Bros, 

It would appear that I have hit rock bottom as a Bills fan. Through all the heartbreak and disappointment over my two decades of consciously watching (I don’t remember anything pre-4 to 5 years old), 2009 in 5 weeks has emerged as the worst season I have ever experienced. What about wide right? The Music City Miracle? Losing to third stringers to miss the playoffs? Those were all heartbreaking moments but to me they have nothing on this season and let me explain why.   

Dick Jauron and the front office have learned a valuable lesson in football basics and that is that you do not win without a capable offensive line. They gambled on assembling the most talented team the Bills have fielded in well over 5 years but by going cheap on the offensive line. Over the last three years the Bills were in the playoff hunt until at least the last quarter of the season with vastly - vastly - inferior teams but it goes to show you that you win in the trenches. While cutting G Derrick Dockery, T Langston Walker and trading T Jason Peters saved the Bills millions in cap room it basically trashed the season and they are likely to pay for their miscalculation either this week or next as Ralph Wilson will undoubtedly clean house after watching his team lose 6-3 to a winless Browns team despite holding the opposing quarterback to two completions for 23 yards and an interception. For the fifth straight week the offense could not move down the field due to an uncanny amount of holding, false start, illegal formation, or whatever other myriad of penalties we have accumulated this season. The Bills offense committed 13 penalties with nine coming from only offensive lineman as I believe LT Demetrius Bell remains the league leader in penalties despite being injured for significant time. However, that is only a small part of why this is my worst season as a Bills fan, ever.  

Never in my life of watching football - at the college or pro level - have I witnessed such a ferocious stream of injuries to the point that I do not even recognize the team that is being fielded. I am not sure if God is punishing Dick Jauron for something he did in his past but in the season in which he needed a playoff birth he has been decimated by disaster after disaster, week in and week out, of injuries. Please humor me for a moment and tell me this injury/time missed or not playing at 100% list does not make your jaw drop in disbelief: Starting MLB Paul Posluszny, 2nd string MLB John DiGiorgio, 3rd string MLB Marcus Buggs, starting OLB AND 4th string MLB Kawika Mitchell, starting FS Donte Whitner, starting SS Bryan Scott, 2nd string FS Jairus Byrd, starting CB and 2008 Kick Return leader Leodis McKelvin, starting RT Brad Butler, starting TE Derek Schouman, 2nd string TE Shawn Nelson, starting LT Demetrius Bell, rotational DT John McCargo, starting CB Terrence McGee, rotational DE Chris Ellis, starting RB Marshawn Lynch, 4th string CB Ellis Lankster, 4th WR James Hardy, 5th WR Steve Johnson.  

But back to my main point: Those heartbreakers I mentioned earlier happened during seasons in which we were good –  very good – and so I was proud of Buffalo or to a team that had been assembled by bit pieces (as in the Steelers loss). This is what has been the most painful for me, watching a young, promising team get torn up piece by piece each and every week. After ten years of endless defeat this season has been my worst because personally, I enjoyed watching this team get built and maybe foolishly, maybe not believed it was destined to be together for a while and accomplish great things on the football field. I love the players on this team, I loved watching the young talent we were infusing through the draft like Poz and Lynch and McKelvin and I loved the free agent talent like Kawika and Stroud and TO we were bringing in. It just feels like this unit had unfinished business and that is why, after ten years of stagnation, it really bothered me to watch this season unfold into such a disaster so early. Perhaps the players aren't as good as I think or maybe its that the team didn't have the right coach but I choose to believe this squad was built well and that it had an air of being something you could get behind for a good, long while. I guess what I'm saying in the end is that it pains me to see this group of guys fail as they have and do so in such an injury stricken way.  

The good news is that knowing I've hit rock bottom I probably will never endure a season this bad for the rest of my life or that if I do, its because we somehow turn this season around as it is still early. The bad news is knowing how the Bills like to toy with the fans they might make a push just to fall one game shy of the playoffs. The best news is that head coach Dick Jauron is going to be fired during what many are calling the "golden offseason" for coaching hires. Returning to coaching for 2010 are likely to be legendary coaches and Super Bowl champions Mike Holmgren, Bill Cowher, Mike Shanahan, Jon Gruden and Brian Billick. Some are saying Gruden is pining for the Bills job but so far its just a rumor. Either way I am hopeful all of these coaches will view Buffalo as a desirable place to coach because of the fact that they are all returning with 2 concerns. One, they are addicted and passionate about football and are coming back to have as much control over a team as possible which we can provide because we are cleaning house. Two, they are all fearful of tarnishing their legacies by returning to coach horrible teams that they cannot win with. This is tough to avoid as all teams looking for new coaches tend to be terrible or they would not be looking in the first place. Here is where Buffalo comes in, it is an incredibly talented roster and very very young - built to win for a while with the right architect. The offense has TO, Lee Evans, Fred Jackson and Marshawn Lynch complimented with young WR and TE corp depth and a promising QB you can either dump for a high first round pick or try to develop. The defense has Paul Posluszny, Kyle Williams, Marcus Stroud, Leodis McKelvin, Kawika Mitchell, Donte Whitner Aaron Schobel, Aaron Maybin and Terrence McGee. All of these coaches know that if they can build an offensive line and develop or find a good QB, they can win in Buffalo.  

So that’s that and I thank whichever one of you actually read this long post through. After initial anger at the horrendous Browns loss and a done season I have landed in a peaceful calm, it's in fact relieving to know when you've hit rock bottom, it gets it out of the way and the team can clean up the trash and move on. I've never been one to call a season over or to call for a coaching change prematurely but in this case I think it is inevtiable that Jauron is finished. You simply can not keep a head coaching job if you score 3 points on the Browns and lose when the other QB has 23 yards and a pick. I also will continue to cheer for the Bills to win every game, I'd rather root for a horrible Bills team than not have them at all and hey, you really never know if 2009 is done.   

Whatever the case, I'm keeping my fingers crossed for Shanahan.  

- poz