MDH

The Bills can't keep playing the treadmill game and think they're going to improve. Time after time they let their good players walk after their first contract and we wonder why this team consistently wins only 6 or 7 games a season. Sure you don't "need" a dominant WR to win but the Bills have - at best - an average QB and if Johnson goes their WR corps is one of the worst in the league, if not the worst. A passing game IS essential in today's NFL to win. How do you propose the Bills effectively move the ball through the air with a horrid WR group and an average QB? I like Fitz and think the Bils can win with him but they need to be very good everywhere else, including WR. Getting rid of Johnson moves the Bills in the wrong direction, they need to do everything in their power to retain him and STILL add a legit #2 on the other side.

When the weakest part of your entire team - both in terms of starters and in depth - are your LBs, switching to the 3-4 isn't a wise move. Coaches shouldn't be looking for ways of getting more of your worst players on the field...

Your idea of "making the tough calls" sounds a lot like how Daniel Snider runs the Redskins. How's changing coaches every 2-3 years and hiring "top notch replacements" working for them? I'll admit, the Bills way isn't working either but you make it sound like if they just followed your easily formulated blueprint the Bills would be on their way back. I'm willing to give Gaily another year - perhaps even two depending on what transpires next season. As much as people want to label it as an "excuse" the Bills were decimated by injuries this year. Their OL, WR, DBs, DL, LB - there wasn't a unit that wasn't hit and hit hard.

Not that I disagree with your general statement but those weren't the best examples. The Bengles have 3 winning seasons (including this one) in the past 20 years - not exactly known for the "quick fix." The 49ers aren't much better as this is there first winning season in 10 years.

Courtney Upshaw. Who knows how stock will rise and fall between now and the draft but this is a guy who fits our needs perfectly and - as of now - looks like he'll be on the board at 10.

You say this with sarcasm but 10+ years of missing the playoffs says your statement is actually pretty accurate...

They needed to find a way to get all those elite linebackers on the field at once...

So, not a single LB is out except 25% of them and you failed to mention that another 25% of them (Kelsey) has missed significant playing time as well. Pre-injury Kelsey was actually playing pretty well. Add to it our Pro Bowl DT and pretty much the entire secondary. The D wasn't good WITH all the starters but it's no wonder they're one of the worst units in the league considering all the injuries. People don't want to hear it because they consider it as excuse but to expect a team that drafted 3rd overall last year to have the depth at so many positions to continue to compete for a playoff spot is expecting the near impossible. I get as agitated as anybody watching this mess unfold game after game and season after season but I also realize that this year there have been a plethora of injuries which derailed this team. All that being said I agree with your statement that the LBs need fixing - they do.

It's not a coincidence that Fitz's play went down once the OLine started accumulating injuries and had to be shuffled around. During the first 4 games or so when the starters were all in there and gave him solid pass protection Fitz did a solid job and the offense as a whole looked good. Oline makes the whole thing go. Fit isn't a superstar but he's good enough to win with the right supporting cast.

Try watching him play, he gets double teamed on every single snap - every single snap. If we had anybody else on the D who could take advantage of this you might notice his contribution more. But if you're simply looking for sacks, tackles and the like then no, he doesn't do a thing. He makes space for others to make the plays, unfortunately our LB corps is abismal. This is exactly what Ngata does for Baltimore the difference being that they have LBs who flow to the play and fill gaps while we only have one LB who is of quality.

Exactly, the blitz forced Sanchez into a horrible throw - Burress just saved their season with an amazing catch. Stevie Johnson should be taking notes from Burress instead of mocking him...

If Pears could do anything other than Ole him, Maybin would have been a non-factor. Maybin has one thing - speed. He has no moves to get to the passer other than to run around the tackle on the outside. This is the easiest thing for a tackle to defend. You simply push him wide and way out of the play. Yet time and time again, inexplicably, Maybin ran around Pears. So....infuriating... I didn't find myself wishing Maybin had done this for the Bills, I found myself wishing that Pears would do what he does for another team as well.

Disagree. Fred has that same ability that made Thurman so great - in traffic he finds a small crease, bursts into it and out the other side breaking tackles along the way. Sometimes it's only for 2-3 yards and sometimes he busts it for 15. Spiller, on the other hand, continuously runs into the backs of his linemen for losses and those runs that could go for 15 he gets arm tackled for 4-5. Freddy has s combination of vision, instinct and power that Spiller simply doesn't have.

If year 11 of rebuilding is "an early stage of a lengthy rebuilding process" then we Bills fans are in for much more heartache than we ever imagined.

The Problem Fitz had last week was that his defense allowed a million first half points and the Bills got way behind and went into "must throw" mode. When D's know you're going to throw they can be much more aggressive in coverage and in the pass rush. Dallas has a fantastic pass rush, getting way behind a team like that is bound to be a nightmare. I'm not excusing Fitz from his mistakes but this D could make things a lot easier on everybody if they'd force a punt every now and then.

I'd say they don't just need to win 2 of 3, they have to win the Jet game and one of the other two. Otherwise they'll have very little chance of beating the Jets out for the WC.

This was my thought as well. No matter what they ruled it on the field it should have stood because the replay was inconclusive. I have no idea how they overturned that call.

The white unis might have had nothing to do with the loss in and of themselves but I don't get why such a big deal was made of this game. White unis, pom-poms, the whole "white out" thing. Why make a week 9 game into such an event, particularly for a team that's still trying to learn how to win? It just gave them a little extra pressure that they didn't need. Don't get me wrong, obviously it was going to be a pretty important game no matter what but there was no need to make it bigger and more important than it already was.

What's up with the NFL scheduling? Why have the Jets and Pats finish their season series in week 10 or the Steelers and Ravens theirs in week 9? These are teams that need to be playing each other late in the season, not finishing up mid-season. What's up with the NFL scheduling? Why have the Jets and Pats finish their season series in week 10 or the Steelers and Ravens theirs in week 9? These are teams that need to be playing each other late in the season, not finishing up mid-season.

Maybe the Bills can use a certain 4th round pick on a fast WR that could stretch Ds, move the safety over and keep teams from packing the middle of the field to stop the short pass... As for the original question, the Bills biggest needs as I see them are (in order): LB, DE, WR, CB, OL (OL primarily for depth as when the original starters have been out there this year I've been happy with them.)

Except when we are. Like beating the Pats and Eagles and losing in the waning moments to the Giants and Cincy on the road (both of whom are 6-2...) Sure seem like the Bills can play with the good teams. The Bills got whipped yesterday, it happens to even good teams. Take a look at the Steelers in opening week or New Orleans against the Rams. Some weeks a team just gets hammered, the important thing is how they respond to it. If they come out and lay an egg vs. the Cowboys next week this team might be in trouble but if they respond by playing a good game and pulling out a win on the road this team will be fine.

Freddy had gotten stuffed on two previous short yardage situations before that one - why bang your head against the wall? And no, not a bootleg, roll the QB out in a moving pocket and let him throw the ball to a TE and if he has the room run it - its not the same thing as a bootleg.

It was 4th and about 2 inches, QB sneak is almost always the right call in that situation. Why use a slow developing play handing a guy the ball who is lined up 6 yards behind the LoS when the QB just has to surge forward about a foot? I've only seen QB sneaks fail in those situations about a few times. And it has nothing to do with "except when it doesn't work" I'd imagine most were calling for the sneak well before the play - I know I was. I also wouldn't have minded seeing them roll Fitz out with an option to throw to a TE or run for the first. I'd have preferred anything but simply running Freddy up the gut when the Jets had stopped those short yardage plays all game long.

For almost the entire first half the Bills failed to take any shots down the field to try and loosen the Jets D up. Then, the one time they should have had a short crossing pattern to try and get into FG range Fitz puts up a deep ball into double coverage? Frustrating. Also, the Bills D needs to get up on the Jets WRs. Almost all the plays the Jets are completing are 5 yard patterns to wide open guys because the Bills DBs are 10 yards off the ball. Again, Frustrating. That being said, I know how I'd feel if the Bills dominated the first half and only led by 3 points - nervous. The Jets played well and couldn't put the Bills away, time to get this Bills offense going.

They have to two best QBs in the league. Like it or not that makes up for a lot of other deficiencies - see the Indianapolis Colts this year if you doubt this.