD to blame? Sure. Is this with the full benefit of 20/20 hindsight? You bet.

 

3. Trading for Bledsoe. After 2002 this looked like a victorious trade, as Bledsoe became the first QB in Buffalo history to pass for over 4000 yards. After the laughable 2001 season, he brought a respectability to the franchise -- and his presence served to inflate the value of Peerless Price, with whom TD was smartly able to steal a 1st rounder from Atlanta. It was impossible to gauge that Bledsoe would fall off the mountain as fast as he did. Based on just 3 years of production, giving up a 1st rounder now makes it a bad trade, but sadly the Bledsoe years (2002-04) were the best that the team has had over the course of this decade from hell.

 

4. Drafting McGahee when we had other needs. I have to say that there was some flaws in the logic with this pick that extends beyond the obvious fact that the team had other pressing needs, most notably at WR, TE, OL, and DL. The flaw was this: McGahee was coming off a severe knee injury that had caused him to fall toward the end of the 1st round. The Bills spent so much time delving into the nature of the injury and the prospects for a full recovery that they neglected to ask the question about whether or not a HEALTHY McGahee was a worthy first-rounder. He's shown flashes and is still in the league after all these years -- but he probably wasn't worth all the fuss, when a decent OL (Steinbach) or TE (Dallas Clark) were more conventional choices there.

 

5. Drafting JP Losman. When it is all said and done, this one may go down as the worst mistake that TD made during his entire tenure with the Bills. The Williams pick had been costly, but this one was magnified by the fact that the team gave up a 1, 2 and 5 to get Losman. Moreover, his presence led to (perhaps) a knee jerk release of Bledsoe -- and 3 more years of trying to figure out whether or not JP would ever be the answer. I have always blamed Sam Wyche for this one. Wyche was present at the Eli Manning workout at which Losman supposedly put on a clinic of his own. There was never denying JP's talents -- he just didn't have the total package. How sad is it that a 6-10 record the previous year only netted the 13th pick overall in that year's draft? For comparison's sake, the Bills went 6-10 last year and wound up with the #9 pick in April. Had that happened in 2004, the Bills could (and WOULD) have taken Ben Roethlisberger.

 

6. Allowing Pat Williams to walk. In terms of TD himself, this is the most unforgivable decision that I believe was all on him. He claimed at the time that he didn't want to empty the bank for a player that was beyond the age of 30 and likely past his prime. Obviously, he was wrong about Williams' expiration date. Worse, the Vikings signed him to a very reasonable deal. I think TD was guilty of playing hardball in this situation and ultimately put off Williams and his agent. That is the same sort of tactics that we are seeing with AJ Smith out is San Diego.

 

7. Coaching hires. First and foremost, we will never know what limitations were placed on TD by Ralph, who is notorious for not wanting to invest big money on a head coach. Would the Bills have been better off with Gregg at the helm for another few years? Maybe. He certainly had his shortcomings, and maybe his fate is to be a fantastic DC but not a good HC. Mularkey looked like a good find in 2004, but when someone imposed Losman on him in 2005, things went south in a hurry. And, when the infamous octogenarians forced him to fire his assistants, he wound up quitting himself. And we wonder why the team had such a hard time finding someone willing to be the new Bills head coach this year!

 

I like your thinking

[LABills08]

So...is it worth reading all of these posts? Or is the general message that the Bills are still a mess? And Will be as long as Ralph Wilson is the owner?

[Bob in STL]

To me it just sounds like just another shot from afar by Mortensen, who never forgave Ralph from firing his buddy Donahoe.

 

 

Lets put the Mort - Donahoe relationship aside.

 

Who doesn't think that Ralph should let his football people (not Littman and Brandon) run the team? I think that is Mort's whole point and he is abolutely correct.

[birdog1960]

Yep. Not surprising. Its a shame, but this has been happening for awhile. I mean, there is so much evidence pointing to non-football people tampering with the Bills that its incredible these people still have a job. I suppose that is what happens in a city without a major newspaper because this kind of stuff would never happen in a major market. The Daily News, NY Post, Boston Globe, Tribune, etc would be all over this (fairly or not).

 

I'm telling you, the stories that will leak out about the behind the scenes stuff at OBD after Ralph moves on is going to blow some people away.

 

 

they ARE written about here but every time the messenger is shot, not the people who deserve it. there doesn't seem to be a single journalist trusted by this this board that covers the bills. it's not the writers, it's the readers. it's been easier to blame the writers for being "negative" than to admit the truth which has been exposed over and over. now it's just impossible to disregard.

Edited September 29, 2010 by birdog1960

[crazyDingo]

The evidence is the famous NFL Bidding Wars for Tom Donahoe after he was fired.

[GG]

Fair enough...

 

I think the problem with Mort, and the reason he gets such major backlash here, has been his inability to admit TD's obvious mistakes...Mort comes off as an overprotective mother hen...Instead of saying that TD made some major mistakes, but at least he made some good decisions too...Mort seems to just get too worked up about the whole deal...It's quite obvious that TD has REALLY bad mouthed RW to Mort...I mean...It sounds to me like TD has presented RW as the devil incarnate to Mort...And who knows...Maybe Ralph is that bad...But overselling TD has not helped Mort's credibility whatsoever...He may very well be right about a lot of things concerning the Bills and RW...But he needs to put aside his friendship for TD and stop making excuses...TD was better than what came after him no question...But he was far from perfect either...FAR from perfect...

 

Oh absolutely, and it works to get people here focused on the messenger than the message. Donahoe's reign was certainly better than what has followed, and I would include the current regime as well, because the current guys can't seem to shake Rasputidorf from the shadows.

 

Seems that TD's mortal sin was to run the team with an eye to stick a finger in Pittsburgh, instead of building the franchise. But at least there was a semblance of a plan.

 

In the end, however his hiring was the worst thing that could happen to a Bills fan, because Wilson felt so betrayed by TD, that he hasn't been able to trust anyone but Rasputidorf and his potions, and you are seeing the effect on the field.

[Adam]

To me it just sounds like just another shot from afar by Mortensen, who never forgave Ralph from firing his buddy Donahoe.

No, its just that the truth hurts in Buffalo. Mort has been on the money with everything he has said- and that is an irrefutable fact.

[Red]

http://espn.go.com/sportsnation/chat/_/id/34627/nfl-with-chris-mortensen

 

Jeff (Atlanta, GA)

 

 

Long suffering Buffalo Bills fan. Any light at the end of the tunnel Chris? We might be the...GASP...worst team in the NFL right now...even worse than the Raiders. What do they need to address?

 

Chris Mortensen (12:07 PM)

 

 

The owner and the people who whisper in his ear need to just back off and let his football people do their job. Ralph Wilson Jr is in the Hall of fame because of what he did in the 60s and I do believe his loyalty to Buffalo is admirable. But he fired Bill Polian and John Butler couldn't wait to get out of there. And there were a lot of good things Tom Donahoe was doing, and could have continued doing, if he had been left alone. I know those aren't popular words but the best hope now is give GM Buddy Nix and HC Chan Gailey the resources and leave them alone!

 

 

Gee, wonder who he's referring to there? More evidence that Overdorf and Littman are continuing to run this team into the ground. Everyone out there knows it except for a small band of misguided faithful here at TBD...

 

 

I agree with you, but don't give Modrak a free pass.

 

You can join the chorus of morons and insist that Modrak is just being out-voted when it comes to the draft room in April, but I ain't buyin'.

 

If nobody listens to Modrak's advice, then why should he get a paycheck?

 

And where are Ralph, the coaching staff, GM, etc getting their information on who to pick from, exactly? Aren't the scouts and ultimately Modrak in charge of compiling all college information so that our war room can make the selections in the first place?

 

So if the coach, GM, owner, etc deviate from the plan...they have to deviate somewhere. Who is compiling that information? Isn't Modrak in charge of that?

 

To put it all on Littman and Overdork- while I feel they are largely responsible- is to say that our draft picks this decade have been good.

Edited September 29, 2010 by Red

[DarthICE]

To me it just sounds like just another shot from afar by Mortensen, who never forgave Ralph from firing his buddy Donahoe.

 

 

No. In this case the man is DEAD ON! Who is that you might ask? Jeffery Littman.

[dave mcbride]

All good points. The beginning of the end for TD was the day it was formally announced back in 2004 that Gregg's contract would not be extended. It was clear in the press conference that TD was not thrilled with this decision and he went on to lament some of his challenges, directly bad-mouthing some of the Buffalo constituency in the process. He may have been right in what he said that day but many fans never forgave him for it. That 2006 team had boasted a top 3 defense that year but was let down by a declining Bledsoe and lousy offense.

 

As you said, TD did some good things, but Mort shouldn't overlook his blunders either:

 

1. Going with RJ over Flutie. This one wasn't such a problem, as Flutie was on his last legs -- but in keeping RJ around they operated under the possibility that he could be their QB of the future. Thus, they side-stepped drafting one that year. Gregg maintains that he wanted to draft Brees. I am not sure if I buy that or not. Even if it was true, Brees was a slow starter -- it took him until his 4th year to get cranking, and he would likely have burned out in Buffalo by then. Also, remember that as an expert at ESPN, Donahoe had opined that Flutie was the superior QB to RJ. Even RJ had told his friends that he expected to be the one to get cut. This tells me that someone BESIDES TD made that decision.

 

2. Drafting Mike Williams. We know now that it was a huge mistake. However, at the time it seemed like a very good pick. McKinnie obviously would have been the better choice, but his demeanor I think had the Bills worried. If you recall, McKinnie pulled a Crabtree and held out with the Vikings for several weeks into the season. Big Mike was actually pretty good as a rookie -- and I had I high hopes for him heading into his sophomore season. Of course, it just went downhill from there. Is TD to blame? Sure. Is this with the full benefit of 20/20 hindsight? You bet.

 

3. Trading for Bledsoe. After 2002 this looked like a victorious trade, as Bledsoe became the first QB in Buffalo history to pass for over 4000 yards. After the laughable 2001 season, he brought a respectability to the franchise -- and his presence served to inflate the value of Peerless Price, with whom TD was smartly able to steal a 1st rounder from Atlanta. It was impossible to gauge that Bledsoe would fall off the mountain as fast as he did. Based on just 3 years of production, giving up a 1st rounder now makes it a bad trade, but sadly the Bledsoe years (2002-04) were the best that the team has had over the course of this decade from hell.

 

4. Drafting McGahee when we had other needs. I have to say that there was some flaws in the logic with this pick that extends beyond the obvious fact that the team had other pressing needs, most notably at WR, TE, OL, and DL. The flaw was this: McGahee was coming off a severe knee injury that had caused him to fall toward the end of the 1st round. The Bills spent so much time delving into the nature of the injury and the prospects for a full recovery that they neglected to ask the question about whether or not a HEALTHY McGahee was a worthy first-rounder. He's shown flashes and is still in the league after all these years -- but he probably wasn't worth all the fuss, when a decent OL (Steinbach) or TE (Dallas Clark) were more conventional choices there.

 

5. Drafting JP Losman. When it is all said and done, this one may go down as the worst mistake that TD made during his entire tenure with the Bills. The Williams pick had been costly, but this one was magnified by the fact that the team gave up a 1, 2 and 5 to get Losman. Moreover, his presence led to (perhaps) a knee jerk release of Bledsoe -- and 3 more years of trying to figure out whether or not JP would ever be the answer. I have always blamed Sam Wyche for this one. Wyche was present at the Eli Manning workout at which Losman supposedly put on a clinic of his own. There was never denying JP's talents -- he just didn't have the total package. How sad is it that a 6-10 record the previous year only netted the 13th pick overall in that year's draft? For comparison's sake, the Bills went 6-10 last year and wound up with the #9 pick in April. Had that happened in 2004, the Bills could (and WOULD) have taken Ben Roethlisberger.

 

6. Allowing Pat Williams to walk. In terms of TD himself, this is the most unforgivable decision that I believe was all on him. He claimed at the time that he didn't want to empty the bank for a player that was beyond the age of 30 and likely past his prime. Obviously, he was wrong about Williams' expiration date. Worse, the Vikings signed him to a very reasonable deal. I think TD was guilty of playing hardball in this situation and ultimately put off Williams and his agent. That is the same sort of tactics that we are seeing with AJ Smith out is San Diego.

 

7. Coaching hires. First and foremost, we will never know what limitations were placed on TD by Ralph, who is notorious for not wanting to invest big money on a head coach. Would the Bills have been better off with Gregg at the helm for another few years? Maybe. He certainly had his shortcomings, and maybe his fate is to be a fantastic DC but not a good HC. Mularkey looked like a good find in 2004, but when someone imposed Losman on him in 2005, things went south in a hurry. And, when the infamous octogenarians forced him to fire his assistants, he wound up quitting himself. And we wonder why the team had such a hard time finding someone willing to be the new Bills head coach this year!

 

Great post. One disagreement - I do think Flutie would have performed reasonably well if he had stayed with the Bills. He had a great rapport with both Moulds and Price, after all. Moreover, he went to a 1-15 team with lousy receivers.

 

As for drafting Mike Williams, Modrak did issue a mea culpa a couple/few years down the road about drafting a guy who was good for the 1980s style of play, not the 2000s.

[Adam]

Great post. One disagreement - I do think Flutie would have performed reasonably well if he had stayed with the Bills. He had a great rapport with both Moulds and Price, after all. Moreover, he went to a 1-15 team with lousy receivers.

 

As for drafting Mike Williams, Modrak did issue a mea culpa a couple/few years down the road about drafting a guy who was good for the 1980s style of play, not the 2000s.

Flutie was a better option than Rob Johnson, but wasn't all that great. The only positive is that he kept some plays alive to make up for a terrible line- that doesn't win a lot of games.

[OCinBuffalo]

Donahoe!

 

Was I right?

 

.....no, but he did get Donahoe in there didn't he?

 

Where does this man-crush come from? Did Donahoe pull Mort out of a river?

[cåblelady]

 

The owner and the people who whisper in his ear

Ralph's hearing voices?

[dave mcbride]

Flutie was a better option than Rob Johnson, but wasn't all that great. The only positive is that he kept some plays alive to make up for a terrible line- that doesn't win a lot of games.

It'll probably win ya more than three, though. He actually played very well in 2000 - 4-1 as a starter, 8 TDs, 3 INTs, and a 7.4 ypa. The 57.1 completion rate was about par for the course (not great), but the sack rate of 4.1 percent per dropback was very, very good. By way of comparison, Rob Johnson's was an epically bad 13.8 percent (!) that same year.

 

Moreover, in the most important game of the 2000 season, game 13 at home v. the Dolphins, the Bills lost 33-6 behind a terrible performance by Johnson, who looked completely out of sorts in cold weather (6 for 18, 44 yards, 2 INTs, sacked 6 times) before being benched.

 

Yeah, Flutie was definitely the better option.

Edited September 29, 2010 by dave mcbride