Got_Wood

The point is that Kelsay shouldn't have been retained, and they should have filled the position with other players. He has been rewarded for his mediocrity and kept the position occupied, when we could have drafted or signed another free agent to replace him. You can't settle for players like this, and you certainly can't retain players like this for their entire career. ESPECIALLY when you're showing very good players like Lynch and Evans the door, and completely disrespecting our current best players in Jackson and Johnson. It's idiotic.

I completely agree. No player in the NFL has been rewarded for so long for playing mediocre football. If these are the types of players we want to make career Bills, then we've got big problems. And now I can just see these buffoons letting one of our best players, Stevie Johnson, walk out the door. And on top of that THE BEST player, Freddy Jackson, is not being rewarded for carrying this team on his shoulders the past 2 seasons. Don't give me this crap that he's still under contract either. We've resigned Schobel and Kelsay when they had several years left on their contract before. DO YOUR JOB Overdorf, Littman, and Nix. If you can't sign good players or reward our best players, then GTFO.

That's a bunch of BS. Good teams re-sign their best players. If Overdorf, Littman, and Nix can't sign these guys, then they deserve to be fired. Every player in the league has an agent who thinks his player is worth more than he is. But somehow, other teams seem to come up with deals for their best players. They need to get these guys signed and fulfill the promise they had to the fans to build a winning team.

I can't comprehend why Kelsay has gotten a free pass on this team for so long other than the front office loves him. And I mean Ralph, Overdorf, Littman, etc. who have been here over the years. No team should accept mediocrity like that. And Peters was run out of town when he asked for money as a grossly underpaid pro bowl Left Tackle, but Schobel had 3 years left on his deal and was given a huge contract extension. Freddy and Stevie are this team's best players, yet we chose to reward Fitzpatrick and Pears first this year. Freddy literally carries this team on his back for the beginning of the season, and we sit on our hands when he asks for a raise. Call it racism, call it stupidity, call it whatever you want. As a fan, I don't like it one bit. On top of that, we've been a perpetually bad team and yet we're WAY under the salary cap. This front office has been disgraceful to its incredibly loyal fan base.

Well that's a terrible mentality. If all we can do is sign white guys with average athleticism and no personality, then we're on the right track (Kyle Williams not included). It was a moronic move to draft Spiller and trade Marshawn away. Especially when we had so many other needs. We better not run Stevie out of town, only to have to fill the need again in the draft. Stevie is a character, but he is in no way a BAD character. He is exactly the kind of player this team needs. He exudes confidence, and he respects the city of Buffalo.

It's our front office's job to negotiate with both of these guys. Every player has an agent that wants more than their player is worth. If our front office can't come to a resolution, they need to be fired. Get it done or GTFO.

Yeah, you pretty much nailed it. Although, I would like to see us show some commitment for once to one of our better players. Of course Stevie's agent is demanding more than we want to pay him, that's his job. But if we can't negotiate with his agent, our front office (Overdorf, Littman) need to be fired. In my opinion, they should have been fired long ago when we cleared out the rest of the staff. These guys have done nothing but hold us back.

I watch a hell of a lot of football. Half the guys you listed are average players that have been put in a position to succeed. Bowman is a second year player that didn't do anything last season. Goldson was a 4th round pick that became a decent but inconsistent player. Carlos Rogers is decent, but having his best year by far in San Fran. I could go all day here. Most of the guys you listed aren't stars. They are productive in the system they play in. And I believe guys like Kyle Williams, Marcell Dareus, Nick Barnett, Kelvin Sheppard, Jairus Byrd, Drayton Florence, and Aaron Williams can all be very good players in the right system. Even Kelsay could give us the numbers that Anthony Spencer gives the Cowboys at 4-3 DE. Yes, we're lacking OLB's. But give us a damn good coach, and these players we've got will be in a better position to succeed.

Although I like this signing, I think our front office priorities are jacked up. We need to re-sign Stevie Johnson NOW. All other signings mean very little unless we lock up our best players.

I'm sorry but your talent assessment is misguided. 49ers: Willis was the only guy on this defense anyone talked about, outside of maybe Justin Smith. Aldon Smith was drafted this year, and has been phenomenal under this coaching staff. Texans: Mario Williams and Brian Cushing were the only true star-like players on this team. And Williams has been hurt this year. Connor Barwin had ZERO sacks last year, and only 3 as a rookie. Now he's thriving under Wade Phillips. And they brought in JJ Watt in the draft, who has been pretty good this year. Cowboys: Outside of Demarcus Ware, this defense is pretty bad on paper. Terrence Newman is OK, but past his prime. Sean Lee is decent. The Bills have Kyle Williams (had early this year), Nick Barnett, Marcell Dareus, and Jairus Byrd who can all be very good players in the right defense. You're right though, we are sorely missing OLB's. And between Florence, McKelvin, and Williams we are fairly decent at cornerback. I can only attribute Mckelvin getting worse each year to bad coaching. NO, we're not that far off. We need a coach to guide these guys in the right direction. Agree 100%.

Please cut the nonsense. A team needs a single leader as a coach, with a single philosophy. He generates the tone on the field, and the work ethic that his players need to achieve. Gailey needs to bring in guys that can run the offense and the defense. Let's not get derailed here. Unless the end goal is to move Cowher in as the head coach over all of these guys at the end of the season, this idea will never happen.

I think that Gailey could potentially be successful as our head coach IF he gets a legitimate DC in place. I've said this before: why are we willing to spend over $3 mil per year on a gadget player like Brad Smith, but we're not willing to go out and hire a top notch Defensive Coordinator??? That's not being cheap, that's being stupid. And you know the Bruce DeHaven hiring wasn't Gailey's call. This came from Ralph because he knows the guy from the Jim Kelly era Bills.

Well, here's my reply to this. Nix decided it was OK to keep 4 MLB's on the roster (Barnett, Sheppard, Morrison, Davis), and only 2 actual OLB's. One in Merriman, who hasn't played a full season in years. And the other in Moats, who is a late round pick that is extremely inexperienced and unproven. It was Edwards defense to build. He, Nix, and Gailey put this group together. And now they've got Kelsay and Johnson completely out of position in this so called "hybrid" defense. BAD decision making, and BAD coaching.

Agree to disagree. The Cowboys were a MESS on defense before Rob Ryan came in there. What Phillips has done in Houston is just short of a miracle. And no one respected the 49ers defense outside of Patrick Willis last season. Look at the difference in the defensive ranking in ONE YEAR. Coaching makes all the difference my friend.

Suspect coaches for the Bills in 2011 - Defensive staff: George Edwards, Bob Sanders, Giff Smith, and George Catavolos. Special Teams staff: Bruce Dehaven and Stan Kwan. Let's just get over the whole "the Bills don't have talent" argument. We have a lot of talent on this team. But our coaches aren't getting the most out of these guys. Most prominently our defensive coaching staff, led by George Edwards. This has been beat to death, but let me validate this point. Buffalo Bills Defense Rank & Coach at the time: 2008: 14th (Fewell) 2009: 16th (Fewell) 2010: 28th (Edwards) 2011: 28th (Edwards) Here are some examples of teams that changed Defensive coaches, and the resulting change of Defensive Rank: Cowboys: 2010: 31st (Pasqualoni) 2011: 12th (Ryan) 49ers: 2010: 16th (Manusky) 2011: 1st (Fangio) Texans: 2010: 29th (Bush) 2011: 2nd (Phillips) See the pattern there? They didn't completely overhaul the personnel to make their defense better. It was the leadership, philosophy, and defensive coaching style that made these teams better. Now, the Bills can continue to circle the wagons with mediocre to terrible defenses by cheaping out on Defensive Coordinators. OR they can do their homework, and go out and hire a QUALITY defensive coach. And they might just have to spend a little money to bring a guy in. But if we can spend a few million a year on Brad Smith as a wildcat QB and part time WR, we better be able to spend some money on a quality defensive coordinator. I wrote this out in another thread, but here are some candidates I think would be worth considering: - Steve Spagnuolo (could likely be fired) - Mike Nolan (the whole Miami staff could be gone soon) - Keith Butler (likely the next in line in Pittsburgh once Lebeau is retired, but maybe Whaley can work some magic here) - Jack Del Rio (good defensive coach, at least worth considering)

This is another frustrating element to this team. Gailey refuses to adjust the offense to his personnel. Our best players on the offensive roster right now are Johnson, Nelson, Spiller, and McIntyre (and Chandler when healthy). Why do we keep trying to plug in guys off the street at receiver and keep the spread going?? Line up in a pro style offense and adjust to the players you've got. Cut the BS, you can't rely on Derek Hagan and Lee Smith to come up with plays for you. These guys can barely make an NFL roster, let alone be the focus of your offense. So, I guess there are 4 major flaws at least on the surface. You can't use this argument if you're Nix. You are the GM, you bring in players. We're way under the cap, so there was room to add. This is your team, if there is a lack of talent then he needs to hold himself responsible.

These are the biggest issues I see on the field, from a fans perspective. Leave all of this front office talk out of the conversation for now. This is purely a performance evaluation that any fan can see in plain sight. 1. Lack of Leadership on the Field & Sidelines - This has a lot to do with Kyle Williams, Eric Wood, and Freddy Jackson being out for the season. Those guys are true team leaders out there on both sides of the ball. But they're gone, and the only guys that motivate people out there are George Wilson and Stevie Johnson. Ryan Fitzpatrick is simply not a leader. He may lead by example and work ethic, but he doesn't motivate the players. He's a quiet guy, and mostly keeps to himself on the sidelines. That is one of his biggest flaws, and it hurts this team. 2. Costly Mistakes - Drive halting interceptions can alter the momentum of a game in a big way. Fitz has GOT TO stop throwing the ball up for grabs. His 2 interceptions yesterday were daggers in the heart of this team. All hope flies out the window when you do things like that. And it doesn't help when Fitz runs to the sideline and sits with his head hanging down on the bench by himself. Would any top tier QB in this league do that?? 3. A Defense Confused and Players Out of Position - This is more than frustrating. Watching Kelsay and Johnson play OLB is the most maddening thing a fan can watch. They have no speed, they can't cover a fullback if they tried, they look lost, and they can't hold the edge on run plays. What the hell is going on here??? In addition to this, our DB's play 8 yards off of receivers and allow QB's to march down the field on us all day. There is no such thing as a hybrid defense. Nix and Edwards simply put a group of guys together that don't match whatever defensive philosophy they're trying to accomplish here. We've got FOUR middle linebackers on this team (Barnett, Sheppard, Morrison, and Davis), and ZERO outside linebackers (Moats has potential, but that's it). Are you kidding me?? This is the NFL. You can't afford to make mistakes that make you look less organized than a high school team. Every phase of the game has looked bad out there for the past 6 weeks. Moorman can't punt, we can't return a kickoff or punt for more than 5 yards, our defense is getting trampled, and this offense has hit a wall. What gives fellas?!?! We better lock up Stevie Johnson soon. If we lose this guy, we are toast.

The Chargers O-line is beat up. I think Dareus has a big game this week. Who knows, even Moats might have an impact. I think Scott can cover Gates. He's lost a step this year, but he's still dangerous. Scott has the height and speed to stick with him. The real issue will be, can Florence cover Vincent Jackson, and Rogers cover Malcolm Floyd? Florence used to play for the Chargers, so I hope he shows some desire out there on Sunday. This will be a challenge. It's good to have Wilson back though, I think he can pick off one of Rivers' floaters over the top. The Chargers also have weak linebackers and a pass rush as bad as ours. We should be feeding Spiller the rock and dropping screens to him often. And Fitz will have time to hit Stevie deep if they want as well. Should be a close game either way. I can see our guys stepping it up this week.

Vegas has the Chargers beating the Bills by 7 points. And on top of that, every San Diego media outlet seems to think that the Chargers will steamroll our team. We're back to being some kind of pushover again. Last time I checked, the Chargers are also 5-7. And the only win they have in the last 2 months is against a team that had their head coach fired the same week. I would love to see these Bills players get fired up and make a statement. Tell your fans that you're not the same Bills as last year, and that you want to win.

I agree that we need to resign Stevie Johnson. I'm not sure what the holdup there is. And then we need to find a real deep threat in the offseason. Fitz is adequate for this team. He won't be a superstar, but he can get the job done with a good WR added to the roster. I just have this terrible feeling that the Bills front office will figure out a way to screw this up somehow. I really hope not.

These are some indicators of whether or not you have a good offense: Pass plays over 25 yards: Fitzpatrick is tied for 10th in the league with 23(Not too bad. Shows we can at least produce some big plays.) Yards per pass attempt: Fitzpatrick doesn't rank in the top 20. (This is a problem. Part of it has to do with the lack of big play threats on the outside. Part of it is due to Fitz's accuracy issues.) Run plays over 10 yards: Freddy Jackson is tied for 10th in the league with 23 (Again, not bad. Especially considering he is 17th in the league in carries.) Receptions over 25 yards: No receivers in the top 20 (This is pretty telling. Especially since Stevie Johnson is 13th in the league with 59 receptions. He only has 5 plays of over 25 yards so far this season. By comparison, Steve Smith has 13, Brandon Marshall has 12, and there are 5 receivers with 11 plays over 25 yards. Fitz spreads the ball around to all of our receivers, and some of them come up with big plays here and there. Freddy actually has 6 plays over 25 yards, out of the 23 total Fitz has thrown. We simply don't have a big play receiver, and that needs to be addressed.)

Kelsay AND Scott got held. Watch Scott get wrapped up by the pulling lineman. When he tries to turn, he gets yanked sideways. I don't like complaining about officiating. But these guys need to be consistent. It better be a blatant hold to call back a 40+ yard TD run. And they screwed it up on the McIntyre call. The smallest things officials do can effect the outcome of a game.

Mangini has a terrible track record as a Defensive Coordinator and Head Coach. I say no way. He only got recognition because he used to work for Belichik.

Let's just get over the whole "the Bills don't have talent" argument. We have a lot of talent on this team. Enough to make the playoffs. But our coaches aren't getting the most out of these guys. The one in particular I'm speaking of is George Edwards. This has been beat to death, but let me validate this point. Buffalo Bills Defense Rank & Coach at the time: 2008: 14th (Fewell) 2009: 16th (Fewell) 2010: 28th (Edwards) 2011: 28th (Edwards) Here are some examples of teams that changed Defensive coaches, and the resulting change of Defensive Rank: Cowboys: 2010: 31st (Pasqualoni) 2011: 12th (Ryan) 49ers: 2010: 16th (Manusky) 2011: 1st (Fangio) Texans: 2010: 29th (Bush) 2011: 2nd (Phillips) See the pattern there? They didn't completely overhaul the personnel to make their defense better. It was the leadership, philosophy, and defensive coaching style that made these teams better. Now, the Bills can continue to circle the wagons with mediocre to terrible defenses by cheaping out on Defensive Coordinators. OR they can do their homework, and go out and hire a QUALITY defensive coach. And they might just have to spend a little money to bring a guy in. But if we can spend a few million a year on Brad Smith as a wildcat QB and part time WR, we better be able to spend some money on a quality defensive coordinator. I wrote this out in another thread, but here are some candidates I think would be worth considering: - Steve Spagnuolo (could likely be fired) - Mike Nolan (the whole Miami staff could be gone soon) - Keith Butler (likely the next in line in Pittsburgh once Lebeau is retired, but maybe Whaley can work some magic here) - Jack Del Rio (good defensive coach, at least worth considering)

Kirk Morrison and Troup are simply stop gap depth guys until we find a better solution. That goes for most of the "one more year" group. Those guys either have to prove themselves, or they are temporary solutions. As far as Kelsay goes, I'm just tired of seeing this guy get a free pass in this league. He is average at best, and is completely lost as an OLB. If we go back to a 4-3, I would be fine giving him another year. But even then, it just reminds me of the mediocre Bills defense that has plagued this team over the past 7-8 years. Catavolos has been a part of the mediocrity as well. He shouldn't get a free pass, even if he's a likable guy. That includes Bob Sanders and Giff Smith as well.