MDH

I keep seeing people say this and I have to roll my eyes every time. Of course the guy cares about winning, his job depends on it. Why? Because the only way to ensure that a team consistently makes money is to win. A team that is a perennial loser isn't going to keep packing the stadium, sell box seats, or sell merchandise. If the Bills continue their losing ways for much longer it will hit them in the pockets and TD knows this. People make it sound like he's purposely signing guys like Milloy and Vincent so they can sell tickets instead of going out there and getting guys he thinks will help him win. While it's true that signing these "name" guys will help sell some seats (in the short term) the Bills would be financially better off by winning and TD knows this. He's making these moves because he thinks they will help the team win, period. Granted, it hasn't worked out that way but to think he's not trying to win is just lunacy. I’m not too happy with TD at this point either but some of the stuff floating around here is just ridiculous.

The one thing he does grasp though is that you don't pay big money to old players unless he's a guy that is going to push you over the hump. TD has made quite a few mistakes but the one thing he's done right (for the most part) is deciding when to let Bills FAs walk.

I always love the generic "sign one FA stud" posts. Name one "stud" OL that is a FA this year that isn't going to be signed or franchised that is worth big money and that is young enough to sign to a long-term deal? Then, if such a player does exist the Bills have to compete with about 10 other teams that are vying for this guy's services I’m not making excuses for TD but these types of posts just drive me crazy. Pretty much the only way to get a young “stud” on the Oline is to draft him, because teams don’t generally let these types of guys hit FA. .

With the exception of a few perennial bottom dwellers every team has a few big time players that will make plays for their team. The GMs that draft or sign these guys to big time contracts aren't the guys that necessarily win consistently. Yes, the team absolutely has to have a few of these guys, that's a given. But the teams that win on a consistent basis are the ones that have role players that do their jobs well. The thing that separates the good GMs from the mediocre ones isn't the ability to look at the Peyton Mannings of the world and say, "that guy is good!" It's the ability to look at the under the radar guys and know he's going to be able to do what is asked of him for the team. Just look at the offensive lines around the league. The best ones aren’t necessarily the ones with the high round draft picks that sign huge contracts. Take a look at the Chicago Bears defense. They have Ulracher and Harris who share the spotlight (and to a lesser extent Ogunleye) but without a bunch of 3rd-5th round players that do their jobs (and a coaching staff that uses them properly) that D isn’t much better than the Bills.

I disagree. The difference between winning and losing consistently has very little to do with the "star" players. It has to do with the role-players, depth and coaching. A GM and scouting department that have a knack for finding middle of the road players that can play in their schemes are the guys that field solid teams consistently. With FA a team can only field so many big time players. This magnifies the role of the coaches and their ability to get the most out of these middle of the road players. Sure, there are a few players out there who can put their team on their backs but you can’t count on that happening. Look at the Colts, that would still be a playoff team with a average/above average QB at the helm. They wouldn’t be nearly as dominant but they’d be in the playoffs nonetheless. Obviously injuries can wreck a season, particularly if its one of your stars that goes down. But for the most part it’s the no-name guys on the team (which is the majority of any team) that do their jobs well that equate to winning consistently. Finding these guys is not “luck”, it’s the mark of a good scouting department and quality coaches that know how to use them. Simply sticking Peyton Manning on a bad team isn’t going to cover all the team’s deficiencies. The Bills wouldn’t be a playoff team even with Manning.

While Mularky and co. aren't doing a bang up job, no coach could coax a winning season out a team with this little talent in the trenches, on both sides of the ball. We get dominated at the point of attack each and every week.

That wasn't pass interference. The DB was looking back at the ball and trying to make a play. Both players were bumping into one another. The refs did the right thing and let them play the game. Do we really have to have fans come on here every damn week and B word about the refs? Despite popular opinion there is no conspiracy against the Bills. Perhaps the fans just have a slanted point of view...

Sadly I did too. Somehow I still had the energy to get pissed at the playcalling on the final two plays. I f'in hate fade routes and I can't believe that our coaching staff can't find anything else to work on at the end of games that might help us later down the road. How about letting Losman roll out, read the D and make a decision instead of taking a 3 step drop and lofting it up there hoping for the best?

Polian won't come here, but with enough cash perhaps Wolf might. Something has to be done, I'm not a doom and gloomer but after yesterday I'm not sure how much more I can take.

I guess I'll be the wet blanket. While Bush is a spectacular athlete in the open field he is absolutely horrible running between the tackles. Horrible. There's a reason White comes in on short yardage and goal line plays. Bush isn't going to be able to hit the corner in the NFL like he does in college so he had better learn how to get the tough yards. I have no doubt with the proper coaching he can learn to be more patient while running inside but I don't think he's going to burst onto the NFL scene and light it up. Also, somebody needs to teach the kid how to handle the ball, he never switches hands even when he's on the sideline which will cost him big time in the NFL where guys are constantly trying to take swipes at the ball. The sky is the limit for Bush but only if he puts the work in. Right now he’s just skating by on talent alone.

I'm not going to get on Reed for dropping that TD, that would have been an almost impossible catch to make. Reed and the DB were bumping each other, Reed created some separation at the last second but the DB got a piece of the ball right before it got to Reed. Sure he could have caught it but it would have been spectacular if he had. The drop on the next series is a different story. Right in his hands for what would have been a 20-yard gain. That being said I think you're going overboard with the "get rid of Reed" stuff. Yeah, he had a bad game but he's played pretty well most of the season and JP seems to have some chemistry with him.

The team lacks talent where it matters, in the trenches. You can't coast by with bad line play on both sides of the ball, no matter how talented the rest of the team is.

He got most of those yards in the second half when the D was pinning its ears back rushing the QB. Our staple running play today was the draw. I wouldn't get too excited about it.

"Since he got here" = 5 starts. Despite the numbers if you can't tell the guy looks better than his first 4 starts you're not paying attention. His balls are much more accurate, he's dumping the ball off when nothing else is there and he's looking to throw when he breaks out of the pocket. He's not being successful overall but he doesn't look lost out there.

Alright, the TD was scored by why on earth do you call for the QB to spike the ball on 1st down at the 2 yard line and 1:30 left? It's a waste of a down and only serves to give the other team more time on the clock when you do score. This team drives me crazy.

That's not possible. Apparently when JP starts the rule is he has to drop back to pass every down. That’s our coaching staff’s idea of bringing the young QB along slowly.

Somebody needs to go back to school and learn about their country.

I'm not a big fan of Alstott either but given the fact that he has been listed as a FB his entire career (despite not actually playing that position for most of it) there's a chance some moronic writers will look at his numbers and say, "those are great numbers for a FB" and vote him in. Sadly, it's really not that far fetched.

Obviously it depends on who is available when we pick, but all things being equal I'd prefer a run stuffing DT.

Not that Mularky is a great coach by any means, but he currently is in possession of a winning record with the Bills. It's hard to get rid of a guy with a winning record when the team has been stuck in the quagmire for the past 5-6 years.

Yes, always play your studs. You'll end up outsmarting yourself if you try to pick and choose when to play them. Pick and choose other guys but always play your best players.

Nobody outside of Buffalo thinks the Bills have a chance at winning this game. So if they're forced to show a game in which one team "doesn't have a chance" at winning the game they'll go with the team from the largest market in the country. That being said I can't believe that CBS only has the capability of doing 3 HD games each week. That's just sad.

How the hell did those last two paragraphs make it into the article? What the hell does the stuff in Carolina have to do with this incident?

If Losman starts the next two games there's no reason not to start him the rest of the way. If he helps the team win some games and keeps them in the playoff hunt how could the coaching staff bench him when Holcomb comes back? If the team loses some games and is pretty much out of playoff contention what use is it to put Holcomb back in? Unless Losman gets hurt I’m guessing we see him start the rest of the way.

This is pretty much how I see it as well. The f'in Pats have backups playing at, what, 8 or so positions? Yet they can still field a team that's better than .500 while the Bills languish year after year out of playoff contention no matter how healthy they are. It makes me shake my head. There's absolutely no reason why the Bills shouldn't be winning this division, yet they aren't...and most likely won't. Just pathetic.