mannc
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John Madden was asked this morning about the Jets/Bills game. He basically said, "Well, at least the Jets aren't as bad as the Bills. The Bills show up on the schedule at a perfect time for the Jets. The Jets will be able to get things rolling in the right direction for the stretch."
Pretty hard to argue with that.
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3 years--the usual
A coach should be given precisely as much (or as little) time as it takes to determine whether he has what it takes to build a winning program. Sometimes, it's obvious after one season that a guy is not going to get it done. (In Jauron's case, many of us strongly suspected that was the case one second after he was hired.) The Fish sacked Cam Cameron after one season. Bobby Petrino lasted less than one season in Atlanta. It should now be painfully obvious to any sentient being that Jauron is never going to take this team to the "next level". Therefore, every second he remains in Buffalo is time wasted.
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Good point, I could deal with that for a change. We just stay competitive but never make that leap. Sometimes I think the Bills need a 1 or 2 or 3 win season to completely implode and really start over. Of course I don't ever wish this on my team but this cycle of mediocrity never lets the Bills truly unravel and rebuild. It's always a band aid approach here instead of cleaning house. Now maybe that is not what is needed right now but at some point over the past 5 to 7 years I bet it would not have hurt or at least in my mind what the hell is the difference? AUGGHHHHH
While it's true that the Bills have rarely finished with less than 6 wins recently, they have cleaned house to some degree about every three years. I don't think there is any reason to believe that the upcoming house cleaning will be any more successful than the previous ones. The problem is that the same person is still wielding the broom.
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"If at the beginning of the year, I told you that the Bills would be . . . . "
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Here's my prediction of what will happen: the Bills will somehow eek out a win against the Dolphins to go 7-6. That will keep them showing up in any ESPN playoff scenarios as one of the teams "in the hunt". I wouldn't even be surprised if they win the next week and go 8-6. Everyone will get all excited, just like before the Cleveland game last year. What will happen next is what always happens: they'll lose the last two games of the year and they will finish 8-8. Sometime during the playoffs, it will be quietly announced that Dick Jauron has signed a contract extension, and management will cite Dick's improvement in the overall record. Improvement from 7-9 to 8-8 - yep that's what I predict.
It's a stretch to think that this team will win 2 of their last 4 games, all against teams fighting for their lives. But overall, hard to argue with this prediction.
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26 degrees and snow. And we're playing the f**king Dolphins in a DOME.
This just sucks.
Actually, the Bills are probably better off in the dome. It's pretty clear that they are a finesse team that is not capable of winning a tough, physical, bad weather game against the Dolphins, 49ers, or anyone else, for that matter. Sad, but true.
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Based on our track record, which coaching hires should we be terrified of coming to the Bills next season?
The ones I see us going with - tragically:
Dom Capers
Dave Wannestadt
Perry Fewell
Any others spring to mind?
Kevin Gilbride
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Based on our track record, which coaching hires should we be terrified of coming to the Bills next season?
The ones I see us going with - tragically:
Dom Capers
Dave Wannestadt
Perry Fewell
Any others spring to mind?
Steve Mariucci
Jim Fassel
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The "just give it to 'em" game at Foxborough.
Gregg Williams "blowing away" Ol' Whitey in that interview.
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In times like these, laughter can be the best medicine. What are the most laughable moments and personalities in Bills history? I'll nominate a few:
1. Chris Watson, the "punt catcher" (Was it Wade Phillips or Greggg who called him that?);
2. Robinson (forgot his first name), the washed up LB from the Titans, who Greggg brought with him from Nashville, getting faked out of his uniform by the elusive Chad Pennington;
3. Ol' Whitey holding a press conference at the 2005 draft "introducing" JP Losman as the Bills' "No. 1 draft pick", the year after the Bills wasted a number one by trading down to pick him (this stunt was supposed to make Bills fans feel better about the fact that we had no no. 1 pick that year);
4. Mike Williams eating himself out of the league;
5. Mularkey calling for a punt from the Pats' 32 yard line on 4th and 1 and the Bills trailing in the fourth quarter (in fairness, I think a number of other recent Bills coaches have probably done the same thing, but this particular one stuck in my mind);
6. Kelly Holcomb's 6-yard check down pass on 4th and 8 in the final minute against the Pats on national TV.
7. Tricky Dick Jauron calling timeout just as Nick Folk kicked the would be-winning FG for the Cowboys on MNF. In Buffalo, this, along with "deferring the kickoff", is what passes for state of the art coaching decisions.
Those are the ones I can think of off the top of my head, but I'm sure there are hundreds more.
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How does this guy solve the Trent Edwards problem? Is he an interior lineman who can actually block?
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This I definitely agree with. The Bills overpaid BIGTIME in this trade. They gave up a high 3rd round pick just to move up 9 slots in the second round. Way too expensive when they could have had David Harris fall right into their lap in the event Poz was taken.
It's funny you mention the trade-up thing.. you couldn't be more correct.
In 2006, Marv moved up to take McCargo -- dumb move then, dumb move now.
In 2007, Marv moved up to take Poz -- good player but the Bills overpaid bigtime.
In 2008, the NY media reported that the Bills tried unsuccessfully to trade back into the first round with the Giants!!!! They were probably targeting James Hardy.
When you don't value draft picks and you're willing to just trade them away, it shows in the product on the field.
When you trade up you are almost always trading two (or more) lower picks for one higher one. The problem with that is that no one truly knows who is going to be a bust and who is going to be a stud (although you can significantly increase your chances of success by ruling out any player who attended the University of Texas at Austin). You have a better chance to improve your team when you are able to draft multiple players instead of just one. And also, especially when you are trading up into the first round, the one player you are drafting usually costs you more money than the two or more players you would have picked lower on the board.
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Yet another one of Marv's boneheaded moves as GM.
1. Trading a 2nd and 3rd to grab Jon McCargo in the first round
2. Overpaying for Derrick Dockery
3. Re-signing Chris Kelsay to a big contract
4. Signing Robert Royal as a free agent
5. Awarding Schobel with a lucrative extension with 3 years remaining on his deal
6. Signing a washed up Peerless Price to a multi-year deal.
7. Passing on Ngata to take Whitner
Thank goodness he listened to Bill Walsh and chose Trent Edwards, who I feel will develop into a good QB for many years to come.
Looks like a pretty solid indictment, to me. I would add a few others, though: Hiring DJ, drafting RB Anthony Wright (or whatever his name was, from Fresno State) in the fourth round instead of building O-line depth, and trading up to draft Poz (even though he seems to have turned out to be a pretty good player) instead of sitting tight, taking David Harris and using the extra pick to draft another lineman. (If I ran an NFL team, trading up in the draft would constitute grounds for immediate termination of my GM. It almost never works out well.)
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Who's the fastest Buffalo Bill ?
If we're talking about a 100 yard race, I would not count out Moorman. He was a major track star in college, albeit at a small school. That's one of the reasons they have been so successful on fake punts.
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You know when I think the bad Dick Jauron season killing karma hit the Bills?
In that Miami game, the Bills won the coin toss and what does Dick Jauron do? He defers. A team that is 5-1 and is considered a top five team in the league defers to the second half. Hearing that set a shudder down my spine.
So what happens? The Miami Dolphins march down the field and the score is 7-0 and the Bills no longer look like a top five team in the league and whatever nerves the Dolphins had in playing the Bills were completely gone.
The Bills, being a 5-1 team, should have taken the ball and tried like heck to make the score 7-0. Keep the swagger, keep the Dolphins guessing whether they could beat us. Keep the crowd out of the game.
Now I know the Bills were in front of the Dolphins in that game, but that's not my point. That one decision told his offensive players that he didn't trust them. He trusted his defense more than the offense. He's head of a 5-1 team and he's worried his offense can't score on the Dolphins on that first possession. The Dolphins said thank you very much and proceeded to be the first team to knock the Bills off the AFC East mountain top.
I know that one stupid decision isn't the reason we lost 4 in a row, it's just that I do believe that one bad karma decision adjusted the trajectory just enough to throw the whole Bills season out of whack. If the Bills take the ball and score seven on that first drive the Dolphins lose to us. That's what I'll always think about in regards to that game.
I think you are right about this idiotic deferral strategy. It's what moron coaches do to try to convince people that they are clever, sort of like calling a timeout just before the other team snaps the ball on a field goal attempt.
You did not mention that in the Miami game, after the Bills deferred, the Dolphins marched the ball down the field and scored an easy touchdown. Then, when the Bills got the ball, after a long drive, they kicked a FG rather than going for it on fourth and goal from the one yard line. In the Chiefs game, they went for it and scored a TD in exactly the same situation. And look at the result.
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The article makes a few good points, but why is it that the Jets and the Dolphins (!), both of whom were inferior teams last year, have blown past us? Why was such endless patience seemingly not necessary for fans of those teams?
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Good idea! I wish we could come up with some more things like it.
And if we recover the onside kick, then what? The Bills' primary problem (a completely useless offensive line) cannot be fixed by gimmicks, trickery or new schemes.
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From top to bottom the Bills are a conservative football team. Talent aquisition aside it starts with the Head Coach. I have never been a big fan of Dick Jauron because he is way to conservative for my tastes. Every week i see the coach not take chances with his players. Against NE there is a perfect example of conservative type coaching. Late in the 2nd quarter just before half time the bills were in field goal ranch for Lindell. It would have been a 54ish distance kick. Lindell can make those. The bills opted to punt and it was a great one. downed inside the 5 yard line or something. The defense fails to stop NE and NE ends up running out the clock.
Before the punt was made the camera's cut away to Ryan Lindell standing on the sidelines waiting for the call to go in. When it was decided that they would punt i saw Lindell's face/body language and it was of disappointment. He wanted to kick that ball to give the Bills some kind of lift and it was denied.
I understand why the Bills punted. They hoped to pin the ball deep into NE territory, force a 3 and out and get better field position with some time on the clock. Instead the game goes to Halftime with zero points for the Bills.
If Ryan makes the kick the Bills get 3 points and with a decent kickoff NE around the 20 yard line. I don't see it being up different then the field position they got with the punt. But the Bills would have had 3 points.
The point of this post is that Conservative mind sets in my opinion is the wrong attitude to give players. Every player wants to be a playmaker. If players aren't given the opportunity to make plays then they are denied the thing they love doing the most. I believe it wears on the mentality of a team and it shows lack of confidence from the coaching staff to the players about their ability.
I agree with you, but I think "conservative" is the wrong word for Jauron's style. I would use the word "timid" or "chicken..it". When I think of conservative football, I think of hard-nosed football where you pound away at the other team with your power running game. Conservative is not necessarily bad (see NY Giants). Timid always is. And it has become a trademark of this franchise, especially against the Patriots and any team associated with Bill Parcells.
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I'll tell You what...The Bills Coaches could learn a thing or two about Running the Football from The Giants...the way they Block and set up the holes both inside and outside is a thing of beauty...It's not like Jacobs is a speed burner but He's still busting HUGE runs on the perimeter against FAST Defenses...
So I ask this question...Name one of the Giants starting O-Linemen? Anyone? That's what I thought...
Did you see the play where Jacobs lost the ball just after crossing the goal-line? The Giants interior line absolutely caved in the Eagles defensive line (which doesn't suck, by the way) on a play from the 2 yard line when the Eagles knew the Giants would run it up the gut. Awesome. That is how you win a football game. It is also something we will never, ever see the Bills do, at least until they stop using all their top picks to draft "skill position" players.
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Okay you win, but by your rational a guy like Plaxico Burress who was drafted #8 overall and had only 22 REC in his rookie year should have been worse then Sylvester Morris who was drafted lower yet he had 48 Rec. in his rookie year. Or even Dennis Northcutt who had his 39 rec in his rookie year.
Do you see now how absolutely ridiculous it is to judge a WR in his rookie year. I don't feel like doing anymore leg work but I can assure that there are a lot more examples that support my argument.
You are absolutely right that it can take time for WRs to develop--Eric Moulds springs immediately to mind--and we certainly should not write off Hardy yet. (I can also think of at least one rookie WR, the guy TB drafted a couple years ago out of LSU, who was great his rookie year and a total washout thereafter, but that's pretty rare.)
On the other hand, it's not a good sign that Hardy has done little despite injuries to the WR corps that should have given him a greater opportunity to make some noise. It's also a bit more troubling in light of the fact that three other rookie WRs drafted in round 2, including two selected after Hardy, have made major and immediate impacts for their teams. And you have to admit, after the pathetic performance of the Bills' offence last year, the Bills had to have been looking for a rookie WR who could help immediately.
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no, i like the potential. wide receivers rarely produce anything the first year. mckelvin was not that bad of a pick-look at what everyone picked after him has produce this year. maybe talib or avery would have been better but the others have not impressed. omon has potential, give it a couple years
How about the two receivers drafted after Hardy, namely Eddie Royal and DeSean Jackson? They don't seem to be having trouble producing this year. Oh, I forgot, Jackson is too short.
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I don't have a problem with the FG. At the time, 1st quarter, there's all the time in the world. Take the easy points and regroup. Most coaches will take the 3pts at that point in the game, IMO.
I agree that most NFL coaches would take the 3 points in that situation, but that doesn't mean it's the right thing to do. Two of the most successful coaches in the business (Belichick and Parcells) have made it their trademark to go for 7 in that situation (as well refusing to punt on fourth and less than 3 from inside the opponents' territory) And, from a statistical standpoint, it makes no sense to settle for 3 because the odds are far better than 3 out of 7 that the offense will score a TD from there. (Gregg Easterbrook writes about this a lot in his Tuesday Morning QB column.) Also, what the hell is wrong with playing with a little swagger for once?
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On the road, you take the points. We we're able to go ahead on 2 drives because of those 3 points being there.
That being said, I still believe that FG's are crutches that weak teams use to keep it close & our red zone production has left something to be desired the past so many weeks.
On the other hand, if we went for it and scored, the game would have been tied in the fourth quarter, before the safety was surrendered, and we would have trailed by less than one score late in the fourth, instead of needing a TD and an on-side kick. And, of course, if we went for it and failed, the Dolphins would have begun their drive from their own half-yard line, which could have resulted in the Bills getting a safety or excellent field position on the next possession.
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Jauron takes the odds EVERY TIME. An up for grabs lob to our WR is not a high percentage play on fourth day. In any situation, Jauron takes the odds.
In the first quarter, on your first drive, you take the points.
If you're looking for a coach who makes ballsy calls, you've got to find a new team to root for.
My point is, kicking the field goal is not taking the odds. You have (or should have) a better than 3 in 7 chance of scoring a TD from the 1. And if you don't make it, the other team starts on their own half yard line. Timid is not necessarily smart.
Is Dick Jauron Gone ?
in The Stadium Wall Archives
Posted
I don't think Dick will be back. Whatever you say about Ralph, you can't accuse him of being overly patient with incompetent coaches. Please recall that he canned Wade, Greggg, and Meathead as soon as it became clear that each of them was not the right guy for the job (unless you really believe that Wade and Meathead "quit"). I don't think you can say that he kept any of those guys around too long, unless you want to argue that they should have been sacked mid-season, or never hired at all. No, Ralph's problem is that he always seems to hire the wrong guy, not that he keeps the bums around too long (see Detroit Lions, Millen). I think we can look forward to a new coach next year (hooray).