Shaw66

It IS the explanation. Like you, I don't know if it's a good idea, but it seems pretty clear that's what they're doing.

A few of those are questionable, but you actually make good points. The starting talent is probably at least equal overall, the personnel is better suited to the 4 3, and there's probably better coaching staff in place.

Wayne often has good things to say, and this is no exception. (I disagree some about first-round QBs - yes, they're a crap shoot, but there's no denying that first round is where you have to look for QBs. After that, getting a QB is a total shot in the dark.) Otherwise he's right. The notion that no first-year coach can afford to tank is a good one. That's a really important point. I think Beane and McD have a philosophy that they feel strongly about. It has several points, and I don't know all of them, but I know some. One is that they are strong believers that the most important players on the team are the ones who play closest to the ball - offensive and defensive line and quarterback. How can you tell? Look at the major moves: Watkins gone for a player and pick before he hit free agency, because they won't pay a wideout what Watkins will get. Gilmore gone before that, same reason. Darby gone, because he was going to be next. Woods contract extended. Safeties play far from the ball; they acquired good byt not great guys there, because they don't wan to spend at that position. Look at the team - offensive line and defensive line in tact, starting QB is the best they could do this year. A second is that they want to build through the draft. They've said that over and over. Why? Because you can get cheap talent in the draft. A third is that system, and guys who commit to the system, is more important than talent. Trust the process. Not that talent doesn't matter, but if the guy is fully bought into the system, Beane and McD won't keep him around. There were little rumors, unsubstantiated, about each of Watkins, Gilmore and Darby, that they weren't team players. Tolbert, Webb, Hyde and several others were brought in because of their known commitment to process. McD believes he can win now, because he believes in process over talent. He believes he can win the future, because Beane won't break the bank on guys who play away from the ball, like Watkins, Darby and Gilmore and because Beane is collecting a lot of draft picks. BIlls might not win a lot this season, but they aren't tanking. If McD is going to be a great head coach, he might even win a lot this season. Probably not, but it's possible. If he's going to be great, he should win next season, because he will have a team full of guys who buy into what he's doing.

They're my team. Always were and always will be. This doesn't work for me. The Bills haven't negatively affected my happiness over the past 17 years. I get pleasure out of watching them, rooting for them, writing about them. If I didn't get pleasure out of it, I wouldn't do it. I desperately want them to win, and losing sucks, but I'm always happy to be a Bills fan.

First, if I had to guess, I'd guess that Kyle IS disappointed. He wants to win, and the day Sammy left town, the chances of winning dropped significantly. But Kyle is a quality guy, and when he commits, he commits. He may be disappointed, but he's going to go out playing his best. He wouldn't, couldn't do it any other way. And I think there's something else going on that Kyle likes very much, and that is that he can see the team being populated with guys like him - gritty, hard working, committed to the team and the system. He see's a guy like Tolbert come into the locker room, who by all reports is a guy like Kyle - a guy commited to doing his job. And the reports are that that kind of commitment is common denominator of the guys who have joined the team - and also the common denominator of the guys who left, like Darby and Watkins. Let's wait and see what happens. Finally, Kyle's done interviews almost every week. He hasn't been silent.

This is an important point. I've seen experts talk about this. There are off-season technique camps that pro offensive linemen go to to learn the things they didn't learn playing college ball.

This post is what is ridiculous. Two GMs with a total of over 20 years experience evaluating talent in the NFL and two coaches with over years experience evaluating and coaching talent in the NFL ALL decide that Mills should be the right tackle, and you think THEY'RE ridiculous? Maybe you need to post your qualifications, including the amount of on-field and off-field time you've spent evaluating Mills before you call everyone else ridiculous. You say that Mills was the worst offensive lineman starting for the Bills last season. That may be true, but did you know that EVERY TEAM IN THE NFL had a "worst offensive lineman" starting for them EVERY TEAM, because, of course, some linemen are better than others. The question is not whether Mills was the worst offensive lineman starting for the Bills; the question is whether there was a better lineman available to the Bills whom Beane failed to acquire. And I'll say the same thing to you about Miller and Ducasse. You're complaining even though the Bills named Miller the starter, the guy you want to be the starter. So you complaint is that they spent too much time looking at Ducasse. And how, exactly, has that hurt the Bills?

6-10. I was at 7-9 or maybe even 8-8, but with the QB situation so up in air (who knows whether Taylor will be any good, and even if he is, one bad hit and he could be down with another headache) and with the receiving corps a real question mark, I don't see a lot of wins. I hope Beane and McD know what they're doing.

We disagree often, but this is so on the money I had to quote it. The hysteria around here because one of the best players missed a bus is amazing.

If you don't know Cookie, go watch the video on BuffaloBills.com. The guy was one of the best running backs of all time.

Yes, if his head were on straight, he'd be an even better player and he could be a leader on the team. Yes, he is not a non-issue. But if you agree with my list, then you should agree that Marcell missing the team bus is not an important issue. He's one of the best tackles in the league, he is not suspended, and the Bills are much better off having him on the field, issues and all, than having him playing someplace else.

Go ahead and list the Bills' top 10 problems. If Dareus is on your list, you'll be a candidate for my ignore list. Here's mine, without spending any time to think about it. 1. QB short-term 2. QB long-term 3. Left tackle 4. Right guard 5. No. 1 wideout 6. No. 2 wideout 7. Corner back 8. Slot corner 9. Outside lbs 10. Coaching Marcell's attitude doesn't come close to any one of those 10 as a problem for the Bills. Might he become a problem? Sure. But although he's been an irritant, he hasn't been a problem since he arrived in Buffalo.

It affects the team? I've been reading message boards for the past five years, and I can't say that I remember ONE post saying the reason the Bills missed the playoffs in any of those years because of Dareus's attitude. NO ONE said the problem with this team was Dareus. Now he misses a team bus and you guys think HE's the problem with the team. McDermott put it the right way. Everyone starts with a clean slate. Dareus broke a rule and was disciplined. That's all that happened. It isn't a crisis. It isn't a reason to cut the guy. He's one of the best players on the team, and he's played very well since he got to Buffalo. Dareus and McCoy have been teammates for two seasons. When has Shady said "screw it." Dareus hasn't caused some great moral breakdown with Shady or anyone else, causing some kind of domino effect collapse of the entire team. Again, what has been the problem with this team for the past five years? No quarterback, crappy coaching, injuries. No one has been saying the problem with the team is how teams can run up the middle. Why not? Because except for one four-game suspension, Dareus has been in the middle, occupying two blockers and making tackles. He was doing this while his brother was being murdered in Alabama and while he was taking care of his entire family. Dareus hasn't been the problem. And Dareus is not going to be a problem because he missed a bus.

The Bills have one QB, a rookie who's never taken a snap in an NFL regular season game. They have one proven NFL receiver, and he's injured and not practicing. They have an offensive line that has been a sieve for three games and can't get a running game going. They have new safeties, a rookie at one corner and untested guys at the other corner, mediocre linebackers, and you guys are complaining about the single best player on the defense because he missed the team bus. Try getting a little perspective.

Except his suspension, off-field has NOT affected his on-field performance. Do you watch him play? He makes tackles and he pressures the QB. By my count, in 2015, his last full season, he was 8th in tackles among defensive tackles. He gets five or six sacks per season, which is good for a DT. So explain to me again what the problem with his off-field behavior is. He may not be a leader, but he's a damn good player. He shows up, and he plays. He plays well. Dareus if far from the biggest problem on the team.

Have you read any complaints about his play on the field? I don't think I have. So if all the complaints about Dareus are about what happens off the field, why should I care? Now, maybe he can be even better than he's been, and I wish he would be. But if the other 21 guys played as well at their positions as Dareus has played at his, the Bills would have won a couple of Super Bowls. Was anyone complaining about Dareus last week? Anyone saying he stinks and should get traded or cut? Anyone saying anything more than he's overpaid? He gets disciplined for what seems to be a minor violation of team rules, Sullivan writes his typical whiny piece about what a horrible guy he is, and everyone gets excited. Dareus likely will be in the lineup on opening day, stuffing runs and collapsing the pocket. I don't see what the problem is.

I think the Pegulas had some very frank conversations with the News about the crap they've allowed their columnists to print. I think they told the News that if they wanted to continue to have access, they need to print something better than Sullivan's usual whining. No inside info, but I'd guess that this woman got a nice salary bump (justified in part because she's moving from beat writer to columnist). Plus, her paper isn't close to the top rag in NYC. The real sports fans look to the Daily News and the Post before they bother with Newsday. Doesn't mean they don't have good people there or do good work; just means that she isn't exactly leaving a big-time paper (even tho Newsday's circulation is bigger than the News, by a lot).

WOW.

Just a rumor, but interesting. If anyone can beat some sense into Marcell, Richie's the guy to do it. Maybe Sean, Richie and Marcell need a 30-second meeting every morning. Sean tells the big boy what to do and tells Rickie to keep an eye on him. That should do it.

I'll admit it: I enjoy bashing Sullivan. Read the portion of this column about Dareus. Notice anything that's missing? I did. I noticed the total absence of discussion of how Dareus actually plays the game of football. If I recall correctly, the Buffalo Bills are a football team. They play football. Players get paid to play football. So what has Dareus done as a football player since he arrived? He's played very well to great, that's what he's done. He's never accused of taking plays off, let alone games. The guy is a beast, and he can run. He's a serious problem for any offensive scheme. Did he play great for the past two seasons? No. You know why? R-E-X, that's why. Other than two linebackers who had career years last year, NO ONE played great in that defense. So Sully can whine all he wants about the drug suspension (that WAS bad), Marcell taking a few tokes now and then, Marcell breaking a team rule, but really, who the hell cares about that if he shows up for the games and plays his butt off? Is he overpaid? Maybe. He may not be a dominant enough defender to earn what he's getting paid. But again I'll go back to Rex, who for the past two years told Dareus that several plays a game he had to back pedal. Dareus is a guy who needs to be pointed in the direction of the football on EVERY PLAY and told to go get it. That's when he's at his best. Let's see how he does in a defense that plays to his strengths before we run the guy out of town.

interesting. I didn't see it but from you description it a easy to see tt doing exactly what you describe. Three step drip the ball has to get out.

Thanks for this. I didn't see the game, and this seems like a good objective summary of things that were/are going on. A couple of comments. Taylor. He seems to recover quickly from injuries, so I'm guessing he'll be back in a week. Probably misses the final preseason game, which is really too bad, but I'd guess he'll start in the opener. Still, it's a bad thing for him and the team. The guy needs reps under live action, and he isn't going to get them until the games count. I haven't wanted to admit this, but Dareus may just be a problem without a solution. He has failed to respond to three different coaches, or is it four? He can't grow up. I don't think it makes a lot of sense to say that Washington couldn't fill Marcel's shoes - no one can. If the Bills had another guy who could play like Dareus, they would have traded Dareus a second round pick and a bag of Fritos. Holmes. I think people have unreasonable expectations for receivers. Holmes is not a number one receiver, and guys who are not number one receivers do not get themselves open. Sammy Watkins gets him self open because he has exceptional speed, relexes and body control. A few other guys do that, too, and they're all number ones. The rest of the receivers in the league just run their patterns. If they run them hard, make good cuts, etc., once in a while his defender makes a mistake, is slow to read to something or gets confused by the offensive scheme. So I'm not too concerned if you're correct that Holmes wasn't getting open. He wasn't getting open because Matthews, the one guy who is a real number one kin df threat, wasn't on the field. When Holmes is the receiver the defense most has to worry about, Holmes is not going to get open.. The offense is a mess right now. It's most concerning that the running game is going nowhere, and right behind that concern is that the pass protection sucks. The best receiver is in LA, the second best receiver is on the sideline, and the QB can't think straight, at least today. A rookie QB running an offense that can't block and can't get receivers open is going to have major struggles. Thanks for the post.

I thought so a month ago but I'm not feeling so optimistic now. The left tackle situation and the lack of quality receivers have me worried a lot for the start of the season. The optimist in me says best case is that the defense is good and keeps the Bills in games for the first half of the season. Then Taylor and Matthews start to click and Glenn or Henderson solidifies the line and Bills start to win consistently. That's really wishful thinking.

Thanks for this post. These are really helpful to get a quick insight into what's going on. Of course, it's all coach-speak, everything's positive. You know the day you hear something negative about a guy is the day he's gone. That doesn't happen much.

Better than the Bills. A lot better. Turns out Boldin felt older than he looked.