Webster Guy

And nothing says stupid more than burning a time out when you're on the opponents 34 and decide to punt. You let the snap clock run out, take the 5 yard delay of game, give your punter a little more room and save your stupid TO for when you actually might need it. That stuff bugs me more than the actual decision to punt, which Coach Martz thought was the right call there based on the way our defense was playing tough.

Positives: I agree about Searcy having a knack for playmaking. And now Carrington. And CJ's pass protection seems like it's really improved. Negatives: Our problem has changed a little bit based on what I saw today. Without Wood and Hairston in there it was a jailbreak on almost every play. Fitz played a very good game considering he had no pocket to step up in and make throws, and zero time to throw. I know that was a very good front Rams front 4, but we are going to be in trouble offensively for the rest of the year unless the O-line improves significantly. Chan: Seriously did you really burn a timeout on the other teams 34 yard line when you were about to punt? Uh, take the 5 yard penalty next time genius and save your TO's for when you need them. Total JV move. Stevie: With a clutch play on the line all of the sudden your arms looked like Cee-Lo Green's on that slant pass. You've made far more difficult catches, what the hell happened on that one. The announcers missed a lot of things in calling today's game but they didn't miss that lazy effort. Lastly: Hey Bills fan dudes in the end zone front row stands: if someone is doing the Lambeau Leap you've gotta catch the poor bastard so he doesn't flop over onto the cement. They parted like the red sea, and it took 'em like two minutes to shoehorn poor Lee Smith outta there. Just because our receivers can't catch anything doesn't mean our fans hafta wiff too......

I hate to say this but the single best draft was the Patriots in 2000. They picked a QB in the 6th round that turned the entire team around despite an average surrounding cast for the past decade and still has them winning every year despite one of the worst defenses in the league and a dbag coach who was fired from his previous job and had a losing record as a head coach at the time. A name I shall not say, because I loathe him.

I was surprised at that stat. Interesting. My biggest issue is when they call pass plays with the lead like in the TItans game. If we had handed off and pounded on our last possession we win that game. At home, against a weak team in a year where we might have a shot at the playoffs, we choose to have our QB (who throws a lot of picks) throw the ball and we lose the game because of it.

IR

The guy underwent surgery for a fractured spine, a scary injury for anyone---especially an interior lineman in the NFL who battles 300 pounders in the trenches every play. It would be nice to see him contribute someday but I agree its a long shot for sure. As far as Carrington goes, he was underwhelming at LB and DE for us, and was on the roster bubble this offseason for sure. I thought we would cut the guy in favor of Dwan Edwards in there, who played well last season. Thankfully we switched to the 4-3 and moved him inside which is looking like his natural position now. If you didn't question Carrington making the team then you don't follow training camp.

I see your point, but man those last minute Tenessee and NE picks probably cost us a playoff shot and they were pretty awful decisions and throws. Fitzy has some upside like presnap reads, toughness, quick release and scrambling, but he also has a lethal knack for throwing picks and forcing stuff that shows very poor game management and skill under pressure. Its the kiss of death for NFL QB's.

Our rushing attack is 4th in the league. The skins are first but only because of RG3's scrambling. As far as lining up and running the ball its San Fran, Minny and then us. We still had 5 average yards per carry against the top rushing defenses like Texans and Niners, it's just that Chan can't stop himself from calling pass plays all day.

I don't know how 'effective' Merriman has been, but I agree that Carrington at end would make sense. They need him in the spencer johnson rotation though and obviously when he comes in fresh he's been a nice surprise. I still think we should have kept Kellen Heard for the inside, that kid had skills. The Colts just signed him last week.

At least its an effort. Canada is so ridiculous with their liquor laws and restrictions. Especially for a country of beer swilling, Rye drinking fanatics. They don't sell beer on nights, weekends or holidays (precisely the time people buy the stuff). You can't even drink a beer on a boat in that godforsaken country. If they want a pregame tailgate experience, they're going to have to do a lot better than this but at least they're trying. I still say we should just call the military and roll that country. They wouldn't even put up a fight because they don't have a military and we'd make their lives better in one session of congress. Lets get Mexico too while we're at it. We could play a game in December down there. Feliz Navidad

His strip sack/fumble was one of the single best defensive plays we've had in a decade. Used his leverage and huge wingspan to get to the qb, knock the ball loose, dribble in off the turf once and recover that mf'er on the opponents 15 yard line. He'll end up with a dozen sacks this year, about double our best guy's total last year. Oh and he's ahead of sackmasters Clay Matthews, Jared Allen and Dumervil. Also of interest, Von Miller has 15 already. Slow down there buddy.......

Fitzy is a lifetime mid 70's passer rating guy. Maybe low 80's in a great year. Add a few points for football IQ, scrambling skills and toughness. Subtract a few for INT propensity.

First of all, how do you know what makes a good head coach? Did you think Harbaugh was a good head coach before he went to SF? What about Shanahan, the guy on track for his THIRD straight ten loss season. So what good head coach are you talking about that's on the market and ready to lead his new team to the superbowl but won't come to Buffalo? Is it Gruden? Cowher? the guys that won't coach ANYWHERE in the league? You sound like Sully. Is that where you get your information on the available HC's and their refusal to coach here? Yikes. Free agent players, you might have a point, but unless you run in coaching circles you have no clue.

No idea. Jones was out, then Stevie went out, there's Easley activated and on your bench at a home game witha comfortable lead and the running game keeping pressure off your qb. If they chose to keep Easley out then, he must be written off at this point.

HIs TD passes to chandler and stevie were both great throws. Chandlers was a thing of beauty, literally inches above the LB's outstretched hand and threaded the two dbacks. Best ball he has thrown all year at the perfect time. Now only if he could do that consistently, the way our defense is swarming these last three games, we could've made a run here......

Man that poor guy has to be crushed if the prognosis is another season ender with heavy rehab. Football gods need to cut him a break here. He wasn't injury prone in college, I hope this shakes out to be more minor than what they're guessing right now.

exactly

That was a great play by SJ. He's having an OK year considering how many times he's been targeted but I don't think his completion percentage is great. In preseason he was awful, tons of missed routes and passes (im sure some were Fitz inaccuracy but some were obviously on Stevie) He got better for sure, and has had some amazing plays but it seems like he and Fitz still aren't as tight on the field as they have been in the past. I've wondered if SJ's unorthodox style that gets him so much separation also makes it tough for a QB to hit timing routes. His double move against indy was sweet. He was setting that one up for weeks.

My issue with Ralph is that he's just so far removed from the fans. Not just geographically, which doesn't help, but as far as communication goes, the future of the team etc. I understand he's in poor health and life gets confusing when you get old and he's probably sick of answering the same questions over and over again, but that still doesn't excuse all the mystery surrounding the future of the team. Just because it's his legal right to sell the team doesn't make it cool to keep everyone in the dark. It's too big of an asset and organization to not have a succession plan in place, so just share it already. We can handle it either way Ralph. Hiring guys like Russ Brandon who are so corporate and secretive doesn't help either. Hey Russ, call them tickets, not inventory you jackass. Try answering a question honestly and without all your corporate lingo, you work for an organization that is losing it's fans so start trying to relate a little more and loosen up. Stop comparing the blacked out games from the 90's to today, there were 10,000 more seats back then. Oh and the concept of "marketing" the team is a joke. We don't buy tickets because you 'market' them Russ, we buy tickets because we love the Bills and NFL football, two things that do perfectly well on their own, not because of something you spin to reporters. Now If only I won that powerball.......

TJ had a good season last year. A playoff season at QB. My guess is that losing a draft pick isn't as much of a concern as just Gailey being stubborn and trying to fit his system to Fitz. Do you know any males in their 60's and older who aren't stubborn? Coaches hate to look like they've made a mistake and give a backup a shot. He wants to win as many games as possible right now and isn't concerned with next year or finding out how well a backup would do. I would love to see TJ throw some passes for us.

I posted this same thing as thought starter about a week ago. It got some interesting responses because it's fun to think about what would have happened if we went with the two best offensive players available in the first two rounds. After seeing Dalton on Gruden's QB Camp, he just seemed like such a great Buffalo Bill to me. Humble, hard working dude that just wants to help his team win. Like Fitz only with accuracy and arm strength. Without an offseason training camp, AJ Green and Dalton both made the pro bowl (and the playoffs) and from what I've seen this year they both seem to be getting better, despite virtually no surrounding cast. If you haven't seen them play, AJ Green has two guys on him all game and still gets open constantly. He leads the NFL in touchdowns and is on pace for a 1400 yard 15 touchdown season. It's interesting to think what this team would look like with Stevie and AJ Green, Spiller and Freddie our offensive line and an accurate young QB (he's at about a 90 passer rating this year) with Chan's offensive mind. Look I know we were horrible against the run in 2010. Worst in the league. Dareus was the best run stuffer in the country and he was an easy pick, but the Bengals went from 4-12 to 9-7 in one draft with two guys that would have made great Buffalo Bills.

I like some of Nix's moves, and his honesty in interviews. He built the big boy lines on both sides of ball as well as anybody else has in the league, and got a few skill position guys along the way like CJ, Gilmore, Chandler etc. He missed on a few draft picks for sure, but so does every team. I also would have stayed with Chan this season, and don't think a mid-season firing helps the team at all. The biggest question that must be asked before you switch GM's is What did my guy do wrong that a new guy like Whaley wouldn't have done? Is it drafting? Pitt has definitely done that well (tied w Balt for most pro bowlers drafted in the last five years) Was that Doug Whaley's doing? Is he a talent evaluator type GM or a re-build/executive type guy. Our problem is QB and coaching/game management right now. Would a guy like Whaley have recognized earlier that Fitz was no good and gone after a Moore or a Dalton or Kapernick or Russel Wilson or RG3? Would he have fired Gailey by now? If Nix fires Gailey after this season, (I would offer him the OC job but I doubt he'd stay for it), then I would say i agree with most everything he's done so far since he's been here.

our heavy use of screen passes inflate his completion percentage and passing yards. I'm not saying all screen passes are easy throws, but Fitz's downfield accuracy is brutal and everyone knows it including him. he missed a wide open Spiller and Donald Jones for long TD's yesterday and cost us the game on a day when our defense gave us the chance to save the season. on top of that he's not even seeing he field well, so LB's and safeties are getting picks just standing in their spot and waiting like our last 2 games with NE and the pick to the Indy LB. Inaccuracy plus poor vision = nightmare.

He's played 11 NFL games, against some of the best receivers in the world. Yesterday he was put on a 1st ballot hall of fame receiver who is still playing elite football and yet they kept trying to move Reggie around to get better matchups (like Rogers etc) His tacking is very solid, saved a TD on the 1 yard line, had some nice run support for losses too. He plays aggressive and I love it. Yes he's going to get some flags here and there, but I'd rather have that type of play than letting WR's dictate how we cover them, which by the way isn't very well without Gilmore in there. Speaking of flags, do not pin the game on Gilmore for that last play when he got flagged for having his left hand on Reggie Wayne's hip. It was an iffy call that didn't go our way, but does anybody really think we were going to drive the whole field with a minute left? Considering Brooks IR injury, McGee and Williams injuries, Leodis' inconsistency, I am amazed to hear some people say they wish we drafted someone else.

The slant that he caught in the 4th quarter to set up our TD was a poorly thrown ball and a very tough catch by any standards.