Cash

I wouldn't have much of a problem with the blackout rule if it was smaller in scope. The way it's currently enforced, any TV station that broadcasts into the blackout radius (75 miles from the stadium) is not allowed to show the game. This basically means that the Bills are blacked out on Syracuse stations. If you're in Syracuse, is it reasonable to ask you to buy a ticket on Friday for Sunday's game? It's like a 4+ hour drive each way with traffic. Even coming from Rochester is no quick jaunt. And if you take it to the extreme, what about the people at the eastern reach of the Syracuse stations? You know what else devalues your product, besides it being horrible? Letting people forget about it. The Bills should *want* people in Central New York watching the Bills on TV whether the game is sold out or not. They aren't going to go to a game because it's not on TV, and they're probably marginal Bills fans at best. Requiring blackouts in Central NY just pushes potential fans towards the Giants and Jets. (And make no mistake -- it's the NFL's rule, but the local enforcement comes at the Bills' request.) A related thing that really bugs me is the way the NFL network games are handled. Now, those are usually primetime games, so it's only happened once so far that I can recall, but once is enough. "Local" games, provided they sold out in time, are required to be shown on local TV. So if you don't get NFL network (or ESPN for the Monday nighters), it's no problem, because the game will be simulcast on a local channel. However, the NFL defines "local" for these purposes as the "primary market", which is Buffalo only. Rochester, even though it's fully subject to the blackout rule, is considered a "secondary market", and thus does not get NFL network games shown on local TV. Such BS. Especially when you consider that Time Warner has a cable monopoly in Rochester, and also refuses to carry NFL network. If you're subject to the blackout rule, then you should get the game on local TV when it sells out, no ifs, ands, or buts.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Reid#Head_coaching_record 124-81-1 (.604) regular season, with 6 division titles and 9 playoff appearances in 12+ seasons, with still a slim chance at winning the division this year. 10-9 career playoff record isn't fabulous, but it's a long way past anything we've had since Marvelous Marvin Levy. Having said that, Reid doesn't seem like a great fit to our current personnel. Decent, not great. He famously loves passing and hates running - usually having about a 2:1 pass:run ratio win or lose - and our running game is light-years ahead of our passing game, particularly when Fred Jackson is healthy. Coughlin would probably make more sense in that regard.

Keep in mind also that we could wind up winning the SOS tiebreaker with Miami. It all comes down to our only non-common opponents: Cincy and Tennessee for us (combined record: 15-13), Houston and Cleveland for Miami (combined record: 14-14). Cleveland winning is doubly good, and we should definitely be rooting for Houston and against the Bengals and Titans these last 2 weeks. Houston hosts Tennessee in Week 17 - that could be big for our draft spot. Contrary to what I've been posting in other threads, division/conference tiebreakers do come into effect (if applicable) after SOS, so if we end up with the same record & SOS as Miami, we'll draft in front of them.

It's hard to argue that a guy riding a 9-game losing streak should be brought back, unless you're just a fan of streaks in general.

The first tiebreaker for draft position is strength of schedule (easier schedule = higher pick). The second tiebreaker is a coin flip. If the coin lands on edge, then head-to-head record is used as the third tiebreaker. If that does not resolve the tie, then Commissioner Goodell uses ink-a-dink to determine who drafts first. No one's ever gotten past the 2nd tiebreaker, unfortunately.

Very well said! Personally, I'm pretty demoralized -- again. The Bills have looked like complete garbage in losses to the Jets (1st time), Cowboys, Dolphins (1st time), and Chargers, and looked like garbage for significant parts of losses to the Titans and Dolphins (2nd time). They truly look like a fundamentally different team in the 2nd half of the year. I'm very confused and puzzled as to how/why that is. Unless Fitzpatrick is secretly injured (which is possible), injuries don't explain why Fitzpatrick can't throw any more. Maybe the pressure of signing that big contract is messing with his head? (It happened to Dave Chappelle. If Fitzy walks away from the team in training camp next year, then surfaces in Africa after a couple weeks, I think we have our answer.) Keep in mind that Kyle Williams was playing hurt all year, and wasn't nearly as effective as last year as a result. Merriman wasn't particularly good, although he was playing OLB at an NFL level, something that can't be said about Spencer Johnson. Losing Freddie is obviously a major, major blow, but he didn't get hurt until after the Bills started getting blown out. Certainly the injuries have hurt, and may have cost us a win against Tennessee or the Jets at home, but the bigger problem of the entire team looking like garbage in all 3 phases + getting outcoached on both sides of the ball? That problem is completely independent from the injury problems. We'll see how this offseason goes. If the Bills let Stevie walk, cut McKelvin, and spend their top 2 picks on their replacements, then bring back the whole coaching staff, I'll be pretty despondent. But if we re-signed Stevie, gave Freddie a short-term extension, got a shiny new DC, one with actual NFL success as a DC -- Mike Nolan would be by far my top choice, and I wouldn't be very enthused by Wanny -- and drafted either RG3 or an impact pass-rusher or WR in the first round, and maybe added a starter or two in free agency, then I'd probably be pretty fired up about next year. We shall see.

The 2 biggest receiving yardage totals a healthy Revis has given up in the last 3 years both came against the Bills this year. The single longest completion Revis has given up in the past 3 years was against Stevie in the first game this year. Guys just don't get open against Revis.

Now try this on for size: Last year, the Texans' D was terrible (30th in yards allowed, 29th in points allowed). This year's, it's elite (1st in yards, 4th in points). Near as I can tell, they added 3 starters in the offseason: Jonathan Joseph (a very good and pretty high-priced free agent CB), JJ Watt (a rookie 1st-round pick DE), and Danieal Manning (a excellent KR, but mediocre FS). They also lost starting DT Amboi Okoye, and got only 5 games out of their best player (Mario Williams) this year, compared to 13 last year. They also switched from a 4-3 to a 3-4, which according to any Bills' front office employee, is a major obstacle for a defense to overcome. So how did they go from being a bottom 3 defense to a top 3 defense? Yes, they did add some talent, but does that really explain anywhere near that big of a jump? There's probably some luck/variance involved too. Absolutely. But that still doesn't get us anywhere near the top 5, does it? Put another way: If you looked at the Texans' 2010 defense, would you have said it was loaded with talent? I'm guessing no, but feel free to correct me on this. Are Jonathan Joseph and JJ Watt really so good that they transformed that unit from the dregs to the heights? I say no. Coaching matters, and furthermore, not every player is a good fit for every coach's scheme. I submit that the better strategy is to get the right coaches/schemes in place, then find good players to fit those schemes, rather than trying to assemble a loaded defense, and only firing the coach once it's clear that he can't win even with elite talent.

Absolutely would not have been okay with it, though that's slightly better than my preseason expectations. (I predicted 4-12 on the year, and preseason me would assume the Bills would lose the last 3 games.) I don't think the Bills should blow it up yet, but that doesn't mean that we should be satisfied with the crap season they're currently having.

Not if you assume that every team tries its hardest to win every game. Then for two teams with identical records, the one who played an easier schedule is probably worse, and thus needs more help in the form of a higher pick. In terms of your specific example, think of it this way: Miami beating us does make their tie-breaker worse, but the tie-breaker only gets applied because they beat us in the first place. So they drop down from definitely picking ahead of us based on record, to potentially picking ahead of us based on a tie-breaker. Does that make sense, or am I out in left field here? Incidentally, some people have suggested a Loser Bowl of sorts, where the bottom two teams play to get the #1 pick (awarded to the winner, of course). I think it's a cool idea that probably won't ever get any serious traction.

Let's ask Dean Wormer: There is some talk of possible instituting some sort of salary for next year, but right now, it's purely for love of the game.

I happen to disagree, but that's your opinion, and you're entitled to it. But please do me a favor and take a look around the league. What WRs (not on a rookie contract) are better than Stevie and currently making ~$9mil/year or less? I don't think there's any, but that's just my opinion. I think Stevie's pretty good. Not elite, but pretty good. Post of the thread. MJT should just drop the mic and walk off. I have to say, I'm sick of hearing things like "they can lose without him" or "that'll take us from 5-11 to 4-12. Big deal." That's a great mentality, if you're content to be a fan of a loser team for the rest of your life. Focus on WINNING. Does Stevie contribute to wins? YES. As much as you'd like? Maybe not. Is it easier to win with a good player like Stevie or without him? WITH. If the Bills let Stevie walk, what's the alternative? What's the opportunity cost? If you agree to his contract demands (my guess: something like 4 years, $35mil, but almost all guaranteed, and that's why the Bills rejected it), you might be overpaying him, but not by a lot. He's definitely an above-average NFL starter and has great chemistry with his QB. If you let him go, who do you replace him with? Does anyone actually think that Vincent Jackson or DeSean Jackson will be available for the same price as Stevie? I'll take that bet. And by the way, Vincent Jackson is one of the most maddeningly inconsistent players in the league, and has had multiple contract holdouts. And DeSean Jackson is a smurf who only runs fly patterns. Or do the Bills go WR in the first round, eschewing (potentially) a franchise QB, or a stud pass rusher, or a really good OT, or -- wonder of wonders -- a good WR to COMPLEMENT Stevie? You realize that some NFL teams have multiple good players, right? We could be one of those teams! We already have some good players. If we keep them, and draft other good players to play alongside them, then we might win some more games! I know it sounds crazy, and doesn't mesh with recent Bills' philosophy, but why don't we try it for a change? It's so crazy it might just work.

Tebow will definitely block it. I mean, he'll be on the sideline at the time, but he'll received 100% of the credit for the block. Just another one of those miracles.

Big fan of the LFL. The key is that the players play real tackle football and take the game seriously. Most of the passing games are pretty rough, but overall, the actual football being played isn't that bad. Throw in the visual appeal of the players, and you've got a very entertaining product. I'm gald they finally found a way to make arena football interesting. I also like the fact that Sean "I was sending pics of my junk before it was cool" Salisbury is the color commentator, and that the TV broadcast opens up by showing the betting line on the game.

I think the Bills will try to combat the Broncos' ground game (including Tebow) by getting bigger up front. This means benching Nick Barnett for Lionel Dotson. Look at how much bigger Dotson is! That's gotta help stuff the run!

I also like the idea that we're going to "get a QB" in 2014, but we're good till then. Why do so many fans seem to think that QB needs to be the final piece of the puzzle? Guys, building an elite team at every position except the most important one, then trying to find a good QB to plug in -- that's not a good plan.

Hard to imagine beating the A-hole Pats in their house unless Brady sits, or the fightin' Tebows unless God decides that He has something better to do than fix football games. Dolphins should be a legit fight. A lot of times a team will get an emotional bump after the coach gets fired mid-season, but I'm thinking that won't happen with this Dolphins team. I'm guessing that as a player, it's somewhat demoralizing when you've won something like 4 straight games in impressive fashion, then your coach gets canned after 1 loss.

At this point, even God is like, "Whoa, Tim, settle down with all the Jesus stuff. Try going 20 minutes without mentioning Him." I'll be at that game, and in preparation for all the miracles I'll be witnessing, I'll be sure to stock up on the blood of Christ.

Man, that is one sorry passing game, especially if Lee Evans is still hurt in this hypothetical.

There will never be a sure-fire great QB out there. Even Elway, Peyton Manning, and Luck carry a significant amount of risk in the draft. Free agent Drew Brees is probably the closest thing in NFL history to a sure-fire great QB being available, and he did have some injury risks. If you want a great QB, not just an average one, you have to take some serious risks. Trade for an unproven guy (like Matt Schaub or Brett Favre, or maybe more like Kevin Kolb or Rob Johnson), draft one high, or give playing time to a nobody in the hopes that he turns out to be Brady, Warner, or Romo. 95+% of the time that nobody turns out to be Caleb Hanie or Tyler Palko, though, and you lose a lot of games.

Caussin looked good in garbage time catching passes from Thigpen. I wouldn't read anything into it. Caussin is truly a replacement-level player.

http://blogs.buffalobills.com/2011/12/12/chan-understands-fan-frustration/ Gailey needs to realize that when you're on a 6-game losing streak, there are certain phrases you just shouldn't be saying. For example, "we're on the right track." I realize that he means in a big-picture sense, i.e., the team is better this year than last and he expects to improve again next year, and he might not be wrong about that. But still, when it's been almost 2 months since you won a game, you just can't go around saying you're on the right track. It also bothered me when Gailey recently said that the team is better this year than last. Yeah, it's technically true, but c'mon. It makes it sound like you kicked back and popped the bubbly once you got to 5 wins. PR counts. It isn't everything, but it does count.

How many starters did Houston add from last year to this year? I know of Jonathan Joseph, a very good CB. Any others? They also switched from a 4-3 to a 3-4 and lost their best player (Mario Williams) to injury in week 5. Their D went from pathetic the last few years to basically elite this year. Our DC is either the worst in the league or very close. The D is not as far away as it seems. We have players, but they are not being given many opportunities to succeed due to their incompetent management.

F the Bills. They've done nothing to merit our love in over a decade. Bills FANS, on the other hand, are the best. Much love to you all.

The Spencer Johnson situation is the most damning thing about our defense. It's unbelievable to me that even with Kelsay back in the lineup, Johnson is still starting and playing most of the time at OLB. At least 1 big play is given up every week because Johnson is too slow and too out of position to do anything about it, and yet the coaches keep trotting him out there over Moats or Coleman. Don't they watch film? Can't they see teams breaking huge runs to his side, even when he correctly reads the play, because he's just not fast enough to contain the RB? Are they surprised that this keeps happening? Do they think other teams are just getting lucky fluke plays over and over? GAH! By the way, no ill will towards Spencer. He's trying his best out there, and doing what his coaches tell him to do without (public) complaint. That's all you can ask of a guy. It's not his fault that his moron coaches think that a DT/DE hybrid should be playing out in space.