Which Bills Decision Infuriated You?

[DaBillsFanSince1973]

12 minutes ago, Utah John said:

Here are more:

Firing Bill Polian because he wouldn't be pushed around by Ralph's daughter.

Firing John Butler for no apparent reason.

Bad drafts are too easy a target, but some were so stupid they stand out.  Drafting Al Cowlings in the first round so OJ would have his buddy to hang out with.  Aaron Maybin -- seriously, what were they thinking?  Trading two firsts and a fourth for Sammy Watkins, when we didn't have a QB to throw to him. 

Treating Lou Saban like crap, twice.

There was only one week between the playoffs and the SB against the Giants.  Maybe if there had been two weeks like there had been before, the Bills would have gotten the partying out of their system and buckled down.

 

I stand corrected.

 

and doubtful.

[Utah John]

Letting some new coach (Mularkey, I think) come in and fire Rusty Jones.  The Bills won a lot of games because Jones had them better conditioned than the other teams.

[BADOLBILZ]

15 minutes ago, /dev/null said:

When the Bills cut Bruce Smith, Thurman Thomas, and Andre Reed on the same day
Hiring Rex Ryan

 

 

Cutting Ted Washington a year later was the one that mattered.

 

That pulled the drain plug on their mid-nineties minted organizational identity as a dominant 3-4 defense and set the entire drought in motion.

 

At that time he was one of the most impactful players in the NFL..........and he went to the Bears and was first team All Pro and transformed their defense into a unit that allowed the team to somehow earn homefield advantage throughout the playoffs and then went to the Pats and was their best defensive player in the playoffs during that SB run.

[aristocrat]

Constantly drafting rbs in the first. Switching from 4-3 to 3-4 and then back. Hiring Rex. 

[Utah John]

More:  Not paying Antoine Winfield.  Not keeping Pat Williams.  Of course, not paying Jason Peters largely because his agent was such a rotten guy to deal with.  Not keeping Ted Washington. 

[McBean]

I remember when they gave Dick Jauron an extension and refused to fire him. Those were some dark dark days.

 

Hiring Buddy Nix.

 

Hiring Chan Gailey.

 

Hiring Russ Brandon and Marv Levy to GM positions.

 

I mean this organization has done some really stupid **** over the years looking back on it.

[HalftimeAdjustment]

Letting Rex Ryan hire his brother.

[BADOLBILZ]

17 minutes ago, H2o said:

Trading instead of paying Jason Peters

 

 

That's the on-paper doozy because Peters is a lock to be Canton-bound..............but as recently as 5 years ago there would have been a very vocal group here declaring you wrong.........because the Bills "weren't going to pay him and he didn't want to be here".    

 

He's since proven to be not only a great player but an absolutely beloved teammate.

 

I excoriated that deal and the Marshawn Lynch deal the same way I have the Watkins deal............I suspect ALL THREE will look like horrendous deals for the Bills in retrospect.

[JMF2006]

When Marrone walked away and they hired Wrex instead of promoting Schwartz.

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

25 minutes ago, klos63 said:

 

Firing Butler

 

Iirc butlers contract expired.

[transient]

23 minutes ago, DaBillsFanSince1973 said:

losing the first superbowl...then the second, third and fourth. have to say it pissed me off and even to this day I'm pissed that marv was inept (poor decision making on his part) to the importance of discipline and did not restrict the players from boozing it up for two weeks leading up to the game(s).

 

I would add with respect to Marv that I was always so frustrated with his philosophy in big games. The Bills were the class of the AFC and won with talent and execution, but when they faced similarly talented teams coached by big game coaches in Parcells, Gibbs, and Johnson they were consistently caught with their pants down and couldn’t “out-execute” them. Also the Walt Corey read and react BS with a loaded defense was a criminal waste of talent. Marv may have been a master motivator and manager of giant egos, but he was plagued by philosophical hubris and I’d argue his coaching skills were widely overblown. You have to wonder if Marchibroda wasn’t on his staff if the offensive talent wouldn’t have been similarly wasted. 

[1st Ammendment NoMas]

1 hour ago, ShadyBillsFan said:

Rex ruining a great defense 

The whole Rex decision had scratch marks on the wall at my house.  And all of you ARE RIGHT!
Every single one of these bonehead call was a major f'kup  Thank you for helping me realized why I am so emotionally damaged as a Bills fan for 40+ years. Some of you old-timers go way back on our ineptitude. It helps me realize my Father's damaged football psyche much better too. 

 

Edited May 13, 2018 by BillsRdue

[BADOLBILZ]

8 minutes ago, Utah John said:

More:  Not paying Antoine Winfield.  Not keeping Pat Williams.  Of course, not paying Jason Peters largely because his agent was such a rotten guy to deal with.  Not keeping Ted Washington. 

 

Russ Brandon has since sung the praises of Eugene Parker...........essentially admitting that he was just entirely out of his depth dealing with a good agent as a GM.     Russ blew that situation up when he initiated negotiations thru the media.    Peters and Parker had a point........the Bills signed him as a RT knowing they intended to let Jonas Jennings go and move Peters to LT.    That was a dishonest move.    That's fine with JAG's but you don't pull that with your superstar players.    Parker dying was a break for the Bills because he found the locker room beneath the Bills unprofessional and antiquated front office to be fertile recruiting ground.       

[frostbitmic]

1. The hiring of Tom Donahoe - I knew coming in that he was nothing but a cap cutter and that's what he was. Bad decisions on coaching hires, draft picks and players he let go, he was awful as I knew he would be. We the fans also embarrassed him and he told us so.

2. The hiring of Rex Ryan - I remember laughing at him when he was HC of the Jets, I didn't want him here and when he left the team was worse than when he was hired.

3. Letting Russ Brandon do anything other than sell tickets. He had no place in being the GM, even though he was thrown into that roll. He was terrible at everything else.

4. Letting Pat Williams leave in free agency without as much as making him an offer or even calling him. Pat wanted to stay in Buffalo. Thanks Donahoe.

5. Trading Sammy Watkins - I'm probably wrong on that one but time will tell.

[The Now Moment]

40 minutes ago, BADOLBILZ said:

 

Watkins trade was the most recent of many.

 

Just an awful decision and a garbage return...........he and Tyrod were clicking.

 

With the possible exception of OBJ,  Watkins is the best deep ball tracking WR in the NFL.....he catches them with the same ease as a short throw......no slowing down or leaving his feet to simply catch the ball.     Basically the ideal WR to matchup with young QB's Patrick Mahomes or Josh Allen.    IDEAL.

 

Got extremely lucky in 2017 and broke the drought without him but it was one of the least watchable seasons of that time period......mostly due to the worst WR corps in team history.    It was ghastly and looks no better on paper right now despite trading similar draft capital to acquire Kelvin Benjamin........whose November arrival proved too little/too late for helping the pass game.

 

People who say "they weren't going to re-sign Watkins" are likely wrong........they likely would have.......and had the franchise tag at their disposal.     He liked Buffalo he had just gotten soured a bit by the environment and they should have let Bolden work with him for more than 2 days before trading him.

 

The incoming WR talent has dried up since the 2014 draft and the Bills are feeling that crunch.  

 

The upside is,  as Belichick would say,  you almost have to be constantly making mistakes in the NFL to remain uncompetitive.

 

Even 50% bad decisions shouldn't keep you from still being in contention for a wildcard in December.    

Least watchable?  Some fans don't just watch the games to see their team score.  I loved watching our defense last season.  I thought last year was easily the most exciting year over the last ten. You must like watching only offense if you thought last year wasn't watchable.  Do you only like watching teams that throw for 300 yards a game?  Serious question.  

Edited May 13, 2018 by Buffalo30

[CommonCents]

Drafting EJ

[Domdab99]

There have been a lot that confused me - Chan Gaily, Dick Jauron, etc. But only one infuriated me: Rex Ryan punting against MIami with the season on the line. 

[stuvian]

I didn't become a Bills fan until adulthood (cue your maturity insults here) and I didn't really pay attention to the teams inner workings until I became a season ticket holder (2003). 

 

The hiring of Chan Gailey begat a mild depression. There were so many other better candidates out there. It looked like Chan was hired for the sole reason that he didn't present a threat to the status quo at OBD. 

 

The hiring of beloved Marv Levy as GM was an Al Davis move - an admission that the game had passed Ralph by and that only a name from the glory years could bring us back.

 

Jauron's firing of his OC one week before the start of one of his seasons only amplified the clown show state of affairs at the time.

 

Allowing Jauron to over ride our scouting department and select Maybin over other more worthy players was another sign of deep organizational incompetence and disunity.

 

The selection of CJ Spiller wasn't as bad as Maybin but was the equivalent of taking a long snapper at #1.

 

The continual trotting out of Fitzpatrick as an NFL starting QB was profoundly insulting to any fan not incapacitated by alcohol. 

 

The mishandling of Jason Peters and Marshawn Lynch reinforced our image as the farm team for big market teams. Especially that we got a bag of Doritos in exchange for each. 

 

The signing of Mario Williams was exciting but only served to reinforce our having given up any hope of building  a legitimate football culture and instead become a country club for the overpaid and undermotivated. If we can't build a team, let's buy one!

 

Signing TO was the triumph of marketing over roster management. Rex Ryan's hire was more proof that our front office was a group of naifs capable of being had by a huckster after one more big payday.

[JohnC]

1 hour ago, Kirby Jackson said:

 

These are both good ones because they didn’t make sense at the time. These weren’t bad decisions in hindsight; they were bad decisions immediately. 

 

I’ll throw another one out there, not paying Jason Peters. He was a young star at a premium position. That’s the exact kind of guy that you throw money at. It was a stupid decision to play hardball with him.

What made the Jason Peters scenario even more of a fiasco is that the Bills brought in Derrick Dockery and Langston Walker to shore up the OL at hefty prices when both players were slow and sluggish players. What made the situation even more stupid is that they then forced Langston Walker, an adequate RT, to move to the left side where he admitted was unfit to play. Of course that didn't work out.  I believe that this was during the peculiar Levy era. 

 

Let me add to the list of notorious weird decisions is the drafting of Torrell Troup with a high pick. He was an undersized nose tackle who had a history of back problems in college. In the pros he was an undersized nose tackle with a history of back problems. He failed because he was an undersized nose tackle with back problems. Shocking!!!!

[BarleyNY]

Hiring Rex and watching him dump Schwartz. I tried to give him the benefit of doubt that he’d be smart and flexible enough to continue to run an attacking, one-gap 4-3 with Cover 2 but as soon as he said he was installing his read-and-react, 2-gap 3-4 with Cover 0, well, I knew we were screwed.  The defense went from top 5 to garbage and we got to watch him change out half the personnel that would again have to be swapped out since that style of defense doesn’t work anymore.  Super.  An underrated sign of quality ownership is that they really need to choose a style of play for their offense and defense and hire only coaches who are consistent with that.  Changes can happen, but not unnecessarily. 

 

Watkins over Mack is runner up.

[BADOLBILZ]

1 minute ago, Buffalo30 said:

Least watchable?  Some fans don't just watch the games to see their team score.  I loved watching our defense last season.  I thought last year was easily the most exciting year over the last ten. You must like watching only offense if you thought last year wasn't watchable.  Do you only like watching teams that throw for 300 yards a game?  Serious question.  

 

 

The turnovers were fun and they caught a few teams flat footed(Atlanta/KC/Carolina) who were expecting cake-walk victories but you do realize that they were one of the worst defenses in the NFL last year.    Right?

 

Once they traded Dareus they were hanging on for dear life.   Liked the effort most weeks........except for the 3 game stretch where they played the worst defense in modern NFL history.........but they were not entertaining to watch.    It was both boring and tense knowing they couldn't move the football and were also just a Tyrod turnover away from an epic defensive collapse at any moment.        

[The Now Moment]

3 minutes ago, BADOLBILZ said:

 

 

The turnovers were fun and they caught a few teams flat footed(Atlanta/KC/Carolina) who were expecting cake-walk victories but you do realize that they were one of the worst defenses in the NFL last year.    Right?

 

Once they traded Dareus they were hanging on for dear life.   Liked the effort most weeks........except for the 3 game stretch where they played the worst defense in modern NFL history.........but they were not entertaining to watch.    It was both boring and tense knowing they couldn't move the football and were also just a Tyrod turnover away from an epic defensive collapse at any moment.        

Really?  How many points did they allow a game besides those three games?  They were one of the best bend but don't break defenses at times last year and kept us in almost every game with little offense.  How were they not good?  Points are the only thing that truly matter.

[TC in St. Louis]

1 hour ago, Leonhart2017 said:

I remember being particularly mad about the Whitner pick. It seriously came out of left field taking him at 8 when Ngata was on the board.

 

I was freaking out because they also had Leinart in their hands, and should have traded out of the pick.  And still gotten Ngata.  He went 7 picks later.  Arizona wanted Leonard.

 

But when they called Whitner I started throwing things.

[Kirby Jackson]

10 minutes ago, JohnC said:

What made the Jason Peters scenario even more of a fiasco is that the Bills brought in Derrick Dockery and Langston Walker to shore up the OL at hefty prices when both players were slow and sluggish players. What made the situation even more stupid is that they then forced Langston Walker, an adequate RT, to move to the left side where he admitted was unfit to play. Of course that didn't work out.  I believe that this was during the peculiar Levy era. 

 

Let me add to the list of notorious weird decisions is the drafting of Torrell Troup with a high pick. He was an undersized nose tackle who had a history of back problems in college. In the pros he was an undersized nose tackle with a history of back problems. He failed because he was an undersized nose tackle with back problems. Shocking!!!!

I almost used paying Dockery and Walker as something that infuriated me. I believe, at that point, Dockery was the highest paid OG in the NFL!! That’s insanity. You couldn’t pay a HOFer but you could pay a borderline starter.

 

I lump Troup and McCargo in the same boat. Both were giant reaches with question marks and both failed miserably. They weren’t ever even solid players. They were scrubs. 

[GunnerBill]

1 hour ago, Kirby Jackson said:

 

These are both good ones because they didn’t make sense at the time. These weren’t bad decisions in hindsight; they were bad decisions immediately. 

 

I’ll throw another one out there, not paying Jason Peters. He was a young star at a premium position. That’s the exact kind of guy that you throw money at. It was a stupid decision to play hardball with him.

 

The hiring of Rex is the worst of all our terrible decisions. I knew instantly it was doomed. The Peters one is anothet good one. He will likely be a HoF LT and the Bills screwed the pooch not finding a way to keep him. 

[Marv's Neighbor]

Trading Ron McDole to the Redskins, and Lamonica to the Raiders.  I know, it's a long time ago, but what if??

[stuvian]

there were so many bad decisions during the drought...asking for one is like asking which raindrop got you wet during a rainstorm

[Rocky Landing]

The Rex Ryan hire was one for me. I tried to put a good face on it, after it happened. But, that didn't last long. Then, what he did to out defense! Like watching Jerry Hughs drop back into coverage so he could chase Rob Gronkowsky down the field. ARGH!!! As I write this, I'm still questioning whether I really saw that-- but I did!

 

I also didn't like the way they let go of Fred Jackson. I understood the decision to move on. I just didn't like the way it went down.

 

I'm totally fine with the Allen pick. I wasn't a fan of Rosen, purely for the personality thing, but I would have been fine with him, as well. I don't really know much about any of the college QBs coming into the draft, other than what all the talking heads, and TBW self-described experts have to say about them, and how much is that worth? My fear was that Allen would immediately be a divisive figure, but that hasn't been the case. I hope that trend continues, as we have been so divided over our quarterbacks for so long.

[entropyrules]

retaining this guy

 

[Kirby Jackson]

53 minutes ago, Domdab99 said:

There have been a lot that confused me - Chan Gaily, Dick Jauron, etc. But only one infuriated me: Rex Ryan punting against MIami with the season on the line. 

That’s a good one too. That was not even an option. That’s without considering that the Bills has like 585 yards that day and the Dolphins roughly the same. That’s the worst in game decision that a Bills coach has ever made. 

[Rocky Landing]

40 minutes ago, BADOLBILZ said:

 

 

The turnovers were fun and they caught a few teams flat footed(Atlanta/KC/Carolina) who were expecting cake-walk victories but you do realize that they were one of the worst defenses in the NFL last year.    Right?

 

Once they traded Dareus they were hanging on for dear life.   Liked the effort most weeks........except for the 3 game stretch where they played the worst defense in modern NFL history.........but they were not entertaining to watch.    It was both boring and tense knowing they couldn't move the football and were also just a Tyrod turnover away from an epic defensive collapse at any moment.        

I wouldn't agree that they were "one of the worst." I figure they were fairly middling, with some bright spots. But, I will say this: Watching Jim Schwartz' defense was the best part of Sunday while it lasted!

[Rico]

Extending Bledsoe after 2003.

Hiring Marv as GM in 2006.

 

[Buffalo716]

2 hours ago, BuffaloRush said:

As a Bills fans there’s many decisions that likely have made you pull out your hair, or slam your fist down in anger....or at least shake your head.  With the Josh Allen over Josh Rosen debate fresh on our minds, this is thread is dedicated to those times when the Bills have disappointed you with a key decision.

 

Heres a few from me and most have to do with coaches.

 

I remember really being sketical when Ralph Wilson made a statement by firing Tom Donahue, only to bring Marv on board as GM.  But like many, I said I’d give it a chance.  Then they hired Dick Jauron as HC.  I remember complaining on the BBMB that Ralph was being a “cheapskate” with his hires.  Of course I got banned from a mod named “nuebs”. I remember reading the old emails a few months ago.

 

Again I was really mad a few years later for almost the same reason.  Buddy Nix was named GM and again there was a coaching vacancy.  Names like Shannahan and Cowher were tossed around.  And then I was sitting in an auto shop getting my car fixed and a bunch of salesman were talking.  I heard one of them say “they are saying the Bills will hire Chan Gailey” who at the time was out of football.  It was almost like in Star Trek, but instead of saying “Kahhhhhhhhhhhn,” I dropped to my knees and said “Nooooooooooooooo.”  In the end, I think things could have worked out with Chan if a few things were different.

 

Those are my choices - let’s hear your’s......

 

 

Chan got the job because NO OTHER coach wanted to come here... we were in a sorry state and he was the only guy willing to deal with it

 

OBD, Russ, Ralph etc was all a mess... he did the best he could with UDFA and cannon fodder lol

 

Fitz became an NFL starter and Stevie Johnson got his $$$... 2 things chan did lol

[JimKellyTryouts]

1 hour ago, Peace Frog said:

My personal favorite: letting a not fully healed Jim Kelly start in the AFC Championship game at Miami over Frank Reich back in Jan of 1993.  Yes, we won the game and went on to our 3rd Super Bowl but Kelly threw a couple of INTs and looked rusty.  Frank was on a roll after the Oilers comeback and winning on the road at Pittsburgh.  Not only would Frank have beaten Miami, I think he would've done good against Dallas.

 

Jim got knocked out of the SB that game, Frank came in convinced that they were going to come back fairy-tale style, and he flopped.

[BADOLBILZ]

25 minutes ago, Buffalo30 said:

Really?  How many points did they allow a game besides those three games?  They were one of the best bend but don't break defenses at times last year and kept us in almost every game with little offense.  How were they not good?  Points are the only thing that truly matter.

 

Yes, really.

 

They were the 26th ranked defense in the NFL despite a very, very favorable and incredibly timely schedule.

 

[NewEra]

2 hours ago, Logic said:

At the time, I was INFURIATED that they traded away Sammy Watkins.

I was always a big fan of his and felt that the Bills had misused him and saddled him with awful QB and awful offensive playcalling from day one. In my opinion, he had -- and still has -- the talent and work ethic to be the best receiver in the league. Aside from his health, he keeps being the victim of terrible situations. Even in LA last year, he arrived late enough that Woods and Kupp had already established a rapport with Goff. Watkins never seemed to be more than the third option or deep threat decoy in their passing game. I still feel that he's one of the most physically talented WRs I've ever seen.

That being said, I've gotten over it. Watkins probably would've walked anyway, so getting a 2nd round pick and a year of Gaines was a win. Also, seeing Sammy's daily lunatic rantings on Twitter about being a solar reptilian being make me feel better about the whole thing.

I mean...he DID say "I think", not "I know for a fact!".

This 100%.  

 

Before that, the last one was cutting Fred.  Sure he was old, but old doesn’t mean useless.

 

before that, drafting donte wifner over Ngata.  THAT got me ANGRY.  SOOOOOOOO ANGRY

 

Before that, watching Big Ben slide and we stay put to draft lee Evans......AND THEN TRADE OUR 2nd AND NEXT YEARS FIRST FOR JP LOSS-MAN!!  JUST......WOW

[vorpma]

1 hour ago, BuffaloRush said:

As a Bills fans there’s many decisions that likely have made you pull out your hair, or slam your fist down in anger....or at least shake your head.  With the Josh Allen over Josh Rosen debate fresh on our minds, this is thread is dedicated to those times when the Bills have disappointed you with a key decision.

 

Heres a few from me and most have to do with coaches.

 

I remember really being sketical when Ralph Wilson made a statement by firing Tom Donahue, only to bring Marv on board as GM.  But like many, I said I’d give it a chance.  Then they hired Dick Jauron as HC.  I remember complaining on the BBMB that Ralph was being a “cheapskate” with his hires.  Of course I got banned from a mod named “nuebs”. I remember reading the old emails a few months ago.

 

Again I was really mad a few years later for almost the same reason.  Buddy Nix was named GM and again there was a coaching vacancy.  Names like Shannahan and Cowher were tossed around.  And then I was sitting in an auto shop getting my car fixed and a bunch of salesman were talking.  I heard one of them say “they are saying the Bills will hire Chan Gailey” who at the time was out of football.  It was almost like in Star Trek, but instead of saying “Kahhhhhhhhhhhn,” I dropped to my knees and said “Nooooooooooooooo.”  In the end, I think things could have worked out with Chan if a few things were different.

 

Those are my choices - let’s hear your’s......

 

Living out of Buffalo I returned to visit and was waiting to hear a big name like you - Cowher or Shanahan; I was driving down Tonawanda Creek Road and heard Buddy Nix and almost drove into the Tonawanda Creek. Definitely the most disappointing!

[boco357]

Hiring Dick Jauron.

Hiring Dave Wannested.

Toronto Series.

 

[JohnBonhamRocks]

Johnson over Flutie. 

 

Maybin over Orakpo was pretty bad. 

 

I didn't have any clue how infuriated I would later become, but I do remember being disappointed when we traded up in the 3rd round for Russell Wilson TJ Graham. I liked Wilson as a QB prospect that year. 

 

Swapping a Jim Schwartz defense for a Rex Ryan defense. 

 

Honestly my gut reaction when it happened was that I did not like the Allen pick at all because Rosen was available. I've been doing my usual self-convincing and will support the kid, but it's how I felt for sure. 

 

 

[Buffalo86]

Benching Flutie for Johnson made me hate Wade Phillips.  This was compounded during the 2000 season, when Wade was asked about the playoff implications of our 7-6 Bills facing the 7-6 Colts on a Monday night in December.   Wade stated that neither team was going to the playoffs, and he was half right:  The Colts beat us 44-20 and won their last 2 games to grab a wildcard spot.  When we parted ways with Flutie at the end of the season (after Johnson went 4-7 to Flutie's 4-1), I boycotted the Bills for the year.  The only Bills game I watched in '01 was vs Flutie's Chargers, and it was the only time in my life that I ever rooted against Buffalo.

 

Dick Jauron's contract extension being announced the day after Losman fumbled the game away against the Jets really got to me.  I usually had a "we'll get them next year" outlook, but that time, I knew in December of '08 that the '09 season had already been flushed down the toilet.  This was reaffirmed when Jauron decided to open the '09 season with the no huddle offense, with the obvious goal of going 3 & out as quickly as possible.

 

Having Doug Marrone lose a power struggle to Doug Whaley was a tough one; I always said we lost the wrong Doug that day.  Not that I was the biggest Marrone fan, but come on.  One of them just coached his team to the AFC championship game, and the other will never be a GM again.