NewHampshireBillsFan
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Posts posted by NewHampshireBillsFan
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The NFL has taken an interest in protecting QBs in the league - ones with last names like "Manning," "Brady" and "Favre." If you don't fall into that category, you're out of luck.
Obviously there should have been a roughing the passer penalty on Sunday. If he's down, there's no need to hit him again.
All players need to be treated equally when it comes to penalties regardless of how famous they are or how big their paycheck is, bottom line. NFL Officials constantly say that every quarterback is treated the same but this is proof that it's simply not the case. Until it is, we can expect this same type of stuff to happen all the time.
Players are not nor have they ever been treated the same by the officials. And it is much worse now than ever because of all the big TV money and general hype about superstars, esp. QBs. There is no hope for that to change because the league is a thousand times more worried about Brady* or Manning going down than TE. The officials are only people and they understand how their bosses think. No one has to spell it out for them. They understand instinctively that certain players and teams should be protected more than other players and teams. The results of this are totally obvious in the way the various teams and games are officiated.
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Which means what? A name everyone recognizes? Shannahan? Holmgren? Martz? You do realize that some of these guys flamed out horribly in their last jobs, right? But we all tend to gloss over such details. Meanwhile most of the new coach hires in the NFL are first-time head coaches and guys liek McDaniels, Sparrano, Childress are doing pretty well.
So what does this prove? That hiring a name coach guarantees nothing. You have to hire someone who is going to be good. How do you know who is good? If I knew I'd be an NFL GM. And sadly, no one at One Bills Drive knows either.
PTR
You have to at least let a coach be the coach he wants to be and make his own decisions on who he will play, etc. With Donahoe he meddled way too much. I don't think much of Gregg Williams or Mularkey but neither really had a chance to do his own thing. Going back to our last playoff game when we were all still young 10 years ago, RW supposedly decreed that Rob would QB! Even though you have a strong personality like Parcells in Miami I don't get the impression he is trying to micromanage the coach.
DJ is the first coach in a long time that actually gets to coach without interference. Unfortunately, he is the kind of coach that needs a guiding hand. So we can't win at this point. If we get a young and talented coach in 3 years, after DJ's contract is up, my main hope is that they will let him coach and not meddle.
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Dick will be back.
Quite true. And the sales pitch will be that the Bills will go out and get a proven OC to take over the offense and DJ has proven to be fine for the defense (in spite of several thousand rushing yards given up this year).
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I kinda assumed at the time they let Schonert go, he was given a reprieve for this season. I wouldn't be shocked to see him back. I felt stronger about that after Walker was let go that he is being given a year to let the line develop, etc.
He gets to 8-8, possible with our weak schedule, he is back for absolute certain. We make the mistake of thinking that if we complain long enough about something it will have to have an effect. No it won't.
Marv Levy has stated that if you listen to the fans you will end up sitting with them. RW thinks the same way, if you listen to the fans you will soon have the same money in your bank account as the fans. The point is $6 million for the 2010 and 2011 season is a lot of money to pay out in Ralph's mind and Jauron will probably have to resign for us to see him go anytime soon.
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I don't think people properly realize that the American economy will NEVER come back in the style we were used to. I do a lot of business in China and they are basically going to kill us this century, economically. And protectionism won't work because Japan does that and they have basically been in a recession for 20 years now because they won't let cheap goods into their country.
During tough times all these high prices in Dallas will not last. On the other hand Buffalo is ALWAYS in bad shape economically and we still sell out the stadium! So the ticket prices are low. We could probably raise the prices 20% and still sell out with a playoff caliber team. I would HATE to be in Jerry Jones's shoes right now. He has overextended himself and he is in for tougher times. Buffalo knows what it is like to have difficulties because it has nothing but difficulties.
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Ralph will keep DJ until the end of the year and if his record is below 7-9 let him go and feel sincerely like he is doing us a HUGE, HUGE favor by eating the last two years of the contract. If memory serves me correct this will be the first time RW has ever eaten 2 years of a coach's contract in our history. I think Bullough at most got a half or one and a half years of salary when he was dumped. Plus his salary was much, much lower, even in today's dollars.
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Marv:
1.) Is a great man full of a lot of wisdom, knowledge of history, etc.
2.) Marv was a very good coach, but not great coach. He should have run one more play before that FG attempt IMO. He knew Norwood was not that good on grass. But in other ways he could have adjusted things, especially in the first SB game. Also, maybe more importantly the players should have feared him at least a little. For example Don Beebe made the point that the Bills lost the SB because Kelly, Thomas, etc. were partying all week at the SB. That should never have been allowed. Also, there was that ridiculous thing of Bruce Smith, during the SB week!!!!, making some fuss about some racist message he had received in Buffalo. Under Shula, Noll, etc. he would never have had the nerve to make such a stupid distraction.
3.) Marv at best, had modest success as a GM. By all reports RW did NOT want to hire DJ and was quite adamant about it but Marv finally talked him into it. On second thought Marv's tenure as GM was pretty bad. The DJ hire trumps anything else positive he did.
But what do you expect Marv to do at this point, say he shouldn't have hired DJ?
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Exactly, because Singletary was a minority the Rooney Rule was satisfied and they could hire without doing any interviews. Unlike the earlier situation I mentioned with Haslett and the Rams. Is it Reverse Racism because they didn't have to interview a Caucasian? Yes, but the NFL isn't worried about that, it's appeasing to minorities. Perfect scenario is the Lions hiring Marrucci a few years ago. Detroit knew who they wanted, as did everyone else. However, the NFL still fined them for NOT interviewing a minority candidate, despite the fact everyone knew it would just be to fill a quota.
Anyone on the Bills staff could be named interim coach without interviewing a minority. DJ was named interim coach of the Lions without any problem. The only thing you can't do is say if you do well as the interim coach you will be named permanent coach without interviewing anybody else.
I don't think Fewell should be the HC however, at this point. He would be easily over matched in that role by most other coaches in the league. Plus he would have to do both the HC and DC duties at the same time. April is really the only choice that might make some sense from the current staff although his star has dimmed this year.
But this is academic. RW will definitely get the whole year out of DJ unless the team is like 2-9, even then he will probably keep him until the end of the year. RW's main goal in life is to not lose any money on a coach or GM's salary by firing anyone early. He has always been the same way. If DJ somehow staggers to 7-9 he will be back as HC next year.
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The QBs we have had were not that good since Kelly. We have taken castoffs from other teams such as Bledsoe, Flutie, Rob Johnson, Holcomb, etc. These people were not starters on any NFL team when we got them. We have not spent a really high draft pick on a QB. Losman was not a high first rounder and he was just a bad pick. He lacked some basic intangibles necessary to be a great QB and seemed to think the way to win was to get 2 or 3 TD bombs a game. No good team is EVER going to let you do that. He, along with Edwards, stinks at getting the 20 to 25 yard pass to work. Supposedly in practices they practice those kind of passes but it never works in games.
So QB talent is the key issue, but that being said the Bills have never hired a coach that was considered a master QB developing coach, either as HC or OC, at least in the post coach Levy days. Marchibroda might have been considered a great QB coach and it showed with Kelly.
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These are tough times to be a Bills fan, no doubt. However, I'm looking for your opinion on the product of NFL football taken as a league. We always hear how "It's the true national pasttime," "the most powerful sport of all time," etc. etc.
I am in the camp that the product is on a slow decline, AS A WHOLE. Here is a brief timeline of my recent football-related experiences, which influence my reasoning:
1. I moved from Buffalo to Florida in 2006. I am still a Bills season ticket holder, however I watch most of the games each Sunday at a friend's house on the DirecTV ticket. This was downfall #1 for me. My friend would set up 3 TV's in his living room, and we would watch a bunch of games (he's a NYG fan) with the Bills and Giants usually on two of the TV's. The other TV would show a game that was the "marquee matchup" or a game that we had bet on. I was appalled by the lack of action, and the amount of time that all three games were at commercial at the same time. It was less and less enjoyable as the weeks went on.
2. I stopped betting before last season (2008). I had a down year in 2006, then a bad year in 2007, I lost about $2200 overall on pro and college football in '07 (I never bet any other TV sports.) Anyways, I just decided that it was a waste, I wasn't really enjoying watching the games (maybe because I was losing more than winning had something to do with not enjoying it) so in fall of 2008 I booked a fishing trip to Cabo for $1800 and said "There goes the gambling fund." That trip was a BLAST and I haven't made a bet since. However, at the same time, it has made it VERY difficult to even consider watching a Arizona-Houston 4pm game.
3. Somewhere along the line, picking up 23 yards and getting 2 first downs, then throwing the ball out of bounds on 3rd down and punting it away started to qualify as good quarterbacking. I don't know if it's because I learned my football in the 1980's and 90's (I'm 31 years old) and grew up with Kelly, Marino, Elway, Montana, Fouts, Favre, Young...And those are just the all-time greats...Even the "so-so's" were solid...Kosar, Moon, Cunningham, Everett, Aikman, and guys like that. I could be completely wrong, but it never seemed like there were as many Kyle Bollers, Trent Edwards, Alex Smiths, JaMarcus Russells out there, where a completed 12-yard pass is a miracle from the heavens. The "game management" theory became all the rage in 2001 with everyone's favorite Super Bowl champion analyst, Trent "54% completions" Dilfer. What Jeff Hostetler proved in 1991 all the sudden rang louder in 2001...You don't need a league MVP at quarterback to win the Super Bowl...So everyone tried the concept. I also realize that defensive schemes and blitzing have gotten much more complicated and made QB a more difficult position to play, but the rules have also changed to help the QB's and WR's. I don't know...It just seems to me that 80% of the league plays the "conservative, don't turn it over, throw it away, lets try to win 17-13" game. Granted, if it's the Bills, I'm on the edge of my seat. If it's Panthers-Rams, SNOOZE!
4. The oversaturation of coverage. ESPN is great and horrible all at once. I won't bash them here, I just simply change the channel. But everything HAS to be rapid reaction. Best game ever? Biggest choke ever? Best pass ever? Are the Chiefs done? Are the Broncos the AFC favorite? And on and on. 24/7. On ESPN, and ten other channels. And all over the radio. It's too much and it wears me out.
5. Rookie salaries for top-10 picks. They make more guaranteed money signing their name than Bruce Smith made in his whole career. I have a feeling this is going to change though, thankfully.
6. The new stadiums are great. The seat licenses are disgusting and will ruin the game. It's my opinion, but that's how I feel. Quick story- my friend was at the Jets-Pats game in week 2, his brother won bidding on some tickets at a charity auction. They were 45-yard line, about row 20. They had four seats, and they were right next to a man and a woman. The man and woman actually had 6 season tickets, they put up 4 of them for the charity auction, and kept 2 for themselves. So my friend was chatting with them. They have been Jets season ticket holders for 30+ years, and have upgraded when possible, to basically where they are now, some of the best seats in the house. When the Jets move to their new stadium next year, in order to keep their 6 season tickets at that location (45-yard line row 20) they would've had to pay $293,000 for seat licenses. That's right, $48,000 per seat, AND THAT'S JUST FOR THE RIGHT TO THEN PAY FULL PRICE FOR YOUR 10 GAMES!! Frankly, that makes me sick to my stomach.
7. One home game in Toronto. I understand it, but I HATE it. Not right. And it all stems from the NFL being a corporation and a bottom line, rather than a sport for the fans. Like I said, I understand. I just don't like it.
Those are my off-the-cuff reasons. I've really found in the last three years or so that I'm enjoying the games less and less. Obviously, the struggles of the Bills drag me down. But still, I've ALWAYS been a fan of the game, and would watch three on Sunday and one on Monday. Now, not even close. The announcers annoy me. The commercials annoy me. The weak strategies, coaches, and games annoy me. And more than ever, the off-the-field stuff regarding revenues, salary caps, seat licenses, etc. etc. are making me wonder about this game. The league really needs to watch out if they do go into a lockout.
The league is quickly becoming a corporate TV show rather than a sport, and I for one don't think the NFL is the all-powerful and all-knowing league. I didn't watch one second of football last weekend and it was, without a doubt, a much more enjoyable Sunday than sitting on a couch watching commercials and Chris Berman's verbal expectorations.
If you read my ramblings this far, I'm interested in how you view the NFL as a product.
More and more the officiating is a problem. The officials seem more and more intimidated by teams like NE* and the calls reflect that. With the relative parity in talent the refs can really take one team out of the game and that often happens. The emphasis on fantasy football is kind of weird. People have artificial rosters of players. The NFL likes that because then teams moving, bad officiating, and bad management of teams (like the Bills) don't really matter because you just pick new fantasy players and watch the games for that emphasis. Ticket prices in the major markets will completely price out the average fan fairly soon.
The NFL will go the way of the NBA to some degree. Less and less people will care. College football will probably again surpass the NFL in interest the way college basketball greatly surpasses the NBA in interest.
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Exactly what I was getting at with the Cubs crack. I still make a couple of trips home to WNY a year and go to at least one out of town game. Even without season tix, if everyone did that... The place would be packed. Ya, I like the winning and the losing is painful... But, hey! It is what it is and it is an adventure! My son went to his first Bills game this past week... AAnd it reminded me of one of my early Bills games when I was young... Except the Bills beat the Broncos 9-7.
I remember that 9-7 game against the Broncos. During the Knox era. We trailed the whole game until the last play and then won with a short FG. It was electric in the crowd when we won. I wish we could feel that in the stadium now.
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I think Ralph owes the fans a different approach with this team. Putting more money into this team's off field development (GM scouts, head and assistant coaches ect.) would show the fans (especially the fans that pay to see this team) that Ralph hates to see this team in its current shape.
I don't doubt Ralph hates it but what is he going to do about it? The same old same old cheap hires or is he going to change an approach that has failed for the last 10 years. I don't think Ralph owes us a Gruden type coach necessarily but he owes us a real different effort that involves changing the way this team generally operates.
Expect to see a rather modest change at the end of this year. DJ and most of his staff goes, the FO stays the same, and they bring in a younger, more aggressive talking coach. Call him Gregg Williams II. Back to the fog horns at training camp, etc. If by some miracle we reach 8-8 this year, expect DJ back as coach.
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25 coaches have won the big one.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Super...ng_Head_Coaches
Still with the same team: Tomlin, Coughlin, Belichick, which leaves 22 possibilities.
Cowher, Dungy, Gruden, Billick, Shanahan, Switzer, Gibbs, Bill Walsh, Noll, Landry, Madden, and Ewbank didn't coach again after their SB victory. That leaves only 11 guys who had a chance.
Now remember that McCafferty and Lombardi died after only one season at their new job.
And after that, remember that Shula didn't actually have a shot at a second victory, because even though he got to SBs with two different teams, he lost with the first team. He didn't win till he got to Miami and he never coached again after Miami.
So, that's only eight guys who had a legit shot at the second crown: Stram, Flores, Ditka, Parcells, Seifert, Jimmy Johnson, Holmgren, and Vermeil.
Excellent analysis! Of the 6 of 8 who did not return to the SB, there are reasons for most of those. In the case of Ditka, he was not the same w/o Buddy Ryan as his DC, even thought they couldn't stand each other. Seifert inherited everything in place in SF and few would consider him a super coach. Vermeil was quite old when he coached again after winning with the Rams. Stram was also getting to the end when he went to NO and NO was such a mess he didn't have enough time. Jimmy Johnson was not into staying long with the Fish.
The point is a great coach, who is not over the hill, could do wonders for the Bills. Actually at this point a decent journeyman coach who is not too old could probably do wonders for the Bills. But only if they had full football authority.
Looked at that way, when you realize that Parcells and Holmgren actually did make it back to the big game, you start thinking that getting a SB winning coach is a damn good gamble.
Eight SB winners had a shot with another team (excluding McCafferty and Lombardi for the reasons I stated above). Two of them got back there though neither won it.
Those are sensational odds. Can you imagine randomly picking another group of eight coaches and coming up with two SB appearances?
Excellent analysis! Of the 6 of 8 who did not return to the SB, there are reasons for most of those. In the case of Ditka, he was not the same w/o Buddy Ryan as his DC, even thought they couldn't stand each other. Seifert inherited everything in place in SF and few would consider him a super coach. Vermeil was quite old when he coached again after winning with the Rams. Stram was also getting to the end when he went to NO and NO was such a mess he didn't have enough time. Jimmy Johnson was not into staying long with the Fish.
The point is a great coach, who is not over the hill, could do wonders for the Bills. Actually at this point a decent journeyman coach who is not too old could probably do wonders for the Bills. But only if they had full football authority.
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DC for Belicheat*. Belicheat* owes him big time for not making a fuss about the videotaping scandal, for never making a fuss about all the bad officiating in the Pats*/Bills games, for never trying to get revenge on Brady for Wilfork/Losman, for never letting his team get mad about losing all those games in a row to NE* so that some players might get a little rough with NE*, for making it seem like it should be a normal thing that NE* should always be our master and we should at best hope for a WC, and for never saying anything even remotely controversial when playing the Pats* twice a year. Compare that to Rex Ryan's FIRST game against Belicheat* and what he said before the game and what the result was.
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He knows his club is in deep trouble......
He would like to retain Jauron for as long as he can this season....
But the way the team is playing that may not be a option....
I believe a change will be made at the BYE week...
What it will be is hard to say...
I bet he is putting feelers out now to see who may be interested in making this club better...
It may mean a new head coach or a new VP in charge of football operations who is outside the organization.
He has to be prepared and I believe he will get advise from friends outside the organization...
I am sure many of the former coaches who are now on the sidelines would like to come in and take charge of football operations much like Bill Parcells has done with Miami..... The Bills sure need outside help
BUT it is hard to believe Ralph Wilson will give control of the football operations to anyone like he did Tom Donahoe...
God Help the Bills for they need it...
I don't think RW is thinking that far ahead. He waited until Donahoe's contract was completely over before getting rid of him. AT THAT POINT he called Marv and asked his opinion about possible GMs and then asked Marv what about he, himself coming in as GM. Marv asked to think about it and called back the next day and took the job.
The point is RW is not sitting around at this point considering GM or HC options. He is thinking:
1.) DJ may still pull out a respectable season and then he will keep DJ.
2.) If DJ even gets back to 7-9 he will keep him because with all the young players and injuries they will be better next year.
3.) If DJ finishes with a really horrible record he will reluctantly have to eat the last 2 years of the contract and AT THAT POINT he will start to look for a new HC, probably still retaining Brandon and the rest of the FO.
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Roscoe, another "clever" pick by Donahoe, who spent his entire career in Buffalo trying to be "clever" to prove it was he and not Cowher who the Steelers should have kept.
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Its only a game to provide some entertainment. When it becomes a depressing experience year after year, it is time to move on. Remember its for the entertainment of the fans.
Being a serious football fan is not really about entertainment. When your team wins it is a type of euphoria and when they lose the symptoms are similar to clinical depression.
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TD was the right hire in concept but failed in execution you know moves that sounded good at the time. Hiring Russ and DJ you knew weren't going to workout before they happened. Hire Russ Grimm or Gruden as coach and Chris Polian as GM.
The idea of hiring a competent GM and turning over control of the football team to him is a good idea. Donahoe was not the GM that should have been hired. He lost a power struggle to Bill Cowher in Pittsburgh, and I would at this point assume I would have sided with Cowher. But besides that Donahoe was determined that no HC would ever trip him up again so he hired two losers that have never been HCs again once they left the Bills and probably never will be HCs again. Also, Donahoe was a micro-manager who messed things up more than he helped when he did interfere with the coaches.
I think it is better to hire a top notch HC who also would be in charge of all football decisions. Still I like the Chris Polian idea.
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Its easy to change Wikipedia for anything. If it is stupid they will change it back within 24 hours.
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Washington in some ways is a great place to work for a HC. Great salary and money for free agents. Expectations are also sky high because of that and the owner is somewhat meddlesome. Don't be surprised if some of the big name coaches choose something other than DC. Than being said I don't think the Bills will even try to get one of the top 3 guys since they wouldn't want to come to Buffalo with our current situation, plus we would not be willing to pay them.
Its funny that as RW heads towards the end of his life his top priorities come out in his actions. His top priority is to leave the maximum money to his heirs and winning a SB is clearly not even a priority anymore. From the football side he just wants the Bills to try to get respectable enough to keep the fans off his back.
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I could never root for the Bills to lose, myself. But I take a different view on the idea that if things get bad enough RW will have to bring in a big name coach and turn over the keys to him. DJ may indeed be gone if the team goes 4-12 but the next coach may not be who you would hope for. In the mid 80s the Bills were 2-14, 2-14, and 4-12 for 3 straight years, 8-40 overall. His answer to that situation was to bring in a HC that was not even coaching in the NFL any more. No other team wanted him as a HC. Around the same time the GM we had could not continue and a guy who worked himself up from a low level scout ended up becoming the new GM. So Levy and Polian were not at all high priced, well known solutions to 3 horrible years.
The only time that RW went with a big name coach was Knox in 1978, 31 years ago. And that was before big name coaches were paid that great except for Shula, Chuck Noll, and a few others. Knox was not considered in that league. He had never won a SB. He was respected but not an elite coach like Cowher, Shanahan, etc.
Dream on if you think 4-12 solves all the problems. It won't.
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Having worked in the generally poorly run American corporate world for years, I can relate to the analogy. The only thing I would disagree about is that Ford is doing well. Chinese companies are doing well and even European companies are doing better than companies like Ford.
If the Bills were a corporation they would have gone bankrupt a long time ago. Because of revenue sharing and because they are a local monopoly they survive. RW doesn't understand how to turn this around. The most important thing he could do would be to hire a top-notch HC who would also be the head of all football decisions, including the draft. That HC would then bring in his people so that there would be one consistent strong organization, from top to bottom.
Hiring another Donahoe type would not work because strong GMs usually want a HC they can control and that rules out the best HCs.
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Not sure there would be much of a market based on his flammable history, but you are correct about his play-he has dropped as many passes that have hit him in his hands, as he has actually caught.
Maybe someone would give us a very low round pick for him. The problem is no one would want to pay the $6.5 million salary based on his performance to date so the trade could never work.
Besides all that all the teams in the league would look at the Bills like we were a total mess (Peters, Schonert, Walker, etc.), which I guess we are. Also, it would seem to us fans like they were completely writing off this season, which I guess they are anyway.
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Nothing? I think that is over-stating the old goat's impact on the team. Was he not the team owner during 4 straight Superbowls.. and some strong seasons before and after that period? I suggest it isn't Ralph.
It's mediocre coach after mediocre coach... and stiff QB after stiff QB. While Ralph can be held accountable for hiring stiffs, you have to admit that luck is part of the hiring process. When I hire people at work, I know luck is huge. People who interview like rock stars end up being douche bags, and mediocre interviews have led to rock star hires.
Look at all wunder-coaches TBD posters have wanted over the years that have flamed out of the NFL and are eking it out in college or retirement. Luck is part of the hiring process.
Bad QB's are pretty common in the NFL.. sadly, crummy old Trent stinks, but many teams have worse. Luck is part of hiring a QB. Ryan Leif as an example of bad luck..? Really... Belichek was fricken lucky with Brady.
Yes, Ralph's decisions have contributed to the Bills problems. But, honestly, bad luck is probably bigger than Ralph.
It can be tough to make a good decision on a hew hire. That is why you do everything possible to make sure people like Polian, Butler, and Smith want to stay and do stay, and before that Chuck Knox. Wilson has hired some of the worst HCs in the modern history of the NFL and one of the worst GMs (Donahoe) so he should have learned to keep the good people he had at all costs. He has never fully valued good people on those rare occasions when they fell into his lap.
Jason Peters watch
in The Stadium Wall Archives
Posted
I predict one thing about Jason Peters in Philly. The Eagles will cut him in a salary savings move before the end of his contract. You heard it here first. Although this year might be OK to good for Peters, I see nagging injuries long term and also lack of effort once the novelty wears off of having a big contract. In life when someone has a bad attitude like Jason Peters did for parts of two seasons, things will come up in Philly that will dictate a bad attitude there as well. You can't just turn it on and off in a sport as brutal as football. He was a slacker his last year here and he will find he will at times be a slacker in Philly even if he doesn't intend to be at this point. That is why it was best the Bills did not re sign him. He would not have been great for the long haul based on his personality.