DFITZ1

Most of the content of Bucky's and Sully's articles can be easily obtained listening to inebriated fans in a sports bar. I found better articles from other and cheaper local news sources. And no, those articles did not sugar coat the situations at the Bills and Sabres, just added research and intelligence, rather than poison pen vitrol. This is addition by subtraction at the BN.

Great to be celebrating again! A great lesson in never giving up!

Agree with everything. I would add that Webb IV had a great throw that just missed by a wide open receiver. Was slightly off target but almost a touchdown. Both play calls resulting in turnovers inside the Pats 10 (int and TO on downs) made no sense. Passing when Shady had been running the ball well on the first drive boggles the mind. The 4th and goal from the one, Dennison called a play that had already failed twice. Why call it again?

The rule book changes when any team plays the Pats. Gronk's deliberate head shot should be a suspension if the NFL and Goodell are at all serious about controlling head injuries. Surprised it wasn't an ejection since White was clearly out of bounds. !st and 25 makes no sense to me, but perhaps it is by rule. Seems the refs were more concerned about a mild shove than a blow to the head. Proving once again stars get lenient treatment in Goodell's NFL.

rcatty - believe me, I saw first hand the effects of the Lamonica trade in 1968 when I attended my first ever Bills game at WMS against the Raiders. Lamonica and company blew the Bills right out onto Best Street with a 48-6 whupping. I still have memories of the fans singing "Good-bye Collier" in unison. Of course, that brought about the first round of the cheap replacement coach blunder bringing up Harvey Johnson , who was well suited as a personnel man, but in no way a head coach. Essentially, he, Gallagher and Saban were the architects of the AFL Champions. One thing I always admired about Saban was his ability to put a raw college player at the right position he was suited for in the pros. He switched many players from offense to defense and vice versa and made them stars (George Saimes was one).

rcatty - regarding Joel Collier, he was the architect of the Bills AFL Championship years' defense and later went on to be DC in Denver for many years and several HC's. His signature there was the "Orange Crush" defense that brought Denver its first playoff years. He was always regarded as an outstanding DC. His HC stint in Buffalo only further showed the Bills front office/ownership's propensity for taking the easy way out on replacing coaches and putting good people in wrong positions. Collier was never HC material and enjoyed many years as a successful DC. Judging Collier by is years as HC isn't near his whole story.

We are a QB and competent HC away from the playoffs. If Marrone were competent, he would have seen that Hackett was not ready for prime time OC duties and would have brought someone who can run an offense. Hackett might be ready to be a position coach but not an OC. Hackett was schooled by one of the worst offenses in the league. I can't see Marrone taking this team to the playoffs. His accolades this year have been more a by-product of Schwartz's work on defense.

If Pegula wants to show he's serious about this team winning, he fires Marrone and Hacket tonight. Hackett for passing on 3rd and 1, and Marrone for punting on 4th and 1. Those are losing moves and the owner should send a message that has no place at OBD.

Bench Orton now He has personnally handed control of this game to the Vikes.

Thank you Mr. Wilson for all you've done for bringing the Bills to WNY and keeping them there and making WNY a special place for all who live or hail from.

From bbb - "First two will never happen (SB or NCAA Championship)... What makes you believe that the first two are impossible with a new domed stadium? Super Bowls have been held in Detroit (twice) and Minneapolis, not to mention Indianapolis. For the NCAA Championship, a large venue could attract the Final Four and Buffalo has demonstrated success with the first 4 rounds. I never said either was a slam dunk, but with effective planning, I can happen. Good thing Ralph Wilson didn't think nothing could happen here some 50+ years ago.

I think what the OP is alluding to is that if Erie County and/or NYS does not build a modern NFL stadium, someone else will, and that will be the lure for the Bills to move once the current lease expires. Unlike WMS, which was inadequate for the 1970 and beyond NFL, RWS is or can be made adequate for the NFL of the near future. Problem is, adequate may not be enough when exquisite (aka Jerry Jones' Stadium) is possible in places like LA. Therefore, a new stadium is dictated more by competitive need than providing required needs of an NFL team.

Any new stadium needs to not only be a best fit for the Bills, but also be able to host other large attendance events, be it a Super Bowl, NCAA Final Four, Rock Concerts (remember these at Rich Stadium in the 70's), college football (UB vs Syracuse?). To me this calls or a retractable dome (OK - we'll open it in December if Miami is scheduled).

Agreed, or locale for that matter. If the organization has personnel with a commitment and a history of winning, the right people will knock each other out trying to join team or staff. Now it seems more are turning us down than in past decades.

If Brandon is not the guy, then who do we get, and will they come to Buffalo? Unlike the 90's, Buffalo is not a prime destination for an NFL exec up and coming or existing star, only wannabees.

Bill Walsh didn't have Joe Montana play (or play much) his rookie year, until he saw that Joe was ready to run his offense. Almost all HOF QB's struggled for some time as rookies (Namath, Manning (Eli, of course). The coach has to see them thru those rough times. I wonder if Rob Ryan ruined Sanchez more than Sanchez himself. Same might go for Shanahan with RJGIII in Washington. Some hot rookie QB's are one shot wonders up until the league DC's have them figured out.

But is that 20% coaching the difference between making it in the NFL or not? Sometimes yes, specially at QB, where multi-tasking and decision making can be as important as arm strength.

Excellent post! Regarding the stadium location, RS was the last choice after the Erie County legislature vote down a domed stadium in Amherst. It was meant to be a cheap stadium on cheap and with all the seats possible. Ironically, if he dome in Amherst were built at that time, WNY would have had to build a new stadium 10-20 years ago as all the 70's era domes have been condemned by NFL economics. The Bill did not expect many sellouts but were surprised by the number and only then realized the impact of the Rochester market.

Sounds like the IT majors were called and the English majors showed up! The one issue with all new technology is humans still have to figure out the right way to use it. Playbooks have become so complicated that a QB's most important trait may be multi-tasking more than throwing accuracy. Some IT guru might want to replace faceguards with clear face shields with a heads up display so the analytics dept. can send in plays, change plays, or signal where to throw in real time. And in the end Stevie will still drop the catch.

One thing overlooked on why Fergy was able to break in as a starter his rookie year was his ability to read defenses and call audibles if the play call wouldn't work. The previous QB's (Harris, Shaw, Darragh) would only run the play as called and ran into the strength of the defense. This fact was mentioned by OJ in one of the zillion books on Bills history. (and yes, I watched OJ play both the dismal early years and the glory years.). Also watched the parade of QB's between Kemp and Fergy, too.

Let's hope that with the new lease in place that the fans won't be afraid to speak with their pocketbooks. In the mid-80's they rarely sold out, even openning day, and couldn't even get 30000 for late season games (remember the Buffalo Wave?). That was enough for the right changes to start falling in place; hiring Bill Polian, Drafting Bruce Smith, signing Kelly...you know the rest. History has shown that once any Buffalo sports team makes and shows a conviction to winning, the fans show up. Kelly's signing sold 40000 seats for the '86 openning day alone, even the old Buffalo Braves drew big crowds in their playoff years in the mid-70's (and this was before the NBA had its current popularity). Same thing with the Sabres (heck, in the 70's it was tough to get any seats for the Sabres.) Speaking of Buffalo major sports franchises, the one from the recent era with the best chance of winning a championship is the old Buffalo Braves. Too bad they're the LA Clippers.

To me, yes, - POOR DRAFT CHOICES (or generically, poor personnel decisions) define this franchise since 2000. Like so many of our draft and personnel moves, this franchised was killed by acquiring and overpaying poor talent. Maybin was a #1 choice picked before other break out stars (I think we could have had Clay Mathews III, butthat might have been another year), held out for and got big money, did not perform, was a distraction in the locker room and on the field, and is now out of the NFL. The story of Aaron Maybin also tells the story of the post 2000 Buffalo Bills, in two words, Wasted Opportunities. There are other players that could tell the same story, Mike Williams comes to mind. I didn't pick a consistent or well performing player because the team was not consistent or well performing after 2000 (OK, I agree 7-9 for 3 boring years is consistent, but not the consistent most fans like). Some of the good players who stayed deserved better. Perhaps an alternate face of the franchise is Brian Moorman. When your most reliable player is your punter, something's wrong.

We should definitely feel blessed there is a team in Buffalo. If the Bills left, do you think any team would relocate here? The team doesn't give me the pride in being a fan that I once had. Too many failed moves. Too many opportunities lost (all the draft picks we passed on who became all-stars). I hate saying it but Aaron Maybin is the face of the franchise since 2000.

It is really sad when an insane, mass-murdering dictator out-thinks an entire NFL front office.

College or high school?