For Whom the BELL Tolls

[Mickey]

I think we all knew going in to the season that the line was weak but the defense was even worse and you can only fix so much in one off season. They took a run at the best OT in free agency but he didn't want to leave his team and just used us to get a better offer. We are stuck with what we have for this year. Chan, to his credit, is giving just about every conceivable lineup some time on the field to see what the best combination is. No one is in a panic, they are just doing their jobs, if it isn't working, try something else. It is no more complicated than that. I think they like Chad R. but he isn't better than Levitre just yet so why not see if there is a way to keep them both on the field? The only thing that has me wondering is Urbik. How is that he has been left out of the experiment? Are they just trying to get him as many reps as possible because he needs them more than anyone else but have no intention of starting him on opening day?

 

Is it just me or is there some sort of disconnect here? How can you say that Bell is not starting material in the NFL without also concluding it was a mistake to let Peters go? At the time, that was the choice the team had, sign Peters or go with Bell. There was no third option. The justification for letting Peters go was that Bell was just as good or soon would be and he was cheaper, younger and not a pain in the neck. There was no personnel fairy-godmother that was going to get rid of both and cause an all-pro LT to materialize from nowhere. The choice they had was Peters or Bell.

[DreReed83]

I've been saying this for years that he's not a good LT and should at least be moved to RT if anything. You Delirious Dreams make me laugh.

[....lybob]

I've watched Bell a long time and Denver was the worse I've seen him, the question is why?

 

possible answers

 

1. Just had a really bad horrible awful no good day

 

2. Elvis Dumervil is his Nemesis - sometimes in sports there is someone who owns you even though you beat people who beat him- not quite the same in football but maybe Bell does really well against Julius Pepper but gets crushed VS Elvis Dumervil and Levitre does well against Elvis Dumervil but gets crushed against Julius Peppers.

 

3. There's a book on Bell now and he has to adjust.

 

4. His weight gain adversely effected him

 

5. His head isn't in the game and he has taken a step backwards

 

6. He was never as good as he sometimes looked because the Bills were doing all types of adjustments to help him - now Gaily left him on his own

 

7. His communication with Rinehart wasn't good

[PDaDdy]

I think we all knew going in to the season that the line was weak but the defense was even worse and you can only fix so much in one off season. They took a run at the best OT in free agency but he didn't want to leave his team and just used us to get a better offer. We are stuck with what we have for this year. Chan, to his credit, is giving just about every conceivable lineup some time on the field to see what the best combination is. No one is in a panic, they are just doing their jobs, if it isn't working, try something else. It is no more complicated than that. I think they like Chad R. but he isn't better than Levitre just yet so why not see if there is a way to keep them both on the field? The only thing that has me wondering is Urbik. How is that he has been left out of the experiment? Are they just trying to get him as many reps as possible because he needs them more than anyone else but have no intention of starting him on opening day?

 

Is it just me or is there some sort of disconnect here? How can you say that Bell is not starting material in the NFL without also concluding it was a mistake to let Peters go? At the time, that was the choice the team had, sign Peters or go with Bell. There was no third option. The justification for letting Peters go was that Bell was just as good or soon would be and he was cheaper, younger and not a pain in the neck. There was no personnel fairy-godmother that was going to get rid of both and cause an all-pro LT to materialize from nowhere. The choice they had was Peters or Bell.

 

 

The 3rd choice as with every year is a FA. That being said the obvious choice is to keep your teams one and only probowler at the time. Can you imagine if that happened in another city? Somehow the front office got the fans to believe that trading away one of our best players because he wanted fair market value for his services was a good idea. It's 2011 and here we are as usual well under the cap this year to the tune of around $30 million. What were we saving all this money for? It sure as hell wasn't to pay other difference making players and put a better product on the field.

 

I've watched Bell a long time and Denver was the worse I've seen him, the question is why?

 

possible answers

 

1. Just had a really bad horrible awful no good day

 

2. Elvis Dumervil is his Nemesis - sometimes in sports there is someone who owns you even though you beat people who beat him- not quite the same in football but maybe Bell does really well against Julius Pepper but gets crushed VS Elvis Dumervil and Levitre does well against Elvis Dumervil but gets crushed against Julius Peppers.

 

3. There's a book on Bell now and he has to adjust.

 

4. His weight gain adversely effected him

 

5. His head isn't in the game and he has taken a step backwards

 

6. He was never as good as he sometimes looked because the Bills were doing all types of adjustments to help him - now Gaily left him on his own

 

7. His communication with Rinehart wasn't good

 

#6 Is pretty much right on the money. Peters played on an island Bell constantly has TE and RB help. Additionally I will add:

 

8. Bell is not and never was going to develop into a quality LT in this league.

Edited August 24, 2011 by PDaDdy

[Cash]

I think we all knew going in to the season that the line was weak but the defense was even worse and you can only fix so much in one off season. They took a run at the best OT in free agency but he didn't want to leave his team and just used us to get a better offer. We are stuck with what we have for this year. Chan, to his credit, is giving just about every conceivable lineup some time on the field to see what the best combination is. No one is in a panic, they are just doing their jobs, if it isn't working, try something else. It is no more complicated than that. I think they like Chad R. but he isn't better than Levitre just yet so why not see if there is a way to keep them both on the field? The only thing that has me wondering is Urbik. How is that he has been left out of the experiment? Are they just trying to get him as many reps as possible because he needs them more than anyone else but have no intention of starting him on opening day?

 

Is it just me or is there some sort of disconnect here? How can you say that Bell is not starting material in the NFL without also concluding it was a mistake to let Peters go? At the time, that was the choice the team had, sign Peters or go with Bell. There was no third option. The justification for letting Peters go was that Bell was just as good or soon would be and he was cheaper, younger and not a pain in the neck. There was no personnel fairy-godmother that was going to get rid of both and cause an all-pro LT to materialize from nowhere. The choice they had was Peters or Bell.

Wow, the bolded part is just incredibly wrong. So far from correct. Nothing personal, but that is just a false statement. Remember that Plan A for replacing Peters was to move Langston Walker to LT. So the Bills didn't even think "go with Bell" was one of their options. Starting Bell was a fallback once it became clear Walker wasn't working out at LT in the preseason, and there was no one else on the roster to replace him. But wait! Let's rewind a bit. Peters was traded prior to the 2009 draft. We already held the #11 pick, and traded him for the #28 pick. We used those picks on Aaron Maybin and Eric Wood, respectively. However, the Bills could have easily chosen to use either pick on a LT prospect to try to replace Peters. Michael Oher would've been a great pick at #11, and that's right about where he was rated pre-draft. Eben Britton, Sebastian Vollmer, or Will Beatty would've been reasonable picks at #28, and the latter two were also available when the Bills drafted Jairus Byrd at #42, and also when the Bills traded up to pick Andy Levitre at #51.

 

So yes, there were certainly other choices besides just "sign Peters" or "go with Bell." The Bills convinced themselves Langston Walker would work out at LT, so they passed up other options, and when the Walker move failed, that's when they had no choice but to go with Bell. But that problem was the Bills' own doing. No sympathy for a team that dug themselves into their own hole.

[AReed Deep For 7]

We need to do what Karl Malone already did and forget about this guy

[DreReed83]

LOL. This is comical. HAHAHAHA. Further proof that I'm right AGAIN

[Pirate Angel]

Except that against the Bears, Bell looked great against Julius Peppers and Pears and Urbik were terrible. Shall we panic again next week after Levitre and Rhineheart have a bad game against Jax?

 

Cripes, people - one damned pre-season game. Bell went half the season last year before allowing his first sack. CHILL.

Many posters have a jar of B word and they're looking for any reason to open it.

 

If we do draft high enough to obtain Luck we most likely will have Bell returning to the starting lineup next year too.