Billsguy

Agreed the offensive line is a mess. The defensive backfield is a mess. The tight end position is embarrassingly poor. The QB situation is a complete cluster "mess". How does this add up to a winning team? It doesn't. This is another reason why giving up two 1st round picks for a WR was a luxury the Bills couldn't afford. Maybe the next owners will hire professionals to do the job correctly. Marrone looks clueless. Whaley looks like he is in over his head. Brandon was a marketing guy who schmoozed his way into a position for which he has no aptitude. The Bills desperately need leadership from a savvy owner who understands that you hire the best people possible. Was Marrone the very top candidate in their entire football universe to become head coach? He wasn't in the top 100 imo. As a comparison, the Eagles went out and hired Chip Kelly from one of the three best college football programs in the country that had an outstanding record. The Bills hired a guy from a mid-tier mediocre conference with a mediocre record. Which team has a brighter future and is more fun to watch?

There were 3rd stringers in there to be fair. Good summary.

I really don't understand the tremendous amount of support for the current regime of Brandon,Whaley and Marrone. A neutral observer might ask what exactly have they proven or accomplished? The neutral observer might answer truthfully, "Not much!" The only conclusion I can draw from these unofficial poll results is that Bills fans are so accustomed to mediocrity that they have forgotten what success really looks like. If the Bills finish 6-10 again this year will the poll results look different next year? Probably not.

Which teams in the NFL have a worse trio of QB's than Buffalo? None! The Bills won't be contenders until the QB position improves dramatically. Until then, the Bills will remain non-contenders in the 6-10 area. The only hope is that the new owner (unlike the previous owner) won't settle for mediocre when hiring a new team president, new GM, new head coach, new staff and new trainer.

What evidence do we have that Marrone knows what he is doing? I haven't noticed anything that rises above mediocre. Why is he better than the 5 previous Bills head coaches?

EJ is not the answer.

Especially on TwoBillsDrive!!!

Here is the elephant in the room: the offensive line is a jumbled mess!!! Let's put it this way- top contending teams almost always have an established and settled O line. The Bills line needs work. Until the offensive line gets tight and efficient, it won't matter too much what the RB depth chart looks like. P.S. You could probably make the case that Brown could start.

You can tell when you watch certain players that they have the natural instincts to succeed. They might have a terrible game, but you can see their innate ability to understand the game and to adapt instantly to changing conditions. You can't teach this natural ability. Unfortunately, EJ Manuel doesn't seem to have this ability. He doesn't have the knack for the game. Sure he's big and has a strong arm etc. but he doesn't know how to play!!! I thought the Bills made a mistake, based on desperation, when they drafted him. I was appalled that they drafted a 3rd rounder at best in the 1st round and I have seen nothing to this point that changes my mind. I thought Tuel showed more instincts and that is not saying much. The Bills near term success will ride on the QB position. EJ Manuel is not the answer. Yikes!

If Ralph Wilson wanted the team to stay in Buffalo indefinitely, he wouldn't have allowed the team to be sold to the highest bidder after his demise. It could have been arranged beforehand. He had the opportunity, but he didn't do it.

I said this a long time ago and I have no reason to change my view: there is a 95 % chance that the Bills will move to Toronto. The fix is in. The NFL wants a team in Canada and Toronto is the only real viable option. Also, I heard from an NFL owner, in a private conversation, that the Bills are headed to Toronto. The NFL is motivated by MONEY!!! The owners are greedy and not loyal. They can make more money with a team in Toronto vs. a team in Buffalo. It is all about the money. Now as a Bills fan since day one back in 1960, I don't want this to happen. In spite of the huffing and puffing from politicians, former jocks, and community leaders they are powerless to stop it. Prepare yourselves Bills fans. There is little room for the small markets like Buffalo in the Billionaires Boys Club (aka NFL).

I can imagine a bunch of NFL owners sitting around laughing at how they get dumb*ss taxpayers to subsidize their toys. Taxpayers should let these billionaire owners support themselves. The fans support the team, but the owners should pay for their private playgrounds. Donn Esmonde doesn't have an agenda, but he does have a brain.

It is becoming clearer that Marcel Dareus is an idiot. I wish that wasn't the case, but his behavior speaks volumes.

The title of the thread, "Vegas has released their win total projections" is not valid since the Nevada sportsbooks don't project wins and losses for NFL teams. This is one of the most misunderstood aspects of setting the betting line. ESPN is also famous for spreading this misinformation. The betting line is set by the sportsbooks to to get equal betting action on both sides of the number. In the Bills case, they have determined that 50% of the betting public will pick the Bills to win more than 6.5 games and that the other 50% of the betting public will pick the Bills to win less than 6.5 games. It is purely a number to balance their betting books. The house takes 10% of all bets so they want the action to be equal on both sides so that they reduce their risk to zero. They will make a guaranteed 10% of all the action if the betting is equal. They can get really hurt if the betting is lopsided to one side or the other. In summary, the betting line is not a prediction. For example, it is wrong to hear people say the Patriots are 8.5 pts better than the Dolphins because the line is NE -8.5. This is not what the odds makers are saying at all. They are trying to even out the betting on both sides... period!

Nobody knows at this point. If someone gives the Bills an "A+" or somebody else gives them an "F" then they are equally ridiculous. Equal. If you think the Bills had a great draft then your opinion is as nonsensical as another person who claims they had a horrible draft. The are equally and logically pointless. In 3 or 4 years, it might be fair to determine if the 2014 draft was productive or not. Until then, all opinions are useless.

Why can't you wrap your head around the FACT that the Bills did give up TWO #1 draft picks!!! The Bills got one in return, but they did give up two.

Three years later and the Falcons finished 4-12. Oops! There is a price to be paid for giving up future top draft picks just to move up.

Have the Bills hired a full time counselor to deal with these players with off the field problems? Remember the Bill organization from a few years ago who kept saying they were looking for guys with good character? It seems those days are gone! I wonder if all the Bills fans who used to be critical of the Miami Dolphins and others will also be critical of the Bills for doing the same thing? Probably not.

IMO, this is the smartest move the Bills made... period

The draft needs several years to be evaluated properly. You also need to consider the lack of a number one pick next year. It is foolish to jump to conclusions at this point. If you could go back to all the posts on TBD over the last 15 years, you might find that nearly every draft was admired by the fans prematurely and incorrectly. What have all these "great" drafts produced since 2000? Heartache and disappointment for the most part. Keep your expectations low until the Bills prove you wrong. It has been the best strategy this century.

Alabama has had its share of busts in recent years. Hope this guy breaks that trend.

No need to fire him now, the new owner will be doing that within a year and Whaley will be just a footnote in Bills history.

It is certainly in the same class as trading Marshawn Lynch. How did that work out? This is a great trade for the 49er's. They get a proven NFL receiver for a 4th round pick. Sweet deal. The Bills front office seems determined to make their last few months on the job memorable, if not productive! Bad deal. The Bills re-signed Stevie Johnson and Buddy Nix said, "One of our philosophies coming in is that we wanted to keep our good players here. We were able to do that with Steve Johnson." Now Nix wasn't too successful overall, but keeping your best players is generally a good idea. I guess Doug Whaley has a different philosophy. Trade away next year's 1st and 4th round picks to move up 5 slots in the draft. Whaley lets our best safety go for free (Jairus Byrd) and lets our best receiver (Stevie Johnson) go for a likely very late 4th round pick. Is this a winning strategy?

I believe the Bills overpaid, but the men who made the deal (Brandon and Whaley) will likely be gone next year when the Bills have no 1st or 4th rounder. The new owner will most likely bring his own management team and they will have to deal with the empty cupboard. Party today and don't worry about tomorrow. A recipe for success? I don't think so. A 6-10 team gambling like this is not a smart move, but it does smell like desperation. Desperation is an emotional response and not an intellectual one. I would have drafted with my head and not my heart. There is a reason why some teams always manage to fail and others always manage to succeed. Look at Jax drafting Bortles at #3. Does it sound smart or desperate? Jax stinks for a reason and they proved it again. Top draft picks are the lifeblood of an NFL team. If you give them away, you won't succeed. Washington suffered greatly by giving all those top picks to the Rams to get Robert Griffin. It is a bad strategy on the whole.

Yes, it is a bold move. Everybody in The Bills organization and much of the local media are praising the Bills for their "BOLD" move. However, is it a smart move? I don't think so. First of all, I think Watkins could be a very good player. This is not a criticism of him. The Bills just simply paid too much!!! The surrender of two 1st round picks and a 4th round pick for Watkins is just plain overpaying. Would you pay $400,000 for a $250,000 house? I wouldn't. What happens next year when the Bills finish let's say 8-8 in 2014-15 and their first pick in next years draft is #50. This is a very competitive league and next year all the Bills competitors will add top talent in the draft and the Bills will be waiting at OBD with no top pick. By this time next year, Russ Brandon and Doug Whaley will likely be long gone and will not have to answer for this deal. If the Bills had a playoff team or even a near playoff team with a solid, established QB and one of the missing pieces was a top WR, then I would consider this trade and draft choice. However, this 6-10 team just paid for lobster tails with food stamps. It is a luxury they cannot afford! The Bills would have been better off trading down to the middle of the round, draft a guy like OT Zack Martin to bolster a mediocre O-line, add another 2nd round pick and pick up 2 possible starters this year and still keep next year's 1st rounder. Did the Bills suck last year because they didn't have receivers or was it because they didn't have adequate quarterbacking. I think QB was most of the problem and that situation hasn't changed. The Bills went for the shiny hubcaps when they should have gone for the new transmission. Time will tell.