I haven't started a thread in forever. Here goes.

[bananathumb]

Buffalo is and always has been a dumb organization and now they have an undisciplined head coach who prefers thugs as players to smart guys. The Incognitos and Jerry Hughes of the NFL will always let you down when it counts and so will the Ryans. I consider Whaley an aberration who could probably bring Buffalo success in the long run, but will likely either be fired soon or be burdened with hollowheads like Rex Ryan as head coaches until he is fired. Then we'll hire another dumb GM. The cycle continues. .

[NOVABillsFan]

IMO the Bills have a QB that looks great on paper and at time is exciting to watch.

It has been 11 games and I find it hard to get excited or feel confident that the team can win any game when the offense is on the field.

I see a QB that protects the ball but appears to not be able to run an efficient 2 minute drill.

 

I would not commit to any high priced extension at this time.

 

Good thread. I don't know if Tyrod is the answer but he gives this team a chance to win. Year 2 for a QB is the biggest chance at improvement so that is where I will try to find a silver lining on a disappointing day.

Man, that excuse is getting old.
Just like Kyle Orton did? Tyrod is the best chance to win, but that may not be good enough.

Not sure what point you are trying to make. I think everyone can agree that a) Taylor can achieve Alex Smith status and b) the Bills can field as good of a roster as the Chiefs next season.

or not. That is pure conjecture by people sold on the idea that Taylor is a "Franchise guy".

Let's not turn this into a Taylor thread. You know as well as anyone that as a general rule (Brady and Roethlisberger excluded), the less a QB has to throw the football, the better the team's chance of winning. If you told me Taylor would either throw 25 times today or 40, I would tell you the Bills chances were better if he threw 25. It's a chicken and egg thing.

 

 

Okay, here we are again. 16 years. Here's the good news: the Bills appear to have a QB.

 

That is difficult not to do when you open up with that statement.

Edited December 14, 2015 by NOVABillsFan

[Chandler#81]

 

This makes just way too much sense for around here. Why people expect a new coach with a QB starting for the first time in his career to gel right away cannot be explained to me. Not to mention a crap ton of injuries all over the field. Not just starters, but valuable depth guys behind them as well. This leads to us starting guys straight off the street or from our practice squad. That, my friends, is not good. When you are dependent on a Defense to carry your developing offense and then you are missing your best Safety, a top level corner (whom I think is our best still), our best linebacker, our defensive leader and very effective Tackle it is going to sting, big time. Then we also lose Carrington, Powell, Wynn, Brooks, all backups who would have seen significant playing time...well, what you get is a 7-9 or 9-7 type season. You know how many guys the Eagles were missing yesterday? One starting LB, the other guys on IR are backups and everyone on their injury report played.

 

We are heading the right direction and we need to stay the course. Add some additional depth through the draft in LB and DLine especially, possibly a DB or two and on offense if we can grab another WR and some OL, we are well on our way.

 

Unfortunately, now is the time we will go on a 3 game winning streak and kill our draft position in typical Bills fashion.

Great thread, Metz! I consider this the 1st official thread for the '16 Season. Mark80 says it best for my take. I know every team has to overcome injuries, but we've been murdered by them this year -starters and veteran back ups. Hobbled out of the gate, the serious injuries just kept multiplying. Anyone remember when WR was an embarrassment of riches? DB's? DL? RB?

[Dr. Who]

The last time the Buffalo Bills made the post-season, the infamous Music City forward lateral, I was at my best friend's funeral.

I was in my mid-thirties. Little did I suspect I would be in my early fifties and still waiting to see the red white and blue field a decent team.

I feel like Charlie Brown, Lucy, and the football this season. It's one too many times.

I'll root for the team, but I'm not buying any hype. Game-to-game and I'll wait and see if they can do something other than disappoint.

 

I'm not sold on Ryan. He's fun and likeable, but his trend is not good. Two good early years, then mediocrity or worse.

Maybe he'll work out, but initial sense is the also likeable Pegulas fell for the sweet talk. Hue Jackson and Jim Shwartz sounds a lot better just now.

I am not sold on TT, but he's the best of a bad lot. Maybe he'll work out. I'm one of those who was hoping EJ would emerge with sound coaching.

I'm disgusted with the "fans" who continue to take gratuitous shots at him and those who hoped he'd turn out well. The hell with youse guys.

I would certainly continue to develop Taylor, but I would also definitely keep taking flyers in the draft until I had a surefire top ten qb.

I think Hackenburg was poor in college the last two years, but he has talent. If he falls in the draft, maybe you take a shot. There's this big kid, Carlton Wentz at North Dakota who is supposed to be a sleeper. We need to upgrade RT, o-line depth, and we still need a strong #2 WR.

 

Defense, we need lbs and safeties. Mario will be restructured or cut. I'd rather restructure, but we'll see. I like Whaley, but I liked him better before this year went splat -- again. Special teams: Bye Crossman. I'd look for a kicker that is reliable and has a strong enough leg that one doesn't need to hold a roster spot for a specialist. Then again, maybe we need to spend a spot on a fair catch specialist.

Edited December 14, 2015 by Dr. Who

[rockpile]

Wow - best thread of the day (maybe the year), lotta good thinking going on here...

 

I am sorry. I did not realize that good thinking was allowed here. I feel like I should be calling you names or something.

 

P.S. Tyrod Taylor should be the starting QB next year no question.

 

 

Yes!

[fridge]

The last time the Buffalo Bills made the post-season, the infamous Music City forward lateral, I was at my best friend's funeral.

I was in my mid-thirties. Little did I suspect I would be in my early fifties and still waiting to see the red white and blue field a decent team.

I feel like Charlie Brown, Lucy, and the football this season. It's one too many times.

I'll root for the team, but I'm not buying any hype. Game-to-game and I'll wait and see if they can do something other than disappoint.

 

I'm not sold on Ryan. He's fun and likeable, but his trend is not good. Two good early years, then mediocrity or worse.

Maybe he'll work out, but initial sense is the also likeable Pegulas fell for the sweet talk. Hue Jackson and Jim Shwartz sounds a lot better just now.

I am not sold on TT, but he's the best of a bad lot. Maybe he'll work out. I'm one of those who was hoping EJ would emerge with sound coaching.

I'm disgusted with the "fans" who continue to take gratuitous shots at him and those who hoped he'd turn out well. The hell with youse guys.

I would certainly continue to develop Taylor, but I would also definitely keep taking flyers in the draft until I had a surefire top ten qb.

I think Hackenburg was poor in college the last two years, but he has talent. If he falls in the draft, maybe you take a shot. There's this big kid, Carlton Wentz at North Dakota who is supposed to be a sleeper. We need to upgrade RT, o-line depth, and we still need a strong #2 WR.

 

Defense, we need lbs and safeties. Mario will be restructured or cut. I'd rather restructure, but we'll see. I like Whaley, but I liked him better before this year went splat -- again. Special teams: Bye Crossman. I'd look for a kicker that is reliable and has a strong enough leg that one doesn't need to hold a roster spot for a specialist. Then again, maybe we need to spend a spot on a fair catch specialist.

 

Excellent post. I agree with a lot of this.

[xsoldier54]

This is one of the best threads I have read on here in a long time. Some very well thought out responses and very little knee jerk extremism. As for myself, I wish I knew what the answer was. Coaches have changed over the years, management has changed. Players have changed as well, yet it seems like I am watching the same team that I have been watching for all these years. I absolutely knew that they would not win yesterday. I was hoping for the best, but I just had that gut feeling that this team would find a way to lose, just like they always have. The results played out exactly as I feared they would. They never had the lead against a team that they were clearly superior to. I hope some of the suggestions that people have offered will work. As for me, I am out of ideas. I just don't know what this team should do anymore.

[Heitz]

I am sorry. I did not realize that good thinking was allowed here. I feel like I should be calling you names or something.

 

Ah, it'll devolve eventually...

 

But guys like Mark80 are keeping up with the great points!

[Chuck Schick]

Great thread, and just what I needed after another sleepless Sunday night.

Stepping away from the "Same old Bills" routine, there really are some things to like about the team and organization. Most of them have been mentioned earlier, but I will add: it takes time and some trial/error to go from one of the worst-performing franchises, to an average one, and then (hopefully) a good one. We all hoped that we could skip over that middle step, but in reality we are probably at the exact place we should be: a very difficult opponent but with enough flaws to keep from being a legitimate contender. I think cooler heads prevail and we continue to get better and more consistent.

[rockpile]

Completely disagree. Tyrod has not impressed me at all. I mean, I guess because our bar is so low over the past 20 years that Tyrod by default is playing slightly better than typical Bills football but I absolutely do not see him as some sort of magical solution.

 

I would love for him to prove me wrong - but in the Giants, Patriots, Chiefs and now Eagles game he had the ball in the 4th and did nothing. I'm not a fan of complacency and I don't know how many excuses you want to give him, he didn't get the job done, we missed the playoffs with a stacked offense and there's nothing in the offseason we can do to make me feel confident about our future moving forward with Tyrod.

 

On paper it looked like a stacked offense, possibly. Very few QBs can be successful when the running game is absent, first downs are dropped, and extra points are missed.

 

Possibly the single most INEXCUSABLE thing about this defeated group of players is that every single time they made a good play, I did not cheer until I was certain there was not a penalty flag on the turf to negate it!

 

There needs to be a team and there needs to be discipline.

 

Trent Dilfer won a Super Bowl and passed for 165 yards.

Edited December 14, 2015 by rockpile

[fridge]

 

On paper it looked like a stacked offense, possibly. Very few QBs can be successful when the running game is absent, first downs are dropped, and extra points are missed. Possibly the single most INEXCUSABLE thing about this defeated group of players is that every single time they made a good play. I did not cheer until I was certain there was not a penalty flag on the turf to negate it!

 

There needs to be a team and there needs to be discipline.

 

Trent Dilfer won a Super Bowl and passed for 165 yards.

 

 

I don't know what to tell you. If you're satisfied with comparisons to Trent Dilfer, then fine. Congrats, you found your Quarterback.

[metzelaars_lives]

Sorry but the biggest problem is rex ryan, THose other coaches actually are good, they just had low talent levels. Rex ryan is making a good team bumble its way down to an 8-8 record, his record is 500 for his career, his bravado will slowly kill this team as good players end up leaving when we hit rock bottom next year...or the year after that.

I agree that Rex was a disappointment THIS YEAR but I am willing to give him an entire offseason to mold his own defense in his vision and see what happens. I fully expect the defense to be better next season regardless of who is suiting up. And then there's no reason to think that with Taylor, McCoy and Watkins all returning that the offense shouldn't be just as good or better. I just think it's ludicrous that in other threads, people actually want Rex Ryan fired now. The one and only thing we know DOES NOT work is constant turnover. Thankfully it's a moot point because he's not getting fired one year into a lucrative five year contract.

 

 

I don't know what to tell you. If you're satisfied with comparisons to Trent Dilfer, then fine. Congrats, you found your Quarterback.

Come on man, this has been a good thread. Because someone mentioned that Dilfer won a SB with maybe the greatest defense ever does not mean that he or anyone else thinks that Taylor isn't already better than Dilfer ever was. This isn't about Taylor. Taylor has exceeded everyone's wildest, wettest expectations. No one is crowning him anything but everyone (I hope) should understand that he's our starting QB next year and should be optimistic that IF we can return to a top ten defense that Taylor with another year under his belt should put us in a pretty good spot. This is all about Rex figuring out a way- both personnel wise and scheme wise- to field an elite defense again next year. Call me crazy but I think it's possible.

Edited December 14, 2015 by metzelaars_lives

[FireChan]

I agree that Rex was a disappointment THIS YEAR but I am willing to give him an entire offseason to mold his own defense in his vision and see what happens. I fully expect the defense to be better next season regardless of who is suiting up. And then there's no reason to think that with Taylor, McCoy and Watkins all returning that the offense shouldn't be just as good or better. I just think it's ludicrous that in other threads, people actually want Rex Ryan fired now. The one and only thing we know DOES NOT work is constant turnover. Thankfully it's a moot point because he's not getting fired one year into a lucrative five year contract.

 

Come on man, this has been a good thread. Because someone mentioned that Dilfer won a SB with maybe the greatest defense ever does not mean that he or anyone else thinks that Taylor isn't already better than Dilfer ever was. This isn't about Taylor. Taylor has exceeded everyone's wildest, wettest expectations. No one is crowning him anything but everyone (I hope) should understand that he's our starting QB next year and should be optimistic that IF we can return to a top ten defense that Taylor with another year under his belt should put us in a pretty good spot. This is all about Rex figuring out a way- both personnel wise and scheme wise- to field an elite defense again next year. Call me crazy but I think it's possible.

Rex gets worse as years go on. He will be fired at the end of next year. All will be well.

[metzelaars_lives]

Rex gets worse as years go on. He will be fired at the end of next year. All will be well.

I'll hold you to that. Didn't he go 8-8 his second last year with the Jets when most agreed they had as little talent as any team in the league? Many called it his best coaching performance of his tenure there. I would argue that if a coach is judged by his team's performance relative to their perceived talent, then this year has been his worst coaching performance to date. I would also argue that he never underperformed relative to his talent in New York.

 

Either way, barring an utterly disastrous 2016, this team would be wise to give him at least three years to see the whole thing through. It's what the good teams are doing now. Canning him after two years would be such a Browns move.

[FireChan]

I'll hold you to that. Didn't he go 8-8 his second last year with the Jets when most agreed they had as little talent as any team in the league? Many called it his best coaching performance of his tenure there. I would argue that if a coach is judged by his team's performance relative to their perceived talent, then this year has been his worst coaching performance to date. I would also argue that he never underperformed relative to his talent in New York.

 

Either way, barring an utterly disastrous 2016, this team would be wise to give him at least three years to see the whole thing through. It's what the good teams are doing now. Canning him after two years would be such a Browns move.

Getting to 8-8 that season was a combination of luck and Geno Smith actually putting together some decent games, neither of which Rex has anything to do with.

[BuffaloMatt]

Black arm bands, flag is at half mast, sad day to be a Bills fan. It is really exhausting.

[All I Need is Hope]

We need to zoom out of the details of this latest piece of sh&t season and examine the long-standing / deep-rooted dysfunction in this organization. The tough part is trying to figure out what to do next. I'm not confident, one bit, that the current leadership (owners, president, GM, coach) know what to do next.

 

They've literally tried about every approach you can think of... football czar (Donahue), offensive minded coach, defensive minded coach, disciplinarian, "player's coach", build a dominant defense, build an unstoppable offense, build a team of smart / character guys, build a bully... blah, blah, blah.

 

I would like to see them bring in the best "organizational excellence" mind they can find. I don't even care if they know football. This organization and culture are rotten to the core and losing is accepted, so maybe they can start there. Also, if there's a potential franchise QB near where they draft, they better figure out how to get him.

[jeffismagic]

We need to zoom out of the details of this latest piece of sh&t season and examine the long-standing / deep-rooted dysfunction in this organization. The tough part is trying to figure out what to do next. I'm not confident, one bit, that the current leadership (owners, president, GM, coach) know what to do next.

 

They've literally tried about every approach you can think of... football czar (Donahue), offensive minded coach, defensive minded coach, disciplinarian, "player's coach", build a dominant defense, build an unstoppable offense, build a team of smart / character guys, build a bully... blah, blah, blah.

 

I would like to see them bring in the best "organizational excellence" mind they can find. I don't even care if they know football. This organization and culture are rotten to the core and losing is accepted, so maybe they can start there. Also, if there's a potential franchise QB near where they draft, they better figure out how to get him.

 

Um, no. Rex just got here. Whaley got the GM job in 2013. The Pegulas just took over the team a year ago.

 

There is no magical dark force at work here.

[All I Need is Hope]

Disagree jeffismagic... culture trumps individuals. We're seeing the same behaviors as we have for the last 16 years. All talk, no real urgency, little accountability, playing down to the level of their competition, losing is ok, "as long as we fill the stadium". Somebody needs to acknowledge it and own it. I don't see it coming from ownership yet... maybe some hope for that this offseason.

[offsides#76FredSmerlas]

The only difference between us and teams the KC is we beat ourselves and they don't. And, yes we have a fine young QB. I'm not sure Rex is the guy after this season. The penalty problem should have been solved and its not, just like NYJ.

The Jets never had a penalty problem. They were never great but always right in the middle of the league. Ryan never had a team commit this many penalties.