Dan

Buy stock in Labatt — it’s going to be a long year. Good stuff. I'm practically in mid-season form with my thought process! Disclaimer: I hadn't seen this before, so be kind if it's old.

Are we just hoping for players to get suspended so we have more to gripe about now?

I agree, they needed to fix the line and find the best 5 guys there. But, at this point, they've had all off season, voluntary and mandatory OTAs, camp, preseason games, and last year's footage to use for evaluation. I'm glad they moved guys around, allowed them to get experience at other positions, build some depth and all that good stuff. But they now have less than 3 weeks before the season opener. I would suggest that the time for evaluations is over. It's time to make a decision and stick with.

After 3 preseason games and a month of camp, I would really hope they know who the starting line should be. It's time to stop tinkering and start learning to play as a unit.

I don't understand why we have this QB mess either, when Peyton was available! We totally should have traded Spiller to the Colts for Luck too. Then, we'd be set at QB for the next 15yrs!! I just don't get this FO.

My brother in law is currently undergoing chemo for esophogeal cancer, my sister is a breast cancer survivor, I have a very good friend who has survived brain tumor surgery... all have said the same thing which is have a sense of humor and try to enjoy life. I think everyone here knows that some of the posts here were having fun and meant in a good spirit. Nothing wrong with that, because I'm equally sure everyone here thinks this is truly a good thing that EJ is doing.

I look at plays like this and shake my head at Hackett more than any player. We're inside the 10, there are 5 receivers running patterns, and only one is in the end zone - the slowest one at that? Why? This type of play design and call is exactly why I wonder about our coaching. Why not use every bit of field possible? Why not have all the receivers, except Freddie run to the back of the and create as much space as possible? Why not give your QB some real options? I don't know... maybe all the players ran the wrong routes.

Valid point, the team as a whole may be getting gassed. It's been a long, active camp and presason for this team. Add to that considerable tinkering with the lineup (no way Hogan starts over Woods, for ex) and maybe the players just need a mental and physical break? It'll be interesting to see how they start the season. Like I said, my biggest concern at this point is the coaching. And I'm not sure that gets fixed with rest or finally getting all the starters in the lineup. A stretch read option on 3rd and short is just a bad play any way you call it.

To my untrained eye: EJ wasn't nearly as bad as many posters here made him out to be. He looks young and needs to work on his accuracy, both of which I think will improve with more playing time. Hackett is stilll my biggest conern! I'm not at all able to say he's putting together a professional NFL level offense. The play calls and play designs are our biggest limiting factor on offense, by far. I don't get all the Tuel hate. He looks like a young, inexperienced.. back up. But, he's easily out-playing Thad. If Thad starts the season as #2, I'll have lost all confidnce in Marrone to evaluate his players. We have a lot of depth. For the 3rd preseason game in a row, our reserves are out-playing the other team's reserves. Finally, was it just me, or did the Steelers come out hitting harder and playing a little faster than the Bills? I think they took a little offense to all the talk of Watkins owning them in the practices and came out determined to show up and win. Maybe not, but the #1s just seemed to be playing with more intensity than our guys.

Well, Beliache knows that the fans on this board seem to know more about what's going on with this team than most anyone else. This should be a site disclaimer! Everyone should read it. I couldn't agree more. Yes, you do contribute to it. But, from this one person's perspective, your thread and concept here... rocks! Honestly, its the first and last thread I read every day. For those of us nontwitin facebookin antisocialites, I would never see all these comments ... good and bad. And greatly appreciate the efforts by you and other posters to keep us lazy posters better informed. So, thank you.

You really do seem like quite The whiney spoiled blight That sprinkles our interwebs Much to some poster's delight But you fail to see That no owner is guaranteed To be as steadfast and true As good ole Ralphie Even someone named Pegula Could decide after eating arugula That its time to look elsewhere And make himself alot of moola hashtagrelaxandhaveadrink

I don't either. But, if we have another 6 win season, will a new owner feel the same way? My guess is they start making serious changes unless this iteration of FO, coaches, players start to show some real progress in the win/loss column.

And this is exactly why everyone needs to hope like all hell that EJ and Marrone are good and we have a winning season. Because if not... the new owner will almost certainly blow up the entire FO, coaching staff, then players are gone. Do that much overhaul in the NFL and you're talking years.. 5? before we can even hope for a winning record.

The fact that the bid process is still ongoing would indicate that it's not that simple. Either Pegula wasn't the highest bid, or the highest in the history of the league, or something about the bid made them think someone doesn't want to keep the team in Buffalo, or there's something none of us know about the process being played out. In the end, all any of us have is speculation at this point.

Let's slow down now.... no one is claiming Tuel has the chroise! He might be improving and lookin ok, but chroisen he is not.

Maybe the trust did that to make it easier to disqualify bids that they don't want? Makes perfect sense if their primary interest is to approve sale to someone they like (that will keep the team in Buffalo) and not sell to the highest bidder.

Thank you.

Certainly a good case for optimism regarding EJ. Conversely, a case for... why did we trade Stevie again?

I don't understand how Thad is any smarter than Tuel? He has won real games, a couple, ok. But, he's also had the opportunity to play in more games than Tuel. And yes, he has a nice arm that he often uses to over throw his receivers. Again, I just don't see how either one is significantly better than the other. They both have looked good at times and looked bad at times. Neither is starting material. Where I do see a difference is in last night's game - Tuel seems to have improved in his grasp of the offense over last season, while Thad hasn't (and may have regressed). Again, I'm not saying one is that much better than the other. But, I think Tuel has a legitimate shot to be the #2 QB come day 1 over Thad.

If Thad is adequate, then so is Tuel. I just don't see that much difference in their game to put one significantly above the other. And I agree, we have an overall QB issue.

Precisely. From my couch, Tuel seems to have progressed, while EJ still seems to be thinking about it all. And for the anti-Tuel crowd.... I'm not suggesting Tuel start and we cut EJ. I'm just suggesting that to my eye, Tuel has gotten better since last year and EJ is still pressing. That's what's concerning. I want to see EJ progress and I'm not sure we've seen that to this point.

I suggest that it was a preseason game; hence, the right time to tinker. I was ondering the same thing... why is Woods playing so late in the game? But, if they really are considering Hogan for the team, why not play him with the first stringers and see how he compares? The biggest knock we always hear is... yeah so and so looked good, but it was against 3rd stringers. Well, Hogan got his chance against ones. But, to do that, someone has to play against the 2s and 3s. Last night that was Woods. I would expect as the preseason progresses, we'll see that change.

I genuinely watched last night's game with the idea that it's preseason, week 1 football. By that very nature, you can only expect to see so much good when you're talking about rookies and 2nd year players. Regarding EJ, I liked that his deep sideline pass was actually in the field of play. Seems basic but that is an improvement from last year. However, my take away was pretty much exactly what GG said. And that's the area of EJ's game that I want to see the most improvment in. I know its crazy talk, but Tuel looks like he has a better feel for the game right now than EJ. Yes, he makes mistakes too and all that stuff, but he looks more in control of the game to my untrained eye.

Andre is the man! That was an awesome speech. And I loved that he mentioned Talley. Hard to believe all those years ago that Kelly, Thomas, Lofton, Bruce, Marv and now Reed would ALL be in the HOF. Just amazing group of people. Is it just me, or do the Bills players refer to their team and town they play for as a family more than any others?

It does suck, I agree. But sometimes life does suck