All_Pro_Bills

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.

Got to say that Russ Brandon is an absolute marketing genius. Year after year this team creates the message of 'hope' among the fans and keeps the faithful coming back for more. Only to disappoint us time and time again. Heck, its been dragging me back in year after year. Sign a free agent here and there, bring in a new regime, have a 'great' offseason. Blue skies and winning are always just around the corner with the latest change but never do seem to appear. This guy could sell a glass of water to a drowning man or one step better the idea of a playoff berth to Bills fans.

NE players won't be receiving any fines or penalties for last Sunday's game. The regular officiating crews are back along with the preferential treatment certain teams and players receive. That's something I didn't miss during the lockout.

I'm not going to disagree with you and I have zero experience as an NFL defensive coordinator but I know what I see and no professional defense should surrender 86 points (plus 1 int for a TD and 1 punt return for another 14) in two division games. Whether its talent, execution, or scheme implemented by the DC I am weary of excuses and explanations. After 12 seasons of non-playoff futility and several GM/HC changes this is unacceptable. This regime is in its 3rd year and IMO given that timeline we are way past the point of using the talent excuse. You've had 3 seasons to get things in order and get the necessary talent and strategy in place. Either you can do it or you can't since its been demonstrated time and again that competent management and coaching can turn a profession program around in that amount of time.

NE ran their offense like they attended the Bills defensive practices the week before the game. Predictable is the word, they seemed to know everything the Bills would do, which was stick with the same basic set throughout the game with little variation. The gameplan was awful and the results even worse. I'd rather have Madden NFL 2012 calling the defense than Wanny.

I saw the same thing. One thing the regular refs do that the replacement refs did not is give preferential treatment to some of the 'star' players. The replacement officials for all their shortcomings were impartial when it came to their calls (good or bad). While the sports media had a field day pissing and moaning about the replacement officials you'll never hear a peep out of any of them about this obvious situation every Sunday. When I saw it was one of the league darlings, Green Bay, get screwed by a bad call I knew the strike would be over shortly. If it was the Bills instead, we'd still have the replacements.

You hit the nail on the head here. The Bills have been disadvantaged via coaching matchups, I dare say since Wade was run out of town. Not that Wade was top tier but he did put out a great defense and was the last coach to take us to the playoffs. The hard truth since is that working under the current ownership as head coach has not been a hot gig for members of the coaching profession, So we get a constant flow of 'B' level coaching and it shows on the field every Sunday and especially when going up against the top teams.

100 points allowed in 2 division games is valid cause for concern. These are the teams you need to beat to get into the playoffs. At this point I can envision the Bills dropping all 6 division contests this season. Miami, although they are 1-3, played hard and tough against an undefeated Arizona team on Sunday falling once again in overtime. The Bills on the other hand folded rather the going down fighting in the second half as soon as NE took the lead. The Bills defensive gameplan was so bad and without adjustments it appeared that NE's offense completely understood the Bills defensive strategy like they attended the Bills practices and knew exactly what to expect. And on offense continuing to have Fitz throw the ball 30+ times is asking for trouble. This shows a lack of creativity and flexibility needed to approach each game as a unique set of challenges rather than following a cookie cutter approach on offense. I'll wager the approach Gailey takes against the 49ers, even without two o-line starters, is not significantly different than what we saw on Sunday. IMO the front office is doing a decent job of gathering players but the coaching staff is falling down on the job here. Something we've gotten used to seeing for what seems like forever. Looking at the next 5 games and how they've played to date it's not hard to see the Bills at 3-6 unless a light goes on somewhere and this defense starts to meet expectations. That said, I;ll be rooting for them but there's nothing wrong with being discouraged by what we've seen so far.

11). The Bills defense was so bad today I even had moment of nostalgia for Dick Juron. I was yelling at the TV so much for the Bills to show some different looks on defense that my wife had enough and told me to leave the room. Base 4 man line/rush, no stunting, no blitzing, dropping the 4th guy to rush 3 a couple times. Stupor Mario invisible again. Made Brady's day easy. 100 points allowed in 2 division games ain't gettin' it done..

My thoughts too. Almost any place you visit or live is going to have good and bad attributes. People always associate snow with Buffalo but there are no wildfires, earthquakes, mudslides, tornados (rarely), hurricaines, or erupting volcanoes to worry about either. And in the Summer you can go outside in the middle of the day and not die from heatstroke in 10 minutes. Does Buffalo have its share of issues? Sure, but so does every place else. The twin morons on the radio show seems to be a standard routine around the country with loud, rude, and stupid replacing what used to pass as entertainment or constructive dialogue.

This seems true. The replacement ref's incompetence is unbiased while the regular officiating crews baby 'star' players like Brady and give teams like the Pats the breaks. The fact that one of the league darlings, the Packers, rather than some also-ran got screwed by the officials on Monday night magnified the gaffe.

You don't build a billion dollar business by bullying your employees. The current situation is an unmitigated disaster. The quality and integrity of the product is now being questioned. At first by a few but now by almost all segments of the sport, coaches, players, fans, the media. Even people that don't watch football know the replacement ref's screwed the pooch last night. I'll wager its even on the evening network news shows tonight and they rarely cover sports. And today the NFL issued a statement that the 'got it right'. They've got to be kidding! It shows an arrogance and contempt for integrity that is beyond words. And why is it a bad deal? Perhaps you have more insight into the process here but IMO that amount of money is totally insignificant to the league. And if its profits not revenue you argue then I hope each owner is happy with an extra $93k in his pocket while watching game after game of player scrums after the whistle, indecision, inconsistency, with coaches looking to intimidate and abuse the officials. The fact is the owners will make that up 100 times over in the next TV contract so to me its got more to do with their belief they can just push anybody around that they care to rather than a quesiton of funding.

I read somewhere yesterday that the sticking point is that issue which amounts to .11% of annual league revenue. Compared to the potential damage to the league and the product from these prime-time gaffs that seems like a small price to pay. That's $93k per team.

Most of the noise about the replacement refs is coming from the media and more recently the players. So right now the only way this changes is if the players get fed up with having to deal with an out of control situation on the field and collectively decide to refuse to 'cross the picket line' of the officials. Something like every team staying in the locker room at halftime next week until the NFL deals with the official union would do the trick. Not that its going to happen because such an action would likely be a breach of contract action but that would do it.

Willing the team to his daughter would be an estate tax event but leaving the team to his wife would not be neither a capital gain or estate tax triggering action. As suggested by a couple other posters it would be nice to see the media 'press' the team management and ownership for some answers with regards to the future of the team. Right now the team and the county are in negotiations for a lease renewal with the team wanting $200 million in stadium improvements. The state and county want some kind of gaurantee that they are not going to dump $200 million into a stadium that might be empty in a couple years. As one of the governers spokeman plainly stated 'the only party not committed to keeping the Bills in Buffalo is the Bills'. One major problem I see with moving the team is the typical #1 reason has been the local market is not supporting the team, low attendence, etc. This is not the case here but that's not to say economics are not going be take a back seat.

This is true. Part of being a 'good' coach is being able to honestly evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of your players and develop a gameplan that plays to their strengths and that attempts to avoid or hide their weaknesses. So I agree the lack of production and the amount of errors have a lot to do with Gailiey's seeming unwillingness to adjust the offensive approach, that worked during the 1st half of last season, but isn't working now. My biggest frustration is the almost stuborn lack of resolve to run the ball more often when it seems to be working pretty well. Last week coming out at halftime the Bills executed a couple good running plays and then Fitz threw the gift pick 6 and it was game over. When your QB (and maybe your receivers) is making mistakes and the running game is going well then you run the ball until the defense makes adjustments and a commitment to stop it. Which might open up other opportunities to call some effective play action.

+1 Totally agree.

Which begs the question why the coach wants to run a high risk (with this QB at the helm) offense with so many 4 or 5 wide set plays, calls way too many pass plays, and does not utiize the running game more effectively when you have two very god backs and a relatively solid offensive line?

I didn't read anything in his latest rant that seems out of line given their performance on Sunday and the expectations that have been set. But it's only one game and a many good teams looked bad in week 1. As I watched the Bills being completely outclassed on Sunday I thought back to the home opener a several year back against NE where the Bills dominated and won 31-0. That year, like this one, they opened with the same team they close the season against. Recall NE returned the favor in game 16 with a 31-0 payback. Maybe by seasons end we return the favor against the Jets this time sending them to the golf course early?

The need for an upgrade at the QB position has never been more obvious to me as it was yesterday. The problem with Fitz is not his lack of top-notch arm strength. We also heard all off season about how QB coach Lee worked with him to improve his footwork and his delivery but none of that was apparent yesterday. My problem with him is his is that for all his 'smarts' he either cannot understand or refuses to accept his limitations and play within his ability. Many QB's have less than optimal physical skills but some (Pennington for example) use their intelligence and understanding of the game to compensate as much as possbile and have been successful. Fitz does not, but rather he has a gunslinger mentality without the ability needed to play that role. On all 3 picks it looked like the DB 'read' the QB's intent and jumped the route. And in all 3 cases guys that I suspect have intelligence levels far below the Bills QB outsmarted him. I'm no expert at designing an offensive scheme but it seems clear to me that neither the HQ or the QB are willing to deal with the reality and limitations of Fitz and design a gameplan and offensive approach to eliminate these high risk mistakes.