FightClub

Right on. All of the people actually sniping at the rest of us for hoping Brohm gets a fair chance to play with the first team (as was promised) are point of this group. Are you really going to swallow another year of the Trent experiment? This is signing on for another mediocre, or even bad, team. This is the same attitude our ownership has. Someone, though proven to be a bad performer in games, it is going to magically "get better".

I'm continually amazed that the people in that area root for a team of criminals and cheaters. Pats* trade for wife beater It raises a question. Are we all so desperate to see the Bills win that we'd condone this same type of behavior? Or does the Buffalo community stand for more than that? It's a honest question - I am not trying to answer ahead of time, just wondering what each of your comments are as we get ready for the season. I don't live in the area anymore, but some of my family still does. *Edited to fix title

It's preseason. Trent will have his moments, as he does in real games. But depend on him as the starter and he will make you throw things at the TV in the long run. Brohm should start next week. I will concede that Trent looked composed enough to pass Fitz on the depth chart but Brohm looked so good, he should be given the opportunity to win the job. That's what Gailey promised us when he got his. So far in two games Fitz outplayed Trent in the first and Brohm outplayed Trent in the second. Not sure why he should start the third.

Youboty seems to be outplaying some of the younger CBs this preseason

Yeah, totally agree with you. This organization has a tendency to panic and not believe in itself and its own decisions. Back when the McGahee fiasco was going on, Levy was telling us about this Fred Jackson, how he was going to be a good player, then didn't believe his own words and went out and drafted Lynch. If he had just believed in his plan, Jackson would've been the starter from the beginning and we could have drafted Revis that year. Ok, so that's water under the bridge. But if this year there was a plan for Spiller to play a lot in the slot and such, go ahead and stick to it. You must have developed the plan because you thought it was a good idea. If the other backs are out for an extended period of time, let Bell / Simpson take their place and keep Spiller where you planned him. Especially since these backs look like they might have something, but again the Bills are going to get skiddish and not believe that they actually picked someone up worth something and instead are going to change their plans around completely.

+1

Are there people who don't get that this was just a preordained pecking order by Gailey? The rotation for the first two games of the preseason (Edwards then Fitz in game 1 and Edwards then Brohm in game 2) was decided on BEFORE game one's performances. It is not performance based! If it was, it would be Edwards sitting. Clearly, after game 1, Fitzpatrick is the lead horse in the QB race, even though he is not playing in game 2. He outplayed Edwards, as sane fans would have expected. We have not seen Brohm yet. If Brohm plays well Thursday, he could jump ahead of Fitz. Edwards would have to play really well to jump back ahead of Fitz after that first game's performance. I expect game 3 will show more of an order of who is winning the competition. Whomever starts will probably be the front-running by then. I expect all three to play in that game, with probably Levi sitting out that game. Then Levi will get a big chunk of time at the end of game 4, probably the entire 2nd half.

Based on what we've seen from each of them so far, only Ryan Fitzpatrick deserves to be the starting QB on this team. Either Brohm or Edwards will have to play extraordinarily well in the preseason or show an incredibly firm grasp of the offense to convince me they should start over the only QB who has demonstrated the ability to win and inspire confidence on this team. I know that won't be popular, but you asked how I will judge, and that's my opinion.

Thank you for that little ray of sanity. I believe the same thing - Fitz is basically penciled in as the #2 as we speak. To take it farther, Brown is likely penciled in as the #3, in my opinion. Unless they really think that he can pass through to the practice squad, I don't think they will risk it. You are right on with your e v a l of Fitz. He was signed last year to be the veteran backup for three years. He has a contract in place. And, when he was called upon to fulfill those duties and play, he won games behind a putrid OL and with awful offensive game plans to support. And those posting that "Fitz is gone" are saying that why exactly? Because he's misfired on a couple of balls when everyone is wearing shorts? Are you kidding? Do you want this team to be 2 - 14? Maybe you do, but Gailey sure doesn't, and he's not as crazy as some here. I believe that Brohm and Edwards are fighting for the #1 spot and also a spot on the roster. Unfortunately, the loser gets cut. Fitz will stay because of the above reasons and Brown will stay because he is the only one actually chosen by this regime and even if he plays fourth best in practice and preseason, they will hold on to him for development later. The only thing Fitz's reported poor play has done is cost him (apparently) a shot at the #1 job, but even there I say there are still preseason games to play.

Come on, this doesn't wash. In his third year of starting, Brees had 27 TDs against only 7 INTs and over 3,000 yards. In his third year of starting, Trent Edwards got beat out by Ryan Fitzpatrick and earned the nickname Captain Checkdown. Bress might let Edwards carry his jock, but I think he'd have to interview first.

As long as anyone connected with this team continues to give a guy with no in-game courage repeated shots at being the QB, this team will never lift itself out of this funk.

Ok, but, he hasn't shown up to camp, right? So that's not an issue right now. Handle it if it becomes an issue. In the meantime, fine him the max for every day he misses and you can get some of that back. Then, if he does report, why not just keep him on the team? Do people really think he's just not going to play? I see posts about "we have to pay him $8 million to sit on the bench". Why is that? He's a starter, right? So play him. Do you really think he's not going to try, or not going to get himself ready to play? He does that, and he'll get crippled for life out there by someone if he's not in shape and not working. I still don't understand.

Enlighten me, please. What "facts"? He's under contract with the Bills, right? Right. He says he's retiring, right? So his choice is to go ahead and retire or report to the team he's under contract with. Why would the Bills have to or even consider releasing him. Can someone explain that other than to say "Gee, you should already know. Get your facts straight."

It just makes me think they haven't watched the film from last year, or haven't interpreted it correctly. It seems they are only operating on what happened in OTAs. Of course Trent looks good in shorts and a T-shirt - he does every offseason, then looks like complete crap in a real game. I assumed Gailey was astute enough to recognize that. By his actions of allowing Trent to even have a sniff of this job, he is proving me wrong. Unfortunate. Here we go again.

And, suddenly, the idea that we really are the 31st team in the NFL, which I disputed in a post only days ago, seems very real. Losing all confidence in this staff rather quickly...

I have to agree with this. I'd be a hypocrite if I didn't, because I have gone from a Favre fan to, frankly, a Favre hater, over the last few years due to this type of behavior. Roger Clemens the same way. Just because you hate spring training, or training camp, doesn't make you an exception. You're part of a team. Think about it. Do you pull this sh** at work? Got news for ya...if you do, you're a diva. I majored in Computer Science at Yale, and I can code rings around most of the people I work with, but, man, I still sit in every boring-ass meeting I have to, because I am part of teams that do this sh**, and any one of us is nothing without the rest. I say wait for Schobel to say he wants to come back, then cut his butt.

These rankings are just flat out silly this year. The Bills have been a near .500 team for years, and have a new coaching staff that is worth a game or two extra. So, 7-9, 8-8 is most likely. I know we're not a playoff team, but all of these pundits putting us at 30 or below in a 32 team league?? Boy, the hate is really out there. The unfortunate thing is these guys never have to admit how wrong they are on this kind of stuff. I was talking to a Packers fan this morning and even he thought the Bills would be a middle of the pack team, and he cares nothing about them, so to me this is not a hometown opinion, the media just has some big-time hate for the Bills going on right now. I don't really care, but boy, it's eye-opening to see this kind of crap.

The funny thing is, as glad as I am that Jauron is gone now, he TOTALLY and COMPLETELY outcoached Fox that day. Fox made so many dumb mistakes that day I can't believe he still has a job. That's not the only time he did that last year or in the past few years.

I can almost guarantee they will be worse than last year. They are the classic team that everyone believes is just by default going to be better than the previous year, but really, who says? I think they did as well as they could last year, and have nowhere to go but down. They'll probably be around .500 this year, as I think the Bills will also be. One of us will be 7-9 and one will be 9-7. Who gets which record depends entirely on QB play, as another poster said, and therefore I pray Gailey is wise enough to cut Edwards loose or we will be the ones that end up 7-9 (again)

No, must admit the Rams were probably too good that year. Oh, and we did beat the Titans. We just couldn't beat the referees that day. It's tough when the NFL lines your team up against two different opponents in the same game.

Good lord. No. You didn't watch his short arm enough passes last season?

*Excatly*. I'm not a coach, but I would say interceptions are almost a good sign at this stage, when timing isn't down just yet, as it points out the QB who is probably trying to go where he should be for the big play, rather than the other QBs who are "playing it safe". I hope to god it's either Fitz or that we just go ahead and hand the ball to Brown. Edwards / Brohm are hopeless, IMO, especially Edwards.

McKelvin is not going to unseat Florence. Florence has too much experience, and with a veteran coaching staff that needs to get out of the gates fast, they are not going to feel obligated to play the young guy just because he was a high pick.

One more play like this and #28 should be available for Spiller. Not going to keep a backip CB around who makes mistakes like this: Bring it out Leodis!!

Ok, I am with you on Russell. But the point of my post is that, as bad as he is, he is better than Edwards. -5 > -10, know what I mean? I mean - Edwards has heart? Edwards has heart? Did you really type that? Think about it. Fitzpatrick (I assume you meant him, not Fitzgerald) has heart, that's for sure. But Edwards? NO. No heart, no balls, nothing there.