BILLS vs ATL

[atlbillsfan1975]

First of all let me say i have not given up on the Bills season. If they can play with the sense of urgency they played with in the fourth quarter on Monday Night, they have a chance to win out. If they can do that or not is up to them(the players).

Something hit me while i was driving around Atl listening to sports talk radio. And even though this team lost to Denver at home last week, they have a big game against Carolina this week and if they win they are right back in the drivers seat for a playoff berth. So how does a team go from a horrible team to a team that you can see great potential in?

Hire a good young guy to run your franchise. Go to a team that has been consistently successful, and find a talent evaulator. The Falcons brought Dimitrof in and he went out and found a coach and staff that would work hard and get this team playing with a high sense of pride and determination. He then cleaned house of any overpaid vets that were diminishing in productivity. He brought in a couple of neccesary FAs. Then he turned his attention to the draft, and he hit on his first 4 picks. Ryan from what i understand from talking to some of the guys in the FO say they compared him to Manning comming out of college. The way he prepares and is a leader. They knew he was gonna be good at the next level. Then the went out and traded back up to take a left tackle to protect him.

I could go on and on about how i am very impressed with what this team is doing. I have always and will always be a Bills fan first but the Falcons are putting a product on the field that is easy to be a fan of. Their owner learned from his mistakes and has turned over the reigns to a football man. He wants to win more then anything, but understands he doesn't have the knowledge to do that. His best attribute, the one that made him a succesful businessman, is learn and adapt. But the best people in place to succeed.

We are the only franchise to not have a true GM. A guy who everyone knows the buck stops here. So is the Bills approach right and everyone else wrong?

[VOR]

With any new regime, you need to wait a few years. What looks like a great start to a new regime can quickly turn sour. Look at the Jets with Mangini, the Dols with Saban, and the Bills with Mularkey in their first years, and then the next year.

[H2o]

Let's not forget about the Parcells approach in Miami as well. You surely have to have a guy in there that can evaluate the talent pool of the draft properly. Polian is a genius, Parcells knows football, and Dimitrof obviously does as well. If you draft well, you will have a consistently good franchise. We hit and miss constantly, missing more so than hitting the mark.

 

What have we learned over the last 4 years?

 

1. Wilson needs to hand over control of the team to some one else.

2. Jauron is not the guy we need, just like Chicago and Detroit quickly figured out.

3. We're still looking for a "Franchise" QB to take the reigns.

4. We have alot of young talent that needs proper coaching to develope the way they should. See #2

5. We're on the verge of 1 of 2 things happening, turning the corner and becoming a good team or the toilet is about to be flushed. See #2

[Sisyphean Bills]

2. Jauron is not the guy we need, just like Chicago and Detroit quickly figured out.

I'm not sure that 5 years is all that quick. He is a nice guy after all.

[VOR]

What, exactly, did Detroit "figure out?" They'd have loved to have kept Jauron, given their dismal failure since.

[BuffaninATL]

Let's not forget about the Parcells approach in Miami as well. You surely have to have a guy in there that can evaluate the talent pool of the draft properly. Polian is a genius, Parcells knows football, and Dimitrof obviously does as well. If you draft well, you will have a consistently good franchise. We hit and miss constantly, missing more so than hitting the mark.

 

What have we learned over the last 4 years?

 

1. Wilson needs to hand over control of the team to some one else.

2. Jauron is not the guy we need, just like Chicago and Detroit quickly figured out.

3. We're still looking for a "Franchise" QB to take the reigns.

4. We have alot of young talent that needs proper coaching to develope the way they should. See #2

5. We're on the verge of 1 of 2 things happening, turning the corner and becoming a good team or the toilet is about to be flushed. See #2

 

6. Ralph Wilson will never pay for a top-tier coach as long as he is owner of the team

[atlbillsfan1975]

VOR, No question a regime can turn bad quickly. The falcons know that all to well. They are, i think the only Franchise to never have two winning seasons in a row. But you get the sense here that these guys know what they are doing.

It wasn't very long ago that Atl was owned by the Smiths who were about as inept owners as you could of had. Blank made some mistakes, a few big ones, but he is learning. And he has a Gm that knows talent. Thats what Buffalo needs, a GM and then a money guy. The money guy works with the GM to tell him how much money there is to spend and how deals can get done. The GM puts the personal in place. Pretty simple concept, Bills just make it difficult.

[H2o]

What, exactly, did Detroit "figure out?" They'd have loved to have kept Jauron, given their dismal failure since.

 

 

See the bio of Matt Millen as a GM.

[Cynical]

What, exactly, did Detroit "figure out?" They'd have loved to have kept Jauron, given their dismal failure since.

 

They would have? You have proof of this?

[VOR]

VOR, No question a regime can turn bad quickly. The falcons know that all to well. They are, i think the only Franchise to never have two winning seasons in a row. But you get the sense here that these guys know what they are doing.

It wasn't very long ago that Atl was owned by the Smiths who were about as inept owners as you could of had. Blank made some mistakes, a few big ones, but he is learning. And he has a Gm that knows talent. Thats what Buffalo needs, a GM and then a money guy. The money guy works with the GM to tell him how much money there is to spend and how deals can get done. The GM puts the personal in place. Pretty simple concept, Bills just make it difficult.

Yes and again, things looked good in Buffalo, NY, and Miami with those guys I mentioned. And TD was a guy who reportedly built the Steelers and hired Cowher. I'll wait to see the longer-term results, myself.

[BillsVet]

I love how so many threads and posters here are declaring that Trent isn't the guy. That's based on four bad games. No one was saying that when he was playing well the first four games. He has a lot to learn, and he knows it. Give him the rest of the season because I think he'll do well.

 

As for the Dimitrioff approach, it's ironic he didn't rid the Falcons of Lawyer Milloy. He's a high paid and very veteran player. But he's played well and Buffalo letting him go looks stupid.

 

I give Arthur Blank a lot of credit because he handed over football operations to Dimitrioff and didn't look back. He was led on by Parcells, and previous he had to deal with the Vick fiasco. No one in the NFL deserves success from an owners standpoint like Blank does.

 

However, the challenge in Buffalo is to win despite Wilson. Ralph's meddling 1950s style of leadership is wearing thin. The one time he's gone out and hired someone to handle football operations blew up in his face with Donahoe. Regardless of previous experience, RW needs to find another guy. Brandon is a business guy, and no one in that front office is a going to be the next GM.

 

Atlanta has done well this season, and they look like they've found a QB post-Vick. Maybe Wilson can find an up and coming type who'll come here and restore some pride. They must find a GM asap.

[Cynical]

I'm not sure that 5 years is all that quick. He is a nice guy after all.

 

He needs at least 10, if not more. He needs all that time to find the right personnel to make his system work.

You ought to know better. When ever the team fails to win, it is because he does not have the right players in place yet.

[Sisyphean Bills]

They would have? You have proof of this?

Actually, I thought there was quite the opposite backlash at the time. Millen wanted a coach to install some toughness and demand some accountability from the players. He certainly didn't want a coach like Jauron or Mariucci because his locker room was in open revolt and had tuned out their coaches and were just going through the motions. Jauron got his trial by fire and failed.

He needs at least 10, if not more. He needs all that time to find the right personnel to make his system work.

You ought to know better. When ever the team fails to win, it is because he does not have the right players in place yet.

No talent, not the right players, and injuries. Oh, and assistants that let him down.

[Cynical]

Actually, I thought there was quite the opposite backlash at the time. Millen wanted a coach to install some toughness and demand some accountability from the players. He certainly didn't want a coach like Jauron or Mariucci because his locker room was in open revolt and had tuned out their coaches and were just going through the motions. Jauron got his trial by fire and failed.

 

I liked the how the poster stated the Lions would have loved to have kept Jauron "given their dismal failure since". Like somehow the Bills having failed to make the playoffs, unable to beat a team with a winning record, and being 5-5 in his third season with a playoff appearance in doubt again, is just some brilliant shining example that Lions fans can only hope to ascend too.

 

No talent, not the right players, and injuries. Oh, and assistants that let him down.

 

Now where have I heard that one before ....

[VOR]

I liked the how the poster stated the Lions would have loved to have kept Jauron "given their dismal failure since". Like somehow the Bills having failed to make the playoffs, unable to beat a team with a winning record, and being 5-5 in his third season with a playoff appearance in doubt again, is just some brilliant shining example that Lions fans can only hope to ascend too.

It's called perspective and hindsight, chief. I'm sure that if the Lions knew that they'd either be 10-32 with Marinelli right now or 19-23 with Jauron, they'd have stuck with Jauron.

[San-O]

What, exactly, did Detroit "figure out?" They'd have loved to have kept Jauron, given their dismal failure since.

 

 

They apparently figured out after a five game audtition that he wasn't the guy.

 

They passed over him, and took Marinelli.

 

What does that say when the worst franchise/team in the NFL decides they're better off without you?

[Cynical]

It's called perspective and hindsight, chief. I'm sure that if the Lions knew that they'd either be 10-32 with Marinelli right now or 19-23 with Jauron, they'd have stuck with Jauron.

 

For somebody who is talking hindsight and perspective, how in the world did you determine 19-23 is so much better than 10-32?. Neither team has made the playoffs since the coaches took over their respective teams. Detroit is not going to make a third year, and Buffalo's chances are in serious jeopardy.

 

From my hindsight and perspective, they both blow chunks and I do not want either one to be the HC of my team.

[Sisyphean Bills]

It's called perspective and hindsight, chief. I'm sure that if the Lions knew that they'd either be 10-32 with Marinelli right now or 19-23 with Jauron, they'd have stuck with Jauron.

 

Actually, Matt Millen was trying to build a winner. The Bills "blueprint" this century would not be considered by any but the most daft.

[VOR]

Yes, neither has been that successful. But the only thing the Lions "figured out" was how to replace an average coach with a terrible one.

 

And "Millen was trying to build a winner?" Yeah, who isn't?

[My Friends Call Me Tebucky]

It's all about the culture of the team...coaches can be great (Jauron isn't, don't get me wrong), but at the end of the day it's the players on the field that instill a winning attitude and confidence.

 

Make a play, and don't necessarily leave it up to your coaching staff.

 

It's not impossible to block a 56 yard field goal, for example. Stroud had it blocked, but played the angle wrong. That type of stuff is the difference between a winner and loser. I know they blocked a kick earlier this season against Miami I think, but before that, when was the last time they did?