Sisyphean Bills

EJM being outplayed by Fitzpicks isn't really a ringing endorsement of the org.

Sure does sound like Pegulas are getting rid of the "muddle huddle" structure and establishing defined areas of responsibility. Good. Culture change starts at the top.

Yeah. Sort of a "the Bills should give away their picks because they can't find guys to put on the field anyway" thought there. And Bradford would be a swing of extremes. Replace your mobile QB and run-first offense with a QB with a golden arm who is a statue in the pocket and operated in pass-happy schemes. Do the Bills have the OL and WRs to go pass-happy next season?

What a hack. PK is a terrible writer and really needs to gob-knob him some inside sources.

With a gambling, aggressive scheme like Rex preferred, one wants players that are versatile and understand their different roles. When calling an overload blitz, for example, the players opposite have to get back and fill. If one of them would rather stand there with his hands on his hips and take the play off or doesn't perform his assignment for some other reason, the offense can break off big plays. Another potential dilemma for a coach is if the gap between the 1st guy and the next guy up is rather significant. Does the coach play the less athletic guy or try to plead, cajole and appease the better player into giving more effort, etc.? There are players in the NFL that really don't give a **** about anything but getting their paycheck and only do just enough. In the end, this defensive coaching staff and the players didn't mesh well enough to win. It's on all of them. Watson's call was for culture change.

Was it drawn in crayon?

And the mea culpas that the defensive talent was overrated will follow, of course.

That's what I've wondering as well. If the Bills defense continues to be ho-hum middle of the road (or gets even worse), who does the blame train go after? Is another spin of the revolving door with coaches appropriate and justified?

Just win games. It's that simple (but not easy). Focus on winning !@#$ing football games. All the "body English" in the world toward the press isn't going to change a !@#$ing thing.

Well, it's like neither Zach Brown nor Lorenzo Alexander played particularly well in Ryan's scheme.

Don't forget the crayon point. That was legit.

Lead with the weed, man.

He is a significant part of the Bills running game. Getting rid of him will change that equation. Change is not the same as improvement, even if one believes the tweets.

If that comment that Whaley is still in love with EJ Manuel and still thinks he is capable of becoming the next Ben Roethlisberger, then EJM might be the guy Whaley wants to turn to. (Add: Cardale is a QB in that Roethlisberger, big-bodied defenders-bounce-off-him stand-tall-in-the-pocket rifle, mold.) TT was a fit for the offense that Greg Roman installed and wanted to run. What offense does Anthony Lynn want to really run? Where does he envision taking this offense? And does that mesh with Whaley's vision?

So, in your opinion, Jerry Sullivan should not have followed up on the biggest story in the NFL at the time it was happening, a story that every other NFL sports outlet was covering? It seems that you are implying that he'd be doing a "better job" if he ignored the elephant in the room or asked questions and wrote things that weren't "sensational" and left that to other pricks.

If that is the case, then Sullivan was on target with his criticism of ownership. Pegula firing Ryan and then not answering questions nor even trotting out a PR person to answer questions makes the organization look bush league. In fact, just coming out and owning the decision would probably have made him look like a hero to many. "Yeah, I screwed up. Ryan was a bad fit and I had to relieve him." Instead its a swirling stew of speculation, opinion, etc.

You are right. My frustration boiled over there. There are plenty of posts trying to slander the media as "the problem", incompetent, hugely horrible at their jobs, etc. and trying overly hard to nudge the splitting of hairs in defense of certain members of the organization. I think I've clearly said that I believe Whaley has had influence and input in many of the decisions made. Trying to make excuses for him doesn't resonate with me. Should Whaley or someone else, anyone else, hold a presser and answer a few questions? Of course they should. That's how PR works in general. You want change then you pitch that change to your customers and sell it as a good thing. And you are spot on that these last two things are distinct. The reality that Brandon and Whaley and Pegullible discuss the team is one thing. That there wasn't any press conference about firing Ryan is a second thing.

You might want to do a little research on Chris Polian's talent evaluation while he was in Indianapolis.

Didn't they just fire two guys who preferred the 3-4?

I never thought you were assigning blame. FWIW, the tired shell game of scapegoating <insert name> as he leaves the building has led exactly nowhere. They continue to be an irrelevant and mediocre franchise more interested in curb appeal than substance.

The action says that firing the public face of the franchise is completely routine, so much so that it isn't even worth changing the weekly schedule to address it and try to get their message to the public, including their customers. On the other hand, changing coaches every 2 or 3 years really has become the status quo. Maybe fans should just shut up and accept whatever the party line serves up next.

He might not have been Doug's choice. On the other hand, are we to believe the Pegullibles made the Ryan hire in an information vacuum? That seems far-fetched at best. On the third hand, this doesn't exactly speak well for Doug or the organization or both. Why didn't he speak up during the hiring process? Or did he? And if so, why was he, the resident football genius, ignored? The "go with the flow" "good soldier" act hasn't worked out twice now, if that narrative is correct. Doug not speaking up and setting a sustainable football direction could be argued as having cost this owner millions of dollars and a bunch of wasted time and customer goodwill. In short, it could be seen as amateur or assholic. Culture change starts with coherent, strategic leadership. Until then it's about losing bigly.

Yes, yes. He's too busy and he had zero input. Slow clap.

Wait. So Whaley had enough time to fire the HC, but the reason he can't spend 10 minutes answering questions is that he's "too busy"? Wow. That's one lame ass cop-out. Berchtold sucks. Yeah, after watching Lynn stumble through his first presser, hard to argue otherwise.

There are a lot of rocks.