2020 Our Year For Sure

Absolutely. The track record for teams coming off Super Bowl losses is not a good one. And we'll see if Brady can read defenses when he doesn't know 75% of the plays pre-snap. He might actually have to think, for the first time in his career. I'm expecting 9-10 wins at the most.

Maybe not. It never helped Phillips find an offensive genius here. Maybe some guys just don't know enough about offense to make a quality hiring.

We got the DirecTV NFL schedule as well. Very cool.

I really can't disagree with anything in this post. I would hope that if Turk doesn't work out, we don't go burning Jauron at the stake. Instead, we should accept its possible he just doesn't know what he's doing when it comes to hiring offensive coordinators, much like both Tony Dungy and Wade Phillips. If someone else could find him a coordinator, which is exactly what was done for Dungy and Phillips, he could be as successful as those guys have been in their current stops.

You can't bank on the idea that Jauron will be here next year if the defense is top-10, the team plays hard, penalties stay low...and a mediocre offense holds us back? That means the team is playing smart, yet impassioned football, and has a championship-calibre defense. All thats missing is a quality X's and O's guy on the offensive side of the ball. There's no reason to blow that up, unless you want to be to Dick Jauron what Tampa Bay was to Tony Dungy. There's no reason to think Jauron has some magical flaw that denies him the ability to field a good offense, any more than there was reason to think that about Dungy before Indianapolis hired him. Again: give Dick Jauron Tom Moore and Peyton Manning and you have a great offense. Give him Steve Fairchild and a quarterback controversy, and you have that thing we saw last year. There's no magic involved: just find a good coordinator. And if you don't think Jauron is capable of hiring a good coordinator, then take that power out of his hands.

I imagine the majority of Jauron's stroke in the personnel department is based on the idea that he knows best what kind of players will fit his system on the defensive side of the ball. I doubt, for example, that he chose James Hardy instead of Limas Sweed, or that it was his idea to sign Langston Walker. If you disagree, I'd love to know what you're basing that on. The head coach is responsible for certain aspects of both sides of the ball; primarily the amount of effort players show, and the amount of penalties they get flagged down for. But a screen pass in a blizzard on the deciding play of the season's deciding game, playcalling so predictable fans and commentators alike can call the play before the snap, and a complete fear of throwing the ball in the red zone...I don't see Jauron being responsible. The offense was mostly Fairchild's show. Tony Dungy is a defensive head coach who was given too much blame for poor offense, and I think most agree in hindsight that his firing was a mistake. If you have a guy who keeps the defense playing well, who most of the team plays hard for, and who limits penalties, you're in business if you can find the right offensive coordinator. So if the effort stays at a high level this year and the penalties stay at a low one, and the defense takes a step up, you can expect to see Jauron on the sidelines again next year, even if the offense spinning it's tires in the mud results in a .500 record. Bank on that.

But thats hardly the point. The point is whether or not we can expect these coaches to correct the poor performance that results when they're saddled with inept offensive coordinators...not whether or not they know more than you or I. Jauron shouldn't be blamed for anything the offense did last year, unless its by virtue of his error in hiring Fairchild.

I'm in if there's room.

Yeah. You're bringing in a top-5 starter at his position, who has one of the greatest careers of the last 25 years, a living legend who went to the Pro Bowl and the Conference Championship as recently as last season. Meanwhile, you're benching a player who has accomplished absolutely nothing in this league, save for the 32nd ranked offense he contributed to last year, who can't seperate himself from the busted draft pick that is the current backup at the position. Yeah, I think Trent will understand why he'll have to wait a year. As for your other point, there's no need to change the offense. Let Schonert continue with whatever system it is that he's planning on installing, with the one change being a vast upgrade at the unit's most pivotal position. I really can't see why a Bills fan wouldn't want Favre here.

On the poker table, I've become adept at beating players who play a super-aggressive style. That doesn't mean I know how to play a super-aggressive style, and it certainly doesn't mean I should be telling super-aggressive players how to play. The same holds true with a defensive head coach: the fact that they've spent time foiling offensive coaches hardly means they are offensive coaches. Tony Dungy, Bill Belichick and Wade Phillips went a combined 42-6 in the regular season last year. These are defensive coaches who, to the best of my knowledge, know very little about the offensive side of the ball. I have no reason to believe Bill Belichick would be able to correct the missteps of an inept offensive coordinator. If he can, why didn't he do so in Cleveland? Why didn't Phillips take over the offense in Buffalo? Why was Dungy's offense so bad in Tampa Bay, year after year? Because they know very little about coaching offense. Give Dick Jauron Tom Moore and Peyton Manning, and you've got a good offense. Give him Steve Fairchild and a quarterback controversy, and you've got the travesty we saw last year.

But what does this have to do with Dick Jauron? Where is his fault, other than hiring Fairchild? If Belihick committed an error in hiring an inept offensive coordinator as Jauron did, he wouldn't have any answers mid-season either. Because they don't know anything about offense. Everything you've listed is on Fairchild, not on Jauron. DJ gets some blame spilled over, no doubt, for his part in Fairchild's hiring...but the particulars that caused the offense to be so ineffective can't be put on him, unless you can somehow prove Jauron isn't as laissez-faire with his offense as we believe.

The Bills are more likely to win the SuperBowl with Brett Favre than without him. If we all agree on that, I find it hard to understand why any good Bills fan wouldn't want him here. Bring him in for a year, then kiss him off and continue with the Edwards project. We get a top-5 NFL quarterback and greatly increased chances of winning the big one, with no harm done to anyone. Its not like we don't have the cap room.

Agreed.

That sums it up pretty nicely. Good post.

I think I'm falling for him, too.

Isn't Fowler 67? EDIT: Yup.

Not once have I said Vince Young is a good football player. You insulted his intelligence as a human being. Its a completely different argument.

Just at first glance, maybe the fact that 4 of your 5 examples are 20 lbs. heavier than he is? Edit, Kelly beat me to it.

Thanks, I hadn't heard that was a possibility.

I don't really know anything about the Wonderlic, so I won't comment other than this: I'd much rather judge someone by how they function in reality than how they perform on a test. I thought the SAT was a pretty easy test, but I know smart people who didn't do well on it. My prior experience tells me I shouldn't judge intelligence based on a test instead of how they function in reality. There are alot of football players that never say anything of substance. About 90% of the league, actually. What Bills player ever says anything of substance? Does that mean every player on this team is stupid? No, it just means they're athletes, and the answers to the questions they're normally asked simply don't involve any philosophical revelations. You can dislike him without insulting his intelligence. You can have whatever opinion you like. What bothered me was when you said he's "obviously not too bright." If its so obvious, why don't I see it? If you had said "I don't believe he's too bright," I probably wouldn't have even posted...but when you said it was an obvious certainty, you suggested that any intelligent person would realize Vince Young is stupid. If its so obvious, you should be able to back it up without saying, "Its just my opinion."

Okay. And why is he dumb? What player is a role model? Peyton Manning? Do you think Peyton Manning has never been drunk before? What about his comments concerning retirement were "stupid?" He can't be overwhelmed by the pressures of being an NFL quarterback to the point that it isn't fun anymore without being stupid? Every time I've heard him speak he's struck me as an intelligent person. Just not understanding where you're coming from at all with this.

Sure was. You're open to criticism when you suggest Craig Nall is better than Vince Young. And why is he "obviously not too bright"? That doesn't seem so obvious to me...he's seemed pretty well-spoken whenever I've heard him speak. I'd swap McKelvin's vocabulary for VY's any day. And please don't give me Wonderlic scores...

Who exactly are you addressing? All of one person criticized Edwards in this thread. Thats far from being tar-and-feathered. Heaven forbid even one disciple speak ill of thy holy Trent, huh?