simpleman

Pegula was a speculator that bought a large number oil leases for almost nothing on questionable drilling sites that became valuable when shale oil drilling was developed. He then sold those leases to big companies who had the knowledge, the savvy, the skill, and the resources to make something of them. Whether he foresaw the boom in Shale oil injection drilling beforehand or just got lucky is the real question. He did not make his multi-billion dollars actually running a business or making a product. He was a speculator. Being a successful speculator does not automatically make him a smart businessman, just a good speculator, or one that just got lucky. And his track record with the Sabres and Bills does not show he knows how to create a winning sports team, in fact his record shows that after he takes ownership the teams have a history of backsliding in being successful on the field. Although like Ralph, they may be successful in their bottom line. As a fan who wants a winning and competitive team, it sucks for those fans.

To all the Rex supporters. Exactly how many games this year do you think Rex out-coached the opponents coaching staff? And how many games do you think Rex was out-coached by the opposing coach? How many games did the Bills win because of Rex's brilliant coaching strategy? And do you really think the defense had less talent this year than the team Rex acquired when he took over here? How is taking a top defensive unit and rebuilding it into something different and less effective building "continuity"?

I agree about rosters, would not trade the Bills roster for the Jets. Coaches on the other hand, in a heartbeat

A smart businessman would have never signed that contract, and now he has to pay for his poor business decisions. With a net worth of 3.8 billion it is not very much money. Plus you get to use it as a tax write off. I'm sure most business people in his income bracket have written off bad business investments that large before and have survived just fine. I would love to know how much he spent total as the team owner and personally on the Bills trip to London to see the team get embarrassed. And how much more he would spend on getting embarrassed from the damage Ryan will do to the team is if he is not let go.

Everyone keeps saying there is too much money involved in Rex's contract for him to be let go. If Pegula really cares about the Bills as a football team or about the people of Buffalo rather than just as a business investment, he will eat the money. He can definitely afford it and will not suffer for it. There are no cap issues with coaches so it is all about whether Pegula is just another Ralph Wilson and if "Pegula is cheap",LOL!

I find it hard to believe everyone does not see RT as the number one need in this years FA or draft, probably both. None of the players currently on the team are more than barely good enough to even be backups or depth players.

This was basically a final preseason game for the backups to show off their potential with an added penalty for the team that one. They lost draft position. Who really won this game? Not the Bills.

I keep thinking about our WRs and think about Easley. He is listed as a WR and takes up a spot there. He is a beast on special teams, is a hitter, is fast, has decent hands, is big and tall. There must be a valid reason why coaches never seem to give him much chance at WR. Has anyone ever considered trying him out at safety in addition to special teams and freeing up a slot for someone new at WR? We need help at safety and I wonder if he could work there. We know it sometimes works from recent Bills history. Thoughts?

The day Rex was hired and we pushed out a D coordinator that had the D performing at the highest levels. All we needed to do was fix the offense and keep the D performing at the same levels and we were in the playoffs. You don't "fix" what isn't broken.

Schwartz on returning to coaching in 2016 http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/10/27/jim-schwartz-wants-to-return-to-nfl-in-2016/

I asked this in another chain and got no substantial answer. Exactly what were the reasons given by those in the know of why Schwartz failed as head coach? I did not follow his old team. If he showed an ability to adapt his schemes to the strengths of the players available rather than trying to rebuild the team or put square pegs in round holes, was able to instill discipline in his players, provided real leadership, had an ability to adapt his schemes rapidly during games according to the actions of his opponents, and was not an egomaniac who put himself above the needs and success of the team, I would say he would be a major step up from Rex. Yes, he has made it clear he would not come back as a DC, but he WANTS another chance as HC, wherever.

As the D coordinator he would be the best choice. But doubt he would settle for anything short of HC. He was a fail as HC before. The question I ask is would he be a worse HC than Rex is now? If we retained Roman and let Schwartz run the D in reality by choosing a D coordinator puppet would we be worse than under Rex? I did not follow Schwartz when he was HC. What were the legitimate weaknesses and problems with him as the HC? I believe this team needs discipline and a coach that is able to adapt his game planning to the talent he has, rather than an ego that tries to mold the talent he has into his own preconceived schemes. Could Schwartz be that type of HC , or is he another egomaniac like Rex? I believe we have the talent on D and most of the offense. Still not sure on QB, and definitely the O line is a dumpster fire.

They already made their money in oil, by getting in early. They sold while the market was peak. The market had already peaked and was on the natural downside. Do you really think the Sabers and Bills are not a good long term investment? Buying the teams was a good investment, to think they did it just out of civic pride or for the community is naive. It is about business and speculation. As far as his often quoted statement about " if he wanted more money, he would just drill another well". Pure bull. He made his money getting drilling rights and leases and then selling them to others who actually took the risks of drilling. He was a "speculator", buying cheap and selling high years later. Kind of like buying a sports team. "In 2010, East Resources struck a $4.7 billion deal to sell its leases and assets to Royal Dutch Shell, the oil-and-gas giant that had taken an interest in the Marcellus." D&C

The title of the original post was "I like Sammy, but wow Mack looks like the better player". I don't think anyone has disagreed with the fact that Sammy was, is, and may be a good WR. Some may believe that OBJ> Sammy. And currently the statistics support their view. The future will tell the real truth and who's opinion is right. The real difference of opinion for most is "was the price we paid too large for drafting Sammy as a WR rather than taking one of the highly talented receivers that were available at our original draft position". No one KNEW OBJ would be a great one, not even the team that chose him. We don't know who the Bill's really would have drafted if we had stayed put. We can only imagine and speculate. Even the Bill's front office did not know for sure who would actually be available at their draft position, no matter what their "plan" might have been. Anyone who has played with the draft sims enough knows how things change once the clock starts, other teams are taking players, making deals, making calls and offers to other teams, and all the options are happening live.

Oh please! We also could have still chosen Darby in the 2nd.We don't know what the board looked like for the Bills. They could have rated Darby as a 2nd round prospect, not a 1st, and picked someone else if they had a 1st. Plus we could have drafted a quality player to make us a better team with our 1st. Your justification is so weak. Just saying you believe Watkins was the best choice would have been enough without it. If you want to play the 20-20 hindsight game, we could have also drafted Tj Yeldon, Tyler Lockett, or Hau’Oli Kikaha.

I agree. I'm not saying Watkins isn't a very good WR. Or that I had a clue just how good Beckman really was going to be in the NFL at that time. In hindsight, I was blinded by Kiko's first few games and overlooked his fade as the season progressed. But at the time I thought the position change for Kiko, putting him in the other LB position that seemed better suited for his skillset, and working in tandem with Mack would create an awesome combination on the field.

Yes, but brilliant owners like the owner of the Sabres do it and it is a great move. Of course the principled owner of the Bills would never consider doing it. All Hail the mighty Pegulas!

I really thought that was why we traded up, to get Mack, not Sammy. I was not happy about such a step price to get Mack. But was thinking "oh well he might be worth the risk". Thought having the LBs as Kiko and Mack was a stellar combo dream. Then they drafted Sammy, I said WTF! Nice, but not at that price with all the projected WR talent that year. I was quite confident we could get a very good WR in the 2nd round with such depth at WR that year.

" Many of the players on this roster were already undisciplined knuckleheads before Rex showed up - but this team has fully adopted the scatterbrained, undisciplined, ADHD personality of its head coach and offensive coordinator." Could not have said it better. I have been saying it since the first few games. This team HAS the talent, just not the coaching needed to get the best out of the talent they already have.

Maybe you should learn to actually read a post and spend some time brushing up on your reading comprehension before being so quick to criticize a poster. He had a valid point and admitted he did not know if there was someone better. He then asked for someone to help enlighten him on any options available in upcoming FA. "Not sure what the crop of free agent kickers are, maybe someone could fill me in on this" The quantity of posts you have made does not automatically make you smarter, better or more knowledgeable. A constructive, knowledgeable post would have been listing the soon to be available FAs and draftees, and then giving the facts to prove that DC is a better choice than any available replacements. Not some snarky one liner insulting a legitimate poster, just because you don't agree with his different, yet legitimate point of view.

Define a winner. Bottom 3rd in the league and less than 500 is not competitive to me. I don't expect a cup every year, but bottom third is not even competitive, much less having any real chance of being a winner. Being insulted and told someone is not a fan because they want a team that has a decent chance to win reminds me of something an abused woman in denial says. After her partner beats her up and abuses her, almost puts her in the hospital for the 15th time. He tells her how much he lovers her and promises to never do it again, for the 16th time. And she believes him. Till the next week he beats her up again. That is the type of fan you think a real fan is. Like that abused woman, you believe that being a fan means you should endure years and years of abuse and lies about building a winning team. After all, they just told you they love you and will make it all better starting tomorrow, only tomorrow never comes. It is just like yesterday. Bottom third of the league. And you justify it to yourself as progress because at least they are not THE WORST team like last year .I think the medical term used to describe your view of what a true fan is: "someone who is delusional and in denial".

Exactly why the Bills defense is so poor this year, even with more talent added over last year Rex Ryan = Dave Wannstedt! Only Rex is also the head coach, which makes it doubly worse

Yeah, results matter,not dreams and promises. Check is in the mail, doctor is in the office... Meanwhile check the results for 5 years before he bought the Sabers and the years since. Results matter. And we still have 15 years of 5 year plans and promises for the Bills and they have not changed any results. I'm getting too old to expect the results of the latest promises. This season is not over for the Sabers yet, it will be good if and only when they are actually a winner. They are not there yet. Bottom 3rd in the league and less than 500 is not competitive to me. I don't believe the check is in the mail till it is open and in my hand. Been burned by the Sabers and Bills my whole life and results are all that matters, not more excuses and false promises.

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