ChasBB

I think many fans are writing off Fitz way too soon. I think the "real" Fitz is the guy who started the 2011 season before he busted his ribs. As for 2012, I think the loss of Cortez as QB coach and the addition of Lee totally messed Fitz up. How you gonna change a guy's mechanics at his age? Maybe some things can be tweaked, but it seems Lee tried to completely overhaul his mechanics. Fitz was probably thinking too much during his throws and not just playing. Additionally, it was the inopportune timing of Fitz's turnovers that hurt more than anything else (combined with stupid play calling by the HC). He threw 7 fewer picks in 2012 than in 2011. If the Bills defense performed even HALF as well as advertised in 2012, Fitz would have been adequate enough to get the Bills in the playoffs. Instead, he was always playing catch-up. His confidence is probably shot all to hell now thanks to Lee and Gailey's dumb play calling, but I still think the guy can play. Just tell him to throw the ball however feels natural to him -- and stop trying to !@#$ with his mechanics. Let him call some of his own plays when they run the no huddle and I think you'll see the same Fitz that started 2011 season. I'm NOT suggesting the Bills don't seek another QB as there is no one else on the roster after Fitz (maybe TJ, but we don't know). I'm suggesting the Bills draft a QB in 1st or 2nd round and/or also make a play for any decent free agent QBs that come available. However, I'd like to see Fitz be allowed to compete for the job under the new coaching staff and see what happens. Whoever earns the starting job gets it. If nothing else, we have a solid backup who is very familiar with his receivers and could step in at any moment and perform decently.

Noooooooooooo! The white helmet is way classier looking. Never should have gone to red to begin with.

And this is precisely why I do not buy NFL Sunday Ticket, buy jerseys, and so on. I'll watch a Bills game only if it happens to come over the airwaves -- which where I live is about once or twice per year. Otherwise, I'll listen to it on WGR. However, I will not financially support these greedy bastards. Oh, I may occasionally attempt to attend a game, but even that is pretty rare for me. If the NFL didn't act this way I'd feel differently. Hell, didn't they even give our beloved TBD crap for a while? They can go to hell.

I agree. He'll be on the roster in 2013 for the full season either in a backup capacity or as a starter.

Good thing Marcia wasn't wearing his Stilettos -- could have been nasty.

Unsportsman-like conduct is always a 15-yarder.

Should have been a 15-yr "Unsportsman-like Conduct" penalty. That penalty covers a wide array of bad behavior and the kick by Brady definitely would have qualified.

He's still relatively young and needs more experience. But you make a good point -- if he doesn't show improvement next year, then he could be transitioning again somewhere.

Excellent points! I'm really hoping that the new coaching staff does a better job of matching schemes to talent. It appears promising (as it always seems to), but until they actually perform better, we won't know. I'm confident the DC is going to at least get people talking about the Bills defense again -- which is good -- but they've still got to get it done on the field. I also like that he basically runs the 3-4 AND the 4-3. Buffalo has smart and talented players -- a smart(er) coach could be an inspiration and/or motivation to them. There just has not been "buy-in" by the players into past coaching staffs -- at least not on both sides of the ball at once. Maybe given more time each past staff would have proved itself, but how long do you wait for that to happen? 3 years seems about the average wait. What is a mystery to me is how can the Bills with all the defensive talent they have finish last in yards allowed? I just don't get that. Any schmo ought to be able to coach this much talent at least to a mid-tier ranking (like Fewell's), but Wannstadt couldn't even take this talent out of last ranking. That's pretty bad, but it also hints that some of these players won't be around next year, either, for too long if they don't pick up their game. Marrone probably really will be the culture change this team needs. Fewell's defenses were 10th, 18th, 14th, & 16th (final year when he became interim HC). So, you can look at his defenses, statistically, and say "Well, at least they didn't suck", but they can't be called "great", either. So, for a DC looking for an HC position, those numbers just are not impressive enough. And the talent he had available was a factor, too, along with an offense that could never bail them out of a hole and often created the hole with turnovers and horrible field position. Fewell will be an HC one day.

I've also wondered why Fewell wasn't given the chance. Given the talent he had, he did a decent job of finishing out as Interim HC. I think mainly Buffalo wanted someone mostly from the offensive side of the football to be the HC as opposed to a past defensive coordinator. Mainly, his defenses just weren't good enough. And obviously things were not so great on the other side of the ball, either, but his defenses were not top-ranked or anything to make him stand out. He had great enthusiasm and apparent respect of his players, so it could have worked out -- one of those things you just never know. I do hope he gets another chance someday.

It's an assumption on my part. Since Buffalo brought David Lee in for the said purpose of fixing Fitz's mechanics and since he had also worked in the past with Eli Manning on his mechanics, it didn't seem like such a leap to assume that perhaps Rex wants to bring in Lee to work on Sanchez's mechanics. Lee is considered to be an expert in QB mechanics.

The Daily News believes Rex Ryan is going after fired Bills' QB coach David Lee -- http://www.ganggreen...rterbacks-coach Fitz seemed like a better QB under Cortez than he did under Lee. I guess Rex still thinks something can be done to fix Sanchez. He could even be bringing him in more for the Wildcat than QB mechanics. Not sure.

Nothing wrong with moving the chains except Buffalo didn't do it enough this past season. I'd take Walker in an instant if he wanted to come here and if he wasn't asking for loads of cash. He's always productive.

I definitely hear you. This time does feel different, but then again, so did every other time in the past, too. Every coach that has been brought in has been touted as a "teacher". For me, what makes this time feel a bit different is that Marrone seems to be universally well-regarded. It's pretty difficult to find any negatives about the guy and I really like comments like "he grabs your attention when he speaks" and just the overall respect from other coaches and players. Then again, there was a degree of that with all of the past hires, but this one does feel more like the real deal to me. However, there should be no threads on naming the defense and there should be no false playoff hopes until this team actually delivers on-the-field with wins in the devision and wins in double-digits. Until that really comes to fruition, I can't buy-in 100%. I'll be 80% there because I do believe this guy has likely been the best selection since Marv left, but they have to really do it before I can buy-in 100% that things are really different.

Geez, is 3 straight years in a row of a last or near-last ranked defense the kind of continuity you want?

I read where Marrone ran a "modified version of the K-Gun". Can anyone explain that -- what was modified?

It's definitely a QB-driven league. I do agree with you that Fitz is very likely not the answer. I keep thinking that with Cortez leaving and being replaced by the mechanics guy - David Lee - that it really messed Fitz up this year. I would at least like to see Fitz retained as a backup and given a chance to compete for the position in an open competition -- nothing handed to him -- best man gets the job.

This looks like it could be a very good hire. I was in the camp that liked Kelly, but the more I learn about Marrone, the more I like this hire. I guess that's why I'm not on the selection committee. Anyhow, I like that he runs a no-huddle, quick-tempo offense. I think that really helps to keep defenses off-balance. Fitz might even flourish in a system like this where he can call his own plays at the line-of-scrimmage. Not saying they shouldn't bring in another QB -- they need to -- but just saying that this style of offense could suit Fitz well. +1

I don't see anything on cbssports.com about this.

How do you not toss up a Hail Mary to end the half? Inexcusable.

Yep, once again, someone else gets the new set of tires with the 80,000 mile life and the Bills get to pick from the re-treads or maybe even end up with the donut spare. I don't know how serious the Bills interest was in Kelly, but if it was genuine, you are right, they needed to do a better job of handling these things. To not even get to meet with Kelly is too bad. Maybe they had a pretty good pitch for him. I guess the Browns wanted Kelly as bad as the Bills wanted Mario and probably put the full-court press on him with an offer he can't refuse. They don't want to let him talk to anyone else -- good move by the Browns. They will become relevant again.

"Losing is a disease -- as contagious as syphilis"... (filmed at the old War Memorial, no less) ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WN-aCYVVtyo

I've often thought this, too. I question how much bringing in the mechanics coach really helped Fitz. If anything, it seemed to set him back. I have to believe last year's issues was mostly from playing hurt (as opposed to playing scared like Trent did) and I think this year's issues could be tied to the change in QB coach. Fitz definitely regressed for whatever reason. Also, I really liked George Cortez as the QB coach -- hated to see him leave for the HC job in Hamilton and I wonder if that created more of a vacuum than people believed it to. I still want the Bills to bring in a top young QB prospect, but I'd have no problem with Fitz taking on a backup role or given the chance to compete outright for the job again, but no way have it handed to him -- he'd need to earn it.

Good one! I also thought using Belichick as an example, but then realized that Belichick gets to re-invent himself every time that spy/eavesdropping equipment undergoes technological improvement, so unfair to compare Lovie to Belichick.

Well, I wasn't actually being sarcastic, but point taken -- there is certainly an excuse for that feeling in Chicago. I just think a good head coach kind of had to re-invent himself periodically to stay fresh. How one does that, I don't know.