jahnyc

Can't agree more. Spikes played great today. I think the reason we won last week was because of his interception and return for a TD. I also think Fletcher has played very well. I know the stupid penalties hurt, but at least he plays with heart and emotion.

Shaw, Adams, DB's odd comments after the game today. What is going on? I think too many people, including players and fans, bought into the view that we had the talent to challenge for the playoffs. I also think the cumulative effect of losing over the last three years combined with our poor start this year is devastating for all (players and fans). It is going to be tough to get through the rest of this season.

Our rushing yards per attempt has been pitiful. I understand that a good offense keeps a defense off balance, but we can't lineup and run the ball when the defense is expecting a run. We don't have the offensive lineman to run a "smash mouth" running offense. It seems the only decent runs we have are when the defense is not expecting a run (i.e., on third down). Another thing: our offense is a combination of painful and boring to watch. I'm with Ralph. I don't like this smash mouth stuff. It is not creative and leaves little room for error. With our penalties, o-line and qb we can't be successful or even consistent with this type of offense over an entire game.

I am not sure what this team is going to look like next year, but it will likely be another tough season. TD's view of the team last year was that they were talented but underperformed, primarily as a result of poor coaching. What is our view after last year and six games this year? We also don't have the talent, or at least the right mix of talent. Plus I am not sure about the coaching. Where does this leave us? Another rebuilding project. Last year TD replenished the talent lost (Vincent for Winfield and Villarail for R. Brown). This offseason we will lose some free agents (Jennings and Pat Williams) and we will need to reevaluate our entire roster. This will be true particularly if TD is fired and replaced. In addition, JP will get his shot, possibly soon. We will need to see how he develops, but we should expect some significant growing pains. I am really dreading the near term. The last four years have been tough. I think we deserve better.

At a sports bar during the game, we agreed that both teams have played poorly so far this year. The Fins fan then said to me that at least we have hope for the future. I asked him what he meant by that. He responded that we have Lee Evans, Losman and McGahee and that Miami has aging players, Wannestadt and salary cap problems looming.

The only reason we can possibly go 6 and 10 is because of the poor quality of our opponents. It would not be a sign of an improving team if we win more games than we lose for the rest of the season and I hope they don't try to spin it that way. After four years of building, there is no excuse as to why we should not beat teams like the Cardinals, 49ers, Browns and Bengals. We had an easy schedule this year and it doesn't look like we are going to take advantage of it.

I forgot to include Arizona in the list of winnable games.

A couple of things that I find interesting about the TD reign: 1. After four years, we still have needs at the same positions as when TD was hired (i.e., safety, fullback, tightend and o-line). 2. I must give TD at least some credit for trying to generate excitement and energize the fans. 3. What will ultimately do him in will be what was perceived as his strength: drafting. He has failed to draft a quality safety, defensive tackle, offensive lineman (other than maybe Jennings), and tight end. Who knows about the linebackers he has drafted since the three that start are free agent additions. 4. He really had the opportunity to build a team. By this I mean that he was able to choose the head coach, jettison veterans, sign free agents and draft as he saw fit (without any interference). He also had an owner who seemed willing to spend money and be patient for at least the first couple of years. He had the power but he failed to execute.

We play Miami twice, the Browns, 49ers, Bengals and Ravens. Our relatively weak remaining schedule makes our 0 and 4 start that much more unfortunate. Trying to be objective, we really should be able to win at least four out of our remaining twelve games. Of course I hope we do better.

If we trade Henry, it would be nice to get a player that could contribute immediately. My preference would be for a player at a need position (i.e., o-line). Interestingly, if we trade Henry, half-back probably becomes a need, which could be filled in next year's draft. I know many on the board like Williams, but we will need more depth at the position. I have no idea whether there is any intention of trading Henry now or after the season, but I am concerned that his trade value has declined significantly. His rushing totals are poor this year and he may be injured. Seems to me that he will be traded after the season and we won't get great value for him.

The thing that seems odd is that this does not seem to be about an "incident" with either the coaches or other players. The players seemed surprised, so maybe that discounts my first thought which was that he was cut for missing meetings or poor attention to certain duties (i.e., route running, reads, etc.). I considered that maybe we were signing a free agent, but then I hear that Haddad is being elevated to the practice squad. Overall, the timing of this is a mystery. Must be more to the story to be cut this way.

I am not sure that I agree that this is a splendid move. Maybe Shaw should have been cut in preseason, but I am not sure that he deserved to be embarassed in this fashion. Maybe he did something to deserve this treatment and, if so, I would like to know what it was. In terms of the cap, I assume he could have been cut in the offseason with the same effects in terms of savings for next season. I can only guess that TD and MM are trying to send a message. I have to wonder whether this move will help morale or anything else.

1. RW is right about our smash mouth football offense. It makes for really boring football! More importantly, we don't seem to have the personnel, discipline or intelligence for that type of offense. 2. I know McGahee had a better yards per avg stat than Henry, but he got most of his yards on one running play that seemed to take the Jets by surprise. Furthermore, he seemed very slow on some of runs. Anyone else agree? 3. I thought Fletcher played a great game. I think he has more than lived up to his contract. 4. I think Sullivan was right in his assessment of our overall talent, although I disagree with him about Fletcher. 5. We still had a lot of penalties and some of them were very costly in terms of yardage (i.e., the penalties on Prioleau and on one of our punts). 6. Josh Reed really has disappeared. 7. McGee is a real athlete with speed. I hope he develops.

The 2002 draft was supposedly loaded with talent and we drafted at a high position. I recall that the 2000 draft was not particularly strong and we drafted much lower.

Explain why TD is going "nowhere" because he is president. Why does it matter if he is gm or gm and president? I understand that RW has ceded much of his authority to TD, but do you think that will insulate TD from being fired for the team's poor play? I do agree with you about Mularkey. There is no way he will be fired with a five year contract.

RW has much to consider and needs input from experienced people to make his decisions. For example, if TD goes, what happens to Modrak and the scouts that they have hired? What about Mularkey? He just signed a long-term deal. Would a new gm want his own guy? Would Ralph eat the remaining years on Mularkey's deal? I know I am way ahead of myself here, but there are significant ramifications as a result of our poor start.

RW should hire an independent consultant (i.e., Ron Wolff) now. We can't afford to wait until the end of the season because decisions, if made, will need to be made quickly. I know this can be quite costly, but considering all of the money RW has spent on players that are not playing as well as expected, it would be money well spent. RW needs an honest, independent appraisal of this team; where it is now and where it will be next year.

I didn't want to add that one because of concern that people might think I am being negative.

I promised myself that I was going to focus on beating the Jets and not on (i) our poor playing o-line, (ii) our d-line not providing pass rushing pressure, (iii) our first round pick from last year not playing (this year and last), (iv) the fact we don't have a number one pick next year, (v) our impending free agents, (vi) our lack of replacements for our injured players and our impending free agents, (vii) the failure of guys like Williams, Reed, Wire, Crowell and Denny to develop, (viii) our poor discipline and unintelligent play, and (ix) our new head coach lacking prior head coaching experience. Good thing I am only focusing on the Jets.

I know this is an obvious point, but as Bills fans we really need to start seeing some progress with this team. Certainly game over game and, considering our season last year, progress from last year. Why am I raising this? Because we need to feel that things are going to get better this season so that we don't focus on next year and the years after. I think it is very normal when your team is losing and things seem bleak that you begin to consider whether things will improve in the future. For example, since I can't enjoy and focus on the start of our season this year, I instead focus on (i) the fact that we don't have a number one pick next year, (ii) Jennings and Williams becoming free agents with little talent to replace them and (iii) the status of our management team (i.e., TD). This is what breeds the negativity and why we need the team to start winning some games. The team and the fans have lost confidence and we need to win to start regaining it.

The reason I think this is because we traded a number one and a number four pick for Rob Johnson in that year. With the ninth pick in the first round we could have selected offensive tackle Tra Thomas. We needed an OT back in 1998, and I remember hearing that he would have been our pick if we had not traded with the Jags for Johnson. T. Thomas has been a very good player and would have anchored our line for years. So we trade for Rob Johnson and miss out on T. Thomas. To make things worse, Johnson doesn't work out, so we trade another number one pick to the Pats for Bledsoe. There are questions about Bledsoe's long term viability as the qb for the Bills, so we trade second and fifth round picks plus our number one pick next year for Losman. All in all, three first round picks, one second round pick, a fourth round pick, and a fifth round pick for Johnson, Bledsoe and Losman over a six year period. Now we will need to wait to see if Losman develops, which may take years. That is my theory as to part of the reason why we are where we are.

I am tired of being patient. We should be reaping the benefits of starting over in 2001 with a competitive playoff caliber team now. We had the draft position and the money to field a competitive team. Instead, we are losing and watching another rookie coach in over his head. I am sorry to be so harsh, but it seemed unreasonable to me going in to the season expecting to make the playoffs without significant upgrades to the roster or bringing in an experienced, winning coach. These are the types of things that would have made a difference after our dismal season last year.

Hey Westside, I agree with you about Pete Kendall. I watched a bit of the Jets game and Kendall looks good. The announcers noted that Kendall seems to have helped strengthen the line. With our cap room and need at guard, we should have signed this guy. Detox, I agree with you that McGee has talent and athletic ability. I hope he will be able to use these skills to become a good cb. He was picked on today and made mistakes (as well as some good plays). He doesn't seem ready to start, but maybe he will improve with playing time. To be fair, he does seem to have potential.

Here we go: 1. Coaching. If TD really believed we had the talent, he should have brought in a proven winner as HC instead of a rookie HC (and rookie OC). Coughlin is making a difference in NY with less talent. Even Mora, a rookie coach, has the Falcons playing better, particularly on defense. For all the talk about the team lacking "mental toughness" last year, we are seeing the same this year (i.e., poor discipline and execution. 2. Drafting. Clearly players like Wire and McGee are not ready to start in the NFL. We are not getting enough from our draft picks and our #1 from last year is on the bench. After four drafts, we have been unable to find a safety, a quality left end, a quality defensive tackle, more than one quality offensive lineman (Jennings) or a tight end. All of the talent we have, other than maybe Schobel, Clements, Henry and Jennings have been acquired via free agency. Reed, Denney, Williams, Wire, Crowell, McGahee are disappointments to date. None of our late round picks have developed. 3. Trades. Gave up too much for Bledsoe and Losman. Losman will now cost us a very high number one pick next year (and the number two and number four from last year). 4. Free Agency. This has been the saving grace, but our money has been spent strangely (i.e., linebackers). While some of these guys have played well, none have taken it to the next level since coming to the Bills. 5. Admitting Mistakes. The problem with the offense is the combination of a poor o-line and Drew. The o-line should have been fixed and/or a qb to compete with Drew should have been brought in. It was a tragic mistake to begin this season with this o-line (after promising to fix it last year for this season). Where do we go from here?

I hate to say it, but it sounds like he knows our team better than our coaches. He almost has me believing that we have a decent team. This guy is really smart and very impressive.