Straight Hucklebuck

One of my favorites was Steve Johnson running a stop, fake and pivot move for an 8 yard TD against Oakland. Another one of my favorites was Johnson torching Sherman on a double move in Toronto on a Fitz bomb that was under thrown and he still had time to wait on it, catch it for a TD.

Watch the Playoffs, then watch the Bills. Nix and Whaley had no clue.

Whaley was awesome. We are going to miss all the talent he got for us on this roster. Like Marv said with Jauron, he just needed more time.

Mike Holmgrem thought in 2009/2010 that he could leisurely build a football team, putting first time Head Coach Pat Shurmer in charge, playing Colt McCoy, before taking Brandon Weeden. Building through the Draft, releasing veterans, and doing a lot of losing. What happened? Things changed, A new owner came in, new management came in, and Holgrem was out, the QB he drafted was out. Whaley's plan at QB was to have career backups and journeyman compete against EJ Manuel. Famously said they were ok with Jeff Tuel and Thad Lewis backing up Manuel, talked Orton out of retirement, got outbid for Josh McCown, traded for Matt Cassel and brought in Tyrod Taylor. Whaley acted like he had time to just build and develop, to keep pushing for EJ Manuel, but things change. It will happen to Beane too, if he does not doing something better than Tyrod Taylor. 3rd year now with Baltimore's backup. You don't get 3 years anymore, let alone 5.

Shaw, do you honestly think Tyrod can win you Playoff games? I mean really be a Top 10 QB that wins Playoff games? Because Dennison sure sounded like what he said he was. An old-school offensive line coach that wants 3 yards and a cloud of dust, dumping off. Playing safe and limiting turnovers. He sounds like a conservative, wait for the other team to make a mistake Coach. Tyrod is not going to be given freedom to change many passing plays, mostly run plays if he can change. The Bills treat Tyrod like a backup. Because that's what he is. No amount of Coaching, or quality of Coaching is going to change him.

Great we've led the league in Rushing two straight years. Golf clap because our opponents will gladly trade 160 yards rushing for 190 yards passing and 1 TD in the Air a game. We beat up on bad teams and get outscored by the good ones. We can't pass, which means we can't keep up with the good teams. Sure we can put 40+ on the 49ers or 30 on the Rams, but our 23 isn't good enough against real teams. 1-7 against teams with winning records. Playing Ground and Pound has gotten us nowhere. And Dennison said today that its the identity of this area and team to run the football and limit mistakes. This is Jauron's mentality, it was Marrone's mentality, it was Rex's mentality and its now McDermott's mentality. How about get a real QB. Draft one at #10 and see if can do better there. LeSean McCoy is turning 29 this year. How many 1,500 yard seasons does he left where we can ride him? AP had 2,000 yards a few seasons ago and got bounced right away in the Playoffs.

What do you think Dennison is? Roman 2.0 Cold weather = Run Ball

We are still waiting for Sammy to have as good of year as Steve. #4 overall verses 7th Rounder with 4.55 speed from Kentucky. It was a stupid trade then because Doug Marrone didn't like Steve.

He caught more than Sammy Watkins ever has here in Buffalo

We'll use the old Steve Johnson excuse that got thrown out there by fans - he runs irregular routes and confuses his QB. That might as well been Rex Ryan this morning talking about Tyrod and the plan for this offense.

I think the Bills route has to follow how the Bengals and Seahawks got good. They stacked 2-3 good drafts in a row together. The bones of the Seattle team was 2010-2012. Chancellor, Thomas, Sherman, Wagner, Wright, Wilson. Bengals with Green, Dalton, Atkins, Dunlap.

We can't keep giving 3 years to any backup that comes along because we are scared of Ryan Leaf (1998) and Russell (2007). Because that's what the Bills do across multiple regimes and Coaching staffs. Remember, Kyle Orton was the plan until he retired after 2014. So the Bills tend to get stuck on these backup types for years.

The Bills haven't achieved step one yet. So refocus to what? Getting back to 9 wins? This team peaked two years ago.

I wish they would just take one. We know that corners and WRs and OTs don't get you to the Playoffs. I mean if they valued Draft picks so much, then why blow 3 picks trying to trade up?

What I don't understand is Doug Whaley's thought process. This Draft, as was the case in 2013, he set up the Draft board. Pegula said at the firing Press Conference that Doug set up the whole thing. Now how could anyone come to the conclusion after scouting, that EJ Manuel was worth drafting in the first round, but that Watson and Mahomes were not as highly rated? How in the Earth do you watch college football and conclude EJ was a better prospect than Desean Watson? EJ has two inches more of height? Also, if the Bills don't scout Juniors until they declare, they really already have a file on Rosen, Darnold and Allen???

3 years and 2 games in 2010 given to Trent Edwards, 3 more years spent on Ryan Fitzpatrick, going on our 3rd year with Baltimore's former backup. That's 9 years of the 17 year drought spent on backup calber QBs over multiple coaching staffs. The same excuses about offensive line, injuries, not enough weapons, poor Coaching, not a scheme fit.

Literally there was chunk of Bills fans asking that the Bills pour resources into Jeff Tuel. Talking about how well he played against the KC Chiefs. It was amazing to me.

I think Bills fans get stuck on vetting out every QB on the roster. Peterman is a 5th Rounder. I don't think he was drafted to become a Franchise QB. Yes, one 6th Rounder worked out from the 2000 Draft and became the GOAT. But we've heard this over and over and over again from Brian Brohm, to Travis Brown, to Levi Brown, to Jeff Tuel. Fans ask if these backup types can ever develop into starters. Personally, I don't need to see if every QB on the roster can play. I know they can't play if they can't beat out the QB's we have.

Ok, but McDermott was the Defensive Coordinator, not in the FO constructing the Draft Board, or structuring contracts, or on the phone working trades. I just think this kumbaya with Beane and McDermott is a bit overstated. You got Chris Brown hamming it up with Howard and Jeremy this morning, saying the same things he said about Marv and Dick Jauron, how close they are, the same vision. Wasn't Marrone supposed to revolutionize Buffalo to with his forward thinking, analytical, aggressive approach? Like they think the exact same and because of that synergy, winning is right around the corner. I just don't buy any of that. I doubt just because Beane got to Carolina in 1998 and worked his way to the top, and McDermott got there in 2011 that they have the same philosophy about life and what it takes to win in the NFL. I think this line about same philosophy is the same as you can't judge a Draft until 3 years later. Like it just gets repeated until every analyst is parroting the line.

I think the fans and media are overselling the same page crap with Beane and McDermott. Let's see how tight they are when they go 6-10 next year and they need a QB still. Whaley said him and Rex had the same philosophy as to building a football team, to the point of finishing each other's sentences.

Define plays well.

None. Teef alluded to this point about me being angry. I'm not angry. In fact I say the opposite. As time has gone on, I care less about the Bills and the NFL in general. Goodell and his constant rule changes have dampened my interest. Also, most of our seasons go like last season. The Bills are hovering around 0.500 somewhere at the mid-point of the season. At that point I know its over. During the drought the Bills have not shown the ability to win down the stretch as the intensity ratchets up and the injuries start to erode the depth on teams. The Bills fade every year down the stretch, Last year, the first Miami game was a killer. Instead of 5-2, it was 4-3 heading into New England with Brady and Seattle. I have found myself enjoying the post-game discussion and off-season more than the games. By about October I stop watching the actual games and enjoy my Sundays. I spend time in the park with my family. So no TVs, no drywall holes, no screaming.When you watch the NFL Playoffs, it becomes apparent that the Bills could not withstand that intensity for more than a quarter. This is Year 3 with Baltimore's backup QB. We did 3 years (and 2 games) of Trent and another 3 years of Ryan Fitzpatrick.

1. I agree with you. Watkins is the only WR on the team with Top 30 NFL talent. I think, health aside, it’s been 3 years and we are still waiting for the Bills to commit to using him. 2. This one I am not sure on. This is an offense that does not throw the ball. McDermott has said that this is a team that is going to win by running the football. Hard for me to say that Zay Jones is better than Robert Woods, both were selected high 2nd Round, both had about the same measureables after the Combine. Goodwin was extremely fragile, but Listenbee hasn’t played a game yet either. I think in FA the Bills did what they should have – find young veterans on the cheap. I liked the pickups of Philly Brown and Andre Holmes. 3. Shaq Lawson’s combine profile was compared to Courtney Upshaw. I am not sure how good he is going to be. Most had him pegged as a 5-8 sack sort of player. 4. Ragland is like a lot of Alabama prospects, stout against the run, sure tackler. I am eager to see him play. 5. I am happy to see a complete reboot at Safety. Flushed out the last of the Buddy Nix era players like Duke Williams and Aaron Williams was living off one good 2013 season. Otherwise, he was injured almost every year. 6. I think this is the hope, but not a guarantee 7. Again, this is a hope, but as we’ve seen with Cyrus K (#41), just because you are 2nd Round OT doesn’t mean that you can beat out the incumbent at RT. 8. Give it to you, I hope Dareus is in shape 9. Again, this is a hope. Gilmore was not my favorite player, and I think he was overrated, but none of those guys behind Darby are used to covering starting WRs. The guys we have picked up recently in FA were depth reserves for the Panthers and Ravens. 10. I like Hughes, and I do hope he gets back to his 9, 10 sack self 11. Tyrod – I don’t put much (if any) stock into another year in the system. Not every QB just keeps getting better and better with time. In fact, sometimes it’s the opposite (Trent Edwards, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Mark Sanchez, Robert Griffin III, Nick Foles). He didn’t look any different last year, and that started Game 1, Play 1. 12. I can see that we can be better in some spots. What I am not convinced of is that we have added anyone that significantly changes our outlook. The QB is the same, we lost depth at RB, our WRs may be a bit better, Clay has been here two years and is ok, our secondary is being reworked, and our Front 7 is thin. We’ve seen in Buffalo that a new Coach doesn’t mean anything when it comes to immediate winning.

What are the reasons this team is going to win the 10 or so games its going to take to compete for the last Wildcard? Where are they better? Coach, and that's it?

I stand by what I said and did not stutter. The Bills Defensive Front 7 depth is poor and they routinely neglect DT as a position group. In the past 12 drafts they have selected 6 DTs across 4 total drafts. Kyle Williams (5th), Troup (2nd), Carrington (3rd), Dareus (1st), Jasper (7th), Washington (3rd). Let's pull up the depth chart.... Our starting DE's are: Jerry Hughes and Shaq Lawson. After those two we have: Ryan Davis, Jake Metz, Ian Seau, Max Valles At DT we have Dareus and 34-year old Kyle Williams, after that its - Deandre Coleman, Adolphous Washington (*benched last year as time went on), Jerel Worthy. At Linebacker - We have Preston Brown - who is ok, Ragland, Lorenzo Alexander. Then its late rounders and street FAs - Humber, Eddie Yarbrough, Tanner Vallejo, Junior Sylvestre, Matt Milano, Jacob Lindsey. Bills get run over almost every season on the ground. Since 2005, 10 of 12 seasons, 22nd or worse against the run. I stand by what I said about no depth. The Bills routinely neglect the DL and have since the Stroud trade.