A Few Thoughts About The Game

[Bill from NYC]

No response to his point?

 

Can I try?

 

Imo, Whitner is a publicity machine. The fact that some fans on this board think so highly of him astounds me. Seriously, how many GMs do you think would rather have Whitner than Leonard on their team? Leonard made more plays than Whitner when he was here, but didn't have half of the fanfare.

 

Go back a while, and you can list defenders on the Bills who stepped up and won, or saved games for the Bills. The list would include players who were not superstars. John Holocek once had a game winning tackle against the Patsies. I saw Schobel take over a couple of games. Pst Williams was on fire in the Jax game that Flutie got all the credit for. Geroge Wilson sealed a game with a pick.

 

Whitner? He gets destroyed week after week by tight ends. I am guessing that most TEs actually look forward to going against him. Now, would he play better with a stronger front 7? I would say so. This is why I wouldn't have minded keeping him at a lesser salary than the 29 million he was paid for 5 years of low production. It's true; why create a hole? But, for the kind of money he wants weighed against his production, that extra 4th round pick might be enough to fill the void that the departure of Donte Whitner would leave.

 

Am I making sense to you?

[Clippers of Nfl]

5) Fitz stunk up the field. I guess he was entitled to do so. Right, or no? Is he our long term answer? You tell me.

 

yes he is still the answer. he was "forcing" his consecutive td streak. at least i could tell big time. i had no problem with that. game was over so you might as well keep your streak alive.

[Clippers of Nfl]

Are we in a foul mood tonight, Bill?

 

I'll just address one issue here, and that is the going for it on 4th and nine with the game in hand.

 

I do not see "running up the score" as some kind of sin in any sport- College football, NFL, Little League Baseball...NOTHING

 

If one team is 100 points worse than another team, then they should lose by 100 points and take it as a message that they need to get better.

 

When one team is in the process of pounding the piss out of an inferior team, they should still try to score. The only reason a team should back off is to pull their starters off the field to avoid injury and give the 2nd stringers some game experience.

 

I even hate 5 run inning limits and 10 run rules in Little League baseball to preserve the "self-esteem" of the loosers. Saving time should be the only consideration

so what do you do when the score is 43-2 and your little boy wants to quit???

forget self esteem! blow outs should be stopped in little league. i mean what's the point???

 

and before you say it, even if my boy (which i don have one), was ahead 43-2, i doubt they would consider that fun...obviously getting to 15-2 is cool. 25-2 ok. after 30+ it gets pointless

 

This team sorely needs a Tight End...........we need a monster that can catch that will make Mayo pay for laying those hits

forget that! we need 2 great pass rushers. we pressure brady. he loses games. PERIOD. a good tight end will only keep the score a little closer.

 

I was at my mom's house saw the score 34-3 saw the stats and relized that Fitz had more yards then Brady and I wondered how were we losing so bad then I saw the 3 INT's by his name and it figures and then I realized we also lost 4 fumbles which equals 7 turnovers. I was really suprised the game was that close. Then I came home to watch it on DVR and wondered again how could the Bills have gotten blown out like this after the first drive then even the second drive where we had it like at the 20 yard line moving the ball when Fitz fumbled, still we were moving the ball at will. But after Fitz fumbled and the Pats went down and scored you could tell the wind was out of Buffalo. Especially after Johnson's drop on 4th down. I really love this team and I love to watch Fitz but I wonder is he really the guy. I say throw all your balls in one basket trade picks 1 and 2 this year and get Luck. Re-sign Poz, Wilson, Wrotto, Florence, and Merriman. Dump Kelsay, Stroud, Whitner, and Maybin. Sign a vetren OT and Soliai off the dolphins roster (6-4 355) to play NT in a rotation with Troupe, move Williams to end lined up with Carrington you also have Johnson and Edwards. Let Luck play behind Fitz for awhile so Fitz can show him the NFL life with our O-line as Bell Lav Hang Wood and FA or Urbik, let TE Nelson live or die this year we have good young recievers, good secondary, and decent LB's i think when all are healthy and if we can sign Merriman and he is healthy we still have Torbor and Coleman on IR and can draft one in later rounds. If there is no way to get Luck devote this hole draft class to defense. JMO.

i agree with EVERYTHING you said IN BOLD

 

So true. Considering the Bills actually outgained NE, and the TOP was even. Turnovers were the difference, and a sign that the Bills as a team were not up to the challenge. Reminds me of the season finale of 1977, when the Bills went to the Orange Bowl, rolled up 400+ yards of total offense... and lost, 31-14.

 

Better days are ahead.

i dont think so.

[Orton's Arm]

That's the other side of "you can't have it both ways". If you claim this is an all new regime (and there is a strong argument that it really isn't because so many of the exact same decision makers are still in their jobs) and everything is now being done the right way as opposed to the wrong way that was done under the previous regime, then can you really claim that yet another low-impact draft class is a big and significant change? Sure, one can say that you have to wait for a draft to prove itself bad, but that has been the mantra for Bills fans for a decade or more and wears thin for some. Furthermore, this is a bad team, and talented, dedicated players should be able to contribute something to a banged up team depleted of talent and be able to win jobs that are otherwise manned by players signed yesterday off some other team's practice squad.

 

Spiller has been a disappointment. His contribution at a position where rookies can come in and make a significant impact has been paltry and spotty at best. Troup has seen some playing time and Carrington finally got on the field late in the season, but like you said these guys were drafted for a 3-4 system that the Bills don't have the players (especially at LB) to implement. Easley missed the entire season. Wang can't get on the field despite numerous injuries to the OL, drops down the depth chart with each new street free agent signed, and despite being moved from T to G. It isn't until we get to Arthur Moats until we find a rookie that has gotten playing time and made some significant plays -- and he's doing that at the expense of a former 1st round pick drafted by the previous head coach and same scouting department.

 

To be clear, I'm not writing this draft class off myself, only making the point that the results so far are underwhelming. It's hard to see based on early returns that this draft class is ostensibly and significantly different than, say, the class that brought in Kyle Williams in the late rounds, Donte Whitner, and a couple of special teams depth players. Hopefully, it turns out to be different, but this is obviously not a repeat of the 1975 Dallas Cowboys draft.

 

Finally, it's not really some all-new and novel strategy to build through the draft. The Bills haven't sat out drafts in the past (though for the production one might argue that they have effectively). They've been trying to build a team with the draft all along, but they have been putrid at it and the results speak for themselves. The change is that now they've decided to tell free agents that they are not going to be active in that market, that they are publicly committed to their own form of cheaper and younger. The cynic would ask what sort of change that is in actuality as the Bills haven't been able to attract the best free agents in recent years at any rate and have had to significantly overpay for the free agents they have signed.

 

As far as bright spots, Gailey has been coaching his ass off to get a banged up team almost devoid of talent to a 4-11 record. The offense can actually execute plays as opposed to what it was under Jauron. Fitzpatrick stepped up and showed he can run this offense and, at times, pretty darn well. Stevie Johnson showed some talent (as well as some things he needs to improve). Fred Jackson is who we thought he was. Kyle Williams has become a dominant force. Kudos go out. Still, the Bills will need a lot more than a few more "Arthur Moats in the 6th round" type of drafts to compete with the Patriots and become anything more than their ongoing status as just another also-ran.

You and Bill have made excellent points about the new regime's failures. Take the RB position for example. In the late '90s the Bills used a first round pick on Antowain Smith. Then in 2001 TD used a second round pick on Travis Henry. In 2003 he used a first rounder on McGahee; and in 2006 Levy used a first rounder on Lynch. In the space of less than ten years, the Bills used three first rounders and a second rounder on the RB position. That's ridiculous. If those three first rounders and that second rounder had been spent on offensive linemen, and if those linemen worked out reasonably well for their draft positions, the Bills' running game would have been much better off; and their quarterbacks would have had a lot more time to throw.

 

Unfortunately, the first thing Buddy Nix did in his first draft with the Bills was to use the 9th overall pick on yet another running back. If Spiller becomes the next Thurman Thomas, and if his presence on the roster keeps the Bills from drafting an intended starter at RB for the next 10+ years, I'll be happy with the pick. And Spiller was the highest-rated player on the board when the Bills picked--by a significant margin--which seemed to suggest he might have a Thurman-like career. However, he's certainly not off to a Thurman-like start! Unless he significantly improves, he'll be no better than Antowain Smith/Travis Henry/Willis McGahee/Marshawn Lynch.

 

As for the players the Bills drafted for the 3-4--I'm not too discouraged by that. Most teams spend a couple of years quietly acquiring the talent for a 3-4 before making the transition to it. Assuming the long-term plan is still to transition to the 3-4, I have no objection at all to the Bills' adding players uniquely suited to that defense.

 

To address your point about building through the draft--it all depends on what the front office means when they say that. To me personally, "build through the draft," means that when one of your drafted players is successful, you don't let him go first-contract-and-out. It also means that you don't trade away first round picks for aging, second-string quarterbacks from the Patriots. Hopefully, the Bills' front office's definition of building through the draft is similar to mine.