Nihilarian

In fact, he is getting met in the backfield and getting tackled there at times. You can't run block that poorly and expect to have success in the run game. Then, when you have a run first offense that can't run the ball effectively it usually kills the entire offense. What teams are doing now is stacking the box to keep Taylor in the pocket and make him throw to beat them and Buffalo isn't a pass first team with an experienced veteran QB!

Not soon enough... I still have a difficult time understanding why he didn't get the boot after what he did to last years defense.

Yours and mine both!

Fans complaining about Tyrod and the Bills D gave up 374 yards to Fitz, Forte had 30 attempts for 100 yards and 3 TD's. 493 total net yards I know which one I think did the better job and with almost no run game to help him.

The Jets could vie for the division this year

One a good note after last week I would have never thought the Bills would score 31... On a bad note, the NY Jets offense would score 37.

Hook and ladder game over!

Fair catch

The problem arises is that he was a rookie GM when hired and he has made his share of mistakes in his time as GM. The simple fact that the team still might not have found it's franchise QB is a big problem along with overpaying for offensive stars that could have been found in the draft with one first round pick. The offensive line is another big issue when attempting to devlop young, inexperienced QB's.

Yea, well. When was the last time you saw the team president / marketing guy of those two pro teams in the teams cut room meetings? Was he really on the phone with UDFA's?

Good points! While Russ Brandon didn't himself make the actual choices for players over the last 7 years. It's the fact that because he was in that top position of power as de facto GM / team president he allowed some really stupid moves to happen. Russ Brandon didn't draft Aaron Maybin but he was in the room when it happened and what's more, he allowed it to happen as de facto GM. He was part of that process then and now and that is a constant. The one other real constant over the last 10 years has been this team lacking a top NFL football mind at the top of the org chart and until that happens this team will keep going around in circles. While spinning wheels and changing out schemes and players to fit those schemes.

All I hope is that this game in the national media spotlight doesn't show what we saw last Sunday in Baltimore. The Rams really stunk up the air waves on MNF but still they had more yards with less points scored then the Bills. Rex Ryan is like 6-1 against Fitz so let's hope that streak continues.

The thing is players like Tom Brady don't just walk in the door and if a 6th round draft pick like Tyrod Taylor evolves into another Brady it would happen because he has a solid team around him! Not the mess we see today on offense with a half built O-line and with sub-par players as backups. With overpriced singular stars at WR, TE & RB because the scouting dept / GM lacks the ability to find quality talent in the draft with one draft pick. Poor players and depth beyond those three, star players. Not to mention the coaching staff's lack of ability to get the offense working when one area of the team stalls in a game.

I'm also okay with this idea in Casserly and Wolf recommending as to who to hire as GM / HC like they did with the NY Jets and 10-6 in the first year after a 4-12 season is solid a reinforcement that they did a good job. Or, perhaps recommending a team president of football operations as this will take the decision completely away from the owners and allow one senior NFL "football" man to have accountability. Ralph Wilson had the right idea with Tom Donahoe as team president of football operations and just hired the wrong man for the job. He then gave up attempting to find another man to replace him.

There you have it, right from someone who knows what's going on inside the Org. "Brandon would have been derelict in his job duties NOT to be involved in those decisions." I don't think anyone here is blaming the man for making any actual personnel decision all on his own. As the de facto GM, CEO, team president the man has had considerable power and influence in the org.

Funny stuff! What I get a kick out of is that some Jets fans are pissed about the fact that the Bills "might" be firing Rex Ryan after only two years when they had to endure him for six years. Rex Ryan is like 6-1 against Fitzy so this could be a win for the Bills.

It does bother me that the job of hiring the new HC didn't fall to the GM as that's his job with every other team and only teams with meddling owners make the choice themselves. How has that worked out over the years? I agree with you on Hue Jackson as HC and Schwartz as DC which would have allowed the team to keep drafting for the offense and kept the continuity of that great 4-3 wide-nine scheme that Schwartz built in Buffalo.

You keep bringing up 16 years and nobody is saying 16 years, but you! Nice try at more deflection. The man clearly has been involved on the football side of things of the Buffalo Bills since Marv levy retired in 2007! While his title of director of nonfootball operations didn't change. Russ Brandon became the de facto GM at that time. Russ Brandon attained more power in 2009 and became the Buffalo Bills CEO and he and the owner went on to hire a retired ex-scout as GM. This move drew the ire of some who thought by hiring this scout he was keeping a real NFL GM away from the team so he could keep meddling in football affairs. http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/01/01/bills-decision-to-hire-nix-draws-criticism/ Regardless of whether Brandon nudged the process toward Nix or Guy in order to preserve Brandon’s turf, one league insider expressed strong opinions regarding the decision to go with Nix. “The Buffalo hire is a joke and a slap in the face to all hard working people in the NFL,” the source said. “The Bills have not been to the playoffs in over 10 years and that run will continue for years to come. The owner has made three hires in a row that shows he only cares about mediocrity. “Four years ago he brings back Marv Levy, who was in his 80’s. That didn’t work. Two years ago he elevates his marketing director to G.M. and CEO and again it doesn’t work, and now he elevates a 70-year-old scout to a position that requires work and energy. . . . “Bills fans can rest assured that, a year from now, two years from now, and three and four years from now, the team will still be in last place in the AFC East. " How prophetic that last line is...only it's more than four years later, its six years later and here we still are...pretty damning stuff IMO. Someone gave these new owners the idea that they had the football acumen to hire their NFL teams next head coach and the only man on their level and in their ear was Russ Brandon. Someone who they made team president and managing partner. Even if Russ Brandon didn't use any sway or influence on player personnel or hiring in all of his years as GM, CEO, team president and managing partner. (which I don't believe) His being in those positions kept a ''real" football man from being at the top of the org chart and making the proper football decisions to build a winning team.

Thanks, May Day 10, as that was actually pretty funny. All I gotta say is I haven't been advocating firing anyone and anytime I even mention that Brandon has had some degree of influence in his position of power I get a slew of Bills fans here claiming otherwise.

He is a managing partner. All we fans can hope for is the owner hiring that football czar and allowing that new hire to make all the football decisions

I'm starting to think he was simply being facetious in that it was the other way around.

Still didn't answer the question as to if the team president / managing partner of the Buffalo Bills was in the Buffalo Bills team cut meetings or not. Anyway, what influence? Like I haven't posted this link before or even had this very same discussion with you previously. It's right there from ESPN and other sources It was almost a year ago, in early January, when the Buffalo Bills called Rex Ryan back for a second interview for their head-coaching vacancy. Team president Russ Brandon was so impressed that he told owner Terry Pegula not to let Ryan out of the building. http://www.espn.com/blog/buffalo-bills/post/_/id/22828/playoff-promise-among-rex-ryan-statements-that-will-likely-prove-false Someone (cough) sure as heck influenced these new owners into thinking that they had the football acumen needed to hire the team's next head coach as most owners simply rely on their GM's to make the football operations decisions. If that isn't enough for you anymore, (thanks, jms62) Q: What made you decide that Rex was your guy? TP: The first round of the interviews were broad-type questions. When we called him back and got into the nitty gritty, Doug hit him with all this stuff that put me to sleep (Laughs). That’s when we knew that Rex could be our coach, if he wanted to be. We just felt that he was our guy and trust me, we had some pretty impressive people that we felt could the Bills coach, but we said, “Hey, let’s go after Rex.” Russ told me, “Don’t let him out of the building.”

Pardon, my ignorance here. Exactly how did I "attack" him?

Keep attempting to deflect away from the issue. I never said the man was making hockey or football decisions. I did, however, say he has had and still does have tremendous influence over what happens on the football side of operations. Was the man in or not in the Buffalo Bills team cut meetings?