mjt328

I mostly agree with that list. Philadelphia will almost certainly be drafting a QB early next year. Michael Vick is a free agent after this season and they are already talking about turning to Nick Foles. There were rumblings in last year's draft about them moving up for Ryan Tannehill. Oakland would be smart to start looking towards the future, but they are not generally a smart franchise (similar to Buffalo). Carson Palmer has had some good games, so I would expect them to wait another year. Dallas is an interesting one. It's really hard to blame everything on Tony Romo, but somebody has to be the fall guy. That team has been underperforming badly for years. I could see the Cowboys moving on if they don't make the playoffs - which they probably won't. However, Denver drafted their QB of the future last year with Brock Osweiler. And I highly doubt that San Diego is going to give up on Philip Rivers. He's not elite (like most thought he was going to be), but he's way better than average and he's probably got quite a few years left in the tank.

Defenders usually get a 15-yard penalty for legal hits on Brady. If we hit him after the whistle, Roger Goodell would probably eject the entire Bills team, kill Ralph and drive one of the moving vans across the Canadian border.

I wonder what that means for Ryan Mallett. Is his development behind, or are they just smart enough not to put all of their eggs in one basket? I'll admit that I was VERY big on us drafting him back in 2011. I was upset that we passed in the 2nd Round. I was furious that we did it again in the 3rd.

Fitzpatrick is not a game manager. He's a gunslinger who has terrible accuracy on medium to deep throws, and who is regularly atop the league in interceptions. One of our biggest problems is that Fitz ISN'T a game manager. Our coach wants him to throw 30-40 times a game, instead of handing the ball off most of the time. Alex Smith is a game manager, and his team is one of the best in the NFL.

These are the things that motivate players to sign with a particular team: 1. Money 2. Chance to Win a Championship That is about it. As much as people like to believe otherwise, free agents don't reject Buffalo because of the weather, the club scene or because the hotels suck. They don't pick Buffalo because it has a family-friendly atmosphere. I've lived all over the country - Philadelphia, Houston, St. Louis - and I visit my family in Buffalo very frequently. Every city has positive and negative points. I just don't think those things are deciding points for players. Tyson Clabo didn't want to come here in 2011 because he wanted to be on a contender. Period. His priority was winning. Mario Williams came here because we offered him a massive contract. Period. His priority was money.

Exactly. I would trade positions with KC this year in a heartbeat. Our season has been just as embarrassing, but at least they should be able to grab their QB of the future. Most likely, we will still rattle off 3-4 more wins to knock us out of contention for one of the top QBs again.

By hiring the right front office and coaching staff, a legitimate turn-around CAN be done in one season. But that requires doing a lot of things right - most of which the Bills have done wrong. > Finding the right guy at quarterback is a big one. We have screwed up big here. > Drafting strong is another. Our first two drafts are starting to look like complete losses. > Picking the right coordinators is another. Our defensive assistants have been pathetic. > Having a plan is also important. We wasted 2 full years of building a 3-4 defense, only to scrap it in year 3. Buddy thinks the fans need to show patience, because he believes one-year turnarounds are too rare to count on. But the problem isn't patience. The problem is that we are making the wrong decisions.

Let me guess. The Bucs got a 5th or 6th round pick for a solid starting cornerback.

The coaches are saying the same thing, so it doesn't surprise me that players are spewing the same nonsense. They keep saying that if we eliminate the "big plays" that our defense is playing well. I guess the real problem is that we are giving up about 25 big plays each game.

Actually, that sounds about right. The Bills have a few winnable games in the second half of the season. No matter how bad they are, they have to win some meaningless games. That way we miss on the playoffs and a good draft pick.

Drafting any position is not a sure thing. But in this league, you have to have a good quarterback. The Bills have to take a chance. Look at the Dolphins back in 2008. They passed on Matt Ryan for Jake Long. Long turned out to be possibly the best left tackle in the NFL. But Miami has regretted it ever since, because having the game's best left tackle is worthless if he has nobody to protect. At this point, I don't care if the Bills "reach" for Barkley, Smith, Jones, Bray... The first pick in the draft HAS TO BE A QUARTERBACK.

Tebow probably isn't the ideal choice, but I'm just ready to move on from Fitz. I don't really care who it is. If we go after Tebow, it shouldn't be at the expense of adding a quarterback EARLY in the draft - and possibly adding another veteran to compete in the offseason. I'm all for the Seattle approach... Let's not put all our eggs in one basket.

First of all, Super Bowls are a team accomplishment. Matt Light has the same resume (5 Super Bowls/3 Wins), but you don't hear anyone comparing him to Anthony Munoz... or even someone closer to his era like Jonathan Ogden or Willie Roaf. Kevin Faulk was there for all 3 wins and the first loss, but you don't see his name thrown up there with Walter Payton and Jim Brown. You wouldn't argue that Barry Sanders and Ladainian Tomlinson (0 Super Bowl rings) were inferior running backs to someone like Brandon Jacobs (2x Super Bowl champ). So why do we do that for quarterbacks? - Brady, Aikman, Roethlisberger, Eli Manning, etc. Same thing with the 16-0 season -- (Bob Griese anyone?) Brady's 50 Td season was impressive, no doubt - but it's not like he sustained that pace for a career. It's the same reason I didn't put someone like Kurt Warner above him on that list. Most of his years, Brady has been a check down passer and game manager - with overinflated stats because of the way the NFL rules have changed.

First of all, THE main reason for that team's success is Bill Belichik and the coaching staff. And even the year that Brady went down and we played twice against Matt Cassel, we were 0-2.

I could care less what the majority of football "experts" say. They are wrong. These are the same morons that consider Ben Roethlisberger and Eli Manning sure bets for the Hall of Fame, simply because they have championship rings. The media looks at Super Bowl wins (should be considered a team accomplishment, not an individual one) and the stat box (which can be very misleading) above all else. I prefer to watch a player on the field before making an assessment of how good he is. Brady is a good quarterback, no doubt. He is extremely accurate, has great pocket awareness and makes excellent decisons. But 99% of his success has come from dumping the ball off to an uncovered receiver (Welker, Branch, Brown) or running back (Faulk, Woodhead) with a pass that travels less than 5 yards in the air - then proceed to watch them do the rest of the work. I refuse to consider that CRAP better than a player like Jim Kelly or Dan Marino - who made a living out of destroying defenses with pinpoint downfield passing.

I didn't say that receivers were never open over the middle. I said that they had to work for it. Andre Reed was one of the game's best outside receivers at the time. When he got open over the middle, it was by beating a cornerback - who was allowed to play physical man-to-man coverage - with excellent route running. Oh yeah, and he also had the threat of being beheaded by a safety for going over the middle. Do me a favor and keep your eyes on Wes Welker during the Patriots game this weekend. Most of the time, he lines up in the slot COMPLETELY uncovered. If he is covered, the defensive back is so far back that he can't be seen by the camera. If a defender is in the viscinity, it's usually a linebacker. Really hard to complete that.

He is overrated. I'm 33 years old, and I've been watching football since the late 1980's. During that period, I would put the following quarterbacks above Brady without even thinking twice: Joe Montana Steve Young John Elway Dan Marino Jim Kelly Warren Moon Brett Favre Peyton Manning Drew Brees Brady belongs in the same conversation as Troy Aikman. Both were overrated because of their team's success.

Before the 2004 season, illegal contact was never called. So even if it was on the rule books before then, cornerbacks were able to keep their hands on the receiver (as long as there was no grabbing or tackling) until the ball was in the air. Before 2004, you would never see a wide receiver running uncovered across the middle of the field, unless it was a busted coverage. Today, defenders give MASSIVE cushions to guys, because the only real option is keep the play in front of you and try making a good tackle. Ten years ago, the slot receiver was a gimmick position. Today, guys like Wes Welker, Victor Cruz and Danny Amendola are leading the league in receiving. As far as Brady, I've never tried to say that he's a terrible quarterback, or that he doesn't belong in Canton someday. It just makes me sick when people say he's the "greatest of all time." His whole career has been built on check downs and dump offs. He's a great game manager with overinflated stats and a couple rings. Here are Brady's average stats before 2004 (he was a starter from 2001-2003), when illegal contact became a point of emphasis in the NFL: 3,409 yards passing per season 23 touchdowns per season 61.9 completion percentage And here are Brady's average stats in the 7 seasons following (2004-2011, subtracting the season he missed in 2008): 4,239 yards passing per season 33 touchdowns per season 64.7 completion percentage

Exactly. Modern offenses like New England wouldn't have done squat back in the 1990's, before illegal contact changed the way football is played. Can anyone really imagine Brady being successful with his check-down options (Welker, Branch, etc.) being forced to actually beat tight coverage? He's the most overrated quarterback in the history of the NFL. And on that same note, can you imagine how good the Bills would have been if we could just put Don Beebe in the slot - dump it off, and let him run free? We would have been even MORE unstoppable. If that's even possible.

His natural position is as an edge rusher. In the 3-4 (what San Diego used to run), that would be OLB. In the 4-3 (what we run), that would be DE. There are certainly differences in the two schemes and not everyone is equipped to switch from one to the other. 3-4 OLBs usually rush from a standing position. 4-3 DEs usually rush with a hand on the ground. If Merriman was to play OLB in the 4-3, he would be doing less rushing the passer (actually none in Wannstedt's system) and doing more run support and pass coverage. That would definitely be a bad idea.

Fans keep trying to point towards "the" problem. There are several problems on this team. Our coaches are stubborn and/or stupid. Our quarterback sucks. Our $100 million free agent doesn't appear to be making a full effort. Our #3 overall pick from a year ago seems to be regressing. Our linebackers are possibly the worst in the league. Our young players are not getting better - especially our starting middle linebacker and one of the cornerbacks. Our starting strong safety is suddenly a major liability. Our new punter shanks kicks at the worst possible times. Every single one of these issues is contributing to our team sucking. Mario Williams is only one player. If he is dragging everyone else down, they need to man up.

2013 looks like a weak draft class, especially at QB. None of these guys are sure things. But after 3 drafts of passing on prospects, we absolutely have to take a chance on somebody as our future starter. Fitz has reached his ceiling and it just isn't good enough.

The problem with Wannstedt's scheme is the LACK of ADJUSTMENTS. I was yelling at the tv from my couch in the first quarter of the Jets game - screaming for the Bills defensive backs to start playing tighter coverage. If I could see the problem from my living room, why couldn't our defensive coordinator? The Bills didn't finally adjust until Week 2 against Kansas City. The gameplan against New England was a good one. Replacing our linebackers with an extra safety (Scott) was a very good strategy for taking out Gronk, Welker and the short passing game. But when Brady/Belichick figured it out and started running the ball down our throat, Wannstedt had no counter. LIke someone else mentioned, our defense played very good against Arizona. But with the game on the line, Kolb kept scrambling for first downs. Why wouldn't our defense start spying the quarterback? If Kolb hadn't gone down with an injury, the outcome of that game might have been completely different. Football is like a chess match. But after Wannstedt makes his first move, it's almost like he packs up his playbook and heads home for the day.

Somehow, Chan still thinks the light is going to come on for Fitz. That one day he will magically be accurate and be able to hit the open deep ball. He looks back at the goods games Fitz has had in the past (such as Week 1 2011 against KC) and figures "if he did it there, he can do it again." On top of that, it's been mentioned that activating Tarvaris Jackson before Week 10 will turn the Seahawks compensation from a 7th rounder to a 6th rounder. We won't be seeing a quarterback change until our season (and Chan's job) is officially on the line.

Mario's good play was a big factor in yesterday's win. His bad play was a big factor in all of our 3 losses. So he's 1/3 of the way towards making up for himself.