vegas55

Fine, but what's the reason for Mario & Marcel out there at end of first half attempting to block/defend a meaningless field goal attempt. That was the point of my post. I am not sure I want either of those guys out there on field goal attempts during the regular season.

Without question, the worst moment of Rex Ryan's coaching career was when he had Sanchez playing into the 4th quarter of a meaningless preseason game where Sanchez incurred a serious injury. Even worse was Ryan's explanation - "we were trying to win the game". A Hall of Fame dumb move and statement. The concern is that I see hints of that in his coaching now. I mean, for all the injuries this team has had, why in the world, with 20+ seconds left in the first half last night, does he have Mario Williams and Dareus both lined up to defend/block the Cleveland field goal attempt. Likewise, with 20 seconds in half and ball at our own 15, why hand it off to a new RB instead of taking a knee. For all the criticism of Marrone when it came to game strategy and complete disregard for analytics, don't expect Ryan to be better in that area. I believe Ryan is an upgrade, but I do have concerns. I know he will not embrace analytics in any way, shape or form. He never has.

Well Jerry isn't getting fired and nobody really called for that. But if tomorrow he was to write that the sun is going to rise in the west, people would talk/criticize that extensively, so by your definition, "that's exactly his job". I would suggest his job should include developing sources within the NFL, guys with NFL experience who watch tape etc so that at least his criticism and takes have some substance. Instead we get basically a whiny fan type with no experience or insight, who just second guesses AFTER the fact (should have taken Becham). We get ridiculous nonsense from him such as Thurman Thomas was a better player than Bruce Smith. Now you know he could not have consulted anybody with NFL knowledge on that one - they would have laughed too hard to even respond. Gee Jerry, maybe the sun will rise in the west.

Noted NFL expert Jerry Sullivan never fails to disappoint with his brilliant "insight" into the NFL. Last night he tweeted that it was amazing that AFC East teams were drafting to deal with the amazing Tom Brady. Dolphins picked a wide receiver, Jets a defensive tackle not known as a great pass rusher. Great insight Jerry. This morning Jerry mentioned in his column that the Bills defense was slightly overrated. Where does that come from? The Bills D last year accomplished wonders, considering the dysfunctional offense they had to bail out time and again. But take some comfort in the fact that Jerry is picking the Bills to finish about 8-8 this year. You see Jerry is such an expert that in his weekly NFL picks over the past five years, he has never managed to reach the .500 mark. And that's not picking against the spread, that's just picking winners regardless of points. That level of incompetence is not easy to reach.

Great choices downtown - Lofts on Pearl is my favorite, but can't go wrong with Hampton Suites on Chippewa or Embassy Suites right next door.

In a league where parity rules, coaching takes on great importance. Beyond the head coach, the quality of coordinators and position coaches is critical. To acquire this expertise, you have to spend dollars, a concept completely lost on Ralph W. as he accumulated his billion dollars + fortune. This of course is reflected in the very sad win/loss record of this franchise. Enjoy it WNY, this is what it feels like when you have a real NFL owner

Here is the classic, negative, no nothing take of J Sullivan and the two nitwits on WGR afternoons - that the Watkins trade up was a blunder, should not/cannot not give up that 2015 # 1 pick. In the first place, to legitimately criticize that move, you should at least have some familiarity with the quality of players in the 2015 draft. Most NFL observers consider the second half of the first round in 2015 draft to be extremely weak. When Whaley makes that same point, Sullivan writes that Whaley is just attempting to justify his move. No Jerry, most NFL observers agree with Whaley, and it would be nice if for just once in your career you would develop a knowledgeable NFL source instead of taking the lazy way out and just gracing us with your uninformed opinion. In criticizing that trade up, I never hear what dynamic player would be available at the # 19 spot. It is a sure bet that any player available at 19 would not make one iota of difference in the Bills 2015 playoff chances; had they retained that pick. But Watkins will!!

I love articles like this. It's full of statements like "I wonder if Bills overpaid for" etc etc. - so down the road if the signing goes bad, he says see, I called it. If the signing works out, well, I didn't say it was a bad move, I just "wondered".

So Bills "beat" reporter Joe B weighed in on WGR with his take on QB situation. His take was that the Bills would still pursue one of top free agent QBs available (Locker, Sanchez) even after the Cassell trade. Of course, as is always the case, this was just his opinion, and not based on any inside source within the organization. This is because Joe B has no sources within the Bills organization. He has never developed any. But his take is ridiculous and even Sal and Bulldog were taken aback. If he knew anything about football he would realize that it is simply impossible for a team to fairly evaluate three QBs. There are not enough reps in practice, and not enough preseason games to completely evaluate three QBs. He should know this. And bringing in one of these QBs would mean that the Bills would be committing in excess of 10 million dollars to the QB position, without having a top flight, clear cut starter. Ridiculous. I wish Joe B would develop some actual inside sources/information and spare us his opinions, which are no better or worse than your average drunk er er fan sitting at a local watering hole.

Sure, 2nd round pick with one year under his belt, coming off a serious injury, with the opportunity to play in a Ryan defense, wants out. That makes no sense because it's completely false. And if it was true, who would want a guy like that. News flash - People make things up

Ever since the death of Ralph Wilson, Goodell has been making statement after statement about why the Bills need a new stadium. Each statement he makes gets progressively more incoherent. His latest reason why is that the Bills need a new stadium to "compete" with the other stadiums around the league. What exactly does that mean, and how do stadiums compete against each other? Hey I am all for a brand new stadium but Goodell's reasoning makes no sense. This market will only generate so much revenue from the game day ticket sales, and you can build the greatest private suites in the entire NFL but the demand here is limited. Certainly the attraction of a new, high tech stadium should generate some extra revenue, but even an optimistic projection of increased revenue would be equal to considerably less than 1% of the total revenue the NFL generates. Is capturing this trivial amount of extra revenue the thing that most concerns Goodell? If a new stadium is in the works for Buffalo that's great, but spare me the commissioners bs reasons why it "has" to be done.

What a fact filled brilliant response. You should be proud of your brilliant arguments. Do you actually have any besides "wrong" and "tool" - how about an articulate response - tell us all what specific fact in the post is wrong - or is that way too much for you.

Rumors ?? Are you serious? As a result of a players lawsuit, all NFL teams had to open their books. The Bills, in addition to appreciating from 25 thousand to a billion plus, we're making a yearly profit of approximately $30 million dollars. There was no mortgaging, there were no debts. These are publicly released facts. There were no "quiet" obligations - there can't be in an estate case. Rumors? That's complete nonsense

Yes I must be wrong. It turns out that the Bills have an overall winning record in their franchise history. The Bills did not lose two first round picks to the CFL and USFL. Jim Kelly was apparently lying in his autobiography when he noted how he jumped to the USFL because the Bills franchise was such a mess. And Ralph moved games to Toronto because he loved the Canadian people. It's easy to post WRONG, any idiot could do that. Tell us why Wilson was a great, great owner

It's interesting to compare the ownership practices of Pegula with those of Ralph Wilson. Interesting in that the WNY media and most of WNY fan base fawned all over the "great" owner Ralph Wilson at the time of his passing. Interesting in that you hear so many media folks talk about how now the Bills will pay top price for quality coaches. How the Bills no longer have to give up home field advantage by playing games in Toronto. And on and on. You would think Wilson was a pauper. He was, in fact, a billionaire. Like Pegula. But he chose to place making money the priority over winning. Why else does a billionaire, in his late 80s, sacrifice wins to make the extra 5 million the Toronto crap yielded Ralph Wilson was in fact the worst owner in the history of the NFL. His franchise was completely dysfunctional, and overall has a terrible win/loss record. In the space of 5 years this tight fisted miser lost one first round pick to the Canadian football league and another to the USFL. Name me another owner who managed that. Go ahead and read Jim Kelly's book - after owning this team for almost three decades the franchise was so dysfunctional that Kelly wanted nothing to do with it - and signed with the USFL. Bill Polians recent book also provides insight into what an incompetent, meddling owner this guy was. Yes, Ralph fired a hall of fame GM in favor of his Detroit money manager. And I know the myopic response is that Ralph kept the team in Buffalo. I would think the transformation of his initial $25,000.00 investment into a billion + dollars would be enough reward for that. But people conviently forget that Ralph threatened to move this franchise to Seattle, in fact met with Seattle city officials, in a successful effort to get the WNY taxpayers to build him RW stadium. He did not contribute a penny to the construction of the stadium, but had the gall to have the people that did pay for it give up the naming rights so as to name it after him. But now Pegula is expected to contribute to construction costs of a new stadium. And I am betting he won't have it named after himself. It's clear that Ralph's succession plan was just to sell the team to highest bidder. It's a lucky miracle that a Pegula suddenly appeared on the scene. Otherwise this franchise would be gone. That was the whole point of Ralph insisting on that lease escape clause. So fire away Wilson fans. It always amazes me how many posters on this board refer to him as "Mr Wilson". Al Davis is Al, Jerry Jones is Jerry, and both these guys were so far superior to Wilson that it's a joke.

Have you EVEN read Mehta's article. He doesn't even cover the Bills, and he had more information and more inside sources than the entire WNY media. Read his article, compare it to the entire universe of the inside info you get from the likes of WGR, and then post your praises of WGR and the rest of WNY media

Well I was actually talking about ANYBODY in the WNY media - not just a morning show host. Mehta scooped everyone. Jerry Sullivan, Bucky Gleason et al - they have tons of opinions but zero sources. Their job is to develop sources, not just throw out their uninformed opinions. A distinction/correction without a difference. Got it. But the point is the same, regardless of which paper he writes for

Mehta is the columnist who covers the Jets for NY Times. You can read his article on Marrone via a different post on this board, it's not the subject of this post. What I would point out is how this guy, who covers the Jets, has developed all of these sources within the Bills organization to give a real picture as to what was happening with Marrone and the front office etc. In the meantime, our WNY media, who get paid to cover the Bills, have no such information, no insight, no sources. In short, Jerry Sullivan, Joe Buscaglia, Howard Simon etc, Mehta of the NY Times has developed more inside scoop, and more sources and info on this story, than all of you put together. In the space of three days. What a bunch of clueless losers.

At least one outside football site has rated the Bills 2014 draft the 5th best in the NFL. That should be no surprise to anyone, as that draft produced THREE highly productive starters - Watkins, Brown and Henderson. In fact, Henderson, for much of the season, was the Bills best O lineman. Did I say that 5th best ranking should come as a surprise to no one? Apparently it's a surprise to much of the WNY media. Buscaglia - "Whaley has to answer for that poor 2nd pick". Bucky Gleason - "Whaley should have known there were other receivers just as good as Watkins" ( and the entire NFL should have known that Brady was better than a sixth round pick, or Wilson better than a third round pick). Sullivan - Whaley blew it on that 2nd round pick ( might be a bit early to give up on a 20 year old rookie, as they have been known to blossom with a year of maturity & NFL experience. And of course this is the same Sullivan who advised the Bills should give up on both Mario and Dareus So how would you like to be Whaley? You produce the 5th best draft in the NFL and get that kind of criticism. The problem is much of the media compares things to perfection, where any miss in the draft is a major mistake. Every team misses on picks, and Whaley should be congratulated for his 2014 draft. And no, not having the 18th pick in round one of the 2015 draft is not going to, in any way, shape or form, effect the teams playoff chances next year.

Sullivan's column in the Buffalo News this morning demonstrates everything that's wrong with WNY media and Bills coverage. Here's a guy who is paid to cover the Bills, has been doing it for many many years, and has in all that time not developed one legitimate inside source as a basis for his reporting. So his "commentary" today about the Bills coaching change and the Polian deal are just him speculating/guessing on what may or may not have transpired. ANY Bills fan could do the same, it's just raw speculation based on nothing. Because cub reporter Sullivan has no sources, just his own guesses. And excuse me for not giving his speculations much weight; this is the same football genius who assured us that Mario Williams was a bust, that the Bills absolutely should cut Dareus, and in a spasm of pure football genius, informed us that Thurman Thomas, not Bruce Smith, was the greatest Bill of all time. Smith of course is either the best or second best DE of ALL TIME, while Thurman, as good as he was, is not on anybody's list as a top twenty all time RB.

However you "take it", what he said, and said multiple times, was that he would take seven QBs. Literally, that's what he said - on multiple occasions. That's the state of NFL commentary in this town, by guys that are paid to comment.

As touched on previously, drafting 7 QBs is stupid beyond belief. Only a complete non football person could come up with an idea like that. You could not possibly have enough practice reps to evaluate SEVEN QB prospects. Mind boggling how little you would have to know about football to come up with something like that. And the guy is paid to follow and comment on pro football. Only in Buffalo

Paul Hamilton is a perfect example of the clueless. Doesn't know a thing about the NFL, has never developed a source who does, but shoots his mouth off all the same with one ill informed take after another. It was Hamilton who told us all at the beginning of the year that that Bills absolutely should have fired the special teams coach. Big mistake not to, according to Paul. After a 2014 season where the special teams performed well, we hear nothing from Paul the NFL expert. Early on Paul was yapping every week that he could not understand why Mario Williams wasn't being moved to different spots along the defensive line. Jim Schwartz actually provided an explanation, which Paul apparently missed, but hey what does Schwartz know? 14.5 sacks later, Hamilton hasn't a word to say on the subject. Just moves on to his next inane take

I find it laughable but probably mostly true that Marrone was upset with his Buffalo media critics, including WGR. Laughable in that there is not one person in the WNY media, from Sullivan to Buscaglia, that is qualified to land even an intern job with an NFL team. Their second guessing and in depth NFL knowledge can be found on any barstool in WNY. So Doug, if you were upset at that, and clearly you were, you should have considered the source and manned up a bit. But your dealings with the media here revealed a lot about your character; thin skinned and considerably less than honest. And informing your team via text after it was already public is consistent with your general lack of candor. Marrone's last interview with WGR with Sal was a gem. Asked if, given his only coaching/NFL experience was on the offensive side of the ball, if he spends more time with the offense, Marrone insisted that he spends equal time on defense, special teams and offense. A lie. A stupid lie. I mean if it was true it would be dumb anyway, since the D and special teams were doing great, and it was the O that was struggling and needed the attention. We know Doug was not interfering with Schwartz, just as he had little input in Pettine's D. So good luck Doug. If the likes of Howard Simon bother you, I am sure you will do well in NYC. Clueless Howard wanted you fired, but stated he was surprised other teams were interested in you. Simon, who gets paid to follow the NFL, was actually surprised that Doug is a much desired coach candidate. Definition of clueless. Reminded me of the time Simon landed the great Mike Mayock on his radio show several years ago right before the draft, and informed Mike that he thought Bills should take James Hardy with their 1st round (12th overall) pick. Because, after all, Hardy was tall. Mayock actually laughed at Simon, and informed him that nobody believed Hardy was a round one pick. No one. Simon cut the interview short