Some thoughts re Bills

[jahnyc]

1. Okay it was a terrible game, but I thought the defense played well. They may have given up too many rushing yards, but they made stops on third down and kept the Bills in the game. Considering all of the injuries on defense before and during the game, it was a good performance.

 

2. About the injuries, interesting how the two weakest positions overall (o-line and linebacker) have suffered the most in the way of injuries. How the front office went into the season with the current depth at both positions is unfathomable to me, and now we are paying the price. Is this a byproduct of cash to cap (the team can't afford to pay veterans to be back-ups)?

 

3. Edwards has regressed and cannot be salvaged. Sorry, he does not have it, and his play will get worse (if possible) as the weather gets worse. He does not function well in bad weather.

 

4. Jauron is paying the price for his choices at OC. Maybe this is not fair, because RW may have not have been willing to pay real money for an experienced OC. In any event, hiring two coordinators on offense with really no prior experience is a recipe for disaster.

 

5. I thought recently over the last number of years that the team's drafting was average. I was wrong. It really has been pretty bad. Maybin has made no contribution and he seems like a possible bust (I know this is not fair). I have doubts about McKelvin, Hardy and Ellis. Whitner has been okay, but instead of Ngata? Poz has injury issues and Lynch has had off field issues.

 

6. Finally, the thing that is most frustrating to me is that the experts (and fans) have been generally right about most things (and the front office wrong). The Peters fiasco, Whitner over Ngata, signing TO, cutting Walker, signing Dockery, letting Pat Williams and Winfield go (I know I am going back a little far), hiring Schonert, firing Schonert on the eve of the season, starting an inexperienced group of linemen, and the list goes on and on.

[BillsVet]

1. Okay it was a terrible game, but I thought the defense played well. They may have given up too many rushing yards, but they made stops on third down and kept the Bills in the game. Considering all of the injuries on defense before and during the game, it was a good performance.

 

2. About the injuries, interesting how the two weakest positions overall (o-line and linebacker) have suffered the most in the way of injuries. How the front office went into the season with the current depth at both positions is unfathomable to me, and now we are paying the price. Is this a byproduct of cash to cap (the team can't afford to pay veterans to be back-ups)?

 

3. Edwards has regressed and cannot be salvaged. Sorry, he does not have it, and his play will get worse (if possible) as the weather gets worse. He does not function well in bad weather.

 

4. Jauron is paying the price for his choices at OC. Maybe this is not fair, because RW may have not have been willing to pay real money for an experienced OC. In any event, hiring two coordinators on offense with really no prior experience is a recipe for disaster.

 

5. I thought recently over the last number of years that the team's drafting was average. I was wrong. It really has been pretty bad. Maybin has made no contribution and he seems like a possible bust (I know this is not fair). I have doubts about McKelvin, Hardy and Ellis. Whitner has been okay, but instead of Ngata? Poz has injury issues and Lynch has had off field issues.

 

6. Finally, the thing that is most frustrating to me is that the experts (and fans) have been generally right about most things (and the front office wrong). The Peters fiasco, Whitner over Ngata, signing TO, cutting Walker, signing Dockery, letting Pat Williams and Winfield go (I know I am going back a little far), hiring Schonert, firing Schonert on the eve of the season, starting an inexperienced group of linemen, and the list goes on and on.

 

1. Defense did have some stops. But they're lack of size has been a common denominator of this team since DJ's hiring. Cue a Haloti Ngata reference.

 

2. LB (along with RB) has to be the position where contact occurs most. How they entered the season with UDFA's and a 5th round pick (N. Harris) as their depth is indeed unfathomable.

 

3. Edwards is the mirror image of his coach. I don't think he realizes his career is going down with the HC's. The resistance on throwing down field is costing him more than just playing time. I wish he would be a leader, but it's not in his personality.

 

4. DJ's had 5 OC's in less than 9 seasons as a non-interim HC. That speaks volumes about his inability to build an offense.

 

5. The 06-08 drafts are looking worse by the day. TD's bad drafts in 04-05 didn't help, but no one can rightly argue the Bills have come close to rebuilding off the TD debacle.

 

Nice post. Buffalo has struggled because they lack good football people who are allowed to make football decisions. We're left with people in roles they are ill-equipped to handle (Brandon) and an owner who cannot avoid meddling and allowing people to do their jobs.

[Hossage]

We have an undersized defense, but when the other team puts in two tight ends and a fullback on short yardage situations and we play them with our base 4-3 personnel, our coaches have undersized brains.

[Sisyphean Bills]

On 4. It seems, no wonder really, that experienced OCs simply do not want to and will not hitch their wagon to Mr. Jauron. He has hired some arguably talented offensive football minds (at least at the NCAA level) in the past, but they have all floundered badly under him. The cat left the bag years ago.