vincec

Marv Levy said it right long ago. Free agents moving from one team to another tend to hurt the team that they leave far more than they help the team that they go to. That is especially true with the marque free agents.

Marrone, the former OL coach who takes a special interesting the OL during practices, continues to work his magic.

I can't pretend that this is a good thing. Benching your starting QB 4 games into the season is not good. I wonder how much the WRs histrionics contributed to this. It was obvious during the game that they were very unhappy with EJ.

Remember, this is also the website that overwhelmingly commented against the thought of trading Manuel for Eli Manning. So it's not exactly the most impartial environment.

Don't leave Wood out of this. He hasn't been great this season either.

Ted Marchibroda. He had a lot to work with but got an awful lot out of it. Yeah, but weren't the plays in 1975 OJ left and OJ right? Not too much strategy involved.

Nice. Seems like a no brainer to me too. The guy was a borderline cut, knows the system and can play special teams.

Absolutely. Pettine was the best DC that the Bills have had since Wade Phillips. After only one season there was a marked improvement in the play of virtually all the players on the defense and the defense as a whole. That's good coaching 101- get the most out of your players. Given another year in his complex system I would've expected another sizable jump in team performance, including vs the run (which so many of the sour grapes crowd harp on). Schwartz has exceeded my expectations so far by having the defense play at a similar level to last season but they need to start improving if I'm going to put him up there with Pettine.

Certainly. But I doubt that Miami would do that, and even if he's available Marrone and Whaley won't.

After 66 pages, isn't it time to start a new official EJ thread? This one can be called "To all of the EJ apologists".

He may be worth a look at safety to challenge Searcy, but how much money does he want?

Keys to today's game: Bad 3rd down defense Too many big plays by Seattle offense Way too many penalties OL couldn't hold up in pass protection.

Schwartz was too slow to adjust. I agree with the game plan going in- play coverage on Gates and let the Bills strong front 4 get te pressure. But when it was clear that wasn't working there was no change until into the second half. Too late.

The OL really stunk. Also, I thought Schwartz was slow to adjust on defense. Obviously EJ didn't play well and how much longer are we going to see CJ up the middle for 2 yards?

Yes, but who did Herm Edwards pick? http://espn.go.com/blog/tampa-bay-buccaneers/post/_/id/4729/edwards-bucs-are-super-bowl-bound

I think it'd be fun for "muffs" to be returnable. What's the harm? It would add some excitement.

I think we are generally in agreement. I was just trying to make the point that the Bills alone have had two equivalent players and one better one in the last 20-30 years and none of them are in the hall of fame, so imagine what the situation is league wide.

I agree. Marrone wants Richardson to get a shot so he's going to take somebody's spot. At this point Pears is a better pass blocker than Williams but really bad in the run game. So it's a tough call as to who goes unless injuries make the decision easy.

It's a little bit funny. lol. Nice one too.

Before one famous MNF game in the 80s where the Bills were playing the vaunted Cowboys, Fred Smerlias told the press that he didn't understand why the Cowboys are considered "America's Team" when the Bills were the ones with the red, white and blue uniforms.

Do you mean Jeff Wright? He was the only interior lineman during the Superbowl years. Yes, Williams was marginally better than Wright (who was not bad). But what about Ted Washington, Pat Williams and the afore mentioned Fred Smerlias? I would say he equal to Pat Williams and Freddie and below Washington.

I think he's going to need a couple of Super Bowl championships in games where he plays very well. A level with Curtis Martin and Chris Doleman in it?

+1. Handling Rivers is going to be the real key.

Hang 'em all and let God figure it out.

After the Super Bowl losses and the Music City debacle, that game was the most painful playoff loss in my memory. As just a youngin at the time, it just stayed with me all these years. And beating them Sunday won't alleviate it. It'll help though.