FGD Posted August 15, 2009 Posted August 15, 2009 Ugh there is no joy adding up the Bill's record at 5-11 this year. 40 Years following the Bills and this is the most discouraged I've ever been. 1. Let's get the ugliest idea out of the way first. RW is engaging is estate management not building a winner, which as a businessman is his prerogative, but as a fan is just plain bad. This cannot be overstated. An owner bent on winning would not have retained Juron. In fact that sentance is the problem. Wilson decided to kerep Juron, not the GM which tells me there is no GM. While plenty of GM have ruined teams when left to their own devices, short of George Halas, no owner acting as a GM has won. It all points to the football people are not allowed to do their jobs and since this is obvious what does that say about the quality of the football people who accept this situation? Whatever the budget for personnel his budget for the coaching staff is just as slim. When was the last time anyone was hired off the Bill's staff for a NFL promotion? I can't. Remember RW's comment on retaining Juron based on stability. How on earth after cratering to 7-9 can stability be a consideration? Is Russ Brandon really a GM? Does he have enough autonomy to succeed or fail? Unfortunately, none of the other coaches except Bobby April inspire any confidence 2. 10 Years out of the play-offs and the team has no identity. It is not a quarterback shy of being good. Both lines are comprised of guys who are either small and quick or big and slow. A team with this many years in the wilderness needs to be built to win 10-7 like Chuck Knox did or the early Marv Levy team’s did. Juron is just a plain shi$$y game day coach and a team with no margin for error can’t afford him 3. The lines are atrocious. IMHO Maybin is the DE equivalent of Parish, a luxury (sp?) only the best teams can afford. Only a team that has the size and talent up front can let a small fast guy operate in space without having to deal with bigger people and the Bills are not that team. Why are we still chasing Jevon Kearse’s Ghost with all these small DE’s? When does the Gregg Williams statute of limitations run out? Our tackles wear out and are just journeymen. Fine in limited roles, but exposed when asked to play more downs then they should. 4. The new O-Linemen might be fine individually, but combined with marginal veterans it is a plain disaster waiting to happen. There is no aspect of the O-Line that can be considered an anchor or foundation. No seriously capable vets that can cover for the new guys as they learn on the job. For example, I live in DC and the Nats rolled into this year with a very young inexperienced starting rotation and bullpen and when they stumbled and struggled there was no one, I mean no one for them to look to in the locker room as an example for how to handle getting crushed. I see the same thing on the Bills. Put another way, Jackson and Lynch are truly physical backs. If they are allowed to get to the line untouched it is 3-4 yard gain at the least. If they get a yard or 2 past the line then it’s a first down minimum. That didn’t happen enough last year at all and I don’t see how the line has improved its experienced personnel to get a different outcome. Still another way I choose to look at it. On road ideally you run the ball early to set tempo and take the home field advantage away and in the fourth quarter you run to run out the clock. The bills have proven that as constructed over the last several years cannot run the ball against good teams at all when it counts. 5. QB. Trent Edwards is serviceable and capable of being Chad Pennington with a slightly better arm IF. IF. IF he had a better team around him, but he doesn’t and the team suffers accordingly. So far he has not shown the Kelly-like ability to play like garbage for huge stretches of the game and still win. I understand if you say, “Hey no fair comparing him to Kelly”, but as far as I can see it would take a Kelly like talent to get this team over .500. Typing this I recall the absolute electric effect Kelly had on the offense when he first signed and that is what id need from the QB if the Bills are not going just plain suck this year. 6. Our Linebackers are just a different version of our defensive ends, either too small or too slow and in my opinion this includes Poluzny (sp?). 7. Our DBs might be bad. They might even suck consider how few passes the defend/tip, but with this lack of pass rush who can tell if they are truly good or bad. 8. Our drafts have been uniformly terrible. They draft at least one good player a draft, but where are the results? Aside from Special Teams what position are the Bills strong in? Certainly not any of the positions on the line? Just no depth at all. Why this propensity to pass up consensus first rounders for busts? Mike Williams over Ennis McKinney being the one that jumps out at me. I think Maybin over the Texas rush end who went to the Skins has the same thing written all over it. Their relative success with street free agents tells me their drafting is sub par, because if they drafted better there would be so many open spots every year. 9. The schedule is tougher this year and if a quick start means anything opening against the Pats with Tom Brady dying to prove he can play just plain bad. I see 34 to 3 as a final, because that is what they do to the Bills. Again there is no joy in this. No wake up and smell the coffee. No threats to boycott the Bills or any such nonsense. I just don’t see a winner this year and most disheartening I don’t see signs that one is being built. Hey if you have an argument to contray I'd love to hear it and no I don't consider wait and hope and see an argument.
bladiebla Posted August 15, 2009 Posted August 15, 2009 Your a couple of months late with this post imho. We're talking a new year here, game 1 will be judgement day. There is nothing that justifies a post like you just made, other the the frustration of last season modified with a 10 years playoff drought. I can see where you are coming from but it is uncalled for at this point. Edit: also it seems more like a reply to this post: http://www.stadiumwall.com/index.php?showtopic=93564 then deserving of a new thread. Heh, there are plenty of 5-11 believers out there that posted a thread on that topic the past couple of months. Anyway I hope you have it out of your system now and will at least be able to sit down and enjoy tonights preseason game.
FGD Posted August 15, 2009 Author Posted August 15, 2009 Your a couple of months late with this post imho. We're talking a new year here, game 1 will be judgement day. There is nothing that justifies a post like you just made, other the the frustration of last season modified with a 10 years playoff drought. I can see where you are coming from but it is uncalled for at this point. Edit: also it seems more like a reply to this post: http://www.stadiumwall.com/index.php?showtopic=93564 then deserving of a new thread. Heh, there are plenty of 5-11 believers out there that posted a thread on that topic the past couple of months. Anyway I hope you have it out of your system now and will at least be able to sit down and enjoy tonights preseason game. Sounds like like wait and see to me, which isn't an argument., but OK Fair enough What would progress look like to me: 1. Getting out of the Pats Game with no major injuries 2. 3-3 after six games. 3. Edwards upright and not running for his life all game 4. Edwards winning 1 game the Bills otherwise have no business winning. 5. Defeat a potential play-off team on the road. 6. Rebounding with an ugly win after getting crushed. 7. Running when it counts Hey look I unedsratnd wanting to say, Hey enjoy the game its not that big a deal. I don't measure progress in wins-and-losses at this point I just want progress, an indentity. Its not thee 10 year absence in and of itself it is the lack of progress that is getting me.
gomper Posted August 15, 2009 Posted August 15, 2009 I agree with everything the OP stated. I ve said to my friends that this year is the first in 30 that I have zero faith in the Bills being successful. Every year leading up to this I always could tell myself that hope was justified because we: Had a new HC...a new QB....building on last seasons finish..etc, etc,etc. Of course I'll watch every play and hope for the best but I do not see anything better than 6-10.
Sisyphean Bills Posted August 15, 2009 Posted August 15, 2009 But, we have Terrell Owens. Just kidding.
K-No Posted August 15, 2009 Posted August 15, 2009 But, we have Terrell Owens. Just kidding. That's the only way he gives the 5 wins
BuffaloBlood Posted August 15, 2009 Posted August 15, 2009 Sounds like like wait and see to me, which isn't an argument., but OK Fair enough What would progress look like to me: 1. Getting out of the Pats Game with no major injuries 2. 3-3 after six games. 3. Edwards upright and not running for his life all game 4. Edwards winning 1 game the Bills otherwise have no business winning. 5. Defeat a potential play-off team on the road. 6. Rebounding with an ugly win after getting crushed. 7. Running when it counts Hey look I unedsratnd wanting to say, Hey enjoy the game its not that big a deal. I don't measure progress in wins-and-losses at this point I just want progress, an indentity. Its not thee 10 year absence in and of itself it is the lack of progress that is getting me. Progress to me is a team that knows how to put games away when it has the chance and a team that is able to keep games close and weather storms when things go wrong. No more of this losing to the pats by double digits, barley beating the Rams, getting smoked by the Cards, finding a way to lose against the Jets..... all of that is coaching and leadership two things this team needs and two things that Ralph does not know how to bring in.
rocwocka Posted August 15, 2009 Posted August 15, 2009 who the !@#$ is Ennis McKinney He meant Bryant McKinnie, and i agree - obviously in hindsight, that he was a much better choice than Mike Williams. At the same time, we had a quality, if not always hurt, LT in Jonas Jennings - who knew he would be hurt that often! Mike Williams was to be the bookend "road grading" RT that we needed - too bad he could never get his conditioning together... oh, and he just plain sucked in pass protection
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