All_Pro_Bills

I would be shocked if Cleveland offered the job to Pettine given the circumstances of the Browns current situation. The most likely scenario is an NFL team wouldn't hire a DC with just 1 season of experience away from his mentor. The wildcard here is that we're talking about an owner and front office that appears dysfunctional so maybe they buck the odds..

Along with all those Super Bowl Champions hats and shirts for the losing team that get produced before the big game!

The Lynch trade comes up every time Seattle makes some noise. But the Lynch trade might not be the worst all-time for the Bills, not even close. For old-timers (sorry for that label guys) who lived through the AFL days trading Daryle Lamonica to the Raiders might be remembered as the worst trade ever. Lamonica finished his career with a 90% winning percentage, highest in the history of pro football.

Didn't see this discussed anywhere today. SI's latest mock draft version 4.0 has Bills taking TE Ebron with their pick at 9. Good choice but If it falls this way I would prefer either Watkins or Mosley. http://nfl.si.com/2014/01/08/2014-nfl-mock-draft-johnny-manziel-2/ Thoughts on the three?

Don't think the Bills should pull the plug on EJ after season one but they need to have a viable "Plan B" for the 2014 beyond Tuel and Lewis. That plan might not be selecting another QB at #9 in round 1 but it should include taking a look at free agent veterans and determining which can be a clear upgrade in proven performance (not potential) over the current #2 and #3 QB's on the roster now. They can't go into the 2014 season banking on improvement from Manuel and if it doesn't materialize be faced with the prospect of accepting another 6-10 season. The defense should improve with a season of the new system under their belt and the likelihood of plugging in 1 or 2 upgrades to the starting lineup has the potential to be top 5 against run and pass. And on the other side of the ball addressing needs at WR, G, and TE (maybe OT) could solidfy this unit. And even if EJ improves to the point of just average it should be enough to post 3 or 4 more wins. But if he doesn't you better have somebody on the roster that can take over.

The draft class looks to be very deep this year so trading back to collect a few more picks might be a good strategy. But that might work against finding somebody willing to trade back unless its a team that's in love with a particular player. Maybe Dallas would jump at the chance to pick Manziel for example, because Jerry likes to make a splash and draw the spotlight (and maybe truly has lost confidence in Romo depite public statements?). The decision to accept a trade-back offer might boil down to the difference between selecting one 'game changer' vs. two 'good' players. Given the Bills have a few holes, but not as many as year past, is this the right approach? I am not sure. Lets say Mack is still on the board, which seem unlikely to me right now at #9. If you can get one guy to potentially set up your defense to be dominant top 5, run and pass, does it make sense to trade back and pick up a guard and tight end on the other side of the ball?

Kudos to the OP for the lengthy analysis of the options presented. Whether I agree or not I am impressed by the amount of thought and effort that went into it. In my view it will be a major mistake for the Bills to go into the 2014 assuming that EJ Manuel, or Lewis, or Tuel, can be a consistent and competent starting NFL caliber QB in 2014. EJ's grade to this point is incomplete given his the amount of practice and playing time he missed in pre-season and the regular season. His performance was uneven and in my opinion even declined as the season progressed. The team needs to consider a veteran free agent option. I wouldn't go so far as to suggest they should pursue a guy like Cutler but there will be some options out there that should be considered in the event EJ does not progress. Unless they believe Lewis or Tuel will be adaquate in place of EJ you can't take that risk. The bottom line is that given what we've seen to this point I can't see how anyone can conclude with any certainty that EJ is up to the task of playing the NFL QB position at a high performance level. High enough to get this team into the playoffs and make the one or two big time plays needed to win those close games that will get the team to the 10 or 11 win level. The Marrone plan was for year one to be the time for on the job training for EJ. The fact that circumstances prevented it from producing the desired result doesn't mean it shifts to year two. With the foundations of a solid defense and the expectation that a few weak spots on both sides of the ball are going to get addressed this team can't afford to 'nurse' a 2nd year QB while all other areas of the team are 'playoff ready'. They owe it to the fans and veteran players not to 'waste' another year on developing a QB that may or may not develop. Spend the money to bring in somebody that has already demonstrated the abiltiy to do the job.

The Bills need to assess the available free agent veteran QB's available bring one of them in to be that leader and potential starter should EJ not improve enough to earn the starting job. They can't devote season-two of the Marrone era to another year of on-the-job rookie QB training experiment. That is what this season was supposed to be about but injuries and the missed playing time didn't let that happen. Year one was about putting in the foundation, year two is about seeing some success and pushing for the playoffs not repeating the failed mission of training a QB while another season of every other players careers are wasted. Year two is about results and not promise, period. Nothing less.

I'm not clear how you can say TL was 'awful' yesterday. His stat line was a respectable 16 for 29 for 247 yards and 1 TD with 4 sacks. While he missed on a few passes he was also victim of a couple drops, notably Grahams 4th down drop that hit him in the numbers. The typical kind of bonehead play or two the Bills throw in that blows any chance to win games against good teams. And given the conditions Brady was less than exceptional yesterday too. The Bills did not lose the game as a result of Thad Lewis' performance. Regardless, I do tend to agree with Bill in NYC's assessment that if you had to pick EJ or TL to play a game right now all things equal you'd have to pick Lewis. Its a matter of observed performance over potential. A big part of this season was about finding out if Manuel was going to be 'the guy'. Given time missed that is inconclusive. The Bills simply cannot afford to go into next season assuming Manuel is going to be the uncontested starter. Frankly I didn't see enough good things out of him to determine if he has the 'it' factor to be a franchise type QB and if he can't shake the injury bug durability issues are going to creep into the conversation. What concerns me most with EJ is that he was advertised as having a strong arm but I did not see much throwing into tight coverage, zipping the ball, putting some hard, tight, fast throws on the target. He seemed tentative, to be aiming the ball, and floating the ball. Minimally, the Bills need to bring in another veteran to do more than mentor EJ. They need somebody that can push him and if needed be a competent starter to point a lot more points on the board next season. We can't waste what is expected to be an improved and possiblly elite defense with a few additions stacked with veteran players and another year of Fred Jackson and Spiller with on-the-job training of an unproven QB. The Bills need to win in 2014, nothing less is going to be considered success.

Like Benjamin too but I think he's going to be a 2nd round selection pending the BCS title game and Draft Combine to give teams more info. Mack LB or Lewan OT in round one and Benjamin in the round two would fill 2 of 3 critical needs and the Bills have signifcant cap money to sign Byrd and pursue free agents..

The longer Cowher is out of coaching the less likely it is for him to return. He's got a pretty good in-studio gig right now with CBS. Not a lot of travel, much less stress, and a lot less demanding of his time than an NFL head coaching position. I'm not clear why a guy in his position, considering he's already achieved the ultimate goal of winning a Super Bowl, would be interested in any NFL head coaching job right now considering the demands of the job. As for Marrone, I think its a way too early after just one season to conclude the guy doesn't have what it takes to be a successful head coach. The problem we as Bills fans have, me included, is that after 14 seasons of not sniffing the playoffs we've become understandably impatient. We've been patient for the entire 21st century and have gotten nothing to show for that, we want to see some results ASAP. And if we start to get that Groundhog Day sense that we've seen this before then all the alarms start going off. I understand the OP's point of view but I believe the team and staff has a different 'feel' at the end of this season and I expect Marrone is going to assess the season, learn from what worked and what didn't, then make some changes, and deliver.

Over these 4 games the Jets turned the ball over 18 times vs. the Pats 2. That pretty much says it all..

I'll be satisfied if the Bills defense shows no fear or awe and gives Brady and NE's offense the same inhospitable and physical treatment they just applied to the Dolphins. There's nothing to lose here. Play aggressive, physical man-to-man at the line of scrimmage and knock the receivers off their timing and cross patterns. Bust up those set pick plays, the crossing patterns over the middle and to the sidelines. Cover the 15+ dump-offs to the the RB circling out of the backfield that always go for decent yardage. Be ready for those triple set quick screens to the left and right. Bring pressure on Brady up the middle, get your arms up in the passing lanes, get in his face, put him on his back side a dozen times. On offense protect the football, no cheap turnover points. And if they happen to win I'd consider it a little something extra to toast on New Years Eve!

Yesterday's win was a great effort against a Miami team fighting for a playoff spot but also to me a hollow victory. It left me asking where this effort was coming off the bye week when it would have mattered against the Falcons, Steelers, and Buc's? Win 2 of those 3 and we'd have a great shot at the final playoff spot and next Sunday's game would mean something. Now, while a Bills win might make us feel better going in to the off-season for all practical purposes all it does is drop them out of a top 10 spot in the draft. I don't see the Bills beating NE next week with the Colts and Bengals right behind them for the #2 spot and a bye week at stake. If NE loses and Cincinnati and Indianapolis both win they'd all finish at 10-5. I'm not clear on all the tie breakers but the Bengals beat them in week 5. I hate but in some ways respect that team and I suspect they'll come in and take care of business with the 2 seed on the line. On the positive side I see a Bills defense (that gave up too many big plays all season - 20+ yards) that has evolved over the course of the season and has the potential to become a top 5 with an upgrade at OLB to go along with a year of experience with Pettine's system. The offense needs upgrades at WR and O-line (and TE?) along with EJ staying healthy and demonstrating some signiciant improvement in playing the pro game. A veteran back up without a concusion history too. Keeping Byrd would be a plus. Also need a new punter because it looks like Moorman is done.

When the forecast calls for snow in NY/NJ metro area you'll see the first ten minutes of the local news devoted to stories about the impending storm focusing on the forecast, the preparations of local towns and cities, and interviews with individuals they can find (usually at the store buying shovels and salt). The supermarkets are total choas the night before, people emptying the shelves of all the bread, milk, and eggs in the store. Why they don't have enough food at home already for one day is never questioned nor is what appears to be a local traditonal of eating eggs and drinking milk when it snows. Living in NJ and being from WNY, it's a constant source of entertainment and humor for me. This all for what usually amounts to 3 or 4 inches of snow. And since most drivers don't understand the concept of altering their driving behavior to align with the road and weather conditions there are usually a lot of accidents. I suspect they'll have a significant snow removal force assembled for the SuperBowl but if its a lot of snow it might be a problem. And nothing much they can do about the cold temperatures.

Would love to see the Bills knock off NE but I doubt it will happen. Because it just cannot be allowed to happen. Call me cynical but the league won't want it to happen and the officials will make sure it doesn't. Just like they've done 2 or 3 times for them already this season. With the Bills leading by 2 points with under a minute left they'll get flagged for a 40 yard PI call on 4th and 20 from the NE 10 when replay shows the defender never touched the receiver. A couple more plays and they're in position to kick a 52 yard FG to win the game. And since nobody ever seems to miss a long FG against the Bills the home team gets into the playoffs a 24-23 win. And we get to watch the stinkin' replay of the kick all night on ESPN/NFL Network without mention of the bogus PI call.

Jerry Jones believes he's doing a fantastic job as GM and hiring someone to act as GM is unnecessary. If you understand his view of what the GM is expected to do in his organization you'll know why. Jerry thinks the job of the 'personnel guys' is to bring the facts about a specific player to the owner, lay out their arguments, present the alternatives, and then sit back and let the owner make the final decision. The GM in his mind is absolutely not a person that is capable or empowered to make a decision without full involvement and consent from the owner. This isn't meddling, this is micro-managing the organization and having such a bloated ego that you believe you're the smartest guy in the room no matter what the subject. I'd be surprised if the guy in the mail room can lick a stamp at Cowboy Stadium without getting approval. Business marketing, football personnel, deep space astronomy, you name it. Jerry's the guy. And after all, its his money and the Cowboys are the 'toy' he paid for. Why should he pay somebody else to play with it? He won't get rid of Romo if only because doing so will be an admission that his judgment about TR was incorrect. And for an ego-maniac to admit they are wrong is near impossible. So maybe the folks here thinking he might target Manziel are right because in Jerry's world the Cowboys always believe the team is just one player away and Johnny Football is the guy that can create the buzz they need to keep the dream alive for at least another season.

The real problem is the Bills had no 'Plan B' here and the value of Levitre is relative to the alternatives the team has available. Which given what we've seen from the play at the LG position all season was nothing much. Maybe he wasn't worth $8 Mil per season but facing the alternative of a substandard offensive line (with a rookie QB) it might have made sense in that situation. Especially when you have no cap issues to contend with. If you've got another player ready that will give you the same or close to the same level of play then making the decision solely based on money might make sense. Look at the Steelers for example. They've let players walk (LB, WR etc.) during the course of time because they had other players on the bench being groomed that could fill the spot. The mistake the Bills have consistently made is not re-signing players at a position where they have no viable back up on the roster and then they fail to acquire legitimate alternatives. Letting players go based on a proven system of roster and cap management is one thing but letting them go and having it result in your team being weaker or creating a hole is a good way to 'run in place' forever. Let's see if this Brandon/Whaley/Marrone team approaches this differently or not.

I still plan on watching the game on Sunday but my level of interest would be a lot higher if the game meant something more than jockeying for draft position. Perhaps we'll get a glimmer of hope from a solid performance by EJ? And maybe that's the thing to watch for in the last 3 games. Will EJ show improvement that might provide Bills fans some comfort through the long off season that the team has a potential 'good' QB? And maybe this week the defense won't give up any big plays for once this season? And they won't get called for holding on what seems like every decent punt and kick off return?

News out of Jacksonville indicates Jordan Todman, former practice squad player for a couple teams, may start at RB. This will probably be yet another case of an obscure running back having his career high rushing game against the Bills. Seems like they do it a couple times a year and the perfect set up appears in place for it to happen again. Something like 22 carries for 149 yards and a TD would be typical. Then the guy disappears forever..

I went back to Draft Insider to see what they said about EJ prior to the draft. They concluded he offers starting 'potential'. Sounds about right to me based on the body of work so far except a couple things IMO I disagree with which I'll bold. The underlined statement might be a negative since that positive got him hurt. The negatives are right-on. Bio: Full-time starter the past two seasons and awarded all-Conference honors as a senior. Passing totals last season included 68%/3392 yards/23 TDs/10 Interceptions. Junior totals included 65.3%/2666/18/8. Positive: Athletic quarterback who makes plays with his arm and legs. Patient in the pocket, remains poised under the rush, and possesses a quick, powerful release. Gets rid of the ball with a flick of his wrist, drives deep passes downfield or powers the ball through tight windows. Loses nothing passing on the move, effective running with the ball, and keeps the play in bounds trying to pick up as much yardage as possible. Flashes the ability to throw beautiful strikes down the field. Can escape the rush, improvises when things break down, and makes a lot of athletic plays on the field. Consistently keeps his eyes downfield looking for targets and stays in the game. Negative: Inconsistent with his mechanics setting up and delivering the ball. Must improve his accuracy and pass placement. Late getting the ball to receivers or finding secondary targets. Doesn't show good timing on throws. Makes poor choices throwing the ball. Analysis: From a physical standpoint Manuel rates with any quarterback in this draft, yet he displayed minimal development last season at the position. He offers starting potential at the next level, yet is a passer who needs work from the ground up and is a long way from being NFL-ready.

The first Bills game I remember is the AFL championship game against the Chiefs which decided who would lose to Green Bay in SB I (that was before they called it the Super Bowl). I also think there is more than the incompetence of the Peter Principle and the suspected insecurity of the leader. My big issue is simply that winning has never been a priority of ownership. Sure, we might be able to cite a couple examples where Mr. Wilson mentioned the importance of winning but this has not translated to action in the organization and ownership has not taken enough responsibility for those failures. And with the exception of a few periods of success this franchise has been a consistent failure on the field of competition. Why? Because winning is not a goal. Many believe making as big a profit as possible is the goal of the Bills management team and while all businesses should seek to make and maximize profits the goals of making money and satisfying their customers (in this case winning would satisfy Bills fans) are not necessarily incompatible. Making statements as Mr. Wilson has many times that the reason for losing is that the team doesn't have enough talent shows a lack of accountability. If you're the leader and make that statement you've got to look in the mirror and see the source of that problem is you! You hired the guys who are evaluating and acquiring talent. So if they can't do the job then its your fault for hiring them into that position. I know they're out of favor and this might strike a nerve for many but contrast this with the Sabres. Sure they stink now but when Pegula took over he put winning as priority number one. The sole reason for the organization and team to exist if I recall. His mistake was a failure to recognize that he was pursuing a course of action (with Reiger) that had a proven record of failure - the failure being not able to successfully lead the organization to acheive the goal of winning. He let his emotional attachment to the GM (and the team) get in the way of logic but finally realized or was convinced that this GM was not going to move the team forward to that goal. After waiting a little too long to take action, I believe he did move in the right direction by bringing in LaFontaine and Nolan to stablize the situation and re-set the plan. Which one would you prefer, 50 years never having the goal of winning a championship or having that goal and waiting a couple years too long to realize you made a mistake and correcting it?

As my wife and I watched the end of the Cleveland- New England game and the PI flag was thrown I glaced over to her silently and she said 'go ahead and say it'. So I said 'OK, i will. If it was the Bills they would never have thrown that flag for pass interference and we would have lost the game'. Honestly, how many of us feel that way? And truth be told, how many fans of some other also-ran franchises feel that way? The problem is not one of conspiracy but rather of complication and inconsistency. The ref's have too many rules to enforce and they do not consistently call the game team by team for 60 minutes much less call them consistently throughout the league on any Sunday afternoon. Hit on a defenseless receiver? Define defenseless. Is a guy that is catching a touchdown pass getting hit by a safety with a shoulder trying to jar the ball loose defenseless? For some crews and teams yes, for others no. When a WR gets nailed a couple seconds later as the ball sails over his head or a cheap shot out of bounds I can see that call. You know it when you see it. Protect the QB? I understand late, head, and low hits but if you want to protect the QB then you should block better. Why should a defender get a flag simply because he hit the QB 'hard' within the context of the game just as the ball is released? What's the guy supposed to do? Lay down a pillow under him first? Too many rules, too much regulation, too much commericalism, too many games decided by suspect calls rather than football plays is ruining the game and beginning to alienate the core fan.

SJ drops too many passes and has gotten flagged for a lot of stupid demonstration penalties in the past (although I can't recall any this season). Whether the drops are a lack of concentration, hand to eye coordination, or something else, he isn't that clutch guy you can count on to make a play when it matters. That seems obvious to all. Another part of his problem is his candid honesty in making comments to the press and public. He tells you what he really thinks and sometimes its better to keep things to yourself or in the locker room. The team needs an upgrade at the #1 receivers spot. If you look around the league most successful passing games have big, physical, athletic WR' (or TE's which is another area). You're not going to win the phyical battles downfield when your receivers are outmuscled by aggressive secondary play. SJ isn't that guy but who on the roster is?

The problem I had with the Robey call was the contact between the CB and WR was within the context of how the game was being called to that point. So suddenly late in the 4th quarter the downfield official decides that contact warranting a PI penalty is judged to a looser different standard than the previous 58 minutes of the game. That's my issue, if that is PI then other instances where both teams were guilty should have been flagged during the game. But they were not. The way the game was called to that point set the understanding for both the recievers and secondary on how the game would be called and what they could and could not do as defined by the enforcement of the rules. To call it then, and to clearly insert the officials into determining the outcome of the game is unacceptable. The officials need to call the game on a consistent basis for 60 minutes, not 58.