X-Era
11-03-2005, 09:01 AM
After many weeks many things are perfectly clear.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
Us fans still love our Bills, always have, always will. I think overall we are simply jaded at the lack of good fortune that seems to surround this team. Its like when you rgrumpy you will lash out at just about anything. So, I can say for myself that I may have been a bit to critical of the Bills in the past days. Lets not toss the baby out with the bath water here. What do I mean? well our assessments of the playeres, coaches, and GM may be a bit too harsh. Its easy for us to endlessly fire away, and as fans its probably our right and our job. But, I know I should at least be a bit more realistic. <o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
I think we tend to assume that if it appears broke, there is something out there better that is a simple fix. Its like we are in our garage working on our broken carbs and we have a shiny new one just sitting on the shelf bought and paid for. I dont believe the NFL is that easy.<o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
We all have been very critical of TD, myself especially. Its easy for us to jump on the lump sum of the moves hes made and point to the bad ones. But are they all bad or are there some ones that are average? Examples:<o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
1) A few years back, a younger Moulds was in a contract year. We did not have Evans, had a young but erratic Reed. How dumb was it at that point to resign Moulds? I can blast away all day because we have so much cap tied up in him. I can also say that he isnt what he used to be. Both of those statements are true. But does that mean he should simply be cut? NO. How would our fortunes have been different against NE if Evans was our #1 option against the pitifull S's instead of Moulds? Would he have been much more open and put us up even 10 to 0 instead of 3 to 0 going into the half? I seriously wonder how many plays Moulds is the number one option. I think it may be way too many these days. Is he still a stud possession WR? Yes. He probably should just be the 2nd almost check down WR on most plays. As far as his pay goes, I would 1st shift the schemes to drop the number of plays down that are meant to go to him, and let it play out. Evans should emerge as a #1 WR target, string the DB's out farther, which will again open Moulds underneath. Watching the ATL game it was also apparent that the WR are running plays that take to long to develop; their routes are too long. Moulds on quick slants could be deadly. After the seasons over, and with a half a season as Moulds as the #2, we could be in a strong position to ask Moulds for a cut. IF Evans has stepped up to be the #1 guy, if not, we are stuck with Moulds as the #1. But if Evans earns the top spot, ask Moulds to take a pay cut. We end up developing Evans, keeping a highly qualified possession type in Moulds, and reducing his salary to spend elsewhere. That seems like a sensible fix.<o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
2) Mike Williams at his worst is a behemoth RT with quick feet. When he has played, he has recently been described as an up and comer. He can be dominant we all have seen it. Again with MW, his pay is probably a bit too much. His rash of injuries is something that is very troublesome. What id like to see is us start a guy like Peters at RT, and work to trade Williams player for player. Im not sure who has T's that they would part with. If it wasnt for the injuries, I would keep him and work at his contract somehow. But teh injuries just plain kills us where we struggle to throw someone in, take costly penalties and drive killing sacks. RT is a position where we need solid road grader types that dont get hurt. Who would be worthy of trading for? How about Leonard Davis? or Robert Gallery? Gallery would seem to be worth more than MW, but he has been inconsistent so who knows. Itrs tough to be honest which brings up a point about TD. Hopw easy WOULD it be to fix the MW issue? I bet its pretty damn hard because their arent alot of examples of RT who were drafted recently that have so much more worth and are in fact available via trade. Moreover, Im not so sure as a draftnick that I could name that many RT's drafted on our since MW that are so much better. So, we may be a bit to tough on TD about this one. It may be we need to just keep MW.<o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
3) London Fletcher is a guy who we always knew was perfect for a 4-3. Thats what we run. He is so fast, he can cover everything. But what he CANT do is be the bigtime run stuffer unassisted. Well, we let Pat go because he was commanding more cash than we felt he was worth. However, we didnt replace him and may have over valued the depth behind him. Fletcher without big run stuffing DT's is a liability against the run. This was a costly mistake. Especially when guys like Gerrard Warren, Corey Simon were available. Ron Edwards really had one good game, he isnt the player that Pat was. I cant blame TD for taking a chance here with sticking with Ron. He simply expected him to step up, he only marginally did so. Tim Anderson is by no means a sleeper and has very limited upside, Justin Bannan is just too small and his arms are too short, I saw this as a problem on a few plays against NE. So, this simply has to be addressed. I really wish we would have grabbed Gerrard Warren. There was a reason he was taken so high. Just because he sucked on a sh_tty team like Clev, doesnt mean he cant play. Damione Lewis currently is a backup for STL but has loads of talent, the size, and can be dominant. He becomes a UFA this year, lets get him. The other options is to go to a stud 4-3 MLB who can cover lots of ground AND has the size and strength to stuff the run. AJ Hawk maybe. That way we could also save some cash on Fletchers cap hit. I like him though. But Fletcher+Adams and another weak DT= disaster.<o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
3) The QB spot. I think TD had it right in his move to grab JP. Forget who he grabbed for a second and consider WHY he grabbed a QB. It was because he wanted to be 1 year ahead of the game. Thats a wonderful plan and we may never know if it saved us a year or not. Now, TD has been here through AVP, RJ, Flutie, and Bledsoe. None except for Flutie had a real strong will and verbal leadership style. And Flutie wasnt Jim Kelly. After those guys with a few of them being certainly capable of getting a team to the playoffs, he came to the conclusion that we needed more. Not necessarily in talent, but yes that as well. But mostly in approach and style. Jim Kelly would get into the huddle and simply blast the palyers who were screwing up to force wins, remember? This team is now and has been seriously devoid of that type of mental toughness since he left. TKO may be the closest guy, yeah Milloy may do it too but I havent seen that much of it from him to be honest. We MUST HAVE a strong willed leader who will jack the team up when he needs to. So, he saw that type of quality in JP and grabbed it. I absolutely LOVE that he got a guy that acts that way. IF JP steps up as far as decision making and his on the field play, we will ADORE his leadership and IMO it WILL earn us extra wins. Also, in TD looked at a league that has many many young QB's that have struggled and then began to play well enough to win and be competitive. Peyton, Pennington, McNabb, Culpepper, Carr, Palmer, Eli. Carr, Palmer, Eli, really make the poitn about how a QB can become very good if played. But to be honest, NONE of them have the fiery approach that JP has. For us its huge and I honestly cant think of another young QB that has it. I like the pick up and we just need to stick with it.<o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
4) Coaching has been a sore subject. MM has certainly shown that he can get a team to play. Yes, we can be pissed that we didnt go to the playoffs last year but we lost ur first 4 games and STILL ended up being in contention. That actually is worth alot. To be fair, who else in the league as a HC could have guaranteed a playoff berth after that start? Theres very few and the big names were not going to be brought in here on TD's watch. So we are left with guys like Marvin Lewis, John Fox, Charlie Weiss. Im not sure that I see any of those guys as being SO much better than MM, are they good coaches? yeah. But they arent that much better. Weiss? yeah he is successfull in college ball, but he doesnt have to deal with NFL player egos either. MM can win us playoff games and get us there. What he CANT do is work magic. He CANT raise his team that far above their talent level. He CANT get a guy who has only ever been a backup like Holcomb to be a quality, proven starter. He CANT force Losman to learn faster. I have said this many times, Parcells can do things with teams that NO OTHER coach can. Belicheck as well. MM is NOT that level of coach. Therefore, he HAS to have high quality pieces of the puzzle to make up for it. Currently he doesnt. Lets add or develop the RIGHT players to get to the level of talent needed.<o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
5) McGahee is a superstar in this league. Its just that simple. With a few more superstar pieces at WR (maybe a fully developed Evans), QB (maybe Losman becomes that guy), we can be a dominant offense. This team is closely matching the overall build of a Ravens or Bengals type team. I say the Ravens because they can run the ball and have a strong D but are short on big game WR and QB. I say Bengals because I believe that the Bengals are the future for the Bills. I think they represent what we would have one or two years down the road if Losman develops into Palmer. Chad Johnson is the best WR in football, IMO. Evans may not get to that level, but Rudi isnt going tobe McGahee either. I see the Bengals as a close analogy of what we COULD be. We need to start Losman and find out. Back on my point. A team with a 1500+ annual RB, and a D that with some tweaks could be dominant should win games, enough to go to the playoffs. We are one lucky team to have landed a top 5 RB like McGahee and we should thank a gutsy TD for that move. But, we need to not waste it like we wasted our chance with Moulds and build THE dominant O. I think it can be a McGahee, Evans, Losman combo but we need to get going and take our lumps. If it plays out right we can be this years Bengals, next year with an even better D.<o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
So, my moves are:<o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
1) move Moulds to the 2nd WR spot, further develop Evans as your #1 threat. In the offseason adjust his pay to #2 WR pay or let HIM choose to leave.<o:p></o:p>
2) start Losman with your fingers crossed and see if it pays off<o:p></o:p>
3) replace Pat with a big, talented, DT to prevent Fletchers run stopping <o:p></o:p>
liability<o:p></o:p>
4) Add youth with talent to backup and possibly replace an aging Milloy<o:p></o:p>
5) Start Peters and work to trade MW for another young guy who has less injuries or keep MW, reduce his salary, and keep your fingers crossed<o:p></o:p>
6) Add young, HIGH ROUND, G's to possibly replace Bennie the human penalty and others if they faulter.<o:p></o:p>
7) Resign or franchise Nate. Keep him org et a kings ransom in return. If he leaves we better spend our 1st rounder on a replacement or trade him for a guy who is just as good, maybe even better and throw in our extra 3rd rounder. <o:p></o:p>
8) Stick with TD, complain? yes? the bottom line on this team is the bottom line. But he HAS proven he is worth something and there just arent many who are that much better<o:p></o:p>
9) If all the above rae done we can win with MM. But once and for all realize that MM+ average QB+ average D= NO PLAYOFFS. Build a team that he can win with, dont give him crap and expect gold.<o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
Thoughts?<o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
Us fans still love our Bills, always have, always will. I think overall we are simply jaded at the lack of good fortune that seems to surround this team. Its like when you rgrumpy you will lash out at just about anything. So, I can say for myself that I may have been a bit to critical of the Bills in the past days. Lets not toss the baby out with the bath water here. What do I mean? well our assessments of the playeres, coaches, and GM may be a bit too harsh. Its easy for us to endlessly fire away, and as fans its probably our right and our job. But, I know I should at least be a bit more realistic. <o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
I think we tend to assume that if it appears broke, there is something out there better that is a simple fix. Its like we are in our garage working on our broken carbs and we have a shiny new one just sitting on the shelf bought and paid for. I dont believe the NFL is that easy.<o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
We all have been very critical of TD, myself especially. Its easy for us to jump on the lump sum of the moves hes made and point to the bad ones. But are they all bad or are there some ones that are average? Examples:<o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
1) A few years back, a younger Moulds was in a contract year. We did not have Evans, had a young but erratic Reed. How dumb was it at that point to resign Moulds? I can blast away all day because we have so much cap tied up in him. I can also say that he isnt what he used to be. Both of those statements are true. But does that mean he should simply be cut? NO. How would our fortunes have been different against NE if Evans was our #1 option against the pitifull S's instead of Moulds? Would he have been much more open and put us up even 10 to 0 instead of 3 to 0 going into the half? I seriously wonder how many plays Moulds is the number one option. I think it may be way too many these days. Is he still a stud possession WR? Yes. He probably should just be the 2nd almost check down WR on most plays. As far as his pay goes, I would 1st shift the schemes to drop the number of plays down that are meant to go to him, and let it play out. Evans should emerge as a #1 WR target, string the DB's out farther, which will again open Moulds underneath. Watching the ATL game it was also apparent that the WR are running plays that take to long to develop; their routes are too long. Moulds on quick slants could be deadly. After the seasons over, and with a half a season as Moulds as the #2, we could be in a strong position to ask Moulds for a cut. IF Evans has stepped up to be the #1 guy, if not, we are stuck with Moulds as the #1. But if Evans earns the top spot, ask Moulds to take a pay cut. We end up developing Evans, keeping a highly qualified possession type in Moulds, and reducing his salary to spend elsewhere. That seems like a sensible fix.<o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
2) Mike Williams at his worst is a behemoth RT with quick feet. When he has played, he has recently been described as an up and comer. He can be dominant we all have seen it. Again with MW, his pay is probably a bit too much. His rash of injuries is something that is very troublesome. What id like to see is us start a guy like Peters at RT, and work to trade Williams player for player. Im not sure who has T's that they would part with. If it wasnt for the injuries, I would keep him and work at his contract somehow. But teh injuries just plain kills us where we struggle to throw someone in, take costly penalties and drive killing sacks. RT is a position where we need solid road grader types that dont get hurt. Who would be worthy of trading for? How about Leonard Davis? or Robert Gallery? Gallery would seem to be worth more than MW, but he has been inconsistent so who knows. Itrs tough to be honest which brings up a point about TD. Hopw easy WOULD it be to fix the MW issue? I bet its pretty damn hard because their arent alot of examples of RT who were drafted recently that have so much more worth and are in fact available via trade. Moreover, Im not so sure as a draftnick that I could name that many RT's drafted on our since MW that are so much better. So, we may be a bit to tough on TD about this one. It may be we need to just keep MW.<o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
3) London Fletcher is a guy who we always knew was perfect for a 4-3. Thats what we run. He is so fast, he can cover everything. But what he CANT do is be the bigtime run stuffer unassisted. Well, we let Pat go because he was commanding more cash than we felt he was worth. However, we didnt replace him and may have over valued the depth behind him. Fletcher without big run stuffing DT's is a liability against the run. This was a costly mistake. Especially when guys like Gerrard Warren, Corey Simon were available. Ron Edwards really had one good game, he isnt the player that Pat was. I cant blame TD for taking a chance here with sticking with Ron. He simply expected him to step up, he only marginally did so. Tim Anderson is by no means a sleeper and has very limited upside, Justin Bannan is just too small and his arms are too short, I saw this as a problem on a few plays against NE. So, this simply has to be addressed. I really wish we would have grabbed Gerrard Warren. There was a reason he was taken so high. Just because he sucked on a sh_tty team like Clev, doesnt mean he cant play. Damione Lewis currently is a backup for STL but has loads of talent, the size, and can be dominant. He becomes a UFA this year, lets get him. The other options is to go to a stud 4-3 MLB who can cover lots of ground AND has the size and strength to stuff the run. AJ Hawk maybe. That way we could also save some cash on Fletchers cap hit. I like him though. But Fletcher+Adams and another weak DT= disaster.<o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
3) The QB spot. I think TD had it right in his move to grab JP. Forget who he grabbed for a second and consider WHY he grabbed a QB. It was because he wanted to be 1 year ahead of the game. Thats a wonderful plan and we may never know if it saved us a year or not. Now, TD has been here through AVP, RJ, Flutie, and Bledsoe. None except for Flutie had a real strong will and verbal leadership style. And Flutie wasnt Jim Kelly. After those guys with a few of them being certainly capable of getting a team to the playoffs, he came to the conclusion that we needed more. Not necessarily in talent, but yes that as well. But mostly in approach and style. Jim Kelly would get into the huddle and simply blast the palyers who were screwing up to force wins, remember? This team is now and has been seriously devoid of that type of mental toughness since he left. TKO may be the closest guy, yeah Milloy may do it too but I havent seen that much of it from him to be honest. We MUST HAVE a strong willed leader who will jack the team up when he needs to. So, he saw that type of quality in JP and grabbed it. I absolutely LOVE that he got a guy that acts that way. IF JP steps up as far as decision making and his on the field play, we will ADORE his leadership and IMO it WILL earn us extra wins. Also, in TD looked at a league that has many many young QB's that have struggled and then began to play well enough to win and be competitive. Peyton, Pennington, McNabb, Culpepper, Carr, Palmer, Eli. Carr, Palmer, Eli, really make the poitn about how a QB can become very good if played. But to be honest, NONE of them have the fiery approach that JP has. For us its huge and I honestly cant think of another young QB that has it. I like the pick up and we just need to stick with it.<o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
4) Coaching has been a sore subject. MM has certainly shown that he can get a team to play. Yes, we can be pissed that we didnt go to the playoffs last year but we lost ur first 4 games and STILL ended up being in contention. That actually is worth alot. To be fair, who else in the league as a HC could have guaranteed a playoff berth after that start? Theres very few and the big names were not going to be brought in here on TD's watch. So we are left with guys like Marvin Lewis, John Fox, Charlie Weiss. Im not sure that I see any of those guys as being SO much better than MM, are they good coaches? yeah. But they arent that much better. Weiss? yeah he is successfull in college ball, but he doesnt have to deal with NFL player egos either. MM can win us playoff games and get us there. What he CANT do is work magic. He CANT raise his team that far above their talent level. He CANT get a guy who has only ever been a backup like Holcomb to be a quality, proven starter. He CANT force Losman to learn faster. I have said this many times, Parcells can do things with teams that NO OTHER coach can. Belicheck as well. MM is NOT that level of coach. Therefore, he HAS to have high quality pieces of the puzzle to make up for it. Currently he doesnt. Lets add or develop the RIGHT players to get to the level of talent needed.<o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
5) McGahee is a superstar in this league. Its just that simple. With a few more superstar pieces at WR (maybe a fully developed Evans), QB (maybe Losman becomes that guy), we can be a dominant offense. This team is closely matching the overall build of a Ravens or Bengals type team. I say the Ravens because they can run the ball and have a strong D but are short on big game WR and QB. I say Bengals because I believe that the Bengals are the future for the Bills. I think they represent what we would have one or two years down the road if Losman develops into Palmer. Chad Johnson is the best WR in football, IMO. Evans may not get to that level, but Rudi isnt going tobe McGahee either. I see the Bengals as a close analogy of what we COULD be. We need to start Losman and find out. Back on my point. A team with a 1500+ annual RB, and a D that with some tweaks could be dominant should win games, enough to go to the playoffs. We are one lucky team to have landed a top 5 RB like McGahee and we should thank a gutsy TD for that move. But, we need to not waste it like we wasted our chance with Moulds and build THE dominant O. I think it can be a McGahee, Evans, Losman combo but we need to get going and take our lumps. If it plays out right we can be this years Bengals, next year with an even better D.<o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
So, my moves are:<o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
1) move Moulds to the 2nd WR spot, further develop Evans as your #1 threat. In the offseason adjust his pay to #2 WR pay or let HIM choose to leave.<o:p></o:p>
2) start Losman with your fingers crossed and see if it pays off<o:p></o:p>
3) replace Pat with a big, talented, DT to prevent Fletchers run stopping <o:p></o:p>
liability<o:p></o:p>
4) Add youth with talent to backup and possibly replace an aging Milloy<o:p></o:p>
5) Start Peters and work to trade MW for another young guy who has less injuries or keep MW, reduce his salary, and keep your fingers crossed<o:p></o:p>
6) Add young, HIGH ROUND, G's to possibly replace Bennie the human penalty and others if they faulter.<o:p></o:p>
7) Resign or franchise Nate. Keep him org et a kings ransom in return. If he leaves we better spend our 1st rounder on a replacement or trade him for a guy who is just as good, maybe even better and throw in our extra 3rd rounder. <o:p></o:p>
8) Stick with TD, complain? yes? the bottom line on this team is the bottom line. But he HAS proven he is worth something and there just arent many who are that much better<o:p></o:p>
9) If all the above rae done we can win with MM. But once and for all realize that MM+ average QB+ average D= NO PLAYOFFS. Build a team that he can win with, dont give him crap and expect gold.<o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
Thoughts?<o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>