The Frankish Reich Posted September 17, 2016 Share Posted September 17, 2016 (edited) Ahhh the great American Blame Game. I'll play, a la Family Feud.... Top answers are the failure of every GM to find/draft a QB, Bill Belichek, Tom Brady. No QB, no winning. They didn't have a shot at a lot of guys who are/were/expected to be elite like Manning(s); Newton; Luck; Rivers; etc. Others they graded out other players higher and passed on options, like taking Aaron Williams a spot before Andy Dalton. Or McKelvin 7 spots before Flacco. Or TJ Grahan in the 3rd a number of spots before Russell Wilson. Other times they fell into the "We need and must draft a QB" and took one high and they failed miserably. Manuel, Losman, and Edwards. I think deep down though, if we must assess blame, a slippery slope to be sure, Tom Donahoe set this team back in the early 2000s, culminating in the clusterf&*$ that was the 2004 draft where they moved back into the 1st for Losman after either not trying or failing (not sure which and failing means you didn't try hard enough) to move up from 13 for Rivers, Manning, Roethlisberger. That is a crucial moment in the team's history. Instead of selling the farm to get up, they draft Lee Evans and arrogantly double down and trade back into the first for Losman. It costs them their first in 2005 and in that draft the pick Dallas got was before Green Bay drafted Aaron Rodgers. Nothing hurt this team more than Donahoe. You need to go a long way down the list to get to Brandon. This guy has kept this team afloat from a business perspective and probably helped save it in Bflo. This is probably the single best capsule summation of what's gone wrong for the last 17 years. The Bills have never missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity. EDIT: my fear is that this last draft will be another one we sorely regret. Whaley is on record -- after Tyrod took over -- as saying we're in "QB Purgatory." This wasn't a draft with a Jameis Winston or Andrew Luck, but it was a relatively deep QB draft with several guys who are projectable as NFL starters. Paxton Lynch and Dak Prescott were obvious ones. So even though Whaley understood that Tyrod didn't take us out of purgatory and to the gates of heaven, he waited for the 4th round to take a huge project in Cardale. I hope he works out, but the other guys just seem immeasurably closer to being able to emerge as good NFL QBs. Edited September 17, 2016 by The Frankish Reich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rico Posted September 17, 2016 Share Posted September 17, 2016 This is probably the single best capsule summation of what's gone wrong for the last 17 years. The Bills have never missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity. I'll give you a capsule summation of what's gone wrong for the past 17 years: Ralph Wilson. Absolutely piss-poor excuse of an NFL owner. And even though he's gone, his trash is still running the team, nothing has changed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reed83HOF Posted September 17, 2016 Share Posted September 17, 2016 I'll give you a capsule summation of what's gone wrong for the past 17 years: Ralph Wilson. Absolutely piss-poor excuse of an NFL owner. And even though he's gone, his trash is still running the team, nothing has changed. The only one who has really left with any "power" was Littman. Pegs had a golden opportunity to blow it up his first year as owner once the Dougernaut left and he didn't. They all still remain but the added the Ryan's. Why would you expect different results now? Also why do you think the NFL tried to hook them up with consultants ASAP? While I am grateful for all Ralph did to keep the team here; it is time to move forward - burn it all down and start a new era.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bangarang Posted September 17, 2016 Share Posted September 17, 2016 I have no problem with Russ as long as he's not making or helping make football related decisions. Our biggest issue is our coach and QB haven't been good. That's a terrible combination to have. Whether Russ has had his hand in that I don't know. I want to believe Terry and Kim will get things turned around by hiring the right football people but so far they are 0 for 1 with Rex. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr.Sack Posted September 17, 2016 Share Posted September 17, 2016 I'm killing it in Madden with this roster and coach. It must be Brandon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Frankish Reich Posted September 17, 2016 Share Posted September 17, 2016 I have no problem with Russ as long as he's not making or helping make football related decisions. Our biggest issue is our coach and QB haven't been good. That's a terrible combination to have. Whether Russ has had his hand in that I don't know. I want to believe Terry and Kim will get things turned around by hiring the right football people but so far they are 0 for 1 with Rex. Here's a serious question about Rex: We know that in the NFL today, the coaches/coordinators who are successful tend to be workaholics. We've all heard the stories about arriving at 5:00 a.m., watching film into the wee hours, etc. I've read that Roman was one of those guys to the extent that people worried about his health. So any failures there aren't because of lack of effort. But what about Rex? He doesn't strike me as the workaholic type. My uneducated impression is that he just isn't putting in the extra homework these days; maybe he did in the past, and that's part of why he was successful. What are his work habits? Do people know? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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