thurst44

That doesn't mean we don't think they could be the next ringless team to win a Super Bowl, given their definite upward trajectory. But Debbie Downer-ing can be fun.

And you want people to paint your house with that attitude?

Hillis' one "monster" year was roughly 75 yds/game, and considering who it was for, do we really know when and how these yards came. SJ has had some key catches and key drops. To act like he's never come through in a big game is preposterous (off the top of my head, the same Bengals game that started all the celebration nonsense was on a clutch catch). I can understand not calling him an elite, but not even "good"?

By what metric has he never been a top 20 qb? Most assessments I saw of him last year had him consistently around 15th or 16th.

I guess sometimes it's how you meet the people. I literally crashed into him one day in the early 90s as a college kid at Network for some reason (not sure if it was in rock show or nightclub mods) and he had the most smug, outta-my-way-lower-form-of-life scowl on his face. A few years later, I worked at a local indie record store that had a deal with Alex Van Pelt's 97 Rock(?) show which consisted of Van Pelt, Fina, and Ted Washington having gift certificates there. Fina would come in and we'd talk about music for hours, trading recommendations. He was open to suggestion, erudite, and his tastes ran beyond pop radio. Overall, he was genuinely friendly. Too bad to hear about his drunken diss, but my experience with him was the impression he absolutely loved the city.

His wildcat got a first down almost every time on third and short (at least the first half of the season). Just because it wasn't flashy, doesn't mean that it wasn't effective.

Maybe it's where you look! Someone's filling up the six different Bills bars in the metro area that I know of (three in Manhattan, one in Brooklyn, one in Hoboken, one in Paterson). There was a display of Buffalo Bills gear (hundreds of shirts) at the Old Navy a block from where I work on 19th Street -- they were sold out within the day. I see Bills gear around the city all the time -- three times in the past two weeks...saw no Jets gear in that time, some Giants. Sure a lot of it is transplants like in any city, but there's a lot of Buffalo transplants in NYC since its the nearest mega-city. Fercrissake, we had the riot police called on us at the Bills bar when we beat the Pats -- and that was a regular season game. Sure, it's not a huge movement here, and obviously it's nothing like the Jets or Giants, but to act as if there's zero special following here seems unnecessarily negative, and to be missing something special. Also, there's so little hatred of the team, if they did well, it would be such a story, that I'd bet there would be more than the usual complement of new fans (but that's neither here nor there). While the Jersey thing is a stretch, I do hear non-Bills football fans point out that they are the only team playing in NY almost half the time I mention I'm a Bills fan. Also, it just kinda fits the Jets that they play in a stadium with another team's name. It's bizarre how they just sort of stopped looking for their own home.

Sorry, but I think you are reading this all wrong. It may be an unfortunate name, but from how I understand it, this started as a very noble thing -- the idea that too many people rag on Buffalo, its team, its players. Instead of absorbing the negativity and either letting it go (or worse, echoing it), these guys decided to defend the city and the players. Some team members picked up on the vibe, on the sense of camaraderie, and used it to bond, and to build a oneness with the community. I just can't see this as bad. To me, it feels like a beautiful thing -- one of the many aspects that makes Buffalo a special place, and the Bills a unique team to root for. It's not about "thug life" or anything, but about unity. But that's just how I see it.

They were not a "good" football team last year (at least in that manner), and it's fairly absurd to expect a young, rebuilding team to overcome the insane barrage of injuries they encountered last year. However, they may be ready to rise to that occasion this year -- oddly enough, aided by all the trials, since it allowed players like A. Williams, Sheppard, Searcy, and Hairston a chance to mature. We'll see. However, the busy off-season, paired with the abundance of promising young players, as well as chance dictating that the injury bug won't bite quite as maliciously this year (yes, yes, i know we're talking about the bills here), should have at least some pundits predicting better days for the Bills this year. However, as many have pointed out here, it doesn't matter. Hopefully, they simply prove they deserve a higher ranking (and frankly, after 08 and 11, i wouldn't blame rankings peeps to be wary of moving them up the charts).

Why would you be surprised we're that high? We signed one of the biggest free-agents of the off-season in our primary area of need and yet only moved up one spot.

Agreed. He is likely their best open-field tackler at this point.

You're right, because nothing unexpected has ever happened in football.

By that logic, you could say the DBs were even better than they seemed, since they had an awful lot of INTs for no one throwing on us.

To paraphrase Hank Hooper on 30 Rock: "Well I'll be Bob McAdoo'd if I don't know a Buffalo gal when I see one."(even though she's not from) Looks can be deceiving, but...

Hate to say it, but Meachem made the right decision (but did it in a dikish fashion). As the #1 receiver for SD, he will get a ton of garbage yards with Rivers throwing to him. I'm a bit baffled why he's considered a tier above Mario Manningham.

Lee Evans was a #13 pick overall. He didn't exactly come out of nowhere. In 8 years, he has had exactly as many 1000 yard seasons as seventh round pick Stevie did in his four. I loved Lee, but he was never quite as good as it seemed he should have been.

I don't think it's that clear that Carter is "ahead of him." Better or worse, Reed made the cut to ten in 2011, while Carter did not. They both made the cut to ten in 2012. In my opinion, it's insane that either of them have had to wait this long.

Smith was not worth the money last year, but to imply he brought nothing is not really fair. At one point, he had made EVERY third and short he came in for except for one false start...admittedly third and short isn't hard, but it is by no means automatic. Frankly, if he brings just that, he's worth a spot on the roster. And it's not like he hasn't had success in the wildcat in the past. His acquisition didn't thrill me, but he wasn't worthless.

So are they

What game were you watching? Fitz, while playing mediocre at best, threw zero interceptions. Let's at least be honest while savaging our own.

I know you really want to be negative, but really...every team loses all FOUR of their pro-bowl-level players (based on last year/mid-season ratings) -- top rb, top safety, top defensive tackle (perhaps best in league), starting center, plus their kicker, a starting cb, two starting lbs, starting and back-up left tackles, multiple WRs???!!!! -- to say there are not degrees of injuries is being willfully ignorant to prove how much more negative you are than the next person. Maybe a Super Bowl caliber team could do that, but to expect that in year two of a rebuild is just spectacularly pigheaded. Sorry if I'm being a Pollyanna, but based on my expectations of this year (and it's hard for me too to get the heightened expectations of the start out of my head), I am not disappointed and in some ways there are positives in that it's gotten many of the draft picks some snaps. I know I should let this go, and it's no time to be positive, but I'm just tired of people getting belligerent about anyone who deigns to think that a young team beset by an absurd amount of injury is going to have a near-impossible time winning.

Wow. Dirty hippies piss YOU off! Seriously, what's it like in the 1950s?

"No experienced, veteran depth"???!!! First off, they are a young, rebuilding team, so by definition, this is a preposterous attack, but they also have Andra Davis, Dwan Edwards, Kirk Morrison, Bryan Scott, Spencer Johnson, etc. You can't seriously expect a rebuilding team to weather TEN significant injuries (including all four players who made the pro bowl last year or made the mid-season all-pro lists, one of whom having an mvp-caliber year), and suggest they're not going to miss a step. That's like telling an architect he should have planned better after a nuclear bomb hits his house.

This is not a minor injury bug...this team had one pro-bowler last year, and three players who made the two mid-season all-pro lists I saw. One of them was getting significant buzz as MVP. ALL FOUR OF THEM have been out for at least a month (and only Wilson might come back). They have also lost their two top Left Tackles for most of the season (and had another potential pro bowl lineman playing out of position for weeks). Their top WR has been playing through injury. Their second WR (granted, he's not been that great while playing) is on IR. They lost Kelsey for a good part of the season (granted people have not thought much of him, but even kelsey haters were admitting he was having a good season). They lost a starting CB most of the season. Hell, they even lost their kicker! Young and rebuilding teams can win and go to the playoffs -- maybe this team would have gone 12-4 with a normal amt of injuries; maybe they would have collapsed to not much better than they have in this frustrating stretch. However, expecting a young, rebuilding team to overcome injuries of this magnitude is kind of ridiculous, patently unfair, and defies logic. And they weren't exactly blown out the last two weeks. Yes, maybe "good" teams overcome injuries, but they are not that team...yet. That doesn't mean they aren't improving...and it doesn't hurt for next year to have Spiller, Aaron Williams, Sheppard, Hairston, and Searcy (who looks to have the making of a tremendous tackler once he gets his sea legs -- his tackle on the titans final drive gave the bills a chance last week). And did anyone REALLY think Henne was a "franchise quarterback" at this point in his career?

We aren't the 1990 Giants. A rebuilding team, by its very definition, is not a perennially winning team that is SB-ready but for a player. And we didn't lose one player: we lost 5-6 high level players and a lot of role players. This team was not set for a playoff run healthy (any team can get lucky, but...), so the point is that the fact that they lost games with over half their team (and their best players on both sides of the ball) injured does not mean they are not on the right track.