That's right.  What the Bills, or Chix as many of you affectionately refer to the new brain trust, do with the #9 selection next Thursday night could very well define the destiny of the team over the next 10 years or more.

If Jimmy Clausen slides to our pick, Chix faces a monumental decision.  If Chix believes that Clausen is a franchise QB who is ready to play now if necessary, then the choice is simple.  And most draft pundits now believe Clausen will slide to the Bills at #9.

However, if Chix prefers Tim Tebow over Clausen, then the biggest decision they will likely ever face during their Bills FO tenure is staring them in the face.  If they pass on Clausen, they are obviously assuming a huge risk and leaving themselves open to second-guessers for years to come.  I do not believe Chix will select Tebow at #9, even if Clausen is off the board.  Chix will either hope Tebow slides to the Bills' pick in the 2nd round, or will attempt to trade into the bottom of the first round to be sure to land him.

Obviously, their decision rests on their evaluations of the two QBs.  Is Clausen worth the #9 pick more than Tebow is worth the #41 pick?  And don't forget to figure in the risk that Tebow will be snatched up  before we can even make a move back into the 1st round.

Here's a prediction: if Tebow slides to the 2nd round, the Patriots, armed with their three 2nd round picks, will make a move to get Tebow.

I, for one, say we have to select Clausen at 9 if he is there.  Finally, this writer wonders if Chix would rather have Clausen not slide to them at #9....in other words, making their decision much easier.

I really wanted to defer this post to the second half (after the jump), but that would have had an odd appearance.  I heard no one ask Coach Jauron during his post-game Q & A about his now-patented choice to defer to the second half when his Bills win the coin toss prior to opening kickoff.  It became a staple last season, one in which we tallied a grand total of 46 first quarter points over 16 games.  I, for one, was convinced that Dick had learned the error of his ways.  Wrong.  During pre-game festivities yesterday myself and friends joked about the Bills deferring to the second half if they won the coin toss just minutes away.  I say 'joked', because I knew that there was no way we would choose to kickoff to the league's highest scoring offense and risk falling behind in a game where it behooved us to play with the lead.  Wrong again.

Saints 7, Bills 0.

What exactly is Dick Jauron thinking?  Is it his intent to send a message to our offense, every chance that he gets, that he has no faith in them (which he so capably reinforced with 7 minutes left in the game by punting on 4th and less than 2, down by 10 points)?  Or does he simply want our defense to spend as much time as possible on the field, thinking they perform better when exhausted in the 4th quarter? 

When down only 10-7 starting the 4th quarter, I began thinking overtime and the 302 miles drive home last night.  that's when a friend said, "Hey, if we go overtime, you think Jauron will defer if we win the coin toss?"

I still haven't rid myself of the awful taste left in my mouth last season in how we failed to compete against the Patriots.  That's right.  We did not compete.  The 20-10 loss last November 9th, in a still meaningful game, left me searching for answers.  We entered that  game on the heels of consecutive losses to the Fish and Jets, but were 5-3 and still in the thick of the divisional race.  I could come up with only two possible explanations for the lethargic play and vanilla game plan on both sides of the ball that day.

One, our brain trust believed the team was good enough to beat New England without offering anything imaginative.  In other words, we could and would beat the Patriots straight-up.  Maybe if we had beaten the Fish and Jets and were 7-1, I could buy this one.  Otherwise, the usual garbage had not worked against New England since Drew Bledsoe's first game as a Bill; I believe the 2003 opener.  The other explanation?  We did not believe we could win the game, so we chose not to really try.  That's simplifying things a great deal, folks, I know, but if you watched that game start-to-finish you know exactly what I mean.  If the coaches do not believe we have a chance, that feeling has to filter down to the players.  That is the way our players performed that day.

We open against these same Patriots (except Brady is back) in a month in front of the nation.  I  hope our Bills have learned from the past.  We need to throw everything at them, leaving no stone unturned.  For just one time, could we out-coach someone?  Could we be the ones that make crucial adjustments at halftime for once?  Can we be the team to dictate play against a quality opponent?

One more thing.  A week after the no-show vs. the Pats, we were upset at home by the Browns, 29-27, and that was pretty much the season.