EmotionallyUnstable Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 In case the playoff drought continues through 2015, I imagine there will be a sacrificial goat to be had. At this point in the year, I've heard and seen people calling for Rex, Taylor, Roman and even Thurman to be axed. So if the failure continues, who will bare the load and in doing so, lose their position. Or will staff and roster remain in tact? I say Sanjay Lal will be the fall guy. Given the lack of production at the WR position, and the need to shake something up on offense, he is my goat. (All entries hypothetical since we know we are SB 50 bound!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JM57 Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 Danny Crossman. Holdover from the last staff, fumbles and penalties have plagued the return and coverage units. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuffaloBillsForever Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 In case the playoff drought continues through 2015, I imagine there will be a sacrificial goat to be had. At this point in the year, I've heard and seen people calling for Rex, Taylor, Roman and even Thurman to be axed. So if the failure continues, who will bare the load and in doing so, lose their position. Or will staff and roster remain in tact? I say Sanjay Lal will be the fall guy. Given the lack of production at the WR position, and the need to shake something up on offense, he is my goat. (All entries hypothetical since we know we are SB 50 bound!) There shouldn't be a "fall guy". This was an expected 8-8, 9-7 (barring serious injuries) team heading into the 2015 season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
26CornerBlitz Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 In case the playoff drought continues through 2015, I imagine there will be a sacrificial goat to be had. At this point in the year, I've heard and seen people calling for Rex, Taylor, Roman and even Thurman to be axed. So if the failure continues, who will bare the load and in doing so, lose their position. Or will staff and roster remain in tact? I say Sanjay Lal will be the fall guy. Given the lack of production at the WR position, and the need to shake something up on offense, he is my goat. (All entries hypothetical since we know we are SB 50 bound!) AlwaysBilleve? Guess Not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmotionallyUnstable Posted November 28, 2015 Author Share Posted November 28, 2015 Danny Crossman. Holdover from the last staff, fumbles and penalties have plagued the return and coverage units. Don't you want to see another whole year of two yard punt returns? There shouldn't be a "fall guy". This was an expected 8-8, 9-7 (barring serious injuries) team heading into the 2015 season. As a fan, are you content with the coaching staff as is? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CardinalScotts Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 The injuries this team has gone through you can't possibly judge this coaching staff other than to say we have 6 weeks to go and they have kept them in the middle of it. Scape goat ? This is a good staff your not going to walk out of the injury situation unmarked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebandit27 Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 Wait..."should the failure continue"? They're 5-5 and currently hold the 6th playoff spot. They play a bunch of mediocre-to-lousy teams down the stretch, and need to go 4-2 to make the postseason. Sounds like failure to me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jahnyc Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 I thought it was going to be Whaley, although drafting Darby and Williams in the most recent draft may save him. The problem is that there are no easy fixes this offseason. We will have a number of free agents (Glenn, Incognito and Bradham) and unlike past offseasons, we will not have much cap flexibility. Combine this with more than a few needs, and I think we will have a hard time addressing all of our holes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CardinalScotts Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 (edited) we play teams in second place in their divisions currently with 2 who easily could be in first by the time we play them- Who are the good teams / Who are the bad teams ? Mario is gone plenty of cap room Edited November 28, 2015 by CardinalScotts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WotAGuy Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 Wait..."should the failure continue"? They're 5-5 and currently hold the 6th playoff spot. They play a bunch of mediocre-to-lousy teams down the stretch, and need to go 4-2 to make the postseason. Sounds like failure to me! In all fairness, I read the "failure" to be the playoff drought, not the current state of the team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
26CornerBlitz Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 Wait..."should the failure continue"? They're 5-5 and currently hold the 6th playoff spot. They play a bunch of mediocre-to-lousy teams down the stretch, and need to go 4-2 to make the postseason. Sounds like failure to me! The timing of this thread given the scenario in front of the team is a head scratcher for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WotAGuy Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 The timing of this thread given the scenario in front of the team is a head scratcher for me. Well, this is the time of year when the Bills have come up small 15 years in a row. Their motto could be "Expect Failure". So, feeling like they are going to seize the day doesn't necessarily come easy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
26CornerBlitz Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 Well, this is the time of year when the Bills have come up small 15 years in a row. Their motto could be "Expect Failure". So, feeling like they are going to seize the day doesn't necessarily come easy. So in other words......BBFS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WotAGuy Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 So in other words......BBFS. Exactly. Even Pavlov's dog is hiding under the bed, waiting for the inevitable! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YoloinOhio Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 I don't know if anyone will be a "fall guy." They don't need to cut or fire anyone. I don't get the Sanjay Lal part. They should continue to improve and start building some stability, not shake things up, again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manther Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 There shouldn't be a "fall guy". This was an expected 8-8, 9-7 (barring serious injuries) team heading into the 2015 season. Agreed AND think Crossman should be fired too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CodeMonkey Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 There won't be any sacrificial lamb. The only coach making significant mistakes so far is Ryan and he isn't going anywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
26CornerBlitz Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 Exactly. Even Pavlov's dog is hiding under the bed, waiting for the inevitable! That's a pretty sad way to be a fan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsVet Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 There shouldn't be a "fall guy". This was an expected 8-8, 9-7 (barring serious injuries) team heading into the 2015 season. Was it expected when Rex was signed that they'd be average? When McCoy, Clay, and Hughes were acquired/re-signed did fans think that they'd be average? Did 60k ST's get sold thinking the team was average? Most likely not. Wait..."should the failure continue"? They're 5-5 and currently hold the 6th playoff spot. They play a bunch of mediocre-to-lousy teams down the stretch, and need to go 4-2 to make the postseason. Sounds like failure to me! No playoffs = failure. And they don't have the 6th spot. KC holds the tiebreaker. Per ESPN, Kansas City "Wins tie break over Buffalo and Houston based on best win percentage in conference games." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebandit27 Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 Was it expected when Rex was signed that they'd be average? When McCoy, Clay, and Hughes were acquired/re-signed did fans think that they'd be average? Did 60k ST's get sold thinking the team was average? Most likely not. No playoffs = failure. And they don't have the 6th spot. KC holds the tiebreaker. Per ESPN, Kansas City "Wins tie break over Buffalo and Houston based on best win percentage in conference games." Ok, they control their own fate for the 6th spot. Beat KC and they're squarely in the driver's seat, needing only win 3 of their last 5 with a home game against Houston and match ups against Phi, Wash, and Dallas (all losing teams) on the docket. And I still am totally confused as to why the current administration, in place since 2013, shoulders the blame for everything that's happened since 2000 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dorkington Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 It's tough. We've been inconsistent across the board, not really sure what to point to there. If we miss the playoffs, but finish 9-7 or 10-6, I won't be too mad. New systems, new key pieces, injuries, etc. If we finish 8-8 or below, I'll question every single part of this team Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max997 Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 (edited) There shouldn't be a "fall guy". This was an expected 8-8, 9-7 (barring serious injuries) team heading into the 2015 season. Expected from who? Some of the so called experts who don't like Rex? This was a 9-7 team last year with the 4th ranked defense that added what many thought at the time a better coaching staff, an elite RB, and a play making TE so not sure where this no expected improvement in their record is coming from. I don't know about fall guy but it's clear there needs to be a change with special teams which hasn't added anything positive this year. I'm not the biggest Rex fan but he isn't going anywhere and neither is Thurman. I don't think Roman gets a HC shot but he is a toss up to be back as Rex has been more and more vocal about lack of production on offense. Edited November 28, 2015 by Max997 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Webster Guy Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 This offensive system, ANY offensive system takes a long time to learn and perfect. Especially one as complex as Roman's with a ton of new guys and a qb starting in his first season. So nothing will change on offense, maybe Lal, but that decision would be based on Roman's evaluation which would be far more in-depth than we as fans would understand about what makes a good receivers coach. He might be a great WR coach. Our guys block hard and seem to get open. It's hard not to look at special teams as a sub-par unit. We have a pro bowl punter and it pretty much stops there. We've been spoiled by Bobby April thats for sure. The Thigpen cut early in the season and Cundiff experiment was a classic case of management overreaction, not sure if Crossman was behind any of it though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CardinalScotts Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 with taylor they are 5-3 with 2 losses to NE....with their guys they are a playoff team Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmotionallyUnstable Posted November 28, 2015 Author Share Posted November 28, 2015 "Continued failure" refers to playoff drought, not our current standing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebandit27 Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 "Continued failure" refers to playoff drought, not our current standing. To even mention it implies that the failures of the previous 15 seasons fall on the current administration Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WotAGuy Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 That's a pretty sad way to be a fan. Isn't it though? I started my Bills addiction in 1968, so I am used to years of failure - but somehow grew to love them anyway. I still love them but don't really expect much from them. Having low expectations means I am surprised and happy when they simply knock Brady on his ass and make him swear at his O-linemen! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3rdand12 Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 This offensive system, ANY offensive system takes a long time to learn and perfect. Especially one as complex as Roman's with a ton of new guys and a qb starting in his first season. So nothing will change on offense, maybe Lal, but that decision would be based on Roman's evaluation which would be far more in-depth than we as fans would understand about what makes a good receivers coach. He might be a great WR coach. Our guys block hard and seem to get open. It's hard not to look at special teams as a sub-par unit. We have a pro bowl punter and it pretty much stops there. We've been spoiled by Bobby April thats for sure. The Thigpen cut early in the season and Cundiff experiment was a classic case of management overreaction, not sure if Crossman was behind any of it though. good post. Crossman's group has lost the Bills football games. Fact. I am not sure who replaces him If anyone though. Another year as a team will do wonders for the fanbase i bet. Lal is one of my favorite coaches btw and i think has the guys running and blocking just fine But the Bills find a better Coach at any position they should upgrade. No one should be sacrificed just for the sake of it! Isn't it though? I started my Bills addiction in 1968, so I am used to years of failure - but somehow grew to love them anyway. I still love them but don't really expect much from them. Having low expectations means I am surprised and happy when they simply knock Brady on his ass and make him swear at his O-linemen! There is a small joy to that !! Rattling Brady second time around also means rex might have a clue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Not at the table Karlos Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 I say Sanjay Lal will be the fall guy. Given the lack of production at the WR position, and the need to shake something up on offense, he is my goat. (All entries hypothetical since we know we are SB 50 bound!) the quarterback isn't getting the balls to open receivers, how is that the WR coaches fault? It's year one with complete scheme changes on O and D. Why do people have to be fired. Patience Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rico Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 I think a lot depends on how TT finishes. If it looks like the Bills will need to make a big investment on another QB, I don't know that Whaley can be trusted to choose the next chosen one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nihilarian Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 Was it expected when Rex was signed that they'd be average? When McCoy, Clay, and Hughes were acquired/re-signed did fans think that they'd be average? Did 60k ST's get sold thinking the team was average? Most likely not. No playoffs = failure. And they don't have the 6th spot. KC holds the tiebreaker. Per ESPN, Kansas City "Wins tie break over Buffalo and Houston based on best win percentage in conference games." I think everyone was expecting playoffs, and to have the #1 defense in the NFL. The latter has been the biggest letdown, and until this past week it looked so UN Rex Ryan like! Penalties were a huge problem until week 8! Will this trend continue or go back to ultra stupid? Special teams coverage units, and kick return units stink to high heaven. it took 10 games to fix the defense, and we don't know if that was an anomaly or will they continue to bring the heat? Sammy Watkins still not seeing the ball enough each game! what does it say about an offense that refuses to utilize a player that coast the team 3 draft picks, and two number ones? The starting QB won't throw over the middle So it looks like there could be lots of "fall guys" depending on how this team finishes the season. Currently the 5-5 Buffalo Bills after the loss to NE went from the 5th seed in the playoffs to the 8th seed, and out of the playoff picture behind (5th seed Pittsburgh 6-4) (6th seed KC 5-5)( 7th seed Houston 5-5). The Bills need to win a bunch of games to keep up with a red hot KC, and hot Houston. The Jets are also 5-5, and hot on their heals are the Jags, Phins, Raiders at 4-6. http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/standings/playoffrace Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuffaloBillsForever Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 (edited) Was it expected when Rex was signed that they'd be average? When McCoy, Clay, and Hughes were acquired/re-signed did fans think that they'd be average? Did 60k ST's get sold thinking the team was average? Most likely not. No playoffs = failure. And they don't have the 6th spot. KC holds the tiebreaker. Per ESPN, Kansas City "Wins tie break over Buffalo and Houston based on best win percentage in conference games." I like Rex and even with the additions of McCoy and Clay as your examples it didn't change my outlook. I don't buy much into casual fans eating up season ticket sales based on hype. I look at the the roster to base that decision and I valued the roster at 8-8/9-7. Edited November 28, 2015 by BuffaloBillsForever Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KDIGGZ Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 have to blame Doug Whaley. as much good as he has done, he really screwed us by leaving us with only EJ as the backup and getting rid of key players like Fred and Thigpen (the latter he brought back when he discovered what a bone head move that was). We lost the Jacksonville and Cinci games because we had no QB and RB depth and our kick and punt return game has been atrocious all season which really hurts in the battle of field position. also, it was a big swing and a miss on getting any kind of OL help in the offseason and nobody is quite sure why we spent all of that money on Jerome Felton. he's done a lot of good too, i don't want to discount that (Darby and Karlos were nice picks). but those misses might have cost us the season and I also agree with Crossman. i've been saying it since day 1 when Marrone hired his buddy who was about to be fired for being one of the worst ST's coaches in the NFL. i've never seen an NFL roster like ours where a team has so many dedicated special teams players (Easley, Boobie, Sanborn, Gay, Thigpen) and we still stink. it's basically a band-aid because Crossman is such a bad ST coach. we saw when Gay or Thigpen weren't in the lineup how bad ST's was. even with all of these guys we are a below avg ST team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsVet Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 And I still am totally confused as to why the current administration, in place since 2013, shoulders the blame for everything that's happened since 2000 Nice straw man argument. Who's stating that here? The current administration has some holdovers from the Nix years. Let's not muddy the waters and claim that the people who couldn't get it right from 2010 through 2012 are completely different than the 2013-forward years. And I don't think anyone's talking 2000-2009 anymore. That's ancient history, albeit bad history. I like Rex and even with the additions of McCoy and Clay as your examples it didn't change my outlook. I don't buy much into casual fans eating up season ticket sales based on hype. I look at the the roster to base that decision and I valued the roster at 8-8/9-7. This is plain and simple the re-writing of recent history. 60k ST's sold is not the result of "casual" fans just buying into hype. Fans had an expectation of excellence with a more proven HC, improvements at RB, TE, the return of the defense, et al. They bought tickets expecting to win. Maybe you didn't to fit the narrative you're now trying to establish, but this was no "casual" fan thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewEra Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 Danny Crossman. Holdover from the last staff, fumbles and penalties have plagued the return and coverage units. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boyst Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 EJ Manuel is our fall guy. He is the guy who we will remember from 2013-2015(+?) being a wasted pick at a position we needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuffaloBillsForever Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 (edited) have to blame Doug Whaley. as much good as he has done, he really screwed us by leaving us with only EJ as the backup and getting rid of key players like Fred and Thigpen (the latter he brought back when he discovered what a bone head move that was). We lost the Jacksonville and Cinci games because we had no QB and RB depth and our kick and punt return game has been atrocious all season which really hurts in the battle of field position. also, it was a big swing and a miss on getting any kind of OL help in the offseason and nobody is quite sure why we spent all of that money on Jerome Felton. he's done a lot of good too, i don't want to discount that (Darby and Karlos were nice picks). but those misses might have cost us the season and I also agree with Crossman. i've been saying it since day 1 when Marrone hired his buddy who was about to be fired for being one of the worst ST's coaches in the NFL. i've never seen an NFL roster like ours where a team has so many dedicated special teams players (Easley, Boobie, Sanborn, Gay, Thigpen) and we still stink. it's basically a band-aid because Crossman is such a bad ST coach. we saw when Gay or Thigpen weren't in the lineup how bad ST's was. even with all of these guys we are a below avg ST team. Agree. I wouldn't call them fall guys though because I wasn't expecting us to go to the playoffs anyways. The big shake up if I was the Pegulas is just not to give Whaley a new contract so they could bring in their own personnel guy to run the football operations side. Edited November 28, 2015 by BuffaloBillsForever Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boatdrinks Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 Was it expected when Rex was signed that they'd be average? When McCoy, Clay, and Hughes were acquired/re-signed did fans think that they'd be average? Did 60k ST's get sold thinking the team was average? "[/font][/color][/size] Regardless of what fans thought when they purchased their ST's , the realistic expectation was still that the team would be about average. Largely due to the unresolved issues at Quarterback, the most important position in the NFL. Add in the installation of a new offensive and defensive system, and average seems about right for year one. As a fan I always want more, but that doesn't make it realistic. Resigning their own good players doesn't improve the team if it was about average to begin with. That leaves the McCoy and Clay acquisitions. Upgrades to be sure, but probably not enough to fulfill playoff dreams. Those would be more likely if the Bills had stayed the same at TE and RB and added say, a Carson Palmer. There weren't any of those available so the Bills had to spend $ somewhere. Fine , but that's the reason the reaction from most NFL observers was still " yeah, but who's the QB?" Perhaps the ticket demand was driven more by the release of pent- up angst about the team's future. That hurdle was cleared far more than any on the field. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmotionallyUnstable Posted November 28, 2015 Author Share Posted November 28, 2015 To even mention it implies that the failures of the previous 15 seasons fall on the current administration They don't, they fall on the fan base. Which is my point. People will be calling for a move. Fans and brass. Look at the Sabres. Pegula is quick to make moves and I don't think he is afraid to let anyone go if he isn't happy Expected from who? Some of the so called experts who don't like Rex? This was a 9-7 team last year with the 4th ranked defense that added what many thought at the time a better coaching staff, an elite RB, and a play making TE so not sure where this no expected improvement in their record is coming from. I don't know about fall guy but it's clear there needs to be a change with special teams which hasn't added anything positive this year. I'm not the biggest Rex fan but he isn't going anywhere and neither is Thurman. I don't think Roman gets a HC shot but he is a toss up to be back as Rex has been more and more vocal about lack of production on offense. Nice post. Agreed on Rex and Thurman. Idt Roman will get much love as a HC candidate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LA Grant Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 The fall guy is their lack of time together. Gotta give the nucleus of players + the coaching staff time to gel. It takes a little time. And also we need a better 2nd QB, better right side OL, and better LB. Other than that, it should just be... let's try again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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