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Utah John

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Everything posted by Utah John

  1. I cancelled NFL Sunday Ticket today. Too much to pay to suffer like we're going to. I feel sorry for Shady who could be somewhere putting a team over the top. I feel bad for Kyle Williams, another in a long line of Bills to spend their entire career without making the playoffs. I am sorry for Sammy Watkins, who went from the frying pan into the fire, but at least he won't spend his last year here with a Jarius Byrd mystery foot injury before signing a big FA contract somewhere else. I am honestly happy for Chris Hogan, who put forth a great effort here and now has a ring. He left because the coaches didn't play him to his strengths, and it worked out. Good for him. I hate the Pats, but you can't hate a player for hitting it big IF he went all-out while here, which Hogan did.
  2. I don't think it was karma for Flutie vs Johnson, I think it was Ralph's age catching up to him and a lot of disastrous personnel decisions at about the same time. Firing Polian because he told off one of his underlings (who happened to be Ralph's daughter) was the start. Firing Wade Phillips was another ridiculous move. Firing John Butler and AJ Smith was another. Hiring Donohoe was another. The entire franchise was adrift, with lousy personnel moves resulting from lousy FO moves. Hiring Wrecks was a PR success and a system disaster. Ryan took an outstanding defense and turned it into a pathetic joke. He was a hands-off guy who succeeded for awhile in New Jersey because he inherited great personnel and had great team leaders in place. Here, he relied on Mario Williams, Marcel Dareus, and Jerry Hughes, all great talents and all boy-men who don't have the maturity to do what's right themselves let along straighten out anyone else. The strong internal culture of the SB teams is a generation ago -- now we have Dareus not even following rules and not playing in the most important preseason game. I don't know whether the current regime can whip this team into shape, but I am looking at a disaster of a season. An 0-5 start is a distinct possibility.
  3. Another question to ask is whether Stevie would be a good fit with Peterman. Once the Bills are about out of it, probably by Halloween with this killer schedule, Peterman will be starting so he can get some experience and the Bills can find out whether they need to draft another QB next spring.
  4. Not enough depth or talent for the playoffs. We're missing a first rounder and a fourth rounder (Sammie Watkins). We're missing a second rounder (Reggie Ragland, too slow for this scheme) and and other (Koundijo) and on and on. We're missing a first and a second from our starting CBs. And on and on. But we've got one problem child DT making $100M so we can't afford to keep our good players so we should feel good, right? Not. This team loses every season and the seasons to come in April.
  5. I saw ONE mention of Lance Alworth in this. You can't look at records from different eras and compare numbers since the game changed so much, but Alworth in the 60s and early 70s was just as dominant as any of the others. Jerry Rice is the best WR I ever saw. Rice, Megatron, Julio -- all great too. I'd put Alworth second. Probably most of the people on this board have never even heard of him which is a shame. As to the best player of all time, it's Jim Brown forever.
  6. A good, smart, tough, responsible player. Much respect for him, and glad to see him not on the Pats anymore.
  7. For all of Whaley's monumental goofs, he got some things right. Shady, for instance. But I say that now. In a couple of years, maybe Shady loses a step or the Bills O line collapses, and he suddenly needs to do things he can't anymore. Then he's an expensive waste of a roster spot. I know that sounds harsh but this is the NFL. If the Bills lose to the Jets in Week 1, they should recognize this season is going nowhere, and trade Shady to a contender. Let him win a championship or at least contend. And get players or picks that will help in the future.
  8. I never root for any team in the SB unless it's the Bills. I just like football and want to see a good game. The Pats are an excellent, entertaining team and I generally enjoy watching them and hoping the other team pulls it out at the end. In the Rams game I specifically remember the Pats getting the ball back with just a little time on the clock in a tie game, and Madden saying they were going to play for OT and hope for the best there. Screw that. They went for it and won the game. That was exciting, and I thought, well good for them for playing to win. Honestly out of all the SBs, the most exciting ones were the Bills vs Giants, the Pats vs Rams, the Pats vs Giants, the Pats vs Seahawks, and the Pats vs Falcons. I am not happy for their success but since the Bills aren't playing I'm secure enough to sit back and enjoy the competition.
  9. Every year he's played, Fitz has had one really good game. Last year it was against the Bills in Buffalo. And Wrecks was his usual stupid, stubborn self -- Fitz kept lobbing high passes to his tall WRs, and our DBs couldn't outjump them, so did Wrecks adjust? Of course not, Wrecks is Wrecks. Losing to the Jets in the last game of the year was a tactical win. We moved up several places in the draft. Probably they moved down although I haven't checked. Talent aside, the Jets always play the Bills tough. I am not assuming we get a sweep. But if we lose the first game, it's tank mode all the way. They should trade Shady, cut Taylor and start Jones, and sit Dareus. Oh, and find someone to step on Watkins' other foot.
  10. Cookie and Lamonica were both traded. The worst cuts were Rusty Jones (strength and conditioning coach, let go by Mularkey in the worst thing he did to this team) and Bill Polian.
  11. Offensive linemen agree: Waffles + pancakes > waffles or pancakes I wish you had evidence to back this up. You know, multiple pro bowls, All-Pro team selections, that sort of thing. I would love being wrong about this.
  12. I think Dareus is the single biggest problem on the team. Way overpaid for production. Terrible role model for the younger players. His production:talent ratio has to be among the worst in the league. I get that he had personal tragedy, and that can affect your mind and spirit. At some point that has to be in the past. He should be in his prime years right about now. Show up or get canned. There's a term called "sunk costs" in project management. Once you've bought equipment or supplies, you've bought them, the money is gone, and now you have to look ahead. It's natural to want to hold on to things you paid a lot for, even when you clearly don't need them or they're not right for your future needs. Spending a #3 overall on Dareus is a sunk cost. That ridiculous contract is a sunk cost. Trading him or even cutting him would waste a lot of cap dollars but would give a clear message that EVERYONE needs to be accountable and earn their spot.
  13. The Bills weren't going to draft Mahomes, anyway. They had a shopping list and got most of what they needed in the draft. CB, WR, OL -- we all knew where the biggest holes were, and they went in trying to fill those spots. I haven't given up on TT, either. I think he had few receivers he could trust last year. This year with a healthy Watkins and more talent available, TT could start being a lot more effective at passing. He's already an effective runner, and if Shady stays healthy this offense could be very effective.
  14. In project management, there's a term called "sunk costs" which means that once you've paid for something, that's done, and you shouldn't make decisions going forward based on what you paid. You should make decisions based on what's best going forward. The fact that Whaley gave up so much to draft Watkins is irrelevant. He did. We could have drafted Mack after moving up, or we could have drafted an excellent WR in our original spot and still had a first the following year. Doesn't matter now. It matters to Whaley's legacy, which is not all bad or even mostly bad, but certainly isn't good enough. But it doesn't matter to the new regime in town.
  15. There was only one week the conference championship and SB XXV. That was enough time for the Bills to over-party and lose their edge. Such a sad waste of a golden opportunity.
  16. Whaley had some hits and misses. Most of the misses were related to drafting players who weren't that good, and also to salary cap management which kept the Bills from holding on to their own good players. The Dareus pick was a mistake. He's a selfish, lazy, talented guy who has never lived up to his high draft pick, and who was rewarded with an immense contract that's killing keeping other players. The Watkins trade is running out of time to work out. Injuries have kept us from seeing what he can do. But that draft was loaded with WRs and to give up a first and a fourth plus our first that year, was way crazy even if Watkins was never hurt. On the plus side, Shady. Gillislee but the Dareus contract and stupidity about 2d round tags cost us him. So in return we get a rookie LB who odds are won't make the team. Always always one step forward, at least one step back. The worst part was hiring Wrecks, and that wasn't Whaley's fault. With better coaching and team discipline, the Bills had the talent to make the playof both of the last two years. People blame Whaley for not bringing in a franchise QB. Well, seriously, do you think he just forgot to try? There aren't many of those guys out there. He missed badly with EJ, and everyone knew it at the time. We passed up Teddy Bridgewater because we had EJ. We passed on Russell Wilson. Along with the rest of the league, we missed on Dak Prescott. OTOH, we also did NOT spend high draft picks on EJv2, EJv3, etc, hoping to get lucky. I remain convinced the Bills playoff drought is tied directly to the decision by Russ Brandon to move the training camp to his alma mater. The situation there does not lend itself to team bonding. The little town of Fredonia was perfect for guys going out for a beer together at one of the many bars after training camp practice. That's where teams are built, not with guys alone in their rooms with their headphones and smart phones.
  17. Any interest in signing LeGarrette Blount? He had a very good season for the Pats last year. It would be nice to effectively trade MG for LGB plus a fifth, and stick the Pats with a $4M bill for a RB who might not even start for them.
  18. Shady is a better back than MG but those tender hamstrings... MG could be the Bills' starting RB for most of the year. $4M isn't crazy for a starting RB. Pay him. And fire Overdorf for incompetence for getting the Bills into these situations.
  19. So the Sabres tank two complete years in a row, and we suck it up and are happy about Eichel and optimistic abut Reinhart. The Bills tank one game and there's angst? Come on. The Bills season was almost over when they collapsed in Miami and were 4-3 instead of 5-2, facing the tough part of the schedule. It was really over when they collapsed against Oakland. Why not look ahead in the last game of the year? They should have played Cardale Jones the entire game. Give him some reps. The only reason not to do that was the risk of injury to a guy they think might turn out to be a good player eventually.
  20. He made a lot of tackles. He also missed too many tackles. On a lot of teams, the D is designed to have the line occupy the blockers so the LBs make tackles. It's not necessarily remarkable that a LB would do that, or a sign that he's always where he needs to be. ZB was about as good as the rest of the D, on average. In other words, not good enough to pay a lot for him, which is likely what he thought he'd get.
  21. The Bills haven't had a really effective strength and conditioning coach since Mike Mularkey canned Rusty Jones. For no reason except he wanted his own guy. Then Mularkey promptly fled and we were left with guys who were never as good as Jones. Someone was doing something right last year to keep McCoy and his tender hamstrings intact. Other than that, the Bills didn't seem any more physical than other teams. Not like the early 90s when they could physically wear out the other guys.
  22. ZB is a slightly above average LB, who was a heck of a lot better than the guys we had before him. He had good games last year and some that weren't so good, but overall made a positive contribution. OK, now replace "ZB" with "TT" and "LB" with "QB" and see if the discussion looks familiar. Is ZB as good as we need to have in that spot? Is he just good enough to let us finish 8-8 or thereabouts? My point is those are not fair questions for any player, at any position. The fact is that both ZB and TT are better than any available replacements, and the Bills are better with them than without them.
  23. I think half the teams in the league are in this middling morass of mediocrity. Too many holes every year to fill at the same time new holes appear. Drafting mistakes are difficult to overcome, and very few teams consistently nail most of their picks. We draft out of need and usually need particular positions filled in years when there isn't much talent at that position. Not every team needs DB help this year, but everyone should be drafting at least one DB because this is the mother lode year for CB and safety. This is not the year to use a pick on a QB, "just because we should always draft one". This is year is like 2013, when there wasn't much QB talent out there. We already have an expensive starter and a second year player. We need a competent veteran backup unless Cardale Jones made huge strides since the end of the season. There's your three QBs, unless you think Jones isn't going to work out and you cut him loose now. If you draft another QB in a later round, when you could be getting help for the OL, WR, or DB, what would you do with him or Jones? The Sammy draft was a disaster. I love the guy when his wheels are round, but using two firsts for the production we've had so far has killed the team's chances. The EJ pick was the right idea in the wrong year, therefore a bad move. Whaley tried to provide OT help but got two busts for high picks. He's picked lots of DBs but most can't play very well, and for 20 years we've struggled to retain the good ones we've had. In general, the Bills are much better at finding gems from other teams, than drafting good players. Is it the fault of the people evaluating college players? If it isn't that, what's the reason for the draft failures?
  24. The worst have to be Maybin, Tuttle, Flowers, and McCargo. Others who played but not very well include Al Cowlings, Mike Williams, Manuel, and so far, Sammie Watkins. Players who have underperformed for their draft position have to include Dareus (3rd overall, I believe, and there are a lot of guys from that draft who were picked lower who are superstars.) Cousineau is on lists because he Montreal outbid the Bills, but he was an OK player. Not worth the overall #1. Finally, here's a provocative choice: Jim Kelly. Recent other threads want to acclaim Tom Brady as GOAT keep referring to his championships. Well, Kelly never won even one SB, with a hugely talented roster.(I'm not really serious about Kelly so don't have a heart attack)
  25. The one move they could make that would convince me they're more interested in winning than in selling tickets, is to move training camp back to Fredonia. It's not a coincidence they haven't made the playoffs since they shifted to Brandon's alma mater. In Fredonia, the players spent the evenings at bars, drinking together and bonding. Now the training camps are just about learning plays and evaluating players. They leave there a bunch of players, not a team. Move back to Fredonia, and take away everyone's smart phones and tablets. No more withdrawing, it's time to become teammates.
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