BillsVet

It'll be interesting to see whether Butler can make the change from RG to RT. Recall that Buffalo didn't really change their draft board upon dealing Peters. That to me is laziness, and an indication they assumed that players could convert when there is no concrete evidence they can. They just had too many holes to fill and not enough picks to do it in. For a team in year four of rebuild mode, that's unacceptable. It's a stretch to say Butler is a slam dunk to make the transition, Chambers can play RT all year, or that Bell is ready. This is a big gamble.

It's not that simple. I'm a Bills fan, and darn tired of losing. While some franchises win regularly, Buffalo finds new ways to lose consistently enough to be neither good or downright awful. Especially when you consider that in the salary cap era that parity is practically legislated by the NFL. When Buffalo had a chance to find a legitimate NFL GM, they reached for a marketing guy. When Buffalo had a chance to fire a HC who hasn't been able to win with draft picks and UFA's he had a hand in acquiring, easy schedules, and three seasons of rebuilding, they didn't. Dissent is healthy for some Bills fans who want more than a 7-9 team which cannot get into the post-season. For those who demand little and are happy to have a team, keep on truckin'. Just don't tell me that maintaining the status quo is good enough. Buffalo hasn't done anything yet, and given their track record of failure, I'm not buying their PR until I see some success on the field.

I'm not so sure Ralph's "way" has been kind to Bills' fans. It's his team, and he can do what he wants with it. But in recent years, it's been one thing after another. I wasn't around in the sixties, but making the playoffs 13 times in 39 NFL seasons is not good enough.

And he still hasn't been able to go .500 in three tries, nor in 4 out of five seasons at his last job. In most other franchises, that'll get you fired, but not in Buffalo. I frankly don't care what happens with other teams. If you can't win by year 3 of a rebuilding plan, you've failed. End of story. And out of that overhaul, none of his picks in UFA and the draft can be considered a playmaker.

I'd like for someone to explain how DJ isn't at fault for the sorry state of affairs this team is in. His on-field effort is truly lacking any innovation, and when he held sway over Levy in building the team, he ultimately guided Marv down a dark path. UFA 06 was putrid. UFA 07 was poor. Draft day 06 resulted in some average players, and the book is yet to be written on Lynch, Posluszny, and Edwards. Otherwise, DJ's act takes about 4-5 years for mediocre front offices to see it's the same game with the same results. Look at the top 12 teams in the draft this season. Nearly all of them made a significant change in the front office and/or at the HC job. Only OAK and CIN (who's owners are de facto GM's) along with SEA and GB didn't make some shift at the HC or GM position. The latter two teams went to the playoffs in 07. Hooray for continuity.

Yes, DJ sucks. Winning 43% of your 130 games in the NFL constitutes sucking. And when NFL teams are looking for a low cost option at HC (where people like Tony Sparano receive 3M contracts) DJ is attractive. There is absolutely no reason why he should still be leading a franchise's players onto a field. When you coach for two seasons and have high expectations in the third, yet bumble your way to 2-8 in the final 10 against one of the league's easiest schedule, there is no reason to retain the guy. But yeah, it's all QB play all the time. DJ flat out stinks. For the record, prior to last season, few first round rookie QB's had ever been as far as Flacco and Ryan. Simply being a first round pick does not equate to being an offensive weapon. Roddy White is on par with Lee Evans, but Michael Jenkins isn't outstanding by any means. I'd also say that Michael Turner and Marshawn Lynch are not far apart talent wise either. What I would like to know is how rookie HC's can coach rookie QB's with guys like Mike Mularkey and Cam Cameron at OC and get into the playoffs. Yet DJ, with a second year QB and a guy with 10+ years as a NFL coach and nearly the same time as a NFL QB can't do better. Please explain that to me, because I'd love to know. QB play was an issue at times last year. I'd venture to say that coaching has been a problem for much longer. And for the record, scoring more points than the Fins is not grounds for success. Miami beat those same Bills twice, with a rookie HC, weak armed QB, rookie HC, and Dan Henning calling the plays with no decent receiving options, a rookie LT, and little at TE. Do you work for the Bills, or have some vested interest in their continued mediocrity?

Looking at the HC's in the AFCE is also scary if you're a Bills fan. All the coaches are proven as either/or a coordinator or HC. Rex Ryan is a rookie HC, but he has a solid track record as a DC. I'm sure he'll use the model Baltimore used with Flacco last season to work in Sanchez. Tony Sparano proved his worth by taking a less than stellar roster into the playoffs with a castoff at QB. And of course Belichick has those 3 SB titles and a history of being a defensive mastermind. Beyond players, those three coaches are all better than DJ and his staff. RW, for all of his positives understanding markets in the NFL, still has and never will grasp how important it is to have and keep quality coaches. But that's not news to most Bills fans from years gone by. Coaching is the most important commodity on the field, but Buffalo doesn't have a strong and innovative person holding down any of the HC, OC, and DC positions. The Bills will not get better until they find better coaching, like NYJ, MIA, and NE have done.

Absolutely. The schedule was easier, yet the offensive results even with a new OC in 08 weren't much better. I'd further note that teams like Miami, Baltimore, and Atlanta had few offensive weapons. The latter two teams featured rookies QB's, who didn't have multiple targets either. Yet each of those teams had an offensive identity which they didn't depart from: efficient passing combined with strong running games. All three of those teams made the playoffs and protected their QB's. They also remained true to their identity. The common denominator among playoff teams is solid coaching. Bad and mediocre teams more often than not have bad to mediocre coaching. We can argue about QB play all day, but when I see rookie HC's like Mike Smith and John Harbaugh get to the post-season with rookies, it tells me DJ is simply inept. Nice research here.

The launching point was 2006-early 2007. They should be on the moon looking at Earth (i.e. playoffs) by this point, not hanging out in the ranks of the lower third of the NFL. I'd rather have an offense with an identity minus big weapons than a team that goes away from the run inexplicably when it's working. The away MIA and SF games illustrate that ad infinitum. This team, from the middle of 08 forward had no offensive identity. They weren't a running team and they couldn't pass the ball much either. I expect the HC, in concert with the OC to have that down at the beginning of the season. I guess that's too much for a coach who wins less than 43% of his games and an OC who couldn't get promoted until he'd been a QBC for 10+ seasons in the NFL. For the record, DJ couldn't do it in Chicago either. The disparity between his OC's (Gary Crowton and John Shoop) was as wide as the Grand Canyon. Neither succeeded either. Why anyone expects success here is beyond belief.

We've seen with teams like the Giants' OL how important it is to keep talented players together for as long as possible. In the span of 3+ seasons, Buffalo's thrown more OL groups out there it's little wonder they're not good. But I agree here, it's expecting an awful lot of two rookies, an untested former backup and 2 others who are switching positions to excel. In many instances, Buffalo addresses problems with patchwork solutions. They had a below average OL in 06 even with Peters. The response was to buy an OL with Dockery and Walker. This didn't work long term. Now they're going with rookies and cheap options like Hangartner and Butler.

And yet with all those statistical areas improving, the team magically went 7-9 with the 2nd easiest schedule in the NFL. Improving offensively with an easy schedule is a moot point IMO. This should be anticipated and not highlighted.

First, please post more often. Second, I think everyone understands the NFL is a business and teams want to make money, particularly the big boys. But the gap between making money and winning has grown in Buffalo. The decision to retain DJ, when most of the fan base had seen enough, is emblematic of this entire franchise. Brandon does not have the full power to hire and fire coaches, nor can he control much else. His responsibilities are essentially limited to being a face for the 90 year old owner. They spent little this off-season on players. Owens is on a one year deal, Hangartner reportedly signed for 10M over 4 years, Fitzpatrick is a backup QB, Florence signed for 2 years 7M, Rhodes didn't receive a huge deal, and neither did Pat Thomas. In effect, when a lot of fans figured Buffalo would need to go big in UFA to appease the fans, they did very little. Even the Owens signing, which I still love, is really not big money wise.

Tony Sparano, as a rookie HC, would have coached this team to a better record than 2-8 in the final 10. After watching the two Miami games, Sparano proved to me that coaching (like players) is all about talent. DJ's talent as a HC is minimal, but he's latched on with franchises that have been or are a perfect match: one needs a cheap coach and that coach needs a job. At this moment, there are few coaches with 2+ years in the league who I would say are worse than DJ. I only wish Buffalo had hired a guy without the experience in 06 that had coaching potential. Pittsburgh did it with Tomlin, Arizona with Whisenhunt, Miami with Sparano, et al. Good coaching makes a below average team better, and an average team good. Buffalo has below average to poor coaching with average talent, ergo, the team tops out as mediocre.

You're supposed to believe everything that comes from OBD, including the hype on players who've never played a down in the NFL. Bowen was a tackling machine at Iowa State, but returning from an ACL tear and having not played in the league is not something a reasonable fan should expect to work. That, and Demetrius Bell becoming a quality NFL starter. These two story lines will only grow as the season approaches, and it's an effort to excuse the front office for not pursuing proven NFL players.

It's the build over four year plan that Buffalo employs. It's a slow and tedious process, and one which was delayed when dollars were allocated to bust free agents. But picking up 1-2 good players per off-season, particularly 30+ year olds is not what will make this team win. They've got to hit on their first day picks and make prudent decisions in free agency. Levy's track record was the exact opposite: not enough success on day 1 and poor choices in UFA. The most concerning aspect is how each team in the AFCE have improved. NYJ has a strong defense, and MIA has Parcells. The Patsies are still the patsies, but after four years, there's no excuse now post-TD not to win.

There remain a host of factors that go into why a player signs with a certain team. Chicago still plays the C2 defense, like Buffalo does. PT's options were few, given his size and what he brings to a team. Still, the Bills are becoming a team that is more like the bridesmaid and not the bride. They've invited a host of players this off-season and did not acquire anyone (outside of the released Owens) who can be considered a proven NFL player. I'm sure someone will say PT wasn't good and basically knock him down as a player in order to reduce the blame onto the front office. But the fact remains that another guy who was invited to Buffalo, and for whom the Bills had little competition, chose to sign elsewhere.

Kinda like the 2008 Baltimore Ravens who made the playoffs with a rookie QB and rookie HC? The facts remain the same: 8 NFL seasons as a HC. 1 playoff appearance. 1 playoff loss.

No matter what anyone says, I can't see DJ departing from his tried (but not true) style of keeping games close and hoping to win by a FG. It's how he got to be a NFL HC, and it won't change in 2009 regardless of what's at stake. Coaches like DJ don't last long in the NFL, given the penchant for not knowing when to take calculated risks. And when he does, it's usually a disaster of a call a la the away Jets game. He's not going to change his spots simply because he's unpopular with fans. It's upper management that votes whether he remains, and at this point they're more concerned with making a dollar than putting a winning team on the field. That and avoiding or disavowing any notion of the team moving. The Bills and DJ are a perfect fit for each other.

This is another example of "it's new, so it must be better." Not one guy on the OL is proven at the position they're going to start at in September. Hangartner is the closest, but even that's a push. But, it's new and the Bills have shown an affinity for replacing bad with new and unproven. Especially on the OL.

How many Pro Bowlers did Belichick have in 2001 when he won a SB with a 2nd year 6th round QB? Good coaching can make an average team good. In comparison, a bad HC will have a negative team-wide effect. DJ's lack of innovative and effective gameplans helped Buffalo lose 8 of their last 10. Not all of those losses were on the players. Also, FYI, Chuck Noll's record before the 74 season when PIT won the SB was 33-37. He had two 10 win seasons as well. Check your stats before posting false information. Noll Coaching record

Someone will inevitably say that DJ received the extension when Buffalo was 5-1. That's correct, but it wasn't announced officially and the team would not admit anything. Sean Payton inked an extension last year, and it was quickly noted by NO. Why the Bills try to remain so private is beyond me and indicative of some serious insecurity. But you're correct that he went 0-6 in the division (first winless division record since 1976) and managed to be so bad so often. It's all about money, as in the guarantee that RW would have to pay a guy he himself signed. No one can underestimate RW's ego either, as I find it hard that the owner who negotiated the contract would fire that same HC he re-signed two months later. IMO, there's something seriously wrong when the owner and not the quasi-GM is negotiating the coaches contract. Few teams have micromanaging owners like RW, namely Oakland and Cincinnati. Their track records speak for themselves.

If Jauron went 7-9 or less, I think he gets cut loose. Anything better and he could stay. After all, in a supposed make or break season, he went 2-8 in the final 10 against the second easiest schedule in the league and kept his job. Anything could happen at this point and it wouldn't surprise me.

On that we can agree. Florio's strength was gathering up information and posting it in one spot. The analysis is practically worthless. Go to your NE board and whine about something there.

The team is reportedly pursuing the lottery angle to raise some more revenue, but stadium naming is not approved? RWS, formerly known as Rich, was one of the first to having a corporate name on the stadium. If RW is so anti corporate naming, it means he's not truly dedicated to using all possible revenue streams. What changed between 73 when the place was built and 98 when RW got the ability to rename the place after Rich's deal ran out? The Bills are making no long term plans at all right now. The stadium lease ends after the 2012 season, there are no naming rights, and certainly no discussion of a new stadium. RWS is one of the older in the league and with the NFL becoming a stadium building league, falling further behind in developing a franchise. They were so desperate for funds (which RW said will not be used on players) that they outright sold games to Toronto, with more on the way. Nearly every other stadium in the NFL has sold naming rights. What difference does it make what the place is called?

This is the classic argument whenever anyone questions the direction of the team and retention of DJ. Merely insinuate that because a poster doesn't have confirmed insider information that their opinion is worthless. It's the easiest means of argument suppression, and utilized anytime a fan who demands more than mediocrity from a DJ team makes a post . The casual uniformed fans continue to ignore what winning teams are doing. Most franchises, if not successful, are trying to be so. Buffalo rides so close to the rail of mediocrity year after year without ever being horrible or good. No team in the NFL can state they're close to this but the Bills. In the SB era, no NFL HC has consistently been as mediocre, nor given as many chances to succeed than Dick Jauron. Check the winning percentage over his 8 year career and compare it to other coaches with 130+ games coached.