Red

Yeah, Mt. Washington did go on to have some strong years in NE. I would have to say dumping Big Pat Williams was a worse decision, though.

I work at a school in Northern VA. If our kitchen has leftovers, we can't give it to a homeless shelter for health code violations. Surely, a friend in the catering business should know about this. It has less to do with Snyder, and more to do with the Nanny State. I haven't checked the news recently, but if Gregg Williams is hired in Tennessee, I would not be surprised if he brings back Haynesworth.

Judging by the blind eye the press willingly gives to the issue of anabolic steroids, GH, etc and its use in all of professional sport, I highly doubt that things will suddenly change in this circumstance.

I would poop my pants if we signed Ngata and Whitner was not brought back. Hali is supposed to be pretty darn good, too. Others have mentioned TE Zach Miller, but I realized that he was also in the Pro Bowl yesterday. None of these guys are gonna be cheap- which unless Overdorf and Littman suddenly loosen the purse strings means that we're only dreaming here. Indeed, with Wood most likely moving to C, we would have a vacancy at RG. But how old in Mankins? Also, don't forget the year end comments Gailey had for RT Pears. The guy barely played for us, but Gailey sounded as if we found our RT for now and the future. I thought that the Bills should have signed Daniels the last time he was a FA. Speaking of which...is Daniels a free agent again?

Absolutely. Yet Modrak gets a pass from the owner. That means that Modrak is either the biggest "yes" man in the league, or nobody values his input enough to consider his advice. Somebody on this site has already done this in a previous post, but go back and find that interview post draft where Modrak was trumpeting the many virtues of one Aaron Maybin. And I'm not trying to be hard on Modrak. What his defenders seem to fail to grasp is that our futility drafting has stretched for a DECADE!!! There is consistency in our suckitude. If Modrak screwed up w/Maybin and Losman and McCArgo...no big deal. We all make mistakes. These were all 1st round selections, but nonetheless, we all screw up from time to time. Having 1 or 2 bad years in a decade is forgiveable. But it hasnt been 1 or 2 or even 3 players...its been virtually EVERY player, certainly in the top 3 rounds for the past decade (Eric Wood not included). Maybin, Whitner, McCArgo, Losman, McGahee, Williams, Flowers, McKelvin, trading a 1st rounder to NE for Bledsoe, all, IMO were terrible decisions. Lynch is gone. Evans has never stepped into the #1 role that he is being paid for and led the team. He is not a game breaker. Eric Wood is the sole bright spot in 10 years. It is also, coincidentally, the 1st year Nix came on board. We drafted Bryd that year, too. IF we are going to be a small market team, and not sign any names to huge contracts in free agency (the Russ "Barnum & Bailey" Brandon circus of signing TO), then we will have to have THE best scouting department in the NFL to keep the roster stocked with Grade A talent. Judging by the past decade, can anybody claim that we have the best scouting department (and finding 1 or 2 undrafted college free agents does not count)?

Apparently not. I think this past Thursday the Buffalo News had an article from Ralph on just the topic of Mr. Modrak, and he and Buddy both gave the usual party line. Now, I don't fault Buddy- he's coming into this situation. But Wilson's comments certainly demonstrate that he is similar to Al Davis in this regard. We have a decade of squandered 1st, 2nd, and 3rd rounders. High value picks. The players that we drafted back in 2004-2005 should be the backbone of our team; they should be a "core" that we can build around. I don't know if we even have more than 3 players that were drafted by the Bills in 2004-2005 that are still with the team. Ralph stated that Modrak has been with the team for awhile. No kidding. Because you won't fire his arse! Ralph hid behind the typical Modrak defender line of "he was overruled" on his draft advice. I just don't understand how that can be. If 3 different, FAILED regimes all thought that Modrak's input was not worth considering, then why is he still employed? I mean, if the worst of the worst won't listen, what does that say about Modrak? Furthermore, even if Ralph wants to pin it all on the previous failed regimes...those regimes had to get their scouting information on the players that they did select from somebody. And that is where...like you mentioned...Modrak or somebody in a position of knowledge and authority should have come forth and said "Maybin is too raw and untested and too unproven/ undersized to select in the 1st round", or "Haloti Ngata tests better and adds more help to the overall scheme of a defense than Donte Whitner does", etc. Giving Modrak and the scouts a pass is detestable, IMO. 3 failed regimes and the drafting remained horrific. Is it more likely that 3 entirely different regimes were at fault and poor little Tommy was not being listened to, or more likely that the scouting department has been delivering the same duds for a decade now, and 3 different regimes have been trusting their scouting information and draft board?

I think that the DB's do better with more pressure to make the other teams throw more (as an improved NT/DT tandem would serve to stuff the run). A consistent pass rush would also force opposing QB's to make faster decisions than they were in position for or wanted to make. The LB's will have less of a burden to shed as many blocks as well, if we get stouter up front, thus allowing them to stop opposing RB's before getting to that 2nd or 3rd tier of the defense. I argue that Bruce Smith made our backfield better. Right now we have no pass rush. We also have no run defense outside of Kyle Williams. And by the mid-end of last season, opposing teams learned how to double Williams. We were then exposed to be not very good. Getting a Dareus or a Fairley would go a long way to shoring up our D-line. I also understand that the NT from Miami will be a free agent. 2 of those guys, plus Troupe and Williams should be good.

Generationally speaking, I don't know what makes you guys fans of the Bills other than for regional reasons. I just becoming a teenager when the Bills were starting to become a dominant team in the late 80's and early 90's. Kelly, Smith, Reed, Thomas, Bennett, Wolford, Hull, Tasker, Talley, Lofton...it was an amazing time to be a Bills fan. IF anything, those times created an expectation for winning that I think alot of us older (did I just equate myself to older?) fans came to believe would last forever. For me atleast, and to watch the gradual decline of the team year after year you can see where the Bills kept going wrong, and felt a combination of powerlessness and frustration that they were doing those things to the franchise. I think NOT winning a SB has caused a lot of grief for us fans, as a win would have somehow confirmed that we knew we had a great team on our hands for some time. We, along with I am sure the players, are left with a gigantic void of what could have been. And are left to wonder if we will ever get so close again... [

I don't know how you can conclude that being one of the worst run defenses in the league as "decent". It all starts up front. With the exception of Kyle Williams, we were run on at will. The defensive line causes disruption/ occupies blockers. When this works, the LB's are freed to make plays. When the defensive front is not very good, you get run on at will. Troupe may improve, and Carrington seemed to get better as well. Time will tell, but hopefully we land a monster DT who will come in and terrify the pantie wearing Brady and help us stuff the run.

Agreed. Cincy has not had the support that Big Ben, GB, the Jets, or any of the top tier teams have. Improve the O-line, and Palmer lights em up. Now, where have I heard that before?.......

All I know is benching Flutie for Johnson to play in the Music City Miracle game probably goes down as one of the worst decisions by Wade Phillips and a Buffalo Bills coach. Johnson was the pre-Losman. For awhile there, I didn't think that the Bills would ever get past the "scrambling" QB idea...

I don't know how anyone with 1/2 of a brain cell can think that, on paper and on the eve of the Championship, that the Jets are a better team than the Steelers. Now I personally care for neither one of these 2. But Sanchez is a much worse QB. The Jets offense is oftentimes limited because of Sanchez's inability and inexperience. He has gotten better than last year, but I don't know that Sanchez is a long term solution at the QB position for any team. That alone, IMO, gives the Steelers a hard-fought, 24-14 victory.

How does it feel to want?

Romo was a totally berserk, steroid of a football player. He took roid rage and elevated it to savage vulgarity. He allowed the "heat and emotion of the game" to be an excuse for moronic behavior (do players really need to be breaking each others fingers in a scrum?). I read the book, and found it somewhat amusing. Athletes don't usually write good books about themselves. No matter how good of an athlete they may have been, they seldom translate that into brilliant (or even mildly entertaining) writing. Namath is a good book. I also found Johnny U to be an excellent read as well. Brian Billicks book was alot of ego, but his section on free agency was interesting. I also found Ernie Accorsi's book on being an NFL GM to be rather insightful. There is certainly alot that can be said for hard work. But I think Romo himself admits that he would not last as long in the NFL nor would he have been as successful in his later years without a little help from a syringe, some "clear", and a whole lotta 'roids. Wasn't Romo tied to BALCO? B-A-L-C-O But I guess...that he just didnt know...it was a "health" food supplement, after all.....

Amen, buddy. I wish the Bills would finally close the door of ineptitude by firing Modrak. We need to recover, and losing Modrak would be a fantastic end to a horrible decade.

This is really cool news. One of the biggest things fans were critical of the Bills for this past offseason was not getting the high profile head coach and staff. Looking back, and especially looking at what I believe to be our mirror image franchise of the past decade- the Washington Redskins- who went for the high profile GM and head coach, their success was eerily similar to ours. Rebuilding takes time, fellas, no matter what name is attached where. Heck, Parcells never truly rebuilt Dallas nor Miami. Even the Tuna has seemingly lost his luster. I was never as critical of the Gailey pick as some, and still believe that, he, his staff, Nix, and Whaley are excellent hires. Adding Wannstadt to the mix further solidifies my belief. GO BILLS!

I was happy with the 51-3 drubbing back in '90 to get into Super Bowl 25 (refuse to use the Roman Numerals).

I always have to laugh at these debates. "Offense wins games, but defense wins championships!" some shout. All garbage. It's a team game. Not a squad game, or positional game. A T-E-A-M game. You need a franchise QB just as much as you need a dominant defense, mauling offensive line, fast WR's, special teams, etc. Winning teams have it all. And maybe the light is shining on a new day in the NFL. Rodgers, Rothlesberger, Cutler, Sanchez. These are the new faces. Perhaps the torch is being handed down? Brady and Manning are not getting younger...

I could not agree more. Its like the current Sabres squad...they could, and should, be making moves right now to improve the roster. But I believe that they are in a complete holding pattern until ownership changes hands and the sale is complete. As a player, I'd be mad. As a fan I'm mad. But they are holding on making any changes until the new owner comes on board and gives direction. Likewise, with the Bills Ralph does not want to create a financial burden, and thus is playing it conservative and too safe to truly be effective in the NFL. I could not agree more with the small market clap trap, either. Green Bay is not a large market. Cleveland is not a large market. I can't imagine that KC is a large market. JAcksonville is not. Neither is Cincinnati. Yet how often do we hear these teams constantly crying about market status, other than in owners meetings? Success begets success. If we had a better Director of Scouting and Scouting department, we could actually be producing players who contribute and build off of the draft. Instead, we are left chasing our proverbial tails every year because we won't spend money on free agents AND draft worth a flaming turd because Modrak stinks!

But there is a huge difference between 1 bad FO, and 3 in a row. And let's not forget that perhaps one of the worst scouting departments in the history of the Bills has been intact for 10 years now, and the man scrub in charge is still with the team. I think that it's 2 things: 1.) Ralph is getting older, and wants (and has) to put his trust in others. also 2.) old habits die hard. The Bills "brain" trust clearly needs to see the Wizard, because they neither have a brain nor can the be trusted with building the Buffalo Bills into a contender again. I fault Modrak, Overdorf, and Littman for being the cancerous flesh still at OBD. These 3 clearly hinder any progress or improvement. Gaily, Nix, and Whaley are a good, positive change.

Ofcourse Scott Zolak hated playing in Buffalo...wasn't this guy playing when Bruce Smith was burrying opposing QB's into our cement turf that we used to have? I mean, if I was being slammed into the concrete after every pass I threw and the crowd was so loud I couldn't hear an airplane fly over and the swirling winds and my own lack of QB'ing ability got in the way of completing a pass (because my name is Scott freakin' Zolak), then I guess that I would not like playing in Buffalo, either.

Ofcourse Scott Zolak hated playing in Buffalo...wasn't this guy playing when Bruce Smith was burrying opposing QB's into our cement turf that we used to have? I mean, if I was being slammed into the concrete after every pass I threw and the crowd was so loud I couldn't hear an airplane fly over and the swirling winds and my own lack of QB'ing ability got in the way of completing a pass (because my name is Scott freakin' Zolak), then I guess that I would not like playing in Buffalo, either.

You forgot to mention that the Bills need to "part ways" with one Tom Modrak.

Agreed. Judging by how the Bills have performed given the extreme lack of talent Modrak has consistently given the Bills, we need more talent. Caracter we have.

.......hunh?