rsherman12

What did everyone expect? That they would go from 5-3 to 10-6 and make the playoffs? Look what happened the last few times the team started off 5-1 or 5-2.

Brandon Fields- 7th Round (225) Shane Lechler- 5th round (142) Thomas Morstead- 5th round (164) Andy Lee- 6th round (188) Dustin Colquitt- 3rd round (99) Brett Kern- Undrafted Johnny Hekker- Undrafted Dave Zastudil- 4th round (112) Only one of these guys was drafted in the 3rd round or higher and two were undrafted (and I could have included Steve Weatherford as well). Just another reason why the Bills continue to be mediocre.

So what's better 9-7 with Orton? Or 5-11 with EJ? You could make the case that giving EJ more practice and improving draft position would constitute a more productive season.

It's because the Bills can never beat the playoff contender when it counts, which means they boost the record of the other team while conceding the tiebreaker as well.

Great thread. If it weren't for the refs, the Bills would likely be 7-2 instead of 5-4 and we'd all be talking about the playoffs.

And they won't even be favored in the Browns game.

Season's not over by a long shot but this one really hurt. If the bills go 8-8 and miss the playoffsm again, the move to Orton is going to be questioned.

That says it all right there.The Bills' 4 losses are to the teams right in the thick of it (Patriots, Chiefs, Chargers, and to a lesser extent, Texans). You can't get a playoff spot unless you can beat some of the competition for those spots.

Gutsy call by Reid on the 4th and 1. I give credit where it's due on that one. But yeah, on the 3rd and 15 it would have been nice to keep it to 4th and 6 or something.

A playoff contender should have been able to win this game regardless.

way too many passes to win an NFL game.

I feel like the Browns and Bills are in similar situations. Mediocre/bad teams for the last decade, who are off to a good start this year with veteran qbs but also have young talent at the position. It looks like both teams are gonna try and make a playoff run and then work on developing the young qbs later.

The Patriots would probably sign someone like Jason Campbell and still win the division.

Wow another knee-jerk reaction. In other news, Tom Brady is on the decline, Peyton Manning has gotten old and has lost his touch, and Big Ben is washed up.

Bengals are more likely to make the playoffs IMO. However, it might end up being a road game if the Steelers keep up this pace.

They lost their first round pick the next year. Do your research.

All of this "chiefs are overrated and haven't played anyone" talk sounds familiar. http://forums.twobillsdrive.com/topic/163049-oh-manare-the-chiefs-that-good/

1. Early patriots had excellent defenses that stopped Manning in the playoffs. The giants defense played lights out that year, also shutting down Romo and intercepting Favre in crunch time. Defense matters. 2. Notice that Brady and Manning are 2-2 against eachother in the playoffs--with the home team winning all the games. Manning has traditionally played poorly in cold weather--especially in New England. He lit them up in the two playoff games that were played at home. 3. The whole "don't screw this up mentality" doesn't explain why Brady won superbowls when they went 14-2 or why Peyton won his first superbowl. Wouldn't you think Brady would be afraid to "screw up" having a top seed or Manning would be afraid to "screw up" his first chance at a title, knowing there's no guarantee he'd ever get back there?

Was that the draft in which the Bills got J.P. Losman?

2 superbowls + a solid body of regular season work should be enough for the hall. If these guys can stay healthy and put up a few more good years I think they are in. Ben looks to be on the way there, Eli needs to play better, but he hasn't exactly gotten a lot of help from the O line, and now Cruz is out.

If you go onto a patriots forum, everyone complains that the NFL loves Peyton Manning and wants him to get another ring so they give him all the calls. Back when he was in Indy, people were complaining that the refs called PI all the time to help Manning out. There was a playoff game between the Steelers and Colts back in 2005 I think (Big Ben's 1st superbowl run) where Manning was intercepted by Polamalu and they called it incomplete and Manning-haters went nuts. Every message board is filled with complaints about the refs. I'm on a few Seahawks message boards and it's the same old "all the important flags are on us, all the meaningless ones are on them." Source http://www.seahawkblue.com/showthread.php?43354-Refs

It's not just because pro defenses are much better (which they obviously are), it's because college offenses run so differently. Most college qbs are in systems designed to "win now" rather than groom them for the pros. Hence the profusion of running qbs like Winston, Newton, Tebow, Vince young etc. They were put in positions to win college titles, even though that style wouldn't help them in the pros (Newton being the only really successful one of that bunch). Luck on the other hand was in a position to become a top nfl player. But notice that Luck never won the title in college like these other guys.

Exactly. The Bills can stuff Charles and still lose. You know how many total rushing yards they gave up in the loss to the Texans? 37.

Charles has been injured and has 500 fewer carries than Forte in his career. Charles has averaged more years per carry than Forte every single year.

Superbowl wasn't that cold--about 50 degrees. It was more about Seattle's D. We've seen Manning thwarted by good defenses in the playoffs on several occasions (early 2000 patriots, Steelers, Chargers, Jets a few years ago, and Seahawks last year).