tonyd19

Bob Costas is a politically correct empty suit. The sooner he is off the air, the better every sports telecast will be.

Terry is cheap........too soon?

Barry Horowitz.

I am preaching to myself here, but we all really need to remember today...The Buffalo Bills for as much as we love them, will never love us back. The can't . Football can't love you back. Do not put the Bills ahead of your family time etc. Basic stuff we can all forget at times I know. The most frustrating thing for me is the complete inconsistency. The last ten years we have a great offense 2003 and a terrible defense. Then a terrible offense (with basically the same players) and a great defense in 2004. Then....both sides are terrible for about a decade, but some parts make strides. For example, the defense is average, but the line is really strong, or the offense is bad, but the run game is really good. Like last year, we had on of the top run offenses in the league, and this year (with the same players) can't and many times don't try to run the ball consistently. I do not understand it. It seems like Murphy's Law every year.

EJ is friggin terrible and will never start for this team or any other unless he improves dramatically. If he was better than Orton, he would be playing. He is not playing because he is awful. I really wish EJ was the next Tom Brady...I really do. And I hope he proves me wrong. But as of now EJ is friggin terrible and will never see the field again short of injury.

There is no way Buffalo will be allowed to cover the spread.

Fixed

Mr. No Neck versus the Incredible Douche

I'll just quote CS Lewis. "If you don't understand books written for adults, you should not be discussing them." Not sure how this became a religious discussion, but I find your comments very shallow and offensive. I also find it very hypocritical of someone who grew up in an area settled by Christian missionaries, who have done more for your way of life than you will ever fully contemplate, mock and demean the beliefs of 2 billion people to the level of a 6 year old child. You obviously do not understand the logical and fact based defense of Christianity, Nor do you, based on your idiotic statements, seem to have the intellectual capacity to have an intelligent conversation about it.

Yes, and we paid more for everyone of them then most teams would have. You can call it the Buffalo premium if you like. They either do not sign or you must overpay for them to deal with the hassle.

I think we are basically on the same page as I agree with you, I just believe it is an excuse, not the actual reason. I think the special teams reason is a justification. I think MW was pissed about not being targeted more, made it known and was pissing off the coaching staff. So they decided to send him a little message. Your explanation regarding using another lineman in place of Gragg is perfect. Also, do you really need 3 kickers. Can Carpenter really not handle a few kick offs?

You are correct, that does not make it a lie. However, it's not that I do not agree with it, it is in fact that it is not logical. At the end of the day, you do not bench players who are your starters for back ups. If this had been a playoff game, would this decision make any sense? Should we deactivate Orton or EJ because we are going to a heavy run set formations and just don't plan to throw much? Why deactivate your 2/3 receiver for your 4/5? They say special teams. So you deactivate a 40 to 50 play guy to have a 20 play guy on the field? You're going up against one of the best corners in the game without all your healthy weapons at receiver? If this is actually the reason, I would have to question if this man is fit to coach at all. Also, I do not think anyone (you included) actually believe that special teams was the reason. Mike Williams can't play special teams? I am sure he would have preferred that over being inactive. No, there is certainly something else there and the message being sent from the front office confirms it. If anything the special teams issue was an excuse, if not an outright lie.

Yolo: I just want to make sure you understand this thread is not actually about Mike Williams, it is about how the organization handles big time players and the waves that can have on the future of the franchise. The player could be anyone. It is how this team responds to high profile high talent players. You just do not see other teams doing things like this. You would not see the Yankees deactivate a high profile player who is in their prime for a post season series when they were not injured because of some problem the coaching staff or whomever had with them. It is not how winners are built. This is the crux of my problem. Now you can argue Mike Williams is not that big time of player. But to Buffalo he is a big time talent. When you look at it from the perspective of he is a big time talent who actually wanted to be here (was his dream to be here) then 6 weeks later wants out. Then you look at how the team bad mouthed players like Marshawn Lynch (deserved or not) how he was lazy, did not run hard, didn't put in full effort...and he goes to Seattle and does what he does. It makes the whole franchise look like absolute fools. And nobody wants to play for (or coach or work for) a team that 1) Always loses, 2) Will bad mouth or disrespect good players, 3) Will publicly attempt to humiliate them. They either won't come play here or you will have to massively overpay to get them here.

Not that difficult. Lets look at the options. 1) Mike Williams does not fit the scheme this week, therefore we will not play him. 2) Mike Williams has an attitude problem, therefore we will not play him. 1) If he does not fit the scheme, you have to show the player is not talented enough than the other players to contribute to a victory. Since the front office themselves are not claiming this and since the players previous performance indicates otherwise, you can logically deduce this is not true. He is more talented than the other players in front of him, therefore there is another reason he is not active. 2) If he has an attitude problem, then there are better ways to handle this problem, than to deactivate him, making a public issue out of a discipline issue and making your entire team look bad. We can also deduce that this should not be a problem because the team has come out and said, they have no problem with his attitude. We can logically deduce that the team 1) Does believe he more talented than other players who were active and 2) Does not have an attitude problem based on their own comments. Therefore we can conclude the front office is lying about the reason he was inactive. Hence, the chaos and lack of professionalism at the franchise level I originally was talking about that makes the team look bad.

What I said was by deactivating him they made it public. If they wanted to send a message to him regarding his professionalism, they should not have deactivated him. Thus allowing the entire organization to save face and look better. By deactivating a talented player and then to come out and say they have absolutely no issue with his professionalism calls into question his talent level. Also when they GM comes out and says "If he is #1 WR, as he claims to be." You can infer that the player claims to be a # 1 wideout but that is not how the franchise sees him. Once again it calls into question his talent level.

I understand and agree with you that it was one of these problems. What I am saying is that either way it is really bad for the team. Just a bad decision either way you slice it. Reflects badly on the team, on the front office and how this team makes decisions and responds to internal problems. Very unprofessional on all fronts.

That is self refuting. If it is public then it is public. Also, who made the trade request is irrelevant. It is how the GM responded. Being "pissed" reflects badly on the entire franchise. By doing so he devalued the players talents, made himself look bad, and made the team look unprofessional. All bad.

If anyone here actually believes MW was not active because of a three TE set, I have a bridge to sell you in Brooklyn. Your argument is self refuting. Was he deactivated because of personnel or because the HC wanted to motivate him? If it is the former then you have to explain why a WR in his prime, who has 1,000 yard 10 TD production is not worthy of a roster spot in the biggest game of the year. If it is the latter, then you have a front office who is now not only questions the players motivaation, but also their talent level. Like I said, it is all bad.

Whaley came out after the trade request and said, and I am paraphrasing that Williams claims to be a #1 WR and if he can find someone to compensate them he will trade him. This is a comment full of sarcasm that just sends a bad message to players. Don't get on the bad side of the GM or he will make public comments about your talent level. The public question is obvious. They publicly deactivated him and then had to explain publicly why they did so.

If there is a problem with Williams ( which his history has shown) I agree that the HC should take action. But with A Williams being inactive, you could still activate Williams and just not play him often and keep the 3 TE sets. The problem once agian is not so much about Williams the player. It is about a HC whop deactivates a fairly well know highly paid player, A GM who comes out and makes a very backhanded statement about the player and how the organization does things. But I have a question. What if Mike WIlliams has been a model citizen behind the scenes, like the front office says he has? Then it is even worse. Now you have a reformed bad image player who the Bills have now made an issue not over his attitude, but his talent. If you are Mike Williams how do you not feel taken advantage of in that situation. A team that does this to you in your prime knowing people outside the organization will question your work ethic or attitude because of your history. As I said, there is no good that comes out of that decision. The only good that could have come from it would have been if the Bills won, and they came out the next day and praised Williams for his sacrifice for the team.

He was the #2 starting WR at the beginning of the year and is paid #2 (potentially # 1) money. He has a history of putting up big time stats and is in the prime of his career athletically. To agents and players he is the #2 receiver on this team.

I agree with setting examples with bad players (if in fact that is happening, which there is no evidence for) But you do not do it so publicly and you certainly do not send your GM out making snarky comments about the player the next day. Just really bad optics for the entire team. I'm sorry how many playoff games have the Bills won in the last 15 years? Belicheat is the stabilizing force I was originally talking about. Yes, winning matters. If Marrone takes the team to 4 Super Bowls and wins a couple then he can do whatever he wants. Until then, your comparison is not valid.

I understand why you would think that. As I thought of that too while I was writing it. What I mean by it is we need a stabilizing force for this team. The move is a lot less about Williams the player as it is the message it sends to the rest of the league. Dumb moves like this are screaming for a calming presence. I should have clarified that is you remove Marrone, you absolutely must replace him with a highly respected long term answer that can stabilize the organization. Believe me, nothing would make me happier than Marrone having a Levy like career, but you just cannot do what he did yesterday.

I do not mean Mike Williams the player is a big problem. I mean taking a highly compensated, highly talented, well known player and making him a healthy scratch for the biggest game of the year (to date) is a big problem for this franchise. If you ever wonder why big name free agents do not want to play here, it is basically the below reasons. 1) We have constant coach and scheme turnover. Essentially, the franchise is in perpetual chaos. 2) Nobody wants to come to an organization like this and have their value diminished by a coaching staff who does not use them properly, changes their position, or puts them in situations where they cannot maximize their value and or skill level. 3) Every few years we have a high profile player, who wants out of here for some reason or another. Players talk and do not want to deal with constant front office and personnel problems. Now back to Mike Williams. We have a very skilled well known, national player. He grew up in Buffalo, he said his dream is to play in Buffalo. Now, 6 weeks into the season after being exposed to the organization he wants out of Buffalo. We have a head coach and front office who lay out a b.s excuse as to why our #2 wide out is inactive for a huge division game. And then lay out another b.s excuse regarding how they are not shopping him, but would look at offers for him? Does the coaching staff and front office have any clue how this type on nonsense looks to potential free agents, potential coaches, and potential front office personnel around the league? How about to player agents and future draft choices? This crap has to end now. We cannot take a highly talented player like Williams who by all accounts has been a model citizen here, has worked hard, and who is very talented and treat him like that. Regardless of what you like or dislike about him, it sends a terrible message about the Bills as a whole. That move yesterday was absolutely unacceptable. If I was Terry Pegula, it would be the catalyst to remove the entire coaching staff at the end of the year. I would make sure I sent MANY messages through back channels that this type of crap is over. I would pay big money to bring in a well known, high profile head coach to solidify the organizations standing and give him a very long term contract. I have been a fan of Marrone to this point, but the move yesterday to deactivate Williams may have set this team back 10 years. It was that bad.

Thanks for the support. I appreciate it.