BuffaloWings

I guess the Perry Fewell honeymoon is over. I'd like to see Brohm, too, but don't get your hopes up. It's one of two things...the coaches really don't think much of Brohm or they know he'll get killed behind that line. I'm hoping it's the latter.

If Fitz had time to throw the ball or was accurate when he did, then you'd have a gripe. For now, I'd suggest not putting any blame on the skill positions until the OL or QB is better.

Who *should* we consider? I love all of these posts that say the Bills should "just say no" to this guy, that guy, and the other guy. I think the attraction to Billick was that he's won a Superbowl and had a long tenure in Baltimore (1999-2007). I'm not particularly enamored with him, but there are certainly plenty of experienced coaches out there. Personally, I'm starting to think now that the Bills need to start with a GM. Guys like Ron Wolf, Bruce Allen, or Greg Gabriel should be considered.

For what it's worth, I heard a co-worker of mine say that this game is supposed to be on in the Albany area, since we're considered a Jets market. WPIX in New York (the CW network) is carrying it, according to their web site... WPIX I believe the Albany CW affiliate is channel 15. I won't hold my breath, but I will be looking for it.

I would've done this months ago, but FIOS still isn't available for me. This whole tiff between the NFL & TW reminds me of 3-year-olds fighting over the pail in a sandbox.

Please.... The Patriots* had no answer for the Saints' offense...none, zero, zilch, nada, zip. Even the genius Belichick couldn't stop them.

I wouldn't call it dead. It certainly hasn't had the same luster that it did during the 70s or the Kelly-Marino days, but there are still enough of us who hate Miami and still consider this a rivalry. I think the younger generations see the Patriots* as the big rival and the ones to hate, but there will always be a rivalry with Miami. All I kept thinking yesterday was that it would be nice to hurt Miami's playoff chances. Forget about the Bills making the playoffs...now that there's *some* life in this team, I'd love to see the Bills be spoilers.

Apples & oranges. In that game, the Bills had the lead late in the game and had literally been running over the Jets defense for the entire game. They were deep in their own territory and running the ball would have killed more clock (probably down to the 2-minute warning, if I recall correctly). There was no reason to call a pass there. Even if they didn't make it on 3rd down, they'd punt the ball away and make the Jets go 65-70 yards to win the game. Yesterday was different. Even though the Bills had the lead late in the game, they had just gotten a turnover and needed to show some balls. I'm sure the coaches called for a run, but Fitz recognized single coverage on TO and took a chance.

Well, if it was that easy, then why didn't Ralph do this in January?

Disagree...Miami was the better team through the first 3 quarters. The Bills couldn't stop the run and Miami was moving the ball down the field at will. That said, the Bills were the better team in the 4th when it mattered.

Where did this come from? When was the last time the Bills were accused of running up the score? First, is Marino wrong? No. Second, if the Dolphins can guarantee that they won't try to score, then the Bills should guarantee that they don't run up the score. Go for the jugular - a two-possession lead isn't surmountable (just ask that Jauron fellow about the Monday night game against Dallas in 2007).

That might be the same amount of points each team gives up in the 4th this week.

Albany is a pretty good example of the "secondary market" because we can be that for the Bills and Patriots*. Jets & Giants get top priority around here, so I'll look for when they're playing and whether or not the Bills are on at the same time/network. This week is a good example - Giants play Thursday and the Jets play Carolina on Fox. So, the local CBS affiliate could choose from the Bills or Patriots*. Since the Patsies play on Monday night, we'll get the Bills at 1:00 on Sunday. If New England's game was also at 1:00, we'd likely get that instead...especially considering their opponent. I've also noticed that the Jets & Giants have yet to play a game at the same time that would be covered by the same network - I'm sure the NFL takes that into account during the scheduling.

And he knows how to coach a team. How many of you thought Jacksonville would have a shot at the playoffs this year? How many of you thought Jacksonville would win more than 4 games? I was in neither boat at the beginning of the year - I thought the Jags would win about 4-5 games tops and not even sniff the wild card. MJD was about all they had and somehow, they're winning games and still playing hard-nosed, physical football. Right now, I'd vote for him as coach of the year. Of course, he's not going anywhere. No matter where the Jags play, Del Rio should be their coach for a while.

Agreed. I thought the story of the extension broke last Monday or over that weekend (Nov 14-15 or so), so Gruden wasn't an option even before Jauron got the axe.

Part of the reason he was fired (so I hear) was due to his renegade way of managing the roster - overpay for someone and just replace them with someone else if they didn't work out. This put Denver into salary cap hell. Plus, losing their last 3 games and missing the division title AND playoffs was probably Bowlen's last straw. What I do like about Shanahan is that his teams ran the ball well and had very good offensive lines. These were guys that could run block and pass protect because they were more athletic. They were never the biggest OLs, but quick, fast, and strong allowing them to do whatever they needed to. This is why his offenses were so good. I honestly can't remember his defenses very well, despite everyone on this board saying how they sucked. But in his 14 years in Denver, those defenses averaged around 11th best in the league in yards given up. Only twice in those 14 seasons were his defenses ranked worse than 20th, one of which came in his final year (29th). So, the numbers don't necessarily indicate his defenses "sucked". With the offenses he had, that can make up for the types of defenses those Broncos teams had. I also hate how some coaches come in and try to install a system because they're familiar with it. The best thing to do, IMO, is to run an offense/defense around the talent you have. Parcells did this for years, which is why he was successful everywhere he went. Did the West Coast offense help Rob Johnson? How has the Tampa-2 defense worked out here?

Fair enough. I guess my point was that vandalizing a player's property AND physically assaulting a player (while being two different things in the eyes of the law) are off the charts when it comes to immaturity. They're taking the game too seriously to commit either type of act.

This is why Chris Brown did a lot of the running. Even so, they weren't able to effectively run the ball enough. Andre Johnson was playing out of his mind, but it still wasn't enough. Slaton also dropped a pass on 3rd down that *could* have gone for a first and kept a drive alive in the 3rd quarter (maybe it was the 4th). Stuff like that doesn't help them, either. Mistakes like that - not to mention two missed FGs - will cause a team to lose game they should win. Sound familiar?

How is this not even close? Because Clausen didn't cost them the game? Doesn't matter. A fan is entitled to his/her opinion and more than allowed to heckle a player, IMO....but what this guy did is borderline assault. Regardless of the legal ramifications, taking out your frustrations as a fan by intimidating or physically attacking a player is beyond immature.

:wallbash:

Keep in mind, this idiot is acting just like the losers that torched Leodis McKelvin's lawn. Clausen was at the place after the game with his parents, girlfriend, and fellow teammates, so it's not like he needed to be "getting ready for Stanford".

I think Flutie was helping change the nature of BC even before that game, but the Hail Mary helped enhance it. Plus, Miami was the defending national champ and (I think) ranked #1 at the time. E$PN was parlaying this as how the Hail Mary changed how college football was covered/televised. I'm not sure I'd go that far, but we certainly have several Friday-after-Thanksgiving games now. I remember watching most of the game and wanting Miami to lose. The stunning ending is what I'll always remember.

I have a feeling that if they don't come to an agreement with a big name soon (Shanahan, Holmgren, etc), then the search will go into the off-season where Ralph will probably start with the GM. My guess is that Russ convinced Ralph that a big-name coach would bring the fans back, combined with Ralph's realization that he might as well empty his pockets to get a legitimate coaching candidate to consider Buffalo.

I was shocked about Parcells, too. I don't see any reason that he'd come to Buffalo. Regarding Marty, it seems like the only attention he's getting is on this board. I always liked the way he coached and ran his team, but do the "insiders" know something about Marty that we don't?

This is the exact problem. In baseball, this is known as tack-on runs - scoring a few runs when you're ahead in a close game to make it harder for the opponent to catch up. The running game has been MIA for a while, or else I think they might have been able to grind out a couple of more wins.