Got_Wood

The word is out on how to beat this team, and defenses are shutting down Ryan Fitzpatrick: Blitz happy teams (Jets, Cowboys, Bengals, Giants) can force Fitzpatrick to make quick decisions on short routes, and will give us ZERO time for longer passes to develop. If you fluster our QB he makes poor decisions, and is erratic with his accuracy. This forces interceptions and inaccurate passes that force 3 and outs. So, how do you combat this? You run the ball until they respect the run. POUND the ball in their face. And I'm not talking about simple run up the gut plays. Rex Ryan said it himself, we only run a handful of different running plays. That's unacceptable. We have two very talented running backs. We need to mix up our running playbook. Get CJ Spiller in the game and get more creative. Run change of direction plays, run reverses, whatever it takes. The Bills average 32 passes from Fitzpatrick a game. Freddy Jackson only averages 18 runs a game. And he's the only back touching the ball for us. In games where Fred Jackson runs the ball 20 or more times, the Bills have won their most decisive victories. Freddy averaged 4.6 yards per carry against the Jets, and 8.8 against the Cowboys. It doesn't take a genius to figure out what we need to do against them next time. In order for this offense to succeed, we can't continue to come out with the same philosophy every week. We need to adapt. If they want to blitz us, we have to be able to run the ball. If teams start respecting the run and give Fitzpatrick time, we can get the ball in the air. It's not that difficult to understand. Take a look at what the Pats did to the Jets last night. They ran the ball 28 times, and used 4 different running backs. They didn't gain a ton of yards, but they forced the defense to defend both. You have to be creative, and you have to run the ball to beat these blitz happy teams.

Completely agree. It's just a stupid call. I'm sure whether it's Gailey or Fitz changing the play. Either way, they continue to shoot themselves in the foot.

Great reply, thanks. I think we agree in a lot of areas. We'll see how they do when they don't have the bye week to prepare. I expect the next meeting to be much more competitive.

You're entitled to your opinion, but to say they are better in every category is just wrong. Our d-line when healthy, is more talented than theirs. I would take Dareus and Williams over Pouha and DeVito ANY DAY. When our O-line is healthy, it's a wash (and I'm not even kidding). Wood and Levitre could be pro bowlers if this team continues to win and stays in the spotlight. And Bell, Hairston, Urbik, and Pears are all proving top be more than worthy this year. We just need Bell and Hairston to stay healthy. I think that Fitz and Sanchez are a wash. The Jets are just limiting Sanchez' mistakes right now, and it's working for them. I'd also take Freddy and Spiller over Greene and an older LT. And our safeties over the Jets safeties. They have stronger wide receivers and corners. That's the real difference. Throw in a masterful defensive scheme by Rex Ryan, and that was their advantage over us yesterday. Bills fans have to get rid of the defeatist attitude. This is the NFL, and we have talent just like everyone else.

That's total BS. And the same loser mentality fans have had the past decade. This team is on the rise, whether you like it or not.

1. Playcalling: The Jets were stacking the box on us almost every down. We have to be able to pass the ball to create play action runs and screens against teams like the Jets. They're blitz happy, and you have to combat that with a better passing game and misdirection. 2. Lack of a Big Play WR: We are sorely lacking speed and athleticism in our WR group. Stevie and Nelson are keepers, but it's obvious that Roosevelt and Jones are mediocre talents on the outside. This should be a big priority in the offseason. 3. Outside Line Backer: Batten was awful. He gets pushed around out there like Maybin. And when you don't have speed to make up for it, then you're useless. It really hurt our run defense out there. Kelsay is pretty good when he's healthy. But we need a force on the outside BADLY. This needs to also be addressed in the offseason. 4. Special teams: What happened to our special teams? We used to get much better field position when Roscoe was returning punts, and McGee/Mckelvin were returning kickoffs. Yes the new kickoff rule has changed the game a bit, but we had several return opportunities that got us nowhere against the Jets. And McKnight pulled off a big return against us that made a big difference in the game. Something needs to change here. 5. Costly Mistakes: Two early interceptions from Fitzpatrick killed our momentum. We can't do that early in football games and expect to pull ourselves out of a hole. The Freddy fumble inside our own 20 hurt bad too. Add in McKelvin and McGee's deep pass interference calls and we were sunk. These big types of mistakes will lose ballgames every week.

I would say that their needs rank in this order. Whether they want to address them in the draft or free agency is up to them: - Pass rusher: We need a force on the outside badly. Someone in the mold of Merriman, but younger and healthier. - Wide Receiver: We have a very solid base with Stevie and Nelson as our core. But after that it goes steeply down hill. We need a real threat on the outside that will draw double teams. I hope we draft a guy high at this position. - Offensive Tackle: Bell has turned out to be a pretty good starter for us. But he hasn't proven he can stay healthy for a full season. And Hairston looks like he could be a very good tackle for our team as well. Pears has done well, but the jury is still out there. If these guys all pan out, we could still use some depth here anyways. - Cornerback: Yes, we need another guy here again. McGee appears to be approaching the end of his career, and McKelvin has been pretty inconsistent. Need high quality depth. - Tight End: I still cringe when I think about us passing on Gronkowski in the draft a couple years ago. We could really use an athletic TE on this team. Chandler has been a pleasant surprise, but he has limited speed and athleticism. Most good teams have two solid guys at this position, and we should strongly consider it also.

Oh... OK. Well, Coleman it is. Not a bad pick up given that he knows the system. And he showed some promise for us before we let him go.

With the health of Merriman in question, these are players we might want to consider: Everette Brown - Free Agent Antwan Odom - Free Agent Tully Banta-Cain - Free Agent Quentin Moses - UFL Player Jeremy Beal - Practice Squad Broncos Antonio Coleman - Practice Squad Giants (former Bill)

I didn't actually mean that the Bills should "literally" copy what they did at Lambeau Field. It's more of a blueprint or concept. When someone does something successfully, it makes sense to follow in their footsteps. The Bills can bring their own creativity to the table when designing something like this. And I do believe spending $100 million plus on a project like this is worthwhile. The Bills are a huge part of the lives of those who live in or have lived in Western New York. We're not talking about Disneyland here. If you have been to the new Lambeau Field and walked through the Atrium, you would realize that it is ALL about the locals. The people enjoy going here because it's a part of the local culture. It's a place to hang out with the fans, and enjoy food and drinks at Curly's Pub. Even in the offseason. From a business point of view, it's great way to generate extra revenue for your team. You don't just spend that much money and get nothing in return. Let me re-quote something I posted earlier: "Revenue generated from the Packers Pro Shop, Packers Hall of Fame, Curly's Pub, the Atrium eateries and other restaurants, the stadium club and special events, as well as other Atrium businesses is essential to the Packers' long-term survival. In just the first year, with only the new Pro Shop open and several gate sponsorships sold, the Packers' NFL revenue ranking for the fiscal year 2002-03 jumped to 10th, up from 20th the prior year."

Jeeze, maybe they should put you in the marketing department It's not about having a history of winning it all. It's about a history of a team that fans can relate to. The fabric of what brought them to where they are today. I don't know about you, but that sounds really cool to me.

This is from their website: "The most recent addition at Lambeau was a $295 million project that began in 2001 to add 12,032 seats as well as the popular atrium, an expanded Pro Shop and several new food and entertainment options. The project included a half-cent county sales tax to raise $160 million and made 4,000 tickets per game available to county residents only beginning in 2003." I think the field house is fine where it is. What Green Bay added was an atrium that housed restaurants, pubs, a pro shop, stadium tours, team historical gear, jerseys and photos (somewhat like a museum of team history), etc. That would be really cool at the Ralph, and would generate a ton of revenue during the season AND the offseason.

LOL, no. Plenty of local heroes to make statues of though: Ralph Wilson himself, Marv Levy, Jim Kelly, Bruce Smith, etc.

You know what, you're right. I corrected the photo with the 300 section intact on one side of the stadium. It was an older version I hadn't updated. Fans brought up this same point when I did this last time. See HERE

I posted this a year or two ago as well, but thought the timing was good to post this again: Go the route of the Packers when they upgraded Lambeau Field. Take the existing stadium, and make it a place where people visit in the offseason. Make it a theme park / museum of sorts. A statue of Curly Lambeau and Vince Lombardi stand outside the stadium like ghosts as visitors frequent the stadium year round. The stadium tours, Packers team gear stores, restaurants, and bars in the new Field House attached to the stadium make it a place you can bring your family for a day of fun. This would increase the revenue the stadium brings in by a big number. Quote from Lambeau Field website: Quote "Revenue generated from the Packers Pro Shop, Packers Hall of Fame, Curly's Pub, the Atrium eateries and other restaurants, the stadium club and special events, as well as other Atrium businesses is essential to the Packers' long-term survival. In just the first year, with only the new Pro Shop open and several gate sponsorships sold, the Packers' NFL revenue ranking for the fiscal year 2002-03 jumped to 10th, up from 20th the prior year." Here is a visual of how Lambeau changed, and also how the Ralph might change as well: The New Lambeau The New Ralph Larger view of new Ralph: Here

I'm just going to re-post my last statement that covers Thurman's predicament... Freddy doesn't have the bumps and bruises your average NFL RB has. As "skibum" said, we have an extremely rare player on our hands here. There aren't many running backs in the history of this game that were able to start their career this late. And especially at such a high level without an injury history. Guys like Thurman Thomas were banged up from the wear and tear of the NFL. He literally played without an ACL throughout much of his career. And he still made it 13 years. Emmit Smith made it 15 years and endured a broken shoulder blade and lots of bumps, bruises, and blows to the head. This thread wasn't meant to talk about just Freddy in particular. But if you were to ask me if I would sign him to a 3 year deal at a much higher salary, I would say YES without question. Currently his deal looks like this - 2011: $1.75 million, 2012: $1.83 million, 2013: Free Agent. I would give him a reworked contract through 2014 worth about $6 million per year. And only guarantee about $15 million of it. This is similar to Frank Gore's new deal, and that guy has a massive injury history with significantly greater risk than Freddy. Seems like a no brainer to me.

You hit the nail on the head. Freddy doesn't have the bumps and bruises your average NFL RB has. As "skibum" said, we have an extremely rare player on our hands here. There aren't many running backs in the history of this game that were able to start their career this late. And especially at such a high level without an injury history. Guys like Thurman Thomas were banged up from the wear and tear of the NFL. He literally played without an ACL throughout much of his career. And he still made it 13 years. Emmit Smith made it 15 years and endured a broken shoulder blade and lots of bumps, bruises, and blows to the head. This thread wasn't meant to talk about just Freddy in particular. But if you were to ask me if I would sign him to a 3 year deal at a much higher salary, I would say YES without question. Currently his deal looks like this - 2011: $1.75 million, 2012: $1.83 million, 2013: Free Agent. I would give him a reworked contract through 2014 worth about $6 million per year. And only guarantee about $15 million of it. This is similar to Frank Gore's new deal, and that guy has a massive injury history with significantly greater risk than Freddy. Seems like a no brainer to me.

I agree 100%. We should lock him down for a few more years. Great player, and great for team chemistry. And if we have an opportunity to get a guy like Brandon Lloyd, I really hope we wouldn't avoid him because of age. He's got 3-5 good years left in him. That said, the opportunity has passed with Lloyd. But guys like Reggie Wayne and Osi Umenyiora could help out this team a ton. The draft is a crap shoot. As we've seen with Mike Williams, Donte Whitner, and Aaron Maybin, these guys can end up being downright bad for the team. Trading draft picks shouldn't be viewed as too risky.

Over the past 5-10 years the NFL has changed. Younger players have been given more money based on their potential to be great players before they prove their actual worth. Before this season, 1st round rookies were seeing more money than any proven veteran player had EVER seen. Much of this trend had to do with money. Crafty agents were finding ways to get paid big money early in players' careers, instead of waiting to see their clients earn the fruits of their labor. Why did a guy like Aaron Maybin get a big paycheck when guys like Jabari Greer and Nate Clements were shown the door?? Is a 30 year old athlete really too old? Think about the players the Bills have let walk out the door because they were "too old". Pat Williams, Ruben Brown, London Fletcher, Antoine Winfield, Takeo Spikes, etc. These guys went on to play many more successful years for their respective teams. So is Fred Jackson too old to re-sign? Is a guy like Brandon Lloyd too old to bring in? I think not. If you have a shot at a talented player, you take it.

That's a bunch of BS. Scoring a TD is almost never a bad idea. Fitz needs to make the throw. Period.

I'll take Gailey's call on that 10 times out of 10. I don't know about you guys, but I don't want to watch a Dick Jauron coached Bills team tuck their tail between their legs and get embarrassed by opposing teams week in and week out. Gailey was doing what aggressive teams do to win games. Fitz needs to make that throw. Especially on his second attempt at the same throw he had intercepted earlier in the game. That was upsetting. But I'd rather go down swinging than get beat because we stayed conservative.

I don't want to overreact because of a loss, but I have to agree with you a little on this. It seems like we've got a lot of talent in our defensive backfield, and these guys have regressed quite a bit in the last two seasons. McKelvin can blanket a WR all over the field, but when it comes to making a play on the ball he fails miserably. McGee has been like that his entire career. Great open field tackler and can cover with the best of them, but doesn't intercept the ball very often. Florence has had a decent year, but he is a penalty machine. And many of the penalties have to do with him not looking at the opposing QB when the ball is in the air. What gives? Catavolos has been a favorite around here, but he needs to start getting better results out of his guys.

In the words of the great Charles Barkley - 'that's turrible'.

This pic was posted last season

I actually like that lineup too. Young guys trying to prove themselves, and a good mix of size and speed. Nelson and Jones can play in the slot in place of Roscoe also. But like you said, I'm not sure that's going to happen.