habes1280

No, because we haven't been relevant or wiffed the playoffs in thirteen years, and our team got worse today. I don't agree that we're a joke, and free agency in only beginning, but the premise that we are an unattractive landing spot for potential free agents is hardly absurd.

Agreed. This is a tough loss.

Martellus Bennett to the Bears. Would have liked to see the Bills make a bid on him.

And wow: Dophins to pay Mike Wallace $65 million over 5 years. (per Shefter)

And wow-- this just in-- the Dolphins ink Mike Wallace in 5 year/$65 million deal. (Again, per Shefter)

Yeah, it's frustrating to continue to come into drafts with more needs than picks, but what could they do? That's a huge offer and there are a lot of holes to fill.

It's tough to build when you can't establish or maintain your core, and having a strong interior line was a nice change of direction these past few years, but I'm not sure the Bills could have matched a contract like that.

Per Shefter. 5 years, $39 million.

If memory serves, Flutie also threw for 360 yards against that defense, and didn't go 10 for 22 passing while taking six sacks (one in the end zone). I don't have a dog in this fight. I've gotten over the QB controversies of yesteryear. But some of these revisionist histories are beyond ridiculous.

Six fewer opportunities for stories like this: (Absolutely NSFW)

And as an Assistant Head Coach. A promotion, no less.

I'm not sure that being passed over for the interim head coach position (after being named the Assistant Head Coach to keep him from being poached) says much at all, particularly when the Bills braintrust at the time (Russ Brandon) was in over its head and grasping for staws. They took a chance on Perry Fewell-- who they also didn't retain at the end of the season-- went 3-5 for the remainder of the season, and cleaned house. It was a mess, and I'm not sure it was a fair measure of either man (Fewell as a head coach, and Bobby April as a potential one). Look, I'm not saying that Bobby April is or will be successful head coach material; I'm just saying he's an interesting prospect, and someone I could see manning the helm at some point in the future. What I don't understand is how his abilities as a coordinator-- to build successful schemes around his personnel, to gameplan and attack opposing teams, to make in-game decisions and adjustments, to be responsive to ongoing trends in packages and approaches league-wide, and to motivate and coach the players in his unit-- is any less credible than any other coordinator. As a Bill, he was the NFL Special Teams Coach of the Year twice in four seasons. And while hiring special teams coordinators is certainly a non-standard practice, their success rate as head coaches doesn't compare unfavorably with the success rates of any other big-named coordinators on either side of the ball (nor, for that matter, does it compare unfavorably with head coaches drawn in from the collegiate ranks). The ability to learn, adapt, scheme and collaborate doesn't seem limited to offensive or defensive minded coaches or coordinators, nor does the ability to work with the scouting department to assess talent (whether that be NFL Player Personnel or draft prospects). So Dadonkadonk (great name, by the way), might be right: April might just be, or might formerly have been, a great special teams coach (Philly hasn't done so hot these past two years). I just disagree that as such, we should be rejecting him as a legitimate HC prospect on those grounds alone.

And so, in a roundabout way, did Marv Levy. And I completely agree with you about Bobby April.

It would have been really nice. I loved Bobby April, and it would be hard to argue with the output of our special teams under his leadership. But it would have been difficult, I'd think, to bring him back to Buffalo. There seemed to be a bit of acrimony when he left.

I agree completely on Scott Chandler. He was not an expensive sign, was forced to take on a larger role once David Nelson went down, makes difficult catches in traffic, and is a reliable target in the red zone. He isn't perfect, but he's a starting caliber TE, and that's more than we've been able to say of that position for quite a long time. As for Levitre, that depends on who you ask. According to some pundits and insiders, he's looking to test the market. According to others, he'd love to stay badly enough to give the Bills a discount. Here's hoping for the latter. If memory serves (and it might not), Moats, Sheppard and Morrison were brought in to play the 3-4. I'm not an advocate of making the switch, but if we do, perhaps they will be better suited. Personally, I'm inclined to agree with you, and think it would be much easier to just revamp our LB core than to revamp a larger swath of our defense to accommodate a switch back to the 3-4.

I sure hope you're right, brother. Werner Herzog managed.

Brandon Marshall was traded for a third round pick. I know there were circumstances surrounding that trade, but even so, there's no way Bowe is commanding anything near a first round pick.

Seconded. I liked Perry Fewell, but April was the assistant HC, and the most consistent motivator and innovative game planner we've had in a decade. There's a long line of successful head coaches who began as special teams coordinators, and April could have been, should have been, and might still be the next in that tradition. And I'm not sure how agreeable Fewell would be to interviewing, a second time, for a GM who didn't choose him the first time around, and went with Bill Cowher's recommendation over those of his own players.

I think you might be overstating the problem, and oversimplifying the solution.

I thought the same, until the Bills were rebuffed-- twice-- by coordinators in 2010. I also thought that head coaches wouldn't quit when they had the support of the ownership and management...until the Bills were rebuffed by Mike Mularkey in 2006. It's been an education, being a Bills fan.

Williams was the beginning of a lasting trend at OBD of privileging system over personnel. We had an oustanding defense before he arrived. He dismantled it, and after discarding veteran leaders and spending free agent dollars and draft picks on system-ready replacements, eventually reassembled a defense that was almost as good as the one he inherited. Since then, it seems that every new staff we bring in does effectively the same thing-- only few have been able to put the pieces back together as well as "three G's". I'm still devastated that we chose to increase our "need positions" by nearly double in 2010 by installing Chan and Edwards' defense of choice, the 3-4, and then chose to do so only through the draft-- forcing us to reach on guys like Troupe and Carrington, when better players at pre-existing need positions (TE, WR, QB, and LT) were still on the board. So instead of a young nucleus of talented players, we have an over-drafted lot who were not signed to lead the team, but to fill an empty slot in the lineup until a more worthy player, or a worthy coach with a new system, came along. None of this is all that related to Gregg, and has no relation to the original post, but I'm not sure how often one team can dismantle and start over before the damage transcends the roster, the coaching, and the culture and becomes something beyond saving?

Adrian Peterson's "respectable numbers" equal 3.4 yards per carry. Shonn Greene's equal 3.1. In other words, if the Jets would have fed Greene 25 carries, at that rate, he'd have had about nine fewer yards than AP. If the point you are making is that the Vikes stuck with their gameplan and ran the ball against a stacked defense, you might be on to something. Toby Gerhart chipped in another 8 or so carries on top of AP's 25 (though he only totalled a yard or two per carry). But if you're suggesting that they ran the ball because they were having more success with it than the Jets did, then I'm not sure your numbers completely bear you out, in this case. The Jets never established their running game, and all but abandoned it in the second half (fewer than five rushes, TOTAL).

Nevermind. For any other out-of-towners and gluttons for punishment, sportsradio950 is running a postgame show. It's awful, but I don't know what I was expecting.

I'm not sure why I'm interested, but does anyone know which radio station runs the postgame show? I'm streaming from out of town, and WGR doesn't carry the postgame (or the play by play) online anymore.

I'm not an authority, but I thought Carder outperformed White and McKillop by miles in preseason games. Shed blocks fairly well and drove ball carriers backward on contact, as opposed to grabbing and being dragged for positive yardage. I like the name and I like the story, but was more persuaded by his play.