Buffalo are the 2001 Chargers

[Dozerdog]

I've seen this once before.



-Struggling first time coach (Reily, GW)
-Bring in name OC (Turner, Gilbride)
-Great Drafts
- Major offseason trade involving a QB (Vick / Mora)
- Hot start (Chargers 5-1, Bills a 5-2 stretch early in the season)
- Cold Finish (Chargers lose last 9, Bills???)
- Coach fired? (Reilly dumped for Schottenheimer, GW for???)


Will Tom Donahoe follow Butler and dump his coach for someone else?


GW in his office Monday======>:couch:

[The_Philster]

We don't have a rookie QB to take over for an over-the-hill guy though...unless you want to count Travis Brown as a rookie.

[PA Season Ticket Holder]

I don't see any proven HC's out there to replace him with. It's not as easy as that.

So who will we dump him for? Another 1st time HC with no track record.

I'm not saying GW is a great coach but I wanna hear of possible replacements that could help the team, not just fire GW and that's the only problem.

So who should we get? And don't say Marvin Lewis or Ted Cottrell. We've heard that over and over for the past 2 years.

[4thAndLong]

Parcells, Bledsoe had his best years with him and he's a great HC.

[Dozerdog]

Originally posted by The_Philster
We don't have a rookie QB to take over for an over-the-hill guy though...unless you want to count Travis Brown as a rookie. QB is not the issue on this team.

It's stupid coaching decisions, poor gameday preperation (penalties) Special teams,

He has the horses on O. He is to stubborn to dump the 46. (That's points against per game, folks)

Punting on the 32. I was patient as the next guy. But he's got to go now.

[PA Season Ticket Holder]

Parcells is a pipe dream

[The_Philster]

Just trying to draw another parallel....our defense sucks...The Chargers had a great D. The only comparision is in weak coaching

[WG]

Dozer's got it right. The QB isn't the issue. On the other hand, Drew also isn't what everyone hoped he'd be at the beginning of the season or we'd be doing much better.

He's an average/adequate QB whom if you have a team around can play well. If there's one disturbing thing about Drew that's been true for as long as he's been playing in the NFL, it's that his worst games are against the best teams and at the most critical of times, namely the playoffs. Witness his divisional performances as well.

Henry is the man and the focus of this offense should be Henry. That and a solid D will help us win next season. But first we have to get the players.

But as has been borne out in the NFL and as I've been reiterating all season long, D and rushing together is what will win you a championship.

[WG]

The reason why we started 5-3 is different than the reason we suck.

The reason why we started 5-3 and will die out like last season's Chargers is due to an easy schedule up front and a tough schedule later on. Many have disagreed that this makes a difference, but it does.

The reasons why we suck are many. But having had an easy schedule up front was masking many of those problems and issues as people oversimplified the reasons for our winning. The reasons were weak opponents.

It is that simple. And that's what happened last year to S.D. They had a relatively easy schedule up front and had a horrendous last 9 games or so. From that perspective we are like last season's S.D. or '00s Skins.

[lordofgun]

Donohoe's not dumb. GW will be gone unless we make the playoffs.

[BillsMan80]

There are even some college coaches who I would be interested in bringing in...Some are pipe-dreams, but there are some possibilities.

Bob Stoops
Nick Saban
Dennis Erickson
Tyrone Willingham

All of these guys would be and will be good. Plus, Erickson is already proven at the NFL level as a solid HC.

[Ingtar33]

Collage coaches rarely make a successful transition to the NFL, and on that list only Saban would willingly move to the NFL (the others are making more money than half the NFL coaches... and more than the Bills would shell out for an unproven commodity).

[SABURZFAN]

Originally posted by BillsMan80
There are even some college coaches who I would be interested in bringing in...Some are pipe-dreams, but there are some possibilities.

Bob Stoops
Nick Saban
Dennis Erickson
Tyrone Willingham

All of these guys would be and will be good. Plus, Erickson is already proven at the NFL level as a solid HC.




i like those choices BM.

[northernbillfan]

Very good point Dozer.

Look at the Chargers this year!

I remember a bunch of us saying, we'd be happy with 8-8. That's still possible.

Next year is ours.

[WCoastFin]

Originally posted by Dozerdog
I've seen this once before.



-Struggling first time coach (Reily, GW)
-Bring in name OC (Turner, Gilbride)
-Great Drafts
- Major offseason trade involving a QB (Vick / Mora)
- Hot start (Chargers 5-1, Bills a 5-2 stretch early in the season)
- Cold Finish (Chargers lose last 9, Bills???)
- Coach fired? (Reilly dumped for Schottenheimer, GW for???)


Will Tom Donahoe follow Butler and dump his coach for someone else?


GW in his office Monday======>:couch:

I believe the 2001 Chargers could beat the present Bills...let alone the fact that Bledsoe is your QB and the Chargers have Flutie....advantage Chargers.

[BillyT92679]

The 2002 Chargers are the 2001 Chargers. If it wasn't for Cortez missing the kick last week, it would be four losses in a row. Two blowouts.

[WG]

Originally posted by northernbillfan
Very good point Dozer.

Look at the Chargers this year!

I remember a bunch of us saying, we'd be happy with 8-8. That's still possible.

Next year is ours.

You have to look at the two teams. They are virtually diametrical in terms of the degree of success that they are having. Both have 2nd year RBs. After that, there's not a whole lot of comparision.

Their strengths are rushing and defense. Ours is passing. It could be rushing, but as long as Gilbride is our O.C., I doubt that will ever be established. That's exactly why they brought him here. To "make Drew shine!" So it's 'shine or bust' I suppose.

S.D.'s D is worlds above ours and it would be a reach for us to make ours as good in this one offseason. They're in a much tougher conference offensively speaking as well. The big difference in our approaches to offense lies in the use of the two RBs. Tomlinson is the focal point of the Charger O while Drew is the focal point of ours. They're averaging a full 40 YPG more rushing. That's enormous.

IMO the Bills can be just as effective, but the question becomes does the team want to take the prominence off of Drew? I'm thinkin' that there's just as much at stake in selling tickets to the organization as there is in winning. Plus, is Gilbride the guy to transform this offense into a "Henry-based" offensive machine?

Think about it; what's more exciting to fans? To see a well-known marquee QB slinging TDs and having hope in exciting come-from-behind victories, or having an offense that is based on the rushing attack first w/ a third year RB who doesn't have near the accomplishments yet in this league? I think that if they can force the Bledsoe-offense, then that's what they're gonna do.

Sadly, right now it appears that Drew may be headed for only a 22-25 TD season which is subpar IMO. Ironically, I think he'd do just as well in a Henry-centered O as the rushing game would open things up for the pass. He may not have the yardage, but IMO he'd get the TDs.

Then again, there seems to be a perplexing fascination w/ Drew's yardage milestones apart from any other measure.