All_Pro_Bills

I jest of course but those short punts gave the Bills a better chance to win since self-proclaimed genius Rex Ryan's defense could never stop anyone from any point on the field. A good punt would have allowed the opponent to sustain an 80+ yard drive for a TD and burn more clock rather than forcing them to score from closer to the Bills goal line. This left more time on the clock to mount a comeback. But you ask, what comeback?

Jerry seems to be advocating 'tanking' and then putting the team in a high draft slot where they can land that elusive 'franchise' QB. Of course that implies there is such a thing in this or next season's draft and the Bills, after throwing the season away will make the right selection in the draft, Then its all blue skies and sunshine forever after. Maybe my enthusiasm has been worn away from season after season of this topic but my expectation is the Bills would do what they always do and blow the pick.

There's at least 3 or 4 teams drafting ahead of the Bills that need a franchise QB. So if he's there at 10 that means the Bills are either the smartest guys in the room or reaching.

Romo will be 37 in April. He's suffered through major injuries the past two seasons. Probably with at most 2 more good seasons left. If Romo is released he can entertain offers and pick the place he sees the 'best fit'. Put yourself in his spot. You really think that's going to be the Bills? For one the defense needs a complete overhaul. And 2nd you've got powerhouse NE to deal with 2 times a season. So most likely your fighting for 2nd place and a wild card spot right out of the gate. My guess is he ends up in Denver. I think Elway has most of the pieces still in place and sees an opportunity to land a veteran QB to keep his team at a competitive level for the next few seasons and also a to bridge to P. Lynch a couple years down the road and sells Romo on the idea. A team where the window is still open with a very good defense in place. Short of some quality QB play last season a team that would most likely have been in the playoffs.

Well thought out and definitely the defense was terrible and needs to be upgraded at all 3 levels. And while I don't think TT is the answer I also don't feel he's the biggest problem and all potential alternates are either less desirable or very risky or worse just wishful thinking. Along with the defense I see Cap management as a problem. A small number of players gobbling up a big portion of the cap. This might necessitate cutting some high paid players and letting Gilmore walk. If it was up to me my list would be releasing A. Williams (I think he should retire before something really bad happens), K. Williams (some contender might pick him up on a 1 or 2 year deal and the guy deserves a shot at the title), Clay (just overpaid), and Wood (Groy did a decent job at a much lower cap hit). And find another kicker to replace Carpenter as his efficiency looks to be on the slide. Find a genuine number 2 receiver. If Mike Williams is there at 10 then take him otherwise defense.

If there is interest in the Safety position in round 1 and there is injury/durability concern with Hooker then Jabrill Peppers could be a potential alternative.

If you think the Bills are 'the' QB away from competing for the division with New England and a potential conference championship game team next year then making a play for Rivers would make sense. I don't. I see this team with some potential cap issues needing upgrades at several positions which needs to come via the draft and free agency. Specifically on defense at LB and in the secondary. It might take 2 seasons to fix and adjust everything to the new systems that will be installed. Rivers, at 35, is at the age where you ordinarily see a big drop off in production. So maybe you get a year or two out of him but by the time the rest of the team is ready he's likely to become more of a liability than an asset at the QB position. So then you've likely given up some significant assets, either players or draft picks, to get Rivers but he's not elite anymore and you've depleted your future picks at the expense of a present that never pans out. The answer is finding a long-term QB solution through correctly evaluating draft prospects and putting yourself in the position to make the right pick at the right point in the draft. Whether that means staying put, or moving back, or moving up if needed. Unfortunately, the Bills track record at this is not good. My expectation is that the new blood in the coaching ranks with different eyes on the draft will show some better results in the 2017 draft.

I've been saying this too. TT has his faults that we painfully see each Sunday but what is the alternative to Taylor the team's masterminds have in mind? Hoping some recycled free agent works out? Hitting on some yet unidentified QB in the draft? Making a trade for some high-mileage veteran one hit away from retirement? Given their track record of nailing the QB search my confidence is zero any of these will work out. Hoping the new HC will have some heavy input and some rational and realistic plan emerges.

Don't know anything about DeCosta or how the Raven operate but if I was running the show I'd take a look. Something the Bills will not do here since Whaley seems safe for at least another season. The Ravens are one of several teams that always seem to hit on a majority of their draft picks. And they're not always drafting near the top of the round. Others like the Steelers, Packers, Seahawks identify and draft players that become contributors and starters. Of course it helps these teams are set at the QB position too. The Bills on the other hand cannot recognize a 'good' QB and got more or less nothing out of this years draft class. If you go back a few years and review their selections maybe you count a handful of guys they hit on. It;s pretty depressing how bad they've been at the draft for so long. Stating the obvious but being able to identify a QB and lousy drafting are the biggest problems with the Bills.

My wife keeps telling me Jim Kelly should be head of football operations for the Bills because he's 100% on board with wanting this team to win. I say he's got other things on his plate like charitable foundations and has to watch his health. I don't know, maybe she's right?

The initial problem with the Bills org structure is this co-CEO set up. How can you have two owners? A husband and wife. What's the dynamic between the two? How are decisions made? How many other owners have their spouse sitting at the table as an equal decision maker with them? You need one person in charge, either Kim or Terry. And Whaley's answers at the press conference concerning his role as 'general manager' were disturbing and makes it sound like nobody is setting clear goals or actions here. The way the Bills are run sounds like an intervention is needed similar to the TV shows Bar Rescue or Restaurant Impossible. If you've seen either you should get what I'm saying. Clueless owners running a dysfunctional operation that need help from an expert. That path wasn't taken 2 years ago and it appears it will not be taken now. The frustration is this would be relatively easy to fix if ownership was willing to take the actions necessary rather than do what they are comfortable with doing.

Floyd was a great waiver pick-up by NE. Explaining the claim Belichik said later that he didn't know his blood alcohol level was around .21. But nobody followed up and asked him so now that you know that are you going to release him? LOL. Its was no-lose for the Pats. Floyd getting released now has something to prove and he'll be another good target for Brady entering the playoff. Now with a chance for a SB championship. And any legal action will likely be postponed to the off-season and NE has no legal or financial liability as he'll be a free agent. All they're on the hook for is the pro-rated amount of his 2016 contract. I'm surprised another AFC contender like the Steelers or KC didn't think to make a defensive claim to keep him away from Billy B. But I suppose that's what makes him the evil genius one step ahead playing chess while these other guys play checkers.

Injuries aside, the way Watkins has been used by the Bills offensive minds reminds me of how another Bill was utilized early in his career. For those of us old enough to remember, OJ was more or less a decoy in the backfield before Lou Saban came back and built a running game around Simpson, the only RB in NFL history to rush for 2000+ yards in a 14 game season. Any new OC has to dial up #14 20 or so targets a game. Does anyone recall one WR screen to Sammy? I don't but I do recall it was a frequent call from his college days. Maybe our coaches need to check this out too as another way to get him more touches.

Yup, it was a tank and I thank them for it. As I was watching the game for reasons unclear to me, I said to myself please don't win this game and for once the Bills came through. I not sure what all the hate is for Tyrod. He did exactly what he was expected to do at the start of the season. The team's objective on offense was to run the ball effectively and throw in some passing attack when needed. Protect the football and minimize mistakes. They accomplished this and although they didn't beat a team with a winning record except for Brady-less NE I'm not blaming Tyrod and the offense at the end of the season. The other part of the plan was to let the leagues #1 defense keep the opposition off the scoreboard. Give me 17 points and we'll win every game, right? The defense and Rex by extension just didn't perform. The entire 1st game against the Jets, 2nd half at Miami, the 1st half at Seattle, Pittsburgh and at home against the Dolphins, this defense just plain sucked. How many short-fields did this defense give to our offense? How many 3 and outs when it counted against a good team? Not many. Sure Tyrod has his limitations but what are the options available? Some re-tread free agent QB or a back-up coming off his rookie contract? These are long-shot bets not improvements. Romo? Who knows if he'd even come here and he's one good hit from retirement. Bradford, Glennon, Foles, and others discussed on the board. Anyone expecting these to pan out is just working with hope and prayers. No team is out there throwing franchise QB's into the bargain bin. The only viable option is through the draft by getting a top pick or by pure luck like Dallas or Seattle or New England. This draft looks pretty light on high-end QB talent. The rational thing this off-season would be to keep Tyrod for at least another season, see if Jones can develop, and look to the draft for a potential sleeper in the draft.

When EJ missed Clay wide open at the goal line on a 15 yard throw that was pretty much it. A QB has to make that throw. No excuses. His accuracy and mechanics are terrible. If people want to blame that on coaching or 'mishandling' then they're in denial of observed reality. By now either he has 'it' or he doesn't. The tape doesn't lie. Seriously, what team is going to be interested in picking him up after this performance?

What are the odds of hiring the wrong coach and GM every time during a 17 year stretch? Or not being able to find a QB? These things aren't random chance or statistical probability equations. You have to be very, very good at being this pitifully bad to pull off missing the playoffs for 17 years. I think the solution is simple. Make a decision on something and then do the opposite. Example - Bills decide to 'move on' from Tyrod. Answer - don't do it. Bills ownership decides to retain Whaley and Brandon. Answer - Fire them. Problem solved, playoffs year 18.

I think it depends on your expectations for 2017. Maybe Jones turns out to be the first-time-starter Prescott story of 2017. Or its a short-term hit but long-term we find our guy. But if they decided to go with Jones the most likely thing would be that it signals a re-start and maybe a 4 or 5 win season. It would mean there are no playoff expectations for next year inside OBD. And the decision isn't in a vacuum either because it affects all the players especially on offense. Do you want to waste away another year of McCoy's tread life? What about Watkins? it will be year 4 for him and after a 5th year option if the Cardale experiment fails I get the impression he's gone unless they franchise tag him year 6. And then what? If they did it my way I'd say they keep Tyrod, upgrade at RT, add a veteran WR, get some help via free agent/draft at safety and OLB, Ragland healthy, Lawson with a full off-season, a new kicker, hit on 3-4 draft picks, and the core returning.

Moving on from Taylor sounds like a plan without a solution. We know it's not EJ. So is Cardale the new 'Plan A'? And they're expecting him to be ready and able to lead an NFL offense 2017? There's no evidence right now that he's ready or will be ready and it sounds like a major gamble at the most important position . And if the team is convinced none of their current QB's should be the 2017 starter then its some available free agent, a trade, of a 2017 draft choice. Forgive me but I don't see anyone out there in free agency or a good QB without some baggage that some other team would be wiling to trade. And the draft looks weak. I see no credible option better than TT. So moving on with who?

The 6 million sounds like is might be simple random probability. You might need to consider that each team has a 25% chance of winning a division title but in the case of the Bills their actual chance of winning the division has been close to 0% given the Patriots dominance. Which leave you with a 16.7% chance of getting a wildcard spot. Statistically, I'm not sure how that works out to odds.

Or they just don't have a clue on how to deal openly and honestly with the press and their fans. If Rex was let go with 1 week to go in the season because he wouldn't sit Tyrod to avoid injury in a meaningless game Brandon and Whaley (and perhaps the Pegula's) should have shown the intestinal fortitude to come out before the press and say that's the reason they made this decision rather than waiting until the final game. The excuse this is the regular coaches PC is weak given the changes, rumors, and confusion that have transpired the past few days. Or was Rex let go early because they wanted to avoid a potential circus atmosphere the last week of the season playing the Jets and also give Lynn a one-game experience as the HC? Or sit Taylor to give EJ a final game to show his worth? What harm could a little truth and transparency do? My problem with management at this point is they appear to be both incompetent and dishonest. I sincerely doubt that is the kind of operation Terry Pegula has in mind and I wish to the Football Gods that the light would come on in his mind and he'd come to the realization these guys are clowns, something radical needs to be done, and he'd clean house and bring in some new blood with an fresh perspective.

I'm not hating the choice of Lynn as the next head coach but I'm more concerned about the selection process than I am about who ends up as the next coach of the Bills. It might be because I'm living in Jets-land and I had more exposure to Rex and his antics, but all the problems you highlight with Rex with the Bills were foreseeable based on his body of work with the Jets. We layed 80 points on the defensive genius in 2 games on his Jets defense the prior season so how much more obvious can it be that his self-proclaimed defensive genius status might be false bravado? I'd speculate that after Rex was hired the majority of the board expected we'd be sitting here in coach-search mode either 2 or 3 years later and 2 years later here we are. It's simply amazing the people sitting in on the decision process can't see the obvious. Apparently regardless of all the evidence to question all his bluster, Rex wowed and bamboozled the Pegula's, Brandon, and Whaley. So unless this is a case of learning from mistakes can we really trust the same process and the same people to make a better decision?

For what its worth, this quote about the decision with Taylor was on ESPN.com article on Ryan's firing. "EJ (Manuel) playing is strictly for injury reasons in Tyrod's deal," one Bills source said. "We already know who EJ is, and Cardale (Jones) is not ready." http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/18358134/buffalo-bills-cautious-tyrod-taylor-plan-start-ej-manuel-week-17-new-york-jets

Something happened in the past and the Jets will not allow players or staff to come on his show anymore. But I think he was correct about Rex.

Yes. For some reason it appeared the Bills coaches had no idea that Miami would be attempting a FG with time running out. When they ran the FG unit out the Bills had 10 players on the field which was likely a mix of the defense and special teams groups. I don't really think screwing up the timeout call mattered because it seems like nobody ever misses a long kick against the Bills. The sad thing is everything else they needed to happen yesterday happened. To torture us further I expect the football gods to dial up losses by the Ravens and Broncos today.

Under different circumstances signing Gilmore to a big deal would make sense but given how poor this defense is the money might be wisely spent elsewhere. This defense is just too slow all over but noticeably at OLB. And the safety position needs a significant upgrade.