Do you think if Polian stayed aboard with the Bills we would of had a Indy type run?

[Mitchy moo]

I wonder sometimes if Polian never had a falling out with RW if we would of been able to keep up our SB runs and always field a pretty competitive team. It seems like we have had such a run of losers and second rate JO's on our staff for so many years now, we are expected to fail.

I hope tricky Dick and his cronies put us back up there this year, my mind is melting.

[TacklingDummy]

No, the Bills never would have been in position to draft Manning. Teams that have been consistently good over the years have had an outstanding QB leading them.(Brady, Manning, Elway, Favre, Young, Montana, Kelly, Marino, Manning etc...)

[feelthepain]

I wonder sometimes if Polian never had a falling out with RW if we would of been able to keep up our SB runs and always field a pretty competitive team. It seems like we have had such a run of losers and second rate JO's on our staff for so many years now, we are expected to fail.

I hope tricky Dick and his cronies put us back up there this year, my mind is melting.

I think the odds would have been in the Bills favor.

[trapezeus]

hard to tell. he didn't really plan for life after kelly. so there would have been some kind of drop off. but maybe that lull would have lasted for a shorter period of time.

[raphael120]

I think if Polian stayed we would be more relevant in the NFL than we are now and have been the past 9 seasons.

I'm just wondering when we can stop saying "we havent seen the playoffs in (insert big number here) seasons"

Every year it goes up 1 year...I remember saying "we've been going through this crap the past 5 seasons"...then it was 6...7...8...now 9 seasons of pathetic football. Whens it going to end?

[Devin]

Yes. Polian is/always will be that good.

[Mitchy moo]

Yes. Polian is/always will be that good.

I'm with you Devin.

[gr8slayer]

Just another stupid mistake by the leagues worst owner.

[Albany,n.y.]

If Polian had drafted Tom Brady instead of (Butler's pick of) Leif Larsen in the 6th round of the 2000draft, the answer is yes. Otherwise it's no.

[Yasgur's Farm]

Polian has a proven track record... unfortunately so does Ralph.

We were fortunate to have Polian while it lasted... Even oil and water stayed mixed for a time having been shaken.

[Goobylal]

Polian wouldn't have made it past the 1994 season, when the Bills failed to make the playoffs. As it stood, losing the 4th SB would have made it hard to keep him. And I firmly believe Polian knew what he was doing when he got himself fired. He saw the writing on the wall, just like he did in Carolina when he left them before they sank. He'll probably ride-out Manning and then depart.

[OpIv37]

Would we have been on an Indy type run? Hard to say but I doubt it.

Would we still be in a decade-long playoff drought? Hell no. Polian is MUCH better at picking talent than, say, TD could ever dream of being. We would have had better drafts and wouldn't have signed scrubs like Bennie Anderson and Larry Tripplett if Polian were here.

[Yasgur's Farm]

Would we have been on an Indy type run? Hard to say but I doubt it.

Would we still be in a decade-long playoff drought? Hell no. Polian is MUCH better at picking talent than, say, TD could ever dream of being. We would have had better drafts and wouldn't have signed scrubs like Bennie Anderson and Larry Tripplett if Polian were here.I gotta agree with this.

[TacklingDummy]

Just another stupid mistake by the leagues worst owner.


I think you may be confused. Polian was the GM of the Bills, not the Cowboys. :snicker:

[trapezeus]

more importantly Bill Polian always made a point to get a good coach and stick with him. even Jim Mora had more than a couple seasons with the colts. I think Coaches can help average players out to a degree. especially when they have a habit of winning.

[Mitchell55]

I wonder sometimes if Polian never had a falling out with RW if we would of been able to keep up our SB runs and always field a pretty competitive team. It seems like we have had such a run of losers and second rate JO's on our staff for so many years now, we are expected to fail.

I hope tricky Dick and his cronies put us back up there this year, my mind is melting.




Yes, but thats because Im a homer.

[Ingtar33]

Yes. Polian is/always will be that good.

yep

[Crisis]

Would we have been on an Indy type run? Hard to say but I doubt it.

Would we still be in a decade-long playoff drought? Hell no. Polian is MUCH better at picking talent than, say, TD could ever dream of being. We would have had better drafts and wouldn't have signed scrubs like Bennie Anderson and Larry Tripplett if Polian were here.

didnt polian draft tripplett?

[Night Train]

I doubt it.

Ralph would have starting his meddling and cost cutting, like he did with Saban & Knox. Drove them nuts although Saban was already there, to a point.

Ralph and his bean counters have stalled our momentum more than once.

[Historian]

I thought we were pretty good from 1995-2000.

It was the hiring of Donahoe and that idiot Greg Williams that sent this team to the depths of hell.

[OpIv37]

didnt polian draft tripplett?

Yup.

He was also smart enough to let him walk whereas the Bills were dumb enough to pay him millions.

Drafting isn't an exact science. Even masters like Polian miss sometimes. But unlike the guys we've had running the Bills during Polian's tenure in Indy, Polian's hits are more than his misses, and when he does miss he knows when to cut his losses and move on.

[Turf]

In Ralphs defense he really got burned with TD. He gave him full control and let him spend and do what he wanted, and he got nothing back out of it. He then got angry and decided he was a better football man and he would do it himself "again", and brought in Marv. Now Ralph got cheap again.
And yes, we would probably have won the SB if Polian stayed here.

[djjimkelly]

we would have been a much better and meaningful team over the last 156 years if polian was our GM

[TacklingDummy]

In Ralphs defense he really got burned with TD. He gave him full control and let him spend and do what he wanted, and he got nothing back out of it.

You mean the TD that drafted...

-Mike Williams: Many people here agreed with the pick. Is it TD's fault Williams turned out to be a slug?

-JP Losman: Is it TD's fault that at this point in his career JP is a bust? Still many fans still want the guy starting.

-Travis Henry: Turns out to be pothead who will stick his penis in anything wet.

-Schobel, Evans McGee, McGahee

TD also brought in Vets like Spikes (if I recall correctly Bills fans were chanting his name the last game against Cincy to get him to come to Buffalo), Milloy, Vincent, Robinson, Adams.

I couldn't stand TD but I won't say that he didn't try. TD's reign here would look completely different if Williams/Losman didn't turn out to be busts.

[Ingtar33]

the big problem with TD, and the difference between him and Levy, is TD pretty much ignored the lines.

[Historian]

the big problem with TD, and the difference between him and Levy, is TD pretty much ignored the lines.

I agree.

It's as if he always wanted to make big headlines...

....on draft day.
:ill:

[gr8slayer]

the big problem with TD, and the difference between him and Levy, is TD pretty much ignored the lines.
True to a point but TD also tried to fix out Tackle issue with drafting Mike Williams, who at the time looked like a great pick. He also drafted Schobel and Kelsay; he could have done more in FA but I don't think he necessarily "ignored" the lines in the draft.

[Wally The Barber]

We should have never lost Pollion, that is the main reason for 9 years out of the playoffs, NICE THREAD.

[Meathead]

easiest question ever

yes

polian is arguably the best gm in the game and has been one of the top gms for at least a decade. it wouldnt have been pmanning but he woulda found some other combo of players to build a championship caliber team. its just what he does

[Al the Bills Fan]

Polian is easily the best GM in all of football. We would be a much better team had the fallout never happened.