ganesh

The failure of the Bills in the past seasons is a collective effort..You can't pin all the blame on those losses on Fitz's back...When your run defense sucks and is the worst in the league, you are already playing down by 7 points.

SJ, Spillers Stats from the games that he started. Att/Yards/TD Week 12 Jets - 19/55/0 Week 13 Titans- 14/83/1 (Had a good game, but Gailey forgot to run him in the 2nd half in spite of the 1st half success) Week 14 San Diego 12/46/0 Week 15 Miami 12/91/1 Week 16 Denver 16/111/1 Week 17 Pats 13/60/0 In 6 starts, he went over 100 yards in 1 game and scored TDs in 3 of the 6 games. In three games he averaged under 4 YPC. I see an average performance over that period of time and a potential to improve. The biggest problem I saw last season (Watched all the games live on TV) was the Coaches not trusting Spiller with the ball and putting it in the hands of Fitzpatrick in spite of his Rib injury. Can Spiller over come that and gain the trust of his coaches to execute the game plan. Nix has done a good job of filling the roster with Talent (except for the 1st draft). The doubts on Chan to build a winner is still Valid. Can Wannestdt have the same success as in Dallas and Chicago with the defense. Chan stopped running the ball many times in the 2nd half of last season in spite of close games. He did not put the ball in the hands of Spiller and rather chose to ride the arm of Fitzpatrick when he was playing with his 3rd Center and no 2nd WR (and an injury to boot). The Special teams were very ordinary. Can Chan, Dave and Bruce build a team together is the big question.

Good honest concerning questions, though don't agree with all of your assessments. 1. D. Bell was average at best. The bar to exceed his play is low enough that both Hairston and Glenn shoulld be able to offer better play at that position. 2. Having a unique 2nd WR is not required in this offense. The Patriots on their successful SB wins never had a marquee name at the WR position but collectively had the right people to play the position. The key to the Bills success is the revamped defense. If they can improve stopping the Run and stopping the passing game in the Redzone, they will be much improved. The Bills are going into the season with the expectation to play GREAT defense, Run the Ball and protect the football. The game is not in the hands of Ryan Fitzpatrick (And if Chan Gailey does put the game in Ryan's hands, then he should be fired at the end of the season, for ignoring the strengths of this team). For this team to be successful, the bigger questions are recovery from a bunch of Season Ending Injuries at key positions. 1. Is Eric Wood recovered from his injury and ready to play at the All-Pro level prior to his injury 2. Can Fred Jackson come back from his foot injury and be the same as he was leading the NFL in rushing yards prior to his season ending injury. 3. Can Williams come back fully healed from his Pectoral Muscle tear and avoid the injury bug this season 4. Can we get pass rush in a wave (Will Merriman and Kelsay be able to put the same pressure coming in as substitutes?) We now have the players. Can they execute..that is the big question.

Kicking at RWS in swirling winds is difficult. Lindell has the experience of playing in it for the past 10 seasons. Considering that we will play 3 games at home in December, I don't see how Lindell will be sent packing. The question is going to be if the Bills can get Potter on the 53 man roster and on the 46 game day roster.

The OL unlike the DL cannot switch players in the middle of the game as it will lose the rhythm and continuity. We would have to go with one starter at LT and stick with him until he sucks or is injured. The question is: Has Glenn done enough to unseat Hairston. The preseason will decide the winner of that competition.

On a more serious note, I lived in Pittsburgh for 11 years and followed that team (especially a glorious decade). I always check out how they are doing.

I will let you know once I draft my FFL team :thumbsup:

ESPN quoted that the Steelers offered similar deal for Wallace and was rejected immediately. The Steelers then took that contract and paid it to Antonio Brown (Similar to SJ's deal). Wallace wants Fitzgerald money (10-12M a year), not the 8-9M offered. I don't see how the Bills are going to be able to invest so much on a 2nd WR, especially when they have to sign Byrd and Levitre this year and Wood, Urbik next year (and may be even McKelvin).

Thanks for the great update. Any news on the Running game. I haven't not heard a single word about our Run game at these practices. How is Spiller doing ? The bills will have to run the ball well to compete.

Aren't you contradicting yourself here. In the first sentence, you write that Fitz isn't a deep ball QB and yet in the 2nd sentence you write that "risk getting burned deep by Wallace". We already had Lee Evans as the speed burner and we couldn't incorporate him into this offense and was shipped out after a year in the offense, including 12 games with Fitz as the starter. There just was no chemistry there. Our 2nd WR is really going to be Scott Chandler (Whether we like it or not). Gailey needs to figure out how to use Chandler in the middle of the field and not just in the Red zone. If the Bills want to compete with the Patriots, they really would need to shorten the game and keep Brady on the sidelines. That plan requires us to run the ball and take time off the clock. You cannot go toe-to-toe with Brady's offense on a regular basis.

Wallace numbers are also due to the QB he plays with. Ben buys time with his ability to get away from a rush and is also a very accurate QB. I don't know if Fitz has that kind of play making abilities. May T.J. Graham becomes our Mike Wallace.

It depends on the Running game. When Jackson was carrying the ball, the game was taken away from Fitz's hands and hence the lesser number of interceptions or bad throws. Once Jackson was hurt, Fitz tried to win games with his arm and that ended up in a disaster. The question is: Why didn't Spiller step up to replace Jackson and give the same level of comfort to the coaches so as to not put the game on Ftiz's shoulders. Fitz by himself scares no one, especially with his lack of accuracy. However, when Freddy is on the field, then it will be a whole different ball game.

I think you lost my point ...I said Dareus has been good to great though not very dominant. I think it aptly reflects his season. Dareus did not make it to the Pro bowl or be voted as an All-Pro. I love the Dareus pick and hope he is our next Bruce Smith on the DL. But, that is what was his contribution to the team last year. The DL couldn't stop the run...they were 27th or 28th in the league. Dareus was part of that DL.

Yeah...The New York Knicks signed Alan Houston to a 100M contract 10 years ago....and it crippled that franchise for the next decade.

It would have to be the 1990 to 1994 Bills team as a whole. That team gave an identity to a franchise that had nothing going right since its AFL days and then has settled back to the same mediocrity after those guys left. Imagine how this team would be perceived if those guys hadn't given us those glory years instead of the gory years that their predecessors gave and their successors are continuing to dish out.

I agree. 70% of your draft choices have a good shot to make it to the team, if the original team was horrible...and it was horrible indeed. What we are yet to see is these drafted players turn into blue chip players...Spiller is a backup, Troup cannot get on the field...Dareus was good to great thought not very dominant. I hope year 3 is when Nix and Chan can put together a team that comes together and plays together and wins games. At the end every player, GM, Scouts will be graded by the # of wins on the field.

Attempting to answer your question that was on the subject... The biggest camp battle will be for the 2nd WR spot. That is wide open with Donald Jones the front runner. However, there will be stiff competition at that spot with Graham and Easley trying to make a hard push. Another spot might be the other CB positions. Will last years 2nd round pick Aaron Williams Supplant incumbent but oft injured McGee? I think Williams can push McGee hard for the starting gig, especially if McGee does not recover from his injuries.

Trent and Losman were thrust into starting QB roles on bad to mediocre football teams and had no good coaching. With no OL, they were doomed to fail more so than have a chance to succeed. By the time they went on to other teams, their play and reputation were already scarred. For example, Jauron decided to run a no-huddle offense, when they had absolutely no personnel to run it. Teams like the Steelers ridiculed our offense and suggested that we huddle a bit to perspire. Trent had many good throws under pressure..so many good wins in a comeback spot. The teams were just not very good.

Just like they criticize (or don't talk) about team when the bills make no moves, they also talk about us and interested in us when we actually make offseason moves. The Bills did quite a bit of moves and it gives them data to analyse whether if we are just a better team or a team that can beat the Jets and Dolphins or can it really go over the hump and take the division away from the Patriots. And they are doing just that.

We should try to trade Edwards for a 6th or 7th rounder from the Steelers or Ravens as both are thin at the DT position and do play the 3-4.

That spot would have belonged to Aaron Maybin at the beginning of last season.

I don't believe he can attend training camp without a contract, as per the CBA. In fact, I believe even the UDFA and Try out players must have a proper contract before training camp.

PatKirwanCBS talkin w/Buddy Nix.. says we willsee Fred Jackson&CJ Spiller at the same tie, WR TJ Graham quicker than they thought.

:thumbsup: Couldn't agree any more. Thanks for backing up. While Spiller may have emerged with a 5.2 Yards Per Carry, that is not what I heard after every one of those game. People were down on Spiller and as to how he really didn't get the yards when it was needed etc. etc. We are not rushing the ball when it counted like we did in the first five games. The HC and the coaching staff did not have the backups ready to play when the starters went down with injury. Brad Smith was not used in the 2nd half, when they could have taken the pressure off from the bruised ribs of Fitzpatrick. And after every one of those games, Gailey gave a blank look and just said "We have to figure out why things did not work".

Good point. If we really have built the necessary depth this year, our 2nd stringers and 3rd stringers should be able to play like starters and may be have a few wins.