BobChalmers

I'm in Maryland - so many of my friends here are Ravens fans. As a result - this week they were all watching the Bills/Pats which was broadcast locally because of it's potential importance to the Ravens. Every one of them I've talked to since has had the same reaction - "wow - Jauron is an awful coach" and "wow - the Bills looked talented enough - they just looked confused and outcoached" - and "who calls their plays?" and "they have the worst clock management I've ever seen in the pros". And the best one - heard from everyone I've told: "WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY DON'T PRACTICE OUTSIDE?!?! THAT THROWS AWAY THEIR BIG HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE IN BUFFALO!!" "Yup", I tell them - "which may be why they were 3-5 at home this year..." If nothing else, it's a relief to no longer have to explain to people why the Bills (who I am watching on DirecTV every week) were disintegrating all season.

Two amusing side-points from this weekend's final 2008 Jauron debacle. My wife - who barely pays attention to football - told me this morning "He looks like a deer in the headlights out there". No lie - she hasn't heard me say this I swear - it's just actually how he really looks on the sidelines. Confused and frozen by the confusion. I'm in Maryland - so many of my friends here are Ravens fans. As a result - this week they were all watching the Bills/Pats which was broadcast locally because of it's potential importance to the Ravens. Every one of them I've talked to since has had the same reaction - "wow - Jauron is an awful coach" and "wow - the Bills looked talented enough - they just looked confused and outcoached" - and "who calls their plays?" and "they have the worst clock management I've ever seen in the pros". And the best one - heard from everyone I've told: "WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY DON'T PRACTICE OUTSIDE?!?! THAT THROWS AWAY THEIR BIG HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE IN BUFFALO!!" "Yup", I tell them - "which may be why they were 3-5 at home this year..." If nothing else, it's a relief to no longer have to explain to people why the Bills (who I am watching on DirecTV every week) were disintegrating all season.

Well - I think there's few factors: 1. He's animated and energetic on the sidelines - the exact opposite of one of Jauron's more annoying traits. 2. St. Marv Levy went from being a special teams coach to a head coach, so people are nostalgic for a repeat. 3. There's a feeling that Ralph will prefer cheap and in-house, so April seems realistic - unlike, say Cowher, who 99.9% of Bills fans would rather have, but 90.0% of Bills fans are smart enough to know we won't get.

Did you miss the press conference yesterday where Ralph Wilson said the Bills brass were meeting and would have an announcement on Wednesday? Don't expect much more noise until then. We'll all just have to hold our breath hoping RW sees the obvious. Spagnola looks awfully good to me, btw. I also agree that Mangini got a raw deal - but he's no Bellichik. All of evil BB's assistants worry me - you get the impression it really is all him. Cowher would be great of course - and he does like the Bills' talent - but I don't think there's any way he's coming to Buffalo - he'd be leaving too much money on the table from the Jets.

Wins? He's the offensive coordinator. Give Dungy credit for fixing the Colts as a whole. All this guy did was ride an offense that was already among the league's best before he got there. Sorry - but Peyton was already great when Caldwell got there. And before that he was already the hottest QB draft prospect in years (coming out of Tennessee). The idea that the Colts offense is still succeeding when it already was succeeding before he got there isn't all that impressive to me. Basically he can claim "didn't screw up a good thing I was handed." That's better than "did screw up a good thing" but since we don't currently have Manning, Harrison, and Edgerin James in their primes on our current roster, I don't predict Caldwell's previous work would translate to the 2009 Bills. I will contradict myself somewhat by saying Caldwell's one season running the Tampa offense and his college HC work are more impressive.

Interesting thing about both Dennison and Caldwell - they were both defensive players who have gone on to have great success coaching offenses. Unlike, say Jauron, who was an outstanding defensive player who seems utterly clueless directing an offense.

OK - I just read this guy's bio. Basically his claim to fame is that the Colt's QB and offense have been good for the last 6 years while he's been there coaching Peyton Manning???? How does succeeding on offense with Peyton throwing the ball for you make him any better a coach than, me, Bongo the Wonderdog, or even Mike Mularkey??? OK - maybe he's better than Mularkey... Seriously - this guy looks like a product of an easy job.

You can say that as much as you want - it's still irrelevant. The best available reports say the Bills DID offer KC what they wanted. Gonzales rejected the trade to Buffalo. Gonzales refused to play for the Bills - there's nothing the Bills could do about that.

Guys - The AFC East is NOT as strong as their records indicate. The whole division had one of the easiest possible schedules this season, with both the NFC West and AFC West on the schedule. The two worst divisions in football by this year's records (though the NFC North comes close). The Bills are the whipping boy in the division, btw - lose this weekend and Buffalo alone gave two wins to each of the three others - padding their records. Add to that games all 4 AFC East teams had against: St. Louis (2 wins) Kansas City (2 wins) (wow, Missouri pro football is BAD) Seattle (4 wins) (How did the Jets lose to these stiffs?? The Jets are an illusion) Oakland (4 wins) San Francisco (6 wins) San Diego (7 wns) Denver and Arizona may still finish with only 8. (And they each got 6 games in those two lousy divisions to pad their records!) Six (or even 8) (9 counting Buffalo) games the AFC East teams all got to play against teams that will not have winning records. Who needs Cincy? No - it's really sad - the schedule and Brady's injury really lined up perfectly for the Bills to make a serious run. Just imagine - all they needed were home wins against 6-win SF and 4-win Cleveland and even with the lousy division record they'd still be in it for a playoff chance this Sunday. Put another way - if they had only done what they did last season - win only the games against non-winning teams (they were perfect against losers last year) they would have finished no worse than 8-8 and possibly 10-6 if Denver and Arizona both lose this week and join that group. THAT's how WEAK the the Bills really are. Having said that, I'm still on the hopeful side. They really were 7-0 when both Edwards and Reed played - I don't think that's coincidence. Edwards needs Reed, and the team needs Edwards. Losing Schobel was disastrous. They seem to realize they need a new Center - which was obvious last year. If they fix only those two positions they will be a MUCH better team noone will want to face.

Yeah - first round - but LATE in the first round. With where the Bills are likely picking, a top DE will make more sense. Then they can go nuts trying to trade back up to the end of the 1st round or wherever they need to get for a top C. I'd hold off on the TE until after those 2. Fine is well, fine - he showed some real promise I thought. There seem to be a lot of 1st round busts at TE too. Plenty of really good ones go later anyway - although the Bills won't have a 2 and maybe a 3 to get the right Center, hopefully. There are LB's to be had in FA, I believe.

hehe - I corrected the word "bust" but not before you did! Let's just say - if you're already looking to replace a 2nd year guy who missed most of his first year with injury, on a team that has gaping holes at DE, C, TE, and OLB - I think it's very premature.

If Everette Brown is still there I'd love to see him in a Bills uniform. Of course, I'm an FSU-alum, so that's a biased view, but I've also been very impressed by how well I've seen him play. Great athlete, good body-type for the position (has that same sort of square but muscular build Bruce had) and from what I've seen he plays until the whistle every time.

All this Poz-hate is even sillier than all the man-love for Poz. Guys - get a grip - Poz just finished his first season's worth of games, and he does a pretty decent job of what's he asked to do in this scheme. He rarely blitzes - so why do you expect sacks? He got a pick the other day - and almost had another. He makes a ton of tackles. Yes - he's often down-field - why - because the scheme has the MLB playing back 5-10 yards in coverage in the middle-short-zone a lot. Is that his fault? Cripes - give the kid the mandatory 3 years before finding his replacement. At his early stage of development, he's done plenty.

The only place I remember reading that was from One Bills Drive personnel and their proxies. I also clearly recall reading that Ngata was highly motivated because he was responsible for raising his siblings and was determined to succeed in the NFL for their sake. Sounds like "character" to me. I do remember hearing some concern (from Jauron?) that he wasn't a good fit for cover-2. But most of the draft guides described him as quick, and, in hindsight, admittedly, it turns out the guy is plenty fast and plays sideline to sideline and runs down RB's from behind. Were there _some_ reasons to argue Whitner was the better pick? - maybe. But two facts are close to indisputable right now: A) (nearly) Everyone said Ngata was the best choice for the Bills before the pick was made. B) In 2008 the Bills Ngata is significantly more of an impact player than Whitner. None of this means Whitner is bad - the real point is that his selection (reach) has the feel of the same sort of "overthinking" that has a coach calling for an end-of-game pass by Losman when Lynch is gaining 6 yards a carry.

Agreed - It was Marv Levy's first year of Free Agency/trades that was particularly awful: If I remember right: Larry Tripplett, Melvin Fowler, Peerless Price, Anthony Thomas, Robert Royal Pretty big waste of money and/or draft picks there. The most painful thing about watching Whitner isn't that he's a bust per se - it's being here in Maryland watching Haloti Ngata be a total animal every week, and knowing that I and nearly everyone else watching - fan and journalist alike - knew he was a better pick for the Bills than Whitner. Ngata was both the "need pick" AND "the best available player". The former DB Jauron was too enamored with building his defense from the back, perhaps? Whatever the reason, it's clear the Whitner pick really was a reach and ultimately a mistake.

"HE" [Trent Edwards] hasn'r solved the 3-4 puzzle?? Sorry - the only ones who haven't solved the 3-4 puzzle are Melvin Fowler and Duke Preston. We have no NFL starting talent at the Center position and without it, we look bad against 3-4's with good NT's - which is all the ones we've faced. The OL _did_ step up weel against the Jets lwast week for the most part - too bad DJ had a brain cramp at the end. It was really a shame they didn't address their issues at C this April - let's hope they pick one up this time.

Sorry - this makes no sense at all. 1. Early draft rookie centers start in this league all the time. 2. Fowler is so well thought of by the coaches he's been benched for a stiff like Preston. I've never seen an NFL O-lineman who got pancaked as often as Fowler does and kept his job for so long - amazing. 3. Did I mention Preston's a stiff? There is no reason at all to believe this team under any management would draft a Center high and not use him right away.

Anyone giving up on Hardy already is silly. WR's rarely succeed until their THIRD season - getting mad at your 2nd rounder because he's struggling 2/3 of the way through year 1... C'mon! Moulds was thought to be a potential bust until his third season, remember? I think the argument for trading Roscoe is sound - it's all dependent on what they could get. If they can get something that moves them up in round 1 so they're drafting a stud DE like FSU's Everette Brown - DO IT!! I could swear we got two third's over two years for McGahee - didn't one of them trade us up to get Poz? Or was it Baltimore's they used to get Trent? Either way - was that bad?

Evans, Edwards - Exactly what I was thinking. I also was very unhappy with Evans last year, btw. I swear he really looked like he was not trying when Edwards was the starter last year - tons of drops. This season he's been very good all around. Edwards has taken over multiple games for brief periods - often the fourth quarter, but he doesn't put up big enough numbers to compare to some of the verterans out there - yet. I firmly believe even in this system, with another year or two of seasoning he's going to be consistently putting up 2 TD's a week and hands-down cement a position as oe of the best in the league. A real TE and #2 WR wouldn't hurt. Hopefully Hardy solves the 2nd problem in the nest two years (rookie receivers almost never succeed - Moulds was very typical - seeming bust until year 3). I'm still trying to understand why this team didn't find a legit TE in a draft that had multiple studs. We could have traded down in round one for the top TE prospects and - let's face it - so far McKelvin is looking like a real disappointment (way too early for "bust" of course). Tony Gonzalez is also an idiot - that didn't help - he'd be tearing it up catching balls from Trent and on his way to the playoffs. I hope if he makes the HoF the same time a Bill does, the Buffalo fans boo him soundly.

Doh - good for my beloved Bills - bad for my fantasy team - Harris was one of my better picks!

Your point is spot-on, but to be precise, Tennessee's opponents are a combined 3-12. They beat 0-3 Texans who already had their BYE because of the storm hitting Houston. You're totally right though on how all these national media morons ignore the Titans' weak schedule. The Titans have also played 3 of their 4 games at home - including their win over Jax. The Bills are playing their third road game Sunday. For that matter - the Giants opponents only have 3 wins - all of them owned by the Redskins. NY's other two wins are against winless Cincy and StL. With only three games played though, the defending champs opponents have a only 3-9 record - still the best among the three undefeated teams. I understand the frustration - but I'd suggest not paying too much attention. Barring that - hope for two more wins - I am certain the Bills will be #1 on all lists if they are 6-0 3 weeks from now. And truth be told, do we even really believe they are quite that good? They are almost a lock to make the playoffs, and the likely favorite to win the division. They're also really young, so the future is bright, even if they don't go far at all in the playoffs. Coming from where they've been, I'd have no complaints.

I'll be more specific. Faulk, Smith, Barber... RUNNING BACKS invariably make lousy analysts - really they are just backing up their trend of getting the lowest wonderlic scores every year in the draft. All I can figure about Mike Golic is that he must have played RB as a kid... On the other hand, QB's and O-Linemen are usually pretty good - and - hey - don't they get the best wonderlic's every year? (and NO, this is not a race thing!) I'm not sure why the studios haven't clued into the fact that not all players can contribute anything in the booth. Coaches, btw, are often a mixed bag, because too many take the game too seriously and/or are unwilling to offend anyone. Best color commentator in recent memory - Troy Aikman Worst color commentator in recent memory - Bill Walsh