GaryPinC

Sorry, I don't have the time to try and dig up the article but before this season it basically said the coaches would allow Trent to audible this year in certain situations and that neither he nor JP had been allowed to in the past. Myself, I wonder if part of all this is because Trent has trouble working with most of his receivers. Lee Evans seems like a generally classy guy so I wonder if all his animosity towards Trent is because Trent doesn't try to gain a comfort level and anticipate the opportunities his downfield receivers create. When I saw Trent play in preseason he checked his downfield guys but wouldn't throw unless they were very open but also didn't seem to trust Lee on the timing patterns and to let them develop. So he quickly took the checkdown. I agree with others that Trent is probably done in the NFL unless a change of scenery turns it around. Going into next year with all new coaches this offense will continue to be ugly for a while. Personnally, I'm ok with Fitzpatrick being the tackling dummy while the offense tries to find itself. He's smart so despite his limited talent he should be able to really help the offense pull together and execute properly. Draft a franchise rookie but don't put him in unless you can protect him.

Definitely agree with you about the QB, just hope you're not implying we get him playing right away. We need a veteran or Fitzpatrick to take the snaps until our O-line gains a semblance of consistancy. Considering there'll be an entire new offense to learn, I don't want to see another rookie QB getting hammered back there like Edwards did.

I live in Cleveland and watch many of the games and Anderson clearly has a hell of an arm. He's fairly accurate deep but does struggle with short/"touch" throws. He has a lot of tools but I'm not sure he can overcome his inconsistencies. To me, there's a good chance Brady Quinn will be the long term solution in Cleveland. The last 3 or 4 games before he got hurt, it was obvious he was finally understanding how to quarterback in the NFL. He was recognizing the defense, pressure, and dealing out the ball in the face of pressure. His accuracy was errant on many of his throws but he was seeing the field and getting the ball to where it should be. Only question is if the accuracy will improve, which I think it will once he settles in to what he's doing. I honestly think he's right on the cusp of breaking out and putting together a good season. It's certainly important to note that this was a first year coach and new offense so it takes time for the offense to pick up the system. As noted in another post, neither one of these guys have ever been given sufficient opportunity to be "the man" so there is upside for both. All this being said, I don't think Anderson is really worth the Bills taking a chance on. Quinn is, but I doubt Holmgren is going to offer him. Despite anything Edwards has done in the past, I think he's done. Maybe a new team/setting would get him back on track but I think he's just plain gunshy from being hit so much in college and with the Bills. Hope I'm wrong though. I haven't seen a lot of Fitzy but when I have he seems like he'd be a very good backup and possibly a stopgap until we could get our next franchise quarterback candidate ready to play.

Sorry, I don't feel like going through the entire thread to see if a similar opinion has already been posted, but I think this article with RW's quotes simply means he's getting a little tired of Cowher's lack of enthusiasm/committment to the opportunity. Casts a lot of doubt in my mind that Cowher ends up here. JMHO.

Was it the reach-around cam? How'd you like to be stuck in the police van recording that footage?

Well this seals it. This must surely mark the beginning of the end to the Pats dynasty: http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/1051228...ed-in-sex-sting Just a break from all the more in-depth debates here. ESPN should roll this story line into a Tom Brady office spoof commercial

Wow, I'm soooooooo shocked uber-genius Mike Leach didn't get the job.

When I look at the number of injuries and the number of backups (at best!) playing for this team, my opinion is that if Perry can go 8-8 he should be the main candidate for this job. Even if the jets don't game plan for his new style, you can bet all our subsequent opponents will because there'll be 3 games worth of film on Fewell's new philosophy. If he can coach this hodge-podge of a team to 4/5 wins in the remaining games going against Indy and New England, how do you NOT consider him the strongest candidate for this job? A bird in the hand..... People can disrespect Perry's defense but it's hard to remain competitive when you're playing for a coach like Jauron whose ultra-conservative coaching style broke the morale of this team at least since last season. Things are different now, and infinitely more interesting even though they probably won't make the playoffs. But first we need to see what happens moving forward.

Excellent post and I agree completely. The Cleveland PD posted a nice article on Gene Smith at Jacksonville also: http://www.cleveland.com/browns/index.ssf/..._browns_le.html While he is from Ohio he also pissed off the Browns because he jumped in and claimed one of their players they were trying to put on IR. It's at least worth Buffalo looking into, they NEED to be talking to these types of guys as much/more than coaches. Do things right, let's get a real GM/FO first.

From waching Tebow today, it worries me that he's always in shotgun formation and their offense is heavily an option-type offense. How will he do under center at recognizing defenses and when very few of the plays in the NFL are option plays? Also, he won't be able to run so much in the pros. How will that leadership hold up when he's trying to adjust to the differences in play-calling and offenses and the speed of the pro game? Plus, he'll have a large weight of expectations on his shoulders. He's a very good player but I have a lot of doubts that he can transition to the pro game. Once the scouts run him through the combine we'll see what they think. JMO.

I am employeed full time in one company and serve part-time as a consultant to 2 other companies which pay me for my time. My full time employer agreed to the situation provided it doesn't interfere with my full time work hours/responsibilities. I have been doing this for almost 2 years without a problem. I don't know if the NFL would have a specific rule against working/consulting for 2 teams at the same time so it could be a problem. But Chris Polian is now well set up with the Colts. Now the question is when and/or how much does Bill step aside so his son can succeed? Bridges can be burned and bridges can be built. It's been over 15 years since Polian left and both men realize they made mistakes even if they won't admit it. It's up to Ralph to man-up, admit his mistakes and at least explore this possibility. Marv is still friends with Bill and Ralph, so he could potentially help. Certainly nothing may come out of it but what does Ralph have to lose by trying? He's got to know deep-down that Polian was the best hire he ever made in the front office. Looking at the history of this franchise, I don't think Ralph and Russ possess the proper judgement to find the right coach/GM to turn this franchise around, though they might get lucky. Polian does though, and if Ralph's serious about winning he needs to swallow his pride and see if Polian would consider playing a role in turning the Bills around.

Um, I did. Did you read the entire article? This is the first line: "Though Indianapolis Colts president Bill Polian isn't retiring any time soon, his son, Chris, has taken a big step closer toward replacing his 66-year-old father once he decides to pack it in." This is the last line (Jim Irsay statement): "Chris is going to be here and play a dominant role. I've been around Chris for a long time. Whenever Bill is ready to retire, or semi-retire, we'll move forward with Chris.'' How is this not an opportunity to go after Bill Polian to at least "semi-retire" to an advisory role so he could help us with our front office while still advising the colts and his son? I'm not saying anything will come of it, but if Ralph's serious about straightening the franchise this is the perfect guy to help us, even if only to recommend a new GM.

This is great news in my opinion and in-line with what I had been hoping for, In a past article, Chris Polian mentioned he had seen "both the good and the bad" while his dad was here in Buffalo. I doubt Chris would have considered coming back here, especially since Irsay realizes the front office is the key to franchise success. With this announcement Bill Polian now has the option to stay full time in Indy, retire, or semi-retire. His son has been given the GM title and this sets up a "passing of the torch". It is now critical for Ralph to swallow his pride and go after Bill Polian himself to at a minimum serve in an advisory capacity for a GM candidate. It would be great if Ralph had started to do this already, maybe it was a factor in the Indy promotion for Chris. If Bill semi-retires he can help Chris in Indy and advise us at the same time. If he were willing to come back here full-time, he wouldn't be bothered by the potential ownership turnover like any younger GM would. Any young GM coming here would realize if Ralph dies in the next couple years and the Bills have not turned around far enough, they would have trouble getting another GM job. Bill Polian could do what he wants no matter what. We can debate coaches like Shanahan, Cowher, et al to death, but can these guys function without a good GM/front office? I'm really not sure, and it sounds great to spend a ton of money for a superbowl winning coach but will it be worth it? Also, many successfull head coaches take control of personnel decisions and don't do well. One could argue Shanahan may be this type of coach. Sean Peyton and Sparano were "never-done-it-before" guys that weren't well known when they were picked. I know Sparano hasn't been hugely successful yet, but seeing how solidly his teams play and how he was willing to use the wildcat to fit his personnel, I have to believe he will get there. Bottom line is they were given the chance by good GMs. And now there is a screaming opportunity to get help from one of the top GM/front office guys in the game. Now it's time for Ralph to put up or shut up.

First you get a good GM who knows football and let him pick a coach. Too much friction if you bring in the coach first. Ralph should play the "Dying old man who wants to go out a winner" card and beg Polian to come back. His son can take over the Colts. (Pretty far-fetched but what the hell at this point?)

Mike Leach is a one-trick pony and a loud-mouth diva to boot. If someone is stupid enough to make him a head coach in the NFL, just wait until he tries those wide splits with his O-linemen and the opposing D-coordinator gives new meaning to "A-gap blitz". That stuff may work at the slower college level, but good luck with it in the pros. Looking at his NFL draft record, the guy lures in good NFL-type receivers (because of his offenses) but his quarterbacks have so far proven to be "system" guys who can chuck it to a spot on the field then mix up the spots. Not much use in the pros. Ol' Mike's got a hard enough time trying to finish .500 this year with his genius producing a 6-4 record with the Sooners coming up. If Mike's smart, he realizes he's at best a college coach and stays there. He's to the NFL what Yanni is to classical music: an overindulged simpleton No thanks.

Personally, I think Roscoe's career with the Bills ends on Wednesday.

I hear ya, he really tries to create the illusion that it's a close, well-fought game that the Bills could've/should've won. But how can you execute the basics when the defense knows what's coming, stacks the box and just blows it up? An important part of an offensive gameplan is keeping the defense off balance with decent playcalling. Even if you don't have a big playbook you still need to roll in enough different looks to try and confuse the defense. It's the same thing Dick has done since he got here. Offense isn't going well, so cut things out of it. Don't let the QB audible, no motion for the receivers, little or no playfakes and screens. Let's go straight run plays and settle for a 47 yd field goal into the wind. It blows my mind, this is the freaking NFL, not Jr. High! Then the saddest thing is that the offensive players start talking about how they're not executing and it's on them to execute the plays that are called. It's all just pathetically sad. And I also feel sorry for all 3 of our OC's who signed on to take the fall for Jauron.

AVP probably has plenty of unused plays and formations. The real problem is Jauron won't allow them to be used.

Yea, dull stuff but Kelly's writing it for the Bills so he has to try to appear diplomatic. I generally enjoy his articles because as diplomatic as he tries to sound it's usually pretty obvious what he's thinking. Jim talking about Edwards wouldn't have attempted some of those Fitzp. passes downfield, sitting might allow Trent to refocus on playing his game and not just learning the game plan, point to Jim believing a large part of the offense's troubles are due to Trent's play. It's clear Kelly still believes Trent could be a good quarterback, unlike the article Jim wrote in 2007 when Trent replaced JP and Kelly pretty much threw JP under the bus. And I agree with others here that no way does this get posted if the front office wasn't willing to consider Fitzpatrick as full time starter. And while this article may seem like old news to those here at TBD, I find it worthwhile to know that Kelly sees things pretty much as a lot of us fans do.

Amen. The TO article in the Buffalo News: http://www.buffalonews.com/452/story/836566.html had this tidbit also: "The Bills do not use motion in their offense, as dictated by coach Dick Jauron. So Owens does not move pre-snap. He normally lines up as the flanker opposite Lee Evans. However, the Bills have lined Owens up as the slot receiver on occasion. That's the only moving around he does. Evans never moves from his "X" receiver spot." Not sure how the reporter knows this, but if true is just one more confirmation of DJ's incompetance. My personal opinion is that DJ plays a heavy hand in the structure of the offense and limits the types of plays the OC and QB can call. Especially in critical game situations. Yet the players seem to blame the OC. When Fairchild was on the way out, players like Evans were saying that they thought Schonert had good ideas about playcalling the offense. Same thing about AVP. Why don't some of these reporters look into DJ's role in all this? Now there's a story I'd really like to read.

That's a good point, but after so many years of mediocrity they could blame themselves but stop talking Jauron up like he's some kind of hero. Just my frustration I guess.

Oh, and as far as the discussion as to whether good coaches have to be hard nose jerks or nice guys, it doesn't matter. Good coaches have the ability to consistently put their team in a position to succeed/win, and they can skin that cat any way they want. How many times over the last 3/4 years has Jauron's teams squandered opportunities in close games to put the other team away, instead content to play it conservatively and trust that the other team won't overcome a 1 score deficit. When your coach/coaching staff consistently take your team OUT of a position to succeed that's the surest mark of a bad coach. You can forgive a coach an odd time or 2 for making a bad decision but Jauron's overall W/L record speaks for itself.

Do these guys not realize how much their head coach is to blame for all their losses? This is the third OC I have seen when the Bills go all-running plays to settle for a long field goal as time winds down. Bills deserved to lose for that crap but got lucky. At LEAST get it to the red zone before you go straight runs. That's got to be on Jauron. I still remember TE after last year's Browns game saying the coaches really prepared him well but the Browns defense completely changed its approach from what they saw on tape. How is that not the coaches' fault? Other players will say how well the coaches prepare them but the team didn't execute during the game. Ummm, if your game plan is seriously flawed, and the other team's isn't, chances are you won't be able to execute your game plan no matter how prepared you are or how good it sounds on paper. Does anybody believe great coaching/gameplan got them this win vs the Jets? I don't.

Yep Senator, you have convinced me that Mike Leach is a diva. I won't re-list all your post because it's so long, but first off the above quote was from April '09. Kudos to Mangini for sizing up Crabtree accurately and avoiding drafting him and his diva holdout. I also suspect Mangini had a good laugh about Leach calling him an idiot. The rest of your posts involve Leach hootin' and hollerin' about how wrong NFL coaches are about "system" quarterbacks from college and how he'll teach them all how to break in quarterbacks properly. Funny, I can't find any evidence of Leach coaching at the NFL level in any capacity, yet he knows exactly what they're doing wrong. None of Leach's quarterbacks in his OC/HC coaching career (Tim Couch, Josh Heupel, Harrel, etc) have ever been successful in the NFL, so of course it must be the NFL's fault. Just like that 2007 Texas game where he was convinced the officials stole the game from TTech. A lot of Florida and Oklahoma quarterbacks also have trouble leaving those offensive systems and making it in the NFL, but I guess the NFL is wrong on those also. Cripes, this guy sure likes to piss and moan and blame somebody else when things don't go how he thinks they should. He is a reasonably successful college coach but with Tech at 4-2 maybe he should just focus on leading them to a winning record this year. And if Leach makes it to the NFL, I only pray it isn't with the Bills. As bad as things are, that would be a jump-out-the-window-and-shoot-yourself-in-the-head-on-the-way-down move. Of course that's only my opinion.