Rubes

Damn, this is a painful thread to read. Really bringing out the emotions in everyone. You know, I'm disappointed that EM was apparently not put into the game plan. I'm disappointed that he whined to the point of disruption. I'm disappointed that MM took steps that potentially alienated a senior veteran of the team. I'm disappointed in the players, I'm disappointed in the coaches, and I'm disappointed in the season. There really isn't anybody or anything I'm not disappointed with. I will say this: It sounds to me like MM is trying to take the high road and to put together a team which, like the Pats, does not focus on individuals but rather the team. When individuals do things that are against the team concept (whether it be Adams or Moulds for, apparently, being upset with the scheme that they are asked to work within) I would expect the coach to have some nads to stand up to them. I don't know what actually happened or how things were really handled, but it's unfortunate that things turned out this way. I really don't know who is to blame for that. However, I'm pretty sure that the frustration of this season contributed in large part to the way this eventually played out.

Somehow, I doubt even that.

"Every season ticket subscription comes with a free gift! A $59.95 value!"

I get the jist of the quote, but I still chuckle at the thought of Bruce Smith saying "whomever".

Sure. Everybody loves ripping TD for hiring head coaches with no head coaching experience, so why not hire a GM with no GM experience? He'll fit right in.

Can't really blame him after that loss. I felt the same way walking out of Qualcomm couple weeks back.

I still can't figure out what it's supposed to be.

That WAS Willis.

Even Al Michaels was dissing the Philly fans last night. Screw 'em all.

Miami has nice tubes?

They didn't !@#$ up, that's what they always do.

Heppy boithday!

I don't really know what it means to put cement in this crack. The way I look at it, the Bills have made mistake after mistake, last year and this year. Are they learning from their mistakes? Or are they continuing to do the same things over and over? At what point do you conclude that the message is just not getting through?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but EM's contract is not up this year, so it's not really a matter of "re-signing" him. He will count a huge amount against the cap next year, so like it is with any player in that position, the team needs to sit down and think about the value they get for the money. Will we be better off with EM in the lineup at a huge salary, or will we be better off cutting him and using the cap savings on other positions? I don't know the answer to that, although my guess is that we'd still be better off with him than without him. The other option, of course, is to try and re-do his contract. We've already done that once. I doubt there is any realistic way we can push his upcoming money any further into the future, and based on what has happened I sincerely doubt he will accept a pay cut from this organization. So "signing him at a reasonable market contract" is not quite summing up the situation realistically.

I don't advocate firing Mularkey (yet), but I just don't go along with this thinking. "If" we managed not to blow it? We blew it for a reason. It wasn't random. It happened once, then it happened again, and now a third time. How many times does it have to happen before it's recognized as something that happens for a particular reason? It's kind of like the typical coach response to a bad play call. Like if Mularkey had said, "If that first down and goal pass play had worked, nobody would be calling it a bad play call." Sorry, doesn't work that way. It didn't work, and the game was lost, for a reason.

So how about we line up that teeny little wide receiver as the quarterback and let him throw it? Yeah, you know, the one who usually doesn't throw it. The guy with the broken throwing wrist. With a big cast on his broken throwing wrist. So what? I guarantee it'll at least get a first down.

Haven't there been enough exposures this season to already know this? Raise your hand if you weren't sure that we needed a line badly. Holler "aye!" if you thought the collapses against New England and Carolina weren't enough to know that we need to finish what we start. And please, I'd really like to know if you are one that, to this point, really hasn't been convinced that we need to do a better job of calling plays! It's a sickening loss because, even this far into the season, after debacle after debacle, we still haven't begun to learn from our mistakes.

Doesn't that also count for Mularkey?

Well, I was just trying to thank the 2005 Buffalo Bills, but what the hell. Thanks for that, too!

Interesting find. I believe the rule should have been that it was an incomplete pass with a penalty, but you only get to pick one or the other. If the Bills had declined, it would have been 4th down at the 1. But I don't see that as a any better than 3rd down with the 5 yard penalty.

Given that it's the holiday season, I thought I'd take a moment to give thanks to the 2005 Buffalo Bills for a season of wonder. Thank you for being completely dismantled by Tampa Bay. Thank you for blowing it at home against Atlanta. Thank you for being crapped on by a lousy New Orleans team. Thank you for being completely dismantled by a lousy Oakland team. Thank you for choking in the last minutes against New England. Thank you for being completely dismantled by San Diego. Thank you for choking in the last minutes against Carolina. Thank you for choking in the last minutes against Miami. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to think about which is really worse, getting completely dismantled or choking in the last minutes. Thank you for an "improving" offensive line that just needs a little more time together. Thank you for another top notch defense. Thank you for making some of our best players completely irrelevant. Thank you for some of the most creative, outside-the-box playcalling I've ever seen. Thank you for "packages". It's the season for giving thanks...have you?

"We have to find a way to finish games."

Can you name any?

Well, I didn't say he addressed the O-line well, but he did address it.

Well, one nitpicky thing I have is that TD actually did address the offensive line this offseason. We picked up a new LG and LT, and drafted a promising new C. Plus, he picked up a decent RG the year before, and the RT was supposed to have been "improving". Of course, the LT turned out to be average at best, the LG turned out to suck major a$$, the RG has been injured and underwhelming, the RT has been injured and basically also sucks a$$, and the new C won't be seeing much time this year, but that's besides the point.