Moulds says its Holcomb

[juice]

EMo says he spoke to alot of Vets and they want to win now, I think the Veteran players had alot to do with the decision to make a change at the QB position.

www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20051006.WBILLS6/bnstory/sports/

[Lone Stranger]

Rather late now to make the change. While I agree with the move winning 9 of our remaining games will be no easy task; not the same schedule as last year.

[Jan Reimers]

Rather late now to make the change. While I agree with the move winning 9 of our remaining games will be no easy task; not the same schedule as last year.
And last year - like him or not - we had a future HOFer at QB. This year it looks as if we'll have a career backup.

[Mudflap1]

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/4935104

Jon

[Novacane]

Maybe now that Holcomb is QB Emoulds won't hold anymore to wipe out long runs by Willis :rolleyes:

[Novacane]

"It's tough. I talked to a lot of veteran players, and we want to win now," said Moulds, the only player left on the roster who played in Buffalo's last playoff game in 2000. "For a veteran player, the window's closing for us and we want to try to win now."




:boring: what a joke. It sounds like Moulds and other vets are laying all the blame on JP. Sure he's sucked but so have a lot of players.............including the "vets" that moulds names. I'm glad he'll be gone next year. The guys a whiner that does not take any blame when things go bad

[juice]

You can bet that Emo wasn't the only Vet to voice his opinion.. in a season when Moulds will probably be asked to take a massive paycut he deserves the chance to prove to the rest of the League that he can still be a productive player - at the rate that this offense was going Moulds might end up with 500 rec yds and that would totally destroy his value around the League.

Moulds has taken more than his share of the blame for this team's struggles over the past 10 yrs - this organizations choices, at QB and other positions, have ruined what should've been a HoF career.. Moulds is just trying to string together two 1000 yd seasons so he can get the hell outta' B'Lo before they ruin his League Value like they did Bledsoe's.

[LifetimeBillsFan]

EMo says he spoke to alot of Vets and they want to win now, I think the Veteran players had alot to do with the decision to make a change at the QB position.

www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20051006.WBILLS6/bnstory/sports/ (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20051006.WBILLS6/bnstory/sports/)
I don't doubt it one bit. And, E.Moulds is without question one of the ringleaders of the group.

When I saw the article, that appeared on the BZ front page shortly after the Houston game, where Moulds talked about how he wished that he had only one QB during his career in Buffalo like his buddy M.Harrison and bemoaned the fact that he had to start all over again with a rookie QB, I suspected that something was up. And, then, when Moulds continued to criticize Losman in the press and publicly blamed JP for the INT against the Saints on the post pattern that he ran, it was obvious to me that Moulds was trying to undermine Losman.

Moulds' comments to the press where he placed all of the blame for the INT on JP were a gross violation of team etiquette in professional sports--a professional athlete simply does not "call out" a teammate like that publicly for something like that! And, for him to do that meant to me that Moulds had the support of others in the lockerroom who supported his efforts to undermine Losman--which made him feel that he could do that with impunity and get away with it.

For those of us who care about the Bills, though, this is not a good sign. No matter how this season turns out.

For E.Moulds and the other vets who supported him, it is now "put up or shut up" time: they must get this team into the playoffs with K.Holcomb at QB or they will lose all credibility in the lockerroom, with the coaches and with front offices around the league. However, if all of a sudden they start to play much better than they have been playing, the suspicion will exist that they "laid down" the last couple of games and let the team lose to promote their own personal agendas. If they don't turn the season around and make a serious run at the playoffs, though, Losman will be put back in as the starting QB and they would be well advised to put their homes on the market and begin looking elsewhere--because they won't be in Buffalo next season, regardless of who is the GM and coach of the team.

In my preview of the Saints game that appeared on the BZ front page last week, I questioned whether this team--and especially its veterans--had the character and leadership abilities necessary to be a good, winning football team. With what has transpired since, I seriously doubt it. Indeed, I would not be the least bit surprised if a number of veterans on the team this year were playing elsewhere next season.

Actual athletic ability and talent only matter so much in the NFL, where the difference between the athletic ability and talent of the best teams and the worst teams is very slight. If the history of the NFL tells us anything it is that character and leadership are the difference between winning teams and losing teams more often than not. When veteran players go out of their way to undercut a teammate, any coach or GM has to question not only the character of those players, but whether he wants to keep those players around, regardless of their abilities, because, if they are willing to undercut a teammate, the coach and GM know full well that they will not hesitate to undermine their coaches or a GM.

When veteran players who are supposed to be examples of character and team leaders go out of their way to undermine a teammate, they lose their ability to be team leaders--even if they are right about the teammate that they have undercut--because every other player in the lockerroom who is not a part of their group knows that they would not hesitate to undermine him as well. You cannot lead or be an example of how to act for others if they cannot trust you to support them. You cannot be a team leader if those who are supposed to follow do not trust you to lead them. And, without leadership, it is very difficult to win in the NFL.

Now, I don't know how many players in the Bills' lockerroom agree with E.Moulds and the other veterans that he refered to and are going to be willing to lay it all on the line for them the rest of the season. If there are enough of them and they all play well, the team might be able to make it to the playoffs, I would seriously doubt that they will win a SB. If they get that far, some of them may still be with the Bills next season. If they do not, if there are not enough other players willing to play hard for them, JP will become the Bills QB and, because from that point on it will be his team, their career as Bills will effectively be at an end--regardless of whether there is a new coach and/or GM next season. No new GM or coach will trust team leaders who would undermine a teammate or their predecessor. No new GM or coach will want to keep around a failed leader who he knows that a significant portion of his team cannot trust.

Forcing the move to Holcomb may result in the veterans who wanted the switch playing better and, consequently, the Bills may win a few more games this season. But, given the schedule ahead and the way that the team has played to this point, I seriously doubt that this team will be able to put together a serious playoff run--only once before has an NFL team done this and won a championship, the 1964 Cleveland Browns, whose veteran leaders led a revolt against their HC and were able to rally the entire team around them because everyone on the team utterly despised the HC--history is against them. The more likely result is that they will win a few games, then run out of gas and be eliminated from playoff contention--at which point, JP will take over again as the starting QB and either the team will completely collapse in dissention or they will play out the string testing some of the younger players that the coaching staff hopes that they will be around to coach next season--and several familiar veteran players (Moulds, Teague, Fletcher, Milloy, etc.) will be let go or allowed to leave as free agents at the end of the season. And, whether TD and Mularkey come back next season or not, the Bills will have to replace several key players in the off-season in order to have a chance to be successful next year.

Sorry, Bills fans. But, as I said, I just don't think this bodes well for our favorite team.

[juice]

Good post LBF..

You speak of Moulds attempting to undermine JP, but if you think about it the whole DB out and JP in fiasco is what has led to this point of the team revolting. By not letting JP win the QB start through open competition the Staff actually did more to lead to the team questioning his abilities because they don't respect him as a starting QB.

By not winning the start JP gets no respect and thats how it goes in the game of football, it's not like his last name is Manning, he's not a 6'5 cyborg like big Ben - so what has he done throughout his career, college or Pro, that would make 13 yr Vets want to follow him.. why should Nate Clements stake his FA season on the young guys arm?

Moulds would be an idiot if he didn't say anything because he has the most of any player to lose if this offense doesn't perform - a 700 yd season would cause EM League value to bottom out after this season when the Bills tell him he has to take a massive paycut or be cut he'll have no choice but to accept a Bills low ball figure.. don't think EMo didn't watch that DB situation and how he ended up with NO Value once the Bills finished with him.

Even JP said he would rather have won the Start in an open QB competition because he knows thats the only way to gain the respect of your teamates and even skepticle Bills fans such as myself.. I'm not saying JP will never win games in this League but as of wk 5 he's not performed up to Bills Billing and now the players are voicing their lack of confidence in their recently appointed leader.

I think this team will play hard as long as they feel they are headed in the right direction and the QB can put up 250 yds/gm - 250 passing and leave the rest to Willis.. a win Sunday would factor in huge.

[Mudflap1]

Dead on juice... Losman hasn't earned jack squat in the NFL. That's not entirely his fault, as the coaches and GM just handed him the job unconditionally. However, if he's that sure of a can't miss talent and is handed that job, then doesn't perfom (albeit it hasn't been that long), the 8-10 year veterans who all earned their spot on hard work and grit are going to be pissed off about it, especially when we were all told this team would be better off with Losman.

Jon

[Lone Stranger]

Very intelligent posting on this subject. Everyone has made good points.

[Kerr]

I don't doubt it one bit. And, E.Moulds is without question one of the ringleaders of the group.

When I saw the article, that appeared on the BZ front page shortly after the Houston game, where Moulds talked about how he wished that he had only one QB during his career in Buffalo like his buddy M.Harrison and bemoaned the fact that he had to start all over again with a rookie QB, I suspected that something was up. And, then, when Moulds continued to criticize Losman in the press and publicly blamed JP for the INT against the Saints on the post pattern that he ran, it was obvious to me that Moulds was trying to undermine Losman.

Moulds' comments to the press where he placed all of the blame for the INT on JP were a gross violation of team etiquette in professional sports--a professional athlete simply does not "call out" a teammate like that publicly for something like that! And, for him to do that meant to me that Moulds had the support of others in the lockerroom who supported his efforts to undermine Losman--which made him feel that he could do that with impunity and get away with it.

For those of us who care about the Bills, though, this is not a good sign. No matter how this season turns out.

For E.Moulds and the other vets who supported him, it is now "put up or shut up" time: they must get this team into the playoffs with K.Holcomb at QB or they will lose all credibility in the lockerroom, with the coaches and with front offices around the league. However, if all of a sudden they start to play much better than they have been playing, the suspicion will exist that they "laid down" the last couple of games and let the team lose to promote their own personal agendas. If they don't turn the season around and make a serious run at the playoffs, though, Losman will be put back in as the starting QB and they would be well advised to put their homes on the market and begin looking elsewhere--because they won't be in Buffalo next season, regardless of who is the GM and coach of the team.

In my preview of the Saints game that appeared on the BZ front page last week, I questioned whether this team--and especially its veterans--had the character and leadership abilities necessary to be a good, winning football team. With what has transpired since, I seriously doubt it. Indeed, I would not be the least bit surprised if a number of veterans on the team this year were playing elsewhere next season.

Actual athletic ability and talent only matter so much in the NFL, where the difference between the athletic ability and talent of the best teams and the worst teams is very slight. If the history of the NFL tells us anything it is that character and leadership are the difference between winning teams and losing teams more often than not. When veteran players go out of their way to undercut a teammate, any coach or GM has to question not only the character of those players, but whether he wants to keep those players around, regardless of their abilities, because, if they are willing to undercut a teammate, the coach and GM know full well that they will not hesitate to undermine their coaches or a GM.

When veteran players who are supposed to be examples of character and team leaders go out of their way to undermine a teammate, they lose their ability to be team leaders--even if they are right about the teammate that they have undercut--because every other player in the lockerroom who is not a part of their group knows that they would not hesitate to undermine him as well. You cannot lead or be an example of how to act for others if they cannot trust you to support them. You cannot be a team leader if those who are supposed to follow do not trust you to lead them. And, without leadership, it is very difficult to win in the NFL.

Now, I don't know how many players in the Bills' lockerroom agree with E.Moulds and the other veterans that he refered to and are going to be willing to lay it all on the line for them the rest of the season. If there are enough of them and they all play well, the team might be able to make it to the playoffs, I would seriously doubt that they will win a SB. If they get that far, some of them may still be with the Bills next season. If they do not, if there are not enough other players willing to play hard for them, JP will become the Bills QB and, because from that point on it will be his team, their career as Bills will effectively be at an end--regardless of whether there is a new coach and/or GM next season. No new GM or coach will trust team leaders who would undermine a teammate or their predecessor. No new GM or coach will want to keep around a failed leader who he knows that a significant portion of his team cannot trust.

Forcing the move to Holcomb may result in the veterans who wanted the switch playing better and, consequently, the Bills may win a few more games this season. But, given the schedule ahead and the way that the team has played to this point, I seriously doubt that this team will be able to put together a serious playoff run--only once before has an NFL team done this and won a championship, the 1964 Cleveland Browns, whose veteran leaders led a revolt against their HC and were able to rally the entire team around them because everyone on the team utterly despised the HC--history is against them. The more likely result is that they will win a few games, then run out of gas and be eliminated from playoff contention--at which point, JP will take over again as the starting QB and either the team will completely collapse in dissention or they will play out the string testing some of the younger players that the coaching staff hopes that they will be around to coach next season--and several familiar veteran players (Moulds, Teague, Fletcher, Milloy, etc.) will be let go or allowed to leave as free agents at the end of the season. And, whether TD and Mularkey come back next season or not, the Bills will have to replace several key players in the off-season in order to have a chance to be successful next year.

Sorry, Bills fans. But, as I said, I just don't think this bodes well for our favorite team.

If moulds and others laid down on those losses so losman could be benched, i'm going to be sick to my stomach.

[juice]

If moulds and others laid down on those losses so losman could be benched, i'm going to be sick to my stomach.There isn't much of a difference in Tanking a play, and playing less than inspired football.. if Moulds laid it down by not giving a 100% effort to get open or by picking up a holding call on WM's best run of the day, I doubt if anyone besides Moulds would ever be able to tell the difference.

We should be able to tell how many of his teamates on both sides of the ball feel about the QB decision and if they feel that Holcomb gives the team a better shot at winning by how they come out to play in the 1st quarter. If the defense stops the Phins run game and the O-Line begins to give KH time to make throws then it will be obvious how a majority of the team feels.