BringBackFlutie

There was no lack of urgency to put points on the board and continue to bury them. It was actually the opposite. We don't get pressured when we're coming from behind, but you could see the pressure to put up points when we were in the lead. There were multiple shots downfield and a lot of plays where we wanted to force a big play. There was no consistency and rythmic execution on offense. We tried to be TOO aggressive, and that's why we lost.

At the beginning of the year we were told that the Bills would run a "hybrid" defense since they felt they still lacked the personnel/experience to run an effective, straight-up 3-4. Well, this year I see no hybrid. I see a 4-3 or nickel nearly every snap with a 3-4 sprinkled in here and there. First, why are we barely running a 3-4 when we spent all offseason trying to get closer to the 3-4 with personnel? Second, if you're running a hybrid because of personnel issues, why the freak are you not using ANY shifts, stunts, blitzes, etc? The defensive side of the ball is loaded with young and old talent, and we are just running them into the ground by putting everyone out of position and making them play without any help from scheming. This is just sickening to me. Thoughts?

It's really just ridiculous. For the majority, defenses are so terrible. Are they really that far behind from the lockout?

I agree with this post. Or at least I hope it's true.

Let's not talk about collapses- not today...

Lack of Execution lost this game. Fitz was inaccurate, yes, but there were missed blocks all over the field and tons of blown coverage on defense. Fitz does a good job to shore up the accuracy issues here and there, but the blown coverage in the secondary and the inability of what should be a very good defensive line is tiring. It was tough to stomach today.

This x1000. We went out and drafted and signed 3-4 personnel and continue to use 4-3 like we just can't do it. This baffles me. Shawne Merriman is an undersized 4-3 DE.

Agreed. Agreed.

I'll be the first to say that I love Fitz and think he's a great player and a winner. However, his inaccuracy is worrisome. He has a lot of good plays set up for him that he blows with head-scratching throws. I am honestly starting to wonder if he can fix the problem. Time is against him.

When did we go 8-8 under him? Didn't he come in the same year as Flutie? (10-6, 11-5) Then coach one more year with Rob Johnson? (3-13) ...My memory could be off.

For the record, I think he means that the mascot (not the logo) is the only one that is named after the city. Obviously the majority of our make-up is a buffalo, which is the actual name of our city. Nobody else has that.

I agree. I think people that say our defense is just as bad in other ways and we let up too many points don't understand how football is played. We have a stout run defense that forces teams to throw on us, and since our offense has always been pretty good under Chan, it's reasonable to assume that we can win games by getting the ball back quickly. We get way more chances to score when the defense isn't allowing the other team to run the ball and drain the clock all game. Additionally, as has been said over the weeks, we just came out of a very unique situation where we played 3 prolific scoring offenses both on the ground and in the air. We had to give up something, and when we did, the game was bound to be high-scoring. Most teams that beat the three teams we played are going to have to score a lot of points.

Chan Gailey's regular-season record will be 27-26. When was the last time we had a head coach with a winning record?!

I think we should beat Cinci and Philly, after that we play some tough road games that might prove to be too much. If we sprinkle in a loss here or there on the road, that's ok, and perfectly expected.

Ha...SEMI-gun slinger.

I thought this was well-known. Even still, good for those who didn't know. It's a cool saying both for relation to a frontiersman-associated team name and for it's actual meaning.

That's one of the greatest articles I've ever read. I love that now that the Bills are winning they don't just write articles about football- they write articles about all of us, and how much the team means to us, and how odd it is that we mean so much to the team. I love WNY and I love being a Bills fan. It's something that nobody else could ever understand.

Yeah, this is a weird path of reasoning. So if our stats were better overall by pouring it on in KC, we would be better able to beat the Bengals? I suppose you're saying if we had better stats then the "experts" would assume that the Bengals still aren't enough to stop us. Well, I don't know about that, you can't really get much better than #1.

It's a great honor, and he deserves it above most, but why not Freddy?

I fail to glean any sort of a coherent point from this. And so what? I really liked Flutie

Anyway they'll be doing it again this week? I'd like to see this.

If you add up all of Fitz' games played, I think this is like his 4th year as a starter (it's usually year 3-4 of straight starts that a rookie's light comes on). I think the best is still yet to come with him, and I feel we've got a good 7-10 years left with him. However, after a great team has been built around him, in about 5 years it will be time to draft a QB and groom him, to keep the continuity going.

I think it is. This is a new team with a new mentality. Along with that mentality is the ability to pull out games that they SHOULD win.

Awesome awesome article.

Flutie had a pretty good one a few years back, didn't he?