WellDressed Posted September 9, 2009 Posted September 9, 2009 I'm fine with all this moving/firing days myself. It's been since '01 right?? How can it be any worse, things can only get better. We have a VERY young talented team. I'm glad Mr. Wilson/Brandon didn't bring in older high priced veterans who will leave in a year or three. Once we get a coach who knows how to prepare for gamedays, all of this will be forgotten and we can focus on competing with the patriot*
John from Riverside Posted September 9, 2009 Posted September 9, 2009 For the record.... I LOVE Bell at LT.....been saying it for well over a year now It is the timing that makes me nervous......AND the lack of depth.....and the fact that we dont know the health of Bell at this moment.
C.Biscuit97 Posted September 9, 2009 Posted September 9, 2009 For the record.... I LOVE Bell at LT.....been saying it for well over a year now It is the timing that makes me nervous......AND the lack of depth.....and the fact that we dont know the health of Bell at this moment. Chambers was our backup LT the last 2 seasons.
Thurman#1 Posted September 9, 2009 Posted September 9, 2009 ...and Bell received a lot of reps with the "ones" as well. There has been no "blowup" of the line "just days before the season starts." Think about it. That's true. Thank God you reminded me of this. The fact that the #1 offense performed so well behind this group playing together makes me especially relaxed. Sarcasm off. I don't know what happens here. Though I have said from the beginning that the first part of the season is likely to be a long one because of the line's inexperience, only furthered by this move. But the big problem is that even if we now know that (at least to OBD) Bell is better than Walker, we still don't know if Bell is actually good. The fact that Bell was playing behind Walker all this time is a good indicator that he's not going to leap in and dominate. Let's hope that he proves to be the answer. But we'll likely have to wait a while to see it even if he is the guy.
Thurman#1 Posted September 9, 2009 Posted September 9, 2009 Chambers was our backup LT the last 2 seasons. Yeah, but when we actually needed a #2, rather than bringing in Chambers, we moved Walker over from RT. That's not a ringing endorsement.
Thurman#1 Posted September 9, 2009 Posted September 9, 2009 The point is that there was a PLAN that was implemented during the offseason -- not some knee-jerk decision a week before the season starts as some are making it out to be. And Plan A didn't work, and we didn't realize it wasn't working until 6 days before the season. If you really think this shouldn't have been handled better, I don't know what to say to you. Is it a disaster? Not necessarily. But it's hard to argue that it was handled well.
Thurman#1 Posted September 9, 2009 Posted September 9, 2009 Well, perhaps some people did ...http://espn.go.com/blog/afceast/post/_/id/...ackle-of-choice Yeah, Lori, but how come the Bills didn't come to this thought till so late in the preseason. It's not like Tim wrote that four or five weeks ago.
Thurman#1 Posted September 9, 2009 Posted September 9, 2009 Thats easy, cause Peters didnt want to play here, and would have done a simular lackluster effort he gave us last year. Not if we had given him a market value contract. Yet another quick reminder, Peters was the lowest-paid starting LT in the league, he had a right to be pissed.
Thurman#1 Posted September 9, 2009 Posted September 9, 2009 So let's see if I have this straight:Pro-Bowl LT demands contract equivalent to overpaid but adequate RT. Trade Pro-Bowl LT. Move overpaid but adequate RT to LT, where he's now overpaid and inadequate. Cut overpaid and inadequate LT. Start 2nd-year player with no experience at LT. Back him up with a guard you cut three days ago. And oh yeah...don't forget to fire your OC first. Is this a joke? No, really...is somebody just !@#$ing with us? WHY DIDN'T YOU sh-- heads JUST SIGN PETERS???? What he said. ^^^^^^^^ In case you werent paying attention, the Bills did try to sign Peters but he wanted MORE money than he was worth, and he knew it. He did not want to be here so he demanded an unreasonable contract to either be traded or at least over paid if he had to stay. I said this all offseason, he will sign with the team he is traded to for LESS than he was asking the Bills for, and thats exactly what he did...why, because it wasnt about the money, it was about getting out of Buffalo. Thats why you trade your LT which turned into some pretty good OL help. Bottom line, there is more talent on out O Line today than last year...Wood and Levitre were two of the highest rated OL in the draft and Bell outplayed Walker. Our C is better to boot... Nobody disagrees that we needed help in the middle. But did we have to weaken ourselves at the most important position to get it. Peters wanted market value, which is what he got. You say "I said this all offseason, he will sign with the team he is traded to for LESS than he was asking the Bills for, and thats exactly what he did..." and this shows where you are wrong. OF COURSE he signed for less than he asked for. That's how negotiations work, for God's sake. A quick review. Peters asked for more money than Long got, $13+ mill. Then the Bills raised their offer and Peters lowered his. This is how negotiations work. If you took the two original offers, $7 mill and $13 mill and halve the difference, you get what Peters signed for. Then the Bills raised their offer, probably to something in the neighborhood of $9 mil and a bit. And Peters lowered his offer to around $11 mill. Split the difference and you again get what Peters signed for. This is how negotiations work. Any idiot knew that he was going to sign for less than he was demanding. THAT'S WHAT PEOPLE DO WHEN THEY NEGOTIATE. Peters didn't want out of Buffalo, he wanted the salary that he got, and there is no evidence whatsoever to the contrary. He wanted market value. He got market value. The Bills were not willing to pay market value. That's what happened. So my question to them is simple...if Walker was slated to start at LT going into the preseason, and at that time you thought he was too big and slow to play LT effectively, then how is our team worse off giving his starting spot to Bell who was better all preseason and wants it more with way more upside? You really don't get it? People aren't angry that Walker was leap-frogged by Bell. We are incredibly frustrated by the timing (how come this wasn't done weeks ago to give Bell lots of first team reps?), and by how the Chambers thing was handled, and the things that surround this move. We're worried, we're deeply worried. If Bell is so good, how come he wasn't promoted weeks ago?
Special K Posted September 9, 2009 Posted September 9, 2009 And Plan A didn't work, and we didn't realize it wasn't working until 6 days before the season. If you really think this shouldn't have been handled better, I don't know what to say to you. Is it a disaster? Not necessarily. But it's hard to argue that it was handled well. "I wasn't thinking about cutting Walker three days ago. I wasn't thinking about it two weeks ago. And when you start to think about it, I think you need to move on it and do something." --Dick Jauron--
downunderbill Posted September 9, 2009 Posted September 9, 2009 Hate to bring up the facts and spoil everyone's panic attack, but 4 of 5 OL starters have been together since the start of camp... ...and Bell received a lot of reps with the "ones" as well. There has been no "blowup" of the line "just days before the season starts." Think about it. Still thinking the OL sucks. The starters had 3 points, 1 f##king field goal, all preseason. Has that ever happend before? I'm praying that DJ is holding everything back to try and suprise the Pats.
Mickey Posted September 9, 2009 Posted September 9, 2009 So let's see if I have this straight:Pro-Bowl LT demands contract equivalent to overpaid but adequate RT. Trade Pro-Bowl LT. Move overpaid but adequate RT to LT, where he's now overpaid and inadequate. Cut overpaid and inadequate LT. Start 2nd-year player with no experience at LT. Back him up with a guard you cut three days ago. And oh yeah...don't forget to fire your OC first. Is this a joke? No, really...is somebody just !@#$ing with us? WHY DIDN'T YOU sh-- heads JUST SIGN PETERS???? ...and thus wisdom came at last to the masses. Sure would have been nice to have an all pro LT anchoring a young, developing line. Oh well.
Lori Posted September 9, 2009 Posted September 9, 2009 Yeah, Lori, but how come the Bills didn't come to this thought till so late in the preseason. It's not like Tim wrote that four or five weeks ago. You're asking me to explain the inner workings of One Bills Drive, when for the second time in a week, they've left me shaking my head in disbelief?
nucci Posted September 9, 2009 Posted September 9, 2009 ...and Bell received a lot of reps with the "ones" as well. There has been no "blowup" of the line "just days before the season starts." Think about it. I love the optimism and try to share but think about this. We are starting 3 OL who have not played in an NFL game. I'm just a bit nervous.
GaryPinC Posted September 9, 2009 Posted September 9, 2009 The point is that there was a PLAN that was implemented during the offseason -- not some knee-jerk decision a week before the season starts as some are making it out to be. How do you KNOW this decision was part of the long term plan and wasn't abruptly decided very recently? We live in a nation of sheep. We do, and you seem to be part of the "let's just blindly trust management/the PLAN" herd. Bhaaaaaaaaa!
spartacus Posted September 9, 2009 Posted September 9, 2009 based on my observations, Bell was on the field for one series with the starters in the preseason. I wouldn't call that "a lot of reps". In addition, Chambers played mostly at G in the preseason. what you didn't see were all the reps that Bell got in those 2-a-day practices refining the techiques to play LT at a high level. oh wait- nevermind
spartacus Posted September 9, 2009 Posted September 9, 2009 So let's see if I have this straight:Pro-Bowl LT demands contract equivalent to overpaid but adequate RT. Trade Pro-Bowl LT. Move overpaid but adequate RT to LT, where he's now overpaid and inadequate. Cut overpaid and inadequate LT. Start 2nd-year player with no experience at LT. Back him up with a guard you cut three days ago. And oh yeah...don't forget to fire your OC first. Is this a joke? No, really...is somebody just !@#$ing with us? WHY DIDN'T YOU sh-- heads JUST SIGN PETERS???? you left out the part where they cut Dockery to save his big contract without a replacement plan in place Dockery was so bad that he had to wait until the next day to sign a $25 million contract with a team well versed in his skills. The cap would have gone down if they had signed Peters
Thurman#1 Posted September 9, 2009 Posted September 9, 2009 "I wasn't thinking about cutting Walker three days ago. I wasn't thinking about it two weeks ago. And when you start to think about it, I think you need to move on it and do something." --Dick Jauron-- Ha ha ha ha. Funny stuff. Wait a minute, he didn't really say that, did he? He said that about firing Schonert, and you're applying it to the current situation. Aren't you? Man, if he really did say that about Walker, too ...... Sigh.
evilbuffalobob Posted September 9, 2009 Posted September 9, 2009 That's our offense--- The Panic Attack
mabden Posted September 9, 2009 Posted September 9, 2009 Thats easy, cause Peters didnt want to play here, and would have done a simular lackluster effort he gave us last year. Not like we had a great line with him, so if you arent succussful with someone, and they dont want to stay, how is keeping them a good thing? Find out the guy who replaced him doesn't really want to play the positions, and just goes through the motions also. Cut him and actually have players who want to play, and give full effort on the field, rather than ones who just are there to collect a pay check. I agree! Peters would never be happy in a Bills uniform regardless of how much we overpaid for him. Walker and Dockery had experience, but played overweight, overmatched, overpaid and overthehill. Hopefully young, hungry, athletes will overcome inexperience.
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