BuffaloWings

I'll still go on record that Mike Williams was NOT a bad pick. It seemed like the right pick to make because we needed to beef up the line at the time. It isn't Donahoe's fault that he couldn't stay on the field, so I don't put that one on him. I do blame him for JP, Willis McGahee, trading our #1 to the Patriots* for Bledsoe, not re-signing Pat Williams or Antoine Winfield, Gregg Williams, Mike Mularkey, and then trying to build the lines (save for Mike Williams) with second-rate talent because they were cheaper.

You're probably right....just feels like it started in the 90s, I guess.

The thinking was that Leodis wasn't ready yet to start at CB....and a 90% Terrence McGee was better suited to start than a 100% healthy rookie that actually had some playing time.

Someone should start a pool....how many times can an old joke from the 90s get resurrected again.

It was really the turning point of the season. You can excuse the loss at Miami, but once they got behind at home to a team they should have beaten, I think the players & coaches started pressing. But it was the coaches' job to settle everyone down and get back on track. That never happened and things just spiraled downhill. I imagine the locker room was quiet and the morale amongst the players was low, yet nobody was taking control. Sounds eerily similar to my last job.

Yikes.....I know we're all not very thrilled with Ralph's frugalness, but that's a huge stretch to say he could care less about the fans. He may sound like an old codgery fool, but I think he knows whether or not the fans care.

I wouldn't let this get you down so much. Everyone is speculating that Ralph won't fire Jauron because of this possible extension and that he's cheap and that he won't want to eat the money, blah, blah, blah. Judging by Ralph's & Brandon's post-game reactions lately, I'm not convinced (yet) that the organization is willing to stand pat. Something will happen in the off-season - the front office will be shaken up or the coaching staff will be revamped. Tearing down & rebuilding, while not necessary IMO, is not out of the question.

Either that or Jauron is a complete idiot for trying such a thing.

I never said that Trent was faking it....just that the coaches were making up the injury to excuse his bad performance. But since then, I've heard people talking about surgery, so I'm not so sure it was a made-up excuse. I've been on Trent's side since day 1 and I still believe he's the guy going forward. With three injuries (one inflicted by Adrian Wilson), I just hope he's not injury-prone like some are implying.

Gresham is only a junior - I don't know if he's planning on entering the draft yet, but he'd be a target if he does. I think Sage hit the nail on the head - pass rush is the weakest part of the team, so it's as simple as going for a pass-rushing DE in the first round. Considering that first round picks are usually made on play-makers and are the "sexy" picks, it's really best to go for someone like that in the first round. What I don't know is whether or not we'll do this because of the money that Kelsay is getting. That said, we'll have to wait until the FA period begins and see what's available. Unless a major philosophy change happens with this front office, I wouldn't bet too much on a stud DE.

I think this is more likely the case, but it still seems like they wanted to sit him down for the season and see if JP could spark something. It just seemed way too suspicious that they pulled him after his horrid first half against San Fran, THEN they tell us he's injured. Because nobody is being honest, it's really hard to say what the story is.

Did you really need to re-hash this?

I think after his reaction to the Cleveland, San Francisco, & Miami losses, it's hard to say he doesn't care about wins/losses. My guess is that he's a guy who wants his cake and eat it, too. I'm sure he HATES losing to the Dolphins and being embarrassed on Monday nights, but he doesn't want to pony up the $$$ to get the front office in shape to get the right group of coaches/players in here to win. I still appreciate what Ralph has done to keep the team here, but this mentality has got to end soon.

What I meant by "unprofessional" was the implication that the extension was signed on Sunday, when there seemed to be absolutely no reason for the Bills organization (Ralph, Russ, & whoever else is involved with the contracts) to want Jauron to be extended after this meltdown. It seemed that the outlets reiterating that the extension was agreed to were trying to emphasize it, thus making the Bills look bad. I guess the word "unprofessional" is too strong, in this case...and yes, I agree the media outlets don't need to make the Bills look bad - the Bills are doing a fine job of that, themselves. Tim - as always, good info! I appreciate you clearing this up for us.

Probably because we had one for 11 years that took us to the playoffs almost every year and 4 Superbowls. I don't mind a LB for a QB, as long as he's smart enough to know he always can't dive for the first down, a la a 38-year-old Elway in Superbowl XXXII. We know Trent is a smart guy, but we don't know what he can do with proper coaching. I honestly thought he was on the right track last year and early this year, but his slump in the middle of the season told me he was trying to get out of it with little help from the staff.

I think Corp is right on target here. If there were no stipulations, we would have heard confirmation from the Bills in October. It seems to be natural for info like this to leak, so hearing about something like this in October isn't so terrible. But the way ESPN reported it is bizarre...approaching the "unprofessional" label to me. It makes the Bills' organization look bad...perhaps Mort is in charge of what stories get reported???

Agreed....someone who can pass rush should be the top priority, IMO. I'd prefer a DE, but if we can get an outside linebacker that can do the same, I'm all for it.

I'm tellin' everyone again.....the reports of the extension starting last night are very fishy and I don't buy them one bit. I think someone leaked the info after the game that he might have signed the extension as was reported in October. There has been nothing new in these reports than was reported two months ago. Just because another outlet reports it doesn't mean it's true. UNTIL WE HEAR THIS FROM THE BILLS, DO NOT BELIEVE IT.

I honestly don't know anymore. Fairchild kept calling the same game plan from week to week, but at least Turk has thrown in a few wrinkles here & there. That said, I don't know how much this is Jauron or the OCs. Based on Jauron calling the 2nd & 5 pass yesterday, I'd have to lay the problems on him and not so much on Turk.

If that's the case, then Jauron has done a good job. He reached the ceiling with the KC win, so he's good. The only thing that needs blowing up is the coaching staff. I really think the talent at the skill positions is there. The lines need some rebuilding, but that's it.

Did you watch the first Jets game or the Patriots* game? Both of them ran 9-minute drives in the 4th quarter to put the game out of reach. Even lately, our defense has been giving up a lot of 3rd down conversions. That's not getting off the field in critical situations. But if you want positives, I will agree with you on the Lynch/Jackson tandem. They're even better this year. I'll also say that Derek Fine and Steve Johnson have earned more playing time, IMO. Johnson made some huge catches yesterday that extended drives, including his TD catch. Fine wasn't spectacular yesterday, but caught the balls thrown to him. Another positive is McKelvin. For all intents and purposes, he returned another kickoff for a TD and he looked like he was playing with a little fire. Perhaps he's motivated by playing for a starting job next year, but I liked it nonetheless.

Maybe, but we couldn't run at all in that game. Payback would have been to run Lynch over & over until the Jets stopped it. Since they never did, there was no reason to stop running the ball.

Bucky Gleason touched on it in his column, but this is a classic case of the coach out-thinking himself. As a defensive-minded coach, Jauron probably thought of what he would do if he was on defense and then had Turk call a play that would be contrary to the defense's lineup. But again, the problem lies in that he had to trust JP to either audible out of it or do the right thing with the ball. It was either that or since he got burned by calling three straight running plays to settle for a 48-yard FG attempt vs Cleveland, he wasn't going to do the same thing. Different situations, of course, but this is probably what led Jauron to out-think himself. And I wouldn't care if Johnny Unitas, Joe Montana, Dan Marino, or Jim Kelly were under center. I'd still call a run.

Spot on.... But we'd still be wanting Jauron outta here. There would only be 1,493 fewer threads about it.

This is the same ESPN that we all can't stand. Give me something concrete from the Bills' organization and I'll believe it. Perhaps this is a ploy by Ralph to release this information, wait for even more public outcry about Jauron's coaching, then tell Dick that he can't keep him on because the fans won't show up.