BillnutinHouston

I am not the sharpest football mind but one difference I noticed between our offense and those of the teams playing yesterday, is how much time the QBs seem to have at the LOS after breaking the huddle to scan and read the D before the snap. This year both Trent & JP seemed to consistently break the huddle and get to the line with 5-8 seconds left on the play clock. Not saying this is the QB's fault - there seems to be a lot of indecision in playcalling with the Bills coaching staff, most notably at the end of the half against the Pats*. Playoff teams seem to get to the LOS with 10-12 seconds, giving the QB plenty of time to scan and read before the snap. This, and quality tight end play were two glaring differences I noticed yesterday. Anyone else notice this?

When your team is coached by a eunuch, it plays like one.

I agree with this 100%. At this point I think Ralph he is guided by a few key principles: 1) Do NOT trust your organization to any outside football people (those not already in the organization - i.e., your control). 2) Make all key decisions yourself, surrounded by a few puppets who do your bidding and give the appearance of football wisdom to the public. 3) Run the team in a fiscally sound manner and hope you stumble upon success. 3a) Bargain coaches & contracts - NO CONTRACT BUY-OUTS! 3b) Cash to cap 3c) The NFL league-wide salary cap does not dictate the size of our payroll - the team's P&L statement does! 3d) Sign up and coming free agents - NEVER pay for a name player past his prime unless you get a deal (plenty of Spencer Johnsons, no Brett Favres). 4) The stakes of the NFL poker game are too rich for my blood now, so I'll play out the string with the same organization and philosophies, until the fans make me do otherwise as a result of plummeting revenues.

Just one more reason to CUT HIM NOW!! Signed, Jon Corto

Dean, I usually like your posts, but you are way off on this one. What's with this high-motor-poster snobbery? Why some people think high post numbers equate to some kind of wisdom or status is a mystery to me. Get over yourself.

We definitely need free safety help. Ko Simpson (another brillliant Marv/Modrak pick) makes fewer plays than Whitner, which is devastating.

So true! Legends in their own minds. I guess Royal thinks 76,000 show up every Sunday to watch HIM. He is such a joke!

Yes I know. Since the Bills are never very transparent about their intentions, you have to look at what they do, not what they say. So my point was to say that Ralph's staffing of the front office is the window to their true intentions. Unfortunately, in this case, nobody should read "future success" into Ralph's statement, because that is not his focus.

IMO.....Ralph's staffing of the front office is the best guage of where he's really headed. If he brings in more football people (not promotions of existing staff, but new blood), then he is serious about trying to win and is willing to trust experts to run his team for him. Requiring Modrak to reside in WNY would be another small but hopeful sign. If he keeps the status quo, he is simply "maintaining" the franchise, keeping it afloat until his number is up so his family can sell. This would mean he's content to continue calling all the shots and using his skeleton crew of puppets (Brandon, Modrak, Guy) as the frontmen who are there to give the APPEARANCE of minimal competence. My read - Ralph is an old school owner who likes to win, but who now realizes that the stakes of the NFL poker game have risen above his comfort level. The economics of the NFL have passed him by, permanently. So he is now just playing out the string, squeezing what he can from the franchise. He is just "keeping his foot in the door" of the NFL because he realizes the most important part of his asset is the NFL brand, which is ultimately highly valuable to his family. Nothing will change until ownership does.

Navarre, your diagnosis is correct, but Ralph wants to call all the shots. And to Ralph, money drives NEARLY ALL decisions. So what good would a top-flight GM be? Ralph knows this, which is why he is not even bothering to install a GM. On top of all this, which top GM candidates would welcome the chance to strap on the puppet strings to be Ralph's GM?

This thread is based on the incorrect assumption that Ralph is actually committed to winning. Ralph has adequately proven that he is just content to "keep his foot in the door" of the NFL to maintain the franchise, and sell at a huge profit when his number is up. His front office and personnel decisions prove that he no longer has a sufficient commitment to win anymore. The economics of the NFL have passed him by, PERMANENTLY. Ralph has made himself a lame duck in the NFL from now on, and in the process has also made the entire franchise a lame duck. The only type of real football man who would go to, or stay with the Bills is one who is marginal at best (Brandon, Guy) or one who has already decided this will be his last stop before retirement (Modrak). Anyone else with a hope of a future in the NFL would NEVER be attracted to and stay in Buffalo - you would be branded as a loser. Did you notice that Ralph's statement said nothing about "doing everything it takes to win"? Nope, it said we will not be complacent. It was a very defensive, tepid, "really, I won't just sit here and do nothing" kind of statement. OK, so he won't do nothing. Great. That is a far cry from saying "we will do what it takes to win."

Or, how about hearing something from Brandon, aka the Invisible Man.

The 2009 Buffalo Bills: We're out to PROVE it's hard to win in the NFL.

I pity the poor SOB who has to empty the voicemail box of extension 7-9.

gaggle of sycophants - love it! So true!

I suspect that One Bills Drive is a place where only conformity to Ralph's plan gets rewarded. Is there any evidence to the contrary? Brandon is a puppet and will do what he's told, as will everyone else there. Ralph has a very small inner circle and he has NO intention of enlarging it at all. So don't expect any more "foorball men" to come our way any time soon - Ralph has no interest in them

Ralph is going straight to the NFL because he saw the Pats run a play action pass. He figured that play must have been outlawed by the NFL since his team never ran it this year.

Chris is a puppet, just like all other Bills employees. He does what he's told or he's gone.

Funny. What "football guys" do you talk to?

Good post - well said.

WOW.......I'll take a few shares of that. Oh I forgot, the NFL doesn't permit community ownership anymore.

Cassel (2nd stringer) completed 75% of his throws - Edwards completed 56%. Edwards did OK, but the Pats' 2nd stringer was more efficient in the same conditions. The idea is to do BETTER than the other team. Having such low standards is KILLING US, people! Quit falling in love with your mediocre 7-9 roster! By the way, I'll go out on a limb here and say that we threw more than the Pats because they were winning the whole game. They didn't NEED to throw to beat us.

DUMBEST.............POST...........EVER Since you are into futility, I guess you've already tried building a RW voodoo doll and poking the hell out of it?

Generally Marv is untouchable on TBD because people are sentimental for the glory days but since you asked, here's my personal view of Marv: - Rode a deep and incredibly talented roster to 4 SB's and the HOF. Had almost no part in the X's and O's. - Failed miserably all 4 times in the most coach-driven game of all - the SB. What greater test is there for a coach? - Agreed to do Ralph a big favor and step in as a clueless GM when Ralph himself was clueless about who to turn to for help. - Was in over his head as a GM in terms of drafting and free agent signings, but I don't blame him too much for this because Ralph put him in a situation to fail. He was only doing his old pal a favor. To Marv's credit he realized his no-win situation as GM and after recording a few commercials with a little orange ball in the locker room, rode off into the sunset before things got too ugly.

Ditto.