May Day 10

we had a thread a month or so ago about this. IMO Defensive PI calls should be reviewable due to the amount of weight they have. They can potentially be 40-50 yard penalties. A lot of it is timing, and its bang-bang, sometimes tough for an official to nail in real-time, while replay shows a different story.

The instant McKelvin went down, the Dolphins started to target Graham often, seeing very good results. He is awful as a corner. At least against the Dolphins he was. A very understated reason the Bills lost that game.

I think the base of your point is correct. But nothing could have/should have been done yet. Mid-stream moves in the NFL dont seem common or advised. Im sitting back to see what happens in late December/January

there was a "Pegula-dust-esque" vibe to the Sabres in 2011. He came in, the Sabres went immediately from crappy to unbeatable... and should have beat a much better Philly team in the playoffs until Miller melted down in game 6. He told the media that he wanted their help to only write positive stories and thought he could actually pull that off. He bragged how he never had to fire employees and they performed very well as long as they were happy. He though Ruff and Regier were in 8th place... so logically Ruff and Regier in 8th place + $$$ = cups. It was all incredibly naive and he took a lot of lumps for that, learned a lot of lessons and eventually pulled the plug... which is what he should have done in 2011. I would think that the Sabres' experience hardened him a lot and prepared him to make tough and radical changes.

you and I do not have any clue what the current specific plans are for the Bills. I feel pretty confident in my feeling that they didnt spent $1.4 Billion to go with the status quo and have a couple meaningful games in December in a 15 year span. Its not just the prospect pool either. It is everything surrounding the Sabres, the arena, development of the area, money in the ancillary un-salary-capped areas such as scouting. They are in the long game to have sustained success. Not hoping for lightning to strike and the Sabres to someday make the playoffs one season (like we are currently with the Bills). Their goal for the Sabres (and I would assume its translatable to the Bills) is for long term and sustained success at or near the top of the league. There is no "dust" to make this happen... but there is the strong desire to make this long term high end the biggest priority by a mile and not turning a profit if necessary. If you are talking in terms of 2015... Im not sure if its salvageable without a QB answer. QBs can be had though if they have the right people looking and there is desire. Arizona got Palmer, KC got Smith, Denver got Manning... But anyways, I see this as the start. Pegula hasnt been able to do anything because the team was above .500 and that would be foolish (at least he said so in an interview). At the end of the season, I expect/hope/want a power-broker to be installed at the top and that is the beginning. So I agree with you on "rapid" improvement. Long term plans is what has me thrilled. The cycle here (should) be broken.

I get what youre saying, but that was a miraculous run of schedule where they played the worst 5 teams in the NFL in succession

The lack of coaches' interest imo has been the management structure

Pegula dust? Lol. I am a bigger sabres fan I'd say than bills fan. At least more knowledgeable. As a long time fan of over 30 years... the sabres are doing exactly what they should have done years ago. The run to the playoffs when pegula bought the team in the spring of 2011 muddied the picture. Thought that if r&r can make the playoffs... more money is directly correlated with winning a cup. Instead, in a cap league it just magnified regiers shortcomings. The whitewash and building the prospect and pick pool is 100% what they needed and it is the best path to a decade plus of being a top team in the nhl. It is different with the nfl though. You don't need as much time to develop players and build the system. Even if major changes are made there won't be a similar plan. It is all the peripheral stuff too. Player facilities, harbor center, most robust scouting budget in the league, willingness to eat salary if it helps the team, even the way they treat and respect players and staff. First class and that goes a long way. Very bob kraft like. Oh yeah and scored the nhl combine too. The arena also looks great. It's foolish to just look at the current nhl standings and form a final opinion.

It's the whole kit'n caboodle

Why do you follow the bills then?

I don't get the common opinion here that we are "on the verge of greatness". Miracle wins vs Detroit and minnesota... and ot in Chicago from being 2-8. Now ok they should have won the kc game... but this crap happens every time this organization ends up in a push the chips in the center game. A game that actually matters (can prorally count on 1 or 2 hands 15 years worth). They get hit in the mouth and the bottom falls out. Depth too. You can see Miamis offense immediately start atracking that turnstile graham when mcfumble got hurt. Graham was terrible and a very understated goat from the game. This has been the pattern for close to a decade: New coach. Year one we are excited but they stink and "rebuilding" is accepted as the excuse. Year 2 get off to a decent start with some tight wins... look ok and then wham the bottom falls out right when games begin to get bigger and the team displays some sort of systemic failure Year 3 the wheels come off completely and the team and fans quit. The coach is blamed for everything and somehow all personnel moves and problems are blamed on and leave with the coach. Brandon gets a new title. GM takes a step to the left. Sell it to the fans as MAJOR changed. Rinse and repeat. Same movie over and over

It's amazing and nearly mathmatically impossible in a salary capped league

Why does making changes and improvements mean rebuilding and sacking for years? Chip kelly got the keys and is flying pretty highard out of the gate. Even if you want to believe a 93 year old man was making all the decisions and ruining Things and this regime started 2 years ago... it still looks to me like we are stuck in the mud. This organization is just screaming for someone knowledgeable from the outside to be installed at the top. Create a winning football program here long term. Everyone should be rooting for this, no? Any fan who wants to protect this losing culture that forces me to hope and pray the bills can "keep it interesting" through the middle of November every season has stockholm syndrome. You cant heap it on marrone, ej, and Orton as if they are outside influences. These were the hand selections of these bozos

The game changed the moment that human turnstile had to play cb

its Orton, its the OC, its not having a TE worthy of the 2014 NFL, its playing against a hell of a defense.

this x100000 I am so sick of the blaming only the coaches as if they are some sort of outside-all powerful force "He was a Jauron guy" "he was a Gailey guy", etc... while somehow gaining immunity for management to take one step to the left. We also see signs of that with Nix's "retirement". "EJ was a Nix pick". change the structure/culture and with money in hand they can have any coach available

those guys have been living a cushy lifestyle in the booth. Im not sure they would be down with spending nights at the office/film-room, not seeing their families, etc especially with their legacies already pretty well intact. Maybe as a consultant, I dont know. I dont think I like Dungy for that... and I dont know how Cowher would be full-scale organization/mangerial building. Accorsi is the guy I would like to mold the structure and provide names of candidates across the board.

the first half I thought was actually very well played outside of Tannehill losing his awareness and getting sloppy with the ball on that run. Excluding the final kneeldown, there were only 5 possessions. Both teams moved the ball. Both defenses stepped up. The half was on pace to clock in under an hour, but the last 3 minutes were filled with commercials. In fact, they were playing catch-up with commercials for the rest of the game which was annoying and terrible and killed any flow in the 2nd half.

Its a major culture problem with the organization. It is rotten. Suggesting continuity is a joke. We are seeing the same identical pattern as past seasons.

Brandon spoke out in favor of continuity... Is he going to back down from that to save himself if Pegula wants coaching changes?

the problem is... it seems they have about a 70% chance to win each game they "should" beat (and I am very generously adding @Miami and Cleveland into that category). I would give them a 10% chance or less of beating teams that are legit (Denver, Green Bay, NE) So basically they need a lot of good dice rolls to come up 9-6. Odds are they lose at least 1 game, maybe 2 to Miami, Cleveland, Oakland, and the Jets. Odds are they drop every game to Green Bay and Denver I believe 8-7 is the most likely record going into NE, followed by 7-8.

of poop

fan is short for "fanatics" But I agree 100% with whoever said that anyone posting here at this point is as true a fan as there is and should never be questioned. Whether your a "kool aid drinker", apologist, or chicken little, we are all "good fans" we should all get some sort of award.

teams close to them too have been winning. Columbus currently is the biggest threat, but no way that team is worst in the league. I do think the Sabres can/may put it together at some point this season and have a decent month. These October/November games are just as big as March! Its looking good though

We will see. They actually would probably stay in the hunt for awhile on a week to week basis. At the end of the season, I would think without playoffs (maybe even with) Pegula brings in someone from the outside to assess the organization top down.