OldTimer1960

OMG, is this an NFL defense? No pass rush and nobody bothered to cover the receiver.

We can only hope that George Edwards resigns because they sure aren't gonna fire him during the season. Ugh, the offense is not good either. At least Fitz is tough.

And some LBs too. I think the DL is much improved over last year, but there are other breakdowns, especially a lack of pass rush from the OLBs.

YES! This "great" group of WRs is NOT. I try to be optimistic, but let's be reasonable: Stevie Johnson is an average #1WR, David Nelson is an OK to above average #3WR and the rest of them, including Donald Jones, are nothing but 4,5 and 6 WRs on most competent NFL offenses. Compare them to the Jets' WRs, is Stevie as good as either Plaxico or Holmes? TE, while VERY much improved over recent bad TEs, is not exactly a strength. Again, compare Scott Chandler to the Jets' Dustin Keller or the Pats' Gronkowski and/or Hernandez. Throw in that the Bills' OL is now in a shambles, down to their 3rd LT, lost their best OL (Wood) and have had to mix and match the rest of the OL to let Levitre play LT. Unless Bell or Hairston come back this week, the Bills will have their 4th string LT playing, and 2nd stringers at most other positions. Now, granted the offense has been largely ignored in the last 2 drafts because the D was in such bad shape. I lament the Spiller pick, but find it hard to blame them. I still don't understand why he hasn't had much chance, but must be SOME reason that the guys that drafted him high, don't play him.

Chan Gailey should be praised for what he was able to accomplish early in the year with his schemes. But harsh reality has set in at the mid-point of the season and the truth is that they do not have the talent to match up with opponents and schemes can only take a team so far. On offense, defenses have figured out that they can double Stevie Johnson and let the rest of the defense focus on stopping Freddie Jackson. The Bills do not have any other weapons that can win consistently. The WR corp is really weak. I never understood those who were saying the team was "stacked" there. Donald Jones is NOT a starting WR in the NFL, he isn't even a good #3WR. After a nice start, Scott Chandler has now returned to his 1 catch in 3 year form. There is NO speed on the offense, other than Spiller- who they strangely refuse to use at all. On defense, the run stopping has improved, but there is NO pass rush and that leaves not-so-great DBs hung out to dry. The only player on the Bills D that an offense has to account for is Marcel Dareus. They double Dareus and the rest of the defensive players are just average (at best). There aren't enough play-makers on this unit. I can't tell whether Fitzpatrick is a legitimate starting NFL QB or not. There simply isn't enough talent around him to know, but my gut says that it is pretty rare for career backups to suddenly "blossom". We can debate whether the front office needs to be replaced, yet again, but things will not improve until both sides of the ball have better players.

Even with recognition that both the O and D have significant talent deficits compared to opponents, I think George Edwards and his defensive staff should be fired at halftime.

Can't really start much worse on both D and O. They MUST hold here on D or the game will get out of reach fast.

Horrible start. This is a team that is out-gunned in terms of talent.

Today's loss was in many ways a reality check. I am glad that this team has so much heart and will to win that it has over-achieved. However, they still have a significant talent deficit against the upper-eschelon teams in the league. I don't think that they will be able to overcome that talent deficit down the stretch and they will likely not make the playoffs. I am encouraged to see that the talent level is well above what it has been in the past, however this team is still devoid of pass rushers. It lacks a legitimate starting WR across from Stevie Johnson. It has an than OK, but still mediocre TE. It does not have elite CBs and the Safeties are OK, not great. I haven't even touched on the LT, but they have fared alright there and QB is fair-to-midland. I like Fitzpatrick. He is clearly the best QB that they have had in the last decade, but he is not a GREAT QB who can overcome big problems and he doesn't have a very strong supporting cast. I expect this team to continue to fight and be competitive all year, but in the end, they will be better than last year, but not playoff calibre.

You won't get ANYTHING for Spiller right now. I can't understand why they don't get him some touches. It is almost like they are too proud of their over-achieving no-talent players. I really like Freddie Jackson - he is a guy to root for and plays way better than his talent level dictates, but it is almost like the coaches are too stubborn to direct the ball to their most athletic player.

UGH!

The offense is under-manned. There is only one legitimate NFL starting WR on this team (Stevie Johnson) and he was a 7th round pick. Who on earth is Donald Jones and why is he starting? The TE has been a nice story so far, but he does not scare anyone and can't get open with tight coverage. The Jets DBs vs the Bills' WR is a gross mismatch and that is going to make it tough to generate any offense. I would like to see them run a few plays to get the ball to Spiller in the open field. I don't understand why he doesn't get any touches. He is by far the most athletic skill position player on this offense. I am not saying that he should be playing ahead of Freddie Jackson, but they should be trying to take advantage of his speed at least some.

He has only had 2 drafts. That is 4-6 premium picks (1st-3rd rounds). It is too early to judge any of his draft picks, but: 1. I'd say that Spiller has acquitted himself very well in his limited opportunities this year (5ish ypc). He is being a team player and is it really his fault that Fred Jackson has developed into a very good player and a leader that they do not want to take carries away from? 2. Torrell Troup has been injured, but has played decently when healthy. That he hasn't beaten out Pro-Bowler Kyle Williams doesn't say he is a bust. I'll admit he probably won't be a dominant player, but he hasn't been horrible when healthy. 3 Alex Carrington has looked promising in his 2nd year. 4. Marcel Dareus has looked like everything he was advertised to be. 5. Aron Williams was playing well before his injury. Hopefully his aggressiveness won't be hurt by the injury. 6. Kelvin Sheppard has earned a good deal of playing time after missing a lot of preseason time with injury. He looks quite promising.

Because the Bills signed a DT to the practice squad, you think that means Troup is not the answer? I don't think he has played badly when healthy. It IS a disappointment that he has been injured so much.

The O-Line was very exposed, too. Cinci's defense is pretty good, but they certainly aren't the Steel Curtain. The offense only scored 13 points, couldn't run and couldn't provide pass protection to Fitzpatrick. The OL has been far better than many thought it would be, but they still aren't all that good. I think we saw a lot of drops by WRs, too - at least a number of big plays that were there to be had with top receivers and our group of over-achievers couldn't come through. Meanwhile, AJ Green made a PHENOMENAL catch on a long pass to set up a score. The Bills did get jobbed on the phantom drop by Stevie. Can anyone possibly tell me how that was an incomplete pass? Still, really weak effort by the offense.

It is time to end the George Edwards experiment. While the defense is young, it now has more talent than what they've shown so far and that has to be laid on Edwards - a never-was defensive coordinator. Turn the defense over to Wanny.

It is time to end the George Edwards experiment. While the defense is young, it now has more talent than what they've shown so far and that has to be laid on Edwards - a never-was defensive coordinator. Turn the defense over to Wanny.

Yeah, he might want to take whatever they offered right about now. On the other hand, the Bills' might want to pull that offer off the table.

BIG difference between McCargo and Troup: 1. McCargo was supposed to be the "quick, penetrating DT" that Jauron's staff wanted. 2. McCargo never showed up in top shape. 3. Troup fits the D that the current coaching staff and GM want to run 4. Troup has (reportedly) worked his butt off all offseason - a big thing during a lockout 5. Troup is MUCH bigger and stronger than McCargo.

Could see the Jasper cut coming. Kellen Heard played very well this preseason and Jasper appeared to have gained back some of the weight he had lost. If they opt to put him on the practice squad, he has some obvious strength/power, but must work on his conditioning and technique. Here's hoping that he is on the Bills' PS and works his butt off. I am surprised if Antonio Coleman was cut as he seemed to have played very well in the exhibitions. I am interested to see if Robert Eddins made it. He played hard and made some impact plays. Same with Batten.

What time is he on? I hope that he didn't have to sign a contract that he would trash anything and everything that the Bills did and sound pompous and arrogant while doing it. That is the WGR way. The other night on the ride home, I listened to Mike Shoop (how do you spell his name? Never mind, I don't care) complain that the Bills signed Tyler Thigpen to a 3 year contract and that therefore they had no plan at QB. He extrapolated that since they signed a backup QB to a 3 year deal, that meant that they wouldn't take a QB in the early rounds next year. Even when someone pointed out that the Bills could cut him next year and that the contract gives THEM the power, he ignored it and dissed the Bills anyway.

Excellent post. There are way too many here who don't understand the real percentages of success in the draft- even the 1st round. Top 10 picks are not guaranteed to be superstars, like it or not. Even in the top 10, you are doing pretty well to get a good player and you are lucky to get a great player. There are average players and busts every year in the top 10 - and surprise, they aren't all picked by the Bills. Of course, you can with HINDSIGHT go through a draft and see a few players that were picked after player X and say "they should've picked him". But that doesn't mean that anyone really KNEW that at the time. Let's all rail on all the teams that passed on Tom Brady or who took a QB that year instead of him. Clearly all 32 teams are run by buffoons who can't get anything right. I also agree. Here were my first 3 year's stats in Buffalo behind a similar OL with an average/below average QB: 1969: 181 carries, 697 yds, 3.9 ypc 1970: 120 carries, 488 yds, 4.1 ypc 1971: 183 carries, 742 yds, 4.1 ypc Sincerely, OJ Simpson

Thigpen has got to go. I am sure that the Bills could find a better option after the next cut downs. The guy can't make an accurate throw to save his life.

I thought that signing Tyler Thigpen as backup QB was a good idea. Obviously, it wasn't. This guy is making Brian Brohm look good. Unless he makes a big statement in the second half, I think they should keep Fitz, Brad Smith and Levi Brown. I am very disappointed in how inaccurate Thigpen is.

I understand the frustration with the lack of investment in the OL, but they only had so many draft choices and chose to spend them on defense. I agree with their approach, too. You can't hide weaknesses on defense as easily as you can on offense. Opponents attack your defensive weaknesses and you can't really disguise those. On offense, you can try to play to your strengths and cover your weaknesses to some degree.