LA Grant

Are you allowed to own 2 sports franchises in the same city if they both have first round picks?

That run was crazy — he's hit by two guys, keeps churning his legs. Somehow keeps moving forward. Really impressive.

Great win today. One of the most fun games of the year, actually. But, oh man. Danny slamming his helmet and then having it come back to hit him in the face gave me and the whole Bills bar one of the best laughs of the season. https://vine.co/v/ibwTMeEO1aj https://twitter.com/Deadspin/status/683724683406110720 http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2604622-bills-k-dan-carpenter-slams-helmet-after-missing-pat-hits-himself-in-face Kind of sums up a lot of the year in general.

That was awesome. Tyrod's grown more confident as a leader as the year has progressed. Next year this is "Tyrod's Team" and that amount of firm leadership will have all sorts of benefits. Excited for that.

I was delightfully SHOCKED to see so many Sammy intermediate routes, especially over the middle. I don't really understand why that wasn't happening all year but glad to see it. Next year we need to do way more of that. But in general I agree. Feed the man. Keep the targets up. Get a real #2 receiver and a real RT and this offense ought to be dangerous to anyone.

That should be a fireable offense. That's ABSURD.

Yeah. Well, tomato/to-mah-to. Games are won and lost in all kinds of ways but the 3rd down/2 minute drill situations where having a WR who can keep drives alive... that makes a major difference, imo. Also I think having a veteran WR would have been really helpful. Marshall has had well-documented issues but he's a leader type. And Sammy has said multiple times he loves having veteran presence — he was excited about Mike Williams and Percy Harvin in equal measure, and Orton in the same way. So I think even just having an experienced skill position guy around for Sammy and Tyrod could have been helpful in intangible ways.

Second Patriots game comes to mind, but there were a number of games this year where we had the opportunity to steal a win, with the ball back with ~2 minutes left, and the offense stalled out. Yes, there are a number of factors involved in that, but I think the biggest one is lack of a big WR who can win 50/50 battles. Right now we have Clay who can kind of sometimes do that but that's kind of it. Sammy is a great vertical threat. I think this board over-values Woods/Hogan. Even just the presence of a Marshall opens things up for the others. We saw that when Harvin was in the line-up opposite of Sammy. That's my take.

Not sure I agree with that. A tall strong fighting WR2 would make a huge difference, especially during 2 minute drills, clutch 3rd downs, Red Zone... Woods is okay but he's not close to Marshall. IIRC, the Bills did make a pass toward Marshall but not strong enough, especially after Harvin came into the picture.

I've thought about this too... Whaley and Donahoe are flashy and aggressive, which is annoying -- but at the same time, built the competitive teams of the drought.

Big hits I'd miss like I miss smoking on airplanes. Look, big hits are exciting but I don't think it's why most fans watch, you watch for the game. It's not even a great sport to see hitting anyway. That's why we have UFC and boxing and those aren't going anywhere.

That's a great idea and should be way more popular.

Pundits would kill us for it but I would not hate going WR in round 1 or 2... a guy like LaQuon Treadwell makes this team entirely different. I'm not sure if WR or RT are the bigger needs on offense, they're both big, but I think people are still under-estimating this need and over-valuing our WR depth. Offense made big strides this year compared to last year but if the team wants to really get to the next level, it needs to keep gelling and needs more legitimate weapons. I maintain WR2 is as big a need as anything. I don't think the defense will be quite as hard to fix as some people do. Get guys that fit the 3-4 scheme through FA and you'll have the Top 10 defense that Rex knows how to put together.

I'll cast my vote for "Tyrod not dying"

I agree with you, I have lots of issues with Sammy and still think he's soft. But at least it's something. I think part of the reason for the leadership vacuum is how too many players must feel too young or too new? McCoy is a top talent, plays with tons of heart, and mostly has a good attitude as far as team things go (I know obviously he got knocked a bunch for his Chip comments, to me that was way more the media overblowing things, but yeah he's still an immature guy, but aren't all football players?) — I'd like to see him take control of this team more, but he's still adjusting to this being "home" I guess. Similarly, Tyrod has only recently been called by management as "The Guy" going forward, so maybe he'll start coming forward more. Gilmore and Hughes are consistent on the field but their personalities are too extreme to be proper leaders yet (Gilmore too zen, Hughes too insane) but I'd love to see it. Maybe someone will emerge from this chaos. We'll see.

Tyrod and the developing chemistry on offense are one of the best reasons for optimism.

I agree with Sammy. The players need to take ownership. I'm glad to see Sammy and Tyrod taking steps forward in their leadership. I keep hoping for Gilmore or Hughes to step up and lead for the Defense but it's not happening, at least not yet.

Great read. Firing Rex after one season would be the worst possible move. We're in it with him whether we like it or not. We were always on this track as soon as the new owners decided to move on from Schwartz.

Make tweaks, not wholesale changes. Whaley AND Rex both stay, and they work on improving their process and relationship. I think bringing in a Czar to make sure Rex and Whaley stay in their lanes would be wise, as Pegula is not a football mind. Bring in the players needed to fully implement the 3-4 they want to do. Mario and Kyle should be gone. Need to find playmaking LB and S, need a true NT. Need a #2 WR so that our offense is not reliant on HRs to Sammy or McCoy busting one. Need a RT, and drafting best OL available would be wise in the early rounds b/c we need depth across the board here. Wood is average. Next training camp the focus is not focused on installing the scheme, but on details and fundamentals and not taking penalties.

I wish there was an applause emoji on here. WELL SAID! It literally took 2 Super Bowl wins for this board, and most fans in general, to start giving Tom Brady credit. For YEARS he was just "some average dink and dunk QB and anyone could do what he was doing." It was only when it became undeniable and began being referred to as one of the GOAT that he started getting credit.

Fans need to separate their emotions from it a little bit. No team is going to be successful changing coaches every few years. Like it or not, the best option is to stay the course with Rex.

You're totally right. Interviewing is a whole different skill from being good at your job. Rex Ryan is good at interviewing. I think the Pegulas were looking to be "blown away in the room" and Ryan is probably the most charismatic coach in the NFL. They were suckered by a snail oil salesman. No one here was wanting Rex before the hire. Like most people I viewed him as a clown when he was with the Jets. We owned them the last 3 meetings prior to this year. Maybe the hire wouldn't have happened if they were successful in bringing in Polian as the Czar. Maybe Polian would've smoothed things over with Marrone and been able to bring in a real OC. In that scenario we probably are starting Cassel and EJ throughout the year and it's hard to imagine those guys having success. We would have had other problems than we have now. BUT... This is somewhat of a hindsight 20/20 thing. We would have been better off in 2015 by staying the course, but we probably will not be better in 2016 by changing course again. This unfortunately became a year of growing pains. Defense will improve when personnel/coaching philosophy are more aligned.

This one is about Cleveland, but I found it to be especially relevant to the Bills situation too. This is a good argument as to why people need to chill out about replacing Tyrod or firing Rex. Some quotes that I thought applied equally to Buffalo as to Cleveland: When coaches change, players change. A lack of continuity also makes it tougher to lure the people you want in charge. The Browns have had to overpay for free agents; their 29th-ranked defense takes up 44.81% of the team’s cap, the highest percentage in the league, according to spotrac.com. During their search for a head coach in 2014, the Browns interviewed 10 candidates over 25 days, and top targets like Josh McDaniels and Dan Quinn pulled out. By the time Pettine was hired in late January, most teams’ coaching staffs were already complete. And consider the toll of turnover on players: Thomas has spent seven of his nine springs learning a new offense. When training camp comes, he and his teammates are still learning the basics, while other teams around the league are working on details. “And in this business, details are what wins,” Thomas says. “Cleveland is such a great football town, with so many passionate fans who expect a lot, which is great,” Thomas says. “But I think sometimes those high expectations and that scrutiny works against them. They are so emotional about each loss, the natural human instinct is, Ah, we’ve got to start over; this isn’t the team; this isn’t the coaching staff; these aren’t the players we need. You have to give them a chance, to lay the foundation and build upon that and turn the team into a winning franchise.”

Lack of team cohesion is because of a lack of continuity. The team has not been together long. It's progressing in fits and starts. Chill.

Yeah they were a fun team in spurts. I think that was the year of the Miami snow game with Bledsoe lighting it up in the 2nd half.