simpleman

Glad I was not the only one that felt that way. I too walked away when it was so obviously lip synced. The musical equivalent of the integrity of an old WWF match at the Superbowl

Maybe I just did not see it, but it seemed that while there were a number of vicious hits in the game, they were overwhelmingly clean and professional, the way a game should be played. And the refs did not get in the way of the game. I thought it was great to see a game without all the dirty plays and the ref’s interference in the game. Regardless of who won, I thought it was a great example of how professional football should be played.

It amazes me that so many downplay Dalton's proven accomplishments on a team that was at about the same level as the Bills last year. This year, as a rookie, Dalton led his team from that level last year to the playoffs. He played in the Pro Bowl his rookie year. Fritz has been in the league 6 years and how many times as he led a team to the playoffs? How many times has he been to and played well in a Pro Bowl? Yes, Dalton will probably never be a Peyton or a Brady. But he has the potential to take a team to the Superbowl. Fritz has had 6 years and has shown exactly what his potential is. Fritz is an older fading player with a weak arm and poor accuracy downfield. Dalton is young and can improve his strength and skills. How can you possibly compare the two. I think that if you went around the league and asked the teams that need a QB to choose one of the two as their QB, almost everyone would choose Dalton. I can't believe anyone would want to stand pat with a competent backup class QB, over a rising star with a proven record and the potential upside of a QB like Dalton. Granted we might not choose a Dalton in the draft, but if we don't start taking chances, we never will draft a QB. When do you ever see us having a chance of drafting a QB with the potential of an RG3 or a Luck? I don't see that in our near future, so we need to start taking our chances now on a higher level QB that at least will give us a shot at the Super Bowl in the near future.

And exactly how does this comment relate to this discussion?

After playing the team and watching the Pro Bowl, how about the Cincinnati Draft. And Dalton was there, and filled a need in our 2nd round. I would take their 1st and 2nd round choices any time.(Not that I too would have taken Dareus at the time.) Hope we won't look back at the 2012 draft and still need a quarterback. Fritz is an acceptable backup QB, but we really need to find our "Dalton" this year. A QB in the 2nd round this year. A great year to trade down in the first if we get a chance, and can pick up another 2nd rounder. A lot of lower 1st rounders will be there that would fill our needs.

Great line, you definitely made me laugh. A tough thing to do when your a Bill's fan!

In a second for either. But it won't happen, they are not that stupid or that desperate to make that sweet a trade for us. More like their 1st and a 2nd. Then it would be a gamble. A whole lot of talent in the 1st and the first half of the 2nd. After that it is a gamble if someone that fills the Bill's needs and has the talent to start and actually make an immediate impact is still available. We need help now, we have waited for 10 years to rebuild and have sat still for way too long. We need to be competitive again NOW!

Hightower is definitely a good pick, but you really think he will still be there by the time the Bills pick?

No Way. Enough with rebuilding for the last 10 years. He is one of the best in the league. We need to win NOW! It might be best in the long run, but we have been sacrificing for the long run forever and where has that gotten us.

If he is available in the 2nd rd yes, first round best available player that fits our MANY needs OT, pass rush .....

I have been saying this again and again. He has the talent and the will to be a pro bowler. He just needs a specialized coach to polish his talents. As people have said, Coaching, Coaching and more Coaching. Some people just need a little more tutoring and direction than others to become all they can be.

Glad you brought up McKelvin. Like I have said on the board many times, I believe McKelvin has a huge upside and potential. But he needs special attention and mentoring to help him reach that potential. If the Bills would only bring in a consultant/special coach like the Jets do (Maybin) to develop him and polish him I think he could become a pro bowler. Without it, he most likely will be on everyone's bust list in a year or two. It's about good coaching, not just good drafting. But the people on the board want to trash young players with obvious talent rather than support them. Ala CJ.

Thanks you did the math and answered my question

A question to the draft experts out there. Which is better for our draft position, a 5-10 Carolina or a 5-10 Tampa?

Unfortunately Ralph is not the only problem. The NFL owners hate the fact that "The People" own the Packers. Governments grant the NFL special exemptions from the laws and subsidize the teams with taxpayer money and taxpayer supported facilities and get nothing substantial in return for those financial considerations. Unless the people (us) demand something in return for all that corporate welfare, we will be destined to be the losers. We should demand laws (legal agreements with the NFL) that at least forced the NFL to give the fans the opportunity to try to create financial non profit corporations or cooperatives like the Packers to meet the the sale price of any team that chooses to move a team to another market. Granted we might not have much chance of coming up with enough money here in WNY, but at least we would have an opportunity to control our own destiny.

Total agreement. As a business owner Ralph is anything but incompetent. He sees the Bills as an investment and only cares about maximizing returns and minimizing expenses. As someone who looks at the NFL as a sport and cares about it, it is tough luck for the fans in the area. But remember there is a difference between caring about football as a sport and a fan and being a shrewd businessman. He is strictly a shrewd businessman, not a fan, period!

Right on!

Exactly, "What happens between the whistles" is pro football. When it happens between the plays it is just punk street violence and should be treated as such. There is no place for it in Professional sports.

I keep reading on the board about our bad drafting. And then I see players leaving us and finding reasonable success elsewhere. Is it really all just bad drafting, or should we be looking at the coaching and conditioning training as well? Raw talent often needs polishing. Do we spend too much time blaming just the drafting and not ask ourselves if Buffalo spends enough time finding the strengths of their players, finding ways of adapting those strengths to our overall game plans, and trying harder to develop the required skills the players are weak in? Yes, we may draft players too high, but shouldn't we try to get the most out of our bad choices, forgetting the draft position, and concentrating on getting the best we can out of the players we have.

I keep thinking how McKelvin still flashes so much potential, but does not seem to ever get better. We hire tutors when our kids need extra help to reach their full potential. After using valuable high draft choices and committing large sums of money on certain players, why aren't teams willing to hire specialists that are dedicated to "grooming" selected players with high potential to develop them to their full potential, or more quickly determining if they actually have that perceived value? Rather than just having general position coaches, why not hire temporary/"on as needed basis" extra coaches to insure that any high potential talent gets specialized coaching to overcome their weaknesses and develop their unique strengths to specially fit the needs of the team? Has any NFL team ever tried this approach(beyond QB's)? Has it been tried and not found to be cost effective? I'm curious since it seems on the surface as a no brainer. Thinking about high draft round players that were busts on one team and seemed to thrive on another, wouldn't it have been more cost effective to spend the extra time and money on a special coach on the player before completely flushing the wasted draft position and the money down the drain? I'm not even going to mention the recent players the Bill's have flushed away high draft choices on I can think of.

I thought CJ played well. I think he has great potential in the future. All the detractors,did you notice that huge CJ burst up the field to block for Stevie on his TD?

Goat or no goat all the people here with "man crushes" need to admit Fritz is simply an average workman QB. Never was, and never will be a franchise QB. He is what we have now, but is not the answer for the future. Florance or McKelvin are not the answer at their position, we need to find someone top quality to fill that glaring hole. Our defense still sucks. No pass rush. We need a speed receiver with good hands to provide the deep threat to keep the opposing defense spread. But we also need a QB with the arm strength and accuracy to do it. As much as I rooted for the Merriman project, despite his drive and talent he just can't overcome his ruined body. And that interception at the end of the game. If Gailey called those passes instead of letting Stevie rush, rush, rush and burn the clock for the the safe field goal, he is not the brilliant coach everyone proclaims him to be, it was just plain stupid. I know this was a building year, but we can dream for more. We need a pass rusher, a speedy receiver with good hands, a franchise QB, some quality in the secondary and more to be a contender. It will take more than drafting & castoffs to get this done. We need to trade and go after free agents or we are doomed to mediocrity for years to come. No more excuses, we need real commitment from the owner.

Please take the time to read what I said. I said we need a full season to evaluate him, not base it on a couple of games or rush to judgement. Time will tell just how effective and valuable he can be to this team. You either did not read, or comprehend what I wrote.

Laughing at the comments. Just a few days ago almost everyone here was anointing him the Bills Franchise QB and demanding he be resigned for huge bucks, and razzing the few of us on another thread that said he had a weak arm and had a lot of inaccurate and risky passes. We said wait till later in the season to evaluate his actual worth. Now everyone is saying exactly we were slammed for.

Three games do not make a good sample. Trent Edwards 08, till Arizona. I'm not going to trip over myself to catch the bus quite yet. Show me with enough games to prove it, before the coronation. He does not have the strong arm and still throws some very wobbly and chooses questionable passes. So far he has gotten away with it. Give the defensive coaches of the other teams time to figure him out, then we will see how "real" he is. The winning is great fun, but let's slow down here and think. I've been in lust with a lot of women early in our dating, sure glad I didn't rush out and marry them before the lust clouds cleared and I was able to see with the clarity of reality. In time reality has a way of showing you the whole picture, rather than the temporary "man crush" you might be experiencing. See what you think by the chill of December.