Buffalo Rumblings: FanPosts

Stop It! Not as Much has Changed as we would Like to Think

2013-05-17T12:58:14Z

My name is Tim and I just want to vent in kind of a long form so thanks for reading. I like all of you have been a life-long and diehard BILLS fan so these last 13 years have been awful. I want to talk about Doug Whaley and this perceived change that we apparently now have.

Whaley was not someone we brought in from the outside. He has been here the last three years and frankly has not helped Buddy Nix make sound football decisions. Before you ask, "Well Tim, how do you know?" it is because the team has not gotten any closer to making the playoffs. Apparently he was a big part of this draft, well he was the Assistant GM, he should have had a big part in every draft. I'm not dismissing the promotion. I am just not as optimistic that he is going to change things since he has already been here and he was not a real agent for change. Maybe Buddy held him down and didn't listen to his ideas? Maybe it will change with him running the show? I am just not willing to go all in on Doug Whaley.

The media has been touting how the BILLS have went from the oldest front office to the youngest and with a "New President," GM and coach there is plenty to be positive about. The only thing new is Marrone who I do like being a Syracuse fan as well. He can turn around a program but remember the Orange while they were on the way back were still years away from being a BCS Bowl contender and even further away from a National Title. This wasn't a Nick Saban turn around by any stretch of the imagination.

Russ Brandon is the engine that could doom this franchise into relocation. I am tired of the media acting like he has a clean slate. He has been here since 1997 and has been in charge of the business operations for nearly 10 years. He has been running the day-to-day of the team since Marv re-retired back in 2008. Other than putting training camp at St. John Fisher all of his decisions have been major failures. Brian Moorman on the cover of the season ticket packages, letting Buddy Nix hire Chan Gailey instead of making him stick to Ralph's creed that he was going to spend up to 10 million dollars for a coach, not rolling back the blackout rule, saluting Scott Norwood for halftime of the Jets game when we were 5-2 (Might as well put a dark cloud on the whole thing) and of course the treacherous act that was coming up with and then renewing the Toronto deal are all head scratchers that have shown that the quote: "Marketing Genius," end quote never took a public relations course. He should have been fired years ago and truth is until he is replaced by new ownership that hopefully keeps the team here we will always be swimming upstream.

The media who follows this team and gets paid to do it should not be so gullible that real change has happened. The GM was hired in house and the president has clearly been a failure. There are members of both the roster and coaching staff that look promising but there are a lot of pieces missing.

Like I said, I want to be optimistic but we need to take a step back and see that things might have changed a little but full scale change has not happened and will not happen until Ralph dies, the team is sold and Russ is fired. Sorry.

Thanks for reading.

Tim!

Thanks for reading.

Tim!

Doug Whaley and Buddy Nix

2013-05-17T05:52:13Z

"I think Doug Whaley has more upside in recognizing prank calls than Buddy."

-- posted by dangarussbills on May 13, 2013 10:16 AM in this thread

Let's hope so -- although, Whaley has had his own communications issues recently.

From wikipedia:

E-mail gaffe

Whaley gained unwanted notoriety in 2007 when an inappropriate e-mail that he had sent to Steelers assistant coach Larry Zierlein was inadvertently forwarded by Zierlein to a large number of high-level NFL employees, including commissioner Roger Goodell. Zierlein apologized for the gaffe, and it is believed that neither he nor Whaley were disciplined by the team or the the league.

Per the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the inappropriate e-mail contained pornography . . .

http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/sports/steelers/blogger-says-steelers-zierlein-inadvertently-forwarded-porn-to-nfl-officials-486160/

(No, the above link does not contain the e-mail contents.)

I suggest that Nix and Whaley be limited to face-to-face and/or handwritten letters for all communication outside OBD; it may save them -- and us -- future embarassment. LOL.

"I think Doug Whaley has more upside in recognizing prank calls than Buddy."

-- posted by dangarussbills on May 13, 2013 10:16 AM in this thread

Let's hope so -- although, Whaley has had his own communications issues recently.

From wikipedia:

E-mail gaffe

Per the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the inappropriate e-mail contained pornography . . .

http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/sports/steelers/blogger-says-steelers-zierlein-inadvertently-forwarded-porn-to-nfl-officials-486160/

(No, the above link does not contain the e-mail contents.)

I suggest that Nix and Whaley be limited to face-to-face and/or handwritten letters for all communication outside OBD; it may save them -- and us -- future embarassment. LOL.

Filp flap phins best WR. YEAHH RIGHT

2013-05-16T22:52:48Z

. Really now the they say the Flapin phins. Have the best reciver corps in the AFC. JUST because they added sone new WR. Now some guy writes a colum saying the flip phins have a real WR Corp and suddenly they start talking saying that they are for real. Well I did not know they were fake years before. Good luck with does recivers cause my BUFFALO WHAGON BLASTERS. Have the best defense this year. We are bringing The MIGHTY HAMER OF THOR ON OUR opponents this year. So good luck with that WE DOWN SOUTH cause the Buffalo Blasters will be bringing the pounding on every one we face this coming season. The bing Bara bara Swing Guys on our defense are going to be Masters Jedi this Season Boom. Abayarde out

Ticket Advice

2013-05-14T12:24:59Z

Fellow Bills fans,

I will be coming to Buffalo to watch Carolina vs. Bills on September 15th, and I need some advice.

It will be my first Bills home game. My dad grew up in Buffalo and unfortunately, passed on his sports loyalties to me even though we lived in other places that actually had good teams. I've seen the Bills play the Titans and Panthers before (saw the music city forward pass), but I've never been to Orchard Park.

Anyways, I'd love some pointers on how to make my first visit to Orchard Park a great experience. In particular, I'm wondering:

(1) Should I get tickets now, or right before the game?

(2) Any thoughts on sections 111,112 vs. sections 133,134?

(3) What rows are best?

(4) Any special tail-gating etiquette I need to know about?

Thanks in advance guys!

Byz

Confound It, Buddy!

2013-05-14T05:34:01Z

Dougieg posted a nice write-up on Nix's tenure, with an optimistic viewpoint that Buddy will prove to be the hero in the Bills tragedy, the man who has set them up for future success.

I don't think it's that simple. In fact, the trouble with Buddy, is that it is almost impossible to ultimately land on a definitive positive or negative judgment on his tenure as the Bills GM. For those of you who praise him, I think you're wrong. For those of you who bury him, I also think you're wrong.

For Buddy Nix, I think the only true evaluation is "I don't know". Confound it, Buddy!

B.B. (Before Buddy)

If we start with what Buddy inherited in 2010, the previous three years of the Brandon-Jauron regime (with one year from Levy) had let go of quality veterans like London Fletcher, Takeo Spikes, Jabari Greer, London Fletcher, Nate Clements, Willis McGahee, Jason Peters and Jim Leonhard.

Unfortunately, their decisions on incoming free agents to supplement the roster were disastrous- Langston Walker, Derrick Dockery, Terrell Owens, Geoff Hangartner, Kawika Mitchell and Marcus Stroud added up to a large amount of money spent, with very little results. They also saddled Nix with the QB duo of Trent Edwards and Ryan Fitzpatrick.

While many Nix haters will accurately point out that the win-loss record in the Jauron years was better than Nix's tenure, an objective observer would likely agree that the roster was shedding talent from 2007-2009, which would have a major impact on Nix's first year, a 4-12 record.

So with that as the background, how do Buddy's moves stack up?

Darn it, Buddy! His first effort at assembling a coaching staff with Gailey and Wannstedt was a dismal failure. While Gailey may have made a solid choice as an offensive coordinator, he was over his head as a HC, and his focus on calling plays led him to repeatedly make poor in game management decisions. Wannstedt had embarrassingly fallen behind the curve in NFL defensive scheme evolution.

Al-right, Buddy! His second effort at assembling a coaching staff appears- with no games yet to be played- to be extremely promising. Bills fans haven't seen a coaching staff this energetic, aggressive and modern in a decade.

Darn it, Buddy! His attempts at upgrading the roster with veteran free agent talent have generated mediocre results at best, poor results at worse. Brad Smith, Dwan Edwards, Spencer Johnson, Shawn Merriman, Mark Anderson, Andra Davis, Reggie Torbor- none will see the Bills Ring of Honor. Nick Barnett was solid if unspectacular, and the jury is still out on Super Mario, but Buddy's first few years dipping into the free agent pool were misguided.

Al-right, Buddy! Buddy seems to have learned his lesson this year, waiting the market out to get potential bargains and low-risk additions like Kevin Kolb, Manny Lawson and Alan Branch.

Beyond that, however, Buddy deserves major kudos for being outstanding at spotting and scooping up low cost talent- undrafted rookies, practice squad players, and players cut from stronger team's rosters- David Nelson, Donald Jones, Scott Chandler, Chad Rinehart, Kraig Urbik, Erik Pears, Kyle Moore, Colin Brown, Sam Young- all obtained for little investment.

It's still early, but this group of UDFA- Rogers, Tuel, Kauffman, Robey, Pough- appear to be another great crop of young talent at league minimum salaries.

Darn it, Buddy! Torrell Troup, Marcus Easley, Aaron Williams, Ed Wang, Johnny White, TJ Graham. Buddy's draft record in the first 5 rounds is highly spotty, and every Buffalo area fan can name the could of, should of's: Gronkowski, Aaron Hernandez, Andy Dalton, Colin Kaepernick, Russell Wilson, etc. In addition, while he has shown a great eye for UDFAs, for some reason that has not carried over to the 6th and 7th rounds, where only 3 of his 11 picks in those rounds are still on the team.

Al-right, Buddy! The core is potentially there- Spiller, Dareus, Gilmore, Glenn, Bradham, Hairston, and this year's selections such as Manuel, Woods and Alonso. Buddy's drafts have progressively gotten better, to his credit.

Darn it, Buddy! He inherited Edwards-Fitzpatrick, and then did nothing about it for three years. While Fitz had a nice streak going at the end of 2010, beginning of 2011, the reality was that he was a 7th round draft pick and journeyman with mediocre career stats.

Al-right, Buddy! He leaves of course, with the Bills having their franchise QB in hand. For many people, this one pick will shape his legacy.

Confound it, Buddy- I just don't know what to make of you! But it seems- maybe, just maybe- that as a rookie GM over 70 years old that you learned from your mistakes and improved a little as you went along...

Dougieg posted a nice write-up on Nix's tenure, with an optimistic viewpoint that Buddy will prove to be the hero in the Bills tragedy, the man who has set them up for future success.

For Buddy Nix, I think the only true evaluation is "I don't know". Confound it, Buddy!

B.B. (Before Buddy)

So with that as the background, how do Buddy's moves stack up?

Al-right, Buddy! Buddy seems to have learned his lesson this year, waiting the market out to get potential bargains and low-risk additions like Kevin Kolb, Manny Lawson and Alan Branch.

It's still early, but this group of UDFA- Rogers, Tuel, Kauffman, Robey, Pough- appear to be another great crop of young talent at league minimum salaries.

Al-right, Buddy! He leaves of course, with the Bills having their franchise QB in hand. For many people, this one pick will shape his legacy.

Alternate Universe 2012: The 11-5 Bills

2013-05-13T23:28:15Z

This fanpost came about as I was writing my other post, Buddy Nix: The Hero Buffalo Deserves. It is an alternate universe in which the Bills had just three changes. A game managing QB, decent defensive coordinator and a decent offensive coordinator. Skip to the bottom if you want to read some discussion of where I think we are vs where we might have been.

________________________________________________

Alternate Universe 2012: The 11-5 Bills

Week 1: The Bills perform to their talent level on defense because of good preseason coaching and solid non vanilla schemes on defense. Our QB manages the game well and Mark Sanchez is exploited like the bad qb he his.

1-0

What happened: Sanchez throws for 266 yards, 3 tds and a pick. Fitz throws for 195, 3 early picks and 3 garbage time tds. Spiller touches the only ball 14 times but gets 169 yards. 0-1

Week 2/3: The Bills hand the lesser opponents losses in the Chiefs and Browns.

3-0

What happened: The Bills do just that 2-1

Week 4: The Bills hold on to a strong 21-7 lead over the Pats and the defense makes adjustments in the second half so that they are not outcoached in the 4th.

4-0

What happened: Bills had the lead 21-7 but gave up 31 points to the Pats in the 4th quarter. Due to being out coached at every angle possible. 2-2

Week 5: The Bills lose the the 49ers in a non embarrassing way.

4-1

What happened: The Bills give up 621 yards of offense and lose 45-3. 2-3

Week 6: the Bills decisively dominate the Cardinals embarrassing offense.

5-1

What Happened: The Bills needed an Mega Hand block and a Kolb injury to win. 3-3

Week 7: the Bills do not allow 100 yards rushing to the Titans and Matt Hasselbeck to beat them.

6-1

What happened: Chris Johnson runs for 195 and 2 tds on 18 carries. Hasselbeck leads a dramatic 4 minute offense to take the lead and with 2 minutes left the Bills flounder. 3-4

The Bills have allowed the following rushing yards 247, 311, 182 and 197 to the Pats, 49ers, Cardinals and Titans respectively

Week 9: The Bills lose to the Texans honorably.

6-2

What Happened: The Bills lost in a surprisingly good game. 3-5

CJ Spiller stats over the past 4 weeks:

Actual
Hypothetical

Touches Yards per Attempt Yards Touches Yards per Attempt Yards

12 7.33 88 20 7.33 140

12 5.83 70 20 5.83 110

6 6.5 39 20 6.5 130

9 7.88 70 20 7.88 150

Week 10: The Bills lose to the pats in a close game.

6-3

What happened: Bills lose to the pats in a close game 3-6

Week 11: Bills win a thriller on thursday night football.

7-3

What happened: Bills win a thriller on thursday night football 4-6

Week 12: Bills win a good game with CJ leading the way with 130 yards on 20 carries because we game planned to keep the ball out of Luck's hands and Fitz didn't throw the game away.

8-3

What happened: CJ had 25 touches in Miami with 125, should we repeat? No. CJ has 107 yards, great right? Nope, 14 touches averaging 7.64 yards. Down by 7, Fitz throws a pick and Stevie saves his butt with a strip fumble. New set of downs!! 3 and out game lost. Screw reality. 4-7

Week 13: Bills win a convincing game against the Jags.

9-3

What happened: The Bills beat the Jags 5-7

Week 14: CJ touches the ball 20 times for 120 yards, we keep the ball out of Bradfords hands and win.

10-3

What Happened: CJ touches the ball 7 times for 52 yards Freddy touches the ball 14 times for 30 yards. We give up a td with 4 minutes to go to lose the game long lead and Fitz throws a pick to lose the game. 5-8

Week 15: Bills lose a close game to a playoff bound Seahawks.

10-4

What Happened: Bills lose 50-17, and seahawks run for 270 yards with Russell Wilson running for 3 tds 5-9

Week 16: Bills lose a close game to Miami.

10-5

What Happened: Bills lose to Miami in miserable fashion. 5-10

Week 17: Bills win against the Jets and go 11-5 for the wild card!!!

11-5

What Happened: Bills have an empty win against the Jets. 6-10

Bills learn from their week 9 loss to Houston and win the wild card.

Bills play Denver but lose due to a great game by Manning.

Buffalo celebrates the great season and moves into the offseason with tons of hope.

_____________________________________________________

I did this to get a feel for how the season would have gone. With just minor coaching changes and in my eyes realistic changes in the game due to different coaches, the team goes 11-5 instead of 6-10. A good defensive game plan against Sanchez, keeping the 14 point lead on New England with 8 minutes left in the 3rd, a decent game plan against Chris Johnson and giving the ball to CJ for 2 wins against the Colts and Rams results in a 11-5 season. I realize that this is all in hindsight and hindsight is 20/20 but I really dont think its that much of a stretch to get them to be an 11-5 team.

In hockey, teams have to scrape the barrel for a few years to become perennial playoff contenders. See the up and coming Islanders, the Penguins and the Blackhawks. I truly am happy that the Bills sucked so bad last season, it gave us one more draft to solidify our defense and to re-tool our offense. I had hoped that Fitz was the answer, but I could not have been more wrong. I really think all this team needs are some good coaches and they can be a playoff contender for a bunch of years in a row. I think Marrone as CEO, Hackett with his vertical west coast offense and Pettine with the defensive talent will have this team in the playoffs much sooner rather than later. If not this year, then next year without a doubt.

I despised what happened this year, but in my eyes, it made the team so much better in the long run. If we had been marginally better and gone even 8-8 or 9-7, we are not as good as we are today. Perhaps we still have Chan, perhaps we still have Fitz, we might not draft EJ, not get a chance at Woods or even Kiko. I love the direction the team went with all the WR's, the QB and a ranging linebacker with attitude. I'm excited for the 2013 season more than I have ever been as Bills fan, except this year is different. The team is no longer this stagnant hopeful team who is trying its best to compete. We went out and became aggressive in every aspect of our team. I say watch out, this team is ready to compete now more than it has been in 10 plus years. I'm so excited for the team.

________________________________________________

Alternate Universe 2012: The 11-5 Bills

1-0

What happened: Sanchez throws for 266 yards, 3 tds and a pick. Fitz throws for 195, 3 early picks and 3 garbage time tds. Spiller touches the only ball 14 times but gets 169 yards. 0-1

Week 2/3: The Bills hand the lesser opponents losses in the Chiefs and Browns.

3-0

What happened: The Bills do just that 2-1

Week 4: The Bills hold on to a strong 21-7 lead over the Pats and the defense makes adjustments in the second half so that they are not outcoached in the 4th.

4-0

What happened: Bills had the lead 21-7 but gave up 31 points to the Pats in the 4th quarter. Due to being out coached at every angle possible. 2-2

Week 5: The Bills lose the the 49ers in a non embarrassing way.

4-1

What happened: The Bills give up 621 yards of offense and lose 45-3. 2-3

Week 6: the Bills decisively dominate the Cardinals embarrassing offense.

5-1

What Happened: The Bills needed an Mega Hand block and a Kolb injury to win. 3-3

Week 7: the Bills do not allow 100 yards rushing to the Titans and Matt Hasselbeck to beat them.

6-1

What happened: Chris Johnson runs for 195 and 2 tds on 18 carries. Hasselbeck leads a dramatic 4 minute offense to take the lead and with 2 minutes left the Bills flounder. 3-4

The Bills have allowed the following rushing yards 247, 311, 182 and 197 to the Pats, 49ers, Cardinals and Titans respectively

Week 9: The Bills lose to the Texans honorably.

6-2

What Happened: The Bills lost in a surprisingly good game. 3-5

CJ Spiller stats over the past 4 weeks:

Actual
Hypothetical

Touches Yards per Attempt Yards Touches Yards per Attempt Yards

12 7.33 88 20 7.33 140

12 5.83 70 20 5.83 110

6 6.5 39 20 6.5 130

9 7.88 70 20 7.88 150

Week 10: The Bills lose to the pats in a close game.

6-3

What happened: Bills lose to the pats in a close game 3-6

Week 11: Bills win a thriller on thursday night football.

7-3

What happened: Bills win a thriller on thursday night football 4-6

Week 12: Bills win a good game with CJ leading the way with 130 yards on 20 carries because we game planned to keep the ball out of Luck's hands and Fitz didn't throw the game away.

8-3

What happened: CJ had 25 touches in Miami with 125, should we repeat? No. CJ has 107 yards, great right? Nope, 14 touches averaging 7.64 yards. Down by 7, Fitz throws a pick and Stevie saves his butt with a strip fumble. New set of downs!! 3 and out game lost. Screw reality. 4-7

Week 13: Bills win a convincing game against the Jags.

9-3

What happened: The Bills beat the Jags 5-7

Week 14: CJ touches the ball 20 times for 120 yards, we keep the ball out of Bradfords hands and win.

10-3

What Happened: CJ touches the ball 7 times for 52 yards Freddy touches the ball 14 times for 30 yards. We give up a td with 4 minutes to go to lose the game long lead and Fitz throws a pick to lose the game. 5-8

Week 15: Bills lose a close game to a playoff bound Seahawks.

10-4

What Happened: Bills lose 50-17, and seahawks run for 270 yards with Russell Wilson running for 3 tds 5-9

Week 16: Bills lose a close game to Miami.

10-5

What Happened: Bills lose to Miami in miserable fashion. 5-10

Week 17: Bills win against the Jets and go 11-5 for the wild card!!!

11-5

What Happened: Bills have an empty win against the Jets. 6-10

Bills learn from their week 9 loss to Houston and win the wild card.

Bills play Denver but lose due to a great game by Manning.

Buffalo celebrates the great season and moves into the offseason with tons of hope.

_____________________________________________________

Poll

How big of a stretch was a 10-6 Bills 2012 hypothetical season?

Buddy Nix: The Hero Buffalo Deserves

2013-05-13T21:51:11Z

Because he's the hero Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs right now. So, we'll hunt him, because he can take it. Because he's not our hero. He's a silent guardian. A watchful protector. A Dark GM.

I'll agree, what a unnecessary dramatic title. But, I would just like to take the time to recognize the direction the franchise was in and what has happened under his reign as GM. I had hoped that he would remain as the GM for a few more years to enjoy the success that will come from his work as a GM, but he has decided to move on. This post is a bit of a back story on him, and a travel through his tenure as GM of the Buffalo Bills. If you don't want to read an optimistic piece on what has been on paper a dismal tenure as GM then you should stop now.

Pre Buffalo

From 1993-2000 Buddy was the regional southeastern scout for the Buffalo Bills. With a massive shake up amongst the Bills organization, he moved with John Butler and AJ Smith to San Diego. Butler passed away as GM and AJ was named the GM while Nix was named the Assistant GM. Buddy was said to be an equal to AJ and the two worked worked well together. It is a general consensus amongst Chargers fans that Nix was the better half. Their drafting record speaks for itself: LT, Drew Brees, Quinten Jammer, Eli Manning, Michael Turner, Sean Philips, Sean Merriman, Vincent Jackson, Darren Sproles, Antonio Cromartie. Nix left the Chargers following the 2008 season. The team in my opinion has fallen extremely far from the contender that they once were while Nix was with the team.

His early Buffalo tenure

In 2009 he was named a National Scout under Tom Modrak. The team had one of its most productive drafts ever in his first year with the team with the exception of Maybin. Eric Wood, Jarius Byrd, Andy Levitre and Shawn Nelson all followed the pick that lost Modrak his job. Fitzpatrick and Trent Edwards were battling for the starting QB spot and the roster was a dismal mess. TO was the main attraction on the team and the team was a joke. No one wanted a part of the team, no one wanted to associate with the mess that was the Buffalo Bills.

His GM tenure: 2010

Buddy's first move similar to his first move in San Diego and LT was to draft an All-Pro running back in CJ Spiller. Yes, the move was undeniably controversial and seen as a luxury pick. Looking back on it, CJ is one of the brightest parts of our roster with hopefully his best years ahead of him. Buddy chose to build through the trenches while working with QB talent currently on the roster. He selected Torell Troup, Alex Carrington Marcus Easley and Arthur Moats. Looking back, Troup and Easley both seemed to have so much potential, but due to injuries have hung on the the roster by a thread. This offseason will be the defining moments in their careers. The coach which was selected from a dismal pool of applicants was Chan Gailey as head coach and offensive coordinator with journeyman George Edwards as his defensive coordinator. The team started 0-8 with Trent Edwards being cut from the team and Fitzpatrick finishing the season "strong" with a 4-4 record.

2011

Tom Modrak was finally fired and the Donahoe" era was finally circumcised from the Buffalo Bills. With the 3rd pick in the draft Buddy would have prefered to pick Cam Newton but chose not or was unable to trade up. He chose to pass on Patrick Peterson and AJ Green, both pro bowlers to pick Marcell Dareus. Looking back this pick is seen as a failure because of the success of his peers. In my eyes, Marcell has been hampered to no end by his defensive coordinator. His success will come through as he utilized correctly instead of the joke that are George Edwards and Dave Wannstedt. Aaron Williams was scouted to be a safety from day one, Kelvin Sheppard has shown he was not the ILB we had hoped while Chris Hairston will finally be given his chance to start after 2 years of maturing as NFL offensive lineman. This draft's potential will be unlocked by pettine in my eyes. The group of Dareus, Williams and now Hughes can be put into positions to succeed as opposed to positions where they were asked to read and react. I truly think that Hughes and Williams will be given new life as players this year and Dareus is going to shine.

The team started 5-2 with Fitz at the helm and broke a 15 game losing streak to the Pats. The Buffalo Bills were featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated for the first time in my life with Drayton Florence returning a Tom Brady interception for 6 points. On October 28, 2011, Fitzpatrick signed a six year, $59 million contract. On October 30, 2011 London Fletcher hit Fitz and broke 2 ribs. Fitz attempted to lead the team with cracked ribs and failed miserably by going on a 7 game losing streak. The team looked bright against the postseason bound Denver Broncos and a heaven sent Tim Tebow by winning 41-10 led by an unbelievable defensive effort. They ended the season a disappointing 6-10.

2012

With the disappointing end to the 2011 season, Fitz looked to re work his mechanics and become a stronger, more accurate passer. Mario Williams was signed to an unbelievable contract completely blowing out of the water the stereotype that big name stars do not want to come to Buffalo. The team went on to draft Stephon Gilmore, Cordy Glenn, TJ Graham, Nigel Bradham, Ron Brooks and Zebrie Sanders. Stephon and Glenn were immediately the best 1/2 combo picks the Bills had seen in 10 years while TJ was underutilized by a weak armed QB. Bradham shined as a 4th round pick and Brooks filled in the nickel CB role as a rookie. Zebrie is an enigma who looked good in training camp but tore a labrum and had bone spurs and was placed on IR for the whole season.

The 2012 season was supposed to be the year for the Buddy Nix plan to all come together. Fitz was supposed to look good and the defense had a dominant defensive line with a new CB and on paper looked amazing. Several people expected the Bills to be a strong wild card contender due to a weak schedule. But Chan Gailey and Dave Wannstedt had other ideas.

Bold Assertion

The 2012 season is the reason the Buffalo Bills will succeed in the future. It highlighted the weak points of the team and was a perfect evaluation tool for Buddy and Doug Whaley. The season opened with a 48-28 lost to the Jets. This dismal effort showed exactly how inept Wannstedt was as a coordinator. The 48 points was a season high for the Jets and Mark Sanchez, the worst QB in the league threw for 266 yards and 3 touchdowns. The only bright spot was CJ, he had 14 attempts and ran for 169 yards. You'd think he was primed for a season to be remembered. But Chan decided mid season he needed to not be winded. It showed his inability to call a game. I wrote a second fan post entitled, "An Alternate Universe 2012: The 11-5 Bills." It highlights everything that went wrong this season and why the team should have been 11-5.

The Cleansing

With the team finishing yet again 6-10, major changes come about. The Bills fire Chan, Dave and make major personnel moves. Fitz, Jones, Nelson, Levitre, Rinehard, Kelsay, Barnette, McGee and Wilson all are unsigned and a new era is brought about. You could say that Nix is part of this needed cleansing but I could not disagree more. I think that he along with Russ and Doug Whaley were what assembled the core of this new team.

Nix's Mistakes

Fitz's contract: Buffalo was 4-1 and Fitz had just been named the offensive player of the month for September. Against the Raiders we scored 5 straight touchdowns to come from behind and win. The Pats game was unforgettable, and possibly one of the best games in Bills history. We had just beat the dream team Eagles which followed a loss to the eventual Super Bowl Champs, the Giants. Given those games it is impossible to says Fitz's contract was a mistake. Then he breaks his ribs and is never again the same QB.

Chan Gailey: If you read the man's Wiki you wonder why he was hired as a Head Coach. He was an excellent offensive coordinator back in the day but had very little success. In the beginning of his reign Buffalo, he was able to get the most out of what he had but towards the end he just failed at being a true head coach and failed at successfully managing his offense.

Dave Wannstedt: I have nothing. I hate this man, but he is the reason we drafted 10th so I must thank him. His schemes in preseason were identical to the regular season and he just failed as a defensive coordinator. His schemes gave up rushing yards 247, 311, 182 and 197 to the Pats, 49ers, Cardinals and Titans respectively and an average of 600 total yards to the Pats and 49ers. A drunk monkey would have been better.

Nix's definitive positives:

Mario Williams, Kyle's contract extension, Stevie's contract extension, Freddy's contract extensions, CJ Spiller, Marcell Dareus, Stephon Gilmore, Cordy Glenn, the offensive line rebirth. All part of Nix, a GM who can take the state of the franchise in 2009 to what it is now should be commended and deserves better than a 6-10 record.

Mike Pettine

On paper the record may seem embarrassing but if you dig through the past and how seasons unfolded, he is not at fault in my eyes. The blame falls on the coaches, the talent is there and the best support of that argument that I have is Mike Pettine. Mike Pettine is an up-and-coming defensive mastermind. He was the Jets secret weapon and Rex's statement regarding Pettine leaving the Jets, "I wish him all the best unless he goes to Buffalo." Here is an unbelievable article on Pettine. It talks about his impact in NY and how he called the majority of the plays. Why would a coach like that come to a division rival? It is because we have tons of defensive talent that has been massively under utilized. Mario, Kyle, Dareus, Byrd, and Gilmore are all core talent that could be pro bowl players if used right. Leodis, Alonso, Lawson, Bradham and Williams all have tremendous upside in this defense. This defense was constructed by Nix, it was his child. If used correctly, I see this defense being a beast in the very near future.

Conclusion

I liken Nix to Batman because here in Buffalo, all that matters is results. He is vilified by countless people because of the record on the field. Things which went wrong were out of his control. The injuries to Troup, Easley and Fitz. The misuse of players: CJ not being used at all last season, Aaron and Leodis being put in terrible positions for their skills, TJ being thrown to by a noodle arm and the whole d-line underperforming. These are all things which Nix after the offseason has no control over. Do I think Wannstedt should have been even hired, no. Do I think Chan should be an offensive coordinator and not a Head Coach, yes. But Nix worked with what he was given and made the best of a miserable miserable team.

Him leaving following the 2013 draft is an appropriate end. He is able to have his legacy left in the hands of those who can make the most of it. He was able to get his QB, and some hopefully amazing receivers (just on offseason workouts, I know they don't mean anything but its optimism.) If we can stretch the field and play a similar offense to the Orangemen and play a similar defense to the Jets, this team is headed to the playoffs in the very near future and it will be because of the efforts of Buddy Nix. It may be credited to Doug Whaley and Maronne, but Nix was the man who put this plan into motion. Nix, in my eyes, you turned a franchise that was wallowing into an up and comer. You deserve more recognition than I believe you get and should be commended for it. Enjoy your family and thank you for helping to revitalize a team I love.

Because he's the hero Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs right now. So, we'll hunt him, because he can take it. Because he's not our hero. He's a silent guardian. A watchful protector. A Dark GM.

Pre Buffalo

His early Buffalo tenure

His GM tenure: 2010

2011

2012

Bold Assertion

The Cleansing

Nix's Mistakes

Nix's definitive positives:

Mike Pettine

Conclusion

Poll

If the Bills are in the playoffs next year (not 2013, 2014) will it be because of Buddy Nix or inspite of Buddy Nix

Is Byrd Going to Fly the Coop?

2013-05-13T16:55:54Z

With all of the Rumblings recently about Byrd and his contract situation, I thought I would go over some of the scenarios that could play out this summer and beyond.

The only date to really care about now is July 15th. That is the deadline for Franchise tag players to sign a long term deal.

Here are the options that Byrd has between now and then:

Sign the Franchise tender, which is 1 year for $6.916 million.
Work out a long term deal
The Bills could allow him to work out a deal with another team

In this scenario, if Byrd were to work out a deal with another team, the Bills and that team would likely have a trade already in place. Byrd would then sign his Franchise tender with the Bills and the Bills would then trade him to the team that he agreed to a contract with.

Here are Byrd's options after the July 15th deadline:

Sign the franchise tender

Really, that is his only option. Of course he can choose not to sign it but it's really only a matter of when he decides to sign it and not an if scenario. Byrd has two cards in his pocket at this point. The first is that he could holdout. However, he must play at least 6 games to accrue an NFL season. If he holds out more than 10 games into the season, he will be kept in a holding pattern with the Bills. The other card in his pocket is to sign the Franchise tender with a clause that states that the Bills can not apply the Franchise tag to him next year. If you remember, this is what happened with Nate Clements. If there is no such provision in his contract, the Bills and Byrd could play the same game again next year. Byrd would be set to become a UFA and the Bills could prevent that by either signing him to a long term deal or placing the Franchise tag on him again. His franchise tender would then be $7.9428 million (a 120% increase). This scenario could likely play out one more year after that as well. Players can be franchised a maximum of 3 years. If it unfolded into a 3rd year his franchise number would be $11,437,632 ( a 144% increase).

A look into past Franchise tag players

To give us all a little perspective, I decided to look back on the past 2 years and the scenarios that unfolded for players that were tagged under the Franchise label. In 2012, 21 players were Franchised. Of those 21 players:

12/21 (57.1%) signed long term deals. There were 5 Kickers, 1 Punter and 1 QB that got franchised. I want to remove those players as they are not really comparable to Byrd's situation. That leaves us with 14 players.
11/14 of those players were coming off of their rookie contracts. I want to focus on these players as they compare favorably to Byrd's situation.
11/11 (100%) played with their team
6/11 (54.5%) re-signed to long term deals.
3*/5 (60.0%) re-signed with their teams in 2013. *Anthony Spencer has been Franchised a second time.
2/11 (18.2%) are playing with new teams in 2013

Judging from the franchised players in 2012, it is very likely that Byrd will be back with the team this year and next year as well. The two teams that chose not to re-sign their young Franchised players from 2012, the 49ers and the Lions, were both pressed against the salary cap this off-season.

If we take a look back to the 2011 list of Franchised players, there were 14 franchised players and 9 were coming off of their rookie deals. Also, Logan Mankins and Vincent Jackson were coming off of a year of being restricted free agents due to the expiration of the CBA. They were none too pleased about this as they had to play under some cheap deals due to this circumstance. We can include them to make 11/14 players. Still, 10/11 (90.9%) eventually signed long term deals with the team that Franchised them. Jackson being the lone exception. Still, he played the minimum 6 games to accrue an NFL season with the team that Franchised him.

I know this is only 2 years of Franchise tag players and I'd go back further to take a look, but it's really hard to compare due to the new CBA. I think if I were to go back and take a look, we would find very similar numbers. To recap, in the past two years there were a total of 22 players coming off of their rookie deals that were Franchised (including Mankins and Jackson) and 19/22 (86.3%) either signed new long term deals with their team or were Franchised a second year. The players who were not seem to be exceptions to the norm.

Outlook

I would assume that there is going to be a lot of back-and-forth between Byrd's agent (Eugene Parker) and the Bills. Parker's likely starting point for negotiations would be to look at his Franchise numbers for this year and the following 2 years ($6,916,000 +$7,942,800 + $11,437,632). If Byrd were to be Franchised in these 3 years he would receive $26,296,432 and it would be fully guaranteed. That breaks down to an average of $8,765,477 per year. Keep in mind that if Byrd chose not to sign a long-term deal and was Franchised each of the next 2 years, he would be risking injury (which equals money). The Bills can use this as a leverage point to lower Parker's asking price.

________________________________________________________________________________________

The rest is all pure speculation. I am thinking that Byrd and the Bills could agree to a long-term deal that pays him an average of $8 million per year. I am both hopeful and optimistic that a deal will get done, either this year or next. In my mind it would be foolish for the Bills to put in a clause that would prohibit Byrd from becoming a Franchise tag recipient next year. Byrd may want to see how the new defense and team looks under the new regime. I do not blame him if he took this approach.

As always thanks for reading and I would like to thank Stetz for asking me to do this fanpost. I really hope it calms down a lot of Rumblers that are concerned that Byrd may be leaving. I just don't see it as a likely scenario, especially before the upcoming season. It's a wait and see game for now though...

What are your thoughts? Let me know in the comment section below!

With all of the Rumblings recently about Byrd and his contract situation, I thought I would go over some of the scenarios that could play out this summer and beyond.

The only date to really care about now is July 15th. That is the deadline for Franchise tag players to sign a long term deal.

Here are the options that Byrd has between now and then:

Sign the Franchise tender, which is 1 year for $6.916 million.
Work out a long term deal
The Bills could allow him to work out a deal with another team

In this scenario, if Byrd were to work out a deal with another team, the Bills and that team would likely have a trade already in place. Byrd would then sign his Franchise tender with the Bills and the Bills would then trade him to the team that he agreed to a contract with.

Here are Byrd's options after the July 15th deadline:

Sign the franchise tender

A look into past Franchise tag players

12/21 (57.1%) signed long term deals. There were 5 Kickers, 1 Punter and 1 QB that got franchised. I want to remove those players as they are not really comparable to Byrd's situation. That leaves us with 14 players.
11/14 of those players were coming off of their rookie contracts. I want to focus on these players as they compare favorably to Byrd's situation.
11/11 (100%) played with their team
6/11 (54.5%) re-signed to long term deals.
3*/5 (60.0%) re-signed with their teams in 2013. *Anthony Spencer has been Franchised a second time.
2/11 (18.2%) are playing with new teams in 2013

Outlook

________________________________________________________________________________________

What are your thoughts? Let me know in the comment section below!

Ode to the pundits....

2013-05-13T15:03:20Z

It’s early May and the pundits say,
"The Bills have had the worst draft day."
Rookie camp comes and goes.
Who has impressed? No one knows…
Now, the vets enter the room.
The pundits aver the "doom and gloom"
Training camp starts and battles begin.
The pundits declare, "They’ll never win."
It’s game number one and time to play ball.
The pundits, they wonder "who to take first over all?"
But then…
CJ, TJ , EJ, FJ, SJ and Woods
let the offense commence and shows off the goods.
Williams, Williams, Kiko, Stephone
are even more dominant now that Dareus is on.
The Patriots go down, an embarrassing defeat.
Old Brady walks off his eyes to his feet.
The pundits take heed, "The Bills can surprise!"
They say to save face, still doubt in their eyes.
Marrone winks to his ol’ buddy Nix
as the whole world watches his Bills go 10 and 6.
The playoffs! The playoffs! The playoffs are here!
The Pundits are silent and they cry in their beer.
What happens next, I will not predict
For I am no pundit ‘cause pundits are dicks….

It’s early May and the pundits say, "The Bills have had the worst draft day." Rookie camp comes and goes. Who has impressed? No one knows… Now, the vets enter the room. The pundits aver the "doom and gloom" Training camp starts and battles begin. The pundits declare, "They’ll never win." It’s game number one and time to play ball. The pundits, they wonder "who to take first over all?" But then… CJ, TJ , EJ, FJ, SJ and Woods let the offense commence and shows off the goods. Williams, Williams, Kiko, Stephone are even more dominant now that Dareus is on. The Patriots go down, an embarrassing defeat. Old Brady walks off his eyes to his feet. The pundits take heed, "The Bills can surprise!" They say to save face, still doubt in their eyes. Marrone winks to his ol’ buddy Nix as the whole world watches his Bills go 10 and 6. The playoffs! The playoffs! The playoffs are here! The Pundits are silent and they cry in their beer. What happens next, I will not predict For I am no pundit ‘cause pundits are dicks….

Cautiously optimistic

2013-05-12T16:37:04Z

I have to say I actually have a fair amount of optimism so far with the rookies, or at least on the offensive side of the ball. Of course, this comes with the caveat that our defensive signings may be really bad, but it does seem like we are showing a lot of promise at the WR position and though coverage on Manuel has seemed lukewarm at best and Marrone was fairly even on him, he actually threw the ball quite well (better than Geno Smith's numbers and he of course got plenty of attention from ESPN for "throwing well").

Really, I am quite excited about what Robert Woods will do for this offense. Manuel has the natural ability that our previous attempts at QB haven't had (namely, the deep ball and movement) and it seems the WR's actually have the ability to separate and get open down the field to make that ability worth something. For the first time in a while I actually have some optimism about the direction of the offense.

Now, with that said...it is only a rookie minicamp, and I think everyone is excited about their teams at this point in the season. However, I am sure I'm not the only one that is actually looking forward to our offense taking the field for full mini camps and our first preseason game, right?

Is Rogers even there?

2013-05-12T05:13:25Z

So after following the first two days of the rookie minicamp, I'm both confused and excited. As for being confused, it's because I haven't yet heard a single mention of Rodgers, other than an article about him putting his past behind him. Does anyone else find that odd? Yes, I know it's still super early, but still you'd think they'd at least mention him making some catches or something. On the flip side, I'm loving what I'm hearing about Goodwin burning defenders, Kaufman making ridiculous catches and Woods developing an early chemistry with EJ and getting tons of YAC.

Committed or not.

2013-05-11T16:14:53Z

On the other hand, it would sound you crazy but if Bills are really committed to a mid-term plan, they should seriously consider the next strategies as follows:

1) Manuel should start from day 1.
2) Byrd should be signed to a long term contract.
3) Despite of unfortunate contracts, veterans like Rian Lindell, Tarvaris Jackson, Mark Anderson, Brad Smith and Brian Scott should be cut as soon as possible.
4) Stop being egoist. Veterans like Kyle Williams, Fred Jackson and Eric Wood could shine anywhere and should be strongly considered material to support mid-term plans.
5) Drafted and Non-Drafted players should be targeted to shine this year.
6) We should be prepared to finish with one or two victories this season.

Just my opinion but this time, it looks like Nick and co designed a Draft strategy accordingly to a mid-term game plan. This offseason Bills simply got rid of their top leaders and Nick definitely stopped selecting the best player available. Something certainly controversial but also certainly wise. On the other hand, it would sound you crazy but if Bills are really committed to a mid-term plan, they should seriously consider the next strategies as follows: 1) Manuel should start from day 1. 2) Byrd should be signed to a long term contract. 3) Despite of unfortunate contracts, veterans like Rian Lindell, Tarvaris Jackson, Mark Anderson, Brad Smith and Brian Scott should be cut as soon as possible. 4) Stop being egoist. Veterans like Kyle Williams, Fred Jackson and Eric Wood could shine anywhere and should be strongly considered material to support mid-term plans. 5) Drafted and Non-Drafted players should be targeted to shine this year. 6) We should be prepared to finish with one or two victories this season.

New Online Show - For the Fans by the Fans

2013-05-11T12:07:13Z

Hey everybody,

We started a new online talk show called "Hangin' with the Herd". It's all about the Bills. We have had bloggers and Bills players on the show already and we have only had 4 shows!!

Just wanted to put it out there and see if we can get some support on our social networks from anyone here.

Our YouTube channel is - www.youtube.com/user/hanginwiththeherd

Facebook - www.facebook.com/hanginwiththeherd

Twitter - @HanginWTheHerd

Google + https://plus.google.com/u/0/107401787506485261267/posts

We are going to keep doing 1-2 shows a week online, also going to sprinkle in some interviews live from Training camp and other videos and things throughout the season.

Thanks Rumblers!

Hey everybody,

Facebook - www.facebook.com/hanginwiththeherd

The Buffalo Gamblers?

2013-05-09T15:45:55Z

Next comes the NFL draft. Everyone knew the Bills desperately needed a Quarterback, but the NFL experts stated that none of the QB's in the 2013 draft class were worthy of a 1st round selection. The Bills decided not to use their #8 pick on QB, so they found a trading partner with the St. Louis Rams. With the #16, the Bills took another big gamble and drafted QB EJ Manuel. According to the NFL draft experts, they felt Manuel would have been available in the 2nd round of the draft. It's very possible the Bills could have traded down again in the 1st round, gained more draft picks, then drafted Manuel, but they decided to roll the dice, place their bets and went with Manuel at #16. Opinions on Manuel vary depending on who you ask.

So, the Bills have gone from hiring cast-offs, and coordinators as their HC, to plucking the college ranks. Also, this was the first time in franchise history that the Bills used their first pick in the draft on a Quarterback. (Trivia question: Who did the Bills select with their first pick in the 1983 draft?) The Bills have decided to take some risks in key areas, but will these risks payoff? Considering what they have been doing over the past 13 years, these gambles are worth a shot.

This offseason has been a different one for the Buffalo Bills. It first started back in January when Russ Brandon announced that Ralph Wilson was stepping down and handing control over the Bills to him. Brandon stated he would help lead Bills management in their Head Coaching search after Chan "Cooter" Gailey and his entire coaching staff was fired after the end of the regular season. At the time, former Chicago Bears HC, Lovie Smith was available. Instead of choosing Smith, who was considered a safe pick given the Bears win/loss record under Smith, the Bills decided to roll the dice and hired Syracuse HC, Doug Marrone. The move was and is considered a gamble as Marrone has no NFL head coaching experience. Next comes the NFL draft. Everyone knew the Bills desperately needed a Quarterback, but the NFL experts stated that none of the QB's in the 2013 draft class were worthy of a 1st round selection. The Bills decided not to use their #8 pick on QB, so they found a trading partner with the St. Louis Rams. With the #16, the Bills took another big gamble and drafted QB EJ Manuel. According to the NFL draft experts, they felt Manuel would have been available in the 2nd round of the draft. It's very possible the Bills could have traded down again in the 1st round, gained more draft picks, then drafted Manuel, but they decided to roll the dice, place their bets and went with Manuel at #16. Opinions on Manuel vary depending on who you ask. So, the Bills have gone from hiring cast-offs, and coordinators as their HC, to plucking the college ranks. Also, this was the first time in franchise history that the Bills used their first pick in the draft on a Quarterback. (Trivia question: Who did the Bills select with their first pick in the 1983 draft?) The Bills have decided to take some risks in key areas, but will these risks payoff? Considering what they have been doing over the past 13 years, these gambles are worth a shot.

2014 Draft Needs

2013-05-08T19:56:09Z

With the 2013 draft concluding it's never too early to start looking towards the 2014 draft!

My question is, what do Bills fans think will be our biggest needs going into next years draft? We plugged some holes at quarterback, wide reciever, linebacker and safety in this years draft. But what holes will the team be looking to fill next year?

My own personal list would go something like: hybrid pass-rusher, cornerback, tight end, guard, and back up runningback in that order.

With the 2013 draft concluding it's never too early to start looking towards the 2014 draft!

My own personal list would go something like: hybrid pass-rusher, cornerback, tight end, guard, and back up runningback in that order.

	Actual			Hypothetical
Touches	Yards per Attempt	Yards	Touches	Yards per Attempt	Yards
12	7.33	88	20	7.33	140
12	5.83	70	20	5.83	110
6	6.5	39	20	6.5	130
9	7.88	70	20	7.88	150