Playoff Bound

The Chargers were 14 - 34 the three years prior to AJ Smith becoming their GM. During his time as GM of the Chargers they won the AFC West five times and had eight consecutive years without a losing record. The Chargers went 7 - 9 in 2012 which was their first losing season since Smith took over as GM in 2003. Don't let facts get in the way of your dislike for AJ Smith. What was the Bills record from 2003 to 2012?

If you think going 9 - 7 is successful then yes you retain the managers and key personnel. If you want to move past 9 - 7 then you have to evaluate those folks to see if they are the ones who can move your organization forward. There is no way Orton was the QB of the future and Marrone wasn't going to move this team forward. If he thought he was the guy then he would have stayed. If he had stayed I don't believe he would have made the coaching changes needed to improve the Bills offensively. This is all good if the Bills bring in the right head coach and they in turn bring in the right coaches.

I would rather Polian be a consultant and not in charge of the entire football operation. I am glad Marrone is gone and I hope he does go to the Jets. He deserves to be miserable. What an ass.

I agree, if he believed in himself and his staff he would have moved forward with the Bills. I am glad he is gone. This was a coach who was 25 - 25 at the college level and 15 -17 at the pro level. If he is the front runner for the Jets head coaching job then good for him. That shows me the Jets are a lot more disfunctional then the Bills.

Crap, I just bought my Doug Marrone visor from The Bills Store. I wonder if I can return it.

The one article is almost a year old so things might have changed. Also, the Bills ownership and location situation is settled now, where it was a large unknown a year ago. I would love to see proven winners like Dungy or Cowher take on the challenge of the Buffalo Bills. This has been a disfunctional team for so long it may be a challenge they could not pass up.

Lets go one better and bring back Marv Levy. He was the last head coach to take the Bills to the Super Bowl. Stop it already. This is a chance to finally get things right.

I agree, Good God Almightly. Do we really want to go down this road again? Did anyone watch the Chargers offense this season? It was like watching the Bills offense except they have a franchise quarterback. Stop it, stop it, stop it. We need to finally get a proven winner for a head coach.

I am glad Morrone is gone. Why would a head coach ask for a contract extension based on a 9 - 7 record, with a team that should have been at least 11 - 5. Let him prove himself first. Also, he breached common business protocol by taking the Orton retirement to Pagula himself. That info should have traveled to Whaley and then to Brandon and then to Pagula. What Marrone did was disrepectful of the organization and clearly shows he is not a team player. I also wonder if Pagula indicated that Hackett had to go and Marrone wouuld not do it.

I agree, drafting Spiller in the 1st round was a bid mistake. They needed a offensive lineman and not a running back. Now Spiller will soon be gone and the O line is as crappy as ever.

The Seahawks have an excellent offensive line, which makes Wilson better and more effective. Brady has always had a great offensive line, especially when they were going to and winning Super Bowls. Same thing for Elway and the Broncos. They had a great running game and it didn't matter who the running back was. Go back to 2010 and look at the offensive linemen taken after CJ Spiller, like Anthony Davis, Mike Lupati, Bryan Bugala and Maurice Pouncey. What the heck were the Bills thinking? Fix the offensive line and even Orton or EJ will seem decent.

Speaking of Frank Reich, I watched the Chargers/KC game and the San Diego offense was horrible. That is with a "franchise" QB in Rivers. Their running game has been non-existent all year. With that said, the Bills have two of the most explosive offensive players in the NFL and did very little to make them impact players. Spiller wasn't a factor all season and Watkins wasn't worth the two first round picks considering the way he was used. Marrone did have challenges, some of them were significant; however he didn't have the team ready to play every game. If he stays on as head coach there had better be some changes because next season will have most of these challenges as well.

I enjoy all the rumors. It takes me away from another non-playoff season and gives me hope there will be significant changes coming for the Bills.

Its more likely they would take a 4th round pick for him.

I would be OK with this. I want Brandon gone, if for no other reason than he is a link to the 15 years of futility. I have doubts that Marrone would fire Hackett though.

I would like to see them all go. Clean house and start over. There could not be any less optimisim going into next season than there is now, if this group stays.

It will be interesting to see what happens next week or soon there after. I like the concept of bringing in outside experts to identify areas of concern or weaknesses in the organization. Trouble is do we really have that long. I mean the Bills have been disfunctional for such a long period of time it would take forever to sift through it all. I would support a house cleaning of epic proportions and turn the organization over to someone with true football experience., That isn't Russ Brandon. He only knows what a football is and not much more. Marone is the Bills version of Ron Rolston. You need a high caliber head coach who brings in high caliber coaches. Look at the teams that win year in and year out like Green Bay and New England. Now that the ownership question has been answered its time to pursue a stong head coach. Or do nothing and bask in the glory or an 8 - 8 season.

This team is frustrating. I remember in the 1980's the Bills were frustrating but you knew they were honestly making gains and success was coming. This team does not leave me with that feeling. It just leaves me feeling frustrated. How do you beat Green Bay and then not show up for a critical game against a loser like Oakland? You can make the argument that the Bills should have won eariler games so that this one would not have had the impact it did. I can agree with that. Then how do you not beat teams like Houston and Kansas City? How do you not show up for the game in Miami? The franchise needs a total house cleaning and Brandon should be the first to be shown the door. When my dog craps in the house the smell doesn't go away until all of the crap is removed.

The refs helped Denver get at least 8 points. The PI call that led to their first TD gave them 4 points. The call against Gilmore did the same. That is assuming Denver would have made both field goals. The two calls on the interception returns gave the Broncos field position when the Bills didn't move the ball. I still can't figure out why none of the officials saw the bounced pass in the end zone that was ruled a Denver interception and TD. I mean really? What were they looking at?

I agree. I like Hogan. He reminds me of Wes Welker. He comes to play every week.

As of 1 am Saturday morning EST the fund is over $91k, which is awsome to see.

I have never heard of this type of outpouring for a player in any sport. That doesn't mean it hasn't happened. This is beyond incredible. It just shows what kind of fans the Bills have. Unbelievable.

This book will shed some light on the internal workings of the Buffalo Bills organization, even though it is from Polian's perspective. I have never understood the love and adoration of Ralph Wilson though. If you stand back and look at the Bills from their inception onward they have consistently been a crappy team. There were a few bright spots but by and large they have stunk. That bad smell continues today. I think it is because they rarely have been run by a "football minded" group. I hope things change. Only time will tell. Look how some teams are always in the Super Bowl picture, year in and year out. Then look at the Bills. Wilson should have been embarrased by the product he delivered to the fans of the Bills. Clearly the early 90's were the glory years for the Bills. No one except Polian produced such a solid team. Then when Polian went to the Colts he was part of another long run of success. That success could have been in Buffalo except for Wilson's decision to go with the wrong guy.

two more wins to go 7 - 9 which means its one more win than last year. We will beat Oakland because they are really bad. I think we beat the Jets as well. Thats it though.

Now that the Bills ownership is stable who not go after Cowher or Gruden and give them full control. Even if they failed could it be worse?