May Day 10

Every team has plenty of talent. It is all about preparation, roster makeup/chemistry, and depth. This franchise continually proves that they cannot succeed in more than one of those areas at a time. Rebuilding in the NFL does not need to take years. Wasnt too long ago seattle picked in front of the bills, blew the pick on a bust (we would excuse years of futility on that player), and quickly became a power. Same with denver. KC brought andy reid in and got with the program rather quickly.

No thanks to Whaley too. He is a continuation of the failed Nix regime. If Nix had a great performance here and passed the baton... then yes. But he stunk. The team still stinks. Whaley and Brandon seem to get free passes left and right and blame is conveniently outsourced to others. Why is anyone putting value on anybody involved with this football team? At the very least, we need someone from the outside brought in with full authority/autonomy to re-create this thing. If this person liked Whaley, I would be fine with it. This whole internal nepotistic Bills family that has run this team into the wall the past 10-20 years needs to be broken up. Since Donahoe was sent packing they 'circled the wagons' internally and have fallen into complete irrelevancy.

I think a lot of angst comes from witnessing the patriots sunday night and coming to the realization that they are just a well oiled football program, and they will be just fine after brady is gone. That is who the bills need to strive for. Rex is the opposite of belichick in almost every way. I dont see whaley, brandon, or pegula getting us there. The bills will likely never get to belichick level... but why cant they get to the ravens, broncos, cardinals, seahawks level? Those are all teams who have bottomed out lower than buffalo in somewhat recent history. At least then its a fair fight. How can the bills ever see a home playoff game if they struggle getting the plays in on time?

Yeah... i want change more than anybody... but dont go there yet. I was there with the sabres a few seasons before the tank and its a bad/conflicted place to be and it isnt fun. Week 2 is way too early.

I was wearing a color rush jersey, and the color was so intense, the jersey burst into flames. I had to kump through a table and my friends poured beer on me to stop it

IMO just swapping out the coach is a mistake and continues this cycle. They need to change the structure of this organization. Cant have the coach 'coaching' and reporting to Pegula, with a GM 'picking players' reporting to Pegula, along with Russ Brandon marketing his way all over the decisions. They need a much more cohesive structure going forward (if Rex fails). For one, it doesnt look like a sustainable/cohesive structure, two, these guys have had enough chances at choosing coaches, and three, I am not sure a lot of good head coaches or head coaching prospects would agree to come work here under these conditions (think marrone and Mularkey walking away). It is time to become a big-boy franchise and get past Ralph Wilson's MO. So I am against firing Rex in short. I would tough it another 1 or 2 seasons if it meant the sorely needed organizational shift.

When does continuity kick in for the Rams? Because they look worse than the bills

I like the hull choice

Anyone do voice verification on that interview? Sounds doctored. The bills are really good. Its a conspiracy to hide it

Sign of a bad organization: every time someone breaks wind it gets leaked into the media. Sign of a good organization. A player knocks revis out cold with a punch in practice, united team wins superbowl. Public finds out about the incident 18 months later.

Good post

1. We agree, 2. I agree with you. There has to be someone there who would like the opportunity to sculpt a football program and legacy. Offer plenty of money and plenty of autonomy and budget. 3. A good coach may be willing to come to Buffalo with new management and a large window where their job is safe and they have an opportunity to install their schemes and acquire personnel 4. Yes, I agree. Trading and unloading is hard. Any opportunities though should be explored anyways. 5. We agree. Trade down, get quantity 6. As far as Cardale goes... the "mobile" quarterback was in and out of style in 2012. This teams' new leaders would/should recognize where the league is going and set the trends or keep up with them. The bills historically always seem years late to the party (Wild Cat, mobile QBs, run and stop the run, passing league, etc). *If the team bottoms out, they will not commit those huge sums on money to Tyrod. He'll be gone. Ultimately, my biggest issue is #1. Wholesale systemic change is desperately needed. This Franchise in 50 years has 1 NFL playoff win outside the Jim Kelly years. Nothing is worth salvaging and they are in such desperate need for an Outside executive/voice. Changing out Rex Ryan and allowing Pegula/Brandon/Whaley select another coach again is getting us no closer. I would rather just ride it out with Ryan.

If they bottom out 1. Purge the front office and start anew. If Brandon needs to stay, he is business only and has no contact or influence with football ops. Zero. No draft rooms, cut meetings, on the field at training camp arguing with coaches, commenting to the media about the makeup of the roster. 2. Bring new leader of the football program. Someone who has experience in a winning program, but also is in tune with modern times, advanced stats, risk management, etc. Maybe hire Polian or someone of the like from outside the organization to help identify candidates for interview. 3. New football president carefully select head coach. Long term commitment. Will be able to remain through bad years, as the fans, media, and ownership will understand. Like the Sabres, people will generally undestand and support an intelligent full-rebuild. The systems will be able to be installed and take root. Players will be scouted and brought in to custom fit the system. 4. Sell off anything you can within reason for picks. 5. Unless you know its an andrew luck/payton manning slam dunk, trade down, and trade down again. 6. Spend a lot of resources in QB search. High and low for the next 2 years. Will probably finish bad for a few seasons so basically pick of the litter. If not drafting a QB, trade down. Quantity.

to me, the Bills season every year is like the Presidential Election. It seems the Bills usually clean up against the bottom feeders of the league. Conversely, they get cleaned out by the best teams in the league with very few exceptions... It seems fairly predictable, and it has been a pattern almost every season through this drought. They should beat the Rams, 49ers, and Browns, and lose to the Patsx2, Cincy, Seattle, and Arizona. But then you have the middle games against the AFC teams. They are the "swing states" of the schedule. Very important because A) these teams you are in direct competition for the wild card, and B) these games are winnable. This loss feels like the Bills "just lost Ohio". Now they will be forced into having less margin for error against KC, Pitt, NYJx2, MIAx2, OAK, and JAX. Like almost run-the-table unless they "flip" one or more of their "Californias or Texases".

Imo this will not bring change. Only the injury excuse

dont forget the "marketing guy" standing next to Whaley and clapping when the move was made

Losing... is a disease

more attacking the media, for reporting on this team.

Why does he need the step of hanging onto the previous failures? The Sabres would have been much better off starting sooner. He also fired Ruff at the beginning of a season (after a half season lockout too)... and also hung onto Darcy too long, firing him early in the following season. In both cases, the moves were made just as the crowds were becoming very ugly in the arena.

Throwing money at bad executives and coaches thinking it will fix all the problems instead of magnify it? Then try to make excuses for them, trying to hold on, until the crowd gets so ugly that change is forced?

at what point does continuity take hold?

Yup. Everything that franchise does is in the attempt to increase their odds of winning. Every facet. Its admirable. The bills are light years away from that or anything close to it. They flail around hoping to qualify for a wild card spot one year. Browner punched revis unconscious at a practice and we dont hear abput it until almost 2 years after they won the superbowl. What kind of 3 ring circus would break out at OBD i wonder. The patriots arent going away when brady retires. The bills need to compete with them.

Yup. Makes you wonder who was "bad mouthing" polian and why polian cooled on taking the position.

They need someone to head up the football program. This person would effectively wall off russ brandon once and for all. Bill polian would likely send brandon to get his coffee if he wanted to be involved.

who keeps hiring the bad coaches?