Cash

This was the first Mort quote I've seen that didn't come off as having an axe to grind for firing his buddy Donahoe. Most national pundits wouldn't entertain the notion that Buddy Nix and Chan Gailey are the right football people to drag a team out of the cellar. But Mort suggests that if they're left to their own devices, the team will be fine. And there's not a whole lot of vitriol directed at Ralph. There's no disputing the sentence about Polian & Butler, and that can't be swept under the rug. And even Mort's pro-Donahoe comment seems to recognize that Donahoe was doing a bad job by the end, even if Mort doesn't come out and say it. There's a big difference between saying "there were a lot of good things Donahoe... could have continued doing if he had been left alone," versus saying "there were a lot of good things Donahoe... could have continued doing if he hadn't been fired." Between this and some of the recent Overdorf stuff that's appeared in the Buffalo News (cutting Troy Vincent without the coaches knowing, for example), I wonder if Kelsay's extension was a Ralph and/or Overdorf move, and maybe Nix/Gailey had nothing to do with it. I also don't know which is worse: having an incompetent GM, or having a competent GM whose decisions are overruled by his incompetent bosses.

Blame the FO for not cutting Trent sooner, fine. Very defensible. But you can't blame them for cutting him now. The only 2 teams to put in a waiver claim were the next 2 teams on our schedule. There was no trade market for him, and zero support in either the locker room (I think) or the fanbase. Mike Lombardi praised the Cardinals for cutting bait with Leinart when they did, but took a couple of shots at the Bills for essentially the same move. Didn't care for that, although I generally like Lombardi's analysis. Anyway, getting back to the point of this thread, it's stunning to see the difference in every aspect of the passing game when Fitz comes in for Trent. People had been saying Steve Johnson couldn't start for a CFL team, but he looked like a legitimate player on Sunday. The O-line didn't look great, but showed that they at least do provide some time, and usually provide a pocket to step into and throwing (or running) lanes that a QB can use to make plays. Granted, this was all against a bad to very bad defense, so maybe we're being too optimistic. But we've got some quality defenses left on the schedule, and playing those should really expose who can play and who can't.

He played LT for most of the game against us, Ace.

Fair point re: strength of opposing D. But even though QB isn't everything, it is the single most important thing. I predict that the 2 Trent games will be our 2 worst offensive games in terms of first downs, yards per play, and total yards. Maybe not points, though. Fitz will move the ball, but will certainly throw his share of picks as well. Plus, our WRs are so unused to having the ball in their hands that they're bound to fumble a few just out of surprise.

You think so? I doubt it. Honestly, once we take it as a given that no potential starter would be brought in at QB, I think the QB "competition" came down to simple coaching arrogance. Coaches who come from one side of the ball tend to think that they can coach up guys who basically stink. Gailey was able to talk himself into believing that Edwards' problems were 1) all mental, 2) caused by his previous coaches, and 3) fixable by Gailey. I think at least (2) and (3) were wrong, and maybe (1) as well. I was never impressed by Edwards' non-checkdown accuracy, but it was so rare he actually threw over the middle that it's hard to judge accurately.

Because we have experienced football men on the job, and they know better than us who the best QB is. Unfortunately, all game tapes from 2009 were destroyed before they took the jobs, so they went with the guy who threw a better ball in practice.

I noticed Dwan Edwards get pushed back about 4-5 yards on several runs yesterday. And Kelsay looks so bad on most plays that I would be embarrassed for him, if not for that report of a possible contract extension. I haven't done a lot of keying on individual defenders this year, though, so I'm as in the dark as anyone. Any of you hardcore fans who re-watch games care to weigh in?

It's concerning that after trotting out one of the worst offenses in team history, the only personnel moves of significance were to let TO go and sign Cornell Green.

Either that, or the O-line that gave Trent "literally no time to throw" magically turned into an elite unit overnight. Except that Fitzpatrick was still pressured a ton, but he has some concept of how to step up in the pocket and either scramble for positive yardage or make a throw downfield.

I was thinking about this some more on the way to work this morning, and it came down to this: If Kelsay is given a contract extension to continue his role in this defense, our team's management either is wildly incompetent or likes losing. There's just no in-between.

The sad thing is, I had to click on the thread to figure out whom you were referring to. Could've been Maybin, Cornell Green, maybe Kelsay... Also, this whole "Maybin needs to get better against the run" thing is a joke. He needs to get better at playing football. He's in there on basically every passing down. How many sacks does he have? How many pressures? How many QB hits? Yes, he's bad against the run, but he's also bad at rushing the passer.

All of them, apparently. Our nickel/dime hybrid was ineffective against both run and pass. 38 carries for 200 yards on the ground (5.3/rush), 21-27 (78%) for 245 yards through the air. 3 passing TDs, 2 rushing TDs. I guess George Edwards focused the game plan around stopping Julian Edelman? If so, good job.

What was really stupid was taking the timeout as soon as the play ended. It was obviously close enough for either a measurement or a review, or both. At that point, you request a measurement, which temporarily stops the clock, and if you get the first down, take a time out, and if you don't get the first down, run the clock down and kick the field goal. Generally speaking, I think the move there is to go for it, but in our case, I was rooting for the FG, because that's how little faith I have in our O against their D. (Loser mentality, I guess.) We would've run it right up the gut, they would've known exactly what we were going to do, Wilfork would've collapsed the middle of the line, and Lynch or Jackson would've been thrown for a loss. But there's no excuse to kick a FG with 20+ seconds left when you could've kicked it with 4 seconds left.

Ryan Fitzpatrick is who we thought he was. If he had good accuracy, he would be a borderline elite QB. But he has bad accuracy, and there you go. But at least we were fun to watch. When was the last time you legitimately enjoyed a Bills game as a football fan with Edwards under center? San Diego in 2008, that's when.

If another McNabb-level QB becomes available in the trade market, I'm all for it. Do what it takes to get the guy. But assuming that doesn't happen, the next best option is to draft a guy high. Even if he's not "NFL ready". No rookie is NFL ready. Even when a rookie has a really good year for a good team (Matt Ryan, Flacco, Roethlisbathroom, and Marino, and that's the whole list), it basically comes as a surprise to the team that drafted him. Atlanta didn't expect to make the playoffs 2 years ago. Baltimore wouldn't have even started Flacco if Troy Smith didn't get hurt. It's hard enough to find a good QB without limiting yourself to only ones that can help you right away. Peyton Manning struggled mightily in his rookie year. Should the Colts have passed on him for a guy who was NFL ready? From what I've seen so far, Luck looks like the real deal, but I don't expect him to declare for the draft this year. Mallett is a little shakier, but possibly the real deal. Jake Locker is dead to me. And I haven't seen him yet, but I'm told Arizona's QB is maybe better than Mallett.

Bruce's listed weight during the Super Bowl years was 278, which would be considered light for a 3-4 DE these days. Of course, Bruce's game was really that of a 4-3 DE, he just happened to play in a 3-4.

I'll be shocked if Edwards can con yet another coaching staff into thinking he's an NFL QB. Especially since he's in the last year of his deal. Who's going to trade for a guy who doesn't know your offense, and isn't signed next year? That's preposterous.

Kelsay Close to Extension Deal I really hope this doesn't turn out to be true. How can anyone at 1 Bill Drive not see the same things that we all see? He can't cover anyone, he can't rush the passer without a hand on the ground (and even then, isn't very good), he's small, slow, and easily pushed around. I don't care that this band of losers keeps voting him their captain. If anything, that's incentive to get rid of him. This is the team that's been largely indifferent about losing for most of Kelsay's tenure. If that's the kind of leadership he's providing in the locker room, count me out. And for anyone queuing up that old chestnut, "they get paid to evaluate football players, you're just some armchair GM," here's my response: Yes, Nix et al are professional evaluators of talent, and yes, I'm an amateur. And yes, they have access to the coach's film, and know what Kelsay's assignment was on every play, and can watch practice, so they have a lot more information than I do. BUT! They are bad at their jobs, possibly incompetent. I'm not impressed by anyone's professional status unless it appears to be legitimate. If I was hired as the Bills' GM, I think the team would probably lose every year. But guess what? It already loses every year! I'm sorry, but you can't appeal to authority when that authority is a laughingstock around the league.

I picked up Aaron Hernandez and am starting him this week. Whitner is also bad at covering TEs, although swapping out Poz for Ellison helps our TE coverage a lot. The problem with Kelsay is that, as an OLB, he's extremely bad at both pass coverage and pass rush. He was unblocked on one of Rodgers' TD throws last week, but just wasn't fast enough to affect the throw. Granted, Rodgers is really good, but still, you'd think an unblocked OLB would be able to hurry the QB. Kelsay really does nothing well at the position he currently plays.

I thought Spiller's speed was supposed to make the O-line better. That's what we were told after the draft, anyway.

Hey, like Chris Brown said today, you can't fill all the holes in just one year. I'm not sure why they didn't bother to fill any of the holes this past year, but whatever. Clearly this is all part of the plan.

Win.

It's always the same for me when it comes to Whitner: I want to like the guy, but it's not quite there. I like the fact that he's upset about this, especially because I feel like not everyone on the team is. But then I come back to this: What's he going to do about it, and what's he ever done about it? He wants to be a team leader, and he talks a great game, but if he's one of your key players on D, your defense isn't going to be good enough to make the playoffs. He's a good player, but he doesn't make a big impact in any phase of the game, and he struggles to cover tight ends. Solid starter, that's about it. In fact, I don't think our D can ever be good as long as the two main leaders are Whitner and Kelsay. They are princes among losers.

You need to visit other sites besides this one. Reid's taken a lot of flack, and rightfully so. The whole point in trading away McNabb was that Kolb was both the future and ready to step in and play right now. Here's one article: http://espn.go.com/blog/nfceast/post/_/id/18799/out-of-character-move-for-the-eagles Here's another: http://espn.go.com/blog/nfceast/post/_/id/18806/andy-reid-makes-a-knee-jerk-decision Here's a third: http://insider.espn.go.com/nfl/insider/columns/story?columnist=joyner_kc&id=5602804&action=upsell&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fnfl%2finsider%2fcolumns%2fstory%3fcolumnist%3djoyner_kc%26id%3d5602804 And I only went to 1 site. There's dozens more floating around the internets. [EDIT: For the record, I think both coaches made the right move to play the better QB over the worse QB, but Reid's move really makes the McNabb trade look bad. Can Kolb ever gain the confidence of the guys in the locker room now that he's been benched? If you weren't actually ready to commit to Kolb (and you shouldn't have been, because he's not very good), you shouldn't have traded McNabb. At least Gailey can't hurt the long-term fortunes of either the team or any QB on the team by switching QBs.]

First, I would be tremendously pleased, especially since the Bills have never beaten the Patriots since I moved to Boston. Second, I would be almost as surprised as I was pleased. Third, I might reassess the team and bump them up a bit, but it would depend on how they won. Upsets do happen, and bad teams sometimes do beat good teams. Right now, I see the Bills as something like a 2 to 4 win team, but a win in Foxboro with some legitimacy might move that estimation up to 6 wins or so. My official pre-season prediction was 4-12, and I usually wind up within 1 win either way.