JDG

Thanks for the compliment, though I should clarify that I watched this game on TV just like most of the rest of you.... and so I have no way of determining if Eric Moulds was actually double-covered on that play. Heck, I don't even know if Eric Moulds was on the field for that play! The above is simply, based on Buff News reports that Moulds is still often double-covered by opposing defenses (how accurate that report is is anybody's guess - but I'm taking it at face value), and so I simply speculated how Moulds could have been double-covered on the touchdown play *while* seeing safety Travares Tillman fall down to give Evans the easy touchdown. JDG

If Mularkey is taking the high ground, why is Mularkey talking to the media with comments like "He took himself out of the game", while it is *Moulds* who is making the tactful "no comment" to the media? JDG

The Buffalo News is apparently reporting that Mularkey has asked Ralph Wilson to approve a suspension of Eric Moulds. It looks like we won't have to wait until the offseason to see the future of this team. 1) If the suspension is approved, I can't help but see this becoming a Keyshawn/TO situation where Moulds is suspended/deactivated for the rest of the season on the way to being cut. Given that Moulds has never seemed to be a head case in his 10 years here, this would be a sad situation indeed. 2) On the other hand, if the owner is going to overrule the Head Coach's own suspension, then Mularkey could, no *should*, either be fired or resign on the spot - and let Jerry Gray be interim head coach for the rest of the year. The Head Coach can't be overturned on suspending one of the highest-profile players on the team and survive..... And if Mularkey is fired/resigns, how long can Donahoe realistically survive after blowing two head coaching picks? JDG

I don't have the luxury of being able to review game film, but two very simple _possible_ explanations: 1) Most NFL teams line up two safeties in most formations. In this case, they could have called Double-Moulds, Cover-1, where one safety double-covers Moulds and the other safety plays in a deep zone. 2) They could have been playing a basic zone defense, such as a Cover-2 or a Cover-3, so the corner released Evans to the deep zone, which was the responsibility of one of the safeties - this is often what QB's look for in deciding whether to throw the bomb, or check down to an outlet receiver underneath. So, Losman sees the corner release Evans to the safety in the deep zone and heaves it deep. Meanwhile, Moulds could be double-covered if it was, say a Cover-2, man-Moulds, where one corner sticks with Moulds wherever he goes, while the rest of the defense plays a zone. JDG

Exactly. Managing personalities is a key component of the HC's job, and he's not getting it done. Moulds has been here for 10 years, and has hardly been a malcontent during that time. Even now, on the verge of getting suspended, he is giving a sensible "no comment" to the media. And yet, Mike Mularkey is apparently wanting to give Moulds the same treatment that has previously been reserved for Keyshawn Johnson and Terrell Owens? It doesn't make sense...... and I think Mularkey has to shoulder his share of the blame. JDG

I think it is ridiculous to say that the 1st Quarter was the result of a gameplan to make Eric Moulds a decoy. At least one of those TD's occurred when a Miami defender fell down. The short TD occurred on a basic slant pattern. I don't recall exactly the other TD, but it seemed like a basic deep pattern - of the kind we have used to Lee Evans for two years now. Eric Moulds may not be the team's best player - but he belongs in that discussion *still*, and he is definitely our team's best WR. Last year he caught 88 for 1043 - a fine season by any standards, despite our woeful offense. Moreover, if its 3rd Down, and I am opposing defensive coordinator trying to get off the field, I definitely strongly consider doubling Eric Moulds before I think about anyone else. JDG

Did somebody change the rules about suiting up 44 other players besides Eric Moulds on gameday without telling me???? JDG

Indeed, how many teams in a player-coach conflict is the player saying "no comment" and the Coach is talking to the press????? What an embarassment! JDG

I don't think that is true.... if any Bengals fans were calling for Lewis to be fired after just two years, they were a small minority. The Bengals finished 8-8 last year, had a win over playoff-bound Denver, and showed flashes on both offense and defense at times. An astute football observer could see that all the pieces were there (and this observer picked them in the pre-season to lose the AFC Championship game at Indianapolis - not to toot my own horn. ;-) And Lewis had *never* embarassed the franchise the way Mularkey has embarassed us against Pittsburgh last year, and against Miami last Sunday. JDG

And if we were fans/stockholders of the company, we would be calling for the empliyer to be fired, not the employee.... JDG

Let's see, just this season alone, Mularkey has managed to royally piss off Sam Adams, Eric Moulds, and arguably Willis McGahee as well. That is a disturbing trend to me, and strongly questions his ability to manage personalities. Mularkey should be the one to go this offseason, not Moulds. JDG

Unbelievable and depressing is exactly right! I am shocked, *shocked* I tell you, to hear that our best WR would be upset about not being in the gameplan for a game against Miami with our playoff hopes on the line! Why, he aught to be cut for being upset like that! JDG

I think that the infatuation with Mularkey started wearing off once we lost *at home* to the Pittsburgh junior varsity team with the playoffs on the line - and then looked back at the schedule of who we were beating during "our run", and suddenly weren't so impressed. JDG

His son is a senior. JDG

Right because, teams the successful teams in the NFL routinely purge their roster of all the "old players" and just always go with the new ones. JDG

Well, Holmgren made the playoffs in his first year. He then missed the playoffs for the next three year, but finished 9-7 and one game out of the playoffs in his third year. Following that he made the Wild Card, and now has two straight division titles. JDG

I can't believe you just called the second-most successful franchise in the NFL for the past five years "pathetic." The Eagles have lost their two best players this year, and after an incredible run are having a down year. Remember the Bills in 1994 after the 4th Super Bowl? That year included some home-shellackings to the Jets and Patriots to the tune of 3-23 and 17-41. And that's with Andre Reed playing the whole year, and Jim Kelly playing most of it. JDG

The NY Jets and the Philadelphia Eagles are exhibits A and B on why its important to have a backup QB. Although in the Jets' case, they've gone all the way down to their 5th-stringer at some points this season - and ain't not team could handle that. Say what you want about Donahoe, but having Shane Matthews at #3 is an incredible luxury for this team. JDG

He's my first choice, but here's a guy who's been in the back of my head as well - http://www.chicagobears.com/team/coachbio.jsp?id=33 He's a young guy that could really wow us - and his defenses have scored tons of points for two years now. JDG

Well, anyone who knows me knows that I am not one ordinarily given to wild swings of emotion wanting to cut coaches and fire the GM. Even though I never liked Gregg Williams, I was consistently cutting him slack until the very end. Likewise, although I ordinarily think that it takes three years to judge a head coach and while I considered this year to be a "development year" with the new QB and all - I think that the case against Mike Mularkey has now become so overwhelming that we must bite the bullet and go in a different direction in the offseason. 1) In just two seasons, he has managed to compile two of the most gut-wrenching and embarassing losses in Buffalo Bills history. How confident would we feel in the playoffs or in the Super Bowl with a coach who pulled stinkers like last year's Pittsburgh game and last week's Miami game? 2) Mularkey has given us strong suspicion that he is not able to manage the personalities on the team. Every football team is a mixture of superstars, stars, prima donnas, attitude cases, and any other sort of personality from the human menagerie that you can imagine. Managing that mix is perhaps right at the top of a Head Coach's duties. Yet, Mularkey has clearly run into problems with Sam Adams, and it has become a distraction. Mularkey has publicly called out one of our youngest stars, Willis McGahee, in public - and he clearly is none too happy with it. Moreover, it is very disconcerting that he has let realtions with this teams savviest veteran leader, Eric Moulds, degenerate so much that he ended up benching Moulds in a critical contest. Our best, perhaps only, chance of keeping Moulds as a veteran leader on next year's team, likely at a reduced salary, is with a new head coach. 3) He has shown questionable game-planning. We've seen a lot of a wicky-wacky stuff the last two years. What we haven't seen is any of the wicky-wacky stuff actually work. Seriously, have we even managed to so much as get a first down on a wicky-wacky play, let alone score???? Maybe we have - but surely we have seen far more wicky wacky disasters than successes - Shelton on 4th and Goal, the fake QB sneak, etc. etc. 4) Continuing the questionable game-planning, in nearly two seasons Mike Mularkey's team has failed to make a single 4th Quarter comeback, while at the same time blowing more than a few 4th Quarter leads. That kind of track record is devastating to a team's long-run winning percentage. 5) He has failed to show evidence of getting better. Even accounting for the considerable difference in schedule strength between this year and last, its hard to make any kind of case whatsoever that this team has gotten better. Indeed, there's a lot of evidence that it has gotten worse. And that's scary considering the way last year ended.... I'm disgusted as much as anybody - this opinion goes against almost all of my football instincts - at the thought of having a third different head coach in just four seasons.... and our fourth in just seven seasons. I am a huge believer that improvement in the NFL comes in large part through continuity. You won't see me making absurd calls for gutting the roster except for the Top 10 players . Yet, sadly, it appears that the case against Mularkey is too compelling to ignore - particularly the first point, he's managed to end each of his first two seasons in utter embarassment... and I just can't have confidence in him in the future - even if he were fortunate enough to somehow make the playoffs. So, where to go from here.... My first choice for a new coach would be Kirk Ferentz - he has the Bill Parcells/Bill Belichick pedigree, and he has been coaching out of his mind at Iowa, where among other things, he has developed more than a few offensive linemen. We'll see if we can pry him out of there. The Buffalo Bills job shouldn't look too badly to a prospective candidate like Ferentz, who could have multiple opportunities (as well as the choice of staying at his pretty nice current gig) - we have a good amount of cap space to bring in players, and a young core of offensive talent in Losman - McGahee - Evans - Parrish, possibly Everett and hopefully Moulds providing veteran leadership. We have the best special teams in the League, a young star in McGee, a very solid player in Schobel in end, and two decent LB's in Fletcher and Spikes. Overall, despite the heavy turnover under the headsets the last few years, this job shouldn't look like a coach-killer situation.... so maybe we could land a marquee name like Ferentz.... provided that we bite the bullet on Mularkey after just two years based on the evidence presented. JDG

The problem is that any HC with NFL HC experience that is available is also a proven failure. O.k., sure there is Bill Belichick - but there's also Marty Mornhinweg, Dick Jauron, Vince Tobin, etc., etc. JDG

Actually, "most of us" will have Monday off of work. Its a bummer that you either: a) work for one of the very few businesses that will get Friday off, b) have a Scrooge for an employer c) work in the service sector, where someone has to cover most major holidays. JDG

Except for the fact that Florida State finished ahead of Miami in the ACC, and you forgot that West Virginia, not Oregon, is in the BCS too.... JDG

1) During three meaningful quarters against Carolina last week, Willis McGahee averaged 1.9 yards per carry. I don't care if you are starting the Houston Texans' O-Line out there, 1.9 ypc at home is simply not acceptable. In the 3rd Quarter of the Miami game, where a long drive could have put the thing on ice (and before we went ultra-conservative), McGahee only averaged 3.1 or so ypc. Again, that's just not getting it done. His total per game averages for the last five weeks are all similarly mediocre to bad. 2) I think the case in point is Terrell Owens. Or how about the "Bickering Bills'" year? I think that self-aggrandizing and back-biting quotes are known to be detrimental to a team's winning percentage. McGahee isn't there yet, but I'm almost waiting for a "I'm a Michael Jordan of the Bills" comment.... 3) In response to both you, Cripes, and Ramius on this point - rather than assuming that Mularkey is trying to lose games and get himself fired.... maybe we should consider the fact that Shaud Williams is actually a better player in the passing game than McGahee is right now? Maybe McGahee really is an unacomplished blocker, and not a particularly good pass receiver? I think that is a much more likely explanation of the available facts. JDG

Before I begin, let me clarify that I do not want throw Willis McGahee overboard. I think that Willis McGahee could be a very, very, good back in the NFL. With that being said, I cannot avoid two conclusions: 1) Willis McGahee has not played like a very good back for several weeks now. In fact, he hasn't even played like a *good* back for several weeks now. 2) Willis McGahee has a very annoying tendency to make singularly distracting and divisive quotes to the media. 3) Very good backs, let alone"the best back in the NFL", should not be coming out of the game in favor of Shaud Williams on 3rd Down (aka "money down") and in passing situations. Personally, I think that Willis McGahee should be expected to correct all of those things, and should be criticized for those things as long as he fails to correct them. JDG