ColdBlueNorth

I am with you on that one. If the dude is a slobbering maniac who steamrolls blockers over the QB why can't he be effective with another slobbering maniac next to him? It makes no sense to me.

sometimes you just have to let the old neighborhood go. It's a sad fact, but those old friends are always the quickest way to lose everything you work for. I would not be surprised if the Commish hands down a 4-6 week suspension regardless of what the courts decide. Wrong place, wrong time, and the wrong friends. I for one have not given up on the young man, but will he learn his lesson this time and grow up? Has anyone heard if there is a suspension in the works?

The POZ is a good football player. Folks dis Marv for grabbing another "character" player who supposedly cannot play. For a young linebacker in his first full season (everyone should remember that he was injured early the prior year and on IR) - I think we may have an impact player in the making. I watched him in games and they used him all over the field and with how lame our pass rush was he had to cover a lot of shallow routes and dump off passes as well as the run. He will be fine.

So what? LA sucks as a football town. If a town that has historically the most fickle football fans wants one of the worst football teams with the best fans I guess the gods of cruel punishment may finally be appeased.

Great pickup. Single-handedly saved us from 2-3 losses. How many other Bills defenders can you say the same for? For a while there he seemed to be the only difference maker on that squad. - R

"Friggin Lonnie" ... memories:) that video has to be somewhere, an awsome hit against dumbass, showboating Lonnie.

Folks forget about the horrible job he did down in Miami before they let him go as well - Mularkey in charge of their offense and their big off-season aquisition of Culpepper at OB. I was laughing so hard at those moves Mularky has been going through "on the job training" and most of those candidates get their feet wet at the "we hire them cheap" Ralph Wilson school of personnel and coaching. Who could forget when Miami had the ball on our 1 yd line with Buffalo possessing the worst rated run defense in the league, but a decent pass defense. What does Mularkey do? He calls 5 passes in a row - yes, 5 of them. Because the 4th fade pass was deemed interference and there was another call against the Dolfelons and they got another shot. I remember that so well because I was playing some guy at work in Fantasy Football and he had the Miami running back - I had to call him right away and tell him how much I loved watching Mularkey at the helm in Miami. Now maybe he has learned a bit from all those failures, but there is no doubt that his stint with the Bills was a failure, and his subsequent stint with Miami was a failure, but it appears he has gotten his act together in Atlanta.

I really do not see tight end as our most glaring need, I liked what I saw from Fine when he finally got into the lineup. I am not saying that he is the second coming of Gates, but he is serviceable and should not be the reason we lose games. We really need a pass rush. Why does Baltimore always seem to find these monster DLineman that play like mad men? Did you see Pennington running for his life - and throwing 4 picks? Pressure creates turnovers, turnovers create offensive opportunities, and more offensive opportunities "usually" means more points (insert decent center, and reliable 2nd receiver).

I agree that it is early, but what else is there for us to do during another winter of discontent. I like this player. He certainly has the frame 6'4" to accomodate another 20 pounds if the Bills want to use him on the DLine - you usually want your DE to be around 270 or so to be able to stand up to the run. He could also be effective at the OLB position if he stays at his current weight and speed.

I for one agree with you Adam. I remember the killing fields that RJ and Losman went through when the LT position was up for grabs. Folks forget the wasted 1st round pick used on Mike Williams who spent most of his time hurt, playing RT, or simply eating his way out of the lineup each offseason. If you have a left tackle that can compete and often dominate you have to sign him, whether he is an ungrateful bastard or not, this team cannot affort a rookie project at that position. Edwards would get killed and never develop. Peters was not in game shape this year and it showed, he can however be very successful at that position, and he is still young and fairly durable. If anything, we trade Dockery and find a prospect in the draft to play Guard. Use the money saved to pay Peters. It is much easier to find a solid Guard in the draft than a Left Tackle.

let us all hope he does, he definately does not look in over his head when he is on the field.

As to the Mitchell signing I did feel like they got a steal with his leadership and talent - you are right though, they did not break the bank to bring him in. I am not sure why they brought in a blitzing specialist when they do not do that much of it. I did notice that the few times early on in the year when we were playing with a lead Fewell set loose the dogs. He was much more conservative the rest of the year. Some of that may have been because we were dealing with injuries in the secondary, and some of that may have been because we were playing from behind so often.

We could use a veteran backup to Edwards. I want Edwards to have the time to develop, but history shows us that we will need a QB that can step in and manage a game when Edwards gets banged up. Our of the list I like: Collins Leftwich Simms

tell me about it - holy crap. Pete's got a lot of talent that he's going to lose this year, maybe some of it goes our way.

Thats a good question - sorry so late getting back to your question. When I look at HC debacles I like to factor in not just the W/L percentage they have or had, but also how hard a team plays for that coach. On my they don't win and they don't play for them list I have the following HCs that could be considered worse than Jauron. Crennel Kubiak Zorn Turner (I will have to change my vote if Norv's Chargers actually turn this around and go deep, it has been a while since he has had a lot of success). I think his career win/loss percentage is somewhere around 40% Marinelli Edwards Honorable mentions: that boob Mularky and the other idiot that Ralphy hired Greg Williams Yes, there are a lot of coaches with better records than Dick, but one solid season and he would have a much better record. He has never had a settled QB position as an HC, and it will be nice to see if Edwards can develop into the kind of player we all hope he can be.

There are worse head coaches out there. Dick's track record shows that he is clearly mediocre hovering just below the 500 mark hence I used the term "alright". Not a glowing endorsement, nor intended to be:) I don't know if it would be that hard to find an improvement to Kelsay, as to the available free and restricted agents we will have to see who is allowed to leave and what players are locked up or franchised. Brandon pulled the trigger on Mitchell and that is the type of move I did not expect from this very historically frugal organization. I am alright with a rookie working the left side of the defensive line in a rotation with Denny. I never expect much from that position and at least I could hope for some upside from a new DE. The money they are paying Kelsay and Dockery is insane considering their production this year. At least Dockery looked good in 07, he took a step backwards this year.

At the owners meeting Kraft loses a bet with Ralph and has to trade Bill for Dick for one season - the Patriots stuggle, but pull off 2 wins - the players love their new coach and want to keep him on in New England and beg Kraft to lock him up for another 3 years Seriously, I would like to see Russ pick up a solid veteran DE to compliment Aaron and jettison Kelsey and the wasted money. Denny did better when rotating in on the left side of the line and at least makes some noise now and then. Pick up another DE or DT in the 1st round (defensive end would be my first choice, but a tackle that has speed to get to the passer could make the transition at the next level). I know some folks are looking for tightend here, and if the DE talent is a reach after Orakpo then maybe we go for Pettigrew here. I think that Fine is a passable tightend, and that what we need is more constistency from our 2nd WR position and the Offensive line in pass protection. Next would be the best Center or Guard available at that position - Dockery either gets his act together on pass protection and moving the pile in short yardage or can his butt. Next pick Guard or Center which ever one was not addressed in the previous pick. We know what we have in Preston, he is still pretty young and may develop but needs to be more stout against the 3-4 nose tackles and simply needs to hold up better in pass protection. I did like what I saw from him in the second Jets game - it was a big test against a great nose tackle and he did a good job of steering him. Granted we did not pass all that much in that game... Lock up Peters - Yes, he is a selfish contract-breaking SOB who underperformed this year, but he also has the rare physical tools to dominate the left tackle spot and those guys are simply hard to find and more than a few teams reach real hard in the 1st round to find his kind of talent and fail. I am going to go out on a limb and say that I really liked what I see from our young receiver Steve Johnson - he is a bigger kid who uses his body well in space to get position over defenders. I like him as our number 2 with Reed/Parrish in the slot. The team did a better job of stopping the run this year, and I like our interior defensive line (not love, but they're ok). I think that my biggest concern with Stroud was that he could not make it through the year - that his injury history would be repeated, but he made it though the whole year and will be better next year. Kyle Williams was a steal where we picked him up. I think everyone on this board knows we need to get some pressure from our ends. If we could generate pressure, considering that the Bills have probably the deepest core of yound DB talent in the league with Yobouty, Greer, McKelvin, Corner, and McGhee. We would see a lot more interceptions and turnovers. I like what I have seen from Edwards when he is given the time - If Johnson develops and Jackson and Lynch get better at picking up the blitz I believe we can and should be able to take more shots down the field. Jury is still out on Hardy - he plays small and timid for his size. Too often he simply got outfought for position and the ball this year. He needs to grow a pair to compete at the NFL level. Turk's first year produced a lot of mixed results and my sincere hope is that they will hire an assistant OC/quality control staffer that can actually do a better job of managing game-day sideline details. Too much confusion on that sideline and with as many young players that the Bills have, the coaches need to do a much better job preparing the players for what to do in different situations. Far too often the players were standing around waiting for someone to tell them what to do when they should already know what to do in the situation that they are in. Great coaches make the best of the talent they have, they have solid systems that are easy for players to adapt to and that have a proven track record of success. We do not have a great coach, we have an coach who is alright, but will need all the talent he can muster to produce results on the field. I think in that regards we are close with the exception of a few missing pieces. I went a lot longer than I intended, but I do see that the glass is half full. It should be interesting to see the off-season moves that Brandon makes to fill in those missing pieces and/or remove the pieces that are clearly under-performing. My expectations were pretty low this year considering all the youth this team had and with so many unsettled questions surrounding Edwards, and both the offense under Turk, and the defense with the loss of Clements and Crowell that did nothing against the run last year. The most frustrating thing about this team is that they have shown flashes that convince me that they do have the talent to win more games than they did. The coaching simply has to get better, and the execution by the players addressed. If the players really love their coach they need to start executing a hell of a lot better and with consistency - particularly the offensive line which took a step back from last year in regards to short yardage push and pass protection. No, I am not trying to sell the Bills on ticket holders and those who they have clearly let down and yes, I am dismayed at some of the bone-headed coaching decisions that were made over the course of the year, but I am hopeful that they were simply the product of the growing pains of an OC in his first year learning the ropes.

Yeah, it was the prison captain who coined the phrase, but it is so much easier remembering Newman's character who threw that quote back at them when they had him pinned down. So we get Jauron again, someone needs to inject some backbone and order into that coaching staff in a hurry. Too often this year they were scrambling to make decisions, and it was obvious that they were in disarray on the sidelines. All we can do is hope that they can address those shortcomings internally.

I don't think Chuck makes many calls from the sideline:)

Just some rambling thoughts... Not sure who to blame on the staff, but the job to make sure that the coaches are prepared for game situations is Jauron's. After that, the job falls to the assistant coaches to ensure that the players are prepared for those situations. In the immortal words of Cool Hand Luke, "what we have he-ya is a failure to commuicate". It is obvious to anyone watching the Bills execute that there is a breakdown whenever a cool-headed decision is called for in a game. The wasted timeouts and abysmal clock management clearly point to a sideline that does not have its sh-- together. That lack of organization points clearly to Jauron. It leads one to believe that there are perhaps too many cooks in the kitchen when quick decisions need to be made. The play calls in crucial short-yardage situations leave us all scratching our heads, and lean towards coaching that tries to out-think the actual situation on the field. Who in their right mind calls for a pass/roll-out with JP when you are running the ball down the throat of the other team, you are deep in your side of the field, their defence is sucking wind, and there is only 2:00 minutes left in the game? Preston's selfish play at the end of the half against the Pats shows a lack of accountability that stretches from the top clear down to the players in the form of lack of execution, fumbles, muffed kick returns, and dumb decisions. The players may love their coach, but I would rather they hate and fear the coach, but respect him enough to perform on the field. The left side of our offensive line was flat out offensive too often this year. Fumbles caused by blind-side QB hits came from guys blowing through untouched on that side of the line. Peters and Walker underperformed this year, and although Preston played better - he clearly gets pushed deep into the pocket on more plays than not. There were times when leaving a RB back to pick up an extra blitzer may have been the better option, but we all did ask to get the RB more involved in the passing attack. Does Wilson blow this up to fix it - I don't know. I do think that dicipline and execution starts from the top down and some HCs have it - and some do not. I do believe this team is close talent-wise, but they need a pass rusher desparately. As for the offensive line, I do not see anything that a firm hand cannot correct. Preston does need to get stronger at center, but the occasional double-team against those monster nose tackles in the 3-4 alignment appears to work wonders ala the 2nd Jets game. I do believe what killed this team this year is not corrected via the draft, but by better coaching and leadership from the organization.

I agree. He is a royally soft pain in the a$$. He can't catch half the balls thrown his way, and when he does he is easily brought down or fumbles them away. Everyone talks about his great blocking, but I don't see it. Time to unload Royal and try Schumen(SP?), and how long is Fine going to be out with his hang nail injury?

I don't believe that a hobbled Aaron Schobel helps us out on the field. He has no burst and little push. Sure he doesn't get suckered into draws and screens, but that is only because he is not able to rush up field effectively. Put someone healthy out there with a high motor who can play with dicipline against the run, and let Aaron heal for the playoff run later in the season. Just MOHO.

We can use just about any scheme we want, but there simply isn't enough respect out there for our passing game to get defenses out of the box. Watch a game and see how stacked the box is, other teams run blitz and that is often as effective as a good pass rush even if Trent changes the play up. You will notice that when we are in the no-huddle and 2 and 4 minute drills where we are throwing the quick passes on quick drops that we are very successful ripping off big runs. There is the fact that the other team cannot substitute players, but also the fact that they no longer load the box against the run. If we change the tempo sooner in games with a short passing attack, and if Fowler grows a pair our running game will improve like magic. I also think that teams can get too cute with their blocking - just pushing that guy in front of you on his butt is unusually simple and effective.

It seems to me that we were able to turn things around late in games because they have Trent go into his 2 and 4 minute drill where he reads quickly what the defense is giving him the chance to audible and makes quick passes on three step drops ala St. Louis (the whole freakin game) which sets up the run for Jackson and Lynch. We would benefit from using that drill and no-huddle earlier in games to establish a rhythm and prevent the more exotic defenses and blitzes we tend to face when taking the traditional amount of time to call plays. When we do that, teams tend to overload the box and blitz which creates stops behind the line, or forces Trent to unload the ball to the sideline. When we are in our 2-minute drill we force teams into their various nickle packages and prevent D-Line rotation which Trent has been able to pick apart, and Marshawn has been able to gain yards against. We also need to get Jackson and Lynch involved in the short passing game - and as I have stressed James Hardy. His development is painful to watch, but if he gains the experience and effectiveness it will free up Evans. If this team can start to establish early leads, I think the defense will shine and we can see if we are capable of grinding out the running game and the clock. Just MOHO

I really wanted them to go with the Ngata pick, I believe they say that statistically there are less draft busts of interior D-Linemen than other positions and I felt he would fill the hole left by Pat William's departure. I agree with the process of building a team from the inside out, and I acutually think that Marv and Jauron are trying to do that. They have revamped our Offensive line (it has yet to show this year), and they brought in Stroud and a few other interior D-Line free agents. We will see where this goes with the group we have.