Chan Gailey has done it again.

[Roc Bronson]

Someone above used the word resourceful to describe Gailey...i think thats a terriffic word for him. His offense is founded in principles that he KNOWS to work, and he knows how to implement them. There IS no substitute for knowing wtf yer doin. And he's provin that he knows wtf he's doin in my book.

 

Gotta love the guy. Just enough personality for a Bills fan to identify with, without being a bullshet self-promoter. He strikes that balance that blue collar Bills fans have been looking for.

 

I say we keep him around for a while:)

 

ps...and as far as George Edwards goes...his boys looked like a pack of hungry dogs yesterday. I say we show HIM some patience as well. (but thats just me)

 

 

Very good post up until the George Edwards part.. You kinda lost it there. Lol

[Mr. WEO]

 

not worth it

Perhaps not. Those are pretty simple facts I listed.

 

Try to keep up? It still comes down to execution. There was no other chance in the Ravens game. There was a chance to win it in regulation in the Chefs game, if not for the INT. Same for the Pgh game, if not for SJ's flub that led to an INT. And as you said, Fitz can changed plays at the LOS, so he could have done that in any of those OT drives after the would-have-won-the-game mistakes. Then again, how are you sure Gailey didn't call different plays in OT that Fitz then changed?

 

The topic is OT. Score is tied. Sudden death.

 

Ok, so it was Fitz who called almost exclusively for pass plays in 3 consecutive OT games that resulted in only 2 realistic scoring attempts despite 1st and 10 inside opposing territory 6 times.

 

hahahahahaha.

 

Anyway, if that desperate claim were somehow true, it would mean Gailey has no control over his QB and that Fitz is tuning him out. There is no way this is true and you know it.

[yungmack]

We have Fitzpatrick at QB, a bunch of scrubs at WR (except evans, who is inconsequential), a very patchwork OL, no TE's to speak of, a div. 3 RB, and CJ Spiller, and somehow we move the ball. Got nearly 200 on the ground, and Fitz has td passes in 14 straight games.

 

Admit it, one and all. Chan Gailey knows how to run an offense. Give us a couple years to get a defense, and get ready for the playoffs.

What's to admit? Lots of us around here were fans of the hire. Except for more wins, this is what we expected.

 

BTW, how's that genius Shanahan doing these days?

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

The most impressive thing to me is the performance of the line. Even while changing up players and picking guys up off the street, the line performs well most weeks. Blitzes are picked up well, and complex, mobile running plays are executed. Almost no holding or false start penalties. In my mind, it's nothing short of a miracle. We have had so many different coaches paraded in here over the last decade, and none of them have been able to do with our line what Gailey has done in half a season.

 

This

[Doc]

The topic is OT. Score is tied. Sudden death.

 

Ok, so it was Fitz who called almost exclusively for pass plays in 3 consecutive OT games that resulted in only 2 realistic scoring attempts despite 1st and 10 inside opposing territory 6 times.

 

hahahahahaha.

 

Anyway, if that desperate claim were somehow true, it would mean Gailey has no control over his QB and that Fitz is tuning him out. There is no way this is true and you know it.

What you would (conveniently) call "no control over his QB" I'd call "faith in his QB." And in every case, Fitz had the Bills in position to win the game in OT passing the ball. So the faith wasn't entirely misguided.

 

But the simplistic notion that a few more runs in opponents' territory would have led to wins is laughable in and of itself. But I guess instead of Shawn Nelson fumbling, it could have been Fred Jackson fumbling. Or instead of Steve Jackson dropping the TD pass, it could have been Spiller getting stuffed at the LOS, necessitating passing on the next 2 downs.

[akm0404]

With how happy we are about the 25th best offense in the NFL, it makes me wonder what we'd do if we actually had even an average 15th ranked offense, let alone a top 10 or top 5 offense.

 

I think the ground would open up and swallow the Ralph whole.

[Logical Reasoning]

We have Fitzpatrick at QB, a bunch of scrubs at WR (except evans, who is inconsequential), a very patchwork OL, no TE's to speak of, a div. 3 RB, and CJ Spiller, and somehow we move the ball. Got nearly 200 on the ground, and Fitz has td passes in 14 straight games.

 

Admit it, one and all. Chan Gailey knows how to run an offense. Give us a couple years to get a defense, and get ready for the playoffs.

 

The bootleg pass to McIntyre was a really nice call. Things seem to be coming together.

[3rdand12]

With how happy we are about the 25th best offense in the NFL, it makes me wonder what we'd do if we actually had even an average 15th ranked offense, let alone a top 10 or top 5 offense.

 

I think the ground would open up and swallow the Ralph whole.

You might be right. You mean the owner, right?

[Doc]

With how happy we are about the 25th best offense in the NFL, it makes me wonder what we'd do if we actually had even an average 15th ranked offense, let alone a top 10 or top 5 offense.

 

I think the ground would open up and swallow the Ralph whole.

The Bills are tied for 17th (with the Ravens) in PPG under Fitz.

[Mr_Blizzard]

We have Fitzpatrick at QB, a bunch of scrubs at WR (except evans, who is inconsequential), a very patchwork OL, no TE's to speak of, a div. 3 RB, and CJ Spiller, and somehow we move the ball. Got nearly 200 on the ground, and Fitz has td passes in 14 straight games.

 

Admit it, one and all. Chan Gailey knows how to run an offense. Give us a couple years to get a defense, and get ready for the playoffs.

 

I'm not saying he's the second coming of Bill Walsh, but I have been very impressed with what Chan has done with the hand he was dealt. It would be nice to see what this team would do with a defense that could force a bunch of 3 and outs from its opponenents.

[John from Riverside]

The Bills are tied for 17th (with the Ravens) in PPG under Fitz.

 

whhoooops...

[San Jose Bills Fan]

With how happy we are about the 25th best offense in the NFL, it makes me wonder what we'd do if we actually had even an average 15th ranked offense, let alone a top 10 or top 5 offense.

 

I think the ground would open up and swallow the Ralph whole.

The Bills are tied for 17th (with the Ravens) in PPG under Fitz.

Keep in mind that in the two games in which Trent Edwards started in the first two weeks, the offense managed a total of 352 yards. Yes, 176 yards per game. They scored 17 total points in those two games…8.5 points per game.

 

If you eliminate those two games and then project the other 11 games over 13 games, the Bills would be 17th in yardage and 17th in points.

 

Not bad for a first year offense with no star players, and several significant injuries…and one that has received little support from the defense in terms of field position and defensive time of possession.

[BillsPhan]

...I contend that the idea that you can completely turn around a long-term, losing franchise in 1 year is a myth....

 

Oh really? Check out these "myths":

 

1998 St. Louis Rams: 4-12-0 Last Place

1999 St. Louis Rams: 13-3-0 First Place and SB Champions.

 

1999 Baltimore Ravens: 8-8-0 3rd Place and Out of Playoffs

2000 Baltimore Ravens: 12-4-0 Wilcard and SB Champions

 

2000 New England Patriots: 5-11-0 Last Place

2001 New England Patriots: 11-5-0 Wild Card and SB Champions.

 

2006 New York Giants: 8-8-0 Wild Card yet average team.

2007 New York Giants: 10-6-0 Wild Card and upset SB Champions over 18-0-0 Patriots

(Now that's a hell of a mythical one year turn around, don't you agree?? From 8-8-0 nothings to slayers of the amazing Brady-Moss led Pats in one of the biggest SB upsets since Joe Namath's Jets in SB III the very next season??!!)

 

Now all your talk about wanting the Bills to be long lasting winners not withstanding, after being a Bills fans for over 40 years now, I would have preferred to insert Buffalo Bills into any one of those above SB Winning seasons following average to bad seasons the years before, instead. And there is nothing "mythical" about those Lombardi Trophies standing in the stadiums of those "one year wonder" teams!

[Bob in STL]

We have Fitzpatrick at QB, a bunch of scrubs at WR (except evans, who is inconsequential), a very patchwork OL, no TE's to speak of, a div. 3 RB, and CJ Spiller, and somehow we move the ball. Got nearly 200 on the ground, and Fitz has td passes in 14 straight games.

 

Admit it, one and all. Chan Gailey knows how to run an offense. Give us a couple years to get a defense, and get ready for the playoffs.

 

 

I agree and I was most happy to see he stuck to the run in the fourth quarter.

 

The last drive of the game was awesomne. 9 runs. We picked up first downs and ran out the clock. That was a STATEMENT drive. Teams that know how to win make drives like that. Simple power football to close out a game.

 

In the past we would have went 3 and out, punted, and then started the nail biting.

[Dan]

Oh really? Check out these "myths":

 

1998 St. Louis Rams: 4-12-0 Last Place

1999 St. Louis Rams: 13-3-0 First Place and SB Champions.

 

1999 Baltimore Ravens: 8-8-0 3rd Place and Out of Playoffs

2000 Baltimore Ravens: 12-4-0 Wilcard and SB Champions

 

2000 New England Patriots: 5-11-0 Last Place

2001 New England Patriots: 11-5-0 Wild Card and SB Champions.

 

2006 New York Giants: 8-8-0 Wild Card yet average team.

2007 New York Giants: 10-6-0 Wild Card and upset SB Champions over 18-0-0 Patriots

(Now that's a hell of a mythical one year turn around, don't you agree?? From 8-8-0 nothings to slayers of the amazing Brady-Moss led Pats in one of the biggest SB upsets since Joe Namath's Jets in SB III the very next season??!!)

 

Now all your talk about wanting the Bills to be long lasting winners not withstanding, after being a Bills fans for over 40 years now, I would have preferred to insert Buffalo Bills into any one of those above SB Winning seasons following average to bad seasons the years before, instead. And there is nothing "mythical" about those Lombardi Trophies standing in the stadiums of those "one year wonder" teams!

Hmm...

1997 SL Rams: 5-11

1998 SL Rams: 4-12

1999 SL Rams: 13-3

The Rams have been bad for quite some time and continue to be bad. I'll further add that Vermeil was hired in 1997; it took him 3 years to get to the SB. But, you could perhaps argue they got lucky as heck in signing Kurt Warner (a complete nobody). Warner made that team more than anything else as witnessed by their lack of success before and after his tenure.

 

1999 Ravens: 6-10

1999 Ravens: 8-8

2000 Ravens: 12-4

I'd hardly call 8-8 a bad team. Furthermore, Billick took over in 1999. So, wouldn't that be a 2 year rebuild.

 

1999 NE Pats* - 9-7

1999 NE Pats* - 8-8

2000 NE Pats* - 5-11

2001 NE Pats* - 11-5

Seems like they were a pretty average team for the 3 years prior to their SB win. Also, BB was named the HC before the 2000 season. Again, at best, I think you can call that a 2 year turn around. Finally, the Pats* were in the SB after the '96 season. So, that's only 5 years between SB appearances. How bad of a team could that 2000 team have really been?

 

2005 NYG - 11-5

2006 NYG - 8-8

2007 NYG - 10-6

So, how bad of a team were the Giants before their SB run? They had won their division just 2 years earlier. Then, in their down year, they still went 8-8.

 

At best you've gotten 2 - 2 year turn arounds; 1 - 3 year rebuild; and the Giants who were pretty good and arguably underachieving prior. But, even in those cases I think it's safe to say those teams had far more players in place than the 2009 Bills. The Bills haven't made the playoffs in a decade because they're a really bad team.. not a team with several great players and just missing the final few pieces. Face it, rebuilding the Bills is far closer to rebuilding the Lions or the Cardinals than it is a perennially good/decent team. We're in the middle of a decade of losing, not a few years removed from having a playoff team.

[billsintaiwan]

Hmm...

1997 SL Rams: 5-11

1998 SL Rams: 4-12

1999 SL Rams: 13-3

The Rams have been bad for quite some time and continue to be bad. I'll further add that Vermeil was hired in 1997; it took him 3 years to get to the SB. But, you could perhaps argue they got lucky as heck in signing Kurt Warner (a complete nobody). Warner made that team more than anything else as witnessed by their lack of success before and after his tenure.

 

1999 Ravens: 6-10

1999 Ravens: 8-8

2000 Ravens: 12-4

I'd hardly call 8-8 a bad team. Furthermore, Billick took over in 1999. So, wouldn't that be a 2 year rebuild.

 

1999 NE Pats* - 9-7

1999 NE Pats* - 8-8

2000 NE Pats* - 5-11

2001 NE Pats* - 11-5

Seems like they were a pretty average team for the 3 years prior to their SB win. Also, BB was named the HC before the 2000 season. Again, at best, I think you can call that a 2 year turn around. Finally, the Pats* were in the SB after the '96 season. So, that's only 5 years between SB appearances. How bad of a team could that 2000 team have really been?

 

2005 NYG - 11-5

2006 NYG - 8-8

2007 NYG - 10-6

So, how bad of a team were the Giants before their SB run? They had won their division just 2 years earlier. Then, in their down year, they still went 8-8.

 

At best you've gotten 2 - 2 year turn arounds; 1 - 3 year rebuild; and the Giants who were pretty good and arguably underachieving prior. But, even in those cases I think it's safe to say those teams had far more players in place than the 2009 Bills. The Bills haven't made the playoffs in a decade because they're a really bad team.. not a team with several great players and just missing the final few pieces. Face it, rebuilding the Bills is far closer to rebuilding the Lions or the Cardinals than it is a perennially good/decent team. We're in the middle of a decade of losing, not a few years removed from having a playoff team.

 

very good post. i am looking for an improved team next year (maybe wildcard) and a real contender in two years that is built to last.

[Dan]

very good post. i am looking for an improved team next year (maybe wildcard) and a real contender in two years that is built to last.

Thanks and I agree. I think this team has made some pretty decent strides this season - far more than I would have thought at the half way point. With the addition of a few more players (plus an easier schedule), I can easily see them in the run for a Wild Card spot next season. Then in year 3, with more additions, be a true contender for the play offs. And if things are done right; they'll remain contenders for many years to come.

 

I can live with that and I'd much rather have that than a bunch of flashy moves in hopes to make the playoffs for a season. Even if you're lucky and make it, you're sacrificing long term success for short term gains. The Bills have been bad for a long time. It's going to take a but more to turn this around than a few one year flashy moves - that was my initial point.

 

 

Of course, Nix and Gailey could be bums and the whole thing could blow up in our face for any number of reasons. I guess only time will tell.

[BillsPhan]

Hmm...

1997 SL Rams: 5-11

1998 SL Rams: 4-12

1999 SL Rams: 13-3

The Rams have been bad for quite some time and continue to be bad.....

 

But they have a SB Trophy. Let me ask you one question. Are you from Buffalo or even Western New York? Or, if you are, were you old enough to remember the joy and pain of watching the Bills play in and lose 4 consecutive SB's in the early 90's?? I would guess not, or...you don't share the passion of many older Bills fans who were born and raised in Buffalo and who just desperately want to see the Bills win ONE SB Championship, and/or the Sabres win just ONE Stanley Cup, in their life times.

 

Those Rams above went from a really bad team in 1998 to a SB Champion in 1999...over one damn season. The Dolphins, Falcons, Bucs, Jags, Raiders, Chiefs, Cardinals have all gone from one lousy season to a winning playoff season the very next year over this past decade. It's not a myth, and it happens every year. Jerry Sullivan said it best, and I do not agree with a lot of what Sully says on a daily basis, but he said "every season is an entity in itself." And with FA and the Cap, that has never been more true.

 

Bottom line, if the Bills "contend for a wildcard" next year (if they play football in 2011) after going 3-13 or perhaps 4-12 this season...even if they win out and finish 6-10 this season, get hot next year and make the playoffs, then they too can be added to my long list of teams that had a great one year turn around. And you said they may contend for a playoff spot next season.

 

Well, if they get hot down the stretch, make the playoffs as a wildcard and miraculously win the SB, I don't care what you or anyone else thinks on this board, the Bills could then go on and lose again for 11 more seasons and I would still be a happy and content life time Bills fan. My Buffalo Bills will have won a SB in my lifetime. What if Nix and Gailey take another few seasons and rebuild the team into a Chargers-like annual winner.....but continue to never win the SB over the next 11 years, despite 9 of them being winning and playoff seasons??? That's all you want to see them do, just be a good team year after year? Sorry, I've watched them be bad year after year then good for a few years then bad for a few years then great for almost 12 years and now bad again for 11 years.......Been There, Done That. I want just one magic SB winning season for the Buffalo Bills while they remain the Buffalo Bills, and before I die. You can have 5 straight AFC East Division Championships and 10 consecutive years in the playoffs and being "a winning team" year after year and blah blah blah.

 

If they don't win at least one SB in the middle of all that winning, like back in the 90's, it won't mean anything to me.

[akm0404]

The Bills are tied for 17th (with the Ravens) in PPG under Fitz.

I don't get it.

 

Why would we take away some of the games our coach coached when evaluating our coach?

 

Under Chan's genius coaching, the Bills remain in the bottom quarter of the NFL in offense. Again.

 

Cut out the bad games he coached if you want, that's fine. You'll see what you want to see. I agree that the offense was more watchable this season. It's just funny how giddy everyone is with what anyone outside of Buffalo would call one of the worst offenses in football.

[Doc]

I don't get it.

 

Why would we take away some of the games our coach coached when evaluating our coach?

 

Under Chan's genius coaching, the Bills remain in the bottom quarter of the NFL in offense. Again.

 

Cut out the bad games he coached if you want, that's fine. You'll see what you want to see. I agree that the offense was more watchable this season. It's just funny how giddy everyone is with what anyone outside of Buffalo would call one of the worst offenses in football.

I'm cutting out the games with Edwards as the starter. And I doubt you'd find many people who would agree with you that it's one of the worst offenses in football.