Which Bills Decision Infuriated You?

[corta765]

2 hours ago, Dr. K said:

Hiring Rex, which necessarily meant getting rid of Schwartz. Moronic move, and I put it on the Pegulas. 

 

Tend to agree. I didn't hate the Rex hire but at the expense of Schwartz just felt wrong. They finally had an established defense that could do things and the ownership messed with it because they wanted a "rock star" head coach. They fixed that with McBeane who are doing a nice job rebuilding the defense quickly, but I hated that Rex forced scheme change and forced a lot of talent out because he was Rex.

[TheElectricCompany]

Jason Peters

[BillsMafia13]

23 hours ago, Commonsense said:

Drafting EJ

This right here.  I never did much research on qbs that year but I knew I hated it the moment it happened.  

[row_33]

On 5/13/2018 at 10:17 AM, Epstein's Mother said:

 

Not sure I understand this one.  Maybe you meant starting Johnson over Flutie in general but in this instance when Rob Johnson walked off the field for the last time that day he was ahead.

 

The Bills decided that Flutie was not the best option present for the playoff start.  (He biffed on every playoff game he started.)

 

And that was that.

 

 

[Sammy Watkins' Rib]

On 5/13/2018 at 7:17 AM, Epstein's Mother said:

 

Not sure I understand this one.  Maybe you meant starting Johnson over Flutie in general but in this instance when Rob Johnson walked off the field for the last time that day he was ahead.

 

We could of won the game by two TDs with Johnson. I still wouldn't have agreed with the decision though. Now, had Johnson actually gone on to be a decent QB for us then I would have to eat crow as not being  a fan of the decision at the time.

Edited May 14, 2018 by Sammy Watkins' Rib

[dpberr]

Cutting Fred Jackson.  The timing of that decision infuriated me.  

 

 

Edited May 14, 2018 by dpberr

[Epstein's Mother]

22 minutes ago, Sammy Watkins' Rib said:

 

We could of won the game by two TDs with Johnson. I still wouldn't have agreed with the decision though. Now, had Johnson actually gone on to be a decent QB for us then I would have to eat crow as not being  a fan of the decision at the time.

 

Or if Flutie had gone on to do great things I would have to eat crow too.

[Punching Bag]

1 hour ago, TheElectricCompany said:

Jason Peters

 

Blame his agent on that one. He had just negotiated a contract with several years left and then threatened to have his client sit out until he got a new contract.    He pulled the same stunt a few years later (personally I'd never sign one of his clients) refusing to negotiate on one client when another wanted an extension.  He should have been barred in last case using one client to force bargain on another.

 

Fortunately now he is in hell on Devil's fantasy football team (and cheating him too).

[FrankoElTanko]

This is a fun one and the options are many however, I'll take a stab at some of the first to come to mind immediately.

- Not paying Jason Peters... We were a terrible OL team who tried hard to obtain talent with FA acquisitions like Derrick Dockery, Langston Walker and Duke Preston/Melvin Fowler. Instead of paying JP we decided he was not worth it and threw more money at the rest in FA, barf.

 

- Rex over Shwartz... After Shwartz built this young and talented defense and took an underwhelming Lions team back to the postseason we opted for NYJ flame-out Rex Ryan, who came in and 'rebuilt' our top 5 defense into back to back >15 defense and wiped out an entire personnel base, causing an additional year of dead money, realignment of draft strategy and roster building to even consider a proper rebuild... Which until last year had NEVER actually been done yet. There had always been some remnant of a former regime that the Bills have used to cut corners on a proper rebuild. Bonus Points: Shwartz was 21-27 as a HC from 2011-13 and Rex was 22-26 as a HC from 2011-13. I guess that one win was more important than keeping the entire defense together...

 

- Drafting Willis McGahee at 23... **I liked Willis (as a RB) however, drafting a 1rd RB when your 25yo (making llike $750k v. Willis' $3.5+mill (old salary cap)) is coming off of back to back 1350+yd seasons... Why? 

 

- ^ Repeat this one for all of our 'farm team' players that we seem to draft to replace consistently (RB, CB, DT, DE)... I.E., Nate Clements, Marshawn Lynch, Antoine Winfield, etc.

 

- Pat Williams... Pat Williams went on to play another full 6yrs as an efficient DL in Minnesota when we thought he was done and chose the FA route with Marcus Stroud. Pat Williams was a star in Buffalo and fixture for the community here. He did an excellent job in either defense he played in and validated that with his play next to Kevin WIlliams for the back of the early 2000's.

 

- Maybin over Orakpo... We switched to a 4-3 defense and to base our edge we chose Aaron Maybin at 11 instead of Brian Orakpo. Maybin had like 15/16 sacks ever and Orakpo had like 25 and was something like 35lbs heavier with a WAY higher draft grade. It was the type of pick that the NYJ are notorious for (a la Vernon Gholston 1.0). Bonus Points: Aaron Maybin is an accredited racial artist in Baltimore who has not played since 2012 and Brian Orakpo is still playing football at a very high level, and has done so in both (4-3/3-4) fronts.

 

- The worthless coaching carousel of terrible candidates... Amazingly out of all these years of top prospects in the FA coaching ranks, in addition to the multitude of college coaches making the jump, we were NEVER able to land a big name. Or at least anyone exciting enough to give the fans hope we would come out of it. Our biggest 'name' was Rex Ryan and we all know how that went.  I am not saying that a big name would have righted the ship but after willing to spend money and make moves, it's nuts to me that we were unable to hire ANY of the names that were higher profile. I just figured after Wade Phillips we could do better than, Dick Jauron (2x), Chan Gaily and Doug Marrone when it was rumored that Cowher might come back, Shannahan, Ron Rivera, Adam Gase and Bill O'Brian (sp*) were all realistic candidates at one point and time. It seems to have worked out so far as the 'new guy' we got has done a good job in season one. However, us not landing any of those guys when we seemed so close to all of them there for a while, was almost like we were the pariahs of Erie (Go Dawg Pound!). 

 

- Never Taking a QB... Easily my number one. We have never taken a QB in the top 5, never in the top 10 (until this year) and only once in the top 15 (Jim Kelly)... Its nuts that a team in permanent purgatory never decided to take a QB higher than midway through the first, ever. It really is mind blowing to think that after all of these, almosts and could have beens that resulted in trades and FA acquisitions, we never once decided to move up for our QB. Bonus Points: We actually did have a deal in place in 2004 to move up for Ben Roethlesberger and WE decided to pull out last minute, which resulted in the hasty trade up to appease fans with JP Losman and the electric, DT John McCargo two yrs later (once we were able to return to the first rd. JP cost us extra in fact).

 

In hindsight, maybe I am showing my age (30) or maybe I am showing the organizations's ineptitude but looking at my list of 'top 5', I am starting to see a trend in the correlation of us winning and whatever (main) front office decisions were made from 2002-2014.

Edited May 14, 2018 by FrankoElTanko

[Matt_In_NH]

Hiring Rob Ryan as "Assistant HC" after he seriously flunked out as DC in multiple places.

[Punching Bag]

4 minutes ago, mattynh said:

Hiring Rob Ryan as "Assistant HC" after he seriously flunked out as DC in multiple places.

That a coach's decision just like signing of all of the coaches signed by coach McD which were fired less than one year later.  Unless you have a very strong GM who controls hiring of staff as strongly as hiring of head coach that will happen.  You can call it old boys network or feather dusting but NO head coach is immune to this and having an owner with an open wallet makes it happen more often.

[BuffaloRush]

2 hours ago, Dr. K said:

I spoke out about the Rex Ryan hire at the time. You could look it up. I thought it was a mistake from day one.

 

Yeah I don’t doubt it

11 minutes ago, mattynh said:

Hiring Rob Ryan as "Assistant HC" after he seriously flunked out as DC in multiple places.

 

Again though with Rob, I don’t think fans were infuriated with the move.  We just hoped he’d help Rex get back on track 

[blacklabel]

There are a few...

 

Refusing to run the ball against what was essentially a two-man front vs. the Giants in Super Bowl XXV. Thurman Thomas had 15 carries for 135 yards and a touchdown. That's 9 yards a carry. If they would've kept feeding Thurm, they win that game without question. The minute NYG would've adjusted to stop the run, they could've went back to letting Kelly sling it and he would've picked them apart. Instead, they were too stubborn to come away from the K-Gun and we know the rest.

 

Handing the keys to JP Losman in 2005 instead of trying to get one more year out of Bledsoe. And then refusing to fully commit to Losman by constantly benching him for Kelly friggin' Holcomb.

 

Allowing the "brain trust" of Dick Jauron, Marv Levy, and Russ Brandon to make the most important football decisions for the team during the late 2000's. 

 

Forking over a $50 million dollar contract to Ryan Fitzpatrick after he had a few hot games against some slack teams.

 

Consistently refusing to pony up the dough for players that were worth it who then walked and found success with other teams. Many of the names I have in mind have already been mentioned.

 

Hiring Rex Ryan. I see a lot of people listing this as a bummer of a decision with the addition of not promoting Jimmy Schwartz... something to keep in mind, Schwartz was not a very good head coach. He was 2-14 in his first year, 6-10 in his second, he did make the playoffs in his third year but was handed a swift first-round exit. In 2012 he started 4-4 and then went 0-8 for the second half of the season. Started 6-3 in 2013 but then went 1-6 the rest of the way. He couldn't really sustain any consistency or long-term success. Definitely one of those "better coordinator than coach" type of guys. Keeping him on with Rex never would've flown. Those two have completely conflicting ideologies on how to run a defense. 

 

Consistently refusing to pull the trigger on a first-round QB draft after draft for years. 

 

Trading picks to get back into the first round of the 2006 draft to pick John motherfricking McCargo. I still remember the talking heads on ESPN saying, "Well, he could be a good one, but was his success a result of having both Manny Lawson and Mario Williams on his left and right all through his college career?" Answer: Yes, yes it was. Lawson and Williams were beasts that year at NC State and both went in the first round. Someone with the Bills thought, "Heck, NC State's whole DL must be first-round worthy, let's get back into the first and grab that McCargo kid!"

 

Their constant inability to identify and hire the types of coaches that would best fit with the rosters they had, as well as drafting/signing players that would fit with the coaching staff. "Nobody wants to play in Buffalo" was the mantra of many a player during the drought. The team DID pay up for free agents when they could... that wasn't always the main issue... it was the dysfunction and disconnect between players and coaches and then between coaches and the front office and then (probably) the front office and ownership. All that discord between the departments that make the franchise was the primary reason for the drought. There was just no cohesion, despite them always saying, "We're in lock-step!" they weren't. Behind the scenes it wasn't really a secret that it was a giant crap-fest. It's nice to see some harmony strung together from the top down with this current regime.

[Elite Poster]

14 hours ago, K-9 said:

Spending those two years in the USFL was the best thing that could have happened for Kelly’s development. He came to us knowing how to read defenses and I doubt he would have learned as much under Kay Stephenson and Co. vs. what he learned with Mouse Davis.

 

It still pissed me off man

[TheElectricCompany]

17 minutes ago, Limeaid said:

 

Blame his agent on that one. He had just negotiated a contract with several years left and then threatened to have his client sit out until he got a new contract.    He pulled the same stunt a few years later (personally I'd never sign one of his clients) refusing to negotiate on one client when another wanted an extension.  He should have been barred in last case using one client to force bargain on another.

 

Fortunately now he is in hell on Devil's fantasy football team (and cheating him too).

I get your point, but the Bills should have took it on the chin, payed the man and secured that position for the next decade. 

He's a HOFer at arguably the second most important position on offense. That stings. 

 

[The Jokeman]

1 hour ago, TheElectricCompany said:

Jason Peters

Yeah this is another one I could have mentioned as hate we let him go because we didn't want to give him Left Tackle money. 

[Kirby Jackson]

7 minutes ago, BuffaloRush said:

 

Yeah I don’t doubt it

 

Again though with Rob, I don’t think fans were infuriated with the move.  We just hoped he’d help Rex get back on track 

Anyone that was paying attention was furious. Rob had just finished destroying the Saints defense and his reputation was as low as it ever had been.

[Elite Poster]

16 hours ago, THE SLAMMER said:

 

A good business doesn't take a 3 year in a row pro bowler and ask for a pay cut now do they?.  How do you know he lied about his injuries?

You do realize that agents have the power to ok a deal without having the player present, right? The players don't hop a jet for buffalo, this is why you hire an agent...most likely the reason for firing

Completed deals are electronically sent for approval sometimes without the player completely understanding the terms....it happens

Geeez, glad I don't work for you....90 % of this is hear say your honor....lol

 

If he was 25 signing his first FA contract, I would agree with everything you just said.

 

Funny enough, I just signed a contract this week. I read the whole thing, had a colleague read it, and had my lawyer read it. We all met together and went over our notes. Attention to detail, especially when it's the details from the person who is writing your checks.

 

You would love working for me, I wouldn't be as harsh on Richie as the Bills were, but as a capitalist in America, survival of the wittiest. We live in a country where you get the opportunity and time necessary to know what you are getting into before you sign the dotted line. No sympathy for the people who have more resources than 95% of the rest of us. 

Edited May 14, 2018 by Elite Poster

[Punching Bag]

2 minutes ago, TheElectricCompany said:

I get your point, but the Bills should have took it on the chin, payed the man and secured that position for the next decade. 

He's a HOFer at arguably the second most important position on offense. That stings. 

 

 

He was not at the time, he was a player the Bills spent a lot of work on to just get him to be able to play OT.

[The Jokeman]

21 minutes ago, Limeaid said:

 

Blame his agent on that one. He had just negotiated a contract with several years left and then threatened to have his client sit out until he got a new contract.    He pulled the same stunt a few years later (personally I'd never sign one of his clients) refusing to negotiate on one client when another wanted an extension.  He should have been barred in last case using one client to force bargain on another.

 

Fortunately now he is in hell on Devil's fantasy football team (and cheating him too).

His agent negotiated a contract based on Peters playing Right Tackle, we then shifted him to Left and as result Peters wanted more because of the position change. In retrospect we got Eric Wood who had a great career but ironically enough Peters is having a longer one and at a more important position. 

[Kirby Jackson]

1 minute ago, Limeaid said:

 

He was not at the time, he was a player the Bills spent a lot of work on to just get him to be able to play OT.

He was 26 and coming off of back-to-back Pro Bowls. He was obviously an ascending player with a ridiculous ceiling. This was the exact kind of guy that they should have signed. Your money should pay great, young players, at premium positions. Peters was the poster child for a massive contract. The Bills decided against it and the rest is history.

[Punching Bag]

3 minutes ago, The Jokeman said:

His agent negotiated a contract based on Peters playing Right Tackle, we then shifted him to Left and as result Peters wanted more because of the position change. In retrospect we got Eric Wood who had a great career but ironically enough Peters is having a longer one and at a more important position. 

And would he have given back the money if he moved back to RT? NO!  He wanted bonus for something the Bills paid for.

[reddogblitz]

10 hours ago, Dadonkadonk said:

5. Allowing Rex to dismantle the Jim Schwartz defense.  I had no issue with Rex as a HC hire.  I thought wrongly that he would retain Schwartz and just add a few blitz/coverage wrinkles to what Schwartz was doing.  If Rex had simply played the role of HC, both he and Whaley would be here now with multiple playoff seasons. 

 

I think you're right on with this one.

[Bill from NYC]

1) The 2006 draft was the epitome of stupidity. The draft was STACKED!!! Levy said that he rejected several offers to trade down. He stayed put at #8 and drafted Whitner.  Not bad enough? He traded UP to get Mc Cargo, then he drafted defensive backs early in rounds 3 and 4, neither of whom was any good. This draft set us back about 5 years. Whitner, a semi-decent player, cost the Bills 36 million dollars as I recall.

 

2) Almost as dumb was the selection of Spiller. Remember him? All he needed was some "space." He would have been a semi-decent pick......in round 6.

 

3) We passed up two excellent blockers in order to draft Leotis McKelvin, this on a team with a horrid OL.

 

It was almost as if we were trying to lose. A 14 year old kid with a few draft magazines could have done a better job.

Edited May 14, 2018 by Bill from NYC

[Royale with Cheese]

Orakpo over Maybin.  I was in Vegas at the time and didn't leave the hotel room until I saw the Bills pick.  This was when the draft was still on Saturdays so I was dressed for the pool.

 

I saw Orakpo was still there and I didn't think we had a chance at him prior to the draft starting.  Then he's sitting there and I hear Maybin's name.  

I thought for sure, without a doubt it was going to be Orakpo because the Bills selection was pretty immediate.  Of the 15 minutes, I think the Bills made their selection within a few minutes.  "It's gotta be Orakpo!  They didn't take any time for the selection!".

[Jay_Fixit]

It’s just sports, so I’ve never been infuriated.

 

I’ve been surprised, disappointed, confused but never infuriated. It’s not like driving in traffic..

 

Drafting Spiller was confusing.

Trading up for Losman was confusing.

Taking Maybin was dumb.

Whitner at 8 was strange. I pretty much had a Bills Ngata jersey ready to go..

 

Theres been a lot of questionable moves. Tough to pinpoint one that got to me more than the others.

[Bing Bong]

19 hours ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

I suppose in retrospect, I thought well of Nix (2011 on) and Whaley just because at least they were a marked improvement.

They get an unfair rap IMO. I suppose because of recency bias and Whaley's infamous last  PC (I didn't think it was THAT bad, I mean the dude was trying to not throw his  owners under the bus and in an impossible position.)

 

People gripe Whaley didn't have a plan.. he did. Just didn't pan out. Built from a great defense by drafting his quarterback and going for win now by getting the best WR graded since AJ Green. Overpaid for Clay and basically gambled on having a capable offense on rookie contracts, while having his expensive and aging win now Defense in place. That was a plan. The offense didn't turn around enough to compensate for a defense that got wrexed.

 

He's gone now but talk about not having a plan.. look at Juaron and Chan's aimless teams.

Edited May 14, 2018 by PetermanThrew5Picks

[reddogblitz]

3 hours ago, Epstein's Mother said:

As for winning the game going away I don't think Kelly in his prime wins that game going away.  He might win it but let's remember the Titans were a 13 win team that year not a bunch of stiffs.

 

The Mighty Titans were only able to beat us with a tricky illegal play that should have been called back in their own house against us playing our backup QB who had a bad game. World beaters? I think not. 

 

Flutie plays, we win, and it ain't even close.   You'll NEVER convince me otherwise ?

Edited May 14, 2018 by reddogblitz

[Bing Bong]

10 minutes ago, Jay_Fixit said:

It’s just sports, so I’ve never been infuriated.

 

I’ve been surprised, disappointed, confused but never infuriated. It’s not like driving in traffic..

 

Drafting Spiller was confusing.

Trading up for Losman was confusing.

Taking Maybin was dumb.

Whitner at 8 was strange. I pretty much had a Bills Ngata jersey ready to go..

 

Theres been a lot of questionable moves. Tough to pinpoint one that got to me more than the others.

I shrug at what we do until the season starts and I see the outcome. Game time is only when I'm emotional. Off-season was silly. 

 

I was a bit upset that we kept offloading talent from the last regime. I get almost all of them but the Ragland dump didn't make sense at the time. Like they were just moving players to make a point they wanted to be new. Love the FO rn tho. You make the playoffs you win my heart. 

[May Day 10]

I was never a fan, but I thought Johnson played a solid, gritty game against the Titans

[Bing Bong]

16 hours ago, reddogblitz said:

The other one I didn't like was dumping Fred when we did.

Eh that was when we had karlos and shady right? Fred was clearly done that Seahawks season and after so I wasn't surprised. I guess they didn't necessarily have to dump him but I imagine we were having cap trouble

[TheElectricCompany]

21 minutes ago, Limeaid said:

And would he have given back the money if he moved back to RT? NO!  He wanted bonus for something the Bills paid for.

I think it's safe to say that the move to LT would be permanent....

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

17 minutes ago, Bill from NYC said:

3) We passed up two excellent blockers in order to draft Leotis McKelvin, this on a team with a horrid OL.

Oh, come on!  Those were some of the most entertaining moments of the week, seeing if/how he was going to field that punt.  Surely you can't put a price on that!

[Jay_Fixit]

8 minutes ago, PetermanThrew5Picks said:

I shrug at what we do until the season starts and I see the outcome. Game time is only when I'm emotional. Off-season was silly. 

 

I was a bit upset that we kept offloading talent from the last regime. I get almost all of them but the Ragland dump didn't make sense at the time. Like they were just moving players to make a point they wanted to be new. Love the FO rn tho. You make the playoffs you win my heart. 

I think the only time I’ve ever been close to infuriated was the Monday Nighter against Dallas.

 

As far as the transactions, I’m an idiot so I always just assume the FO know what they’re doing.

Edited May 14, 2018 by Jay_Fixit

[BillsBytheBay]

None.  McBeane have just started to put their identity on the team.  Yes, I have been shocked.  I haven't agreed with everything but we can't expect them to build somebody else's team. We made the playoffs despite everything last year.  They have earned some room to move.

 

(I'd love to see the process on Hard Knocks ?

[HOUSE]

1 hour ago, Elite Poster said:

 

If he was 25 signing his first FA contract, I would agree with everything you just said.

 

Funny enough, I just signed a contract this week. I read the whole thing, had a colleague read it, and had my lawyer read it. We all met together and went over our notes. Attention to detail, especially when it's the details from the person who is writing your checks.

 

You would love working for me, I wouldn't be as harsh on Richie as the Bills were, but as a capitalist in America, survival of the wittiest. We live in a country where you get the opportunity and time necessary to know what you are getting into before you sign the dotted line. No sympathy for the people who have more resources than 95% of the rest of us. 

You have my complete respect

[John from Riverside]

It has to be the drafting of Aaron Maybin....who was so bad he COULD NOT EVEN PLAY SPECIAL TEAMS

 

god that was a bad pick

[Bing Bong]

15 minutes ago, Jay_Fixit said:

I’m an idiot so I always just assume the FO know what they’re doing.

Exactly. This should be our TBD mandated signoff signature

[Sammy Watkins' Rib]

1 hour ago, Epstein's Mother said:

 

Or if Flutie had gone on to do great things I would have to eat crow too.

Flutie had 21-9 record while a Bill. That includes a 4-1 record after he lost the starting job to Rob Johnson to start the 2000 season. Rob Johnson had a cumulative 9-17 record as a Bill which included a 4-7 record in that same 2000 season. Flutie was 38 years old that 2000 season so it's not likely he would have gone on to be great in the coming seasons. But even with that being the case 21-9 is a great record for a QB to have  in my book. Although with a 4-1 record in 2000, who knows, maybe the Bills reach 10 wins under Flutie (they finished 8-8 that year ) if he starts all 16 games. 

[4thandGoal]

trading up to get Sammy

trading up to get Manuel

trading up to get Zay Jones