GaryPinC

Better yet, look at Cleveland. Even at the beginning of the year it was obvious they could compete with anybody but found a way to lose. Now they've cast off that losing mentality and the players believe they're a good team. And they are. Sadly, I could see Luck staying in school if the Bills draft first but deciding to declare if the Cowboys get the first pick. We'll see.

I think Fitz could cut into his interceptions if he put a little more arc on the ball for intermediate post-route type plays over the middle. It's one thing to zip the ball in there on an out route, but to do it when your receiver is running 15 yds downfield through the middle is asking for deflections/INTs. In my mind at least part of his accuracy problems are due to the fact that he's about to get creamed and doesn't get to make a perfect throw on the ball. He should get at least 3 more games before they even consider working Brohm in. I like Ryan and he deserves more than his fair chance to prove himself, especially as the O-line continues to gain confidence. He's already impressed me in many ways, let's see if he can step up his game as he continues in the starter role. I think the final answer will be clear if we remain patient till the end of the season.

Agree completely and just wanted to add that said fuktard also decided to shift back to the 4-3 instead of sticking with one defensive plan. So as bad as our talent is on defense, they also spend time trying to figure out what they're supposed to be doing. Saw more than one play today where Puz was trying to get players lined up correctly.

Saw the game from the second quarter on and I agree he struggles with his accuracy at times. He also was crunched in a very small pocket or about to get nailed before he threw. He had little to no time today to set up and throw the midrange/long ball and he did a fantastic job of just getting the ball away and I think he gets some slack with the accuracy because of all this. A lot of other QB's would have taken a ton of sacks or throw-away passes today. With that being said, I realized what Fitzy's problem is that causes the INT's. He needs to put more arc on the ball for some of his intermediate post routes over the middle. Most of the time he does ok with arcing the sideline routes but he always throws a low, direct ball over the middle. That's fine for the slants and outs but any type of post pattern is just asking for a deflection/INT. He still gets at least 3 more games to show he can be the man in my book. If he's plateaued out, give Brohm a chance in the last 4-5 games. If Luck doesn't come out I'm ok with Fitzy till the team improves and we find a franchise QB.

Chicago's at 28, this must mean certain victory Sunday!

We've got so many holes to fill on this team, especially linebacker, here's a guy who's still young and has done some good things in the past. It is just wrong for the Bills NOT to take a chance on this guy. Cut him if he sucks, he may leave anyways but why not take a chance?

This whole thing is just shameful. Maybin's young and he may or may not be able to play in the NFL. Coaches haven't given up on him. I don't think much of his efforts to this point but to have a contest to call him the worst football player in the NFL and have the national media run with it is just wrong. The only reason it went national is because the Bills are such a laughing stock this was an opportunity to annoint a poster child. As a Bills fan I'm disgusted and it doesn't matter to me if Maybin never sees the field again. It reflects poorly on Buffalo and the Bills. Sullivan should do an apology for going too far on this.

There are a few other anecdotal things I can add about Jauron and his conservatism. You've got Schonert's comment about Jauron's "Pop Warner" offense after Schonert was fired. Jauron went through 3 offensive coordinators, 2 of them ex-QB's. When I watched the odd game for each of the different OC's, I thought I could see a difference in their style of attack between the 20's. Inside the redzone or when backed up near our goal line the playcalling seemed different, horribly conservative. Then there was all the timeouts we wasted down in or near the red zone. To me, that was Jauron and his OC debating about the playcalling, but I believe Jauron called the shots in the critical areas. Also, Trent's quotes about hearing different things from different coaches. I think this was Jauron's philosophical differences with his OC. Also, before Schonert and Van Pelt got hired people like Lee Evans and Jim Kelly had the odd quote that they liked what each of these OC's was saying they would do with the playcalling. But once these guys got the position there offense wasn't very aggressive. Finally, at one point last year when people were being critical of Edward's checkdowns he had a quote saying that's the way he'd been coached. Sadly, I don't think anyone will ever set the record straight about what really went on there, so we're left to speculate. And when Gailey proved Trent was incompetent I thought the same thing as you, maybe Jauron wasn't that bad a coach. I really don't know but for all the reasons I've posted I think Jauron's incompetence still largely overshadows Trent's (though slightly less). I respect your opinion on the matter though and thought I'd share mine. Thanks for the great discussion!

You're right, TE's utter failure vindicates Jauron to a small extent but let's not forget Jauron's "play not to lose" conservatism which was infuriating late in close games. Also, Jauron should have been the one to yank Edwards. He looked at all the game films. Anybody who watched Trent play could see the guy wouldn't throw downfield unless the receiver was wide open and Jauron was ok with that. Fewell took care of the problem as soon as he took over. Finally, seems like Jauron got canned in Chicago for pretty much the same reasons he got canned here. It's a shame a decent, intelligent man like Jauron can't learn from his mistakes but that's who he is. The fact that he got fired from here mid-season and couldn't get a coordinator job tells you what the league thought of his head coaching abilities also.

Actually, he didn't fool too many people on the inside. After he made it to the pro bowl, there were anonymous rumblings from within the Browns camp that Anderson really wasn't that good. Players nor coaches came out and talked about Anderson being a potential franchise quarterback. I thought it was odd considering the banner year he had, but he proved all the naysayers right the following year. Anderson never had the support and confidence of all his receivers like Fitzy does. Anderson never had O-linemen talking about how much he knows and helps the offense like Fitzy does. There was almost none of the buzz that Fitzy is getting right now. We need to let the season play out, but if Fitz continues to perform I'll be confident he won't turn into a Derek Anderson.

I like your thinking and hope you're right, but let's see how the offense performs as the season plays out. The good thing about our tough schedule is we'll know what this team is made of by the end of the year. You're right about Gailey also, he definitely deserves kudos. Our offense is finally settling in to the new system and now Chan can really go to work on opposing defenses.

I think there are a ton of people on here who subscribe to your viewpoint, including myself. At least we have most of the season to adjust our viewpoint, if needed.

I didn't focus on Cordero individually yesterday so I can't say how he played. After listening to Gailey's PC from today he said Cordero held his own but didn't grade out that well, so I'd say you're correct in your assessments Thoner. Howard seemed pretty decent when he played at the guard position, hopefully he can adjust more to playing tackle and be reasonably solid there. At least yesterday he wasn't a blaring liability like Green.

Put it on another thread, but during the bye week I think the coaches worked with the o-linemen to keep their feet moving and give up more ground to stay in front of their assignment. In past games, seems like O-linemen stopped moving after they engaged their blocks and the pocket was wide and close to the line of scrimmage. Yesterday the pocket was narrower and the tackles dropped way off the line of scrimmage but didn't let their guy get by them. The o-line definitely seemed more mobile with their pass protection to me.

Got to hand it to the offensive coaches for cleaning things up during the bye week. Linemen were actually moving their feet and giving up ground to maintain their pass protection. Pocket was narrower but intact. Previously, seems like the o-linemen stopped moving their feet when they made contact with defensive player. Didn't seem like too many missed assignments/penalties either. Almost mid-season and things are coming together nicely on offense. If George Edwards stops changing their defensive systems perhaps the defense will improve also. I took hope from the fact that they made some important stops late in the game. Careful. Joe Thomas has made his share of mistakes this year, let's judge Bell after he tops out.

4 turnovers also played a role in all this. As we approach the mid-season the offensive line and offense is starting to get on the same page and come together. While the defense was at times infuriating, they did come up with some important stops especially late in the game. One of the things about the defense that's bothered me is that they switched their system so quickly after the Miami game. Hopefully, there's some consistency and we'll see some further improvement in the next few games. A week or so ago Chan Gailey mentioned 2 of their young linebackers are making good progress so we might get some help at that position. At least that's what I'm praying

The key point in all this is that NFL players are aiming for the upper collar bone/head in their technique. That is what needs to change, whether you alter/remove the helmet or not. Even if these players wanted to do the "missile launch" tackle if they altered their angle so that they were aiming for the mid-chest things would be better. I think they'd have a better chance of dislodging the ball, too. But I agree with others that only removing the face mask would make things worse.

I wasn't impressed with Mallet's failure against Alabama. Top 3 QB should be able to win the big game. But, I'll warm up to him again if he does it in bowl game. Saw Locker play a bit against Oregon State. Had a lot of poise, good decision making, spread the ball around and threw it well. Good feel for the pocket especially because Washington's line didn't look very good. Seemed to get the ball out quickly but throwing motion seemed a bit odd. Overall impressed but it was only one game. Haven't watched Luck play yet.

The minute a guy gets knocked out of the game by helmet to helmet contact the one who initiated it should be tossed also, then weigh further suspension after the game. Suspensions should certainly be done, but that kind of hit in a game leads to an unfair advantage for the other team. Harrison lowered his head and totally went headfirst into Cribbs. No penalty, but you could use replay to toss him out. Then he comes back later and knocks out their #1 receiver Massaquoi (though he wasn't leading with his head as much). What good does it do a team like Cleveland to suspend a Harrison after the game when he's just taken out 2 of your top playmakers?

I think everyone (including the sports writers) was pleasantly surprised by his performance yesterday and want to see him again. He had his mistakes but really had the look of a franchise quarterback. Took a lot of sacks and hits but still kept his poise and really led the team. Confidence is rising that Colt may be the real deal. He's at minimum a capable backup right now. He should get the start vs New Orleans this week so we'll see how he does. Be interesting to see if the Browns try and move Delhomme.

Being here in Cleveland and having to watch many of their games, they may have a lousy record but they are far from a lousy team. They have shown the ability to execute well in every game they played but definitely have mistakes and critical lapses in the second half. They're actually exciting to watch and are starting to remind me of the 87 Bills. The foundation is clearly in place with the Browns, and it started with the previous regime, which makes Buffalo's current situation all the more depressing.

Rookie QB, 1st game on the road against Pittsburgh, plus you lose Cribbs and Massaquoi. I was very impressed with his poise and leadership. Colt got roughed up and it didn't seems to faze him. Bailed out a bit at the beginning of the game but he got much more comfortable throughout. Good throwing and leadership, good feel for the pocket. A couple mistakes but you expect that. Overall a great debut and Cleveland may have finally found themselves a QB IMO. We'll see, he'll get at least one more start. After that, it'll be interesting to see what they do with him. Congrats to Colt. On another note, if they NFL wants to get serious about the helmet to helmet contact I think any time it happens and the player on offense gets knocked out the defensive guy who did it should be thrown out. Really amazing the LB Harrison wasn't penalized on the Cribbs hit. Replays showed the guy lowered his head and led with the helmet. Then he comes back and does it on Massaquoi.

Seems about right to me, though I'd say last 4-7 games. One thing to consider is how the rest of the players on the offense would feel about making a switch at QB right now? I would guess most of the players on the team are frustrated by what's going on so you've had a players-only meeting and lots of talk about how players need to step up their game. This offense is struggling to find some consistancy and rhythm but shows signs of improvement since Fitzy took over. Put Brohm in vs Baltimore and would the offense really go all out for him or come in resigned to the loss? Also, I still feel it's unfair to put Brohm in right now with the state of our offense. Putting a very green and unsettled quarterback into an unsettled offense seems pointless to me.

He certainly was pretty bad but in no danger of being cut. McCoy was Mike Holmgren's personal draft choice to groom over time and it's a safe bet Colt will make the roster at least the next 2 seasons. The "may get cut" rumor was blind speculation by a Cleveland Plain Dealer reporter.

Unfortunately for him, it's out of necessity not because he's ready. Colt looked pretty bad this preseason, Browns fans can only hope he's progressed rapidly since then. Really a shame because IMO Cleveland is really on the verge of becoming a decent team in this league. Hopefully Colt doesn't get obliterated out there and Seneca Wallace gets back quickly. It'll be rough if Peyton Hillis can't play either.