Bill from NYC

Bandit, you are probably much younger than me, but Joe Namath and Kenny Stabler (Crimson Tide QBs) were party animals. They both played for Bear Bryant who pretty much had them under control but when they made the big leagues, they really let loose. It still happens at Bama with Saban at times. Stabler wasn't as talented as Namath but he threw darts, and he played behind what I think was the best OL in the history of football (yes, I focused on blocking even in those days . Also, many of the players on that Raider team were psychotics, crazier than him. Both of these guys were truly great and would have had longer careers if they had taken care of themselves

I agree with this entire post, but I think that the job saving mentality started from the top (Brandon). I think that the assertion that the Marrone hire was due to his being a Brandon Syracuse crony is a foregone conclusion. Whaley is another story. I have gone back and forth wrt the Watkins trade. I thought he would be very good but the fact is, he is actually great. This kid wins football games but YOU always say that the draft is a process. I think that our DL is great. That said, KW is aging and imo ailing. Hughes is going to be a UFA. Mario is great and vastly underrated imo, but he is not young. Dareus is playing his ass off but he is going to cost 15 million per season sooner than later, and has a sketchy off field history. The OL needs at least 1 guard, probably 2, and I'm not loving Wood at OC this year. And sadly, Cordy Glenn isn't getting better from where I sit. Oh, and we certainly need a running back. Given the above, I really am going to question giving up the 2015 first round pick. I can't help it. So, I put Whaley right in there with the rest of them in terms of acting to save his job. Oh and I forgot, we have SERIOUS QB issues. Imo, if this team doesn't somehow make the playoffs the entire lot should be fired from Brandon on down.

I wish all of you up there safety and health.

The above sums things up perfectly imo.

Spiller isn't as good as Bryce Brown and Fred will be 70 by the time next season starts. Brandon should be the first one fired. He is the one responsible for bringing in this amateurish Syracuse contingent. This is the NFL, not small time football. And we can all gather around and kiss Whaley's ass, but he traded away our 2015 1st round pick for a receiver while we are lacking at quarterback. They should all be fired.

Marrone is beyond awful. His play calling is as bad as one could imagine. He doesn't seem to have any vision, and he forced me to eliminate the word "obviously" from my vocabulary. Seriously, I can't say this word anymore.

The last time I missed any part of a Bills game was when my daughter got injured and I had to take her to the ER. We beat Atlanta that week and Quinn Early was on the team. This time, it was good personal news. I don't want to cheapen what I try to do and post "thoughts" to hear myself babble. I will leave you, my friends, with this. 1) Hackett called a great game imo. The fumble and the loss were not his fault. 2) Dareus and Mario are simply great players. 3) Orton could have won us this game but he did not. 4) Fumble or not, Bryce Brown did add another dimension to this football team. 5) GO BILLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pettine is a fantastic coach. He put players such as Robey and Searcy in position to make big plays. Not only that, McKelvin was barely average until Pettine came to town. I also love his attack style. The man has a bright future in this league.

Seriously, the above is a great post. The fan in me thinks that Orton can take this team to the playoffs this year or next. The pessimist side has doubts. Still, he IS a pro at, like you said, the toughest position to play in any sport. It really is fun to watch this team with a real qb. There might be issues with Orton down the road, but not right now. Count me as one who still thinks the Bills need to bring in another qb. But teams should always be doing this, especially in the draft. Our other needs shouldn't be THAT hard to fill. This would include OG and RB. At this point, let's make the freaking playoffs, ya know? GO BILLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Brother, I think that we can agree that both of us devote way too much time into this. That said, I have thought about it and came to the same conclusion. Miami has a brutal schedule ahead and SD beat us. I won't be upset either way mind you but I am in agreement with you. It is also cool that NE plays Denver and the Ravens play the Steelers. Now, if only the Jets can beat KC! n any event, I am rooting for the Jets and Miami this week. Strange indeed.

There is so much to say about this article that I must itemize..... 1) I give Schwartz a lot of credit for the development of the backup defensive linemen. A TON of credit. 2) The NE game REALLY pissed me off. We can all hate on Brady, but he is flat out great. He is also old. Everything hurts more when one ages, let alone getting slammed by professional football players. We don't have the safeties to cover a healthy Gronk but I ask you.....who does? I would rather see Searcy blitzing a lot and moving Brady out of the pocket, perhaps into an oncoming Mario. 3) We just beat the Jets. I too am thrilled, but let's remember that they have no quarterback. It is easier to play back just a bit and rely more on the front 4. I get this. 4) QBs are starting to get banged up or so it seems. Let's see what Romo has left. I never root for injury, but I would like to see Alex Smith leveled a few times early on. 5) I will never dis Pettine. He is a fine coach and imo he helped change the philosophy in Buffalo. 6) The idea (or so I think) is for us to make the playoffs. It is going to take aggression. The DL is a strength. That said, I like it when players such as Robey, Bradham and my man Searcy get in there and pressure and/or sack the opposing qb. 7) GO BILLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He did, and he is a player with a huge upside. I can see him finishing seasons with 6 or 8 sacks and he is very strong against the run. He's still a kid.

Good point. And the gift from Harvin on that runback to his own 1 was as good as it gets. What a freaking idiot! I respect Carroll for purging him from his football team, talent notwithstanding.

I don't know. Woods was laying there obviously in pain, and in a way he is his direct competition. I don't think the Bills are a great enough team to allow such potentially distractive idiocy from a player who IS talented, but has a history of being a miscreant, and is asking for a trade.

It is great to discuss football with you. I thought about what you said about personal preference in terms of defense and your point is well taken. Even in this game there were time when I would have liked to see more pressure. The thing is, we won! BUT, I think that when as face more prominent qbs, we are going to need to be in more of an attack mode, and we clearly have the horses to do so successfully imo. GO BILLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You see depth like this not only wins football games, it effects how teams draft. When a team has depth, they can continue on and draft the bpa. Make no mistake, the term bpa is a bit over used and almost cliché. Imo it does not apply to a team that needs a qb. That said, depth does provide luxury for a football team and is becoming increasingly rare. He was standing around laughing when Woods was laying on the field, injured. Imo he is poison, talent notwithstanding.

PS: If I was Coach Marrone I could throw Mike Williams off of this team before I hit the pillow tonight.

1) Is it me, or did anyone else think that unheralded Bills players had a HUGE role in this victory? I will try to explain this as I go along. 2) The field goal with 6 minutes left in the half was a great call by Marrone. I'm not sure that I wouldn't have punted. But ya know, the sack before the half was just stupid and it cost us points. Marrone really needs to stop having meltdowns before the deuce at the half. He has been doing this on a consistent basis since he came to town. 3) In the credit where its due department, Gilmore had his best game as a Buffalo Bill, and it wasn't only the pick. His coverage was spot on and he was hitting people. I was very impressed and happy to see this. 4) Kyle Williams is comparatively small, right? He also has short arms and isn't really fast, correct? Yeah, well who gives a f^$(?!!! And forget that "lunchpail" cliche too. He gets low and gets great leverage. I said GREAT!!! He is also a master at using his weight and motion to get past blockers and run straight lines at the qb. I believe he taught this to Marcel, who seems to be doing the same thing this season. Before the game, I told my dear friend nirvjam that Kyle would be the key to our defense today and I wasn't so far off. Kudos to you KW!!!!! 5) Bradham had a few bad penalties today, but do you know that he had 10 tackles, 1 assist and a forced fumble? 6) Why don't we just give Alabama, rope enough to hang himself? No need to worry the jury, His kind takes care of itself. Twenty-third Psalm Majordomo, reserve me a table for three. In the Valley of the Shadow just you, Alabama and me. 7) Jarius Wynn? Are you kidding me? He looks like a good DE, and these guys are at a premium as we all know. And speaking of "Jarius," Jareus Byrd can kiss my ass. OK, I shouldn't have stooped to this level and said that. I was wrong. 8) Somebody help me out with the contract status of my man Da'Norris Searcy. We need to keep him on this football team. Another unsung hero! He won't stop making plays! 9) Robey was all over the field today too. Another player who I am proud to have on this football team. 10) Dear Sammy, Part of being great is simply doing you job. That bonehead move was bush league and far beneath you. Please learn from this and refrain from this sort of behavior because you are on your way, if you keep working hard, to the record books. Do the right thing young man! 11) Hey, far be it from me to try to preach to anyone about Orton. I have been around long enough to see many of the all time great QBs. That said, he is one tough son of a B word and he is fun to watch. At least he is a pro. None of us can dispute this. 12) Corbin Bryant kicked ass today as well, didn't he? 13) Do you realize that we will be looking at scores next week and thinking about playoff implications? :) 14) My best wishes to all Bills Fans on this wonderful New York October day. 15) GO BILLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Or maybe we will John. The Lions allocate a TON of money to their DL (Suh and Fairley). They also have to pay Stafford huge bucks. EJ and Orton combined cost pennies in terms of quarterbacks. Think about it.....qbs such as Dalton, Stafford and Cutler cost far more than double what we pay our qbs. It can work imo.

Me too Promo. He really did look good in preseason. I would love for him to surprise people and take over this game. I am not saying the he will do it; I am saying that its possible. Also, if this kid is as good as I suspect, there are long range implications. Spiller is a big cap hit next year if he is on the team. Brown is not. This team needs cash to re-sign a bunch of good football players. Exciting times in the state of NY, wouldn't you say?

Orlando Pace was the best I have ever seen. His career didn't last as long as some LTs but when he was on, there was nobody better. This of course is jmo. Watt is interesting. He already might be one of the best to play DE if one excludes longevity. That said, he has a tall mountain to climb to be the "best ever." Reggie White and Bruce Smith were flat out great. Then of course there is a player that most here probably never heard of. I was even very young when I saw him, but I don't know if I can call any DE better than a man named Deacon Jones.

OC, your thread is about this one specific premise. Do you mind if I broaden it just a bit? The possibility of injury makes the trade one that is dangerous. If Watkins goes down, we are a team with qb issues, without Watkins, and no first round pick in 2015. I hate trades like this but Watkins DOES look fantastic. He has a very unique style. I think that Fear The Losing sums it up well in another thread. The Bills need to make the playoffs this year, next year or both.

Thanks for this post. Dialogue such as this is why I have been here for so long. I do ask you to consider the fact that Brady is of course older than he was last year. It's rough to get up from a sack, whether it's from a 340 lb. Dareus or a high speed human missile defensive back. It's that much worse when you get old. Again, wrs and qbs now own the middle. Do you remember what happened to receivers when they went to the middle? Players such as Tatum, Lott, Atwater, etc. would flat out destroy them. Now, defenders are fined 100K and more for what used to be legal. So yes, imo the way to go is pressure. Geno Smith is shaky but not void of talent. If the Bills can pressure him and get to him he will cough it up and throw picks. I hope this is what we see on Sunday. You are correct, this is the defense that I prefer. Once again, thanks for the dialogue. GO BILLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Schwartz is a modern day Jauron imo. Brady is not young. When he gets hit, it hurts more. The guy can pick apart zones all day. This is what he does. He got hit a couple of times and they should have blitzed more often. You cannot beat Brady sitting back. Yesterday we faced a qb making his first start on the road. There is no way he should have had time to complete those 3rd and long plays. The rule changes gave the qbs the middle of the field. This is a huge difference. I like the Rex Ryan/Pettine system of pressure. Now, we have lbs who are better vs. the run. I hope that they send players like Robey, Searcy, etc. after Geno Smith. There is no reason not to.

Mario was fine, as always. He holds down his side and applies pressure. He hasn't had one of those 3 sack games this season but his numbers are good, as is his performance. And btw, he is extremely involved in the game. I saw him get angry on one play when he felt the defenders on his side messed up. I still consider him the best player on our team. Jmo.