Dorkington Posted November 28, 2015 Posted November 28, 2015 It's tough. We've been inconsistent across the board, not really sure what to point to there. If we miss the playoffs, but finish 9-7 or 10-6, I won't be too mad. New systems, new key pieces, injuries, etc. If we finish 8-8 or below, I'll question every single part of this team
Max997 Posted November 28, 2015 Posted November 28, 2015 (edited) There shouldn't be a "fall guy". This was an expected 8-8, 9-7 (barring serious injuries) team heading into the 2015 season. Expected from who? Some of the so called experts who don't like Rex? This was a 9-7 team last year with the 4th ranked defense that added what many thought at the time a better coaching staff, an elite RB, and a play making TE so not sure where this no expected improvement in their record is coming from. I don't know about fall guy but it's clear there needs to be a change with special teams which hasn't added anything positive this year. I'm not the biggest Rex fan but he isn't going anywhere and neither is Thurman. I don't think Roman gets a HC shot but he is a toss up to be back as Rex has been more and more vocal about lack of production on offense. Edited November 28, 2015 by Max997
Webster Guy Posted November 28, 2015 Posted November 28, 2015 This offensive system, ANY offensive system takes a long time to learn and perfect. Especially one as complex as Roman's with a ton of new guys and a qb starting in his first season. So nothing will change on offense, maybe Lal, but that decision would be based on Roman's evaluation which would be far more in-depth than we as fans would understand about what makes a good receivers coach. He might be a great WR coach. Our guys block hard and seem to get open. It's hard not to look at special teams as a sub-par unit. We have a pro bowl punter and it pretty much stops there. We've been spoiled by Bobby April thats for sure. The Thigpen cut early in the season and Cundiff experiment was a classic case of management overreaction, not sure if Crossman was behind any of it though.
CardinalScotts Posted November 28, 2015 Posted November 28, 2015 with taylor they are 5-3 with 2 losses to NE....with their guys they are a playoff team
EmotionallyUnstable Posted November 28, 2015 Author Posted November 28, 2015 "Continued failure" refers to playoff drought, not our current standing.
thebandit27 Posted November 28, 2015 Posted November 28, 2015 "Continued failure" refers to playoff drought, not our current standing. To even mention it implies that the failures of the previous 15 seasons fall on the current administration
WotAGuy Posted November 28, 2015 Posted November 28, 2015 That's a pretty sad way to be a fan. Isn't it though? I started my Bills addiction in 1968, so I am used to years of failure - but somehow grew to love them anyway. I still love them but don't really expect much from them. Having low expectations means I am surprised and happy when they simply knock Brady on his ass and make him swear at his O-linemen!
3rdand12 Posted November 28, 2015 Posted November 28, 2015 This offensive system, ANY offensive system takes a long time to learn and perfect. Especially one as complex as Roman's with a ton of new guys and a qb starting in his first season. So nothing will change on offense, maybe Lal, but that decision would be based on Roman's evaluation which would be far more in-depth than we as fans would understand about what makes a good receivers coach. He might be a great WR coach. Our guys block hard and seem to get open. It's hard not to look at special teams as a sub-par unit. We have a pro bowl punter and it pretty much stops there. We've been spoiled by Bobby April thats for sure. The Thigpen cut early in the season and Cundiff experiment was a classic case of management overreaction, not sure if Crossman was behind any of it though. good post. Crossman's group has lost the Bills football games. Fact. I am not sure who replaces him If anyone though. Another year as a team will do wonders for the fanbase i bet. Lal is one of my favorite coaches btw and i think has the guys running and blocking just fine But the Bills find a better Coach at any position they should upgrade. No one should be sacrificed just for the sake of it! Isn't it though? I started my Bills addiction in 1968, so I am used to years of failure - but somehow grew to love them anyway. I still love them but don't really expect much from them. Having low expectations means I am surprised and happy when they simply knock Brady on his ass and make him swear at his O-linemen! There is a small joy to that !! Rattling Brady second time around also means rex might have a clue.
Not at the table Karlos Posted November 28, 2015 Posted November 28, 2015 I say Sanjay Lal will be the fall guy. Given the lack of production at the WR position, and the need to shake something up on offense, he is my goat. (All entries hypothetical since we know we are SB 50 bound!) the quarterback isn't getting the balls to open receivers, how is that the WR coaches fault? It's year one with complete scheme changes on O and D. Why do people have to be fired. Patience
Rico Posted November 28, 2015 Posted November 28, 2015 I think a lot depends on how TT finishes. If it looks like the Bills will need to make a big investment on another QB, I don't know that Whaley can be trusted to choose the next chosen one.
Nihilarian Posted November 28, 2015 Posted November 28, 2015 Was it expected when Rex was signed that they'd be average? When McCoy, Clay, and Hughes were acquired/re-signed did fans think that they'd be average? Did 60k ST's get sold thinking the team was average? Most likely not. No playoffs = failure. And they don't have the 6th spot. KC holds the tiebreaker. Per ESPN, Kansas City "Wins tie break over Buffalo and Houston based on best win percentage in conference games." I think everyone was expecting playoffs, and to have the #1 defense in the NFL. The latter has been the biggest letdown, and until this past week it looked so UN Rex Ryan like! Penalties were a huge problem until week 8! Will this trend continue or go back to ultra stupid? Special teams coverage units, and kick return units stink to high heaven. it took 10 games to fix the defense, and we don't know if that was an anomaly or will they continue to bring the heat? Sammy Watkins still not seeing the ball enough each game! what does it say about an offense that refuses to utilize a player that coast the team 3 draft picks, and two number ones? The starting QB won't throw over the middle So it looks like there could be lots of "fall guys" depending on how this team finishes the season. Currently the 5-5 Buffalo Bills after the loss to NE went from the 5th seed in the playoffs to the 8th seed, and out of the playoff picture behind (5th seed Pittsburgh 6-4) (6th seed KC 5-5)( 7th seed Houston 5-5). The Bills need to win a bunch of games to keep up with a red hot KC, and hot Houston. The Jets are also 5-5, and hot on their heals are the Jags, Phins, Raiders at 4-6. http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/standings/playoffrace
BuffaloBillsForever Posted November 28, 2015 Posted November 28, 2015 (edited) Was it expected when Rex was signed that they'd be average? When McCoy, Clay, and Hughes were acquired/re-signed did fans think that they'd be average? Did 60k ST's get sold thinking the team was average? Most likely not. No playoffs = failure. And they don't have the 6th spot. KC holds the tiebreaker. Per ESPN, Kansas City "Wins tie break over Buffalo and Houston based on best win percentage in conference games." I like Rex and even with the additions of McCoy and Clay as your examples it didn't change my outlook. I don't buy much into casual fans eating up season ticket sales based on hype. I look at the the roster to base that decision and I valued the roster at 8-8/9-7. Edited November 28, 2015 by BuffaloBillsForever
K D Posted November 28, 2015 Posted November 28, 2015 have to blame Doug Whaley. as much good as he has done, he really screwed us by leaving us with only EJ as the backup and getting rid of key players like Fred and Thigpen (the latter he brought back when he discovered what a bone head move that was). We lost the Jacksonville and Cinci games because we had no QB and RB depth and our kick and punt return game has been atrocious all season which really hurts in the battle of field position. also, it was a big swing and a miss on getting any kind of OL help in the offseason and nobody is quite sure why we spent all of that money on Jerome Felton. he's done a lot of good too, i don't want to discount that (Darby and Karlos were nice picks). but those misses might have cost us the season and I also agree with Crossman. i've been saying it since day 1 when Marrone hired his buddy who was about to be fired for being one of the worst ST's coaches in the NFL. i've never seen an NFL roster like ours where a team has so many dedicated special teams players (Easley, Boobie, Sanborn, Gay, Thigpen) and we still stink. it's basically a band-aid because Crossman is such a bad ST coach. we saw when Gay or Thigpen weren't in the lineup how bad ST's was. even with all of these guys we are a below avg ST team.
BillsVet Posted November 28, 2015 Posted November 28, 2015 And I still am totally confused as to why the current administration, in place since 2013, shoulders the blame for everything that's happened since 2000 Nice straw man argument. Who's stating that here? The current administration has some holdovers from the Nix years. Let's not muddy the waters and claim that the people who couldn't get it right from 2010 through 2012 are completely different than the 2013-forward years. And I don't think anyone's talking 2000-2009 anymore. That's ancient history, albeit bad history. I like Rex and even with the additions of McCoy and Clay as your examples it didn't change my outlook. I don't buy much into casual fans eating up season ticket sales based on hype. I look at the the roster to base that decision and I valued the roster at 8-8/9-7. This is plain and simple the re-writing of recent history. 60k ST's sold is not the result of "casual" fans just buying into hype. Fans had an expectation of excellence with a more proven HC, improvements at RB, TE, the return of the defense, et al. They bought tickets expecting to win. Maybe you didn't to fit the narrative you're now trying to establish, but this was no "casual" fan thing.
NewEra Posted November 28, 2015 Posted November 28, 2015 Danny Crossman. Holdover from the last staff, fumbles and penalties have plagued the return and coverage units.
boyst Posted November 28, 2015 Posted November 28, 2015 EJ Manuel is our fall guy. He is the guy who we will remember from 2013-2015(+?) being a wasted pick at a position we needed.
BuffaloBillsForever Posted November 28, 2015 Posted November 28, 2015 (edited) have to blame Doug Whaley. as much good as he has done, he really screwed us by leaving us with only EJ as the backup and getting rid of key players like Fred and Thigpen (the latter he brought back when he discovered what a bone head move that was). We lost the Jacksonville and Cinci games because we had no QB and RB depth and our kick and punt return game has been atrocious all season which really hurts in the battle of field position. also, it was a big swing and a miss on getting any kind of OL help in the offseason and nobody is quite sure why we spent all of that money on Jerome Felton. he's done a lot of good too, i don't want to discount that (Darby and Karlos were nice picks). but those misses might have cost us the season and I also agree with Crossman. i've been saying it since day 1 when Marrone hired his buddy who was about to be fired for being one of the worst ST's coaches in the NFL. i've never seen an NFL roster like ours where a team has so many dedicated special teams players (Easley, Boobie, Sanborn, Gay, Thigpen) and we still stink. it's basically a band-aid because Crossman is such a bad ST coach. we saw when Gay or Thigpen weren't in the lineup how bad ST's was. even with all of these guys we are a below avg ST team. Agree. I wouldn't call them fall guys though because I wasn't expecting us to go to the playoffs anyways. The big shake up if I was the Pegulas is just not to give Whaley a new contract so they could bring in their own personnel guy to run the football operations side. Edited November 28, 2015 by BuffaloBillsForever
Boatdrinks Posted November 28, 2015 Posted November 28, 2015 Was it expected when Rex was signed that they'd be average? When McCoy, Clay, and Hughes were acquired/re-signed did fans think that they'd be average? Did 60k ST's get sold thinking the team was average? "[/font][/color][/size] Regardless of what fans thought when they purchased their ST's , the realistic expectation was still that the team would be about average. Largely due to the unresolved issues at Quarterback, the most important position in the NFL. Add in the installation of a new offensive and defensive system, and average seems about right for year one. As a fan I always want more, but that doesn't make it realistic. Resigning their own good players doesn't improve the team if it was about average to begin with. That leaves the McCoy and Clay acquisitions. Upgrades to be sure, but probably not enough to fulfill playoff dreams. Those would be more likely if the Bills had stayed the same at TE and RB and added say, a Carson Palmer. There weren't any of those available so the Bills had to spend $ somewhere. Fine , but that's the reason the reaction from most NFL observers was still " yeah, but who's the QB?" Perhaps the ticket demand was driven more by the release of pent- up angst about the team's future. That hurdle was cleared far more than any on the field.
EmotionallyUnstable Posted November 28, 2015 Author Posted November 28, 2015 To even mention it implies that the failures of the previous 15 seasons fall on the current administration They don't, they fall on the fan base. Which is my point. People will be calling for a move. Fans and brass. Look at the Sabres. Pegula is quick to make moves and I don't think he is afraid to let anyone go if he isn't happy Expected from who? Some of the so called experts who don't like Rex? This was a 9-7 team last year with the 4th ranked defense that added what many thought at the time a better coaching staff, an elite RB, and a play making TE so not sure where this no expected improvement in their record is coming from. I don't know about fall guy but it's clear there needs to be a change with special teams which hasn't added anything positive this year. I'm not the biggest Rex fan but he isn't going anywhere and neither is Thurman. I don't think Roman gets a HC shot but he is a toss up to be back as Rex has been more and more vocal about lack of production on offense. Nice post. Agreed on Rex and Thurman. Idt Roman will get much love as a HC candidate
LA Grant Posted November 28, 2015 Posted November 28, 2015 The fall guy is their lack of time together. Gotta give the nucleus of players + the coaching staff time to gel. It takes a little time. And also we need a better 2nd QB, better right side OL, and better LB. Other than that, it should just be... let's try again.
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