Rob's House Posted December 15, 2012 Share Posted December 15, 2012 Always NEXT YEAR...oh well, we'll get em then, or the year after, or eventually at some point in the future,right? This years schedule had "winning season" written all over it. To come away .500 or below is "brutal". Hope next years schedule is not as "brutal"...oh wait What, exactly, is your point? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sisyphean Bills Posted December 15, 2012 Share Posted December 15, 2012 Fair enough. Skill vs talent is not a distinction that I think is being made in the conversation but I do believe defining terms is important to any conversation that hopes to be productive. Comparing the two teams, in this case, I think means your definition of skill is what matters. Not really "my definition". http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/skill http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/talent Anyway, we understand each other's perspectives better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoSaint Posted December 15, 2012 Share Posted December 15, 2012 Not really "my definition". http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/skill http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/talent Anyway, we understand each other's perspectives better. Understood, but I don't think the greater board was using that.... So in that sense, it kind of was yours! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sisyphean Bills Posted December 15, 2012 Share Posted December 15, 2012 2009: The Bills played the NFC South and AFC South and only 1 of those teams finished with fewer than 7 wins. 2012: Not done yet obviously. The Bills playing the AFC South and NFC West. The Jags will not make 7 wins. The Titans and Cards most likely will not make 7 wins, but the Rams have a good chance. Only the Texans come anywhere close to the Manning Colts and Brees Saints of 09. Looks like an easier schedule than 09, no? Understood, but I don't think the greater board was using that.... So in that sense, it kind of was yours! As well as everyone that argued the same. I'm not going to speak for the board, but I don't think the terms "talent" and "skill" are really so conflated in the business. Scouts are often called "talent evaluators" and with good precision. A scout is supposed to see past the environment around a player and identify the player's inherent talent and assess the ceiling of his ability. Everyone has heard the tautology "Coaches coach." More precisely it is the coach's job to take whatever talent they have and hone its skills and develop the team and put in place systems that accentuate the strengths of the team. The GM's job is to make sure he has the right mix of coaches, players, and talent evaluators to be successful. Anyway, there's a bit of wanting it both ways. For instance, if we're going to say the team has better depth, are we stating that based on talent or demonstrated skill? It's not fair to say Troup sucks, right? Is it fair to say a GM is doing a great job but excuse poor results? Or pin the blame on the GM's choice of coaching staff? Is it fair to compare the talent potential of a guy that played with a bad wrist to the skill of a Pro Bowler but only as displayed in his last season? Or the skill of a guy with much off-field baggage playing behind one of the worst OLs in an offense called by a rookie coach to a guy's skills behind a good OL in a system designed to maximize his numbers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrooklynBills Posted December 15, 2012 Share Posted December 15, 2012 15-30 .333 is the current record for both Nix /Gailey. Deviating from the OP point a bit, and looking back to the Tom Donahe era. Tom Donahoe went 31-48, and he drafted 3 players to make the pro bowl. Has any player made the pro bowl that Nix Drafted? Where are all the super stars on this team drafted by Nix on a team supposedly devoid of of talent? At least the Bills had a winning season under Donahoe in 2004, and Mike Mularkey 9-7. At least the Bills were on the verge with Jauron / Levy at 7-9. The talent might be equal or slightly better now. Although, no Bill player that Nix brought in has made the pro bowl, and the team simply hasn't won as many games. As big a moron as most fans now think of Dick Jauron with the offense, he wasn't as big a moron as Chan Gailey has been with the defensive side. What a waste of 3 years. The beginning of the Donahoe era had so much promise as he drafted very well early on(how he handled the peerless price thing was simply incredible), but there were some fundamental flaws in how he built the team. That team needed a true rebuild from the ground up and they never got it because he dove too quickly into free agency (although the players he signed were pretty good, it put too much pressure on the team to win right away which forced him to make poor decisions later on). He was jettisoning good players and replacing them with the draft instead of building a base core of talent through the draft. He traded two different first round picks for quarterbacks who didn't work out, another on a RB when we already had Travis Henry, and one on a collosal bust of an OT. Say what you want about Nix but he has not made nearly as many poor decisions as Donahoe. Not yet anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
May Day 10 Posted December 15, 2012 Share Posted December 15, 2012 Im usually a pessimist, but the quality of athlete we have isnt even close to 3 years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeisterHollow Posted December 15, 2012 Share Posted December 15, 2012 I think we can all agree - we're one Andrew Luck away from being an 11-5 team this year. Three years ago, that would not have been true. Other than a clear cut upgrade at QB, our current roster is good enough to be a playoff team right now, with the right kind of coaching. What is clear is that Gailey has not utilized this roster to it's maximum. What is frustrating is that when he took over, arguably, Gailey DID maximize the offense, as much as anyone could have hoped. Is it his fault he hasn't got an upgrade at QB? I think what makes it frustrating for the fans is that it seems like Gailey MIGHT be so confident in his skill as an offensive coordinator that he is INSISTING that he can win with Fitzpatrick - like he is telling Nix he doesn't need more help at QB! On the other hand, Wannstedt took over this defense and it seemed like he was not maximizing the talent, by a long shot. However, just when Gailey seems to be slipping on offense, Wannstedt is pulling his unit together and they're playing very good! Would we all look at the team differently if we knew that Gailey had been quietly, behind the scenes, pushing to get a high round QB for the last few years, and only after NOT getting his guy does he turn around and tell everyone he is happy with his current QB? I, for one, would look at Gailey A LOT differently if I knew he really wanted to upgrade the QB position and is planning on doing so. What makes me more frustrated than anything is the idea that Gailey might be so convinced of his superior coaching abilities that he would pass on a good QB - when it is so obvious to all of us that the league has caught up to his schemes and that he needs a more capable QB, and he needs to go deep more often, and run more, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts