[My analysis on why Ralph kept DJ...]

Here is my opinnion and analysis on what's going on with Ralph bringing DJ back. I still prefer to replace DJ now, but keeping isn't as crazy as our record suggest and does make some sense when you look at the bigger picture.

 

1. He is right on the money about a young team needing continuity (doesn't mean DJ and co. are the answer, but you don't develop young talent with constant change).

 

2. We had shown some improvements before our slide which coincidentally was about the time we started losing quality players to injury (Greer, Schobel, Youboty, Trent, Reed, etc.) which greatly contributed to our slide and inconsistentcy.

 

3. DJ, believe it or not, is still considered to be a pretty good coach in the NFL circle.

 

4. Ralph signed him to the extension already, so pulling the plug on him is going to be expensive at this point.

 

5. Troubles and inconsistency at QB greatly contributed to the demise of our season and we have a young QB who also missed time due to injury. This was the biggest reason for our fall from grace, not DJ. When Trent began to struggle he started to regress big time...hard to win in this league when your QB is timid to throw downfield.

 

6. There are some top coaching candidates available right now, but it is very possible that next off season will have several elite coaching candidates available as well: Holmgren plans to take 1 year off, Cowher emphatically stated he does NOT want to coach this next year until his daughter graduates (and his top 2 chocies to coach won't be available likely next year Jets and Browns), Shannahan likely takes one season off, Mariucci and Billick could also still be there, etc. Add Andy Reid too to that mix as I think he is back next year, but it might be his last unless Philly has a real strong season.

 

7. This team dealt with injury's to a lot key players on both D Line and O Line, QB, the secondary and LB positions. We didn't have the depth to overcome that.

 

So, when you add up all the variables, it makes some sense to give DJ one year to try and rebound. If he falters next year (which very well could happen with what appears to be a tough schedule next season) there will be some Elite coaches available and likely quite a bit fewer job openings than this season increasing our odds to land one.

 

 

All the variables? Ralph and his merry men are the ones who have made Pat Toomay's comment about the organization scouting from The Sporting News seem like a Nostradamus insight. When he finally made a move in the post Super Bowl years he hired a GM who would not take the job until the old man, himself, fired Wade Phillips... boy that first slug of dead money to a departed coach must have called back some painful memories of Mr Wilson's youth... so he won't make that mistake again. Lack of continuity? ... the one consistent aspect of the organization since the departure (over money as I recall) of John Butler et al has been the inconsistency and poor talent evaluation (for selecting coaches and on-field talent).

 

If the Bills' leadership felt that Jauron deserved a contract extension why do it after six games of the current season? Was there some vicious rumor afield that one of the free spending new-breed owners was poised to steal away our braintrust following remarkable back to back 7-9 finishes?

 

Wilson, Littman, and Brandon are anxious to extend the contract of a life-time sub .500 head coach (while refusing to renegotiate with their own Pro Bowl tackle who will demand even more money after this next trip to Hawaii); go the the mat (and lose) with Pat Williams, Nate Clements, Antoine Winfield... overpay Schoebel, Kelsay, Denny, Dockery, Royal without any tangible results... all orchestrated (from my perspective) to chum the water for next August when the WNY Leemings again caravan to St John Fisher and swallow gallons of the Blue, Red and White Kool-Aid, because it might finally be "next year".

[Bills NEED a new or improved Strength / conditioning program]

This was true in earlier games where the defense began giving up a lot of yardage in the 4th quarter. Losing Rusty Jones was one of those "patronage" losses where he was moved out because he wasn't part of the Donahoe/Williams club. Apparently who you're aligned with is more important than your ability on the NFL island. If RW knew what he was doing, he would have told Donahoe/Williams that Rusty Jones stays where he wants, no matter what. The guy liked Buffalo, too, so it made no sense to lose him.

 

 

I believe it was the deep thinker Mularkey who packed Rusty Jones off to Chicago in favor of somebody he hired from the Steelers staff. Interesting how none of the cast offs (Donahoe, Williams, Mularkey and please don't cite Steve fairchild at CSU) has resurfaced in another situation with any degree of success. Each of their tenures in Buffalo seems to be a personal high water mark... but it is the fans they leave behind who have to endure the product of their combined failure.

[From Passionate Fan to Detached Observer in 10 Painful Years]

Gerry,

 

To quote Meatloaf: "... you took the words right out of my mouth."

 

 

... one small interlude since the merger; and the rest of this franchise's history is full of falling short, indecision and insecurity at the top. This is Ralph revisiting his Detroit mafia all over again following Saban's success... without the success.