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I saw this on the board this week. Per Russ Brandon “One of the ways you don’t in this league is since 1998 we’ve had seven head coaches, nine offensive coordinators, seven defensive coordinators and six general managers. That is not a formula for winning. Continuity is the number one variable when it comes to winning in this league and we need to have that as we move forward.” To me this is an indictment of the organization not so much the people we hired. Of the coaches and GMs we did hire how many would have succeeded in places like say Green Bay or Baltimore or maybe even Denver. Pete Carroll believes in Always Compete. He changed the *culture* not just the football product. http://www.fieldgulls.com/football-breakdowns/2014/2/3/5374724/super-bowl-48-seahawks-pete-carrolls-richard-sherman-marshawn-lynch I don't know much about the Bills, but I know one thing. The people we hired were not empowered to change the culture at One Bills Drive. That was exclusively the domain of Ralph and Littman. Maybe to a lesser extent - Brandon. Once Butler and Wade left the building strong independent thought left with them. I am optimistic that with new ownership all this changes and that the Pegulas make this the No. 1 Priority. Until we address culture none of the other stuff matters. I promise you we would have run Brady and Belichick out of town and then wondered why the were so successful elsewhere. This franchise is broken from the inside out. I think better days are ahead. But it's up to the Pegulas to take up the reigns at the end of this season and not just settle for the status quo. It's no accident that top notch coaches didn't take on the open coaching situation and we were left with chaff. Though in his defense, I kinda like Marrone. Fourth down calls not withstanding. At least he is definitely his own man. I also like Whaley. He's hit on some great players. Jerry Hughes is a beast. But conversely it's hard to play behind this O-line. And a rookie HC, rookie OC and a rookie QB (yes, I know he is a 2nd year - but for all intents and purposes he *is* a rookie) were just too much rookie to overcome. I know everyone hates to hear this. But we just need to get a new strong boss of Football Operations and...be patient. C

He's one of the naturally gifted athletes on this team. He's also one of the dumbest Bills...maybe ever. Everyone on this team *should* be pissed that they lost Sunday. But you don't see anyone else giving the opponents fuel for the fire. Nope. But you know he is Leodis. His return on Monday Night Football against the Patriots was one of the dumbest things I've ever seen any player do. Mentally, he just doesn't get it... shut your mouth and do your job. Everything else will take care of itself.

McKelvin's fumble changed the game. I felt like we were right in it until then.

Is he bringing the head coach, offensive line, offensive coordinator with him?

is this an euphemism for something?

I don't watch a ton of college football. But what do you guys think of Taylor Heinecke of Old Dominion? His competition is suspect but I really like his demeanor even in their losses. He just seems mentally in it. And his intangibles are off the charts. Fairly accurate and bit of a gun slinger.

This Glory Days fetish has to end. I liked Bill Polian the first time around. But I concur with whomever said Polian's best days are over. Plus he has a reputation as being overbearing. Look at the Seahawk's program. Organizations like the Packers and Giants know about best organizational practices for long term success in the modern era. I would prefer someone from those teams. There's talk of bringing in Ernie Accorsi. I think that's a good idea. For the record I think Whaley has done a good job bringing in talent. I think the bigger problem has been that there has been no church and state separation between administration and football operations. It's pretty clear that Littman and to some extent Overdorf have had huge influence in the football operation with Ralph's blessing. I think once we get the football ops people to do their jobs without the accountants looking over their shoulders, we should be a long way towards righting the ship. I can't think of one other franchise where someone like Littman has had that much influence. Mike Brown of CIN and Bob Kraft of NE are probably exceptions. We need to look elsewhere but to the past. C

Kansas just fired Weis. Would you bring him in to work with our tragedy of an offense? #iveheardofhim

I think this quarterback is gonna be tough to stomach this season. He just doesn't see the whole field. It has nothing to do with reading a defense. Although that's a problem too. He is missing wide open receivers. I supported the draft pick. Now I'm not so sure. This defense is gonna win us some games. This quarterback, just like today, is gonna have us lose some games. I don't know what to make of all of it except that I think our coaching on offense needs work. I think half a dozen teams in this league could have EJ and win. Our staff doesn't know how to scheme around his shortcomings. C

What we have is a second year rookie. Essentially. I'm good with giving him time to mature. But not at the expense of a roster that is stocked with talent elsewhere. My only worry is that we might have spent a 1st rounder on a game manager. We don't have the luxury of burning picks like that.

I hope the Bills win. I really do. But our offensive line is suspect. Especially in the interior. Wood is solid. But the guards - oy! Couple that with the middle of the defense being open all day long against the Bears, I don't know. I hope Nigel upgrades everything in the LB corps. But frankly I think Cam Wake is going to run havoc. Our only hope there is that they don't move him around too much. Glenn shut down Jared Allen. Which was amazing. We need EJ to have a huge game. So that the 'Phins running game is irrelevant. I also think if ever the run option/draw was key, this is the game to use it till they stop it. Bound to slow down the rush. C

Schwartz is a thug. I'd hate it if they hired him as HC. I'd like a winning coach who has worn out his welcome elsewhere.

Man, I don't even know what to make of this topic right now. But I'll play, as I see it there are three weak links in the offense. The QB, The O Line and the OC. If at least 2 out of the 3 don't come through in the first few weeks of the season, we're toast. A good to great QB will mask a lot of those inefficiencies. But right now we can't play our way out of a paper bag. The only hope here is go play action by feeding the RBs the ball 25-30 times a game. But our OC is too inexperienced and arrogant to try that.

When all three of your quarterbacks regress a year later, is it the QBs or the coaching? Specifically the OC?

Naw. EJ is too short. Isn't that what they said about Flutie? #sorrycouldntresist ;-)

The team that EM returned kickoffs for, had studs on special teams. Our present blocking on ST sucks. Easley is a gunner. A couple of others come to mind. But none of them are stellar blockers. Watkins will get killed.

Straight up.

What he said. Problem is I think the end of the season will be too late. ST may be a the thin sliver of difference in us making the playoffs...

This is simply not true. There is rankings/performance data to show how Crossman's units have historically underperformed including our own last season. There aren't mountains of posts in threads about this guy solely based on our collective "feelings." You can make the case that he may have needed better talent. But odds are DeHaven would have gotten more production out of the same unit last season. C

You know they've had OTAs right? There was a bit in the link I provided where Crossman was giving his men "instructions." I'm not convinced that's gonna do it. Collectively, the last post on there was mid January. It's now June. Crossman is a concern. But I'm just wondering strategically and personnel wise what we've done to address the shortcomings since the coach isn't going anywhere. The Bills in the past have sometimes engaged in magical thinking. Not doing anything to address concerns and just hoping a year later they'll be better (think Ryan Fitzpatrick and a porous defense). I'm seeing the same pattern re-emerge this year per special teams. Maybe, I'm just not looking hard enough. If anything I'm hoping someone can convince me otherwise. We've added some serious talent on the offense. We've even shored up the defense a little bit. But at least we have halfway decent coordinators (granted the jury is out on Hackett) except on special teams where the coordinator has a crappy track record. Otherwise things has been pretty status quo on special teams. Will two ST role players really make a difference? Hence my soliciting opinions. C

I'm not questioning his talent. It's just that if his upfront blocking sucks, he's gonna get killed...

Special teams was our Achilles Heel last season and I haven't seen any significant steps to correct our problems. Just the addition of Dixon and Graham and our ST coach "breaking it down" for players, ain't gonna fix it. http://www.buffalobills.com/news/article-2/OTA-5---Red-zone-a-focus/04f62564-dc97-4d22-8b35-4cdba15d4be0 Also why the heck is CJ Spiller back there returning kicks? Seems that puts him at unnecessary risk. C

You don't want this. Trust me. Not only a bad player but not a good citizen. Remember we ran Marshawn Lynch out of town for far less. And he actually could play.

Yeah, Fisher had both of them. Guess which one he wanted. Greggo even had the NFL Office throw the book at him.