BillsVet

Love the 50s movie reference. If Doug Marrone turns into Captain Queeg (played wonderfully by Humphrey Bogart) they're in trouble. Now, where are my ball bearings?

I'd take a playoff victory at this point, even if the offense can't score and it takes 3 Dan Carpenter FG's and a INT returned for a TD by Brandon Spikes to do it.

You never change CB97.

This makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. If there wasn't an internet this wouldn't be news? Huh? The NFL is more wildly popular than ever before. Off-season, preseason, regular season, repeat. There's stuff going on practically 365 days a year and the demand for NFL news and content is only growing. But it's sophistry to simply say fights happen "at like 75% of camps" so there's ostensibly no issue here. In reality, there's a coach who's telling the team something and some have openly criticized him. That's news whether there's an internet or not.

Wonderful attempt at argument suppression. No one's entitled to have an opinion (on a message board no less) if they aren't right there with the team. The players aren't responding to Marrone and he's frustrated. If you can't tell that from his statements to the media I don't know what to tell you. Remember the brief answers after the HOF game? What precipitated that, losing the most meaningless game of the year? Doubtful. It also doesn't help his future is murky at best considering the pending ownership change. There's nothing more frustrating as a leader when the people you supervise aren't responding to what you're trying to communicate. And this most certainly isn't a case of tearing the team down to build them up. This is a guy who's stressed out that his message ain't hitting home.

Understood. And while it's Marrone's job to win games, the balance of power has shifted from management to players over the years. That's an undeniable fact, considering the recent CBA which gained concessions in terms of how many practices could be conducted, with and without pads. And let's not compare apples to oranges because Urban Meyer's situation is completely different. First, he's coaching college guys who don't have the luxury of a guaranteed paycheck to fall back on (and which upper management has to consider). And second, he's got an excellent track record. Marrone isn't in the college ranks anymore and, as I've pointed out, doesn't have the credibility to bank on. And while we're talking about hard a** coaches, look no further than Tom Coughlin. He's at the top of the list, and even guys like Michael Strahan have said he changed a little during his early years with NYG. This isn't a black and white issue, but clearly there's an issue here, and as someone asked, how much of that is Schwartz's effect on the defense?

It's preseason, where the emphasis on winning is low. At least that's what I'm told on TBD. I'd be more interested in their discipline when the games actually count and if they go down to an opponent early. Still, it's amazing that a player like Jerry Hughes, with all of 1 decent NFL season, has no qualms criticizing the head coach in front of the whole team. Reading between the lines, if one guy feels that way it's likely there are others. That's not good. Point is, it's one thing for a Tom Coughlin to run his guys. Even as the new HC for NYG he at least had been deep in the playoffs. But Marrone doesn't have that kind of track record and his act is not going over well. It's not just the Bills who need to eliminate the losing culture, it's the HC who needs to earn his reputation as well. And that remains to be seen.

And someone was ridiculed for calling Marrone, "Greggo." That person deserves an apology.

It's a unique year seeing as how the team is being sold. In the past players who lost their starting job seemed to be cut rather than be paid to backup another player.

Urbik is paid way too much to play RG and not start. He's a holdover from the Nix years and isn't terribly athletic, which is why he's a RG. I don't think Marrone's as high on him and is looking for an excuse to find someone else.

It's funny how this narrative started spreading when EJ was hurt and struggled last year. When Buffalo signed Kolb, it was a very small deal for a starting QB, something like 2 years and 6.1M. Besides, what NFL front office signs the most brittle QB in the league and expects him to start for them? I can only believe Kolb was signed to be the backup and mentor the future rookie (EJ wasn't drafted yet), but not surprisingly didn't make it. The common theme over the 14 years of futility in Buffalo has been a complete breakdown in assessing QB talent and planning appropriately for the position. You don't sign and thus depend on Kevin Kolb to log significant minutes given his injury history. What kind of advanced planning does that demonstrate, especially after he couldn't make it in Philly and Arizona? That's the reason why the organization has to be gutted. It would send a message the new owner isn't satisfied with 6 win seasons and the people responsible for that lack of performance. If the team can't get the QB position right, nothing else matters in personnel.

Who have the Bills selected in rounds 3-7 between 2010 and 2013 that start on this team? In 4 drafts I show only Bradham, who's there because Alonso was hurt. After that, it's Duke Williams or Da'Norris Searcy, the latter of whom got burned bad on that long TD pass. I wouldn't say the Bills are winning the middle to late rounds yet. And the fact some are talking about finding another QB option should underscore they've (once again) badly managed the QB position. This time last year it was Matt Leinart and Thad Lewis coming in when their only option was Jeff Tuel after EJ was injured. Not surprisingly those options didn't work.

You've got to wonder how these moves negatively affected their reputation with the league's players, agents, and executives. The Bills often get ripped seemingly without reason in the media and fans retaliate by calling out those media types doing the criticizing. I've always believed within league circles it was well-known what Buffalo's M.O.'s was, but no one wanted to spell out how bad it was. Either Russ was in agreement to these moves to cut veteran players or was powerless to stop it. That in and of itself reveals everything anyone needs to know that the power structure and organizational priorities were seriously out of whack.

It wasn't just players Buffalo's had a problem acquiring. They had a serious issue finding coaches and front office staff which seems to have improved since Nix was put out to pasture. It's a step in the right direction, but as has already been acknowledged, winning cures a lot of problems. For example a team like Seattle, who after winning year to year, can attract guys to take less money who want a legit shot at a championship. For that reason, they don't have to overpay anyone and can be more flexible with their cap spending.

There isn't anything to demonstrate keeping anyone at OBD for the simple reason they haven't accomplished anything. The caveat remains they've had all of 1 season, although if year 2 isn't a playoff year, it's inconceivable why anyone would invest north of 1B dollars and not clean house. Many of the same OBD lifers should be excised with a new owner coming. The NFL has grown rapidly over the past 10-15 years, as evidenced by soaring team values and television contracts. The Bills, by virtue of existing within this have naturally benefitted. That's not to say everyone at OBD on the business side of the house has remained idle because they haven't. Sure, they've regionalized, but that's not a new concept. Businesses (which the Bills are first and foremost) always look to expand globally and/or into emerging markets. If you're not growing in this business environment you're dying. And the Bills have been doing that for several years. I would hope the next team president comes up through the football ranks and isn't a financial/marketing guy.

I guess this means Rodak is taking over where Graham left off at ESPN. Hater.

The NFL over the last 15-20 years is all about building new stadiums to increase revenue and the most recent CBA basically requires the NFL to do just that. What's ironic is more people are choosing to remain at home and watch the game without all the added costs of tickets, parking, concessions, and their time. There's no doubt the league's popularity has exploded over the past 10-15 years. Yet, there are also other options available, particularly for more budget minded fans who can't get to the stadium to watch. I think the NFL is flying to closer to the sun than ever before.

Yes, I know that others have talked about EJ being okay. I actually expect there to be different takes on him among the media outlets. At the same time, the so-called "negative" fans have been right far more often than have the "optimistic" group. They're usually gone by November and return around January after the season is over. Isn't that how it typically works? Shudder the thought that a team with 9 straight seasons of 7 wins or less need to prove they're better.

The media has a different opinion than (EDIT:do) the team paid journalists? Say it ain't so Joe. I see a trend here in that multiple non-team sources are calling into question EJ's abilities in his second camp, both Rochester and Buffalo based. Of course it's early, but a lot of these guys (while not bonafide scouts) have seen good QB play and knows what it looks like. They have an opinion built from their experience covering camp and games that is clearly not appreciated by those who are non-objective fans. Journalists aren't fans. Journalists aren't paid by the team. When they don't echo what a fan thinks it doesn't mean they're anti-team. Besides, when multiple reporters are observing similar things in the team-appointed starting QB, could it be there's legitimate concern? Or is that they're venomous anti-team mentality creeping into their opinion?

Flacco has a SB win. And he didn't do it a la Dilfer or Brad Johnson who relied heavily on elite defenses. Flacco may not be top 5, but he's got the ability given the 2012 playoff run, to play enough football at an elite level.

When discussing EJ I don't consider him to completely "suck" because it's way too early for that kind of assessment. But it doesn't help that a slew of guys are playing QB at a decent level who have 1-2 years under their belts like Wilson, Kaepernick, Tannehill, Dalton and Foles. These guys were available in 2011-12 when Buddy Nix ridiculously decided they couldn't challenge Fitz. There's nothing I hate worse than seeing guys play well at a position like QB Buffalo could have selected. Buffalo had time with guys like Spiller (who plays a position of increasingly less importance) Aaron Williams (who needed a position change to excel) and Hughes (a reclamation project that has worked out for 1 season so far) that they don't have with Manuel as a QB and the guy who the latest rebuild centers around. Fair or unfair, this 2nd year QB does not have 3 years to show he can play in the NFL. The nature of the business means that he's gotta sink or swim more quickly than we'd like. And, based on early returns, he's not the guy who looks like he can win 10 games in the NFL, i.e. a playoff record.

A massive conflation of the argument about players "sucking." The ratio of first rounders not being even Pro Bowl selections is greater than 5%, so this is easily a huge reach. CJ Spiller has 2 good seasons under his belt out of 4. He hasn't lived up to being a top half of the first round pick. Aaron Williams, after a position change, has 1 solid season in 3 NFL seasons. Jerry Hughes has 1 solid season out of 4 in the NFL. And it's comparing those guys, who play positions not as crucial to a team's success or failure, with a first round QB. I think the signs are there with Manuel that he's struggling. You need time to evaluate, but the early returns aren't good right now.

Which begs the question, who's hiring all the failed GM's at OBD? And are those people held responsible? Because making decisions out of desperation is not a "vision" for success, yet that's what the Bills have done with their 1st round picks in 2013 and 2014. If Manuel doesn't succeed in 2014 I think a new owner needs to clean house. That is, if the bidding on the team gets finished anytime soon. Only time will tell.

From one Vet to another...

IMO, Buffalo's gone out of their way since Flutie-Johnson to avoid QB controversies. I recognize there was sort of one when they picked Edwards with Losman on the roster in 2007, but otherwise it's been one guy and that was it. Even when Fitz was signed as a UFA in 2009 they were clear that he wasn't a threat to Edwards as the starter. Without a proven starter at the position and everyone over the years echoing the mantra of "competition" it's amazing how little there's actually been at QB for the BIlls. I hope EJ works out but if not, the cupboard's pretty bare.