My 10 Reasons Why the Bills Season is Over

                   Before the season started, I don't think I've ever seen this area so excited for a bills season in my entire life. Everyone was optimistic, even the most pessimistic of fans, including yours truly. We knew we had two good running backs, our secondary was coming around with the addition of Gilmore, and most importantly we signed Mario Williams. How did we wind up getting the number one prize on the free agent market? I thought this was a wasteland of a city to play in, one in which the only good things about the city were Applebee's and Dave and Busters (thank you Willis McGahee). Well, the reason brings me to the start of my list!

10. Mario Williams is overrated.
                  Yup. You heard me. It may seem more obvious now, but I've had this unbelievable thought in the back of my mind since "Super" Mario was manhandled by (Insert Jets right tackle off the practice squad here). If that isn't enough for you, take a look at the rest of the season. He's been basically invisible throughout all of our biggest games. The man didn't even get a sniff of Tom Brady's perfectly quaffed hair in the patriots game, and that was the main reason we signed him. In his latest efforts, he basically did nothing against the titans and was later spelled by Kyle Moore who, yes I have a man crush on and has a high motor, was also considered unlikely to make the team at points in training camp. Moore clearly created more pressure than Williams did in today's game, to the surprise of nobody interestingly, and at this point I consider to be a more valuable pass rusher than Williams unless proven otherwise.
                 Perhaps the most puzzling part of this disappointment is why he was a free agent in the first place. Mario Williams was the number one pick of the NFL draft, was a big contributor to the Texans in his tenure there, was a fan favorite, and they let him walk like it's nothing in favor of a largely unproven yet promising sophomore (who is now unbelievably good)? Either every defensive lineman that goes through Houston is on steroids until they leave or they knew something that nobody else did. He's just not that great. If you look back at Mario Williams career numbers, they are largely unspectacular, even average in many ways. He was primed to have his best season last year (5 sacks in the first 5 games) before succumbing to a torn pectoral. In career comparisons, at this stage in their respective careers Williams' numbers are nearly identical to Aaron Schobel. Yes he made the pro bowl for us, but he wasn't worth $100 million. That's what the Bills are paying $100 million for. Aaron Schobel 2.0.

9. The entire defensive line is underperforming.
               With the exception of Kyle Williams, who has been playing as expected, our "fearsome" front four has been playing like they did in years past. Williams has already been examined, but what have Mark Anderson and Marcel Dareus done so far? The answer is not much. Anderson is injured now but prior to the injury he was just as ineffective as Williams, and Dareus has not been much better. Unless Kyle Moore turns out to be a revelation, I don't see a huge turnaround looming. And don't even bother trying to sell me on Chris Kelsay, because you won't.

8. The linebackers are just not very good.
               Early on in today's game the Titans faced a 3rd and long on their first drive. I noticed two wideouts covered by Aaron Williams and Gilmore, and a slot receiver covered by.....Nick Barnett? Stop me if you've heard this one before (Barnett covering Larry Fitzgerald against Arizona). While a linebacker covering a wideout is unfair to begin with, why is he put in that situation in the first place? Regardless of who's covering who, the linebackers are also non-existent in stopping the run. Every time the other team runs the ball i look at the tackler and it's consistently either Jairus Byrd or George Wilson. So if they can't cover the pass, and they can't cover the run...what are they good for? Sheppard has been a non-factor this year, and Arthur Moats has already been replaced in the starting lineup by fellow scrub Nigel Bradham. You can say as much as you want about Fitzpatrick, but right now the Bills most glaring need is in the middle of their defense. Manti Te'o anybody???

7. Dave Wannstead is still calling the defensive plays.
              This guy hasn't been a successful coach in the NFL since.....um......(still looking).....yeah I can't find a time he was successful. He took the dolphins to the playoffs once or twice, and besides that he aided in drilling that organization directly into the ground. So your NFL career was slightly unsuccessful, why not take a shot at college? OH. He couldn't keep a Pittsburgh team, in one of the most uncompetitive divisions in college football, in contention? Ok maybe another shot at the NFL would work out. It's not working out? How surprising. After allowing an NFL record 1200 yards in two consecutive weeks, having a bottom tier defense with no heart, and getting the least out of his players, this guy still has a job. Meanwhile, in Philadelphia, they run out a top 10 defense every week that singlehandedly keeps them in games while Michael Vick does his best to give them away, and they fire their defensive coordinator? Makes sense that Wanny still has a job huh?

6. The Bills lay down and die in divisional games.
             The Bills may as well not even show up to their divisional contests because they are a total disgrace. In the Bills' last 4 divisional games dating back to last season, the Bills have given up a combined 179 POINTS. That's an average of 44.8 points per game. I'll keep this one short and sweet for you all. Opponents get up and play big in important divisional showdowns. The Bills do not.

5. The Offense is too easy to figure out.
             This may bring about the question: If the offense is too easy to figure out, why are the bills still putting up points? The answer is....I have no idea. If you want an answer, ask Rex Ryan. He sure knows. This offense is very basic. If a defense crowds the line of scrimmage and plays press coverage on our receivers, possibly doubling Stevie Johnson, how are we to move the ball? It shuts down our running game, our receivers aren't tough enough or fast enough to break away from press coverage against physical corners, and Fitzpatrick isn't accurate enough to place the ball in tight windows against press coverages.
             Essentially, crowding the line and playing press coverage is the way to completely shut down the Bills offense. Which teams have used this tactic against this team? The Jets and 49ers. The outcomes of those two games? Blowout losses. Unless Chan Gailey dials up some new looks or Fitzpatrick magically learns how to throw down the field, this offense is certainly going to be exposed sometime soon. Quite possibly our only hope comes down to our most dynamic playmaker.....but what if....

4. Shut down CJ Spiller, and the Bills are toast.
             When healthy and effective this season, CJ Spiller has been a one-man wrecking crew capable of single-handedly winning games. He still leads the league in ypc, and is quickly becoming one of the most exciting, dynamic, unstoppable young players in the league. But what if a team does manage to shut him down, or god forbid, he gets hurt? Conveniently enough for this article, we have answers to both!

• Injury: When CJ Spiller went down during the Browns game, our offense went stagnant. Thankfully he went down when we already had enough points to at least send the game into overtime. If he didn't give us that big a lead before going down, we may be looking at a 2-5 team. Fast-forward one week. The Spiller-less Bills get pounded by the Patriots. Thankfully that would be our last week without him and we can go back to winning right? Well...
• Shut down: CJ played vs the 49ers right? Right! Could have fooled me. The niners obviously game planned around containing Spiller and cutting off our short passing game and succeeded. We scored 3 points in that game. Case closed.

Since both of our running backs are healthy now, we'll be unstoppable on offense! Well.....

3. We can't successfully utilize both running backs at the same time!
            The loss vs the Titans may be the best job Gailey has done managing both running backs throughout the game. And it still wasn't adequate enough. We have two dynamic playmakers in the backfield, both seemingly finally back at full health, and Fitzpatrick is still throwing to receivers not named Stevie Johnson? At worst, Spiller should be receiving 25 touches a game, Jackson 15-20. This week? A near even split, 20-19 in favor of Spiller (12 carries, 8 receptions). As good as Jackson has been in the past two seasons, isn't it clear that Spiller is more capable of getting more yards and even hitting the home run? Jackson is a solid running back capable of getting 5 yards every time he touches the ball. The only problem is, Spiller has the potential to reach the end zone every time he touches the ball. Each carry or reception for Spiller is a score waiting to happen and the same is just not the case for Jackson.
            Despite the difference, wouldn't the offense be at its highest potency when both backs are on the field at the same time? A defense simply would not be able to contain both backs. With this being said, Chan Gailey is currently trying to figure out more plays designed for one of the two backs, while the other watches patiently from the sideline waiting for his turn. Speaking of Chan...

2. Chan Gailey is NOT the man for the job.
             Here's a quick comparison. Try to guess which coach is which.

• Coach A: Through 39 games, Coach A had a 13-26 record with his team, resulting in two top-ten draft picks and a defense ranked in the bottom 5 of the league.
• Coach B: Through 39 games, Coach B had a 19-20 record with his team, resulting in two promising seasons, and a scorching start to a third, a developing quarterback and a future all star at running back. Solid defense.

If you guessed right, you'd know that coach A is Chan Gailey up through today as Bills coach, and coach B is Dick Jauron up to the same point Chan Gailey is at now. Dick Jauron is largely thought of as a lost era in Bills football, as he was grooming Trent Edwards (now a bust, but looked like a budding superstar until Adrian Wilson hit him so hard he forgot how to play football), and Marshawn Lynch, now a superstar for the upstart Seahawks. Chan Gailey is a full 6 games behind Jauron's record up to this point in their respective Bills' coaching careers, yet people aren't ready to dismiss him as coach? His play calling is questionable at best, poorly mishandles key in-game situations, and is now starting to coach not to lose in a way hinting that he may be nervous about his own job security. The second half of the season will tell everything we need to know about this team, and at this point Chan Gailey is certainly coaching for his job.


This brings me to my number one point, and every person that reads this knows what it is. The most important problem any NFL team must answer to become successful.

1. We need a Quarterback.
                 He can't throw downfield. He can't throw accurately. He's not a great leader. He turns the ball over more than any quarterback in the league. He is one of the worst quarterbacks in the NFL. He is making $10 million dollars a year. He is Ryan Fitzpatrick. The Bills have gone all in with a two pair when every successful team is playing with a flush. The formula for success in the National Football League is employing a good signal caller. This is something the Bills do not do. Fitzpatrick overthrows receivers, leads them into big hits, has seemingly lost the confidence to throw down field when the situation calls for it, and is holding the Buffalo Bills back from being a 10 or 11 win team. He fills stat lines with high touchdown numbers, high interception numbers, and is lacking in the numbers that truly matter. Completion percentage, yards per completion, and most importantly, wins. You may say "How do touchdowns not matter?" Touchdowns matter when they matter. If this doesn't make sense to you, go back to week one. The bills are losing 41-10. Fitzpatrick finished that game with three touchdowns, appearing to have a good day on paper. In reality, did those touchdowns really matter? Absolutely not. The game was already over and the Jets stopped playing when Fitzpatrick decided to throw touchdowns. Touchdowns matter when they matter. Completion percentage matters all the time. If a quarterback has a 2-12 streak in a game, which Fitzpatrick is extremely prone to do, there's a good possibility that the offense is going nowhere while the other team is putting up points on a tired defense. This is the norm for the Buffalo Bills, and there is no end in sight, nor will there be until the organization loses faith in Fitzpatrick like the fans have. The team may still have faith in Fitzpatrick, but for how long? I strongly believe Stevie Johnson is 3.5 overthrows away from having an aneurism and completely exploding in a post game press conference. The worst part about this kind of blowout however, would be Stevie would be right and nobody would do anything about it. Fitzpatrick is incapable of playing up to a level high enough to bring an average team to the playoffs, and his deficiencies are wasting the Bills' opportunity to produce a winning team. With a real quarterback, the offense would become 2011 Packers level unstoppable. Two above average running backs, a top notch wide receiver, and an underrated offensive line would help this team skyrocket to the top of the standings. With a better quarterback, defenses would actually have to respect the downfield passing game, which would open up countless possibilities for our already dynamic rushing attack. Whispers of rivaling the early to mid 90's Bill offenses would spring up and this team would have playoff aspirations, or possibly more.
              But, as it stands now, the underwhelming Ryan Fitzpatrick is still slinging 5 yard overthrows, keeping Stevie Johnson from emerging as a top 5 wide receiver in the league, keeping our rushing attack from being devastating rather than "very good", and keeping our team out of the playoffs.



              Because the most important problems do not seem immediately fixable, I fear that we as Bills fans are doomed to suffer through another 6-10 or 7-9 season of mediocrity, and a continued hope that "maybe next year" we will emerge as serious playoff contenders. Seems like Buddy Nix is going to have a lot more work to do this coming off-season than he had previously anticipated.