FLFan

What a joke.

I agree with you on the 2 year life theory if Marrone and staff cannot turn around the QB/Offense situation. I do not believe Russ will have patience for a third year after 2 years of losing if that is what happens. This would actually be an interesting discussion. I think the original post is ridiculous. JMO.

Excellent job! Would not disagree with any of it.

Yes, tis the season for the "rose colored glasses" vs. "hard bitten realist" nonsense to begin.

Thanks for doing this Bill. One of the few posts worth reading on a weekly basis. That said, I think you are off base on EJ vs. Thad. Lewis played descent enough yesterday, but clearly not good enough to win. As others have pointed out, I do not see his indecision in the pocket or occasional lapses in ball security getting much better. His arm is just OK. I think he has shown enough to be a decent backup option. To my eyes, he has done nothing Manuel has not been able to to do, and lacks Manuel's poise, arm strength, and presence. I am frankly not sure how anyone can watch Lewis's performance and think he is a better option, even now. The loss was clearly on the special teams and run defense, not the QB, but there were certainly a number of plays Lewis failed to make, especially in the first half.

If you cannot see a vast difference in the Bills defense from the past several years you are simply either not paying attention or do not want to see the improvement. It has been a massive turnaround in one year. There have been significant improvements in the play of key players (Mario, Kyle, Dareus, McKelvin to name a few), outstanding secondary play when there key players have been he healthy, and some significant additions who have contributed greatly including Hughes and Lawson. By the way, all this with a rookie middle linebacker. Pettine and staff get credit for this. The run defense needs improvement clearly. Whether this is scheme, players, or a combination needs to be addressed but I am confident they will.

Pointing out that players have something to do with it does not make one a homer any more than a knee jerk reaction makes you rational. I am sure the Bills will fully evaluate all aspects of the team, including special teams. What we see on the surface may not be the entire picture. Special Teams needs to get better without question. I would point out that multiple Bills had opportunities to tackle Blount on those big returns yesterday and failed to do so. This speaks to poor play not scheme. The reason for the poor play is the issue. Better players or better coaching?

The Bills have an option to exercise for a fifth year which they need to decide on this spring. I would think it is highly unlikely they would not take the option. He did. Typical Parker BS. Carrington will likely regret that decision. I doubt the Bills will offer much, if anything, now that they have locked up that spot with Branch. Perhaps they make him an offer as depth but I suspect they will move on.

Thank you for the excellent rational analyis. Often lacking around here. In all of that, the biggest difference is the QB. Despite having a seasoned veteran in Vick to start the season, the offense did not really start to click until Foles came in and began to light it up. People need to remember that as you point out Foles is a veteran, with some starting experience. His starts prior to this year have been mediocre to promising, but his experience is the big difference to Buffalo's situation. We have not seen near what this offense is capable of. Had Manuel been able to stay on the field I firmly believe the Bills offense would be much better than what we are seeing so far, and it has been very decent at times. Patience is what is required here, not a new OC or QB.

"People are dumb, panicky animals and you know it." K to J, Men in Black

The Bills need a LG, but also need a quality right tackle. I would not be hurt by taking a RT number 1. Would love to have a big WR threat as well, but if Evans is gone, trade down may be best bet. Chandler will likely be gone after this year so the Bills will need to find a top quality tight end. Probably not number 1 though.

Probably not, but he was doing a fairly accurate representation of your lament. About the same level of reasoning anyway.

I hope you are kidding. I would hate to think the alternative. It was a no win situation with people of your mindset obviously.

I believe this happened earlier t his week. They rested him yesterday but Marrone said he expects him to play.

Too bad Peyton Manning is not in the draft next year, nor anyone else even remotely his caliber. Who is the mythical "franchise QB" in next year's draft? All look like big questions to me.

Lovie Smith would cost too much? Really - is that why no team hired him? The old faithful "ralph is cheap" argument. Way to go.

I saw that play. I am not sure if it was the same CB, but it was the same kind of hit that put EJ out. He dove right at his knee. I am not feeling sorry for the Pats, but while the NFL is supposedly worrying over player safety, they should address these kinds of cheap shots.

Agree. He is still a jerk.

No. There must be a conspiracy. It must be Ralph twirrling his mustach again.

Exactly. If the Bills bring in any CBs it will be to upgrade depth, which can always be better. Perhaps they draft a CB in RDs 3 - 5 as well. I would not expect a big FA signing at CB. OL/TE/LB are the primary needs.

I do not know about LA, but I live in Maryland and he is dead right about Baltimore. The day the Colts left is the day people in Baltimore stopped being fans of the team going forward. It was actually worse that they kept the name and pretended they could carry the Colts legacy to Indianapolis. It would be the same in Buffalo I believe.

If (hopefully not when) the Bills leave Buffalo, for Toronto or any other city, whether they keep the name or not I am done. The Buffalo Bills are part and parcel of the culture of the area, and those who grew up there and grew up with the Bills being part of that fabric will probably feel as I do. Moving the team would rip the heart out of Buffalo. I am not an NFL fan - I am a Buffalo Bills fan, so I doubt I would spend much time, if any, watching the NFL. I simply would not care, and more than that, would be too pissed to do so.

Perhaps not fair, but look at it this way. If you lived in Chicago, you would likely not be able to afford to see many or perhaps any games live, as there is high demand for very expensive seats. At least in Buffalo you can buy a ticket and go to the game. In Chicago (as in Washington, Baltimore, NE, Dallas, etc) the average fan is priced out of the stadium. Even with the smaller capacity, I would venture to guess that Chicago's average revenue per home game is significantly more than Buffalo's, even double or triple. Buffalo needs the ticket revenue associated with the larger capacity to survive.

We should cut Stevie. He ate a taco.

You are correct. See also The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, William Shirer. I am still not sure what this has to do with a debate about EJ Manuel.