Bill from NYC

You know what else wins championships for cold weather teams? Running the football successfully. Big Ben only attempted 19 passes last night, and the Packers outran the Bears. The Jets out ran NE, the Ravens outran the Chiefs, Pitt out ran Balt., and so on. I'm not sure, but I think that the team with the most rushing yardage won every game played in the cold in the playoffs. This could be us, but this franchise tends to use top draft selections on running backs, defensive backs, and various gadget players to sell tickets. When Bryce Paup and Big Ted were here, our defense was as good as just about any, but we had no blocking. The need for a good qb goes without saying. After that, cold weather teams need to be able to sustain a ground game in the elements, and of course stop their opponents from running all over them. Green Bay is in the superbowl because of Rodgers, and the fact that they clicked on front seven defensive players and offensive linemen. They got their scatback in round 6. We got ours with the 8th selection, and there are weak OTs in front of him. This sort of tells the story too, wouldn't you agree?

Most of the above is a teary eyed defense of a man who did an absolutely horrible job (except at destroying ny chance of winning), but I will only address some of it. Whitner wasn't a bust because he wasn't as bad as Mike Williams? Is this what you think? 2006 was a star studded draft which was knee deep in very good players at positions of dire need for the Bills. Not only did he waste 3 picks on McCargo and 'Lil Donte, do you recall how he followed up this gem? Youboty and Ko Simpson. Why did you skip them and go straight to Kyle Williams? 3 of his first 4 picks consisted of defensive backs who sucked, and one that is marginal. Levy/Jauron are the only 2 fools that I have ever seen who choose to rebuild a team that is weak and sucks through the secondary. Oh...I will say yet again that they seem like nice guys. You defy us to name bad things he did? How about when he made that jackass "promise" not to put the tag on Clements? Did you like that move? It set the table Jauron (his boy from Chicago) to waste yet another first rounder on McKelvin, another wasted pick. He also busted out on free agents. He signed Dockery for 1 million less than Steinbach got over a 7 year deal. Problem was that Dockery sucks and Steinbach can play. Tripplet and Langston Walker were also horrible. Nobody is trying to deny that Ralph is ultimately to blame, but the fact is that Levys presence hurt this football team with his dumb drafts, dumb hires, and the idiotic philosophy that he shared with Jauron.

One cannot make a valid case in terms of stating that this mess (in terms of winning football games) is not ultimately the fault of Mr. Wilson. I think was annoys me just a bit is the number of people who give Marv a free pass. Even if he had NO say (which wasn't the case), he brought in and empowered Jauron, a known failure. Again, I HEARD Marv say that he turned down more than a second round pick in a trade down in order to draft Whitner. I doubt that Mr. Wilson made that particular call, whereas safeties don't sell so many seats, as compared to offensive skill positions. In any event, nice guy or not, Marv was clearly incompetent. But it's true; it wasn't his fault that he was hired. Just as it wasn't Dockery's fault that he was given a 48 million dollar contract, or Whitner's for being drafted at #8, etc.

Surprisingly, Marv has many staunch supporters. Although I respect him as a seemingly "nice man," I am thinking that even you give him more credit than I do as a football guy. While I agree that he was good at soothing huge egos, I think that the more input he had,the worse the team was. Even his biggest apologists want to forget his later years when he was standing next to Mauch and the two of them were simply screaming and spitting on the sidelines. It was like watching 2 incoherent people. Hall of Fame or not, he is not high on the list of the top football people I have seen over the years but again, he did seem like a nice guy, and I wish him well.

Nice draft! Good to see the focus on big players. There doesn't seem to be much of a chance of Courtney Upshaw declaring for the draft, right? If he does declare, where do you think he will be selected? The guy is a monster, a perfect fit for the Bills.

See, I can easily understand being skeptical of Mallett, but "slightly more talented?" Sorry to split hairs, but a distinction needs to be made imo. Mallett has a better arm than Anderson in every single sense. He has a WAY better deep ball, and can put it in there with or without air under it, and can do it without stepping up. He has a better fastball too. Losman, to his credit, had a nice fastball but it looks slow compared to Mallett. The kid throws 40 yard outs at will, and his checkdowns are 25 yard missles. Seriously, he has a freak arm. The game has changed, and mobility (which is not his strongest suit) seems to be more important to a qb these days. Speaking for my good friend AJ, I think that he is afraid Mallett will be statuesque like Bledsoe. This could be a valid concern too but in terms of talent (throws that only a few people on the planet can make), Mallett's talent level is 10x that of Anderson. Truthfully, he does resemble Drew Bledsoe.

What was worse than Donohoe was the fact that when he fired him, he brought in an incompetent Marv Levy. I think that I understand why he did that. Mr. Wilson trusts Marv, and has memories of him being a part of a winning team. Also, he properly assessed that Marv would kindle fan interest, in other words sell seats. Levy was a disaster, to include his draft picks, free agent signings, and coaching staff. This is what we are fighting to purge ourselves of now. The next time you see a thread of Donte Whitner and his tweets, think Marv Levy.

McKelvin at #11?

C'mon Brother, he was talking about arms. Certainly you cannot even deny that the kid has a freak arm, no?

Great question! I would be thrilled if the Bills drafted Mallett but I caution you that I thought RJ would be a great qb, and that Trent Edwards would get the job done for the Bills. I was however right about Losman, but that isn't much to brag about. I also agree that if Nix doesn't want a qb at #3, he will make a trade. It's gonna be fun, unless we waste a pick on a cornerback, but Mr. Wilson won't allow them to do that this time imo. Or, so I hope.

Have you watched Mallett? If you are looking for an arm, there it is.

Maybe so, but Wade was able to bring in Ted Washington and Bryce Paup in the same year. TKO was on his way to the hall of fame before getting hurt and we signed him too. The Bills probably have to overpay at this point which is ok, as long as they overpay the right players. I am about a 5 year/40 million dollar offer to Kevin Boss with 20 guaranteed if that is what it takes to build a strong football team. If he wants more, give it to him. Put Boss on a STRONG offensive line and the Bills are instantly a better offense in every sense. Years ago they signed Dockery to a 48 million dollar contract and he sucked. He was a lazy tub of lard whereas Boss goes all out and can win you football games with his blocking and clutch receptions. All of us are entitled to pipe dreams, but the Bills will continue to lose until they are stronger, and more suited for our climate and yes, our blue collar fanbase.

People have blasted me for saying this and that's fine, but I have a VERY strong feeling that Dallas is going to want our #3 to draft Mallett. It may sound crazy, but I really expect this to happen. Jones is an Arkansas alum and Mallett would add a ton of excitement to that boring team. Also, Romo sucks imo. Dallas picks 9th. Without looking at the chart, I want their 1st, 2nd, and another 2nd in 2012 to even consider the deal.

That's right John. And Palamalu was a #16 (as compared to Whitner at 8). And, Revis went at #14 (as compared to McKelvin at #11). Like I said, all we have to cling to is hope!

Olsen is listed as 6'6"/255. I don't watch enough of the Bears to speak with credibility of his prowess at blocking, but I promise to do so and let you know how he looks next week. Cool?

I guess this is where we strongly disagree. Riemersma got open, but he was a possession type receiver with bad hands. He dropped pass after pass and was not a good blocker. Kelly once said that Metz blocked like an offensive tackle, and I believe him.

I agree with the above but wish to add something. QBs, LTs, and pass rushing DEs go early almost every season because these players are extremely hard to get. If you stray from these positions with early picks that's OK, but a team had better not miss. For instance, Mangold went at 29 as I recall. He was drafted so late because typically, OCs do not merit such early choices. Would he have been worth the #8 instead of Whitner? Certainly! But again, taking Mangold early would have been considered a "reach." The same would apply to Branden Albert. He went 15th in 2008 and was listed as a Guard. That is early to take a Guard but they clicked, as did Seattle with Hutchinson at 17 in 2001. My point is that if you are going to grab rbs and safeties with early picks, you better not miss because the qbs, lts and des will probably be long gone. And, you can get rbs and safeties in later rounds. So, it would appear that not only do the Bills miss, they do things ass backwards as well. All we can do is hope for a change.

I don't know why you are trying to pick my words apart. Maybe I did a bad job of expressing myself. The last credible TE we had was Pete Metz. He was perfect for this team and playing in the elements, which was mostly what my OP was about. Imo the Bills all but disregard this position, and a player such as UFA Kevin Boss would help this team an untold amount. Seeing Cutler use Olsen this way was like a kick in the head to Bills fans. And yes, it would help to have better players at every position. But, did I really need to say this?

Did you want me to start in the early nineties, when Polian left and Levy gained influence? I started in 2006 because that was the most recent era in which our team was built upon players that Badolbilz does well to characterize as a dime a dozen. I take it a step further and say Levy/Jauron built the team upon small players who are not well suited to play in Buffalo. And that yesterday, the Bears showed us how it is done. I don't think they are perfect; they will probably lose to GB for all we know. But they had it right yesterday for a cold weather franchise.

The Bills tight ends are second rate, and usually are trying to block (which they are not good at) due to our second rate offensive line. As for the NE TEs which you brought up in another post, every TE on that team is better than our best TE. My point was clear, or so I thought. Since 2006, our first picks of drafts were used on a small safety, a headcase running back, a decent cornerback, a DE who is 40 pounds under weight, and a situational scatback. What do we have to show for it? Loss after loss and a 4th round pick. Go anywhere you want with numbers, but the Bears put on a clinic yesterday of what the Bills should do as a cold weather team, and it is frustrating. Jmo.

1) The run by Lynch in the wildcard game was great, but did anybody see the 58 TD pass Cutler threw on this cold, windy, snowy day? It was picture perfect, as well as a ball can be thrown. 2) How about 3 receptions for 113 yards and a TD from Olsen at TE? Can a Bills fan even imagine something this good? 3) The Bears ran for 176 yards and held Seattle to 34. 4) T.O.P.? NFL.com lists it as 37:11 to 22:50 in favor of the Bears. In summary, the Bears did everything a team is supposed to do in terms of using home field advantage. Cutler used his Mallett style arm in the elements. They ran and stopped the run and utilized the tight end. They did everything the Bills SHOULD be able to do. As Bills fans, we argue as to whether or not to keep Whitner, or if CJ Spiller was a good selection at #9. It is clear to me that the Bills must build a team which is suited to the environment in which they play. Maybe they DID start doing so after round 1 in 2010, but Levy/Jauron did untold damage to this franchise, and their mentality must be purged in a hurry. We have the #3, let's just hope they don't screw up yet another prime selection.

He was wrong about this but OC is a good poster and a good guy.

Nah...there was never a need to trade up. Again, Levy said that he had offers to trade down for more than another second. I was more about Mangold, Joseph and Trueblood. They were right there for the taking. Trading up was a dumb move when they could have had an extra second and used it on Trueblood. Remember, they also had an extra early third. It was a painful draft, unimagineably bad. Btw, I don't think that Ralph will allow Nix to draft a 1st round corner, even if Nix is so inclined. If the Bills do this, ticket sales/profits will decrease sharply. Of this I am sure. Do you agree? I am curious to your take about this selection, and how much control you think Mr. Wilson will have over it. I am convinced that the first round belongs to Mr. Wilson now that Dick Levy is gone. Are you?

I really do hope that Jauron convinces the Eagles sign to Whitner, and that they bring in Marv as their GM. It's time for other teams to suck.

We once drafted Donte at 8, He tweets us that he is just great. But with the Bills luck, Donte's play does just suck, Til he leaves town, I can hardly wait. Bye-bye 'Lil Donte!