Utah John

I think Kemp is partly right and partly misses the point. The Thurman jersey itself isn't the point, it's that Ryan is reaching out to the local community and trying to tie the current Bills organization to that of 25 years ago. That's important. But can he coach, that's a good question. Sending Schwartz packing to install his own favorite defense -- could work out, could be a disaster, it's Ryan's call and it's Ryan's responsibility. It was so great to see the Bills playing really good defense the past two years, and I would hate to see the guys who made it work for Schwartz floundering in a new set. I still don't understand how you take Hughes-Williams-Dareus-Williams and play a 3-4. Even if Hughes leaves, how do you play a 3-4 with those guys? Kyle Williams is a great DT but isn't built to be a DE. Mario Williams is a great DE but doesn't have the speed beyond 10 yards to be a good LB. So many people are infatuated with Rex Ryan, but Kemp is right -- it's results that matter. And, not only can he coach, but can he lead? His time in NY was me unsure. He's doing leadership stuff but a leader also has to let people know what's expected and allowed. I hope this part works out too.

Hogan is a lacrosse player who learned to play football. He's gotten better every year, and is clearly a smart, excellent athlete. I don't think any of us know what his ceiling is. Welker suddenly became a great receiver when he had the two best QBs of this era throwing to him, and the craftiest coach in the game. Miiigghhht be a little bit of a coincidence there, or maybe he just needed to be exploited. I am not saying Hogan has Welker's talent, but I'm not saying he can't become really good if he keeps developing. Also, I think it was just stupid to cut Mike Williams loose. We gave up a pick for him and it would be great to see if he could do well in a new system.

Fitz was not a bad QB for the Bills. He was actually OK. It just seemed to most fans and to the team that he was never going to be the guy to take them to a championship. Unfortunately he got really hot for a month one year and got a huge contract. When it became clear he wasn't going to play to that high level consistently, it became impossible to keep him around and to bring in the guy who we hoped WOULD get us a championship. The biggest problem was that stupid huge contract. If he was getting the kind of salary a good backup deserves, he'd probably still be here, he'd be playing while EJ watched, we never would have visited Ortonville, and we'd have probably been in the playoffs this year. We certainly would have beaten Houston, which would have had...oh I don't know, maybe Kyle Orton...as their QB.

I always suspected the Sabres No-Goal game was awarded to the Stars because the refs just couldn't stand looking at the Smoking Goatheads for one more minute. And in honor of Dave Barry, "Smoking Goatheads" would be a great name for a rock band.

The best part of the Bills or the Jets signing Revis is, the Pats wouldn't be able to play the same kind of defense. I'd almost prefer the Jets get him and use up THEIR cap money, but if it's the Bills who get him I'll be OK with that too.

Usually stereotypes are based on some element of truth, and with New Jersey there are parts that aren't very nice. Port Elizabeth reminds me of what it smelled like driving to Niagara Falls from Buffalo in the 60s -- one chemical smell after another. So the jokes (the New Jersey state bird is the mosquito, the state gemstone is concrete, and the state tree is dead) make sense but only if you don't look around. Most of New Jersey is actually really nice. I read once it's the most densely forested state in the country. Lots of nice towns, close enough to NYC and Philly to get to big cities. Ocean beaches. Apparently not quite in NYS's league for corruption in politics. If anything I think it's overlooked because a lot of it's a bedroom for bigger cities elsewhere. That house looked really nice, IMHO. Property costs a lot there but that might be a realistic price, at least as a starting point for discussions.

To me this comes down to playing to your own strengths. When the game is on the line, you don't give up your own best weapon voluntarily. You make the other guy stop your best weapon.

Do you think Justin Brown is better than Mike Williams? I suspect Williams is so pissed at the Bills after what happened to him that he won't ever consider coming back, but with Marrone gone, maybe there's a chance. He's from Buffalo after all and might want to show everyone how Marrone screwed him over. I never understood why they released Williams instead of just keeping him around to compete next year.

If the Jets can't draft Mariota, I'll bet a nickel they trade for Manziel. They seem to like young QBs who were good in college but can't transition to the NFL. Julian Edelman made the switch from college QB to NFL WR, and he's pretty darn good. I always figured Tebow would make a good TE but he had the sin of pride and wouldn't lower himself to anything other than QB. I wonder if Manziel could play WR.

I think it's clear that Brady is just beginning to slip a little. He's still really good but is even more antsy when pressured than he used to be. The question is, will he degrade faster than the Bills' defense? Great team Ds don't stay great for more than a couple of years. Players get hurt, players get old, players leave as FAs, coaches leave, coaches don't adapt as the offensive game changes, etc. There's only a couple of years before the Bills' D goes from winning them more games than it loses, to vice versa. So can they keep playing at a high level longer than Brady can stay good?

I think it's 60-40. 60% of the benefit of signing Revis is the harm it does to NE, and 40% of the benefit is making the Bills already-great defense somewhat better. The cheapest and most cost effective outcome is if some NFC team signs him. Maybe Pegula can slip one of his fellow billionaires a few bucks to make that happen. The Pats defense was Revis, Jaime Collins (who's turning into a great player), Vincent Wilfork (who's slowing down), wily old Ninkovich, and a bunch of other guys. (It's OK if I don't know them, but you'd think Russell Wilson would have learned about them. Oh well.) The point is that Belichek and Patricia built a very good defense around just a few good players. Take one or two away, and their house of cards tumbles. It's a close call, but considering most of the benefit to the deal would be in hurting NE, and the lost opportunity to sign other players, I'd say no, if an NFC team were to sign him, and yes if he would return to NE otherwise.

The OP's premise is really wrong. The Bills were built to take the lead and then force the opponent to go to the air to catch up. That played into the teeth of the Bills' defense. The O and D WERE aligned.

I have never knowingly heard one of her songs. Not that I avoid them but I just don't listen to pop music, and if someone else has it on I usually don't know who the performer is. (Bruno Mars is good, I have to say.) The only thing I remember about Perry is she showed up to tape a Sesame Street episode in a top the producers thought was too revealing, and they sent her home. Can she sing? I guess I'll find out. She can't be any worse than the Who a couple of years ago, way past their prime guys who used to be great but now are Who the %^%^& was THAT?

Mr Kraft -- I'm sorry the commissioner and you are such good buddies that you can keep breaking rules and getting away with it, almost never with any consequences or punishment.

For whatever reason, the Bills were loaded with very good to great DTs in training camp. I recall he did very well during preseason, but the numbers worked against him. As it turned out everyone they kept is a good player. Sometimes it just doesn't work out. Cohen might have been better off trying to latch on with a team without a deep defensive line. Good luck Landon.

So EJ wasn't ready to be a starting QB, but after sitting and watching for a while, just like Aaron Rodgers did, maybe now he's ready to step in. Same with Hackett, maybe. He wasn't ready to be an OC but maybe if he steps back and coaches QBs for a year or so, he'll have a better idea what he's doing when he gets his next chance as an OC.

See if the Browns need an OT. Trade Kouandjio (our second last year, not too far away from Cleveland's first) and see if the change of scenery can get both of their careers on track. This worked well for us picking up the under-performing Jerry Hughes from the Colts, for whatshisname. Hughes is set to become very very wealthy, and the other guy, I have no idea.

I guess all the complaints about the jinx on players after appearing on the cover finally got to be too much.

You're right, he had two years to go. Which makes my point stronger. How could he be more "under the gun" that any coach in the league? How much job security does he have in Jax?

First, Fred Jackson had no INPUT into the decision Marrone made, or in the Ryan hiring. He has an OPINION after the fact. Big difference. Get that f....ing straight, Pagac. Second, Marrone was as much or as little "under the gun" as any other coach. He had another year on his contract, and he had failed to motivate his team to beat the Raiders, eliminating them from the playoffs. Why does that entitle him to an extension, beyond the year he already had to go? That's not "under the gun", it's the nature of the coaching business.

I think Chan will do well initially at putting Percy Harvin, and probably CJ Spiller, to good use, but that the DCs in the league will figure out toot sweet what he's up to, and that will be the end of that. The Jets have some talent. I think Chris Ivory is a really good player, a lot like Fred Jackson. Harvin is a talented head case. Nick Mangold is a very good O lineman. If they get a decent QB (Mariota?) Gailey could elevate them from trash to mediocrity in less than a year.

The Jets announced today that Chan Gailey is their new OC. Chan was a pretty good OC for the Bills, masquerading as a HC, and will probably do well for the Jets for half a season until the league figures out what he's doing and puts in defenses to stop it. The key for the Bills is that CJ Spiller had his only productive season under Chan, and may feel that moving to the Jets as a FA is his ticket to a longer career. Also Percy Harvin might benefit from Chan's ideas.

Lynch was not playing to his full ability. I don't know why not. He's an eccentric person and perhaps didn't want to be in Buffalo. Neither did OJ at first of course but then the Bills got a great O line and OJ could reach his potential. Maybe Lynch didn't see that happening and just figured he'd wait out his rookie contract and move on. If the free agent rules now in effect were in effect in the late 60s and early 70s, it could be OJ would have walked before discovering his greatness.

Very few players can thrive in a bad situation. Fred Jackson can still produce behind a bad O line, but Spiller can't. Behind a great O line, Spiller would be a much more dangerous RB than Fred. A guy's got to be in the right spot for things to work out. Another difference between Fred and CJ is the ability to play hurt. Spiller is fantastic when everything is right, when his wheels work, but his capability falls off quickly when something isn't right. Fred and most other backs find a way to keep their performance pretty high even when nicked. And guess what, most players are nicked most of the time. If Spiller leaves, look for him to go to a situation where he can be productive, and then watch as he rips a couple of dazzling runs a game, gets 1200 yards for a season. That doesn't mean the Bills make a mistake if they let him go. They aren't going to have a great O line for at least a couple of years, and by that time CJ will be too old to have the acceleration that made him special in 2012. And unfortunately I think Fred will be retired by the time that great O line shows up. I am so sorry for Fred that when he had his chance to really excel a couple of years ago, he got hurt and missed that chance. I think it's clear that (a) he's still pretty effective but (b) not as much as 2 or 3 years ago.

East Rutherford, New Jersey. Time to REALLY regionalize the Bills, and make Rex feel at home at the same time.