MRW

I would say that he has not proven he is in their league at this point. Well, Gruden anyway. For a supposed offensive genius Billick never seemed to put together any sort of offensive team whatsoever, so I guess I'd rank him in the Barry Switzer category of Super Bowl-winning coaches. But Gruden has a track record of success that Jauron can not match at this point, and I don't think it's even close. Now having said that, Jauron can change that perception and in fact he's on his way. I like the looks of the staff he's put together so far, and the discipline (few penalties) and solid play of the Bills to this point speak well of him. And I don't think there's any question that he was the right coach for this team after the shambles that Mularkey and Donahoe left it in. But as to whether he deserves to be considered a good coach in this league, I'd call it an open question, and I think it will be for a while.

13-3 is great, but when the rest of your coaching career is made up of 7-9, 7-9, 7-9, 6-10, 5-11, etc. you don't think some skepticism is justified? That Chicago team came out of nowhere, got knocked out in the first playoff game they played, and went right back to nowhere. Jauron has shown an ability (generally) to keep the wheels from coming off when teams aren't talented or are really hit by injury. That's not a negligible skill, and I'm sold on his ability to hold things together with a young team. But before I'm ready to call him a great coach - and certainly before I'm ready to act like it's totally unreasonable to question his coaching credentials - some more consistent winning would be nice. Maybe even a playoff victory in there somewhere? I think this team has the talent to provide Jauron with the opportunity to prove himself, and I'm glad. I think he's earned that chance. But until he does it, I don't get why anyone would be surprised that people question whether he can.

Please stop mocking other people for not being sold on the coach just yet. I think a wait-and-see approach with Jauron is pretty reasonable. I think he's been a good, steadying influence on a talent-starved team the last couple of years. But this year he needs to show he can take a more talented team to the next level. So far, early returns are promising, but we're only 3 games in. Mocking people who aren't yet convinced he's a great coach doesn't reflect well on you, and you've already done it twice in this thread. Disagree all you want, but you can't you do it without attacking people?

I would be surprised if they didn't.

Really doesn't matter. Fact is, they're 3-0 and winning flashy games. The Bills get to play them later in the season, so if the Broncos aren't as good, we'll see it then. Until then, I really can't be too concerned that an undefeated team is getting some hype.

You guys do realize it was one of our own trolling you, don't you? Read through the thread.

I think they're going to consistently give us exciting games to watch until their inevitable playoff loss though! Their defense is every bit as bad as their offense is good.

Yeah, when you have a first down at the opponent's 15, down by two scores, I don't think there's a single coach at any level that would elect to kick a field goal. Hell, you could bring in the swim coach and he'd tell you to go for the touchdown. Maybe Fouts was just showing why he never got into coaching.

They were just following Randy Moss's lead.

I don't think "best available" is generally so clear a determination that it makes the scenarios you describe likely. I would argue that when it is, if you're absolutely convinced that there's one player who is head and shoulders above everyone else available at that slot, you should take him (if for instance you have one player rated 95/100 and everyone else is mid-80s). If it's close (as I would imagine it generally is) then some weight would be given to the fact that you have, for instance, two quality RBs but no WRs. I think glaring holes on the roster should be addressed in FA with at least adequate NFL-level talent, and you should never be approaching the draft from a position of need.

You can do far far worse than picking an OSU DB. Seems to me they have a pretty outstanding track record in the NFL. Of course, even I'm hoping we don't feel the need to take an player early next year for the secondary...

I comprehend just fine, thanks. Your posting record speaks for itself. You can't let people's needling of you go so you let yourself get dragged into these stupid debates, and for some reason you've fixated on a couple of marginal NFL players. But the most hilarious thread was the one you started about how the Bills let two guys go who are now fixtures at nickelback and backup OL. Newsflash: those sorts of guys kick around the league. There's nothing unique or special about Geisinger or King. I wish them well, my only issue is with you, since you've taken the fact that two low-round players are still in the league as a pretext to slam the Bills front office and call out posters. But simply put, they were never important players to the Bills, they're not relevant to the Bills now, and it would be nice if you wouldn't seize on any opportunity to rehash this ridiculous debate.

No, the issue is that you talk them up like they're the greatest players ever and it's simply unbelievable that the Bills let them go, when what they seem to be are journeyman players at best. Your continued focus on these two players is something that I just find weird, to be honest. They're ex-Bills, they were cut years ago, and they're certainly not high-profile, so it's very hard to understand why you're fixated on them. A fifth and sixth-rounder have carved out longer careers in the NFL than might have been expected, congratulations to them, but I'm not sure why you expect us to care or why that should be evidence of some deep understanding of the draft on your part.

I'm certainly not surprised that you couldn't resist the bait. Thanks for picking up your odd, odd crusade again.

Yeah, so much like with Chicago a couple of years ago I have to ask why Minnesota did not put more effort into finding a QB who could help them win. They're pissing away a championship caliber defense and running game there with their mishandling of the QB situation. I have a hard time believing these coaches are that confident in guys like Grossman and Jackson to suddenly show something they didn't demonstrate at all in their early careers.

The Rams' problems are not with the QB. It starts with the sorry state of the offensive line, which Martz seems to believe is not required for a successful team and the current administration has not been able to fix. Don't kid yourself, if Warner had stayed with the Rams he'd probably be out of the league now after taking one too many hits. They did him a favor by letting him go.

Cross-division rivalries develop when two teams are both top contenders and play in a decisive late-season tiebreaking game or in the playoffs. We're not there yet with the Jags (largely because the Bills have been bad to mediocre for so many years). There's certainly the possibility that things could shape up that way if the Jags keep the core of their team together for a few years and the Bills deliver on the promise they're showing this year. But who knows, maybe it will be Buffalo vs. San Diego year after year.

I felt like the Bills were moving the ball very well on each possession they had Sunday. They are not & don't need to try to be an explosive offense, IMO. But the reason the Jags got back into that game was because of the great timing on running the onside kick plus a bad play from Peters. Outside of that, it seemed like the Bills were reliably moving into scoring position. While that may not make highlight reels it will win games and it actually is fun to watch a competently executed offense. One thing I wouldn't mind seeing a little more of (and I think we will) is mid- to long-range strikes down the field to Evans. Not a lot more, but mixing some into the game a bit earlier will help, and I think Trent's success with it in these early games will help Schonert's confidence in calling it.

I don't know for sure about anyone else, but I watch the Bills play to derive enjoyment from how well they do. I haven't had much success at that in recent years, so when they win I will be unreservedly happy and not look for reasons to keep my emotions in check. I know from personal experience the last few years that crushing losses don't get easier to take if it's continuing a losing streak rather than breaking a winning streak. So I have to ask, why temper our enthusiasm? Let's enjoy the fact that the Bills are 2-0 and in as good a position as any team in the league to make the playoffs at this early stage.

Actually I was thinking you might consider throwing a pass play into the mix there, if you trust your QB to do exactly what Edwards did. I ultimately decided that the downside (longer FG attempt, possible fumble or stupid QB decision) outweighed the possibility of winning the game right there, but I can understand the thought.

I think he should be. How do you gauge intent on things like that? Fortunately it looked a lot worse than it was, but players have to be careful about those plays.

Better get on that, because the most I remember is people saying don't use a #1 pick on one of the receivers in this draft. But I'd have a hard time believing that there is anyone (that I hadn't already written off as a troll) who actually said not to draft a tall WR.

Good points. Sounds like it would've taken poise and execution even better than Denver had last year with their field goal unit.

I guess I wasn't clear. Why was Tasker talking like there would be a chance the Jaguars would get another play? Even in the best case scenario for them, if the lateral were legal and the runner was ruled down by contact, the clock should keep running! So how would there be any possibility of the Jags getting a play?

Am I the only one who was confused about how that final play could've possibly worked out in Jax's favor? I mean, the pass was complete in the middle of the field, lateraled, and then possibly fumbled. Either it's Bills ball or the runner is down in the field of play and time should've run out. Was it just an overzealous whistle? It would've been the latest in a series of ridiculous plays against the Bills if Jacksonville came out of that with an extra play. Anyone have any insight on this?