All_Pro_Bills

True. Knowing that ownership change is a certainty, and might come at anytime, will keep the kind of high powered coach we need out of the mix. Simply, very few people are going to leave a steady, and presumably high paying and satisfying gig, to take a pro-level head coaching job knowing that it might be a one year stint since any new owner is likely to take a serious look at bringing in a guy of his choosing.

At 3-6 they’ll be hosting Miami on the national Thursday night game so they have the opportunity to turn things around in front of the entire football world or get embarrassed if they continue to play in the manner seen to date. A slide to 3-7 would pretty much close the book on talk of contending for a playoff spot. Then we’ll be faced with discussing the merits of finishing strong or losing out and getting a better draft position for a shot at one of the ‘franchise QB’ prospects. Along with speculating on the next GM and Head Coach which will probably be disappointing choices to most here and lead to another 3 years of futility as ‘groundhog day’ continues for Bills fans.

Before the season I thought predictions of the Bills making the playoffs were a sure sign that those end of the world prophecies were true. But now with prospects for a playoff spot fading faster than the nighttime temperatures in the Fall I feel certain we'll live to see the 2013 season. As tradition requires, we will be lead to believe that improvements have been made and winning is sure to follow only to be bitterly disappointed one more time.

An interesting article from a Toronto hockey guy talking about the similarities between the Bills and Leafs and why losers keep losing. http://editorinleaf....ses-remain-bad/ To paraphase one moral of the story, stating your accountable, and we'll look at what we're doing, means nothing if you do nothing to follow it up with action. Accountability means the owner holds the GM accountable, the GM holds the HC accountable, the HQ holds his coaching staff and the players accountable. And the players hold each other accountable. And there are consequences to failure. The fact that Kelsay, a player on the defense, has to step up and call people out for lack of effort means nobody in the organization above the level of players on the field is holding anyone accountable for what is going on here. While Mario's performance is an issue, IMO his situation is more a symptom of the problem than the cause of the problem. There a lots of players in the NFL with 'guaranteed' contracts and they are not coasting through the game each week. Ownership is soft, the front office is soft, the coaching staff is soft. So the players play soft too. Years ago I remember seeing a note our VP sent to my boss on a recurring problem. It said 'get results now or I will!' Raplh needs to send one of those notes to Buddy, and Buddy needs to kick some coaching backside ASAP. This team needs to develop a mean and nasty attitude and carry that onto the field against the opposition on every play. You don't get there by making excuses and ducking the obvious.

But except for a few 'improvements' (Gilmore, M. Williams) this is the same group as last season. So you'd expect the results to be slightly to somewhat better. IMO the source that spoke the quoted title of this thread is either lying or totally delussional. There is a lot wrong with this defense which can be proven just by looking at the results. There's nothing wrong but you are consistently giving up 35+ points per game, over 500 yards, and guys are having career games against you week after week? Come on Bills, be honest with yourself. This defense is too passive and predictable. The pass rush is mostly 4 man standard straight ahead rush with no stunting, moving players around, or blitzing, Sending DE's and DT's into pass coverage is insane. The linebackers always seem to be out of position. Receivers are running free and open consistently. You got 7 or 8 guys in coverage but the receiver catches the ball and you're watching the game on TV waiting for a defender to appear on the screen. Who are these guys covering, what are they doing during the play? This group needs an aggressive, in your face type defensive coordinator that is going to push them and kick them in the butts to either play the scheme well or will adjust the scheme to suit the situation or the ability of the players available. We don't need a guy that appears to sit calmly and casually up in the sky box calling plays down to the sidelines sucking down a couple beers and eating hot dogs. This team needs some positive emotion and that's not coming from the current DC. And if Mario doesn't care what people think then he's got a real problem with dealing with accountability. I saw Merriman taking his spot late, a guy that was on the street earlier last week. Say what you want about Shawn but at least he brings some emotion and fire to the party. We need all 11 guys playing that way not just sleepwalking through the game.

Or we are. Watching the games, thinking improvements are being made, and expecting them to win!

It would be a pleasant surprise if Wannstedt was replaced during the bye. Whatever he's trying to do it's not working, that has to be clear to everyone including the HC. The numbers speak for themselves along with the 'career' games that opponents are having against this 'D' so far this season. No more excuses or explanations please. This defense sucks. The decision to make a change all boils down to accountability. Are people doing their jobs in a competent manner and getting results? If not, changes are needed and if no changes are made it points to a lack of leadership holding the members of the organization (on and off the field) accountable the results. The marching orders to change something need to come from the top. The owner and GM should be totally livid and demanding of action at this point. But given his age and health I suspect Ralph is more of an absentee owner at this point so don't expect any demands for change to be generated out of ownership. And I suspect Nix isn't going to take action either since its likely he's going to give way to Whaley this offseason when Gailey is fired and we start the 'rebuilding' process yet again with a new coaching staff. My hope is enough of the Steelers culture has rubbed off on Whaley so he can bring a new approach to the Bills next year.

Pathetic. Absolutely nobody stepped up to make a play when it mattered down the stretch. On offense, defense, or the coaching staff. Complete choke job in the final minutes. Coaching staff has no situational awareness during critical points in the game. Not going for 2 rather than take the extra point to go up 34-28? They believed their defense was going to pitch a shutout the rest of the way? Are they watching? And those plays prior to the Fitz int. Hey, run the ball and the clock and make them burn their timeouts. And Wanny's defense is awful. No creativity whatsoever. Its like I'm watching a pre-season vanilla defense out there in week 7. And Mario Williams? I see Merriman lined up in his spot late in the 4th. A guy that was on the street last week subing for a $100 million player. Wanted: New HQ, new DC, new QB, new owner. And getting rid of Moorman, that new guy sucks. 21 yard kick when they needed a boomer. This team is unwatchable and might be the worst Bills team ever vs. expectations. Watch (or don't watch if you prefer) absolutely nothing happen or change during the bye and a blowout loss to the Texans in two weeks.

I am not clear why they even need to report injuries? To be fair to the opponent? For player 'safety'? So people can adjust their fantasy team line ups? My suspicion has always been that the true value is with bookies so they can factor in who might or might not play into the point spread. But then, the NFL says they don't condone gambling so that can't be true.

The key need for the Bills is QB and until that is resolved you can get anybody you want at WR and the difference is going to be marginal. Look at the Manning brothers, Brady, or Aaron Rodgers. Doesn't seem to matter much for those guys who is lined up at WR. That's what a good QB will do, make everybody better. We don't have that, that's what's missing. Solve that problem as priority #1. If you can get a guy like Bowe at a reasonable price then get him but don't think that solves the problem. WR is not THE problem.

Reality is the team is going to win or loss with Fitzpatrick this season. Neither Thigpen or Jackson look like solutions. I am not even sure why the GM felt the need to acquire Jackson but that's a story for another thread. Fitz is a likeable guy and has some good qualities but his lack of accuracy is a real liability. But as Buddy might say you dance with the date you brought to the ballroom. Like it or not barring any serious injury or revelation by the coaching staff we're stuck with Fitz for the season Acquiring a franchise type QB to lead this team has to be the priority next offseason. Outside of shoring up the LBer's and finding another WR this team has no more important need. I'll support the team for the remainder of the season and hope for the best with a wildcard spot a possibility. But until they commit to resolve the QB situation, which has been lingering since Kelly retired many seasons ago, this team will not take the next step to compete with the elite teams of the league for a title.

A quick glance at the schedule and results weeks two through five shows teams that played Thursday night at 3-5 the next week.

Put another way, at the end of the day it's results that matter not effort.

You are right, the team will be sold and another owner or ownership group will take over control of the team. What people are looking for is some insight into the relocation question. And they are not going to get it. An answer to that question at this point would do great harm to current ticket sales. With the exception of hardcore fans if it was known the team would relocate then the majority of people might not attend games any longer. And if they knew the team was staying they'd probably hold onto their funds until a new owner took over with the hope that things might change for the better. Its likely that the interested parties are known but the specific outcome of the bidding is not so the exact result, stay or move, is not clear.

The irony here is that Wade apparently caved in and started Johnson over his choice which was Flutie but then held his ground and refused to fire the special teams coach. That's where he drew the line. Not invoking principal and his authority as head coach when it came to making the decision on who to start at QB and protecting the team but rather when it came to protecting a personal friend from dismissal.

This team has multiple problems that trading FJ is not going to solve. From what I’ve observed these are erratic quarterback play and inept defensive performance in 3 blowout losses. As far as quarterback goes there isn’t a long term solution on the roster unless you believe T. Jackson has starter potential and is capable of running the offense that Gailey wants to execute. His physical toolset is better than Fitz but can he assimilate the offensive game plan to a level necessary to play competently this season? I think we can write off Thigpen as a solution. To throw the idea out there, to me the most obvious thing to do would be to play Fitz into the bye week acknowledging he’s no franchise QB (hoping they can go into it at 4-3 or 3-4) and then use the bye week and bring Jackson in the take over the position for the remainder of the season. Then plan using the draft to acquire the Franchise QB in round 1 through whatever draft position and picks are at their disposal to pick at their spot of move up via trade. The defense is another story. There’s no excuse for the defensive line, regardless of the scheme or coaching, to play this poorly. It’s either chemistry, motivation, or lack of effort and that ripples through to the LBs and DBs. That said, I think the defensive scheme and strategy is passive and predictable so either the coordinator starts to dial up some aggression and confusion for the offense or he gets the boot. You look at the top defenses and they have many attributes in common, great talent, aggressive scheme, and the ability to create a lot of uncertainly for the offense by using multiple formations, blitzes, coverage schemes, etc. I’ve seen none of that from this team.

From what I've seen Gilmore, for a rookie at a tough position, has pretty much met expectations of a 1st round corner. With some experience and progression he has the potential to be a very good corner. I am waiting to see some kind of pass rush before pointing to any specific player in the secondary as the source of the problem. Playing corner for the Bills is like covering a guy playing 2 on 2 street football with a designated QB and no pass rusher. The receivers are zig-zagging around for 20 seconds (running behind cars, setting picks!) and sooner or later they're going to get open.

There's nothing I dread more at this point than seeing the 'reset' button being pushed on this perpetual rebuilding effort. But it looks like we're headed in that direction. 3 years and who's next? And can expect anything to change? Other than as you say the names. That is what is discouraging, not the losses, not the poor play but the never ending cycle of futility. And I disagree with the OP's conclusion that this fan base is weak. Far from it, this fan base has endured more pain and suffering than almost any fan base on the planet of any sport. And they keep getting up to go another round.

The ultimate party to blame is us, the fans. We continue to buy the product year after year regardless of the sub-standard results and consistent losing seasons. I was listening yesterday to WFAN in NY talk about the Jets and that there are some 12,000 seats unsold for tonights game against the Texans. And a statement was made that 'the one thing owners hate is empty seats'. That will get a coach and GM fired more than anything. But one thing fans boycotting the game in NY won't do is force a decision of the Jets to relocate. Boycotting the product is certainly something Bills fans could do, and have done in the past such as during the dark ages of the mid-80's. But the relocation 'card' is at play here and its one that most franschise's fans do no thave to deal with - the constant threat of relocation. For Bills fans its a form of extortion. Buy the product and the team might stay but don't buy it and they'll surely relocate. Ralph and his financial management team know this and they are more than capable of playing this extortion game against the fans year after year recentlty. By not revealing a succession plan they can perpetuate this situation since letting us all in on what is going to happen would eliminate their ability to use this weapon to fill seats until that plan is executed. If fans knew the team was leaving anyway the stadium would be empty right now. If they knew the team was going to stay they'd save their money now and buy tickets later when the new ownership group was in place with the expectation that things were going to improve. Continuing an environment of uncertainly with regards to relocation and fan support guarantees that the revenue stream and profits will be uninterrupted for as long as is necessary until the time comes for that decision to be made.

I was into the game in the first half until the bonehead decision to try to make something of the 'excellent' starting field position of their own 17 after recovering the 49ers fumble with less than a minute left in the half. Down by one score and knowing your teams struggles lately most coaches would opt to run out the clock and go into halftime down one score knowing you get the ball first in the 2nd half. Not our coach, he's 'going for it'. I'm pretty sure we were all thinking the same thing was going to happen and right on script the Bills cough up the ball right back. Now you go into halftime down 17-3 and the game is for all intents and purposes over. Simply pathetic and inexcusable game management and situational awareness by the HC.

If you have Kolb on your fantasy team you start him next week. The Cards have a pretty good defense. RIght now I can't see the Bills winning this game unless some dramatic turnaround occurs next Sunday. I've come the grips with the hard truth that this team will see no success on the field until ownership changes hands and along with that comes a lot of uncertainty about the team staying in WNY.

We need a better QB and without one this team is not going anywhere. I had always thought his intelligence could compensate somewhat for his lack of physical skills but I was wrong and his judgment and accuracy have been terrible. He seems incapable of running the offense he's been asked to lead. Rather than improving this team is regressing and is uncompetitive. And I expect that Chan and Dave are finished before the season is over.

time for the back up..

Nice call Chan - what a jerk. 49ers 2 timeouts with 45 seconds left the guy can't just run out the clock and get the ball first after halftime. HQ just lost the game for the players. That TD throw was so predictable. Who didn't see that was going to happen after the fumble? Fire the guy on Monday! Enough already with this nonesense...

Something that most astute fans determined pretty quick watching the game on Sunday yet the person that could actually do something about it apparently missed the obvious. This is the most disturbing aspect of the situation, Plus we have a head coach that abdicates responsibility for the defense to a coordinator that devises an inferior gameplan and does not seem to grasp the concept of adaptation and the dynamics of strategy and tactics that are needed to be used during the game. Play after play without adjustments or variation NE knew exactly what was coming and tore through that defense. You can bet that the Bills players on the field knew the scheme was awful and were confused and demoralized that the DC refused to adjust.