jahnyc

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.

1. I really enjoyed watching the Packers/Colts game and missed the days when the Bills had an explosive offense. Of course winning games is the most important thing, but our offense is painful to watch and definitely is not entertaining. I really enjoyed watching the Bills play in the first half of the 2002 season because of our passing offense. Win or lose, it was exciting and fun. I like our defense, but it would be nice to see a stronger pass rush from the d-line and more turnovers. 2. When we played the Pats last year in Foxboro I recall that Brady came out throwing (I think the first 10 plays were passes) since they knew our dts were less effective at rushing the passer than stopping the run (and would get tired). I also recall that we made adjustments after the Pats had scored a couple of touchdowns. I hope we are ready on Sunday to handle this beginning with the first snap. 3. Our avg yards per rush is 2.7. We won't win many games with that number. Isn't that primarily on the o-line? 4. If I were RW and the Bills continue to lose games, I would consider hiring an outside and independent consultant before the season is over (a guy like Ron Wolff) to help figure out if we are on the right or wrong track. If we have another losing season, RW is going to be in a tough position and will need to make decisions quickly.

Not sure how to post a link, but I found the column by: Going to NFL.com. Clicking on "More from NFL.com Analysts" under the section titled "Analysis and Opinion" (in the middle of the page). That will bring you to a list that includes TMQ. Good luck.

Yes. Take Losman at 13, take a wr with our #2 pick and keep our #1 pick next year (which looks like a potential top 10 pick).

Also, Profootballtalk.com takes some shots at Donahoe.

I know the timing sounds crazy, but to get maximum value the Bills should consider trading Henry or McGahee now for the following reasons: 1. With our problems on the o-line and at QB, our running backs may have poor seasons. The yards gained, yards per carry and tds scored by our rbs may be very low. This will negatively impact any trade value for either Henry or McGahee after this season. 2. Henry and McGahee are under contract for next year, but does anyone believe that they can co-exist for another year? Won't McGahee complain more next year if he is not the starter? Henry is proud, how would he react? If there was a holdout situation next year, that could hurt our leverage in a trade. 3. A team with playoff level talent that has an injured running back may be willing to pay more now for a quality running back replacement. 4. I assume we drafted McGahee to play, not sit on the bench. I also assume that we could not recoup a number one pick if we traded McGahee. Henry has a proven track record and probably has more trade value.

Some thoughts: 1. Interesting quotes from the Raiders. Sapp and Turner both noted that they thought they had an advantage going in with their d-line versus our o-line. 2. The o-line is terrible, but Bledsoe makes the o-line look worse because he is immobile. Why didn't we fix the o-line in the offseason? I though RW and TD promised during the season last year that this would be addressed in a significant way. 3. I have been impressed with the defense and J. Gray. I thought there would be a decline with Williams and LeBeau departing. Fletcher and Spikes are awesome. 4. If we wanted to win now, why did we hire a rookie coach? The players are making too many mistakes (i.e., penalties, dropped passes and using timeouts prematurely). I don't see any difference in approach or mental toughness. 5. Not enough production from our draft picks. We needed guys that could step-in and contribute immediately. 6. Not only is our team flawed, but they are extremely boring to watch. 7. I know we are committed to running the ball, but our running game looks terrible, averaging about three yards per carry. I assume that it is the o-line and not Henry. 8. I don't see our offense getting better as the season progresses.

I would rather have the top 5 pick and a free agent veteran qb than Losman. Maybe Losman will develop, but it will likely take years. I want to win now. I am tired of losing.

I read on the Buffalo Bills website that he had a lower leg contusion. Apparently, he returned to the line-up later in the game.

Okay, I understand that it is only week #2 of what is a relatively long season, but I think this game is close to a "must" win situation for the following reasons: 1. Confidence. New coach, new offense, new attitude. Team needs to believe in the coach and the system, particularly with a fairly young roster of players. 2. Schedule gets Tougher. Jags and Raiders were both well under .500 last year. Tougher games are coming up, including the Pats, Jets and Dolphins. 3. Bye Week. Don't want to go in to a bye-week after losing the first two. In that situation, the local media will be all over this team. 4. Would need to win 10 out of 14 to make playoffs. As noted above our schedule gets tougher, so winning 10 out of the last 14 will be difficult. If the offense struggles again, there will be doubts that things will turn around.

I agree with IndyJay. I think we have some talent, but I don't think we have many superstars or enough talent to win a Superbowl. I am also not sure that we have the right mix of talent. For example, is Drew Bledsoe the right qb to throw dink passes? I don't have much optimism for this season. This is not a terrible team, but you have to beat a team like the Jaguars at home. They were not a playoff team last year (and we beat them in Jacksonville last year). This does not seem like progress to me.

Fine, I also will complain about our high round draft picks such as McGahee, Denney, Reed, Kelsay, and Williams. I understand that we need to give these guys more time to develop, but I am still concerned. I am not sure the fact that four free agents make the roster is such a positive. I do like many of the free agent acquisitions by TD, such as Spikes, Milloy and Flethcher. I also loved getting a number one pick for Price, who was going to leave anyway. I also like the trades for Drew and Campbell. TD's record is very mixed. I won't say he has done a "hell" of a job until more of our draft picks produce and we make the playoffs.

I don't think Sape or Sobieski are eligible for the practice squad. I believe that they were on the roster last year for for the full season. I think this disqualifies them.