hondo in seattle

Marv did FAR more than manage egos! He also did a great job of preparing the team during the off- and pre-season. He was tactically smart (though not in the elite in that regard). His players played hard from the 1st Quarter than the last. They didn't mail-it in. You would see Kelly and WRs blocking for the RBs, for example. And Marv instilled in the team a never-surrender attitude that was exhibited in other games besides The Comeback. And, btw, the Bills won The Comeback without Thurman and Kelly. They wouldn't have won that game if Marv hadn't been the coach. Sadly, it's true that "as GM he made Tom Dohanhoe look like a genius" as Billy observes. But I'm willing to look past that. Marv is kind of like the kindly uncle who gives you some really crappy Xmas presents as he gets old and single. But I still appreciate him for the great Xmas presents he gave me before.

Think of Michael Jordan. Do we remember him in his prime? Or how he played in his Wizards comeback? I choose remember Marv in his prime as Head Coach rather than his failed comeback as GM. Those who think it was Polian and whoever who built up the Bills and Marv had nothing to do with it are misinformed. Certainly, ex Bills players remember Marv much differently. So do the Hall of Fame electors, who know more about the NFL than the vast majority of posters here. They know how hard it is to get any team into the SB four years in a row. Just think of all the great coaches who never accomplished this. There's a reason Marv was elected to the HOF. There's some truth in the idea that Kellly, Thurman, Smith, Reed, etc. made Marv job's easier and made him look good. But it's also true that Marv brought out the best in his players. I can easily imagine any of these players (minus perhaps Bruce), playing in another era on the Bills with another head coach and not having a HOF career. Was Thurman really that much better than FredEx? Was Reed really better than Moulds? It's almost blasphemous to ask these questions because Thurman and Reed are legends who piled up great stats and led us into the playoffs under Marv's direction. If Marv had FredEx and Moulds back then, they would have accumulated much better numbers than they did in fact. And their legacies would have been different. FredEx and Moulds would not have been just Pro Bowlers under Marv, they would have been Super Bowlers. (Fortunately, it's not too late for FredEx to have that experience). Marv may not have the best W-L record of the HOF coaches. Point taken. But he was twice tasked to turn around franchises with little talent and terrible records. Even Vince Lombardi would have needed some time (seasons with poor records) in those circumstances. Maybe the people who blast Marv are just too young to remember how truly pathetic the Bills were before his arrival. As someone who lived through the years of fultlity pre-Marve, I can only love the guy for what he did. The last few years of Bills mediocrity are nothing to the years of abject misery that came before Marv. In DJ's worse full year, he won 7 games. In the 2.5 years before Marv took over mid-season, the Bills had just total 6 wins. DJ's 7 wins per season would have been a welcome relief back in those days when we averaged 2 wins per season. Marv took this horrible team to the playoffs 8 times and the Super Bowl 4 times. More importantly, he made us proud to be Buffalonians and proud to be Bills fans.

We cut Brian Brohm a couple years ago and he's caught on as a second stringer with the Las Vegas Locomotives.

About Smith.... As of last year, teams are allowed to dress an "emergency QB" who does not count against your game day total. If you dress TT as the emergency QB, he'll sit on the bench, sip Gatorade and contribute nothing. If you dress Smith as your emergency QB, you can let him run the Wildcat (which was effective in 3rd and short situations last year), as well as use him as backup KR and WR. If you are going to dress an emergency QB, you might as well dress someone who will actually get on the field. By using Smith as the #3 QB, it's like we have an extra player every Sunday (he doesn't count toward the game day total). He might not be a great player at any position, but we get something from a role (emergency QB) that delivers nothing on most teams.

From the Associated Press: Buffalo cut five receivers on Friday. Coach Chan Gailey warned that what one sees now isn't necessarily what one will get next Sunday when Buffalo opens against the Jets. ''You've been around (general manager) Buddy (Nix) and I long enough to know that nothing's ever set,'' Gailey said following a brief walk through on Saturday afternoon. ''We're always looking for different ways to improve our team.''

Actually, I am not convinced at all that we'll go look for another WR. We kept 3 TEs including Dickerson the H Back. So I'm think there might be combination of things going on: * more two back sets since we had success with that last year * more of Spiller split out as a wideout so we have two of our best players (FredEx and CJ) on the field at the same time. * Dickerson on the field as an H back That's my guess but it's just a shot in the dark based on nothing more than speculation about who was cut, wasn't cut, and why. It could be something else entirely (like a trade in the works for another WR). *

I pretty much agree. The coaching change could be more than "+1." Last year we were all frustrated with Edwards and I'm excited to see what Wanny will do with the defense. That change alone is a +1 and maybe more. Coach Lee may or may not be another +1. There's a lot of talk about how he's helping Fitz with his mechanics and how Lee's a Wildcat Guru. I'm really not counting on anything but if he lives up the hype, our offense will be more potent.

They should sign Brian Banks to the practice squad, just to help right a wrong.

Thanks for the link. I hadn't realized that the Bills used two backs so effectively (6.2 ypc) or so often (21% of the time). It's funny what you notice and remember. Maybe they do indeed plan to use two backs more often this year.

Yeah, I'm sure Chan & Buddy are up to something I just don't see yet. I do get the four QBs, though. T Jack doesn't know the offense yet and Chan likes to suit up Smith as the #3 QB because he's multidimensional. But only 4 WRs? Despite all the good theories presented in this thread thus far, I'm still scratching my head and wondering what comes next.

His self-discipline and motivation seem to go through ups and downs. Apparently he went through an 'up' period this preseason. Maybe he's finally grown up. Or maybe he'll just end up falling into another hole.

Last year we started the season with 5 WRs (not counting Smith) and ended up getting Smith on the field as a WR as well as some street free agents. Yet this year we're only keeping 4 WRs which is really surprising to me. Gailey likes to throw the ball, likes to use crossing routes and likes 4 WR sets. So there's going to be some injuries. And players do need to be rested some time. It seems unlikely we'll get through the season with just Johnson, Jones, Nelson and TJ playing wideout. Does this mean we can expect to see CJ more at wideout? Does Chan & Nix think we can pick up a FA WR better than the ones we cut? Is Chan planning on using less 4 WR sets this year and maybe run the ball more? What do you guys think???

So we kept 4 QBs and 4 WRs and 2 Kickers! Wow. This just doesn't seem right. Each WR can have their own personal QB.

+1 Good commentary

Maybe we'll sign a FA? We ran a lot of 4 WR sets last year. Hard to do this year with only 4 WRs plus Brad Smith and maybe CJ split wide sometimes. There's bound to be injuries.

Yep! The NFL allows a team to dress an emergency QB. With Smith, we get to dress an emergency QB, WR and RB all in one guy taking up a spot that doesn't even count against the allowable game day total. If Fitz or TJack get hurt, Smith won't move up to the #2 position. He's not that good and that's not his role. His role is to be the jack-of-all trades.

16 of 16 predicting the Pats to win the AFCE. 9 of 16 predicting the Bills to get in as wildcards. There's a suprising amount of optimism out there for the Bills to make the playoffs for the first time since Chris Berman was knee-high to a bison. It's wierd to see people who were underwhelmed by Fitz and Gailey late last year now jumping on the bandwagon. In fact, it's wierd to have a bandwagon.

Yikes... your suggestion sounds like waaaaay too much work. I'm pleased the OP did as much as he did because I wouldn't have spent that much time on a post. And, while the sample is small, it does hint at something. And, by the way, the Saints and Pack scored a lot in preseason and then scored a lot in the regular season. They got to the SB on the strenght of their offenses. But that's not the only way to get the SB. I'm just hoping our balance of competent O, competent D, and competent ST is enough to get us into the playoffs. Our lack of scoring doesn't concern me yet.

But you forget! Smith is multidimensional. He can run the wildcat, play wideout AND take a knee on kickoffs.

My apologies then. I agree the Bills need better QB & WR play. Yet the Bills averaged around 30 points per game for the first 7 games last year. Even with our talent limitations, we put up points until the wheels fell of the wagon either because of (1) injuries, or (2) defenses figured us out. Even if you subscribe to #2, you have to admit #1 was a contributor as well. I don't think the Bills will have a great O this year exactly because of your concerns (WR and QB) and I have my own concerns about the O Line. But, for all that, we ought to have a competent offense. Gailey proved early last year what he's capable of even without a bevy of Pro Bowlers. It's really hard to evaluate our defense which has been vanilla in preseason. It might be that, once the regular season starts, Wanny's schemes don't allow the middle to be as weak as you think. Good coordinators make players look better. You said the Jets are a mystery. I think to an extant - especially regards to our defense - we are too. Not only do we have a new coordinator and a new scheme, we have new players as well. Like many fans, I'm hoping for great things from our D and there are facts and reasons to justify this hope. But until the season starts, we just don't know. The arguments in favor of pessimism just aren't compelling enough for me. Instead I choose to be optimistic - because maybe this is the only time of year I can be!

Do I understand this right? Since you played, coached and know football, your evaluation of the Bills is superior to everyone else's here? Because none of the rest of us have ever played or coached football and don't know it? Yikes, I hope I misunderstand.

+1 I think OJ made McKenzie look great moreso than the other way around. IMHO, the Wall of Fame is for the great, not for the very good.

Fair question. I will retract my statement and pray for the real offcials to get back on the field!

I think Chan's mind is already made up and nothing TT does against Detroit will convince Chan to move TT up the depth chart. One good night doesn't much alter two years of mediocrity. I think this is how Chan sees things... Fitz is the starter because he's the best we have. TJack is the #2 because he's better than TT. Brad Smith is the #3 because teams get to dress an emergency QB who doesn't count against your game day total. So you want someone in that spot who will see the field even if (as is likely) both #1 and #2 don't get hurt. Smith can contribute in other ways. It's like having an extra player for free as long as you can legitmately label him a QB. So where does that leave Thigpen? Option 1: Keep him as the temporary #2 until T Jack learns the offense well enough to perform that role. Option 2: Cut TT now confident that no one will sign him - he'll still be available if Fitz gets injured early in the season. Option 3: Keep him on the roster because - god forbid - Fitz or TJack get hurt tonight.

This reminds me that some fans here wanted Brohm to start instead of Fitz just as this year some posters wanted VY to start instead of Fitz. In both cases, some of the misplaced fandom was based on college accomplishments and draft reports. I believe both Brohm and VY are currently unemployed though Brohm did have a job last year as the 2nd string QB for the Las Vegas Locomotives. In retrospect, neither of these guys deserved a starting role under center for the Bills. I guess unless your QB is a Pro Bowler, there's a tendency to fallaciously assume the backup is better.