Rocky Landing

Well, if you're going to rekindle your fandom, now's the time to do it. No one's going to accuse you of jumping on a bandwagon.

It's hard to keep up with this site over the last couple days. So, I've just been reading. My thoughts are this: Marrone was developing into a good NFL coach. A lot of the criticism of him, over the last couple seasons, was that he wasn't an NFL coach (nor was Hackett), but a college coach who was out of his league. That sentiment certainly rang true last season-- less so this season. Clearly, among the rest of the NFL, outside of Buffalo, he is now seen as the real deal. I agree. I don't believe he has reached his ceiling as a head coach, and if he had stayed with us, he would be a better coach for us next season as well. I wonder if he hasn't hurt his future by jumping ship so early in his NFL career in search of greener pastures. All that being said, I don't fault him his decision. Certainly, the atmosphere for him had soured, and given this season's success, he obviously has several good opportunities in front of him. But, from my armchair, I am disappointed, both for him, and for us.

...It's a conspiracy...

Well, given the last several vets this team brought in, I would say a natural progression would lead to... Rex Grossman?

"All in" on EJ, again? I believe we've been down that road, before-- like, this year. Anyone who thinks that the only upgrade our QB situation needed was for Orton to retire has a serious short-term memory problem.

Better to head South to Penfield- A Town of Planned Progress. Next year we should try losing our way into the playoffs?

Duke Williams Lee Smith Jordan Gay

Hasn't Schwarz already demonstrated the Peter Principle?

I keep thinking to myself that maybe I should be rooting for the Pats to win the Super Bowl. Maybe Brady would decide to retire?

I don't want to have to pay for HBO...

Would it be amusing to have Jim Schwarz as our DC, and Jim Harbough as our OC? It could certainly make our practices interesting.

I have a four year old son. That would be a hard pill for me to swallow. It says something that our best RB is 33 years old. That being said, I think that he has, as he does every year, exceeded expectations.

Marrone seems to think so. At least, he thinks Orton gives us a better chance than EJ. And, chances are, the rest of the team thinks so, as well. That counts. And, of course, if we win on Sunday, it will be a team win. That also means (as it has every week), that if we lose, it will be a team loss.

Happy Christmahannukwanzadon!!!

I think it's accurate to take the "all-in" metaphor at face value. Trading for Watkins was part of that gamble, and when you go "all in," you go ALL IN. When you lose, you're out of the game. (Or, in our case, out of the playoffs. Again.)

I suspect that if one reads between the lines of Marrone's recent presser, that he has, indeed, given up on EJ. But, that really isn't my argument. Frankly, I don't see much benefit in starting EJ in a game against a superior division rival, with a team that would likely be rather deflated by the decision from their coach that the game isn't worthy of trying to win, or worthy of starting the QB that he believes gives them the best chance to win. I think the possible downsides for EJ's development (or evaluation, for that matter), could outweigh the upsides. But that really isn't my argument, either. I am much less interested in developing EJ than I am in developing this team. I'm interested in developing a winning culture. This is a "meaningless" game for the Pats, also. Is there any doubt that Brady will be starting? Is there any doubt that all of their starters will be on the field? That's what winning teams do. And, I'd be much happier, as a fan, if we finish 9-7, rather than 8-8. In fact, I'll be much happier, as a fan, at 8-8, knowing that we tried to win every game. Throwing in the towel (against the Pats, no less!!!) should never be an option. Regardless of how we finish, this is not the preseason. There are no meaningless games. Go Bills! (IMHO)

You're right. I'm not going to bother explaining anything to you. I haven't avoided any questions, and there aren't any points that you have made that I don't understand. I just completely disagree with you. Feel free to take the last word.

As did you.

I get to watch the Bills play 16 times a year. If they beat the Pats on Sunday, I would be happy, indeed. If I watched them wander out on the field, pretending it is a preseason game, and not try to win, I would consider that to be a gutless, cowardly move. Of course, that is a moot point, since they won't do that. They will show up, play hard, and try to win-- regardless of the wishes of some fans who "get" something that I don't.

Right. You'd prefer we had a coach who didn't want to win on Sunday.

If you've been a fan for that long, you should consider trying to remember what it was like, and what it means to have a winning culture.

Right. Why even bother trying to win the game? With all due respect, I see this attitude (all too prevalent) as gutless.

I wonder if Orton would say, "screw it," decline his option if he were benched for this game? Obviously (to me, anyway), I would hope that we find a better option at QB before next preseason. But, if we don't, which is not unlikely, I would hate to walk into next season betting "all-in" on EJ, again. KO may very well be starting week one, 2015.

I'm trying to figure out if I might feel myself rooting for the Pats to win the Super Bowl. If they did, would, perhaps, Brady decide to retire? You know, on a high note, and all that?

This sort of parsing, and hand-wringing analysis would be a discussion IF we were looking at tie-breakers. We're NOT. I'm being a realist when I say that we are an 8-7 team. I'm being a pessimist when I say we are going to finish as an 8-8 team, because I believe that the odds of us winning in Foxboro on Sunday are slim, indeed. That is it. People who don't believe that we have improved over last year have an all-too-common short term memory problem. NONE of our wins this season were irrelevant, or gifted to us, any more than any of our losses were stolen from us. You don't have t be happy with 8-8. But calling us anything less than that is cynically disingenuous.