Glad to see the Chicken Littles are out in full force

[DrDawkinstein]

If Buddy knew this he would have addressed the most glaring need on the team for the last decade. The Spiller pick will forever puzzle me and that was the way the Nix regime kicked off their campaign...well that and the Green signing.

 

He did address the most glaring need on the team for the last decade.

 

The DLine.

 

Or did you forget about how for the last 8 years, everyone pissed and moaned about how we "Should've taken Ngata instead of Whitner"? Did you forget that letting Pat Williams walk is known as one of the biggest mistakes in franchise history? Did you forget that the Run Defense lost us games last year, not the Offense?

 

The issue is that this team has holes at EVERY unit, and they all cant be addressed at once. Or even in two drafts. And three will be stretching it, but it should get better.

Edited August 21, 2011 by DrDareustein

[John Cocktosten]

He did address the most glaring need on the team for the last decade.

 

The DLine.

 

Or did you forget about how for the last 8 years, everyone pissed and moaned about how we "Should've taken Ngata instead of Whitner"? Did you forget that letting Pat Williams walk is known as one of the biggest mistakes in franchise history? Did you forget that the Run Defense lost us games last year, not the Offense?

 

The issue is that this team has holes at EVERY unit, and they all cant be addressed at once. Or even in two drafts. And three will be stretching it, but it should get better.

Dude, you are like a PR machine! I love how you have adopted the mentality that it takes 3-4 seasons to rebuild! Do you even hear yourself? Are you telling me that Nix couldn't have addressed the O Line in the first TWO drafts!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I can't believe that you don't hear how freeking silly you sound with that sh*t!

[joey greco]

 

 

I'm not suggesting fans shouldn't be disappointed by what happened on the field in Denver, but history has shown that what occurs during preseason is rarely what occurs when the real games begin.

 

Who are you, Rip Van Winkle? You sleep through the last 10 years? What we've seen in preseason is exactly what we've seen when the games count from this franchise. Same issues, same problems, same lack of answers, year after year, with the same bull **** thrown around by the same suspects preseason after preseason.

 

I'm really tired of people muddying the waters by throwing out veteran teams who've had historical success and their preseason performances. Situations are not comparable at all. Longtime losers usually have a good preseason when they're on the verge of having a turnaround season. The Bills aren't close, and shrugging off a performance like they turned in last night takes willful myopia.

[McBeane]

Our official record is still 0-0 right?

[Beerball]

The OLine IS bad.

 

it will be addressed when possible. Might have to wait for the draft and next FA period though.

Failure

[macaroni]

IMHO .... our big problem is our versatility.

 

We've got a QB who can play QB, RB, and WR ... but we don't have anybody that can play QB well.

We've got guys who can play any position along the O-Line ... but we don't have anybody who can play "THEIR POSITION" well.

We've got wide recievers who can play split out or in the slot ... but none play either position well.

We've got guys who can play DT and DE and OLB ... but we don't have anybody who plays their position well.

We've got linebackers who can play either inside or outside ... but no one plays either exceptionally well (appoligies to Merriman when he's healty).

 

 

I'm just sayin'

[Beerball]

I would guess that fans from 16 other teams say that every weekend in the preseason. With that said, it is preseason. Nothing more, nothing less. Sure, we would like to see better results from games 1 to 2 and 2 to 3 and so on but one thing to remember with this team is there are ALOT of new players on defense, especially the front 7, that are just getting going here. The "offensive" line (using the other definition of offensive) is another story altogether and we can only hope that the front office takes notice and does something in the next couple of weeks to correct the glaring needs there.

I hope that Chan saw what he needed to out of the players filling in for the starters out there last night and realizes that if we have a rash of injuries, like we have had the last few years, that this ship is going to sink quickly and it might be worthwhile to think about the Luck sweepstakes if we are listing heavily by late October.

The front 7 did pretty well yesterday. The back 4 not so much. How do you explain that?

[DrDawkinstein]

Dude, you are like a PR machine! I love how you have adopted the mentality that it takes 3-4 seasons to rebuild! Do you even hear yourself? Are you telling me that Nix couldn't have addressed the O Line in the first TWO drafts!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I can't believe that you don't hear how freeking silly you sound with that sh*t!

 

The only chance he had was in his first draft, and HINDSIGHT tells us that Bulaga wouldve been the right pick in the 1st. But that is hindsight, and other than the top 2, the OTs were highly suspect in that draft.

 

And you KNOW why this past draft was all defense, as it was our biggest weakness last year.

 

Im not making excuses. Im just saying it is what it is. You cant rebuild an ENTIRE FRANCHISE in one or two years. An ENTIRE FRANCHISE in 20 months (Nix took over in Jan 2010, it is August 2011).

 

Not "just" the entire player roster. Plus the coaching staff. Plus the FRONT OFFICE, Guy and Modrak have been replaced by Whaley and Co.

 

You expect all of this change and rebuild to come together in 20 months?!?

 

You guys are seriously out of your minds.

 

I may sound like a PR machine, but it seems like Im the only one who realizes just how BAD we were, and where we have to dig out from.

 

Again, the OL sucks and everyone knows it.

Edited August 21, 2011 by DrDareustein

[Mike in Syracuse]

If anyone listed or watched Gailey's post game press conference it tells you everything you need to know. Gailey specifically stated that they went base defense and base offense all evening to see what the guys are capable of doing. There was no plan, there was no attempt at deception, nothing. Denver on the other hand was sending an LB or CB blitz on almost every snap.

 

That doesn't excuse poor play by our secondary or the inability of our front 4 to get to the QB but it does make Denver's job a lot easier.

 

I'm going to make a prediction for you though, we're going to destroy Denver in the regular season. Mark it down.

[John Cocktosten]

The only chance he had was in his first draft, and HINDSIGHT tells us that Bulaga wouldve been the right pick in the 1st. But that is hindsight, and other than the top 2, the OTs were highly suspect in that draft.

Isn't this is what Nix's job?!?!? His job is not to regret moments of hindsight, it's to make the right pick which he didn't do! Seriously, the excuse train is insane! Don't mention that he didn't pick Pouncey or Salfold either!

 

But that's our boy Buddy! If Dareus doesn't fall to him this year he would've screwed that pick up to. Then go ahead and take a CB instead of an O Lineman in the 2nd too! The problem with Buddy is that he's a arrogant hick who thinks he's smarter than everyone else. What you don't want to admit is that he didn't make those picks because he thought Bell and Pears were going to be fine.

 

If anyone listed or watched Gailey's post game press conference it tells you everything you need to know. Gailey specifically stated that they went base defense and base offense all evening to see what the guys are capable of doing.

 

Von Miller and Dumerville were blowing past our tackles without the help of a blitz. They were man situations and they straight got beat. Wood was a disaster too...Bunkley ate his lunch last night.

Edited August 21, 2011 by John Cocktosten

[MattM]

The only chance he had was in his first draft, and HINDSIGHT tells us that Bulaga wouldve been the right pick in the 1st. But that is hindsight, and other than the top 2, the OTs were highly suspect in that draft.

 

And you KNOW why this past draft was all defense, as it was our biggest weakness last year.

 

Im not making excuses. Im just saying it is what it is. You cant rebuild an ENTIRE FRANCHISE in one or two years. An ENTIRE FRANCHISE in 20 months (Nix took over in Jan 2010, it is August 2011).

 

Not "just" the entire player roster. Plus the coaching staff. Plus the FRONT OFFICE, Guy and Modrak have been replaced by Whaley and Co.

 

You expect all of this change and rebuild to come together in 20 months?!?

 

You guys are seriously out of your minds.

 

I may sound like a PR machine, but it seems like Im the only one who realizes just how BAD we were, and where we have to dig out from.

 

Again, the OL sucks and everyone knows it.

 

 

You could come a heckuva lot closer to a rebuild in two years IF YOU SPENT SOME MONEY! 30 million under the cap is ridiculous and tells me all I need to know, and I've given Ralph a pass on this in the past. You can't tell me that if we'd laid out 4-5 million a year for a RT and 2-3 million each for a TE and another LB, all while keeping Lee, that we would'n't be a much better team and still be 15m or so under the cap....

 

 

 

 

 

[hondo in seattle]

As I recall, TE looked good running the first string offense in preseason last year. That same offense sucked the first two games of the year and TE got cut. Hopefully this year we'll reverse the pattern. We'll look horrible in preseason and good in the regular season.

 

But I have doubts. There was nothing schematic about the horror show last night. The Broncos didn't out game-plan us. What I saw was blockers who couldn't block, receivers who couldn't get open or catch, a QB who couldn't throw with accuracy, and defenders who could neither tackle nor cover. There might have been a couple exceptions but there weren't many.

 

Your team is in trouble if it can't execute at the most fundamental level. It's called "lack of talent." It might only be one game - and a preseason one at that - but my worry meter kept nudging upwards the more I watched.

[DFITZ1]

DISCLAIMER: I have not seen last night's game.

 

I understand that the first string of the 2011 Buffalo Bills did not perform particularly well in the modified scrimmage that took place in Denver last evening. It appears that certain players struggled.

 

Every year we have fans who draw one of the following two conclusions from such a performance:

 

(A) The Bills suck! $%&%$@#!!! I'm so done with this team!

 

(B) Relax! It's preseason and the gameplans are "vanilla" (if I had a nickel for every time I heard the word vanilla during preseason I'd be a wealthy man).

 

The truth, my friends, lies somewhere in the middle. If certain positions or players look overmatched, there are definitely concerns. That said, I've seen a lot of ugliness in the preseason thus far from a number of supposedly pretty good teams (FYI, the Eagles' starting offense and defense looked miserable Thursday night). I'm pretty certain a lot of positions are still being contested on the Bills roster, and everything is being geared towards getting the team ready for KC on 9/11 -- which is still three weeks away.

 

I'm not suggesting fans shouldn't be disappointed by what happened on the field in Denver, but history has shown that what occurs during preseason is rarely what occurs when the real games begin. By way of example, I recall Fitz' quote prior to this week's game. He said he hoped the Bills would get some productive work done, but in the very same sentence he stated it was a GOAL to not have anyone injured. Does anyone think this is the same mentality a team goes into the regular season with?

 

I'm not saying the Bills will be "fine" or that there isn't a lot of work to do; I just believe far too many fans read far too much into these scrimmages.

 

Well said, and backed up by Gailey's comments in Mark Gaughan's blog in the Buffalo Snooze. Gailey purposely played a base defense (no blitz's_ for the purpose of assessing strengths and weaknesses. Also, the o-line was not to chip or slide (prevents o-line injury, but I'm sure Fitz doesn't feel great about this). Once reading Gailey's comments, you know this was more a scrimmage than a game (like the OP mentioned) and it's not the right time to condemn the team.

[filthymcnasty08]

The OLine IS bad.

 

We know this. Chan knows this. The players know this. Buddy knows this.

 

Just like the Run Defense from last year, it will be addressed when possible. Might have to wait for the draft and next FA period though.

 

So we just accept no attempts at doing anything about the OL THIS year.....because this was the year of the Defense? It wasn't possible last year at draft time? This year at draft time? There's no more excuses to make my friend...this is not a front office that is committed to winning.

 

Football 101: you win the game in the trenches. No OL: no running game/no pass protection = dead QB....waterbug 9th pick 2010 cant run without holes.

 

the MOST pedestrian casual Bills fans knew the last 2 years that OL was of primary concern.

[GG]

Just to add a measure of perspective, Bills got mauled by a team that picked ahead of them in the draft.

[BuffaloBaumer]

The offensive line is just a complete mess and looks to have regressed. When you can't block, you can't block (does not matter what the scheme is or how vanilla the look is). They should have thrown even more money at Clabo and not worried about people saying they overpaid. The bottom line is that this offense is going to be in the bottom 5 in the league and until the Oline is addressed, the playoffs will always seem to be in the distant future....It will not be like this forever and once the organization is in new hands, the tide will turn....

[Albany,n.y.]

The Chicken Littles who have watched the past decade of preseason disasters have been right in their fears that they will carry over to the regular season. Why wouldn't they be out in full force.

 

I'd be more concerned with the people who watched last night and concluded it's only preseason and we're going to make the playoffs.

[DFITZ1]

I'd be more concerned with the people who watched last night and concluded it's only preseason and we're going to make the playoffs.

 

I only concluded it is preseason - never said we will make the playoffs.

[bills1960]

Seeing that there's no type of game planning on either side, my thoughts on this team hasn't changed. I think they're a below .500 team (obviously), probably 6-10, 7-9, 8-8 at best.

 

All I know is unless Fitz puts up 30 TDs this season, which at this point seems highly unlikely, we'll be in the market for a QB next year and luckily for us, next year's draft seems stocked with first round level QBs. Even if we pick in the area of the 8-15 spots in the draft we may be able to land our guy (Jones, Lindley, Barkley, Tannehill, assuming Luck goes number one overall).

 

But in the mean time, let's focus on next week. I would like to see Rinehart move in at Urbik's spot. If Gailey has been honest about his game the last few weeks then I'm sure he can do a better job than Urbik is doing right now.

 

As for Pears, don't know what to say about him as of right now. IMO he has one more game to prove himself, because I doubt anyone one in their right mind would head into the regular season with a starting tackle playing like that.

 

Bell had a bad game, no denying that. But We've seen him play well in actual regular season games. He'll do for now IMHO.

 

Lastly on a more negative note, Spiller cannot block for his life. Just one of many things he's failed to do thus far in his career. Fred Jackson as of right now has him beat in every area of the game.

[McBeane]

I only concluded it is preseason - never said we will make the playoffs.

 

Clearly if someone isn't pessimistic on the Bills they think the polar opposite and expect the Bills to make the Super Bowl.

 

I know that anytime anyone says, "It's only preseason," I assume that they expect an undefeated record out the Bills in the regular season. Simple logic really.