Utah John

Maybe he's suggesting a trade to Jacksonville. Say what you will about Gronk's wild personal life, if he was a Bill we would LOVE him.

If Marrone won't fire Hackett, then Whaley fires Marrone. Whaley is a smart guy who understands what the team needs. Trading for Brown seemed like a stretch but he's intended as Spiller's replacement. Trading for Mike Williams looked OK but then Chris Hogan outplayed him and won the game day slot from his special teams experience. Chris Williams was a swing and a miss. Jerry Hughes for whatshisname...are you kidding me? Whaley should be brought up on charges. Preston Brown and Nigel Bradham, and Kiko coming back, along maybe with Spikes although Spikes seems to have tailed off -- great D line, great LBs -- just need another CB and maybe a backup safety. Concentrate on the O line in this year's draft and get lucky with a FA QB, and suddenly Whaley will look like a genius and even Marrone will look smart. IF they replace Hackett.

The Bills being the Bills, if they hadn't taken Watkins and waited till their regular pick, they would have passed on Beckham and picked some bust. If it took them two firsts to get Watkins, it was worth it. Not to mention the pain we'd have this coming spring when they picked another loser. I'll trade the two losers for Watkins, you betcha. Beckham doesn't have EJ and Orton throwing to him, I should point out. Even if we had him instead, he'd be getting open and then ignored, just like Watkins. I have nothing but praise for Watkins' toughness and attitude. And of course his talent. He really does have amazing hands. He plucks the ball out of the air and that's that. Except when he doesn't focus, and that will get better. The ribs will heal and assuming no injuries from the waste down, he'll be a superstar in a year or two. 8 now, 9 next year, 10 after that.

1. Kiper's track record is about as good as GM's picking QBs in the sixth round. Even a blind squirrel finds a nut sometimes. 2. If there are no franchise QBs in this spring's draft, then the hit from trading our 1st rounder is not so bad. Right? I mean, if we were missing out on Andrew Luck from this move, then OK. But we're not. And we weren't going to be so bad with this defense to be contending for a top five pick this year anyway. 3. MM is a good prospect, better than Jameis. Could be really good, and will not be a bust. We would never be able to get him anyway. I think he's going to the Jets, and I'm not happy about that. With MM and Chris Ivory, and a new HC, the Jets could get turned around quick.

Does everyone believe Mike Williams is actually hurt? He seemed fine at midweek and was expecting to play, then this mysterious calf injury popped up, but he was nowhere to be found to talk about it. I'm thinking this is BS, that Marrone has just decided to shut this kid down. Why, heaven only knows. Or Marrone and Williams know but they're not talking. Why waste a draft pick to trade for a guy, then sit him most of the season? If Gay wasn't going to kick and Williams was actually OK, I'd like to see him on the roster and on the field. He's a question mark so far, and hasn't been in enough games to show what he can do. My best guess is Marrone isn't happy with the way Williams talks to the media. Instead of making him a healthy scratch, which is bad enough, Williams sees Marrone hiding behind this phantom injury (in my view of things) just to piss Williams off a little bit more.

I am fairly sure that's every Bills fan's favorite referee, Walt Coleman, who he's dedicating that gesture to.

I think it's way too early to tell whether Manziel will be a successful pro. He looks to me like he has the tools to be a taller version of Russell Wilson. Too bad for JF he doesn't get to play with Seattle's defense, or Marshawn Lynch. I am not sure whether Hoyer or Manziel gives the Browns a better chance to win. Generally bright sparks like Manziel come in an have the wow factor for a while, but at the end of the season you look back at a mediocre W-L record. JF would probably be better long-term if Hoyer finishes out this year and starts next year as well as the starter. Most rookies need time to absorb the game, not flounder while things zip past them. If JF had started and the Bills knew that would happen and so could game plan for him, he might not have survived.

Different rhythm pattern, but based on the Nationwide commercials: (Note I posted these last night if they look familiar) Chicken parm doesn't taste so good, when your jaw is wired shut. Nationwide is on your wide, but Manning's on his back.

Two new slogans: Chicken parm doesn't taste so good when your jaw is wired shut. Nationwide is on your side, but Manning's on his back.

The power rankings have the Packers, Patriots, and Broncos in the top three spots every week. They switch them around now and then for the sake of doing something, but it's always those three at the top. The question is, how far will they drop after the Bills beat them?

It's interesting to see the different replays. The CBS replay showed the full action, where Manziel was clearly bringing the ball back into his body when Williams hit him. The ball was NOT moving forward, it was moving toward his body. The continuous motion replay shows why Carey and the broadcasters and so many NFL players said it was a fumble. The stop action highlights linked to the Blandino whitewash were clearly selected to give the impression Manziel had the ball moving forward in a passing motion. That forward motion supports the NFL's position, but the forward motion is what did NOT happen. So the Bills won by a lot and everyone's happy, but Kyle Williams loses credit for a sack and a forced fumble, another Bill loses credit for a recovered fumble for a TD, and Schwartz loses credit for his defense making that play. Those stats have a lot to do with getting selected for the all-star game, the Bills still have an outside shot at the all-time sack record, and Schwartz looks a little less glamorous interviewing for HC jobs next year (OK that last is a good thing). Williams and the Bills might really be disgusted at this at the end of the year.

In Mario's first season with the Bills, he had an injured wrist. Watch him when he plays, now that he's healthy. He really uses his hands to control the offensive lineman. Without his hands at full strength, he couldn't do what he does. Also that first year the NFL started out with the incompetent replacement refs, and the OT for NJJs was committing foul after foul on Mario for hands to the face, without getting called. Now those factors have gone away, but Mario didn't become Super Mario right away either. He got sacks but a lot of them were QBs being driven into him by other guys. This year, lately, it's different. He's dominating OTs and forcing opponents to double team him as much of the time as possible, opening the door for the others. I think all four on the D line are great. If you put any of them on a weak line, however, where the opponents could double team them every down, they would just be good, tough players. We used to have lines like that, with one good pass rusher who wasted his career fighting through double teams every game (e.g. Schobel). All four of them must thank their lucky stars they're on a line with the other three. Their agents must be delighted, too, waiting for big paydays.

Fortunately the Bills overall aren't doing well enough to get Mario the cover of SI. The kiss of death for a generation.

OK, OK, just asking, not recommending.

OK, I'm not trolling or being intentionally argumentative. But here goes. We have a great defensive line, not just the starters but every backup as well. We have three really good LBs on the field, plus adequate backups. Where will Kiko fit next year, if the Bills are able to bring Spikes back? On the other hand, the Bills desperately need upgrades at a couple of positions on the offensive side, and they could stand an upgrade at safety as well. The question is, as good as Kiko is, would you trade him for a really good, proven, QB? How about two dominant offensive lineman? Or would you never want to trade him and are thinking of coming out to Utah to explain things to me in person?

I want to point out that Orton plays offense. He's never on the field at the same time as Brady, Rodgers, or Manning. It's up to the defense to limit their production, not our QB. The idea that QBs are going mano a mano like starting pitchers in baseball do, is exaggerated. All QBs want to win and they try their best when going up against a good opponent, but unless a QB really screws up and causes turnovers to give the other team short fields, it's not usually the case that a great QB on one team can neutralize a great QB on the other. The Jets beat the Steelers a couple weeks ago. I don't think Michael Vick was what gave Roethlisberger problems. Actually after yesterday I can't even imagine what it was on the Jets that gave Roethlisberger problems. But they must have figured something out.

I think there were some missed calls but for the most part the calls were consistent. It's not like one team or the other was called tighter than the other. None of the Bills sacks were close to illegal, though some were pretty violent. Overall, I think this was one of the best officiated games the Bills have had this year.

After reading mannc's comments about the long-term value of the club, I have to agree with him. Spending more to make the team more successful would have created more value in the long run. So Littman's more of a villain than I thought, with no redeeming value at all, and it's a shame Ralph gave Littman so much power.

For years I thought I was the only one who remembered the names of the villians, I've been blasting Jeff Littman and Walt Coleman here for years. Or maybe no one else dared type their names. Whatever the cause it's good to see more people aware of the damage that Littman did to the organization. We all think, as does Polian (and Pegula), that the purpose of a professional sports franchise is to win championships. Littman thought it was to make money for his boss. How many times were the Bills a player or two from being a contender, and instead we got somebody cheap. More importantly, and this is vastly underappreciated, the Bills have NOT shelled out like other teams for coaches. Not just HCs but all through the staff. There is no salary cap on the coaching staff, and most teams try to get the best staff they can. Sometimes the Bills have good coordinators and assistants, but usually there's one good coordinator and one guy willing to work for cheap to get started on his career. Not that present day circumstances should be any guide. From my perspective, there are a lot of good bean counters out there, and darned few football geniuses. The Bills' product was football, and in a truly professional organization that should have been the priority. If Littman and Polian clashed, find another bean counter. So Wilson died and left a fortune and very generous estate, giving back to the city a lot of the money fans paid for tickets over the years. Wonderful. A little less back now and a Lombardi trophy or two at OBD would be a good deal in the eyes of most of us.

No practicing is a bad thing. The coaches put a lot of effort every game into figuring out plays to give the team an advantage, and not having the chance to run through the plays a couple of times really makes it hard to execute during a game. I also don't know whether conditioning is an issue. Would players really lose their aerobic conditioning levels if they can't work out normally for a couple of days?

How about I move the ball forward this much, so the Patriots can get a first down.

Merriman was hurt and a shell of his original self. He was worth a look-see but the Bills kept him around too long, after it was clear he was never going to get good again. Moeaki was also hurt but now is recovered and playing for Seattle. He caught a TD against KC but I don't know how much he played. He always appeared to have the talent but couldn't keep from getting hurt. Blount is not hurt and just has a bad attitude. He probably won't want to sit, and if Freddie comes back, sit he will. But he runs like Cookie Gilchrist used to. Geez, he'd be good for the Bills, better than Dixon, if he decides to put it together.

So don't remove the snow from the field. Push the snow from the seating areas down ONTO the field. Mark off the yard lines with colored paint. I grew up in West Seneca and some of the best football games we had as a kid were under that kind of conditions. Neither the Bills nor the Jets will make the playoffs so what the heck, give the players and fans an experience they'll never forget.

A head coach giving bland non-answers to the media is just showing the same kind of discipline he expects from his players not jumping offsides.

Odds are, considering the Bills non-astuteness in drafting, that if they didn't take Watkins and waited to take another guy they didn't think quite had Watkins' talent, they'd have picked some complete loser, and we would be watching Watkins plus all those other rookies doing so well, play on other teams. I think it's a tribute to Watkins, and a clue to his future value, that he's been able to do so well catching passes from Manuel for four games and "bad Orton" for the last two.