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Shoutbox

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Posts posted by Shoutbox

  1. For those that still cling to the idea that CK is "solid" or "not a bad player" good for you guys, i guess. I'm certainly not one of them, but we've had this argument innumerable times here already.

     

    He's been a starter or main rotational guy on some of the worst defenses this team has ever fielded. In my opinion, he's been a key contributor to those tirefires and has always failed to play with the on-the-field discipline requisite to his position, especially for a veteran of his age and experience.

     

    Cutting him now doesn't really help the cap situation that much, true. Honestly I could care less what they do with the guy now, he should've been cut long ago.

     

     

    A competent GM can do a lot with $4.175 million. Cutting Barnett, Wilson, and McGee each saved less money than that, and all 3 of those players are better than Kelsay.

     

    I can see the argument for keeping Fitz and Brad Smith, but there really isn't one for paying a mediocre 33 year old backup DE $5 million/year. The only one remaining is that he's a great locker room cheerleader, but I wonder how positive an effect this has had when the defense has finished among the worst in franchise history for the past 3 seasons.

  2. Disagree. Fitz is a very solid back up? Well if the bills play KC every week maybe. The dude beat one winning team in years as a starter. His record is very substandard by any measure.

    Gailey was fired for a good reason, but to assume a better head coach could do better, is wrong. Fritz was a career mediocre backup and was signed by DJ to continue that role. Gailey actually got the most out of a mediocre QB who may have been out of the league if not for the bumbling Bills, including their clueless 72 year old GM.The love for a below mediocre, noodle arm here sometimes borders crazy. Lets cut the players who just cannot play at a successful NFL level and move on. Everyone will be better off for it. I'd rather watch a new QB grab our 5 or 6 wins next season. Than ever go through the turnstiles unless comped, to see Fritz stink it up yet again. Does anyone think people will pay to see that clown for yet another year?

     

    I will stand by my assertion that Fitz has value as an above average backup NFL QB.

     

    If he could beat playoff-caliber teams in spite of a bumbling head coach, no #2 WR, and one of the worst defenses in franchise history, then he wouldn't be a back-up NFL QB in the first place...he'd be a top-10 NFL QB...an assertion that I have never made.

     

    Your expectations for a back-up NFL QB are unreasonable. Wise up, son.

  3. Does anyone really think it is a good idea to bring back a guy you know is not ever going to be great?

    You know what you have in Fitz. Excuses for why he is what he is are all over this board. But after this much time, why should anyone believe he is more than what we have seen for 2+ seasons?

    I do not like the idea of bringing him back for a few reasons. Mostly because it could upset the locker room. If you do draft a rookie, and he starts to show promise, but has a bad game or two, the 'put in FITZ' crowd will be very hard to ignore.

    The Bills need to make a decision to bring him back or cut him. But this something in the middle has disaster written all over it.

     

    The vast majority of players on the Bills are never going to be "great." Do you only want to keep Pro Bowlers and let everyone else go? The vast majority of players on the Bills are associated with a "losing Bills culture." Should we release all of them too?

     

    Fitz is a very solid backup NFL QB and can be an effective game manager as a starting QB with a better head coach, another starting WR, and a supporting defense that is not regularly among the worst in franchise history. He's a well-liked guy in the locker room, and he would be a great tutor for the next true "franchise" QB.

     

    The Fitz haters are getting out of control with their irrationality at this point in time. Stop taking 13 years of misery out on individual players.

  4. i agree differences in training etc have to be considered...but i think the 64 team with Billy Shaw,george saimes,McDole,sestak,Dunaway,Gilchrist Deuby etc would beat the 012 team,even though half of these people had to have second jobs in the offseason working construction etc--and didnt start getting into shape until training camp.

     

    That's a whole new topic altogether, so I'll just say that I disagree and will point to the born differences in size/speed of the OL/DL as one of many examples.

  5. I think it's difficult to compare those two eras. Would the 90 team beat the 64 team? Most likely yes, but if we look at how each team fares compared to the quality of their own time period, the 64 team might be better. Anyways, I think the two finalists would be the 90 team versus the 91 team. Winner, 91

     

    But that's a ridiculous argument, as you at least point out in your post. Our 6-10 2012 Bills could beat the snot out of the very best pro football teams from the pre-merger era, due to modern football standards for size, conditioning, game strategy, etc...

     

    You can only compare teams from the era in which they played. And while the 1990 Bills had a strong defense, it wasn't among the truly elite from the late-1980's/early-1990's. The offense certainly was among the very elite back then, but they at least had comparable rivals (Montana/Young 49ers, Aikman's Cowboys, Moon's Oilers, Marino's Fins, Elway's Broncos).

     

    The 1964 Bills were arguably the most dominant pro football team ever assembled from the 1960's. Their defense was simply unrivaled and set records for rushing defense and sacks. The seeds of the modern-day NFL defense were planted in Buffalo in 1964. Not only was the relatively new and innovative 4-3 defense perfected here by Joel Collier, but he even implemented the earliest 3-4 schemes ever seen in football. The offense wasn't too shabby, either. The Kemp/Gilchrist/Dubenion triplet (with Hall of Fame lineman, Billy Shaw, plus Lamonica as an awesome change-of-pace backup QB) could stack up well with any other offense that the AFL or NFL offered back then.

  6. I put it on Bills fans to show even a minor amount of class and just leave the guy alone.

     

    Or better yet, how about offering some words of encouragement to the guy? He's a Buffalo Bill, after all, and seems like a decent character aside from behaving a bit like a typical 22-year-old on the internet.

     

    None of the CB's on this team looked all that good this year. Even Gilmore had his share of rough play. I'm okay with keeping our 5 young guys (Gilmore, McKelvin, Williams, Brooks, Rogers) for one more season to see how they do with different coaching and a better pass rush.

  7. I think 2005 was the worst Bills draft of the 21st century, slightly worse than the 2000 draft, when you factor in Sammy Morris plus the lack of available talent in that 2000 draft pool. The 1st rounder in 2005 went to Losman because of the trade in 2004. And then the only remotely productive NFL player was the major reach in the 2nd round, Roscoe Parrish, a 5'0" 100 lb chronically injured WR who had a few very nice punt returns but that's it.

  8. Last I read, the Bills were $20 million under the cap. I would not be surprised to see the Bills make some cuts to save even more money.

     

    So the signing of Mark Anderson should have absolutely no bearing on the Bills losing Levitre, which I doubt will happen anyway.

     

    The Bills can save an additional 20 million by cutting Kelsay, McGee, Smith, Wilson, Barnett, and Fitz before March.

     

    There is simply no excuse for losing Levitre or Byrd to free agency.

  9. That's a good breakdown. I think the versatility of the some guys already on the roster may have contributed to Pettine coming here.

     

    Two things will be important to keep an eye on IMO: Mario Williams and our first round draft pick.

     

    Can Pettine convince Mario that he will excel as a roving type of DL who will at times play 34 DE, 34 OLB, 43 DE, and 43 DT? Because I could see him lining up at all those positions and being effective in this D. He is a unique player. Can Pettine motivate him to get out of his comfort zone a little?

     

    There are several elite DE/LB prospects in the top 10 of the draft.

     

    As long as Mario is rushing the passer on every passing down and is never in coverage, I think he will be happy.

     

    As for the 1st round draft pick, the Bills need to pick Moore or Werner if they fall to us regardless of the QB situation. A 4-3 base DL of Moore/Werner - Dareus - KW - MW would be the best in the NFL when all four are healthy. Jones, Mingo, and Howard are also very intriguing as rush LB's and would be worth the 8th pick if the Bills are confident that they can land their preferred QB in the 2nd round.

  10. It's worth mentioning here that there are only 9 DL/LB players currently on this roster that the Bills have made a substantial investment in, by contract (KW, MW, Anderson, Barnett) or by draft pick (Dareus, Carrington, Troup, Sheppard, Bradham). Everyone else is either a late round pick or a free agent signing who can be released with a negligible dead cap hit (or is named Chris Kelsay and should just retire immediately).

     

    Let's review the 9 players:

     

    1. KW - drafted in 2006 as a 4-3 DT, can also play 3-4 NT very well in certain schemes.

    2. Troup - drafted in 2010 as a 3-4 NT, can also play 4-3 DT according to his college history.

    3. Carrington - drafted in 2010 as a 3-4 DE, played very well as a 4-3 DT last season.

    4. Dareus - drafted in 2011 as a 3-4 DE, also plays 4-3 DT equally well, can also fill in at 3-4 NT

    5. Sheppard - drafted in 2011 as a 3-4 ILB, played 4-3 MLB but appears to be a little too slow to be a long-term starter at this position

    6. Barnett - signed in 2011 as a 3-4 ILB, has plenty of career experience at 4-3 WOLB

    7. MW - signed in 2012 as a 4-3 LDE, is a unique talent with the body size to play 4-3 RDE, either 3-4 DE position, 3-4 OLB, and maybe even 4-3 DT on occasion.

    8. Anderson - signed in 2012 as a 4-3 RDE, has the size to play standing 3-4 OLB but not sure how good his cover skills would be here.

    9. Bradham - drafted in 2012 as a 4-3 WOLB/SOLB, would probably play 3-4 ILB, doesn't really have the pass rushing skills to play 3-4 OLB

     

    So for the most part, these guys have enough versatility to play in either defense package but with a slight preference toward the 4-3 base. Coach Pettine will undoubtedly continue with this "versatility" theme and only drafts or signs guys who can play well enough in either.

  11. Very nice effort, OP! My only criticism is that you're not pessimistic enough about our WR, LB, and CB situations. I would have marked 7 positions as RED:

     

    1. QB#1 - best chance at upgrade is within the first 3 rounds of the draft.

    2. Levitre - pay the man.

    3. WR#2 - I'd look for an affordable veteran free agent option here to take some of the heat off of SJ.

    4. 3-4 OLB / 4-3 DE - several options with draft or free agency here, but we need another versatile starting caliber pass rusher to pair opposite MW because Mark Anderson is a very major question mark.

    5. 4-3 MLB - Kelvin Sheppard is way too slow to be a reliable starter. Either free agency or a 2nd/3rd rounder should suffice.

    6. Byrd - pay the man.

    7. CB#2 - McGee will be cut, McKelvin may likely leave, Aaron Williams is better suited to backup FS, and Brooks/Rogers were regularly torched. Free agency is the best place to look, unless the Bills act like the Bills and once again draft a 1st round CB with Dee Milliner.

  12. Who is the only Buffalo Bills QB to pass for 4000 yards in a season?

     

    Drew Bledsoe in 2002. And in 2011, Fitz was 13 passing yards short of having the 2nd best season passing yardage performance in franchise history. Just another reason why stats rarely tell the whole story.

     

    Sad to say, but the best post-Kelly QB the Bills have had was Doug Flutie. He had the mobility that Drew didn't to work behind an atrocious OL, and he wasn't nearly as prone as Fitz was in throwing game-changing interceptions.

  13. Bledsoe also had Eric Moulds, Josh Reed, and Peerless Price, all probably better than any single WR we currently have.

     

    Travis Henry wasn't too shabby either...

     

    I hope Stevie Johnson doesn't read this comment. It will make him sad.

     

    Wait...what am I doing in this thread? A Bledsoe vs. Fitz debate? This is only slightly more exciting than an Eddie Robinson vs. Kirk Morrison debate.

  14. and in my book, i think Bill Belichick is the most innovative and best game-preparers in the business. ... how he beat the Broncos by conceding a safety in the final minute a few years back had nothing to do with cheating, and everything to do with playing the long odds left before him.

    how the Patriots dismantled the Bills 56-10 on that Sunday night game was the best offensive display of football i've ever seen.

    how Belichik went for it on fourth down time and time again to keep Peyton off the field was his only recourse. it didn't ultimately work, but it was to his credit that he kept going for it.

     

    how he stockpiled draft picks to add value and overcome having to pick late in the first round was ingenious.

    how he went after not one but two tight ends because he saw how they could fit his system was smart, and something any team -- including the Bills -- should be faulted in their failure to adapt.

     

    jw's the kind of guy that values a free drink and a good whiskey at any time of day. i'm weird like that. couldn't tell you if it's a western new york thing, but it's better than overpriced beer in toronto.

     

    jw

     

    And don't forget his greatest innovation: deliberately breaking the NFL rules of conduct to gain what was deemed an unfair advantage over opponents.

     

    The BB+TB Patriots are a dynasty of "really really good", but not "great." Coach Bellycheat and Marsha Brady will make the Hall of Fame, and they deserve it for their many wins, their 10 division titles over really weak opponents, and their 5 conference titles together over a 13-year period and counting.

     

    But the Hall of Fame will always have room for the Dan Fouts types and the Don Coryell types (a guy who deserves to be in now, by the way, but that's for another thread...). To be considered "great" you need to win multiple Super Bowls without illegally gaining access to the opponents' entire playbooks beforehand.

     

    Jeers to overpriced beer in Toronto...cheers to the new Buffalo Bills dynasty that begins this September!

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