An odd season...

[jimbohastle51]

For those of you who have read my posts over the years, you know that I don't bash players. I understand what it takes to play the game and the physical and mental preparation that goes into it. That being said... Even with Fitz playing below average right now if you look at this team from a positional standpoint it is baffling that we are not at least a 10-6 team. Tell me what other team that at the end of the season will have a 1000 yard rusher, a 1000 yard receiver (Steve needs to only average like 55 yards a game over the next to to get there) a tight end with around 600 yards (after today Chandler is around 550)with 6 TDs and an above average offensive line that is not in the playoffs or at least 9-7?

I will even take it a step further and say throw in the fact that we have a 10+ sack defensive end in Williams a defensive tackle with over 5 sacks (Dareus has 3.5 of his own) a Linebacker with over 100 tackles (barnett only needs 5 more) and the best ball hawking defensive back in the AFC in Byrd... If you take the time and look you won't find another team getting this kind of play out of players and not at least showing a winning record. I am not even throwing in the fact that Fitz is going to go over 3000 yards and 25TD's this year (weather its from the screen passes or not those are the numbers). No way we are a 5-9 club with the talent here.

My point (There are two parts to it) is that if you really look at the team then Nix is right... He has done the job of providing the amount of talent to win. I have no problem with Nix keeping his job.

On the other (part two of my point) hand the coaching has been atrocious! Honestly I don't put it on Wanny either because at the end of the day it is Gailey's job to make the decisions and he just hasn't pulled through.

If and when Nix comes out at the end of the season and says that Gailey is staying for another year (like it or not its probably going to happen) then he is going to have to bring in an offensive coordinator to take over play calling duties its too obvious he can't handle the dual job of OC and head coach.

[TrEd FTW]

No way we are a 5-9 club with the talent here.

You're right - they're worse. The only reason the Bills have won five games is because they've played a laughably easy schedule. They're overmatched every time they face legitimately good teams, which we saw happen today. Talent-wise, they're in a class with teams like Tennessee and St. Louis and neither of those clubs is anywhere near playoff-caliber. The talent and coaching on this team are both horrendous. It amazes me that Bills fans continue to defend Buddy Nix despite the awful job he's done in three years as a GM.

[Skooby]

Your record is determined by your play, we'll average ~5 wins out of 16 games played in the past 3 years. That's not a rebuild, that's status quo.

[Billz_fan]

In the words of Bill Parcells "You are what your record says you are" Not a tuna fan but that is one thing he said that is very true.

[BertSquirtgum]

Your record is determined by your play, we'll average ~5 wins out of 16 games played in the past 3 years. That's not a rebuild, that's status quo.

No, that's pathetic.

[Skooby]

No, that's pathetic.

No one is getting fired, they'll keep Chan & Buddy until Ralph is gone.

[Mr. Pink]

This years Cleveland Browns.

They actually mirror your point very well and are also 5-9.

[zone]

Your record is your record but, the talent level in this league has gotten so close that the most important thing is to get into the post season no matter what your record is with a team that is as healthy as possible. All teams in the NFL can win on game day.

[jimbohastle51]

I couldn't agree more. I know most Bills fans are calling for Gailey's head but he is getting one more year. As far as Nix goes, I think its his job as long as he wants it. He has provided an increase in talent and has been part of this organization for a long time between these few years and his years scouting before he left for San Diego with Butler and Smith. I just don't see Ralph or Brandon for that matter letting him go. Like it or not even if Gailey was let got after this season for the next Buddy would be the guy hiring another coach. The only scenario I could see Buddy Nix leaving was if he knew he was going to retire after a year anyway and had to step down because Whatley was getting a GM opportunity somewhere else (When I say step down I mean he keeps the title for a year or two but Doug does the job). As I said before though, Buddy Nix is not the issue with me. There is enough talent on this roster to put a winning season together. A coach just has to get all of it out of them.

[jimbohastle51]

This years Cleveland Browns.

They actually mirror your point very well and are also 5-9.


I just took a look at individual statistics for the Browns and CJ is around 200 yards ahead of Richardson and Spiller has almost 100 less carries than Richardson, their best receiver (Josh Gordan) only has 45 catches and is around 250 yards away from 1000 not even close to Stevie's production, Their best tight end (Ben Watson) is right around 200 yards and 3 touchdowns behind Chandler. Also when you look at offensive line play I would say 6.6 yards per carry for CJ and about half as many sacks allowed to Fitz than Weeden would pretty much prove that our line has blown Cleveland's out of the water. Even Fitz is blowing Weeden out of the water with 8 more TD's and 2 less INT's as well Fitz's QB rating is 10 points higher.

Defensively their safeties are not even in the same realm as Byrd, and Wilson. At the defensive line positions they don't have a player that has any more than 4 sacks this year at DE or DT. The only positions That are comparable with the Bills and Browns in the Corner position as Haden and Brown have around the same amount of tackles but 2 more INT's each than Gilmore, and Rodgers (Rodgers is the only CB besides Gilmore that played the most at the position this season due to injury as McKelvin was behind Rodgers most the season on the depth chart). Though Gilmore does have 4 more passes defensed and 2 more FF then Brown and Gilmore has twice as many passes defensed 2 more FF and right around 20 more tackles made than Haden. At the LB position I will give credit to D'Qwell Jackson as he has had a better year than Barnett but the rest of the LB core is pretty much equal statistically.

I started this thread based on individual statistics to show that these team has better talent than the record indicates. I don't know where you did your looking but from a individual statistical point Buffalo is much better than Cleveland.

[Fletch]

Gailey's last two seasons were ranked 2nd and 3rd in terms of most points allowed in franchise history.

This season we're at 402 w/ two games remaining. The team this year already ranks 5th and will easily pass Williams' '01 D and Gailey will lap himself from 2010 (425) and 2011 (434), and if they allow just 53 more points, an average of only 26.5 in the next two games, they'll have become the worst scoring D in franchise history.

Nix is the one that hired Gailey, and Nix's drafts have pretty much sucked. '10 is a bust. '11 ain't far behind except for Spiller, and he has to prove that he can do this year in and year out. Where was he for two seasons?

As to Chandler, he's very average as TEs go. I'll bet he's not among the top-15 for receiving yards.

In Free Agency, anyone can shell out record bucks to land talent, but the question is are they getting value, the most for each dollar. Clearly not w/ Mario. Fitzpatrick was among the dumbest signings in franchise history. Anderson's been a bust too even if he didn't get hurt. If Nicks had the common sense of a jar full of piss he would never have let Drayton Florence go, his contract was reasonable. Merriman and Dwan Edwards were another huge waste of money.

[Historian]

"Preseason doesn't matter"

[Pinkerton Security]

"Preseason doesn't matter"

it doesnt. We just happened to suck in both. Whats your point anyway?

[gebobs]

it doesnt. We just happened to suck in both. Whats your point anyway?
The point is that when people here say it, they don't just mean that the results don't count. What they mean is that we can't tell anything from the preseason. We can.

The point is that some here can watch the team bumble through preseason and expect that regular season results are going to be 180 degrees different. They'll point to the Levy teams and say, "See? They sucked in preseason." But they didn't. The first team was fine tuned.