[The Jury is in]

But yes, McGahee is all hype with few results.  Yeah his YPC was ok against Chicago, but before they absolutely buried the Bills it was in the 1.5 range,800264[/snapback]

If you think this isn't explained by our offensive line play you're crazy. They gave McGahee NO room and NO lanes Sunday, especially when the game was close.

[Lets not run Jauron out of town]

So we should hold Jauron and the Bills to this one example, and not the 100's of ones that contradict it? The truth is without a decent QB no coach in the NFL will get a fair shake. The ones that have QB's get way to much credit, and the ones that don't get way to much blame.

799917[/snapback]

Its a good point, and I agree with you. But if the whole team is imploding and everything is a disaster, we've got a bad D and little running game after 3-4 years, you've got to re-evaluate Jauron no matter who the quarterback is. But if the team is giving effort and playing well, but JP (or whoever) isn't getting it done and it looks like we're a quarterback away from contending, then he gets a pass for not winning in his first few years. In which case we go out and find him a QB who can win.

[Lets not run Jauron out of town]

Kordella but Mularkey was the OC, not the HC. This topic, and my comments only refer to HC's and QB's.

799905[/snapback]

Okay, so it was Bill Cowher having top 5 offenses with Kordell Stewart at quarterback. It can be done.

[Swap the QBs]

Your very PRESENCE is troll-like. You disappear when Losman has a good game and reappear when he doesn't.

 

You're a troll.

799837[/snapback]

He's making intelligent points and your response is to call him a troll. No matter what they post, everyone jumps on HA and JDG immediately and without a second thought. You're looking like far more of a troll than he is right now.

[Lets not run Jauron out of town]

Uncoincidentally Marv Levy is considered a great HC.

 

I defy people to come up with examples of HC's that had success for an extended period of time without a great QB. I could come up with 100's of examples of great HC's with great QB's. The relationship isn't independent for some of those names, but for many it is. Still we expected/expect Gregg, Mularkey, or Jauron to right the ship no matter what happens at QB. Not how it works folks.

799891[/snapback]

Who was at quarterback when Mularkey had those two top 5 offenses that Simon was referring to?

[J P critics]

One things for sure, the Offense is whats holding this team back right now.....

799841[/snapback]

Yeah, cause our defense was JUST PEACHY yesterday. Our run defense must improve before we get to the point where we can say, "the D is set, now lets just fix the offense."

[Lets not run Jauron out of town]

<hijack>

 

Yeah except for the fact that in 2 of his 3 years as an O-coordinator his teams finished in the Top5 of NFL offenses.

799866[/snapback]

 

And once upon a time, Jim Kelly went to 4 superbowls. That doesn't mean he's relevant in today's NFL. Whatever Mularkey had in Pittsburgh is long gone now. The league has passed him by.

[Lions and Bills]

who really gives a crap? what so we drop a few more spots on draft day?

it's obvious this team isn't going to be a play off contender at this point, so why get excited about a meaningless win over detroit?

 

oh ya so we can get all excited again and then get kicked in the gut by a half decent team making us look like a joke.

 

blah.

799364[/snapback]

Dax, you wanted to call me a bad fan during the week? THIS is a bad fan.

[Gloom and Doom!]

Relax. Take a deep breath. I'm surprised Buffalo isn't the most depressed city/ Heart Attack Capital of the World with the attitude you all have.

799405[/snapback]

Reading other threads, I haven't noticed anybody being overly negative about this game. Most of the intelligent people on the board were expecting a loss going in, and would have been pleasently surprised by an upset win. No post I've read looked at this game and (without sarcasm) said 'thats it, we suck, get a new quarterback, running back, GM and head coach' or anything to that effect. The general attitude on TSW seems to be that we lost on the road to a better team, and being a young team we'll learn and get better. Maybe you can point me to the posts or threads you're referring to?

[Did it matter that we scored the TD?]

You're right.  It's very subtle, but I thought it was very important that DJ kept JP in.  You can mess up a young QB, just like last year, by pulling him in a game like this.  Good pickup.

799419[/snapback]

And with the way the media clings to controversy, things might have gotten messy if we switched quarterbacks and Nall or Holcomb came in and looked good. I don't want anyone calling for a quarterback change at this point, as Losman needs more time to be evaluated fairly. Its garbage time, just leave our young QB in there and let him gain another posession worth of experience.

[We HAVE to Ditch the Clown Uniforms]

The Bucs new uniforms are modern and hideous also, though. As are the Ravens...and the Patriots...

 

That said, I agree those road unis have to go. But because I can't stand looking at them, not because they'll play better. I love the home blues though.

[One more thing about the defense.......]

reminded me of Pennington juking Eddie Robinson out of his shoes for a TD a few years back!

799367[/snapback]

I worked hard to suppress that memory

[DJ and the dumb calls.]

You're telling me you sit there watching a game and are surprised when there is an onside kick?  You must be kidding.  Onside kicks are practiced much more regularly than trick plays.

799053[/snapback]

So when we got that onside kick against Minnesota, the one that was waved off by that fair catch penalty, you weren't surprised? Knew that was coming, did you?

[Can't blame the O-line for this loss as they gave]

Maybe we weren't consistently pounding the rock but thats understandable given how quickly we fell into a hole. When we did run the ball, there was no daylight to be found. I also remember Peters ruining a drive with a false start, and that wasn't the only offensive line penalty JP had to deal with. If decent pass protection against a team that hardly ever blitzed makes up for no holes in the running game and drive-killing penalties then yeah, they played fine. Again I'm not saying we lost because of the offensive line, just that they are at least partially at fault. Their aforementioned shortcomings left JP out to dry.

[Can't blame the O-line for this loss as they gave]

We tried to establish the run early but McGahee getting 3 yards on his first 3 carries wasn't really helping the offense. And go figure that no running game, an early deficit, dropped passes, and a top-notch defense would lead a young quarterback into turnovers.

[And the most overrated Bills award goes to...]

PFFT Mcgee has looked like a probowler all season

799336[/snapback]

Thats the first costly mistake the guy has made all year! Week in and week out I've noticed him breaking up passes all over the field. He comes to play every week. I wish I could say this stuff about Clements, although Nate doesn't deserve quite the amount of criticism some give him.

[The rest of the season]

and the jets almost beat the colts, and the colts beat the jags and the jags lost to the redskins, who only scored 3 pts against the giants who haven't had a defense all year.... just sayin 

799316[/snapback]

This is an easy one. Almost doesn't count!

 

Seriously though, the fact that we lost to the same Jets that the Jags decimated is only one reason why we won't beat the Jags. The fact that their team is worlds ahead of ours would count as another. But of course, on any given sunday...

[And the most overrated Bills award goes to...]

Terrence McGee looked like a pro bowler today, as he has all season.

[The rest of the season]

How in the world are we beating the Jaguars and Chargers in back-to-back weeks? Did you see what the Jags did to the Jets today, the very same Jets that beat us in our house? Jacksonville mopped the floor with those Jets. It won't be easy but I think this team can go 8-8, and I'd like to see that. It will be a nice springboard to next year when we can hopefully compete for real.

 

I like your optimism though, and I hope you're somehow right!

[Can't blame the O-line for this loss as they gave]

Like I've said I want badly to defend JP and throw the blame elsewhere but in this game pass protection was not a big issue. There were a few breakdowns; that is to be expected. But overall he had ample time to throw the ball. With the D struggling, he threw 3 stupid picks that gave the ball right back. Dropped passes by Price didn't help. I can live with miss passes but not turnovers. Jp usually doesn't turn the ball over much and in this game he wasn't pressured into any of those picks as he played like he did last year. But the will learn from this game and bounce back. But the next time a reporter reminds him how good a D the Bears have and that they have only allowed this or that he will just say "yeah I know!"

799277[/snapback]

You quoted my post, but I'm not sure that you actually read it. I never said pass rush caused Losman to turn the ball over. The reason why the O-line has to take at least some of the blame for this is because of the total lack of a running game we had today. McGahee was stopped on a 3rd and 1 on our 2nd possession (or was it the first?) of the game and he picked up 10 yards on his first 5 carries. We didn't get any kind of ground attack until it was at least 20-0.

 

I'm no blind Losman supporter. Of course he takes some of the blame. He turned the ball over far too much today and he just can't do that. And I'm with you on the point that he'll learn from today and hopefully be better for it in the future. But saying all of the blame for this falls squarely on him is absurd. Expecting him to play well at this point going into Chicago to face the NFC's best club and a defense that has embarrassed every offense they've played this year...and expecting him to do it with no running game...just isn't fair.

 

Again, thats not to mention those dropped passes...

[let me get this out of the way]

Slow though. I saw him take a sack today that JP would have easy gotten out of.

799142[/snapback]

I think its safe to say that going through progressions and showing patience in the pocket is more important than avoiding a sack every now and then.

[Can't blame the O-line for this loss as they gave]

double post, my bad

[Can't blame the O-line for this loss as they gave]

Even opened a few holes for Willis later on. I was really suprised to see JP have as much time to throw as he did. This poor showing falls squarely on JP and all receivers not named Lee as well as poor coaching.

799130[/snapback]

I remember seeing Willis with 3 yards on his first 3 carries, and 10 yards on his first 5 carries. But sure, this loss falls "squarely on JP." We all expect him to go on the road against the best team in the NFC and look good with no running game whatsoever. Oh wait, you're right, we got the ground game working when it was 27-0!

 

Of course Losman takes his share of the blame, but with no running game he was a dead duck. Not to mention those dropped passes...

[Troy Vincent is a class act veteran]

And just think, a lot of people on this board were calling for his head these past few seasons.

797857[/snapback]

We were calling for his head because he was too often late on deep balls, not because of any character issues. He should jump into coaching next year.

[Bills beat the Bears IF]

In my opinion winning this game is all about controlling the run. I won't even say we need to "stop" the run, just keep it under control, because thats the best I can hope for. We can't eat up clock and control the game if its their offense thats always on the field.

 

That said, I voted for the special teams. Them getting a TD and forcing a turnover would be huge, and unfortunately 'holding Chicago to 70 yards on the ground' wasn't an option.