MRW

No worries, I wasn't sure if you were calling me out or not but I didn't want to pass myself off as some kind of expert. I just really hope the Bills do something to address the lack of QB pressure or I think we're doomed to the same frustrations we've seen the last few years.

I will confess ignorance as far as how often we actually run our supposed defense. And to be honest, my point is not to bash the Tampa 2 per se, because it's been successful various places and when mixed in as part of a defense. My problem is with whatever the hell defense we run that doesn't make getting pressure on the QB a priority. I'm not an X's and O's guy, I'm just speaking as a fan and saying what I find enjoyable vs. frustrating to watch. The Bills D does have a fundamental problem in that the pass rush from the front 4 was about as bad as I've ever seen, so it's hard to imagine a scheme that would be truly "successful" in the sense of being a dominant defense. But I'd rather watch a D that did whatever it took to get pressure and hits on the QB, even if it meant giving up a big play, rather than a D that sits back and hopes an unpressured Kurt Warner or Tom Brady will make a mistake in their 9 minute march down the field.

I was beyond frustrated as I sat and watched the team stick to their scheme and fail to generate any pressure on Warner in that Arizona game. Yes, the lack of any kind of decent play from the DEs hurt bigtime and would limit what you can do in any scheme, but many many offenses are built around the short passing game, which the Bills are only too happy to concede. Do what you have to do to bring pressure and let the chips fall where they may. I'd rather be beaten on a 4-play drive than a 12-play drive. So while I don't think the results would be all that different in terms of W-L, I think it's much more exciting to watch a pressure defense. At least you get big plays one way or the other.

I can't imagine that there's anyone who loves the defensive scheme the Bills run. It has to be the most boring defense I've ever seen. And Bowen's point about a QB like Warner picking it apart was spot on. See also Brady's performances vs. the Bills last year. A team that doesn't make getting pressure on the QB a priority is a team that's going nowhere.

Not really, I found out a week and a half ago that Jauron did in fact have his contract extended.

Thanks for the laugh. That's a classic.

Please Bill, please, show me where the poster you quoted was pining away for Losman. You're not even pretending to respond to what people actually write any more.

The problem, Bill, is that you respond to every criticism of Edwards as if the people posting it are the ones who are issuing those insults. And you also bring Losman's name into every single discussion of Edwards. There are different people posting different things, and if you want to lambaste crayonz every time he insults Trent, go ahead. But my concern about his play starts and ends with whether he can be the franchise QB Buffalo needs. Based on his play down the stretch this season, I have my doubts. That doesn't mean I want to see Losman starting (although I hope he turns his career around), it just means I'm not sold on Edwards like you are.

Is it so out of bounds for people to cheer for JP? I hope he does well after he moves on. I have my doubts given that the weaknesses he showed when he came on the field this year were, if anything, magnified from earlier in his career. But if he's smart he'll go somewhere with a good QB coach, even if it's as a third-stringer, and try to overcome them. I don't know that he can but is it even unacceptable now to hope that he does?

I guess my question is (and as down as I am on Jauron and Co. this is intended as a question and not a bash), is it the QB, or is it the people guiding the QB? If Edwards' development has faltered (much like Losman's) is that inherent to the player, or is it possible that a different coaching staff could turn his head around? The answer to that will tell us if we should pick up another young QB, or if we should go with an old hand who doesn't need the same kind of player development a rookie or young player would need.

1. It was pretty obvious that running was not going to pick up the first down. The Browns had them stopped dead. So yes, for multiple reasons (primarily to set up a better FG attempt but also clock reasons) passing made sense there. 2. Does the clock stop after a tackle on a running play? Yeah, I feel pretty safe in saying that a run would've taken the clock down to two minutes. And yes, the Jets could take time outs. But at least you're forcing them to use those time outs. It's really not as complicated as you're trying to make it. If your run up the gut gets you a yard on first down, maybe it doesn't make sense to go back to it on second and third. And on the other hand, if your first down run nets you five yards, maybe it's ok to stick with it and let your big offensive line push the other guys around. This stuff isn't cleanly separable from "clock management"; calling plays that make sense is a big part of managing the clock.

I disagree with you on both of those plays. 1. It's overshadowed by Lindell's miss, but if he had made it, the Browns would've gotten the ball back with ~30 seconds or so (going from memory here). Their kicker had just hit a 56-yarder. Continuing to pick up first downs lets you run the clock down and kick with no time left or with not enough time for more than a desperation play. Leaving aside the stupidity of playing for the 47-yard field goal, it's bad clock management. And while the RBs picked up good yardage, I didn't get the sense that the Bills running game was as dominant as in... 2. Here, a running play is guaranteed to take the clock down to two minutes and, given that you've just picked up five yards on first down, actually has a decent chance of getting the first. As others have stated, an incomplete pass would essentially be a free timeout for the Jets before the two minute warning. Now, if you get stuffed, maybe you look at a high percentage pass play (read: not a rollout pass to the fullback you signed off the street in week 5 or whatever) to try to get the first down. But given the way the run was working, including on that drive when the Jets knew it was coming, don't outsmart yourself and try to go tricky.

I don't think the Bills are counting on Johnny Coli to be their franchise QB.

Wow. I'm left wondering if you will ever have anything worthwhile to contribute to a QB discussion or if this will be your MO for the next 5 years.

No one would offer a 1st for Tomlinson. If I were the Chargers I'd entertain trade offers but I'd expect they'd be more in the range of what the Colts got for Faulk back in the day. A running back who has had nagging injuries the past couple of seasons and is hitting the age where RBs traditionally decline is not worth a 1st, even though I think he can still contribute some good years.

Your expectations are way, way, way too high. You're holding Parcells to a standard that no one in the history of the NFL would meet. I'm not claiming (and I've never seen anyone claim) that getting Parcells means a championship. But everywhere he goes he takes teams that are losing and puts them into the playoffs. Every single place. And just for the record, I think the Dolphins without Pennington this year would've had a winning record. I think they would've lost a shot at the playoffs based on tiebreakers. But they played fundamentally sound football and did not beat themselves. The shakeup in the division put them a year ahead of schedule; I don't think they had a serious expectation of making the playoffs this year. But they would've been a solid football team.

McCown is fully capable of going out onto the football field and not embarrassing the team. He won't make big plays but he's not mistake-prone either. And stop talking about Pennington like he's a Hall of Famer. He's a guy who was on the verge of being declared washed up when the Jets let him go. Don't forget what a joke Dallas had become before Parcells got there. They are way overrated at the start of every season now, but it wasn't that long ago that they had a cast of also-rans and never-weres at the QB position and were completely out of the playoff picture. So yes, Parcells rebuilt them. What they do with it from here is up to them, but they certainly have a good core group of talented players. And similarly in Miami, they are being built to be competitive for the next several years. You see it everywhere Parcells goes. NE - joke to Super Bowl contender. Jets - joke to division champ. Dallas - joke to division champ. Getting Parcells is not a guarantee that you'll win a championship every year, but odds are pretty damn good you'll be in the running. Even the best teams need luck to go their way to win it though. So believe that Miami will be good or don't, as you say we'll see in the next couple of years. But I don't see why you would try to minimize Parcells' record of success. It's like trying to deny that Belichick is a good coach.

They cut McCown when Pennington fell in their lap because he's a lesser version of Pennington. He's not as good as Pennington but would've served as a caretaker QB while they groomed Henne. For a team like Miami that was expecting a rebuild it wouldn't make sense to keep two veteran QBs on the roster. Without question they got lucky and found success faster than they expected, but are you denying that they laid the groundwork for their success? Obviously no one expected the year they've had but I thought that they would put in a respectable year this year. You can't seriously argue that it's dumb luck that teams under Parcells improve rapidly.

It's a good question. I think there's often a tendency to overestimate how accurately online opinion reflects the opinion of the average person, but the response has been so overwhelmingly negative I can't believe it isn't echoed in what people are saying around WNY and the region. Maybe it's just the echo chamber effect really distorting things, but this feels different to me from any other time I've seen fan discontent.

I understand rooting for Jauron to pull off a Fisher-like turnaround, and I can't fault you for it. After all, what else can a fan do at this point? But I think you're reaching.

I have a great idea, everyone who doesn't like the posts from people saying they're done can each post their own thread about it. That way we can ensure a clutter-free board by late 2011.

I have to say, this article represents my feelings almost exactly. It's eerie. I don't make the sacrifices in time or expense that season ticket holders do, but it's gotten to the point that I question even spending what I do on something that is supposedly entertainment but hasn't entertained me in years.

I hope your last sentence wasn't directed at me, because I've tried to mellow my tone. No hard feelings on my end, we all get carried away sometimes; I did myself in this thread.

Well the truth is SKOOBY's an ass. Or at least he posts that way. But you can't generalize from him to all out-of-towners, and it was never my intent to defend anyone and everyone who posts here who doesn't live in Buffalo. I said I was done with this, but one final thing. If I still lived in WNY, I don't know that I ever would've discovered this place. If I wanted to talk Bills all I would need to do is go over to my neighbor's. But talking about the Bills here, even with other football fans, isn't the same, because they just don't understand the frustrations and joys of following this team. So if you really do see a much higher number of people who've left the Buffalo area, that's probably part of the reason.

Yeah. That was an instant TBD classic and we need to do our part to keep it alive.