Utah John

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.

Ikkie Iggie That's a lot easier.

I liked the same things about Nelson that Rex Ryan likes -- his determination, competitiveness, and desire. The Bills let him go for the same reason no one not desperate for WR help didn't pick him up -- lack of speed and special talent. He was a decent player for the Bills, but remember he was a starter on the worst WR corps in the NFL. The Bills were clearly going for faster and better in their WRs with the new front office and coaching staff. It's bad though for the Bills that no one called Nelson to tell him. I don't know whether this kind of treatment is typical in the NFL, but I have this naive hope that the Bills are a classy outfit and wouldn't do something like this. Whether he's better than Graham or not, doesn't matter now. TJ was a third round pick and the Bills probably were/are hoping he develops better skills than he's shown. But Goodwin is a better football player and is faster, so the future for Graham is as the speed guy the Bills use if Goodwin gets hurt. Or he gets cut. Unless Graham really steps it up, he'll be one more in a long long string of draft mistakes by Buddy Nix.

It sounds crazy considering no playoffs since 1999, but the goal isn't to make the playoffs, it's to win the Super Bowl. If the Bills had been lucky with regard to injuries, they might have had a chance a a wildcard berth, but once Kolb/Manuel/Lewis got hurt, along with Byrd and Gilmore being out, and Carrington going out, it was over. I'm OK with that, because Marrone's NOT OK with that. I've been a Bills fan a lot longer than Marrone's been their coach (longer than he's been alive) so I've seen this movie. But there is a rising sense on the team that things are changing, and Marrone's attitude and Whaley's drafting are two big reasons. This year's draft is the first one with multiple impact players in many many years. Look at the drafts over the past 10 years, prior to 2012, and you'll see immediately why the Bills have floundered. I agree Whaley is invested in Manuel and will not want to pick someone else (unless Manuel has a devastating injury), and that's OK too. The Bills need a lot of help at linebacker and cornerback, and need upgrades at both guard positions and at DE (yes, even with the guys we have). I think an impact player on defense, either LB or DE, in round 1, and a guard in round 2, are coming. I am sick and tired of watching teams that can't run the ball get healthy playing the Bills. How many times do we have to see a delay run over the defense's right side, form up and then break out for 8 yards or more. Are the DTs getting buried? Isn't there supposed to be a LB over there somewhere? Maybe it's a scheme problem. Whatever the cause, that has to be fixed.

The number of playoff berths the Bills can win this weekend: zero. The number of games the Bills can win this weekend: one. First things first, and one game at a time.

I have to give Byrd the benefit of the doubt. He could still be restricted in running from his PF for all we know. More importantly he missed training camp with a new set of coaches. He excelled in past years because he understood where he could take chances in the schemes. This year he looks like he's locked into just doing his job. He's a talented guy and when the coaches can work with him to exploit his talents I think he'll excel with Pettine too. For years the Bills have drafted DBs and let them go when they were getting really good. You could pick a better starting defensive backfield from around the league of ex-Bills than the guys they kept. Who wouldn't want Jabari Greer back? Even Donte won't-tackle Whitner was better than any of our other safeties except Byrd. Nate Clements, Winfield, Leonhard a few years ago...all were better than the people we kept. Don't make the same mistake with Byrd. Build around him and Stephon Gilmore. Or, let Byrd go now, and Gilmore a couple of years from now, and keep on starting over with new guys you hope are close to as good as the guys who left. That's not how champions are built.

Dierdorf demonstrated how a very good player can make the HOF by becoming a sports announcer and getting his name recognized, when better players are forgotten. He earns his living by talking, a lot, and getting people to pay attention. Saying annoying or even stupid things helps him accomplish his goals.

RG III was medically cleared to play at the end of last season. He aggravated and worsened an existing injury, and might never be the same player he was a year ago. Why don't you ask Shanahan and the Redskins fans if they with they'd waited to be sure he was OK before putting him back in. The Bills have an outside shot at the second wildcard slot. So do half the teams in the AFC. I would love for them to make the playoffs after all these years, but let's face it, they'll get killed if they get far enough to play Denver. Making the playoffs this year would feel great but have nothing to do with the real goal, winning the Super Bowl. I would be fine with Manuel sitting till after the bye week.

If I remember right, Gary Andersen didn't want to play for the Bills so he tanked his training camp and got cut. It's always been a sore spot that we had such a good kicker and it worked out badly. Warfield, Eller -- a couple of really good ones we lost to the NFL. But we beat out the NFL for Billy Shaw, still one of the all-time best Bills. What's really depressing to me is to look at the last five years of drafts. A few players that start for the Bills but couldn't be backups elsewhere, and a lot of current shoe salesmen. If you want to know how to miss the playoffs since the last millenium, draft like that. This year the blind squirrel did well.

The Bills defense always seems to be the cure for whatever ails an opponent's rushing game. And I don't get that. We've got two guys at DT that should be beasts against the run, and a tacking machine at MLB, but every game there are at least 3 or 4 gashes. Tackling seems to be a big part of it, and also even when our guy stands up the runner it seems like there's a wave of blockers pushing the pile for another 3 yards.

SB wins are an important factor but not the only factor. The most important factors for me are not measurable by considerations that depend on the others on the team or the coaches. To me, it's looking at who's the best student of the game -- who prepares most effectively to attack and defeat the opponent -- who shows leadership and poise under pressure -- who could make all the throws -- who handled the ball most effectively. To me, the top three all-time are Peyton Manning, Montana, and Brady, even though I think Brady has a better arm than Montana did. SB wins can be over-weighted. To say Eli Manning is better than those three, or Troy Aikman, or Drew Brees, is just not realistic. They're all excellent but just not in the same class.

Spiller can be an explosive talent, but he's hardly been able to get in gear over the first four games. I don't know what's wrong, but when he doesn't have his wheels he's pretty ordinary. He doesn't have his wheels at the moment due to an ankle injury. Jackson is one of my favorite Bills of all time (and I'm a fan since I can remember, about 1962) due to his determination and ability to get extra yards. For every run that Spiller breaks, Jackson has three tough runs that get key first downs. I don't hate Spiller, far from it, but we should look at what the guy is doing this year and not imagine he's doing magic tricks like he did last year. When both are fully healthy, I like the mix that's been going on. When Spiller is a step slow, he shouldn't be on the field because he can't even get back to the line of scrimmage. When Jackson is a step slow, he still finds a way to get yards.

No offensive scheme in the world can work if the offensive line can't block. This year it's clear the cheapskate Bills will never spring for an adequate fill-in to replace Levitre (who wanted too much money). But without a replacement for Levitre, the LG situation alone will prevent a winning record, no matter how good the skill position players are, and the defense will wear out fast every game if the offense can't sustain drives. I just have to ask what the front office was thinking, not addressing such an obvious problem. Spiller will take a hole and make exciting plays. Jackson gets yards without a hole. If Spiller had Jackson's heart, and strength, he'd be the best back in the league. As it is, running behind Colin Brown, Spiller is helpless. It's best to start Jackson.