VOR

Duh I knew he had Quincy Carter his first year. The fact remains that the Cowboys haven't win a playoff game with Parcells' team and core group of players. Including Romo who's star has faded badly. How long do you think Pennington will be around and/or will he be able to duplicate the success of this year? Can Parcells develop Henne? Will Parcells even be around? Poor Parcells. He couldn't handle Owens. Back with the Giants, he was able to handle LT, who was also a problem OFF the field. Now who's making excuses? I'd rather win ugly than lose pretty as well. But I'd also realize what my opponents were and not claim that my team was "rebuilt." When the Bills were 5-1, I knew they were playing bad teams and taking advantage of a bad schedule. And I figured that Miami and the Jets were also bad teams. Little did I realize Trent would decline so badly. I'm not upset. In fact, I'm looking forward to the azz-kicking they're going to experience this weekend. Then I'm looking forward to them falling flat on their faces next year, when Pennington can't duplicate his success/the schedule is tougher, and expectations are sky high.

McCown is a lousy QB. Pennington, while obviously not a HOF'er, is light-years better. And again, the Dols picked-him-up because the Jets cut him after trading for Favre, and no one else wanted him. IOW, it wasn't a planned-move by Parcells and happenstance played almost the entire role. But it worked for them, and I'm not denying that. But in no way would they have even had a winning record with who they originally had on the roster, much less won the division. Dallas is a joke once again. And with the same core players. Again, the results depend on several years, not just one. Parcells' success has diminished everywhere he's gone. He won 2 SB's with the Giants. He took NE to a SB, but didn't win. He took the Jets to the AFCCG, but they lost. The Cowboys as mentioned, made the playoffs but didn't win a single playoff game. I see no reason to suddenly believe he'll have Miami contending for the SB when his last team doesn't look like a contender. That is, until proven otherwise.

Take a look at week 7. Miami's been barely beating bad teams the whole season. Yes, it's "that simple." We should talk after next season, to see how much more sound Miami's foundation is than the Jets' was. You all seem to want to put them on a pedestal because their owner spent a ton of money on their front office and coaches and they superficially improved because Brady got injured, Pennington fell into their laps, and their schedule was weak. The true test will be next year and beyond.

LOL! Josh McCown is anything BUT a "caretaker QB." He's a lesser version of JP, much less Pennington. When Parcells took over the Cowboys, they made the playoffs the first year. Then they missed them the next 2. Then they made them again and he was gone the season after. Yet they never won a playoff game, even the year after he left, and this past season was a disaster. Would you consider that "rebuilding" if that happened to Miami (as I suspect it will)? Forget comparing them to the Bills, I'm just talking Miami.

Dockery received a hefty signing bonus. And he'd still garner a decent contract with another decent-sized bonus. And if he played for a Florida team, he'd have no state tax. And sometimes being in a better situation is worth taking less money.

Pennington was worth a good number of those wins. Maybe not all 10, but probably half. Even just 1 win was enough to get them into the playoffs. A good QB can do that for you, which is the point, and the Dols were ready to go into the season with McCown (fixed), Henne, or Beck as the starter, until Pennington fell into their laps. And the point about the Bills failing to carpe diem the weak schedule is sickening to me. But a lot of that had to do with the QB play. But I expect Miami to get throttled this weekend and then to falter next year, a la the Jets after the 2006 season, when everyone thought they were ready to knock-off the Pats. Time will tell, but I've seen this before, enough to know that you can't claim the Dols are rebuilt.

So if Henne had such promise and could have been coached-up, why sign Pennington and retard Henne's growth, especially for a rebuilding 1-15 team? Because the coaching staff didn't think he was good enough. And expecting a rookie QB to succeed, or at least to expect him to have a season like Pennington did is a stretch. And no one else wanted Pennington. Parcells got him because of this and because he's a veteran who had success in the past. As for turning the ball over, the past 2 years he's had almost as many INT's as TD's, and a load of fumbles. And true the Bills have needed a QB. Edwards was supposed to be him.

The Dols traded McCown when they added Pennington. If they planned on him being a viable candidate at QB, they would have kept him and cut Beck. In any case, McCown versus Beck versus Henne is six of one, half a dozen of another.

The problem is that these two teams have entirely different situations. Say Jauron tells a player(s) "do it my way or you're gone!" What do you think the player's response would be? "Great, I'll get out of this podunk city with lousy weather and high taxes, and go to some big city." I think people have blinders on when it comes to Buffalo and just how undesirable a place it is for a lot of players to live/play.

Look, I'm pissed that the Bills' coaching staff remained unchanged, but let's not rewrite history here, shall we? Parcells was ready to go into 2008 with John Beck or Chad Henne at QB. As I asked in another thread, does anyone think that the Dols would have come close to finishing 11-5 and winning the division with either of those 2 guys? And Pennington joined the Dols because no other team wanted him. And as a reward, he stayed healthy for the entire season for just the 2nd time in his career, and had his 2nd best season. Beyond that, the schedule was weak, the Dols stayed remarkably healthy, and their turnover differential was great. But it's not like Parcells/Sparano had any control over the schedule, players' health, or whether they could force turnovers or prevent turning the ball over, much less Brady's and then Favre's injuries. As for their base, a lot of their key players are well into their 30's, while Pennington hasn't put together back-to-back good and healthy seasons yet in his career. He's their key next year. And expectations will be sky high. The Nick Saban era is too fresh in my mind to say that Miami is the new AFC East powerhouse. I expect this weekend to be ugly for the Dols. The last (actually only) good team they faced this year was the team they'll face this weekend, the Ravens, in week 7, and they blew Miami out in their own house. And while they should be congratulated for taking advantage of the situation and making the playoffs, Parcells' legacy in Miami will depend on their long-term success, not just this year. That is, assuming he's still with them.

I'm sure having Pennington fall into their laps was part of the grand scheme as well. Not to mention Brady suffering a season-ending injury. And the Jets fading down the stretch.

Forget a rookie DT. I want Albert Haynesworth. After all, it's a lack of talent, not coaching.

I'm pissed that Jauron is staying! But now Ralphie has NO choice but to go crazy in FA. I'm talking Haynesworth, Suggs, and maybe a veteran QB. If he does, I'll be less pissed. If he doesn't, I'm not watching next year, and I urge people to do the same. The team isn't going to move while Ralph is alive. The cost of the relocation fee and the economy will prevent any new city from offering him a better deal than he's getting in Buffalo.

The Jets? Bwahahahahahahahahahaha!

The flip side is that Thurman seems to be advocating keeping Jauron. What?!

Take a look at 2006. The Dols had the same average for their run game (4.2 YPC) and allowed fewer PPG than this year (17.7 versus 19.8), yet they went 6-10. The year before (2005), they went 9-7 with the same coaching staff. The difference? QB play. Not to mention schedule.

Okay, let's put it another way. Had the Dols played the season with Beck or Henne as their starting QB, does anyone really think that they'd have finished even close to 11-5 and won the division? Anyone?

He should already be at full strength. He didn't have major surgery, and what he had done was done almost 4 months ago. I say if he comes relatively cheap, and he should, re-sign him. But also look for another (M)LB in FA (so that Poz can move outside and compete there.

Yep, that's the number. In any case, the fantasy that some Patriots fans had about franchising Cassel and trading him for high/multiple picks has vanished. The Patriots will have to franchise him just so that they know that they have a healthy QB for next year. Brady probably won't be ready to hit the field until training camp, if even, and the deadline to franchise a player is the end of March.

I definitely think that the Bills would have won the division with Pennington at QB. And the Dols would have been just about as bad as last year if they went into the season with Beck and Henne at QB.

Wrong. It was mostly due to Pennington's presence. He had a Pro Bowl, if not MVP, type season. And they added him thanks to the Jets.

Not now, and not for another year probably, if ever.

Too bad they still missed the playoffs.

Because he switched back from being Defender51, after yesterday's results?

And just WHO told you that?