I know I'll get bashed if I write anything pro-Dick Jauron, but I have no issues defending this man.  Regardless of what you think of Jauron, one thing you can never say is that he is not a great leader.  What is leadership?  Defined by Webster:

"process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task"

Anyone who is a coach, and is in it for the right reasons, knows the right reason is to accomplish goals as a team.  It's not for individual success to gain in their profession, or any other reason, but simply to accomplish the goals they set out.  Each coach will have different ways of motivating his players, each coach has unique personalities, and each coach is shaped by their experiences as a player/coach, mentors and their overall coaching/teaching philosophy.  

I have never seen Dick Jauron lose a football team.  In fact, under the most dire of circumstances, I see Dick Jauron is capable of rallying his team to play at their highest of levels, with energy and passion.  Again, I'm not talking about scheming, game management, or x's and o's, I'm talking simply about leading a team to unite, to play to their potential, and to never quit on the overall goal: to accomplish a common task as a TEAM.

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I had to put this up into a fanpost, in light of the 1-4 start, and the dysfunction of our favorite football team.  This is from Michael Lombardi over at the National Football Post.

Bills GM Russ Brandon on the 6-3 loss: “It is frustrating. I said it last week and I will say it again this week, this is a low point for the organization and for the fan base. We worked our tails off in the offseason to put us in a position that should be better than where we are now. Certainly, we understand the frustration of our fans and everyone that supports this organization.” Working your tail off doesn’t ensure success in the NFL. Working your tail off and making the right moves, however, do ensure success. The Bills placed too much faith in quarterback Trent Edwards, believing he could be their answer as a starter. He’s not a starter. News alert: The Bills need a quarterback.

I could make many points here, but the main point I want to make is about the Bills Front Office.  There are many flaws in Buffalo's organizational structure....but work ethic is not one of them.  It's not like Brandon, Jauron, Modrak, Guy, etc are lazy people.  The problem lies in the fact that there is no one LEADER.  The APPROACH and ATTITUDE of this organization is defined by a committee of people rather than one VOICE, which is why we have no identity as a football team.  There is no football vision.  What are we?  The only thing about the Bills under Dick Jauron that is clear, is that we are a Tampa 2 defense that plays extremely hard, and usually under Bobby April has spectacular special teams.  There is no offensive identity.  They have clearly misevaluated the talent of the OL, and the capability of Trent Edwards as a starting caliber QB in this league.  What separates good businesses from great businesses in any sector is not work ethic, because everyone knows you must work hard to succeed.  It's knowing how to fix things when they go wrong.  It's admitting mistakes and fixing them.  Dick Jauron has had no clue what to do on the offensive side of the ball during his entire tenure and neither has anyone else in the organization for that matter, which is why we have had 3 OC's in 4 years.  

Simply put.  Dick Jauron is a great coach, a great leader and a great person.  He is not however, a General Manager a talent evaluator, nor is he the one clear voice in the Bills organization.  He clearly has his flaws, but those flaws are due to the committee approach of the organization and his lack of ability to make football decisions.    They obviously screwed up big time spending all those FA dollars on Dockery & Walker.  They have yet to find a QB, or an offensive coordinator.  They have yet to find an identity in 3+ seasons.  

Last thing I'll say.  Everyone was giving so much kudos to the no-huddle approach in the off-season.  This was clearly Dick Jauron's attempt at trying something new, something different to finally score enough points.  In theory it was a good idea.  However, he failed to think about having such a young and inexperienced OL and what it would take for them to run this system.  The failure to think ahead about the APPROACH, led to the disaster and atrocious discipline of yesterday's circus of false starts.  Trent IS NOT Peyton Manning.  He cannot read a pre-snap defense and get them in the right play like they had hoped the no-huddle would allow him to do.  They did not evaluate him correctly, or maybe they aren't putting him in the best position to succeed.  He has regressed.  Why?  Remember when you were in school and the teacher was teaching you something you already knew?  What did you do?  You sluffed off and didn't pay attention because you knew it all already.  Or how about when a teacher was shuffling through notes, trying to figure out what to say next?  I feel this is what the OC position for Edwards has been like.  No clear identity, no clear vision, and thus Edwards has not progressed, but rather has regressed because he spends his time trying new things that AVP/DJ are pulling from you know where.  Has he worked hard?  No doubt.  Is he of high character?  Yes.  But he has not progressed because no one has any clue what the offense is supposed to look like in Buffalo.  The APPROACH stinks and the attitude suffers because of it.  

For the last 3 years on this blog, as the Bills have suffered, at some point every year it comes time to talk about firing the coach, time to rebuild, and etc.  Every time we have this conversation it ends with the same conclusion in my opinion:  As long as Ralph Wilson is the owner of this team, the Buffalo Bills will never build a consistent winner.  The days of Jon Butler and Bill Polian seem like light years ago.  And until or unless Ralph or some new owner realize this, that you have to have one voice, one leader, one man in charge of your organization, the only time of year we will have any amount of excitement will be between February and August.  Because, when the games count, and they start counting wins and losses, the teams that have carefully executed their approach and plan for success (i.e Pitt, Indy, NE, Denver, Balt to name a few) will always be light years ahead of (Buffalo, St Louis, Cleveland, Washington).  

The NFL is such a ridiculous phenomenon.  No other professional sport has one game a week, to allow fans, media and critics bash or praise each team based on one game.  Literally, week to week, if you were an outsider with no clue on how the NFL works, you would think people were completely 100% bipolar.  How else can you explain it?  The Bills leading up to week 1, were predicted to lose by 10-50 points to the Pats.  After week 1, some said what an effort, others destroyed McKelvin's property.  After week 2, some said look at what this offense can be, others said "eh it was the Bucs."  After week 3, we are back to how most felt after the pre-season, thinking Trent-ative is back, T.O. is about to go Chuck Norris on Edwards, and Dick Jauron has no clue on game-day management (see 4th and 1 in the 4th quarter).  

I'm here to tell you that perspective is a tool all people need to use.  Great leaders in business or sports know how to first identify the problem, find the best possible way to correct the errors, and if that doesn't work, have the BALLS or courage to CHANGE and try something else.  The best leaders call it knowing when to admit that your way is not the best way, and having the courage to change for the betterment of the T-E-A-M.  Dick Jauron has shown that.  He fired Turk Schonert, he cut Langston Walker, he traded Jason Peters, signed T.O., drafted Shawn Nelson, and most notably went to a complete no-huddle offense.  These are drastic changes that were made after 3 years of winning just .438% of there games.  

But now we are in full regular season mode.  While game planning and X's and O's are undoubtedly crucial to success, more so than anything is what you have don ein minicamps, OTA's, training camp and practice leading up to this point.  Week to week game plans change, but the fundamentals of football do not change. 

I go to one Bills game every year.  This was my 4th straight trip. I have never once met a casual friend or stranger that understands why I depart my hometown of Minneapolis every Fall to travel to Buffalo to see a Bills game.  I tell them it's because I love my team, I love the NFL, I love the city, and I feel a commonality with Bills fans that I can only get by attending the Ralph.  However, I have yet to see a Bills victory in my travels.  Not that I am here for sympathy, but my last two trips, (last year vs the NYJ, and this year vs NO) have been very troubling.  Both games Dick Jauron's teams have looked flat, prone to mental errors especially on offense, and have lacked discipline in the kicking game, and  in their offensive assignments.  Trent Edwards looked miserable on Sunday, but the real question is WHY?  The kid prepares like no other, has an unreal work ethic, wants to be the best, and does not get rattled.  But why then, can he not step up and play more consistently?

This team reflects its leader, Dick Jauron.  Players work hard, don't throw teammates under the bus in the media, are classy and full of character, and treat each other with respect.  That all stems from the HC.  Mike Lombardi said about the Bills the following: they are hard to play but not hard to beat. What does that mean?  Different interpretations can be made but I think it means their effort is always 100%, they don't beat themselves on defense, and they always come to play on gameday.  However, they don't challenge good opponents into the 4th quarter.  They don't put the pressure on the opposition.  Yesterday, the defense played with heart, and Chris Kelsay, IMO, had one of his best games as a Bill.  He was great in dissecting plays, read and reacting and making tackles when the opportunity presented itself (I had to throw that in there for K).  

If the Bills want to go from a 5-7 Win team (which they looked like on Sunday) to a 8-11 Win team (which Jauron needs to keep his job) they have to go from preparing to play, to preparing to Win.  I felt going into this season that Jauron was ready to make change because "it was necessary."  His job is on the line, he is desperate to win, to keep it, and to accomplish something no coach in Buffalo has done in 10 years....make the playoffs.  He did that in off-season personnel changes, and now he needs to do it in the way his teams play on Sundays.  The OL looked like a bunch of rookies on Sunday.  Trent Edwards looked like the check-down QB afraid to make a mistake, we saw last year in Cleveland.  Why does this persist?  Why is Captain Checkdown one of Trent's bipolar characters?  Maybe it's his genetic disposition.  Like when golfers are under pressure, they often have a swing that "comes out and rears its head."  It's the golfers who can go to a "get me over swing" in those situations or can thrive in those situations that separate Tiger from say your run of the mill tour pro.  

To sum up, we can argue why Trent goes to his conservative ways, or why the Bills struggled vs NO and may continue to struggle vs above-average teams this season.  But the bottom line is the proof is in the pudding so to speak.  Coach Jauron always prepares his team to play, but does he prepare them to win?  Mental mistakes, penalties (most penalized team in the league), lack of effort, are results of inconsistent mental performance.  This is troubling, yet also breeds optimism knowing these are correctable errors.  Perhaps the offense (AVP, Trent, EVERYONE) got complacent after beating Tampa Bay.  Perhaps they thought they were on the right track after success in NE and vs TB.  The weapons are available, and it's the job of Edwards to get them the ball.  From the stands it was clearly evident to see T.O. "doggin it" on plays where he felt he wasn't going to get the football.  You can see how this adversely affects Edwards.  Then when he needs a big play from T.O. should Trent have confidence in T.O. to be there, to run his route 100% when he has seen his body language go to sour grapes as the game wore on?  Frustration yields inconsistency in play and performance.  I saw it first hand on Sunday.  

Here's the Bills offensive possession results from Sunday:

1 - Punt

2- FG - Fake results in TD

3 - Punt

4 - Punt

5 - Punt

2nd Half

6 - Punt

7 - INT on throw to T.O.

8 - Punt 

9 - Punt

10 - Punt on 4th and 1 from own 28 with 7:30 left

11 - TO on downs

12 - Punt on 4th and 10 form own 20

Not exactly lighting up the scoreboard.  The Bills owned the ball for 26:26, were 2-14 on 3rd down, had 13 first downs, and completed just 20/35 passes (not including Moorman's) for an avg of 4.4 yds per attempt.  One stat Lombardi loves is passes completed plus rushing attempts.  NO was (16 completed + 38 rushing attempts = 54).  The Bills were (17 completed +  21 attempts for 38).  That is a huge disparity and tells the story.

I could go on and on, and this has turned into a mind dump here, but the bottom line is you expect to see progress with this offense, unfotunately on Sunday we saw regression.  Edwards and AVP never figured out how to beat the NO defense.  With a poor rushing attack, the Bills struggled, and it can be argued they didn't run it enough.  If this offense could somehow, eliminate mental errors, and build some confidence, I believe the potential is there.  With 5 games before the bye week of (@ MIA, vs CLE, @ NYJ, @ CAR, vs HOU) the Bills can pretty much determine if they will contend the 2nd half or be a non-factor.  You have to think a record of 4-4 at the Bye week is an absolute minimum to have any shot at the playoffs, and with a much tougher second half of the schedule, I don't see how they can be worst than 5-3 and have any shot.  It's often said that games in September are tough to decipher as teams build their foundations and get a feel for other teams schemes and effectiveness.  Well, September is over, the Bills went 1-2.  It's now time to shut up or put up.  It starts this Sunday in MIA, and if ever there was a time to Dick Jauron to summon that desperation to keep his job, to get his team to play with such conviction and emotion as they did in week 1 @ NE, that time is now.  Now is the time.  This is the week.  Let's see how it.  "When it's too tough for them it's just right for us" As Marv Levy used to say, well that couldn't be more true than this week against MIAMI.  I

You play to win the game.  The 2009 season is about to begin for our beloved franchise the Buffalo Bills.  Back in April of 2007, Brian Galliford initiated this blog here at Buffalo Rumblings, and it went from a couple of users like myself, to the thousands of hits it now receives daily.  Since that time I have been a loyal reader, active participator, and always a die-hard Bills fan.  The growth at Rumblings over the last two years has been fun to see, the site has gotten better, the tools are improved, you can have an avatar for example, and the quality of the content has indeed improved, thanks to the great writers Brian has assembled.  The one thing that has remained constant is that the Bills have continued to be mired in mediocrity, and Kurupt still hates Chris Kelsay more than ever.  

Why am I mentioning all of this?  Well, because this blog has developed and grown into something Dick Jauron and his staff has not in his three-plus years on the job.  Entering year four, there are a million questions surrounding this Bills team, mostly on the offensive side of the football.  I am here to give my take on the upcoming season, to use logic and analysis, and to try and calm some fears that many of the national media critics and fans have ingrained into their brains before the season has even begun.

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With the addition of T.O. much has been said about not only what T.O. can bring to the passing game in Buffalo, but also what effect he will have on Evans, Reed, Parrish and company.  Mainly, what will this do to Lee Evans?  Evans has been a legit #1 in Buffalo since he arrived in 2004.  With sporadic QB play, Evans leads the league in big play TD catches in the last 5 seasons.  He is the definition of a "big play guy."  He is 28 years old, entering his 6th NFL season, has a career high of 82 catches in 2006 and caught a mere 63 balls last year.  He has speed, he handles his body well, and he has strong hands.  He has never been the premier WR like Andre Johnson, whom despite many losing seasons has been able to put up Pro-Bowl numbers.  However, Evans possesses good route-running, ability to separate off the line of scrimmage, and ability to always have DB's thinking in the back of their heads "this guy can beat me deep all day."  

Michael Lombardi wrote in his column for the National Football Post yesterday about how Amani Toomer and T.O. struggled to separate from DB's last season, which is the main reason these veteran WR's have diminished skills.  I have a die-hard Cowboys fan who is a great friend of mine, who said the Cowboys were forced to slide T.O. in motion a lot to try and give him a head start on separating from DB's.  Add to that that T.O. led the league in drops last year, and you really have to question about the player we are getting.  Make no doubt about it, T.O.'s skills have diminished.  However, his work ethic, influence on this team and fan base, leadership, and ability to teach James Hardy make the signing a no-brainer in my book.  The real WR on this team is Lee Evans, as he is in his prime, has developed a rapport with QB Trent Edwards for the past 2 seasons, and is coming off signing his mega 4 year deal for ~$36 million.  Lombardi had this to say in his column about T.O. last year and more importantly about how teams will play the Bills this season:

Many people feel Terrell Owens was dismissed from Dallas for his poor behavior, but just as important was his inability to consistently beat press coverage, which made him a liability at times and resulted in his termination. When teams rolled to Owens, he was not the same player, so the Cowboys had to motion to create space. Since the NFL is not the CFL, teams can only motion one player at a time. If you’re a team that has too many receivers who struggle to separate from bump, your passing game is going to struggle. In Buffalo, Owens will not face rolled coverage -- Lee Evans will. If teams don’t roll to Evans, he’ll put 100 yards on them before halftime. Trust me on that.

Why do I bring this up?  Because Lee Evans will still be facing the double coverages.  Teams will play that safety high on Lee's side to prevent the big play.  So while many people think the addition of T.O. will be like relieving a log jam in a struggling to flow stream, I believe that the addition of T.O. only helps if he can also make big plays on the other side OR open it up for the skill players Lynch, Jackson, Parrish, Reed, etc to make plays in the underneath game.  And I will be the first to say I really doubt whether T.O. can be a legit #2 across from Evans in the ultra-competitive AFC, in which Owens has NEVER played a full season in.  

If T.O. cannot effectively get off the line and win 1-on-1 battles especially on 3rd down, then this offense will not be much more effective than last season.  And if Trent and Turk FORCE the ball to T.O. that will end up in an even worse situation.  While revamping the OL was something that had to be done, if they can be effective in the run game, and handle these 3-4 fronts, the Bills offense I don't see how it will be any better than last year.  Point blank, this team HAS to up its scoring average from 21 per game of last season, to 23-24 this season, unless the defense becomes Top 10 which I don't see possible with Kelsay still on this roster.

The no-huddle, the addition of Rhodes and Shawn Nelson, the hopeful improvement of Steve Johnson, Derek Schouman, Derek Fine, and most importantly Trent Edwards is what fans, media and observers are looking at as reasons this offense can improve BESIDES the most obvious and T.O.  

Prediction:  If this team wants to go to the playoffs, there is no doubt who should lead this team there in the WR corps and that's Lee Evans.  Maybe he will continue to get double-teamed but that will just open up the run game, and other skill players, and Trent needs to finally recognize this.  If I have to hear about 8 man coverages and how they are doubling Lee over the top, I'm going to puke.  Make an ADJUSTMENT, run the ball effectively, and utilize the short-underneath passing game and no-huddle to make teams get out of those coverages!    T.O. should be a role player this season, and not a focal point.  If he is a focal point, sure he'll get his stats (and he'll drop a ton of balls), but I guarantee we won't be going to the playoffs.  The Bills want to go to the playoffs for the first time in a decade, Lee Evans is the guy that should and can lead them there.