Jeff1220
10-12-2004, 09:01 AM
http://www.profootballtalk.com/rumormill.htm
DONAHOE MUST GO
One guy who might want to send a resume to Bob Harlan is Bills G.M. Tom Donahoe. For Donahoe in Buffalo, the handwriting is no longer on the wall -- it's spray painted on his car and tattooed onto his forehead.
With the team reeling at 0-4, normally quiet and reserved Ralph Wilson, the 80-something owner who is far more patient than he should be in light of the numbers on the calendar, is now openly questioning the performance of his team.
And that's a very bad sign for the guy who built it.
"I thought we played lackluster," Wilson said after Sunday's loss to the Jets. "It was very, very tough to watch this offense. I mean, I've watched this game for 60 years. I've heard all the cliches about how we fought back hard. Baloney. The Jets were flat. . . . If you think I'm going to be smiling that we came back and we fought back, baloney. The fans have to be bored.
"I've had enough of this smash-mouth football," Wilson added. "Hey, where we are is 0-3. If Drew [Bledsoe] throws an interception and it's run back for a touchdown, OK. Then we're 0-4. But I don't like to go 0-4 the way we did."
Even as the wire services pick up Wilson's comments and drop them into papers throughout the country, few (if any) members of the media are making the obvious connection between the eruption of Mount St. Wilson and the tenure of Tom Donahoe.
Since Donahoe's arrival in January 2001, the Bills have won 17 and lost 35. In comparison, the Bengals also are 17-35 over that same span. The Cardinals? 17-36. The Chargers? 20-33.
In fact, the only team with fewer wins than the Bills since 2001 is the Lions, who stand at 13-39. But at least the Lions, currently 3-1, have shown signs of steady improvement under Matt Millen. The Bills peaked at 8-8 in 2002, and are now sliding back into the abyss.
So where's the accountability for Donahoe, who built the current roster and hired both Gregg Williams and Mike Mularkey?
When it's time to crow, Donahoe stands front and center. But when it's time to answer for the team's awful play, it was Mularkey, not Donahoe, who faced the press in the wake of Wilson's biting remarks.
Asked on Sunday whom he holds accountable for the current mess, Ralph Wilson put it bluntly.
"Me."
In our view, this was Wilson's way of saying that he regrets turning the team over to a guy who never, ever would accept blame quite so freely.
DONAHOE MUST GO
One guy who might want to send a resume to Bob Harlan is Bills G.M. Tom Donahoe. For Donahoe in Buffalo, the handwriting is no longer on the wall -- it's spray painted on his car and tattooed onto his forehead.
With the team reeling at 0-4, normally quiet and reserved Ralph Wilson, the 80-something owner who is far more patient than he should be in light of the numbers on the calendar, is now openly questioning the performance of his team.
And that's a very bad sign for the guy who built it.
"I thought we played lackluster," Wilson said after Sunday's loss to the Jets. "It was very, very tough to watch this offense. I mean, I've watched this game for 60 years. I've heard all the cliches about how we fought back hard. Baloney. The Jets were flat. . . . If you think I'm going to be smiling that we came back and we fought back, baloney. The fans have to be bored.
"I've had enough of this smash-mouth football," Wilson added. "Hey, where we are is 0-3. If Drew [Bledsoe] throws an interception and it's run back for a touchdown, OK. Then we're 0-4. But I don't like to go 0-4 the way we did."
Even as the wire services pick up Wilson's comments and drop them into papers throughout the country, few (if any) members of the media are making the obvious connection between the eruption of Mount St. Wilson and the tenure of Tom Donahoe.
Since Donahoe's arrival in January 2001, the Bills have won 17 and lost 35. In comparison, the Bengals also are 17-35 over that same span. The Cardinals? 17-36. The Chargers? 20-33.
In fact, the only team with fewer wins than the Bills since 2001 is the Lions, who stand at 13-39. But at least the Lions, currently 3-1, have shown signs of steady improvement under Matt Millen. The Bills peaked at 8-8 in 2002, and are now sliding back into the abyss.
So where's the accountability for Donahoe, who built the current roster and hired both Gregg Williams and Mike Mularkey?
When it's time to crow, Donahoe stands front and center. But when it's time to answer for the team's awful play, it was Mularkey, not Donahoe, who faced the press in the wake of Wilson's biting remarks.
Asked on Sunday whom he holds accountable for the current mess, Ralph Wilson put it bluntly.
"Me."
In our view, this was Wilson's way of saying that he regrets turning the team over to a guy who never, ever would accept blame quite so freely.