BuffaloWings Posted January 13, 2015 Share Posted January 13, 2015 We were all spoiled by the 90's Bills' incredible run ( Ralph included). Wade was a good coach.. unfortunately he got walked all over by management ( Ralph insisting Rob Johnson start playoff game etc...). I remember when Wade was interviewed after a close loss in a late season Monday night game and he made a statement like " We're not a playoff team" when they were still mathematically in it. I'm pretty sure this sealed his fate. At the time I was pissed at that statement and wanted him fired as well. Looking back I think it was a bad move. Firing a guy for one slip of the tongue in a post game interview was not smart in hindsight We've been over this ad nauseum, but Wade was fired for a handful of reasons, probably including his statement (which was more like "Basically, we're out of the playoffs" with three games left and were 7-6 at the time). He was fired because he refused to fire his buddy who he brought in as special teams coach, who did a God-awful, cover-your-eyes bad job with special teams. Once he refused, Ralph fired Wade. Wade was and still is one of the best DCs I've ever seen...he just wasn't a good head coach. I also say let's get to the playoffs, first. But I say that as a fan. I wouldn't be surprised at all if Rex is already prepping to WIN in the playoffs, not just get there. That's his job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLFan Posted January 13, 2015 Share Posted January 13, 2015 Sorry .. forgot it was an insider link. In short the writer listed 4 areas where the Bills could make improvements/adjustments (1.) find a good 3/4 OLB .. not necessarily Hughes 2.) Fix the O-Line 3.) Get Average QB play 4.) Improve the slot CB position. If said adjustments were made the Bills should be able to make playoffs in 2015 I agree with 2 and 3. When McKelvin is back, they are just fine with Graham and Robey as slot corners. They will look to upgrade anyway for depth, but not a huge priority. Hughes is the guy they should have to rush the passer. Sign him up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GG Posted January 13, 2015 Share Posted January 13, 2015 I agree with 2 and 3. When McKelvin is back, they are just fine with Graham and Robey as slot corners. They will look to upgrade anyway for depth, but not a huge priority. Hughes is the guy they should have to rush the passer. Sign him up. I think it becomes a numbers game. If Revis somehow hits FA, then I see Bills targeting him heavily, or even Cromartie, instead of throwing money at Hughes. That plays into Ryan's defense of having great press corners buying the DL the split second they need to pressure the QB. Ryan has rarely had a league leader in sacks, but his lines always pressured the QB. He just did it from the secondary support. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fadingpain Posted January 13, 2015 Share Posted January 13, 2015 My 3 point plan for success in the upcoming season: 1) Get an above average QB not named EJ Manuel 2) Get an above average QB not named EJ Manuel 3) Get an above average QB not named EJ Manuel If this three-prong plan is followed, we will be in the playoffs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bocephuz Posted January 13, 2015 Author Share Posted January 13, 2015 I remember that game vs the Colts, but I remember it as he was interviewed before the game and said "neither of these teams are going to make the playoffs." The Colts won that game and made the playoffs. I think, as Marrone did, the head coach should be positive about the chances of making the playoffs until mathematically eliminated. Right.. now I remember. Obviously Wade shouldn't have said that. Marrone may not have been very good at X's and O's but he was a good motivator and I think he really had the team believing they were a playoff team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PolishDave Posted January 13, 2015 Share Posted January 13, 2015 My 3 point plan for success in the upcoming season: 1) Get an above average QB not named EJ Manuel 2) Get an above average QB not named EJ Manuel 3) Get an above average QB not named EJ Manuel If this three-prong plan is followed, we will be in the playoffs. What if EJ became a slightly above average quarterback this year? Would that be okay? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buffalo Barbarian Posted January 14, 2015 Share Posted January 14, 2015 http://insider.espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/12153872/how-rex-ryan-get-buffalo-bills-playoffs-2015-nfl Outstanding/ insightful/ well researched article from Neil Hornsby at PFF. Great to see a national writer actually know what he's talking about. To piggy back on his points HUGHES... I agree we shouldn't break the bank on Hughes. He seems to be a better fit for a 4-3 than 3-4 anyway. Plenty of other good free agent 3-4 OLB hybrid types available. O LINE - Marrone really did sabotage the OLine with all of his tinkering.. Roman has to be an upgrade as he has a history of building top notch o lines and creating a physical identity. Having a defined identity ( Ground and Pound) will be beneficial as the Bills O clearly did not have an identity in 2014. If we can sign someone like a Mike Iupati .. who knows the scheme and would be a great leader.. that will help. AVG QB PLAY - An upgrade in FA would be nice.. but if for whatever reason it doesn't happen I think Roman is the perfect guy to coach up EJ and play to his strengths... which are.. mobility and ball security. In 2013 ( when Hackett was allowed to run things his way) EJ did fairly well with the read option stuff.. and did much better when under center with a fullback and heavy formation on the field. As soon as his knee problems surfaced the coaching staff panicked and threw that all away in favor of shotgun/spread one side of the field read kind of offense. The 49ers offense with Kaepernick frequently used heavy sets and a lot of read option and I expect to see similar looks for the Bills O in 2015 SHORE UP THE SLOT - With Rex's defense .. secondary play is priority one so I'm sure the slot cb position will be upgraded one way or another. except this, EJ is not a great runner or mobile even before the injuries, there were plenty of times he was just running blind and missing obvious holes. I hope Roman can make him better but this nonsense about his running borders on " he is black so he must be able to run" which is usually true but not in EJs case. Also just read that Roman's power running game very rarely uses the screen game as his scheme calls for big lumbering O lineman to block downhill and those type of guys don't do well pulling and getting out in front of the screen game. This could be good for a guy like Cyril Richardson. Spiller out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Turk Posted January 14, 2015 Share Posted January 14, 2015 SHORE UP THE SLOT - With Rex's defense .. secondary play is priority one so I'm sure the slot cb position will be upgraded one way or another. No idea how he's going to do that as Robey is one of the top clot corners in the league Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BADOLBILZ Posted January 14, 2015 Share Posted January 14, 2015 Very little chance of doing better than Hughes at the other def. end spot. Also, Ithink Robey had a GREAT season at slot corner. Of course it's Rex so another corner will be added. Other than Hughes, the free agent money must be spent on offense: namely QB. One player largely forgotten this year is Manny Lawson who would fit perfectly in a 3-4. Manny Lawson WAS an adequate running down 3-4 WOLB. WAS. Last year. They could certainly find a cheaper option than Hughes.....that's the benefit of Rex's D.....Rex made guys like Calvin Pace and even Aaron Maybin into productive edge pass rushers.....but if Manny is on the field even 1/3 of the defensive snaps you are in real trouble. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeebusCrust Posted January 14, 2015 Share Posted January 14, 2015 My 3 point plan for success in the upcoming season: 1) Get an above average QB not named EJ Manuel 2) Get an above average QB not named EJ Manuel 3) Get an above average QB not named EJ Manuel If this three-prong plan is followed, we will be in the playoffs. Given the available options out there... who would you choose? There's not much out there that really strikes me as an overwhelming choice. It sounds great when you say it fast, but then you have to introduce reality into the equation Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly the Dog Posted January 14, 2015 Share Posted January 14, 2015 Hughes may not be worth the money now because of Rex, who can make very good production out of simply good players. That 10 m can go to a OG or crazy TE. If we sign Spikes or David Harris we're going to be sick on D. As good or better than last year. Bradham, Kiko, Harris, Brown. They will be killing people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordio Posted January 14, 2015 Share Posted January 14, 2015 (edited) We were all spoiled by the 90's Bills' incredible run ( Ralph included). Wade was a good coach.. unfortunately he got walked all over by management ( Ralph insisting Rob Johnson start playoff game etc...). I remember when Wade was interviewed after a close loss in a late season Monday night game and he made a statement like " We're not a playoff team" when they were still mathematically in it. I'm pretty sure this sealed his fate. At the time I was pissed at that statement and wanted him fired as well. Looking back I think it was a bad move. Firing a guy for one slip of the tongue in a post game interview was not smart in hindsight What Wade said I believe before we played indy on that Monday night(it may of been after the game) was that neither team is a playoff team & then Indy goes on & actually makes the playoffs. Maybe not a fireable offense but nonetheless a pretty dumb thing to say when both teams were still mathematically alive. Edited January 14, 2015 by Gordio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thurman#1 Posted January 14, 2015 Share Posted January 14, 2015 (edited) http://insider.espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/12153872/how-rex-ryan-get-buffalo-bills-playoffs-2015-nfl Outstanding/ insightful/ well researched article from Neil Hornsby at PFF. Great to see a national writer actually know what he's talking about. To piggy back on his points HUGHES... I agree we shouldn't break the bank on Hughes. He seems to be a better fit for a 4-3 than 3-4 anyway. Plenty of other good free agent 3-4 OLB hybrid types available. O LINE - Marrone really did sabotage the OLine with all of his tinkering.. Roman has to be an upgrade as he has a history of building top notch o lines and creating a physical identity. Having a defined identity ( Ground and Pound) will be beneficial as the Bills O clearly did not have an identity in 2014. If we can sign someone like a Mike Iupati .. who knows the scheme and would be a great leader.. that will help. AVG QB PLAY - An upgrade in FA would be nice.. but if for whatever reason it doesn't happen I think Roman is the perfect guy to coach up EJ and play to his strengths... which are.. mobility and ball security. In 2013 ( when Hackett was allowed to run things his way) EJ did fairly well with the read option stuff.. and did much better when under center with a fullback and heavy formation on the field. As soon as his knee problems surfaced the coaching staff panicked and threw that all away in favor of shotgun/spread one side of the field read kind of offense. The 49ers offense with Kaepernick frequently used heavy sets and a lot of read option and I expect to see similar looks for the Bills O in 2015 SHORE UP THE SLOT - With Rex's defense .. secondary play is priority one so I'm sure the slot cb position will be upgraded one way or another. I've thought the slot CB has been a position of relative strength this year. Robey's tremendously athletic and quick. He's done a good job. If anything, what they need to do is bring in a safety opposite Aaron Williams. I was afraid they wouldn't be able to replace Byrd with anyone on the roster, and that's indeed the way it looks. Our CBs have been pretty strong this year, though. We were all spoiled by the 90's Bills' incredible run ( Ralph included). Wade was a good coach.. unfortunately he got walked all over by management ( Ralph insisting Rob Johnson start playoff game etc...). I remember when Wade was interviewed after a close loss in a late season Monday night game and he made a statement like " We're not a playoff team" when they were still mathematically in it. I'm pretty sure this sealed his fate. At the time I was pissed at that statement and wanted him fired as well. Looking back I think it was a bad move. Firing a guy for one slip of the tongue in a post game interview was not smart in hindsight What Wade said I believe before we played indy on that Monday night(it may of been after the game) was that neither team is a playoff team & then Indy goes on & actually makes the playoffs. Maybe not a fireable offense but nonetheless a pretty dumb thing to say when both teams were still mathematically alive. Wade was going to be retained. What sealed his fate was insisting that he was unwilling to fire his STs coach at the time. And that STs guy was absolutely awful, but Wade liked him. As awful as he was, though, better to have Wade with really bad STs for another year than what came after. My 3 point plan for success in the upcoming season: 1) Get an above average QB not named EJ Manuel 2) Get an above average QB not named EJ Manuel 3) Get an above average QB not named EJ Manuel If this three-prong plan is followed, we will be in the playoffs. Why? If EJ Manuel becomes an above average QB, that would be just fine. If I may edit, you should be saying, "Get an ab Edited January 14, 2015 by Thurman#1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsFan-4-Ever Posted January 14, 2015 Share Posted January 14, 2015 My 3 point plan for success in the upcoming season: 1) Get an above average QB not named EJ Manuel 2) Get an above average QB not named EJ Manuel 3) Get an above average QB not named EJ Manuel If this three-prong plan is followed, we will be in the playoffs. Stop focusing on the WRONG weakness!!! except this, EJ is not a great runner or mobile even before the injuries, there were plenty of times he was just running blind and missing obvious holes. I hope Roman can make him better but this nonsense about his running borders on " he is black so he must be able to run" which is usually true but not in EJs case. Spiller out I can say this with surety EJ is a hell of a lot better than Kyle "The Snail" Orton Another concept people ignore ..... How many think Flacco is a great QB? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDH Posted January 14, 2015 Share Posted January 14, 2015 (edited) EJ is not a great runner or mobile even before the injuries, there were plenty of times he was just running blind and missing obvious holes. EJ was certainly a good mobile QB in college. The injuries made him look like he was moving with tar on his feet, but before that the guy could move. He's no Vick or Cam but he was certainly mobile. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYRCkpnnlIs Edited January 14, 2015 by MDH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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