Casey D

Really good stuff and post. Thanks, this was quite enlightening... CD

So what do we have putting all the pieces together? Pegula inherits a bit of a mess when he buys the team in October. The coach and GM don't get along, and Brandon seems caught in the middle. I'm a nice guy, and don't believe that this much tension is good in any organization. We need to all be pulling on the same oar--what do I do. My first instinct is to find a reliable person with experience to figure this mess out for me. I'll get Polian--like I got Lafontaine. That's the ticket. But then I begin to understand that Polian was a divisive figure himself when at the Bills. And he really does not want to work that hard at this point. But stil, he is a legend and I really like legends. Then Marrone makes a power play, and that pis@es me off. Eff him. And I begin to understand further that maybe Marrone is a big factor is all the strife in the organization. Polian starts to get cold feet because somehow he likes Marrone. We mutually agree for our own reasons that this isn't working out. Lafontaine did not work out-- hmm, maybe I should not do the same thing Through all this, I come to the conclusion that I like Doug Whaley. He is solid and dependable, maybe I should trust him like that Murray guy who is doing a nice job as GM with the Sabres. I like Russ too, he's been with me for a while now. But I can't let these two go off on their own because I will be toast in the media and they were a part of the dysfunction, if not necessarily the cause. Let's work hand in hand to find a new coach together. In the foxhole together and all that. We will either bond or not. But at the end of the day if we don't bond, at least I will know I have a coach I can work with moving forward. And given I don't have a czar and the exigencies require me to find a coach ASAP, I have no better alternative than to do this myself with the help of the guys I trust the most. Kim, Russ Doug let's gas up the plane and find us a coach. Someone who will help calm the waters and get us a Super Bowl. Let's move.

Nix was GM in early 2013 when Marrone was picked. Whaley was still the AGM.

The idea was to make Polian-- or someone-- be the same thing on the football side as Brandon NOW is to the business side. Notwithstanding whether you agree with such a structure, that is what they have in mind. Pretty simple.

This is exactly right.

I agree, but it really does not make sense for him to feel that way. He was brought on by a coach who is now gone, and paid by owners who did not own the team when he was hired. He did extremely well last year as DC, but his 5 year record as a head coach is decidedly mixed. He deserves consideration for the job for sure, but I don't want a knee jerk give him the HC job just to keep the D on track approach. His performance last year is a factor, but short sighted to hire soley on that basis, in my opinion, if you think a better long term guy is out there.

Feel exactly the same way.

Excellent!

Ice Ice baby...

Sounds great. And where exactly do we get that and how much will it cost?

Nice analysis. At the end of the day we got the guy we craved and overpaid a tad to get him. Sort of like with Mario. The ballbusters like Sullivan who claim the trade was an outrage for the Bills simply are making noise.

Your concerns seem dated to me. We have new owners, everything will be different. Our current football side is not even 2 years in place, the preceeding 12 years is meaningless. The deep cut-- old ownership-- is gone. Unless you think all the Bills problems since forever are on RB, then I don't get the point.

It could be, but we don't know that. If they want to do that that is great, but my primary concerns lie where indicated.

Totally agree.

I saw that too. That's exactly the kind of thing you need to know for sure in developing an improvement plan.

Say it's Bill Polian. What should he focus on? To me, he primarily needs to breakdown and totally analyze the offense, to determine where the problems lie. Everyone here has their opinions, it's Hackett, it's Orton, it's the line, it's the young receivers, it's the old or unproductive backs. As a fan, it is impossible for me to know the right answers. For example, In the Oakland game, we ran for 13 yards and people lay that on the play calling and say we should have run more. But to me, the Oakland D-line was overwhelming the Bills O-line making running near impossible. Which is it? Or say the insufficient targeting of Sammy. Is that the play calling, play design, QB play or Sammy not getting open enough? I honestly don't know the answer. Some expert needs to break that all down, come up with solutions and have the team execute it as best possible, i.e., if QB play is the main problem, sell the ranch to make an improvement. If QB is a tertiary problem, and the biggest thing is say line play and the coordinator, fix that and don't sell the ranch for a QB. This team is close. With this defense, we don't need an A offense to compete, a B offense would be good enough. And we have some playmakers, we just need to address the biggest problems aggressively.

The 19th overall pick--- Whaley mortgaged the future of this team for years giving that away... fool...

Of course I am not. Are you, and where do you get it?

Because the coaching staff hates you Dan.

And I understand what you are saying, don't disagree much. I'm assuming he'll have an 1800 yard season one day, and this won't matter a whit... If I had a racehorse that finished second in the Kentucky Derby, I would be thrilled-- and rich... Done

Not excited. But winning for the first time in NE in 15 years is mildly satisfying.

OK. targeting Sammy more should be a goal for next year. He's a great explosive player-- I'm glad we have him. My regard for him does not turn on 980 v. 1000.

A three game improvement is meaningful. But we need to feel we suck, so I guess everything is meaningless short of being in the playoffs.

But that draft pick for Watkins slides further. Where will we draft, about 17? Well he had the chance to go over 1000 today. Over the year, I guess targeting him more would be great, but much of the problem was QB accuracy. OK. The only goal today should have been to get Sammy 80 yards.

Dude, we won. We were sitting on a lead for 1 1/2 quarters. I'd rather win than lose on a pick trying to get Sammy 20 more yards. Meaningless...