R. Rich

Well, we could just rush w/ our front four and keep some people back in coverage...

So close, yet so very far.

Exactly. There's some decent talent @ the top in regards to safety, but there isn't much depth. We'll either get one of the top prospects or go fishing for another late round bargain. I sure hope it's the former and not the latter.

I didn't even know you were planning to go. Cool; maybe I'll see you there.

Yup. I've said it before: can the Bills just let us know which year of the Donahoe plan is the year we'll seriously contend for a title? We'll be able to relax then, since we'll know which year will be the target year. Maybe it just takes more than 5 years to rebuild.

He's just following Charlie Casserley's example in Houston of leaving people out to dry (David Carr; nice line you've ASSembled in front of him). It's worked wonders for both teams, hasn't it, considering they're the only AFC teams in the Bills' Donahoe era to not make the playoffs.

They just need a pep talk from the GM on the eve of the game. That always works, doesn't it?

I don't think it's necessarily the method that's the problem. Going the free agency route has worked for numerous teams........who can evaluate talent.

Yeah. Still, considering 26 other teams in the league have had a playoff appearance during the Donahoe era, we're in the 18.75% of the league that hasn't. Damn.

If only we could go back to those days. We could get a lot more milk, bread, and gas back then.

Welcome to the point of view of people such as myself and Bill from NYC for the past 3 years plus. We concur w/ what you say.

Ferentz is in a great position @ Iowa, where he's regarded as perhaps the finest coach in college football. He'll be able to come to the NFL on his own terms as opposed to leaping @ the first opportunity thrown his way. Given that, I don't see him coming to Buffalo, as much as I'd like to see that happen. After all, not only did he coach under Belichick (as did Nick Saban), but he also was a highly regarded OFFENSIVE LINE coach!

Gerry, much like Simon's arguments for Donahoe's drafting prowess before taking the Bills' job, your points are valid.........and pointless. We haven't seen the results on the field here in Buffalo from these guys. I really don't know what it is about being here that people flounder, be it coaches or players. For as much flak as we gave Gregg Williams for his coaching staff, many of them have found jobs either in the college ranks or as NFL coordinators since leaving Buffalo. I'm @ a loss for words to describe why the job isn't getting done here.

I was reading an editorial from the Erie Times ("Garbage Time"). Here's the quote that really stood out for me: If the Jaguars and Bengals stand pat and make the playoffs this year, every team in the NFL (barring the expansion Texans) will have made the playoffs during Donahoe’s tenure in Buffalo. Scary, isn't it?

It's missing OL

Kubiak isn't a bad candidate from what I know of him. Then again, I think you have to have in place a system, starting from the owner down to the GM and then to the head coach, to succeed. It's worked for teams like the Pakcers, Patriots, and is beginning to work w/ the Bengals. I wonder if Gregg's failures as our head coach had more to do w/ that than his ability to coach. Well, I'm sure his success in coaching the defense in Washington will lead to another opportunity for him. Once that happens, we'll get to see if he can be another Shanahan or Belichick; guys who were ran out of town by previous employers (Oakland for Shanahan and Cleveland for Belichick) only to get together w/seasoned coaching staffs (Walsh's 49ers for Shanahan and Parcells' Jets/Patriots for Belichick) to learn what they needed to learn for their second time around. Gregg is being mentored by Joe Gibbs, so that could help him pick up the things he needs to make the transition from successful coordinator to successful head coach. Only time will tell.

You're right about that. That reminds me: we really screwed the pooch by drafting that JD Williams guy from Fresno State some years back. We should stay away from corners too. ...and, didn't we get burned trying to draft a TE by the name of Tony Hunter? Put TE on the list as well... ...that Erik Flowers was a bust for us (nice jersey though), so I think we should also steer clear from drafting DEs from now on.

Try to get through it, Joseph.

Why not? We've usually had tremendous success here bringing in very good coordinators of highly rated units.

By going to the game, this is like work for me. Actually worse, counting the expenses I'll have, I'd be better off staying home next weekend.

Some people don't use it. They count on the reader's intelligence to alert them to sarcasm.

What glaring needs? We were coming off a 9-7 season. We nearly made the playoffs. We were just fine, William.

Oh. Well then, if someone tells us in which year of the Donahoe plan we'll contend (Year 6? 9?? 38???), we all can stop agonizing over this team.

I don't think his drafts have been horrible as a whole, but I do believe that the losses to our scouting department over the years has had a drastic effect on our ability to evaluate personnel, especially along the offensive and defensive lines.

Possibly, or they may just pass him up and go after Young. Who knows? I hope we end up w/ a great lineman, be it offensive (D'Brickashaw Ferguson maybe?) or defensive (Haloti Ngata, Gabe Watson-later after a trade down??).