Chat excerpts with Mort...

[Bill Brasky]

Jeff (Flint, MI)
Don't you think that Donahoe was at least part of the problem in Buffalo? He took a lot of needless risks on draft day, such as McGahee and Loseman, and let valuable players leave that could have helped them win now, such as Bledsoe and Pat Williams. I'm not saying that I could do any better, but what positives did he bring during his tenure in Buffalo?

CHRIS MORTENSEN
Again, I don't have the time to cover all of it. But Donohoe cleaned up a huge salary cap mess he inherited. He also inherited a terrible QB problem...and Bledsoe was the right bridge until they drafted a young guy. The Bills - and Ralph Wilson concurred - saw Bledsoe has a QB capable of being a 9-7 = now I hear Parcells is concerned about the same thing. Losman has the talent but the Bills counted on their No. 2 ranked defense to help them through. Pat Williams was a financial decision - they offered him a lot of money. He wangted more. They had key injuries on defense. I said this before - sometimes it just ain't your year. By the way, the McGahee pick turned out to be a pretty good one.

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Jerk (Buffalo)
The biggest problem in Buffalo is that the management can't manage. This team should have been developing a QB this year instead of trying to make the playoffs. Everyone in management was trying to save their behind by propping this team up to sell tickets. And now we have nothing, not even a QB to build on next year. ARe they gonna dangle playoffs in our face again or deal with reality?

CHRIS MORTENSEN
Unfortunately, the fans wouldn't let the Bills develop a young QB. They appropriately considered themselves playoff caliber but when the defense unexpectedly fell apart, the whole thing crumbled. But fans always want it both ways...and so do owners. That's the beast.

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he also said that he didn't believe that TD was as much a part of the problem as MM was... he puts more blame on MM than TD. it's going on right now if you guys wanna hop over and check it out.

[gr8slayer]

McGahee a good pick so far? Mort has his head up his ass on this one. Untill McGahee starts running with some balls he is a nobody in my eyes from here on in.

[LtBillsFan66]

Yeah, TD deserves credit for clearing up the cap. 5 ***** YEARS AGO!!! I'm tired of hearing that excuse.

Mort and TD are buddies.

[Romes]

Mort and TD were friends while TD was at ESPN it is no suprise that he is defending him.

[ParanoidAndroid]

Good, level headed analysis. Everyone was frustrated by this season and it showed in the players, coaches, fans, and now management.
Too much grazing and not enough stampeding.

They need to regroup and a few sets of fresh eyes will not hurt.

[Novacane]

Morts not gonna say anything bad about the hand that feeds him info

[Novacane]

CHRIS MORTENSEN
. I said this before - sometimes it just ain't your year.
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Yeah, it "just ain't been our year" for 5 years under his buddy TD :rolleyes:

[Novacane]

he also said that he didn't believe that TD was as much a part of the problem as MM was... he puts more blame on MM than TD. it's going on right now if you guys wanna hop over and check it out.



Who hired MM? :rolleyes:

[chernobylwraiths]

Jerk from Buffalo :rofl:

[SpillerThrills]

McGahee a good pick so far? Mort has his head up his ass on this one. Untill McGahee starts running with some balls he is a nobody in my eyes from here on in.

I think that Willis has been a pretty good pick so far, if you think about the line that he has in front of him he's done pretty well with 2 1,000yrd rushing seasons in his first 2 years.... granted he's no Thurman Thomas or Emmit Smith yet but I think if he gets a solid line in front of him that he could be...

[Bill Brasky]

1,000 yards is no longer the feat it once was.

[gr8slayer]

I think that Willis has been a pretty good pick so far, if you think about the line that he has in front of him he's done pretty well with 2 1,000yrd rushing seasons in his first 2 years.... granted he's no Thurman Thomas or Emmit Smith yet but I think if he gets a solid line in front of him that he could be...
My grandmother could run for a thousand yards in a sixteen game season. That is less than a hundred yards a game. For a guy with the potential Willis has its 1,500+ yards, 10+ TD's or bust.

We gave up a first rounder on him. He owes us the best he can give. I think he is trying not to live up to his potential myself.

[DynaPaul]

It's nice how Chris Mortensen just discredited himself so easily. I never liked that doofy looking **** and I'll probably never listen to that guy again.

Yeah, it's all the fans fault for wanting a competitive team. Go **** yourself!

[Bill Brasky]

maybe he visits the zone and saw 98% of you guys calling for Holcomb after the Saints game and based it on that :idunno:

he has a point because there was a good majority of bills fans that wanted holcomb and wanted to keep him in until he started sucking.

[Mitchy moo]

A rough way f puttimg it but true dat.

[ICE74129]

1,000 yards is no longer the feat it once was.

Agreed. You need to rush for about 1400 to = what 1000 was way back when.

[Novacane]

maybe he visits the zone and saw 98% of you guys calling for Holcomb after the Saints game and based it on that :idunno:

he has a point because there was a good majority of bills fans that wanted holcomb and wanted to keep him in until he started sucking.


It was nowhere near 98%. 50/50 at best in favor of Holcomb

[Bill Brasky]

are the official BZ statistician?

[THATHURMANATOR]

McGahee a good pick so far? Mort has his head up his ass on this one. Untill McGahee starts running with some balls he is a nobody in my eyes from here on in.
Yeah he is only is the fastest running back to 2000 yards in Bills history..

[THATHURMANATOR]

Obviously he needs to take it up a notch next season but he hasn't had much line to work with and they were stacking the box because of no QB this year...

[L.A. Playa]

1,000 yards is no longer the feat it once was.

Actually if you look at the stats McGahee had over 1200 yards this year behind a crap line and crap play calling. There where only 13 RB's in the league that rushed over a 1,000 yds so Iam sure there are 19 teams in the NFL that wish they had a MC Gahee run for over 1200 yards this year

[ICE74129]

Actually if you look at the stats McGahee had over 1200 yards this year behind a crap line and crap play calling. There where only 13 RB's in the league that rushed over a 1,000 yds so Iam sure there are 19 teams in the NFL that wish they had a MC Gahee run for over 1200 yards this year

Not if they scouted him. he quit. He has no knee bend and no cutback abilities that the greats have.

[L.A. Playa]

If he would have gotten 20-25 carries a game he would have had 1400-1500 yds this year and if he didnt have a LB or DE in his face as soon as he got the ball

[Bill Brasky]

There where only 13 RB's in the league that rushed over a 1,000 yds s

that's almost half the league, and plenty of teams have 2 or more RB's that are used on a consistant basis.

[L.A. Playa]

McGahee was the # 10 rb this year behind one of the 3 worst OL in the league and the worst playcalling in the league, am I pleased with his effort, no, but getting over 1200 yards and being in the top 10 in rushing with the team around him is impressive

[Bill Brasky]

great, good for him.

i could care less about his personal stats.

his crappy YPC and impressive TD total did nothing to help this team win.

and he showed an attitude that makes me feel like he's concerned more with his personal stats as oppossed to helping the team win.

[L.A. Playa]

well maybe if inside the 5 yard if the coaching staff called for a run rather than 3 passes he would have had more TDS as for his YPC its was 3.8 behind this ****ty line with just one better G he is probably gonna have a 4.2 YPC rather than 3.8 that he had with the predictable play calling and bad blocking, if your so down on Willis what is your answer at RB then ?

[R. Rich]

1,000 yards is no longer the feat it once was.


Sure it is. Don't you ever read the paper on Monday, when they have the stats for the week listed? They always list the following:

300 yard passers
62.5 yard rushers

[R. Rich]

if your so down on Willis what is your answer at RB then ?


Devin

[mysticsoto]

McGahee was the # 10 rb this year behind one of the 3 worst OL in the league and the worst playcalling in the league, am I pleased with his effort, no, but getting over 1200 yards and being in the top 10 in rushing with the team around him is impressive

I agree. Behind the crappy line we had, McGahee did pretty well!

[Bill Brasky]

if your so down on Willis what is your answer at RB then ?

if you're so up on him where is his gamebreaking and playmaking ability? great RB's have the ability to change the game regardless of how good or bad the line is.

his longest run is 41 yards and that was LAST SEASON. he didn't even break a 30 yard run this year. you're telling me out of the 325 carries he had this season there wasn't ONE play where he could break off a big run?

he doesn't get many runs? he had 31 carries against Miami for 86 yards! 21 against Carolina for 56! 20 against KC for 66. those are pathetic numbers.

he went over 100 yards only 4 times this season - twice against the pitiful jets, against the even worse texans, and against the falcons who have a bottom-tier run D. he never shows up when the team needs to establish the running game.

he was given chances in the red zone - not many - but if he's as good as you say he shouldn't need 3 cracks from the 4 yard line to get the ball in the endzone.

how many backs get nailed in the backfield inside the 5 or 10 and have the ability to break a tackle and get to the endzone. i haven't seen willis do that - ever.

as bad as the line is, i think the coaches don't have much faith in him to get tuff yards in the redzone because he hasn't shown the ability to do so.

[L.A. Playa]

Im not saying he is the second coming of Walter Payton but he has alot more potential and ability than 90% of the RB's out there, with a better O line and better coaching I think you would see bigger runs from him

[L.A. Playa]

and his 1 st two years stats are similar to Shawn Alexanders first two years and Willis doesnt have anyone near the talent of Walter Jones to run behind

[Bill Brasky]

With a better OLine any RB will get better.

I think he has a ton of potential, but I honestly feel like he has a bad attitude towards playing here.

I wasn't very happy when they drafted him for that exact reason, and he's done nothing to prove me wrong.

When you watch certain RB's run, you can tell the ones who have the heart and determination to succeed and help their team win.

When I watch Willis, I don't see that. I haven't seen it since he was trying to steal Henry's job. Once he got it, it's like he lost all motivation and desire to play here.

[L.A. Playa]

I agree with you Freeman I think he hasnt shown enough heart and has talked too much, in a perfect world a player would be self motivated, I think McGahee got frustrated with the horrid coaching and it showed on the field. They told him all offseason we are gonna be a power running team featuring you then they come out and run every gadget play known to man with a rookie QB I know that would frustrate me a little bit to be lied to

[BillsFever21]

If he would have gotten 20-25 carries a game he would have had 1400-1500 yds this year and if he didnt have a LB or DE in his face as soon as he got the ball

McGahee averaged 20.3 carries a game so you can't use that as an excuse. He was 8th in the league in total carriers. Lack of carries were not the problem.

He had 325 carries. That's the average for a RB and they shouldn't have more then 350 carries. You would wear them out in 3 years. I suppose he should have 400 carries a season?

He was 32nd in the league in ypc with only 3.8. For full time backs he was 17th in ypc.

His longest run was only 27 yards. His longest run the past 10 weeks was 17 yards.

There are tons of RB's behind crap OL's which make more big plays then that. He hasn't been an elite RB so far. Any RB can get 1,200 yards with 325 carries.

The Texans have the worst OL in the league but Dominick Davis still makes big plays. He had numerous plays of 30+ throughout the season and his long was 44 yards which he did more then once.

Till McGahee starts making some big plays he is nothing more then an average RB. He wasn't running hard this year.