Utah John

Absolutely yes. Jackson won't make the Hall of Fame. He might have made it if he had gotten started in the NFL younger and hadn't been hurt during his most productive seasons, when he was leading the league in yards from scrimmage. But the WOF is exactly the right place to honor him. Do you think Booker Edgerson will make the HOF? Nope, never, but he was a great Bill during the first glory years and a great example of a professional, and clearly deserved his WOF. Fred Jackson is in that category. It's not his fault the organization screwed up so many draft picks, and went cheap on quality depth players, and made bad calls on key positions, or hired cheap hack coaching staffs prior to this one. He has ALWAYS played harder than anyone on the field and found ways to get key first downs when other backs would have taken losses. He's a very good pass blocker. He plays through injuries. He took Spiller under his wing and saw his own touches go down, and never complained. What else do you want from the guy? I also think Cookie and Lou Saban belong there, but they didn't kiss Wilson's ring or other body parts so that ain't happening.

The issue this year was never about Manuel being ready to be the guy. This was his year to prepare to be the guy. The Bills, with an average QB, would have made the playoffs this year. So what. Making the playoffs is not the goal. Winning the SB is the goal. Average QBs hardly ever win the SB. Trent Dilfer is the exception that proves the rule. For the Bills to made a deep playoff run next year, they'll need to do just as well with the next draft as they did this draft. They can't spare another 1st rounder on a QB, not when they need a killer LB and 3 offensive lineman. And I don't think the Bills are thinking QB in the first round. The Bills have convinced themselves that Manuel can be prepared and trained to be a SB-winning QB. OK, they're the pros, and their view is what matters. I would have a lot more confidence about this is they hadn't convinced themselves of the very same thing with Fitz not long ago. Granted the guys in charge now seem to have a clue whereas the guys a few years ago didn't. Still, I'm a skeptic. .

I'm with the "(1) Hope Carrington is on the team next year but (2) Eugene Parker" group on this one.

That high defensive ranking is hard to square with almost every opponent rushing for more than they had averaged prior to playing the Bills. Any opponent that committed to running against the Bills did so effectively. Miami's O-line is a disaster and maybe that's why they didn't try running, but the Bills actually have a good pass defense so it was pretty stupid not to attack where we've shown we're not good. Other than Alonso, and Jerry Hughes who is more of a defensive lineman, I don't think much of the Bills' LBs. That's probably the weakest area on the defense and the easiest to patch through free agency. I don't think the defensive line needs anyone else, considering Carrington is coming back and they have a bushel full of really good linemen already.

The Rochester D&C had an article listing 5 games the Bills lost while having an excellent chance to win. In fairness, two of the Bills' wins, against the Dolphins in Miami, and against the Panthers, had to break extremely right for the Bills to get wins. You can't consider one side without the other. But if from those 7 tight games, the Bills went 4-3 instead of 2-5, we would certainly be in the playoff picture. The Toronto game alone would not be sufficient. Assuming a win, we'd be 3-4 in the close games, not enough. Still what fool gives away any advantage in a close contest. The biggest reason the Bills are out of the playoffs is inability to stop the run. Time and again, opponents who couldn't run for an ice cream truck got healthy against the Bills. Why the Dolphins yesterday chose to ignore this weakness and challenge the Bills' strength goes more to stupidity on the part of the Dolphins than to great D for the Bills.

The Bills can draft another QB high, and have that guy flail and fail behind our crummy offensive line. Or they can fix the offensive line and see what Manuel can really do. I think the theory is that the only places on the O-line where talent matters is left tackle and center. I guess we found out that's not really true, after our two best guards left in free agency and our decent O-line last year turned into this year's disaster. Also of course we lost Hairston. But Pears and the two guards are not good enough to open holes for the excellent runners or to give any QB time to pass.

I'm 57 and can certainly remember worse losses. The 1966 championship loss preventing a trip to SB I. The Music City debacle. Wide right in our first SB. Losing after a halftime lead in our fourth SB. A playoff loss to Miami where Flutie played great and Moulds got caught from behind and fumbled, and eventually we lost. The playoff game against Pittsburgh when Bruce Smith couldn't play because he had the flu. Those were all important games. Today was a step toward a better draft choice. I was disappointed in the outcome, but the O-line has been getting progressively worse and it was no surprise that the offense couldn't do anything. The defense once again was the cure for whatever ailed the opposition's running game. The officials were beyond bad but it wouldn't have mattered if they called everything right.

We kept Graham over Rogers because the organization drafted Graham instead of drafting Russell Wilson. They're hoping in time the mistake won't look so bad. That may possibly be the worst decision since they drafted Torrell Troup instead of Gronkowski.

I apologize for a post about the Bills, but the most inept person in the organization is Jeff Littman. He's the bean counter telling Ralph what to do, and is the person responsible for all the cash-grabbing and cost-avoidance schemes the Bills do. Why play in Toronto? Get more money. Why be $20 million under this year's salary cap? Save money. This franchise will never succeed as long as Littman is in the picture, and he'll never be out of the picture while Ralph is the owner.

I wonder, which city loses its team first, Buffalo or Tampa (or Jacksonville)? And does the outcome of today's game have anything to do with that? It sounds like if the Bucs lose, they could fold up and leave town and the people there would shrug in disgust and help them pack. The Bills are a core part of Buffalo's DNA and no matter how bad they get people in WNY will not give up.

Choice got here because Gailey coached him at Ga Tech and Dallas. He's a professional and he never hurt the team. He just doesn't have any special talents. Just a grinder. With Gailey gone and us out of the playoffs, it makes sense to move on. This also sends a message to the team, not to get too comfortable with your roster spot. Which is good.

Brandon is now saying he's reviewing the Toronto plan, implying that it's possible it will be scaled back or terminated. I give Brandon a lot more credit than other posters here. He actually cares about winning, not like the bean counters like Jeff Littman who are after more and more money. I don't think Nix would have come out in public questioning a financial winner for the Bill. I give Brandon credit. Of course this could be mere PR to assuage the anger after the Falcons game. To me, the everlasting villain in the Bills organization is Littman. Bill Polian was forced out by Littman in 1993. Twenty years later the Bills have made money but have become persistent losers. Polian has been a success wherever he's gone.

Why isn't anyone mentioning Manuel? His stats look good until you see how few yards passing the Bills had. 18 completions for 210 yards, or less than 12 yards per completion. He threw three or four deep balls that wouldn't have been catchable even if the Falcons DP hadn't interfered with the Bills receivers, primarily Goodwin. Otherwise it was dink and dunk. He generally had time to pass but was not looking deep enough. So for next year. I do not agree with the "cut SJ" talk. He's still a very talented receiver ideal for the slot. What we STILL need is a primo #1 guy. Woods will be a solid pro for years to come, but we still need the Megatron type guy who scares the bejeezus out of the DBs. Goodwin is a good receiver but is not The Guy. I am worried about RB. Fred Jackson might be my favorite all-time Bill, going back to when I can remember (1963). But he's going to slow down. Spiller is great when the holes are there and he's not nicked up. So, almost never. Today is the exception that proves the rule. If he was healthy and was getting holes all year, imagine what could have been, but hasn't been. On this team, and with his medical history, especially if Jackson falls off a cliff. I think Emanuel might still be They Guy at QB. He's lost a lot of his rookie season so it's not fair to judge yet. I still think he, and not Jackson or Chandler, is the reason the Bills lost today. Well, that and giving up a home game. The O-line is average against weak defenses and incompetent against good ones. We need new guards and a new right tackle, going after free agents if necessary. Once again, a team having trouble running the ball got healthy against our guys. The two long TD runs for the Falcons were I think a case of Alonso reading the play wrong and filling the wrong gap, leaving too much room. Still I think Alonso will be a stud for the Bills for 10 years. I think Hughes and Lawson are pretty good but not good enough. Time for at least one new LB. The DBs can't stop slants. Why not? Except for Byrd they can't intercept. Why not? I think they need a really solid CB and must re-sign Byrd, although today's loss might have been the last straw for Byrd. I think he walks so he can play with a better team. This team is not snake bit, it suffers from a greedy front office that puts profits ahead of wins. Aside from the abomination of playing in Toronto to earn a few more million, the Bills are $20M under the salary cap. Every weakness they have they could have addressed in free agency, just by using the full cap. Nope, that's $20M more for the lawyers to hide from taxes when Ralph passes. And the Bills lose again.

I have never understood why having ties was bad. The NFL and AFL did it for years and it was just part of the game. My first choice would be to eliminate OT completely. My second choice, assuming OT will continue, is to allow only touchdowns to win in OT, while continuing the rule that each team gets to have the ball at least once. If both teams or neither team scores a TD on its first possession, the next TD by either team wins. My third choice is to keep the current system.

Apologize? For what? Byrd is playing great, and I hope the Bills sign him. I don't think he's a great enough player to make a bad defensive backfield better all by himself, say the way a healthy Revis could. But he makes all the players around him better. With another LB and probably a new CB, and Carrington back from injury, the defense next year is going to be very tough. Back to Byrd, I don't think anyone at any time said he isn't a very good player. I think the way things played out, with the non-diagnosable injury appearing just when he had to return, and then happily clearing up with enough season left for Byrd to demonstrate his capabilities, is suspicious. Was he really hurt? I have no idea. How did he hurt BOTH feet just working out on his own? Seems odd. My disappointment with him is that he didn't suck it up after he was franchised, understand the position he was in, sign the tender, and report to camp like a professional so he could learn the new system and help his teammates. These days, a "professional" athlete isn't someone who gives everything he's got and prepares as well as possible, it's a guy who gets as much money as possible. Kyle Williams is a professional athlete. Kiko Alonso is a professional athlete. Is Byrd? I'm still not sure. He does prepare very well so he knows what the opposing QB is likely to do, he's almost never out of position, he almost never misses tackles, and he can cover monster TEs and speedy WRs, so the ability is certainly there. As far as I'm concerned, while Byrd may or may not be a problem, his agent certainly is.

I have always wondered how much more the Bills take in from playing a home game in Toronto, compared to what they'd get at a sold-out Ralph. Does anyone know? Probably the Bills figure the attraction isn't the extra money alone, but the growth of their market into southern Ontario. Still, if the Bills miss a playoff spot by one game after losing to Atlanta in Toronto, that's a lot of other money they're losing.

I've posted this before and it's still right. The number of playoff berths the Bills can win this weekend: zero. The number of games the Bills can win this weekend: one.

OK I've seen enough. Sign Byrd when we're allowed to do so, after the season. He's just too good to let him walk. He's everything that Whitner was supposed to be, but a lot more and a lot better. I am really tired of looking around the league and seeing enough ex-Bill DBs playing for other teams, all of whom are better than the guys we kept.

Aaron Maybin redux.

Good guy, good player, bad fit, good luck down the road.

Fitz always turns out like a great first date who it turns out has a serious personality problem. At first you think you've got the woman of your dreams, and after you've dumped your other girl friend you find out she's Cujo.

I wonder if they gave Reed Tebow's old locker.

The Bills WRs are much better than last year but still need improvement. Nelson and Jones were hard working and high effort guys, but neither had anything special and neither made DCs game plan around them. I think Goodwin scares DCs (and CBs) and Woods is an excellent all-around threat. The only reason Graham is on the team is that he was a 3rd round draft pick and the Bills are embarrassed to let him go. I thought Brandon Kaufman was better than Graham, Rodgers, and Hogan. Why Chris Hogan is on the team is a mystery to me. He doesn't seem to know the plays and drops too many passes. Aside from Easley they're a small to mid sized group so I think the team next year is Johnson, Goodwin, Woods, maybe Easley, and a new tall guy or two.

The Bills have been on the wrong end of this issue most years. I think Brandon decided not to sit back and hope it gets fixed on its own next year, and instead is alerting the NFL that this has been a problem and we hope for better treatment in the future.

Random thoughts. Home field makes a bigger difference in this series than in some others, though I don't know why. The Jets are just as inconsistent as the Bills so trends are unreliable. Also the common opponents comparison makes no sense. The Bills narrowly lost to Cincy, and the Jets got killed by them. The Bills lost soundly to a great New Orleans team, but NO with key offensive players out didn't really show up against the Jets (and the Bills played in NO and the Jets played NO at home). The Jets narrowly beat NE, good on them for that, while the Bills as usual lost narrowly. Both teams have injuries. The Bills have made every team they've played feel like they fixed what was wrong with their running game, and Ivory must be thinking this will be his big day. With two rookie QBs and two pretty strong defenses it will be a game of capitalizing on mistakes. Can Byrd be a real factor for the first time this year? I think in the end the difference will be how well each team's offensive line plays, what schemes the coaches come up with, and turnovers. Like always.