2003Contenders

Eli's stunt actually helped the Chargers as they were able to fleece the Giants for Philip Rivers, an additional 1st rounder, 2nd rounder and another mid round pick. If the Bills could do something like that, I wouldn't cry too much about missing out on Luck. Like others have said, I believe it is all moot anyway as the Bills will probably not be picking 1st overall.

It's funny, but I am looking at this QB situation from a completely different angle. I seriously doubt that Chan/Gailey would expect any rookie QB (even Luck) to step on the field and make a significant impact in 2011. Fitz is almost certainly going to be the starter next year. That means that the team will have to make a decision on whether they want to invest a high pick on a developmental QB. To me, that decision has more to do with what they think of Brohm than Fitz.

I think you are right, and this may be what Chan was hinting at with his vague comments after the Minnesota loss. I believe that Nix/Gailey will be leaning heavily on guys that are team leaders and are SMART (at least from a football IQ perspective).

I suspect that the fact of the matter is that Washington simply may not be any good. Given the multiple chances that so many n'er-do-wells have received in the NFL for things much more serious than Washington's grotesque indiscretion, I would have to think that SOME team would have taken a flier on him by now if he had as much talent as some around here seem to think he has.

1. I honestly do not know how much of the problem really is Modrak. Given that the picks in the later rounds and free agency tend to out-perform our first and second round picks, I have to believe that other voices are making the final call on those early picks and then deferring to Modrak and his team for the less recognized, later-round players. Still, the draft record under his regime has not been good, and it may just be time to turn the page. 2. A month ago, I was screaming that Edwards should be fired NOW. However, the defense has at least gotten better in recent weeks. Even on Sunday both the score and rushing yards allowed were a bit misleading. Maybe I am the only person in the world who watched the game and felt like the Bills did a decent job of holding Peterson (who is a bona fide stud) in check most of the game. Take away that long TD run he had in the 4th quarter, which came after a demoralizing turnover when the outcome had already been decided, and he only rushed for about 50 yards. The other 2 TDs were set up by 1st and goal-to-go from the 1 yard line: the first came courtesy of a pass interference penalty on Leodis and the second after the fumble on the Center-to-QB exchange. I will have to say that the defense has done a better job of applying pressure to the QB and forcing turnovers since the second half of the season. So maybe the players are starting to buy what Edwards is selling. While I am no longer in the "Fire Edwards NOW!" camp, it is still worth noting that he oversees one of the worst defenses in the league, even if it has shown marginal improvement of late. I guess I would just like to see how well the guys play in the final four games before making a final pronouncement on Edwards' future. After all, Fewell is showing in NY how much smarter he looks when he has a more talented roster to work with. 3. Free agency activity is unfortunately going to be based on what is going on with the labor talks. Since there is probably not going to be an agreement in place by March 1, we may have to be patient in these regards. Whaley is likely to follow the way he was taught in Pittsburgh, which is to make low key, not-so-costly free agent acquisitions. Still, if he could acquire a couple of seasoned linemen and a quality linebacker that would be an excellent start. 4. Disagree here. Fitz isn't perfect, but he is a legitimate NFL QB -- and we have several other positions currently being manned by guys who do not deserve to be on the final roster. Still a talent like Luck comes along so rarely that I believe you HAVE to draft him, if he is there. Otherwise, in Round 1 the Bills should draft the best OL, DL -- or even CB (yes, I said that) available. There will be quality options at LB in the 2nd-3rd round. 5. Agreed. Although, if Troupe and Carrington manage to become solid starters in the future, I would consider both to be good draft picks regardless of their plodding development in Year 1.

Letting Big Pat, who wanted to stay and was affordable, walk was possibly the biggest blunder of the Donahoe regime. As fine of a player as Winfield is, though, there really wasn't much the Bills could do. He wanted to become a free agent and sell his resources to the highest bidder, so he was unwilling to sign an extension with the Bills prior to free agency. Remember, he initially agreed to terms with the Jets -- and then reneged to sign what seemed like a ridiculous contract with the Vikings.

To be honest, I suspect that when Chan said he found something out yesterday and refused to say what it was, I bet it was in relation to the OL. I think it may have dawned on him how much Fitz's ability to quickly get rid of the ball has masked the line's deficiencies. Yesterday was an excellent example of that. The Vikings DL (they didn't even have to blitz) destroyed the OL -- and the line still only technically gave up one sack. So, even while Bell (in particular) didn't allow Allen to have multiple sacks, anyone who watched the game knows that Allen had his way with Bell from start to finish. Yes, the interior of the line was decimated. But it was the tackles that were getting beaten. Fixing the OL isn't an overnight project (as we all know), either. In a way, Fitz's performance yesterday (under the conditions that existed) actually ENHANCED the likelihood of him being the man for the foreseeable future. If the Bills do draft Luck (if he is available), rest assured that he won't see the field for a year or more. (Gotta protect that investment!) Wonder how many fans will be complaining about another "luxury pick" then.

Going back to the original post, that drop by Stevie was not the back-breaker. On the Vikings' next possession, Florence had the Pick 6.

2008 (twice when he was with the Jets): 0-2, but that had more to do with the Bills' nosedive than anything specifically related to Favre. 2006: Losman and the Bills beat Favre and the Packers, thanks largely to Favre throwing a bad goal line INT that was run most of the way back. 2002: Ugly cold weather loss at Lambeau. Drew was especially awful that day. The score was like 10-0. 1997: Late season loss when the Bills were already out of contention and the team was led by the one and only Alex Van Pelt. However, the Bills were still in it until the end. (Was that the game where Steve Tasker was ejected in his last game as a Bill?) 1994: Kelly and Reed set records against Favre and the Packers. At that time, Kelly was the seasoned veteran and Favre was an up-and-comer. By my calculations that is 2-4, which isn't good -- but Favre didn't necessarily have great success against the Bills in those games. It's not like we are talking about Brady-like mastery over us.

Agree on both accounts. Kelsay was in Big Ben's grill all day. He always seems to be in the right position -- just doesn't make the play often enough. Not only did Maybin make the tackle -- but he was PULLED to the ground by the OL on what should have been an obvious holding penalty. Also, did anyone ever identify the phantom defensive hold on the Ward non-fumble? The official stated it was number 23, which was obviously wrong -- and CBS never showed a replay or made an attempt to identify the real guilty party.

Should have re-signed Greer and let McGee walk. And that is NOT hindsight.

Funny enough, Donahoe did the same thin in the same draft: trading down from 14 to directly acquire Nate Clements, Travis Henry and Brandon Spoon. The Pats have been doing this for years, and it is a very sound strategy.

Bottom line is that they just can't get to the QB. They need to understand that -- and focus on dropping more guys into coverage rather than trying these worthless (and poorly disguised) blitz packages.

Either you didn't watch the game -- or you have an agenda of some sort. On the VERY next play after that Stevie drop, Fitz hooked up with him on a deep pass down the sidelines.

In fact, that's just about where they ranked under Jauron. The good news is that they appear to be getting better.

Uh, obviously 8-8 is not going to happen. But let's just assume for a moment that it is even in the realm of possibility. That would mean victories over the Pats, Jets, Dolphins, Steelers in addition to 3 other at least middling teams. Do you really think that would match the smokescreen 7-9 records posted by those Jauron teams? Anyone who doesn't believe that this is the best possible scenario -- ending the season with 8 straight victories over such quality competition to finish on a high note -- really hasn't truly thought about this very much.

You know, Moorman has been a bit of a disappointment this year.

To be honest, I am not unhappy with Chan. He may not have been a "sexy pick", but fit the criteria for what we needed: NFL head coaching experience (with at least some degree of success), offensive-minded coach and someone who could work well with Nix. He has, of course, made some key errors: 1. Believing his own press clippings about being able to make something of less than stellar QBs. He actually believed that he could "fix" Trent. 2. Not going after a proven DC. If you recall, at his introductory press conference, Gailey said he was not going to be hiring a "household name" for his DC. In a way, that was the inverse of the same mistake that Jauron made. Namely, Jauron the "defensive guru" never saw fit to hire a proven commodity at OC. My guess is that barring some miracle turnaround on defense, someone (Ralph) will force Chan to hire a new DC.

Dang! I bet he broke the wrist of the hand that hit the sideline on that foolishly challenged 3rd down play.

Kelsay is an enigma. He usually does a good job diagnosing a play and is in the right position to make a stop. But he rarely ever makes that stop. He probably looks great in practice, when the players are not playing at full speed and he doesn't have to make tackles. He is probably a force in the classroom, where he may even act as a second coach in describing the breakdown of a play. That probably explains why the coaching staffs -- and he is on his fourth now -- always seem to like the guy. The funny thing is that if the rest of the front 7 was better, we could probably live with his shortcomings. But, alas, with so little surrounding talent, Kelsay's weaknesses are magnified.

Kudos to Chan and Nix for keeping it close to the vest regardless of what they decide to do.

I voted yes. However, I can understand concerns about his injury history -- as well as the fact that he has not been the same player since getting busted for 'roids.

The sad thing is that this mess was brought about by someone in the Bills' organization foolishly thinking in absolute terms. That is, according to Orakpo's agent, they knew that the Bills were not going to draft him because of the team's disdain for Texas players after the Mike Williams fiasco.(Not coincidentally, Derrick Dockery, also a UT product, had recently been cut by the Bills leading up to that draft.) Vinnie Cerato, the Redskins personnel guy at the time, echoes the same sentiment. He said that the Redskins wanted Orakpo so bad that they tried to trade up inside the top 10 and couldn't find any takers. Once Orakpo fell out of the top 10, Cerato knew he would be there at 13 because, even though the Bills needed a DE, he knew they wouldn't take Orakpo thanks to their disdain for Texas players. So the Bills had a front office so inept that they: 1. Completely ruled out talented players based on their bias against a top college program 2. Their bias was so well known around NFL circles, that they couldn't even leverage a potential trade down scenario.

Rich Gannon is a good example, I think, of a QB that took many years to thrust himself into the limelight.

How about the STUPID PI on Florence? That pass from Flacco was a lame duck; all Florence had to do was turn around and it was an easy INT. In fact, that single play was even MORE damaging that the Spiller fumble, as it set up the sequence of unfortunate events (which included the Spiller fumble) that rounded out the first half. As others have already mentioned, the dropped Pick 6 was on Whitner, not Poz. As much as the fumble by Spiller hurts, I think the bigger culprit for the loss on Sunday was indeed Whitner and his inability to cover Todd Heap. Agreed. I think adding one front-seven player like Ray Lewis, who is a great player obsessed with winning and an even more important presence in the locker room, would do more to improve this team than any other possible acquisition. The problem is that these guys don't come around very often.