PolishDave

Fitzy!

Good take, One thing I see in your plans that feels like a flaw to me is that you are (implying) - painting a picture where Lynn is a great offensive guy and he is going to be designing/running the offense. That would be the case if he was staying on as the offensive coordinator. Probably not the case if he is hiring an offensive coordinator from outside this organization. Lynn's smartest and wisest move this season (in my opinion) was when Roman was fired and he was elevated - he called Bill Parcells and asked him for advice. Lynn described the situation to Parcells and Parcells told Lynn to throw out half the playbook and simplify things. Lynn (to his credit) took Bill Parcell's advice. He did exactly that and this offense got better. Does Lynn get credit for that - sure. But I would feel a lot better if Bill Parcells was my new head coach and he was giving more advice to Lynn about how to make that offense better yet. And I would feel better if Bill Parcells was finding a top defensive mind to run that defense. If Lynn is promoted to head coach, will he still be calling Bill Parcells for advice on what to do? I am sure he will. I just think it is an awful big jump for Lynn when he hasn't even proven he could design an offense or defense on his own first. How is he supposed to tell the coordinators what they are doing wrong? And what experienced coordinators are going to want to come to Buffalo to work under him? Maybe there are some great names out there who will? That is a big mystery to me. Can't we just get the Tuna?

I want to see Kevon Seymour pick off Fitzy a couple times to give us a glimmer of hope that he might be an awesome cornerback next year.

You know that video is going to live on forums like this for at least another ten years. You know why that play happened? Cuz EJ isn't tall enough at QB. A taller QB would have gotten that pass over Watt's head. (sarcasm)

I'm not 100% all in on promoting Lynn and sticking with Tyrod. I don't know what we are going to get with Lynn. I like his character (for what limited amount I have seen from him). I like that he found success running Roman's offense. But nobody knows how good this offense would have been if Lynn had been the one to design it. Very small chance it would have been more productive than what Roman designed in my opinion. Likely it would have involved at least a little more passing - which I am all for. But who knows. It might have looked as bad as Nate Hackett's offense. We don't know. That gives me hesitation about Lynn. Nobody knows with him. It is a total guess. Plus, if it is him, what coordinators can he get to come here that are proven? I don't know. If Lynn gets the job, I don't doubt that we are going to have 2 somewhat inexperienced coordinators. Wish I knew who he was thinking about. And I don't want 2 inexperienced coordinators along with a first time head coach trying to figure things out for their first times here. That will get you a string of (just out of the playoffs again) seasons that end in the firing of everybody including Whaley and a complete rebuild starting 3 years from now. - No thanks. I would rather if we got an experienced coach who said we are going to fix the putrid defense by going back to what they are good at and we are going to build on the offense by maintaining a strong running game but with more emphasis being placed on the passing game, especially the deep passing game. Then I would be like And if he brought in 2 proven coordinators I would then be like Show me the MONEEEEEY!!

True. But I really doubt Jimmy G. Even though he looked okay in a couple games, he is not a proven commodity. And certainly would not be a guaranteed upgrade over Tyrod. In fact, it could end up being as big of debacle as bringing in somebody like Kolb was. People regard him higher than he (probably) deserves simply because he is a backup on "The Patriots". And Patriots poop doesn't stink so I am told. And Romo or Cutler or ? - Any other available vet QB besides Rivers would be a mistake in my opinion. Now if you could get Rivers and you wanted to rebuild around him - I'm down with that. But it would have to be somebody that good. If you tried to do it around a rookie - waaaaay to big of a gamble on whether they would be good or not. Way safer bet with TT.

If Lynn is the guy - you can bet money that they pick up the option on Tyrod's contract. And that means Lynn will either sink or swim as a head coach based on whether Tyrod succeeds or not (for the most part.) If it is some other coach who wants a pass happy offense, then they may end up cutting Tyrod and drafting another QB and starting all over from scratch again. - a.k.a. - another rebuild and 3 more years of likely suckitude. and a mostly different team of players by the time they reach the playoffs. Whaley's best shot at keeping a job long term is to sign Lynn and hope things workout with him. Otherwise he will be gambling on a (probably) completely different style of coach to implement a new system and get to the playoffs within 2 years.

Cool. I am not particularly glad they drafted EJ and I don't think most Bills fans are. But when you put things in perspective and remember the situation that Nix left Whaley in, Whaley didn't have a choice about whether to draft a QB or not. He had to. It was this team's number 1 priority from every angle. If he hadn't drafted somebody in round 1, the fans would have created such an uproar that he would have been fired by now for not at least trying to get a QB. The guy had to draft a QB to save his own job. That is how the NFL works. He was just playing the game how everyone in that position knew it had to be played. He went and drafted the best guy available to him. It didn't work out. Can't blame him for trying. You miss every shot you don't take. That is why I give him a pass on EJ. He had to take somebody. No other QB in that draft has proven to be better. Otherwise, people would have a legit complaint that he missed there and should have taken someone else.

Thank you for your insight! Must have been a wicked cool job for a while. Well at least the insider part. I assume you are no longer in sports marketing in any capacity.

Yes exactly. I bet it has happened plenty of times. Like anybody who suggested Rex was going to be fired at or near the end of this season = fairly predictable considering he would have had to win out towards the end. That doesn't often happen.

So, based on your experience, which is very telling, would you say that leaks could come out of there from just about anybody? Like some ticket window guy telling his brother or cousin or college buddy - and somehow that rumor reaches reporter through the grapevine somewhere because the reporter is listening for rumors all the time?

When you were there, were there often occasions where rumors were going around the office that so and so was going to get fired a week or two before they actually got fired? You know, that were true?

And I know there are some black helicopters around here somewhere. The phones are bugged. Google is recording everything we type. Time to get one of these -

What other QB would you have had them draft there? Because they had to get one because of the situation Nix created with Fitzpatrick. If Nix hadn't opened his mouth, Fitz would have been the QB and EJ would have been drafter a lot later or not at all. What other QB would you have had Whaley draft there in place of EJ?

I don't know if that is going to happen. Here is why: The new coach will be the one who decides whether this team is going to marry itself to Tyrod for 3 years or move on from him immediately. They won't renegotiate anything without knowing who the coach is going to be first because he might not want Tyrod for the next 3 years (betting his coaching tenure on Tyrod) or he might not want Tyrod at all for his system. Let's suppose they do find a coach who wants Tyrod for a year, but wants the ability to cut him after one year. They would have to renegotiate Tyrod's contract. If they try to do that and leave themselves an out after one year so they don't have to be married to the guy, then Tyrod and his agent are likely to give the Bills the finger. Tyrod is going to want to be somewhere where his future as a starter is certain for at least a few years. If he gets that offer from another team for similar money - he will take that instead of renegotiating with the Bills. I bet the Bills will have to either pick up his option as it sits or else let him go entirely. But I could be wrong. I often am. Tyrod would have to be an extremely generous man who really badly wants to play IN BUFFALO, for him to be willing to renegotiate his contract again so that it leaves the team a chance at cutting him after a year. Right now, if they pick the option up on Tyrod, because of how the payments are scheduled and dead salary cap money, they could not afford to cut him for bare minimum 2 years, probably 3. They will be in a situation similar to where they have been with Dareus in terms of contract preventing a cut for years.

Yep. Totally agree. And it shows the Pegulas want to build a winner NOW. They are willing to eat millions of dollars, money coming directly out of their pocket and thrown away - in order to build a winner. That is hardcore commitment. They will get there. The owners are the epitome of success and they are going to make this football team one too. Just watch.

I am 100% convinced it is a conspiracy. I'm not sure who what or how, but it is definitely a conspiracy. No doubt about it.

Maybe he would coax Kevin Gilbride out of retirement. They would sling the ball like when Bledsoe was here. Ahh the memories. They'd have to put safety handles in all the bathrooms at the stadium for the older guys so they didn't slip and fall.

Yep. the stats I use for Qb are typically completion percentage and YP/A Tyrod is ranked 21 for both this year. And remember he had crappy receivers for a good chunk of the year. Last year Bills ranked 14th in comp% and 6th in yp/a I think with healthy receivers in a well designed offense Tyrod is going to be close to those 14th and 6th ratings consistently.

I think people honestly don't realize it is the system that is largely responsible for those low total passing yards. And even when you point it out to some of them (not all of them) they stare right at the evidence and choose not to believe it. A few guys (probably not old school) use the stat because they have an agenda against Tyrod and literally can't come up with anything better to use than that incredibly misleading stat.

Buffalo had 443 pass attempts (lowest in the league). passing yardage ranked 31 (second lowest in league) = makes perfect sense The top ranked passing yardage team = Saints had 624 passing attempts compared to the Bills 443 Wouldn't you say that is a huge difference? The Saints threw the ball 40% more times than Buffalo to achieve that top ranking in passing yards. Tampa Bay who is ranked 15th in total passing yards (about average) threw the ball 100 more times than Buffalo did. 100 more freaking passes. You are much better judging quarterbacks on quarterback centric stats like completion percentages and yards per attempt passing. Those give you a more accurate picture.

Miami 9 in rushing 26 in passing yards Dallas 2 in rushing 19 in passing yards San F 4 in rushing 32 in passing yards Tenn 3 in rushing 24 in passing yards You just proved what JMS62 said. Good job. All of those teams that you mentioned were above average in rushing and below average in passing. Which suggests JMS is right. You sacrifice one dimension for the other. It is not perfect linear correlation, but clear as day that you sacrifice one for the other. What conclusion did you arrive at when you saw those stats?

Awesome!

You do need a balanced attack because some teams defenses are going to be good enough to make you one dimensional. And you have to be good enough in that dimension or you are screwed. Plus you can't really have a dominant offense without being able to execute both well. You could be dominant in one aspect like the Bills are with the run game. But that Miami game they looked truly dominant moving the ball every way with success. That is what I want. I know most everyone wants that too. I think the best year Roman's offenses ever had was the Superbowl year. And I believe that was their most balanced year where they ranked 23 in passing yards and like 8th rushing or something like that. The other years when they were even better rushing, they couldn't make it to the Superbowl. Their passing suffered because of the excessive reliance on the run game. I would like to see the Bills get the ball deep to Sammy a lot more. Or at least try even if they don't complete them. Plus it makes the games a hell of a lot more exciting.