Dan

Exactly. That mentality drives me nuts. That's what's wrong with just adding a few more teams for the heck of it (to comment on your reply, dog17487). It would water down the playoffs and make the regular season less important. This is a larger problem with our society - we all play so we should all get an award. It's, in a way, the same issue surrounding the over time. Everyone thinks they deserve a chance to score and win. No, you earn that, by playing defense and getting the ball back, if you lose the coin toss. If you can't play defense, your offense shouldn't just be handed the ball in scoring position. If you can't win your division, you shouldn't complain about not making the playoffs.

Wow. Every one that knows anything about anything can see the ineptitude of our coaching staff. We can only hope that the fellas at OBD, see it and do something about it.

Yes. They should change it so that every 3rd year that you're 7-9 you get in regardless. There's nothing wrong with an 11-5 team not getting in. The Pats* didn't get in because there was another 11-5 team in their division that beat them. Simple as that. They don't make the wildcard because one of them won 12 games and the other team also won 11 games but had a better conference record. All this talk about the an 8-8 team getting in is nonsense. They won their division. If the Pats* or any other 11 win team did that, then they wouldn't have to worry about changing the rules.

Not to mention, they spent upwards of $160million last off season (if I recall correctly) and are now in serious cap trouble next year. All that and what did they get for it? A lot of hype and hope. Yet, so many here want the Bills to do the same thing. Throw money at every name in the game, hype the team beyond belief. Then throw it all out and start all over again. As bad as the Bills are, they're spending this week just like the Jets, Cowboys, Redskins, Pats*, Broncos, Saints, and so many other supposedly good teams are - wondering what went wrong. Yeah we suck, but so do a lot of teams.

Decent read, but I disagree with much of it and, perhaps, most fans. Big Picture Priority #1: General Manage…DON’T Manage Generally I don't really buy into all this talk of we need a true General Manager. Several teams don't have a true General Manager any do quite well. What we do need, as the article points out, is a direction. If we don't have a strong GM/Parcells type, then we need a strong Head Coach. And that's where the problem is, we don't have either one. Bring in a solid HC that provides accountability and direction and have a true GM means quite a bit less. The primary responsibility of a GM is to assemble the players and coaching staff that can win. Isn't that what Brandon and company are doing or at least attempting to do? Perhaps you dislike Brandon et als. efforts. Fine. But, then advocate is dismissal. But, to continually complain about not having a true GM ignores the reality that is today's NFL and indicates you're just unwilling to accept a changing world. How many guys are out there that are qualified to oversee the spending of $100's of millions each year, evaluate players at all positions and levels, and manage every other aspect of a mega million dollare franchise? I'd suggest not many. Big Picture Priority #2: Out Coached? Coaches Out! I can't and won't argue this point. The Bills are out coached. It's painfully obvious week after week. Add in the FO's management structure and it's all the more reason to have a strong HC that provides the direction and identity of the team. Jauron simply isn't that person. We need a strong personality as our HC that knows what he's doing. Big Picture Priority #3: Tear the Roof off the Sucker As bad as the Toronto game was, we did not lose that game because it was in Toronto or because it was in a dome. We lost that game because the Bills flat out sucked. If playing outside was such a great advantage to this team, then why isn't our home record any better? Why do we lose the vast, vast majority of our games below 32 degrees? No, playing in a dome had little to do with our ineptitude that day. Could they, should they improve the fan experience of the game? Absolutely. Watching the game on TV it looked like a slightly over-hyped preseason game. However, lets be realistic. Has anyone watched the game in London? That game looks just about as bad. The fact is... most people outside the US are not as passionate about football as we are . So, unless they can somehow get more Buffalonians to attend, its going to be a lousy experience. If fans are so worried about losing a cold weather game, they could simply make next year's Toronto game a Sept. game. I would make it a non-divisiona game. But I suspect, Ralph chose Miami because he was hoping that would create the most interest and most likely guarantee a sellout. It appears he was wrong. Big Picture Priority #4: Stadium Arcane-ium Give this idea a rest. Do people really want their taxes raised so they can build a new stadium? Jerry Jones is finding it hard to fund his new stadium. But Ralph could easily do it here? The idea with the balloons and falling goalposts making the stadium look bad is ludicrous. When you have near hurricane force winds, structures get damaged and blown over. I don't care how new they are. Yes, it would be nice to have a new stadium. But, given the economy and reality of the current tax base, it's just wishful thinking. Big Picture Priority #5: Take our Ownership…Please This is perhaps one of my biggest pet peeves. Is the entire Bills fanbase becoming a group of 16 year old girls screaming they want everything for them at their sweet 16 party? Ralph has defied all business sense and kept this franchise in Buffalo for nearly 50 years. He's guaranteed as long as he's alive the Bills will remain in Buffalo. Yet, like spoiled little girls, we throw a tantrum and scream we want more, more, moooore. If anyone wants to guarantee the Bills stay here for 50 more years, I suggest they go into business, make a billion dollars and go buy the team. And then keep the team here despite the more lucrative deals you could get elsewhere. Because that's the only way this team is guaranteed to stay in Buffalo. All I can say is be careful what you wish for. One day the Bills will have a new owner, and there's absolutely no guarantee that owner remains as loyal to Buffalo as Ralph. Whether Ralph cherry picks the owner or the team is sold on Ebay, there's no guarantee. Not to mention all this talk of a new owner suddenly spending millions on coaches, players, a new stadium, etc. If someone has that kind of money , they're going to want a return on their investment - ala Jerry Jones. Can Buffalo sell the kind of luxury boxes and seat licenses that Dallas or Washington does? I doubt it. So, what would be the new owner's logical choice - yep, move the team. So, just keep wishing for a new owner. IMO, the big picture is simple: put a winning product on the field. If the Bills became a perennial winning team, playoff bound each year most of these problems go away. Driving to Toronto is less a hassle. The stadium doesn't look nearly as beat down. The management structure or titles given to people become irrelevant. All becomes right in the world. So how do you get a winning product on the field? That's the biggest question and the one most teams struggle with every year. I would suggest the Bills have enough talent, but what they really need is that strong leader to give them direction, an identity. In other words, a real HC.

Horrible idea, IMO. 1. I'm sure the players would prefer the trip to Hawaii. 2. All players on the SB teams, won't participate in any way. 3. Diminishes the Pro Bowl even more, because now it's just part of the Super Bowl hype. 4. It's stupid. How does having the Super Bowl in a city help the finances of the team there? I was unaware that teams got any financial benefit from a SB.

To be fair.. the "E" is silent.

To be fair, I think some of the dislike for JP is non-football related as well (present company excluded of course). Not that there's anything wrong with that.

I finally found a quite for my sig line. Thanks.

Nope. Crayonzian posting at its finest.

Now that is awesome!

I just spent 5 minutes rereading that post several times, finally did a search on the page for "if". Still couldn't find it - unless you count in the word dIFferent. I thought maybe it was just me. Friggin awesome.

Sure it all sounds credible... but, unless you drive a Ferrari or some other real cool car, I don't buy it.

Good and solid and logical post. Too bad you wasted it in a crayonz thread (gotta love em).

Exactly my point! And the players have no choice but to walk into that fight completely unsure of how its going to work.

Especially with all the super secret deep sources that drive nice cars. I think my world is crashing down all around me.

Well, yeah, when you say it like that it sounds bad. But, it's tough to win in the NFL. All the teams are good. Not that the Bills aren't good. Because those guys play hard. But, the other teams play hard too. So, it's makes it tough. Not that you wouldn't want it tough. So I wouldn't say it's bad, it's just tough.

That's a good point. However, I interpret a statement like that differently. A team is willing to follow a good leader into hell with squirt guns because they know/trust that their leader wouldn't lead them into hell unless he had a plan that would work. In essence, they know that he/she is going to develop a viable plan of attack and equip his team with the proper tools to accomplish that plan. So, a good leader would insist that they draft some Firemen and bring in some of those planes that dump water on the wildfires before heading off to hell with a handbasket of squirt guns. So, in short, I don't want a guy that heads into games off with weak plans doomed to fail. I'd like to see someone coach this team that can properly assess our opponents and develop/implement viable plans to defeat them.

I'd love to see him back on the field in place of Ellison. However, it doesn't change the fact that we still need to get a good OLB either in FA or the draft. It does make you wonder about the accuracy of the stories this fall. Perhaps they were on target, but after 4 months and little interest from other teams on one part and poor LB play on the other's part, cooler heads are prevailing.

Interesting you say that, because while watching the game that's exactly what I was saying to myself. The wind served to be a great equalizer. The big offensive threats of the Pats* were grounded. The kicking/return game of the Bills was nullified. The game became quite simple - run the ball, stop the run. But on numerous occasions you witnessed the difference in coaching. The decisions to punt vs going for it. When to try the field goal/when not. How to use your timeouts. When to throw and HOW to use that short pass when you know the entire defense is within 10 yards of the LOS. Creativity in the play calling even though everyone knows you're going to run. Yesterday was the absolute final nail for me. It was painfully obvious how under prepared our team was in comparison to the Pats*. The in game decisions were marked with confusion and and looks of helplessness. A new coaching staff may not be better, but I find it hard to believe that they can be worse.

Thanks ans4e64, lgb, & cantankerous. I should probably add that I can't see next season being any different unless a HC and OC combo comes in that actually knows what a real NFL offense looks like AND has an actual idea of how to implement it. So, I'd say our biggest problem is the coaching - no shocker there. So, I'll hold off bashing any specific player until I see a new coaching staff trying to implement a professional offense.

I think our Offensive coaching problems are so severe that's it's almost impossible to accurately determine if any specific player is a problem. We have no offensive identity. The OC has zero situational awareness when calling plays. The blocking schemes are dysfunctional, to say it nicely. The coaches have no idea of how to use the personnel that are on the team. The QB rarely moves in the pocket to create passing lanes. They regularly play without tempo and in complete ignorance of the game clock. Basic NFL plays are almost completely absent from our playbook. Just to name a few problems off the top of my head. We all spend so much time talking about this play or that playor about this player or that player; but when you watch the Bills play and almost any other team it is blatantly obvious that we don't have a professional NFL offense. Timing routes, play action, slants, offensive rhythm - when was the last time we saw a Bills' offense with any of those things? It would be embarrassing except that most of my friends don't watch the Bills play so they have no idea our truly inept our offense can be.

Sources deep within the NFL head offices say it'll be an all Manning SB. Take it for what its worth... my other car's a Saturn.

To be fair... they're all really good sauces and it's really tough to pick any sauce on the menu. They're all just so good. You really have to give McD's a lot of credit for that. It's not that you want nuggets with no sauce on them. But, it is tough.

That's what I find most interesting in the post.