Bills Fan in MD

Carolina could really win this - and by "this" I mean the whole ball of wax.

I'm torn. If he doesn't get it, Schefter looks bad (again). If he does get it, however, the pleasure of seeing Marrone facing criticism from the NY media will be worth the price of admission alone.

Transylvania University. His major was how to drive a stake into the heart of your hometown, and his GPA was a cool 4.0.

Thanks. I love the fact that Ralph always voted against relocation, but he had absolutely nothing to lose. He was an original AFL owner who everyone knew to be a bit of a curmudgeon. The Pegulas don't have that luxury. They are still incredibly new owners, and everything they do now will affect their relationship with the league for as long as they own the team. It's no different from any professional setting. The person who is in a job for decades gets cut a ton of slack for being a bit quirky and contrarian. If the new guy tries the same thing, it's a very different dynamic.

Anyone know where they'll play until the stadium is ready?

Absolutely not. Even if he could play, the locker room stuff is a huge problem. I normally don't put a ton of stock in reports of anonymous teammates ripping on a player, but when you combine those reports with some of things he's written on social media (and reinforced by the stunt he pulled this weekend when he left a "woe is me" note on his locker for reporters), it really makes me wonder if he'll ever get it. Wherever he goes, he will be expecting to start. If that doesn't happen, look out. I give him credit for staying fairly low-key this year, but I wouldn't count on him doing that again.

Compared to what this board is going to look like for the next six to eight months, this OP probably as novel as it's going to get.

I've struggled with it, but I think I'm in the same place. I fully recognize that I could be very, very wrong. And the penalties and overall lack of discipline this year are troubling, to say the least. However, I really don't have any doubt that Rex will eventually right the defense -- assuming that he gets the right personnel in place (and that's a very big "if"). So, on balance, I think you're right. If the offense (particularly Tyrod) continues trending in the right direction, 2016 could finally be the year. Now please excuse me while I attempt to kick the football out of Lucy's hold.

Sorry, but I'm going to have to leave this thread. I need to follow up on a rumor that Colton Schmidt just tried to get through the express line at Tops with 16 items!

So this is where we are -- only four days into the offseason? It's going to feel like an eternity between now and next September . . .

I didn't realize until just now that Kroenke is from Missouri and was named after two St. Louis Cardinals legends (Stan Musial and Enos Slaughter). His full name is Enos Stanley. I guess you really can't go home again.

This is crazy. If you read pp. 20-24 (or just skim them), it basically TRASHES St. Louis, essentially making the case that it's in a massive decline and is "not a three professional sport city." Those claims may or may not be true, but if the Rams wind up staying in St. Louis, I'm not sure how the the relationship between the team, the city, and the fans could recover - absent Kroenke selling the team. That all sounds really ugly. Watching this from afar just makes me appreciate the Pegulas more and more.

If this team hits 20 years with no playoffs, I'll change my screen name to "8-8 fanboy."

There are 250 days between now and Sept. 11, 2016, which is when I assume the Bills will play their next game. That means 250 more days of speculation, false reports, conflicting information, targeted leaks, checking the status of private jets, etc. before the next time the team takes the field for a meaningful game, which is kind of the point of it all. And for the 16th straight year, it all starts while other teams are gearing up for the postseason.

A solid offensive line and a set of linebackers that can work in Rex's defense.

I'd like to go on record to say that if the Bills ever have a coach who leads them to two Super Bowl rings, I will never call for that coach to be fired, nor will I support any decision that doesn't allow that coach to go out on his own terms. Just saying.

I've been getting closer and closer to this point every year for the last 16 years. I don't know if it's the frustration of ALWAYS looking ahead to the next season, or the trainwreck that the NFL has seemed to become of late, but each year at this time I'm just exhausted with football and ready to move on.

Why wouldn't a 10-5 team be favored over a 7-8 team?

I still don't believe in momentum carrying over from one season to the next, but that still felt great.

Same here.

This is just about where I am on this whole thing. The contrast in effort with Hughes, who was just as badly misused, is telling.

That was really well done.

His signing generated a 229 page thread: http://forums.twobillsdrive.com/topic/143043-mario-williams-officially-a-buffalo-bill/ 225 more pages to go!

He's going to have a monster year next year. That doesn't mean I don't think this isn't the right decision. In fact, it's as good as evidence as there is to show that he basically quit on the team this year. And that doesn't even begin to get into his effect on the locker room. That said, people should start preparing for a 15 sack season from him.

After 16 years of going through these questions at the end of the year, I'm convinced that there's no such thing as "momentum" carrying over from one season to the next -- positive or negative. That's not to say that stability and familiarity aren't important, but when the team gets to training camp next July (much less the opener in September), the past season will seem like another lifetime ago.