Patriots 49, Bills 21: Good, Bad, Let's Not Overreact

I think he’d be o.k. if we threw 20-30 times a game with a lot of play action. We have Spiller and Jackson so we should be run heavy next year.

I’m with you though: Even when he had open receivers down field he over or under throws them consistently. He’s just not accurate enough to be a top tier NFL QB. I’m not sure he’s in the 2nd tier either.

I think his play fakes are terrible.

Continuing to stink. Seriously. It’s really frustrating how year after year they pick around 10th and never find a difference-maker in the first round. Even Spiller isn’t thought by his coach to be a full-time player. Well, why the hell not?!

I dont think he would expect all players to act maturely. He knows there’s going to be different levels as with every team. But if I were him I would expect out of over 50 men there would be at least a handful who would step up, become leaders and assist in keeping the team focused on the task. The successful teams create a standard, from practice to playing the game and maybe the coach sets it in the beginning but the team carries it forward. With the Bills though I guess just because you have a “C” on your jersey it doesn’t make you a real leader.

If Wannstedt will bring in a few assistant coaches he’s familiar with.

…But I also see light at the end of the tunnel. The “needs” for starters are significantly less this offseason as comapared to past years. I see 1 big starting position the Bills need to address (OLB), and then the other starting positions I toss more into “I’d like to see” category. I’d like to see a stud WR come in to compete with Stevie as the #1. I’d like to see upgrades to some of the other starters. But if they don’t happen, I’d still be content. The beginning of this season convinced me that this team pretty much has the starters to compete. But the season also showed that the Bills NEED better depth. Bring in 1 or 2 high caliber OLB’s, re-sign Stevie, bring in a WR to compete with Stevie, create better depth by either bringing in new players to upgrade starters sliding them to backups, or just bring in better depth. But overall, I’m excited to see the ’12 Bills.

We pay SJ to just beat Revis? Wow.

not signing SJ is best for future?

He can pay a fine if he wants to, and if the ONLY guidance he has is that the league has treated the same situation a certain way before, then it is on the LEAGUE not him that he was treated differently.

I’ve got zero problem with what he did. I don’t think he’s a selfish player and I don’t think he put himself before the team. He shouldn’t have to live in fear of the NFL front office and what they might think is okay/not okay.

I really think what did it for the refs was Johnson holding things up while he posed for the cameras. He went out of his way to find them.

If they didn’t do it last year? As to getting the fine- It’s his business if he wants to pay a fine, that’s his money.

There is no reason he should have suspected that by writing on his shirt, and not falling to the ground, that he was going to get a penalty.

Sorry, but I’m not interested in that NFL thought control that comes with these stupid celebration rules, particularly when they can’t be bothered to spell them out. If they can’t tell you what will and won’t get a fine/penalty, then they have no business doling them out.

There should never be such a thing as a “marked” guy. If refs have “marked” guys, they should be the ones getting benched and paying the fine.

the problem with that is it’s another hole. We need another better Stevie Johnson to be successful. The Bills should do whatever they can to sign him because he knows the system and wants to be here.

We have to stop letting young talent walk out the door – it’s easy to say we can but there is a lot more that goes into it than that. Having another gaping hole on our roster isn’t helping this team get wins. It takes more organizational resources to find, acquire and train that talent than it would be to sign him and find 1 starting WR instead of 2 starting WRs

The issue is having to use another draft pick on a player there. And it’s likely they’d value his loss as more than a 7th-round need, where he was drafted. So they have a late-round pick who blossoms into their best WR and they’d have to draft his replacement somewhere in the first couple rounds. Not sound business, in my world.

The question is, why create an extra hole if he’s asking for a reasonable amount of money?

Like it’s been said, another gaping hole to fill. Housh was also their #2 receiver. Aside from their numbers I don’t see it. How about a comparison of say Moulds and Stevie? They had very similar numbers as well in their first two big seasons. Would you have dismissed Moulds so easily? I certainly wouldn’t.

How does that have ANY relevance to the Buffalo Bills?

Housh was 31 years old and coming to the end of his career in terms of effectiveness. He wanted one last big contract and Seattle gave it to him. His yards per reception number fell each of his final 5 years in Cincy. Johnson’s have been over 13 ypc each season. Housh also played a lot of slot for Cincy, something Johnson doesn’t do here. Housh was at the end of his career and the Bengals were on the verge of having to rebuild. Johnson is in his prime, or entering it, for a team that is supposedly building their roster up. That alone shows just how different and ridiculous this comparison is.

With this short passing game that the Bills have run due to Fitz’s inadequacies, how do you know how Johnson would perform in a more downfield passing game? The QB is the biggest problem, yet it’s the WR that can be easily let go? Yeah, he’s not Calvin Johnson and no one would think of making that comparison, but this isn’t some WR at the end of his career on a team that’s about to blow everything up and start over. If the Bills are serious about building this thing up, retaining young talent like Johnson is tantamount to any success they might have. Otherwise, we’re looking at yet another big hole to fill. Johnson is by far our best WR, a player that opposing teams have to account for.

I’d love to see the Bills so seamlessly replace Johnson with some UFA or another draft pick needed to fill a hole they created.

I’m not really debating that. I’m questioning the fact that it became THE biggest need and focal point of this past draft, and even both of Nix’s drafts/offseasons. He’s loaded up on 3-4 DL and ILB’s, while barely adding any talent to the pass rush. That indicates to me that he believes, or believed the run defense was the biggest issue and most important thing to try fixing. I disagree with that as the current NFL demonstrates. If the Bills could rush the passer or disrupt throws more often, maybe they wouldn’t have allowed 40% on 3rd down conversions. Maybe the run defense wouldn’t look so awful.

And beyond actually trying to fix the run defense, is the fact that it still stinks. Two years in and the Bills are still 28th in yards allowed and yards per carry, and allowed the second most rushing TD’s. It’s not like what Nix did actually helped the team all that much in addition to what I feel was a backwards strategy.

1) It’s not so much about the record as the aggression that was evident there. Gailey was obviously trying to make something happen and show his offense he had confidence. Our offense is our best weapon and our defense hadn’t been stopping anyone, least of all the Pats. I like it, personally.

2) I’d like to just ignore the Fitzpatrick contract entirely. I think it’s fine because it’s average relative to the market. Others disagree because he’s had long stretches of poor play.

3) I think you’re spot on when you say Stevie’s a borderline problem. I personally don’t feel he’s being malicious, but there’s room for debate and I can certainly admit some hesitation to a big contract. Not sure about the Housh comparison overall, but I doubt many people want a “diva” WR on the team. Perhaps some contract incentives are in order to give him some positive motivation.

4) I don’t think Johnson’s position is the easiest to fill. I think that honor belongs to the deep threat position that you have Meacham filling. The one that Heyward-Bey is filling for Oakland and Evans held here for so very long. I also don’t think Nelson would replace Johnson very well.

5) Agree here. What really sets us back this year (and probably next) is that we are still building up personnel and we’re grabbing people from the scrap heap, given Nix’s cautious approach to FA. In the long term, probably the right move. In the short term, nothing but pain.

6) Your above average is my average. Others probably define those players as below average. Fitz’s numbers were way down in the second half of the year. No doubt about it. However, there are several mitigating factors like injury and poor scheme adjustment. Some people see those as “excuses”. The fact is that he’s not top-tier and you have to take the good with the bad.

I’ve never found K to be bitter to anyone (including right now), though he and I have definitely disagreed on certain subjects. It’s just painful right now because there is ANOTHER losing season and we’re in the same draft position we were during the Jauron/Levy/Inner Circle hell. If Nix can pull some magic out of this off-season and pick up quality players, I think everyone will feel a LOT better.

1. It’s not based on having a 6-9 record though. It would be based on the fact that it was the last game of the season and what else do they have to lose? The defense, as was the case numerous times this year, was fading quickly and didn’t look capable of stopping the Pats much more the rest of the day. Even though it was probably unlikely they’d pick up the 1st, I liked the aggressiveness in trying to push the envelope in order to beat your most hated rival that has given you fits for years. Maybe (probably) in other situations, punting and playing D would have been the much smarter move, but I don’t think it was here. The Pats have a terrible pass D and the Bills were having success to that point, in addition to the other side of the ball. Normally, I’d say you’re right, but I can’t agree with that in this case based on the situation and variables.

2. Sure, we can all play the what if game, but it doesn’t mean what Nix has done is correct or will prove to be correct. You seem fully inclined to believe Nix has been 100% spot on with what he’s done regarding Johnson. How do we know? You’re right, what if Stevie develops into a further Ocho headcase? But then, what if he finally learns from this last mistake and uses the negativity for motivation? What if he moves on and becomes an even better player? Even though we have no idea how this will play out, I think you are incorrect in your full fledged belief that what Nix has done in not re-signing Johnson was totally right. We’ll see.

I do agree that Johnson is becoming a distraction, something this franchise needs to consider when deciding what to do. But at the same time, I don’t think it’s nearly as big of an issue as I think you do. In noting guys like Ochocinco and Holmes, I think those guys have been much bigger problems that what Stevie has been. Ocho constantly talked to the media, contstantly talked about himself and I think had big issues with Marvin Lewis. Holmes has had big off field issues, and from all indications has become a cancer in the Jets locker room, while also potentially quitting on his team on the field. Stevie has gotten a few penalties for TD celebrations. While potentially not listening to Gailey regarding potential repercussions, I do tend to believe he didn’t intend to disobey Gailey or challenge his power. But beyond that, Johnson seems to be a well-liked teammate, good in the community and plays hard and through injury. I think that all shows a major difference between him and some of those other WR’s. Hopefully, both sides can come to an agreement, and Stevie learns his lesson and becomes a productive player for us for a long time.

3. I still don’t think the Housh comparison is legit, but more of a coincidence. Playing styles are different, age is different and contract situation is different, but yeah, that’s not the point. I don’t think Johnson has been a headcase as much as a young player that makes immature mistakes. Again, I hope he’s learned from this past week and it drives him to become a better player.

4. That’s what I said. We don’t know that Nix made the right move, though you claim he did. I said Gailey did the right thing and approve of it. I just don’t see how you can say so confidently that Nix did the right thing when the Bills could lose their top receiver, weaken their offense AND create yet another hole if he walks. That, to me, screams of waiting to see how it plays out instead of claiming Nix was so correct in what he’s done. Again, I hope the Bills re-sign him and he builds off this, making this all a moot disagreement.

5. Can I ask where you’ve seen that 25% stat? Just wondering.

Maybe those are the league averages, but for a team so low on talent and in need of home runs in the draft, batting .250 just isn’t going to cut it, especially if all we end up with are a handful of fringe starters or longer term rotational players.

I think that 2010 draft will prove to be an awful one. Hopefully, Spiller can use this final month as a springboard for a monster 2012 and beyond. I think the rest of that draft was just plain bad. Troup, Carrington, Battan and Moats look like backups, at best. For a team with poor starters and even poorer backups over the years, if they maintain their level of play, will they have panned out?

Who was expecting our current rookies to perform like Smith or Miller? Why would that be the expectation? As I said, there is promise in this 2011 class, but it remains to be seen just how good they’ll be. I think their ceiling is somewhat limited, but there could end up being 3-4 legit starters out of that group, and maybe more. I haven’t been overly impressed with Sheppard or Hairston, but that doesn’t mean they can’t improve and lock down their positions and be solid players for us. Same with Rogers. It does seem promising, but we’ll see if they’re any good next year. I am much happier with this class than that 2010 class.

6. We certainly disagree on the term “above-average QB” then. I don’t think Fitz is above-average at anything. Semantics or not, it doesn’t matter. We both agree that Fitz isn’t the guy to lead this franchise anywhere and know that this team absolutely must find a franchise QB. Without that guy, none of these other disagreements or player development or whatever really matters.

If you feel I’m bitter towards you, I don’t mean to be. I apologize if I come across that way, as it’s certainly not intended. I guess I just happen to disagree with you more than most. Maybe we’ll both get that top QB prospect to root for come late April, which we would certainly agree on.

But I don’t think very realistic. How can we all of a sudden expect the team to add multiple pass rush threats and at least one above average CB? As we both agree on, we need that franchise QB too….

Other than depth, this team is on the cusp of being very competitive. Fitz likely won’t take the Bills to a Super Bowl, so agree that a long term franchise QB is needed in the next couple years. But get some better depth, address the OLB situation, and look at upgrades for starters in other positions (WR and CB come to mind) and we could realistically see the Bills in the playoffs next season. And who knows once they get there? Although he’s far from an elite QB, he has shown that he can produce WHEN he keeps his head in the game.