Nihilarian

Taylor played well last year in Greg Roman's run-centric offense no question. But, when forced to carry the game with his arm by throwing more than running the team lost every game, save the Washington game. Let's face it that the Bills defense wasn't very good and got almost no pressure on any QB so when the Bills got behind in the score, it was try and catch up. Tyrod wasn't good enough with his arm to lead the team back from behind and score enough to win the games on his own, and there were games that he and the offense went invisiable for stretches at a time. The NY Giants finished 2015 with their defense 30 in points and 32nd in yards and the Bills offense only managed 3 points until the fourth quarter. The Bills lost that second game to the Patriots because the offense wasn't good enough. The kid still has a lot to prove from what I see and I think it's smart not to pay him before he has actually earned that 20 million dollar payday. Kaepernick started out hot and got paid, and SF got stuck. RG3 started hot, got injured and the Redskins dumped him. The upcoming season should tell us if a 6'0'' 221 running QB not named Russell Wilson will survive in the NFL to get his big pay day.

Well said and looking at this head coaches history of young QB's I sorta have my doubts that Taylor will be better this season only because I think the team will put more pressure on him to win games. It's like last year with the defense never happened and all the issues that could easily be correctable were going to be corrected each week and yet, in the end, were never corrected. Most Bills fans seem to think that Ryan will fix everything and field the defense this year he was supposed to field last year.

Are we too accepting as fans? In a word, yes! I think that there a few different reasons as to why Buffalo Bills fans keep buying tickets to the titanic of the NFL. The Bills are 3-28 against Tom Brady who has won 25 of 28 since 2000...The Bills haven't won the division since 1993! First and foremost is fear, as in fear of losing the team to a different city because if the fans don't buy tickets the team will be forced to relocate. Like the Rams, Browns, Colts. With the previous owner so old the fan base didn't know what to expect should he suddenly pass on! Never underestimate the power of fear! Second, to accommodate all the losing the Bills have had the lowest priced seats in the league and this helps keep the tickets affordable to the blue collar fan base. Third is the blue collar fan base that loves to get to the Ralph early and party with friends on Sundays. Nothing in the world like drinking and partying with so many like-minded friends. Fourth, is the team has not bottomed out and has been good enough over the last 16 years to keep the fan base thinking that things could change with each new year and this new upcoming season could be the one the Bills finally get to the playoffs! Poor, deluded eternally optimistic Buffalo Bills fans. Fifth and final is the history of the 90's with all those super bowls and hall of fame players and all the children of those people who attended games those years are now buying tickets in hopes the team makes a return to playoffs. What amazes me throughout all the years of losing is that despite the fact that this team hasn't had a legit franchise QB since Jim Kelly who retired in 1996, is that Bills fans are so eternally optimistic that they just don't get that until the team finds that individual that they will probably not make the playoffs much less attain a world champion title. The same thing applies to the hiring of an elite head coach and GM. And before that happens the team needs to end this ridiculous philosophy of having the owner or nonfootball man in the FO involved in football decisions. What exactly qualifies the new owner or baseball / marketing man to make those top football decisions? Because he owns the team like the past owner or because of their vast experience in watching the games on the TV? Hasn't this franchise seen enough losing over the last 46 years? 13 years out of 46 the Bills made the playoffs and only three out of sixteen head coaches were able to do that. Knox, Levy and Phillips. (not counting the AFL) The one and only way to force management to make proper changes are by not attending games and that means not buying tickets. Because the fans have kept attendance up over the last 16 years...then nothing much changes. Ralph Wilson made the proper changes back in the late 70's when he hired Chuck Knox (an actual winning HC)and he did so because fans wouldn't attend the games. Shoot, the team couldn't even have home preseason games in Buffalo because the fans wouldn't show up. Season ticket attendance was abysmal at around 20k in a stadium that seated 80k. Wilson knew if he didn't make changes that he would be forced to sell all or part of his team. Same thing in the early 80's after back to back 2-14 seasons with so few fans going to the games and the fans that did show up wore bags on their heads. This is why Wilson, a notoriously frugal owner made QB Jim Kelly the highest paid QB in the league at that time and he just got lucky to find a GM like Polian. But, he was also smart enough to promote the man to GM after he saw how he managed to sign Bruce Smith. There is no reason in this world why this new owner should have kept the status quo FO in running an NFL team because it hadn't worked in 15 years he should have made sweeping changes to the football side of the team. Now we are in the 16th year with no end in sight. Even if Tom Brady retires and the Bills somehow manage to win one against Bill Belichick now and then, it really won't change much. The one and only way to force management to make proper change is by not attending games and that means not buying tickets

I agree and If I recall correctly, another reason the team moved Stevie was because he didn't run precise routes and this would give EJ trouble going forward. Then Kyle Orton steps in to start after four games and he could have really used a WR that was almost always open considering the Bills went pass happy that year with such a craptastic O-line. It's like this team does one thing right (bringing in Orton) and then with the next they shoot themselves in the foot with bad decisions. Like with Erik Pears at RG among others stupid moves that year (Cujo, Etc).

Without Gilmore and Darby last year the team would have finished much worse than they did and in both stats, overall record. JMO

The thing is most fans noticed the difference in coaching between Mike Pettine, Jim Schwartz, and George Edwards, Dave Wannstedt and most everything bad that happened last season aside from the injuries is correctable. Clearly, the media dorks don't think the problems with last years team can be fixed by Ryan and his coaching staff and a lot of Bills fans seem to think those problems can be corrected. Just look at the difference between Schwartz and Wannstedt who both utilized 4-3 schemes and both mostly used just the front four to rush the passer. However, Schwartz used a better rotation system to keep his D-linemen fresh and he also had Jerry Hughes. Still, the difference in sacks 36 to 54 and being #4 overall to #26 in points- 24th in yards and Wannstedt allowed a league-worst rushing TD's. Kind of startling to look at the difference in only a few players and yet so much better results. Should Ryan not get the problems corrected this season then I can see changes being made rather quickly. Finding a winner head coach will come down to someone other than the owner being nudged by the current team president making the call.

Good lord I hope changes will be made far sooner than five years down the road. This team had enough talent to make the playoffs last year and should be in contention this year despite what the jackasses in the media think.

1) I understand that Rex's playbook isn't supposed to be about one set scheme or set and employs a multitude of fronts, looks to disguise the coverage and confuse the opposing QB. He even incorporated Jim Schwartz's 4-3 wide nine into his playbook last season. That doesn't alter the results of what transpired last season on the field for Buffalo in being 31st in sacks and dead last in the NFL in QB pressures and middling in stats at the end of the season. There is a distinct reason for those numbers. I mean, it has to be more than obvious that the overall defensive playcalling and schemes, fronts, sets, looks that Ryan employed last season weren't working very well except for in a select few games. This, with one of the premier defensive front four's in the league in which three of the four were named to the pro bowl just the previous season and that fourth could have easily also been named to the pro bowl with his 10 sacks and 36 tackles. The Bills also employed possibly the two very best cornerbacks in the league last season in Gilmore and Darby. Rex Ryan himself stated before the season that he had never had this much player talent on a defense. First off, understand that Marcell Dareus was complaining about how he was being asked to play in Ryan's scheme from training camp and after reading about what exactly he was saying. It was that he wanted to go back to Schwartz's style of 4-3, in just going after the QB on passing downs the majority of the time. After all, isn't that what the team had just given him a 100 million dollar contract to do? Now Mario didn't start going public with his complaints about how he was being used until much later and his complaint wasn't exactly for the same reason. Mario was complaining about how often he was being asked to drop into pass coverage more than anything else. If you read an article written by an ex-NFL defensive player who reviewed the game film of the week four NY Giants game in which he stated that Ryan used a two-gap run-stopping scheme the majority of the game, and he also noted that this isn't what the highly paid Buffalo Bills defensive linemen were given all that money to do. It was also noted by an ex-NFL player that after 7 games that Dareus was only asked to drop into coverage around 4 times, that Mario was asked to drop into coverage 14 times in that same period of time. Even the Bills HoF great QB Jim Kelly was questioning all those drop backs into pass coverage by the defensive linemen. The media gave Rex Ryan's 2015 defense a nickname called "Wreck's D"! Talk about hyperbole... "Ryan's quote: "You mentioned how well we played on defense last year. Fourth in the league is probably a little disappointing, to be honest with you, because that's not where my expectations are. I know we'll lead the league in defense. The reality: The Bills rank 20th in total defense, closer to being the worst defense in the NFL than the best." "Ryan's quote: "We play defense based on our personnel, not just the scheme. I don't try to put a square peg in a round hole. I think I've been around enough to adjust based on the players that I have, the talents of the players that I have, and it'll be no different this year." "The reality: Ryan has tried to fit a square peg in a round hole. After Jim Schwartz ran his "wide nine" scheme last season and allowed the Bills' defensive line to focus on pass-rushing, leading to an NFL-high 54 sacks, the story has been dramatically different this season. The Bills have 19 sacks, which ranks 30th in the NFL. Mario Williams and others have griped about their varied roles in the scheme, which is a close parallel to what Ryan ran with the Jets and requires defensive linemen to drop into coverage at times. Ryan has declared -- stubbornly, one might say -- multiple times that he and Thurman will "run our defense," essentially placing blame on the players for not picking up the system. The result has been a unit that has been leaky in most games. " http://espn.go.com/blog/buffalo-bills/post/_/id/22828/playoff-promise-among-rex-ryan-statements-that-will-likely-prove-false 2) In regards to the five years, the Bills will probably still be drafting for Ryan's defense in the next five years because that is what the NY Jets did with their first round picks in his six years there. It was also implying that Rex had six years in NY and his defense after all that time wasn't as good as his first two years there. Ryan's defense while being in the top 5 for yards a lot of those years was also 20th or so in points allowed. 2011 5th in yards, 20th in points allowed. 2012, 8th in yards, 20th in points allowed. 2013, 11th in yards, 19th in points allowed. 2014, 6th in yards, 24th in points allowed. Ryan's complaint that the GM's were out to get him fired by not allowing him the proper personnel is rather lame as I would tend to think he had a lot to say in who was drafted and signed in free agency, just like he did in his first two years. Like I said, this wasn't a first-year head coach experimenting with different schemes to figure out what works. With Ryan's extensive defensive coaching background, he should have fielded a better defense then what we saw last year in Buffalo and yet week after week it was excuse after excuse from him. The time for excuses is over, wouldn't you agree?

Interesting read that really doesn't take into consideration other differences between the two games such as the Patriots receiving corps and the offensive line being so different because of so many injuries to the Patriots starters. So, it was far easier for the Bills defense to pressure Brady in that second game! But yes, it was more than obvious Ryan changed "things" up in that second game. "Things" meaning he called more a one-gap 3-4 scheme and blitzed more often. Let's also not forget what the newest addition to the Buffalo Bills coaching staff stated after watching film of last years defense. "When Ed Reed went and watched film of the 2015 Bills, the lack of communication astounded him." Not to mention the confusion he saw between the players and the lack of effort. http://www.newyorkupstate.com/buffalo-bills/index.ssf/2016/06/ed_reed_saw_confusion_and_guys_not_giving_effort_when_watching_2015_bills.html I like to refer to the Bills 2015 defense as merged bullsh!t, or merged excuses. This wasn't a first-year head coach or someone that hasn't seen a Patriots offense very often like Jim Schwartz. This was a head coach that has seen Tom Brady and that New England offense twice each year for the previous six seasons! In his time with the NY Jets, he had only 4 wins out of 13 games and the bulk of those wins came in 2009 (1x)-2010 (2x). Here is the bottom line in my view. In five years from now when Rex Ryan has all the players on the roster, he needs to run his specific 3-4 two-gap scheme. I think we can expect to see the very same results we saw from what he did after five seasons with the NY Jets. A defense that can limit yards to a degree but suffers in points allowed per game and by suffering I mean by about 20th in the league in points allowed which is nowhere near good enough. I also think we Bills fans will need to wait for Tom Brady to retire before Rex Ryan will beat the Patriots again. There really shouldn't be any more excuses about anything from this head coach. Win or be gone!

You gotta know that i really disliked that the Patriots stole a WR from Buffalo with the nickname 7/11 (because he is always open). This reminds me of the Patriots stealing away a relatively unknown non-starting WR at the time from the Dolphins named Wes Welker back in 2007. Hogan about the only Bills WR not injured at some point last year? Then, not to mention that the Patriots also signed Martellus Bennett away from Chicago...like Brady needs another top pass catching TE. I will literally hate the NFL and football if Brady should win another championship and be the greatest QB of all time by winning another SB. You know, I really wanted to see Rex Ryan do well in Buffalo despite all his brash talk and broken promises. I bought into his last year's offseason hype of the building one of the greatest defenses ever last year. I have been hoping for years and years for the Buffalo Bills to build a super power run game with a super strong defense to mimic the Baltimore Ravens style of play. My problem is I just have a tough time getting over what Ryan did to the defense last year and now the team needs to keep drafting for the defense to allow Ryan to keep building his outdated 3-4 two-gap scheme. I'm with you in hoping that Ryan gets his stuff together this year and does more of what we saw against the Colts week one and against the Patriots week in eleven. If Ryan actually works hard to bring it every week then the Bills have an honest shot to be a good team. Should Ryan not put forth the effort to that happen then I hope that Pegula makes a change and ends this stupidity of switching defensive schemes again.

Oh, excuse me! Did I say that Hogan was a first down machine for Buffalo? I had meant to say that he will probably eventually fill that role for the Patriots like Wes Welker did and like Edelman, Amendola have done recently. Considering how often both Edelman and Amendola are injured it wouldn't hurt for them to develop another player who can move the chains for the Patriots. To me, that's what the Patriots offense is all about in finding a way to move the chains and make that first down again and again and then score. The Patriots just have so many weapons and ways to attack a defense when everyone is healthy it's almost impossible for any team to stop them. I don't know if Brady was "frustrated" simply because he still managed to throw for almost 300 yards (277) and win the game, didn't he? While the Bills did take Gronk away from the Patriots week 11 in that particular game by rolling coverages towards him and limited his receptions to only 2 for 37 yards. Brady also found Amendola that day for 9 receptions for 117 yards and I'm pretty sure that if Julian Edelman hadn't had a season-ending injury two games earlier, that he would have been another solid weapon for ole Tom that day. As for stopping all the big plays? Amendola did have a 41-yard reception that game. Looking at the Patriots offensive line for 2015, not one player on that line started a full 16 games for them and they were shuffling players in and out of the lineup weekly. Let's also not forget that the Patriots were missing their starting RB in Dion Lewis at that point too. He only played in six games in 2015 but already rushed 49 times for 234 yards a 4.8 YPC Avg and had 36 receptions for 388 yards receiving. Talking about stats. Edelman in 8 games had 61 receptions for 692 yards and 7 TD's too. In that week 11 game last year I will give Rex Ryan credit for actually getting pressure on Brady on about 50% of his dropbacks and Bills fans hadn't seen that much pressure on an opposing QB since week one against the Colts.Yet the Bills defense only managed one sack all game and that singular sack was from a linebacker. More then confusion, I attribute all that pressure from actually calling some blitz plays that were effective against a weakened offensive line, and Brady missing some of his favorite targets. It also looked like Ryan took the time to properly put some effort into the weekly defensive game plan for this game. Which was a complete reversal from that week two debacle! Rex Ryan did manage to beat the Patriots with his Jets team once in 2009, 2x in 2010 and one of those was a playoff game in NE. No wins in 2011, no wins in 2013, once in 2013, no wins in 2014. So, in 6 years with the Jets Ryan won 4x out of 13 games. (Just a note. In his last win in 2013 in OT, the Jets ran 52 times for 177 yards and the Jets Time of Possession was 46:13.) So now Ryan is 15 and 4 against NE as a head coach. Tom Brady is 25 and 3 against Buffalo and has thrown for over 7000 yards, 62 TD's in those 28 games. The only team in the league Brady has a losing record against is Denver at 5-6.

What also helps Brady is that he has some receivers that always find ways to get open underneath the coverages and a TE that can beat most any coverage. Funny thing that Edelman only played in nine games last year and when he was out for the rest of the season after a good beat down of the Redskins in week nine. Then suddenly that Patriot offense wasn't nearly as good. This is probably a big reason as to why the Patriots signed a player away from Buffalo nicknamed 7-11 because he was always open. I think what helped Buffalo was Brady's O-line was beaten down pretty bad with injuries and although the Bills defense finally managed to get quite a bit of pressure on Brady this game, they only sacked him once. That sole sack was by the LBer Manny Lawson. The very next game for the unbeaten Patriots was against the Broncos in which they lost and this game started their downward spiral for the next 8 games of three wins and five losses. Let's also not forget what Fitz was able to do in Buffalo with his very quick release and ability to find the open WR in SJ. That was with only one good WR who was also adept at finding ways of getting open. Fitz to Stevie Johnson and even Revis couldn't stop it. Kinda crazy that Buffalo managed to find a way to get rid of Stevie Johnson and wondered why Fitz wasn't as good. I wonder if fans will say the same about TT now that he lost his first down machine.

If you honestly want some real insight into what happened to the 2015 Ravens then read this, http://grantland.com/the-triangle/the-anatomy-of-baltimores-lost-season/ "It’s hard to take too much issue with what the Ravens do in football operations, given how consistently successful Harbaugh and Ozzie Newsome have been over the past decade. After an unlucky 1-5 start, though, a disappointing defense and some poorly timed injuries appear to have sunk the Ravens in 2015." Fans thinking that the team has suddenly become a bad team or are thinking that the 2016 season opener is going to be a cakewalk have it all wrong IMO. Last season only two of eleven starters played a full 16 games on offense and five of sixteen starters on defense. That was a crapstorm of injuries last year. Even at 5-11, only three teams beat that 2015 Ravens team by more than 7 points all season and those games were all at the end of the year. Seattle, KC and Cincy and they still managed to beat a 10-6 Pittsburgh team in week 16 and that was with Ryan Mallett starting at QB.

effin A

This is exactly right! The Ravens won the SB in 2012 and because they have a bad year three years later so all of a sudden they are garbage? One year removed from a playoff game. They were also 10-6 vying for the division title in 2014 too. Get a grip folks!! Besides all the injuries in 2015 the team also changed offensive coordinators from the HC of the Broncos in Gary Kubiak who built a solid power run game while he was there to last season Marc Trestman. You know, the guy who was recently the HC of the Bears and was fired. The Ravens current OC Trestman is a jackass of major magnitude and he will be fired from Baltimore soon enough. Last year the Ravens were so very un-Raven like in passing for 676 attempts which is about 120 more attempts than Kubiak had Flacco throw in 2014. Which also means that the Ravens ran the ball about 60+ attempts less than they have in past years. In the past, the Ravens have usually been a dominate run first team with a strong defense and that changed last year on both sides of the ball. 25th in scoring and 14th in yards on offense and 24th in points and 8th in yards on defense. Who knows, Trestman might get his crap together and build a better offense at some point. But I'm thinking he gets fired in Baltimore before that happens.

I was there as well for all three and it wasn't something that is planned ahead as far as I could tell. But rather the fans just getting caught up in the emotion and spontaneity of the moment. Football is a game of great passion in both the players and the fans. To be honest, it would not shock me at all to see the fans tear down the goal posts this year if say the Bills go 12-2 by the week 14 Steelers game. Then to go on and win that game while taking the division title and get a playoff berth at the same time. A pic I took at the game Wanted to add,

Wide right is the heartbreaking clincher! To add that it was very embarrassing as a Bills fan to get to the stadium in Pasadena Calif for SB 27 to watch the helicopters landing nearby the stadium bringing movie stars. The countless limo's, exotic cars everywhere only to get to my seats and hear the roar of a bunch of drunken Bills fans shouting obscenities at everyone around them a few rows behind me. This was actually more embarrassing than the game and final score.

Bills fans tore down the goal posts three times that I can recall. First, after the 1980 home opening win against the Miami Dolphins. Let's not forget that the Buffalo Bills didn't win a game against Don Shula's Dolphins the entire decade of the 70's!! That game snapped a 20 game losing streak! I'd say that was a pretty big reason for doing that. The second time came against the NY Jets in 1988 and we won that game in week 12, in a torrential downpour 9-6, in Overtime with Fred Smerlas blocking a Jets FG! The Bills only had 120 yards of total offense and the other hero of the day was RB Rob Riddick who rushed 18 times for 103 yards. That week 12 win set an NFL record for earliest winning the division win at 11-1 and clinched a playoff spot to boot. I still have the posters for that win, with both in a frame. One with a picture of the Buffalo news front page of the fans tearing down the goal posts and the next was a poster called FAN-DEMONIUM with a picture of the fans also tearing down the goal posts. Let's also not forget that the Buffalo Bills were coming off back to back 2-14 seasons in 84-85 and had 4-12 in 86, then 7-8 in 87. So there was a reason for the fans madness. That year the Bills went all the way to the AFC championship game against the Bengals in Cincy. The last time was in 1990 for the week 16 win over the Miami Dolphins 24-14 to win the division over the Dolphins. The Bills were 13-2 and the Dolphins were 11-4 at that time. Some great times back then.

Man, it is so refreshing and heart enlightening to read some of the recent responses like this one. Great point there to just think about the difference in talent on the offensive last season vs the 2014 season. The O-line in 2015 with the addition of Richie Incognito who had a pro bowl season and elevated the play of the players around him. That 2014 offensive line graded last in the league almost all year and finished up 31st. Last year with the upgrade of an all pro-OG the Bills ended the season graded at #9 overall. Kind of astonishing how much impact one player can have! Then add in an offensive coordinator who actually knows how to build an explosive offensive scheme. Because of the new people like Greg Roman, Tyrod Taylor, Shady McCoy, Charles Clay and Richie Incognito the 2015 Buffalo Bills led the league in "big plays". Those Big Plays are categorized by runs over 10 yards and pass plays over 25 yards. That, along with the #2 team in the league in rushing attempts and the #1 team in the league in rushing. Now think about how screwed up the defense was last year to the point the Bills had two guys in the secondary* who played great almost all season In Darby and Gilmore and yet were hung out to dry game after game with the league's worst defense in pressuring the opposing QB because the head coach didn't know a better scheme. A big reason I agree with Adam that "One year was too much. The longer the Bills keep retaining bad coaches the longer it will take to find the man who will get this team to sweep the Patriots and get the Bills to the super bowl.

Man, if this guy is right... Yolo will be crying this year. Michigan might be the safest Playoff pick in the country; I don't think the Wolverines are the best team, but look at that schedule. 7-0 heading into East Lansing should be expected. 8-4 would be a disaster. The Wolverines should have a monstrous defense, and the only real Q is at quarterback, where there are decent options on paper. http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2016/6/28/12046584/bowl-projections-ncaa-football-playoff-predictions-lsu-clemson-michigan-tcu?yptr=yahoo And https://www.profootballfocus.com/college-why-michigan-could-have-college-footballs-best-defense-in-2016/

Like the man said, you are what your record says you are and the 2014 Buffalo Bills ended their season at 9-7 and the 2015 Buffalo Bills ended their season at 8-8. As much as I disliked Doug Marrone for his choice of offensive coordinators at least he didn't destroy an all pro area of the team by forcing his scheme down the players throats. Until this new owner eventually decides he shouldn't be the one making the choice of a new head coach hire and until Russ Brandon actually maintains his influence solely on the business side of the team I doubt this franchise ever sees the playoffs. In regards to the Buffalo Sabres, I can only hope your prognostication of the future of the team holds true because it seems like every year for the last few years I hear from Sabre fans that this should be their year. Those Sabres fans deserve better than near or at the bottom of the division. Let's hope Dan Bylsma can do for the Sabres what he did for Penguins.

Ask Bill from NYC about the lines those two years. In 2007 the line consisted of LT Jason Peters-LG Derrick Dockery-C Melvin Fowler-RG Brad Butler-RT Langston Walker. Peters was the only pro bowler on the line and quite frankly the rest absolutely stunk besides Butler who was around average at his best. Walker and Dockery were overpaid slugs and Fowler was almost completely useless. Marshawn Lynch did manage to get 1115 rushing yards in his rookie year with 7 TD's with a 4.0 YPC Avg. The problem was he was usually carrying two or three defenders on his back every yard after the line of scrimmage. 12th in rushing attempts and 15th in rushing yards. Rotoworld ranked this line 22nd for 2007 and that wasn't above average. http://www.rotoworld.com/articles/nfl/30679/59/?pg=2 2008 the line consisted of LT Jason Peters- LG Derrick Dockery- C Duke Preston-RG Brad Butler- RT Langston Walker. Fowler was thankfully replaced after five game starts and his replacement in Preston also stunk. I can recall the Bills playing the NY Jets this year and it was on TV being announced by Phill Simms. Jets NT Kris Jenkins was triple teamed on one play by Preston, Butler, and Dockery and Jenkins was still able to get to the Bills QB. Hence the reason Dick Jauron drafted Center Eric Wood with a #1 pick and OG Andy Levitre with a #2 pick. 13th in rushing attempts and 14th in rushing yards that year. ESPN ranked this line 21st for 2008 and that wasn't above average. http://espn.go.com/fantasy/football/ffl/story?id=3447747 Having one or two above average players, or in the 2015 & 2012 Buffalo Bills case, it was three players, still doesn't make an elite line. Although ranked above average, It takes five players working in unison to make a top competent line. Only one pro bowl line player from those two seasons and Richie Incognito graded as the very best OG in the league.

First, let me say that I love Fred Jackson and think the world of the man. Freddy only really had three solid years of playing and only one, one thousand yard season. Fred never did play a full sixteen game season either as the starting RB. Fred played nine seasons in the NFL and he never was really healthy long enough to be that rock solid starter needed with only three years with over 200 carries. By comparison, Thurman had 9 seasons with over 200 carries with 5 of those close to 300 carries and 2 seasons of over 300 carries. In his 12 years in Buffalo, he had eight 1000 yard seasons. His sixteen thousand yards from scrimmage in 12 years is more than double Freddy's 8,643 in 8 years. What a lot of people don't know about Thurman Thomas is that he played injured every game of every year in his career. He had played on bad ankles in college and that stayed with him all throughout his NFL career. He would tape them up and take a shot, then go out and play. Let's not forget the kid who kept Barry Sanders on the bench at Oklahoma St, and his head coach with the State Cowboys was Jimmy Johnson. Thurman Thomas was in a class by himself and had other teams QB's like the Miami Dolphins Dan Marino and Denver's John Elway both stating that they wished that had a RB with Thurman's talent on their teams. Jeez Kirby, Harbaugh took over a freaking 1-11 team in 2006 that was a complete trainwreck and got them to a 12-1 record with an Orange Bowl win over VT in four years! I'd say that's a pretty big win. Let's also not forget that he recruited Andrew Luck and developed him into the QB he is today. Now because he didn't win a super bowl with the 49ers he is not as good as some of those other coaches? Not a lot of college coaches have come into the NFL and had the success he had so quickly. I can only dream the Buffalo Bills find a head coach as good as Harbaugh to take the Bills to a 13-3 record his first year and go to a super bowl in only his second season.

When was the last time you saw Tom Brady throw for 8 of 16 for 80 yards and no TD's in the first half of any game? Pulling the Patriots players wasn't a forgone conclusion before the game as I'm fairly certain Belichick wanted to win the game and at the half thought it would be more prudent to avoid needless injuries. The Bills actually had a ferocious pass rush that year and teams just didn't want to face that Buffalo front four! It wasn't a meaningless win to the Buffalo Bills players or their fans and like I said the Patriots starters played the first half and were getting nowhere against that #4 Bills defense. About the only time, I ever see Bills fans bemoan the fact that the 2014 Buffalo Bills finally had a winning season in the last 10 years and had beaten the Patriots in New England are the fans who want to belittle those accomplishments to further their arguments. Oh, so because the Sabres played better in the second half of the season despite finishing 7th out of 8. That they have now turned the corner and will start having playoff seasons again? Good to know. I was sceptical at first due to the way the Bills beat the Jets 2x so profoundly in 2014 and Ryan's Jets finished 4-12. However, I bought into the hype of the head coach and players stating that they could have the number one defense in the league and could be special, as in 85 bears special. That this team was going to the playoffs in 2015! About halfway through the 2015 season, I came away thinking that about the only thing Rex Ryan is good at working... is his mouth. After that week two debacle against the Patriots in which Tom Brady set a Buffalo Bills single-game passing record of yards allowed (466) I realized this team isn't going to be special this year. Maybe short bus special. But not anywhere near 85 Bears special. All the complaining about Ryan's defensive I had read about from the teams best defensive player since training camp became a real issue. Then the teams best pass rusher joined him in complaining about how he also was being utilized in Ryan's scheme. These weren't scrubs doing the complaining either as both these men were coming off pro bowl seasons and are considered some of the best players in the entire NFL. Now I've come to the conclusion that this new hire is nothing more than a con man whose better days at being an NFL head coach ended 5 seasons ago. It wasn't just the defensive disaster in which Ryan did exactly what he said he wouldn't do in the square peg, round hole thing with the defense. Took a championship caliber defense and castrated it because the players didn't fit his scheme. That he was going to run his scheme his way no matter what. If the problem with Rex Ryan was just the defense, then replacing the current players with players that fit his scheme should eventually create a somewhat decent defense in yardage. However, his defenses the last five years haven't been that good in points allowed and have been around 20th in the league in points allowed every year. This tells me that 4merper4mer has it right, that Ryan's defensive scheme no longer works in today's NFL. Also, there is a multitude of other problems that I and others have previously listed and by some strange irony, Rex's brother Rob was fired in New Orleans for some of those same issues.

Yea well, the Patriots didn't rest the starters until after the second half. Tom Brady started that game and played a full half while going 8 of 16 for only 80 yards and this game was played in New England!! Then this backup in Jimmy Garoppolo only went 10 of 17 for 90 yards in the second half. The Bills defense held that super bowl winning Patriots team to only 144 passing yards all game and to only three field goals in scoring all game. That year the Patriots were the #4 scoring offense in the league. I get a kick out of Bills fans who cite this only win in New England against the Patriots since 2000 as a nothing game. Please don't equate anything this new Bills owner does with his other sports team to the Buffalo Bills football team as I'm already depressed with the situation as it is. I keep hearing from Bills fans that the Buffalo Sabres have the best young roster in the league and how eventually they will start winning. When exactly? Pegula took over that team in 2011 after he bought in from Tom Golisano who owned the team from 2003. Golisano actually inherited a real trainwreck of a team both on the ice and off and in four years were withing in one game of the Stanley cup. Under Golisano, the Sabres were in the playoffs more often than not.