corta765

Milano also left early along with Dorian Williams. Sorry I shouldn't have come across so aggressive but this game both offenses were peak of their power and I would expect both said what Goff & Johnson did because they were that good. The Rams game the week earlier bothered me wayyyy more because the defense was not nearly as maligned and the Rams in the week prior and after scored a combined 33 pts. As much as I am a big believer in the Rams that was just an abysmal job by our D and the flaws came out that they were not nearly as good as the stats showed (which given a reset year wasn't the end of the world).

Did your memory blackout that game? The Bills and Lions defenses both were banged up and starting second & third stringers by the end of this game all over the place. With the power both offenses have they took advantage of the injuries tenfold.

Appreciate that. Outside of 2015 I would say 2012 was by far the hardest season fandom for most Bills fans. Even the hardest Bills critics like Jerry Sullivan of the Buffalo News predicted them in the playoffs as the offense was pretty good the year prior and the defense added Mario, Gilmore, Bradham, & Mark Anderson along with Dareus in year 2. The schedule looked decent enough and the good vibes with Fitz still existed. The Titans game before the bye broke me that season. The Titans were not a good team themselves (went 6-10) and Chris Johnson just ran all over the defense you had high hopes for. Even so they had the lead late and could've went into the bye at 4-3 with some very winnable games down the stretch so playoffs were still very real. Then Fitz Fitz'd, the defense wilted badly and to me it was over with Gailey. At that point I felt between Coach QB & GM it just wasn't there and it was gonna be another reset.

Respectfully I think your wrong. The NFLPA functions to protect all players and salaries have constantly risen for a long time know for all. The rookie wage scale hurt the younger players but helped the older ones. The biggest thing which is the NFLPA's own fault is the additional games they have allowed. If you are adding games 17 and unfortunately soon 18 it seems how do you not start building in mandatory rest period before thursday games, travel rules, etc.. things to help with player recovery. One of the things most sports leagues have wised up to is how harmful work stoppages are. The MLB is the cautionary tale of being King and then throwing yourself off the thrown. At the end of the day fans either hate both parties or end up backing the owners over the players. The 2012 ref strike showed how bad it can get if things go unresolved and fans were furious to the point the Fail Mary single handedly altered the negotiation. To me the thing the NFL has to be really careful with is the streaming part. The ability to watch the best games in the NFL without paying allows the NFL in my opinion to stay king. If they ever touch those CBS/FOX/NBC packages that people watch without needing to pay for I think they may overdo what they have and it won't be reversable.

My fandom steadily grew as I got older and once I started dating my wife who is bigger fan then me (I am huge fan shes just better fan wise) it took off in 2009 lol. My brother and I look back at how delusional we probably were in years like 2011 before the season started that the team was a playoff team. The NFL truly does sell hope better than any other sport. Also because the drought by 2010 was long you kinda felt like you were due to back in at some point which didn't help drinking the koolaid. I will say years like 2011/2012/2015/2016 where they started 5-2 or 4-3 etc once they were out of it minus completely wild mathematics I def checked out on the season. The 2010 offseason may have been the most depressing just because the Bills were so out in the wilderness and you couldn't pay a decent name to come here. Buddy Nix saying "we got the guy we wanted" when guys like Cowher & Mike Shanahan wouldn't even take an interview was awful. Add on the teams future was so murky long term and the upcoming stadium lease was a major question... yea it was tough to get pumped for that year. My wife and I still went to a preseason game and three regular season games, but that was legit partly to tailgate and walking in at 1pm minus the home opener was a borderline ritual for most fans as the season went on haha. I think 2016 probably was worst though for me at end of season because the hype train failed badly, the defense was wrecked (Rexed), the big name coach you had hoped would at least get a playoff berth instead made it worse. I remember heading into 2017 knowing good players like Mario, Robert Woods, etc were leaving just felt like will this thing ever turn around and here comes another rebuild. It was the irony of ironies that the drought died in 2017 because just about everyone predicting that year had the Bills near the basement and I distinctly remember week 1 be billed nationally as the toilet bowl between the Jets & Bills as no one was even sure they would win more than a game or two apiece. We do a massive Bills party week 1 yearly (since 2013) and that was the most relaxed easy going viewing ever because expectations were so low lol.

Good points. I am not sour on the Chiefs O as I think between Mahomes Reid & their skill guys they have plenty to go. But the leftside with both LT & LG I think will be the great differentiator on their season. Ironically the Chiefs offense could be much better but the teams overall record a few games worse. They went 10-0 in one score games including one OT win, the toe touch no TD vs BAL, missed FG by DEN, CIN game last FG, and the second Raiders game. Law of averages is real with this stuff and even at 7-3 they would've finished 12-5 by comparison.

Not enough has been said about KC trading Thuney when their O-line was already shaky. If there is one thing that I think slows their offense way more its the O-line not being nearly as good as it has been in prior years.

Beane has brought up that after the QB gets paid it is very difficult to have every spot filled to perfection. The 2020-22 still benefitted from Josh on a rookie contract at that time. Unfortunately injuries in 21/22 robbed the Bills on defense of some important guys which happens and also sucks. Of the teams from 23-25 on paper this is without a doubt the best roster of those ... again on paper. The strength of the offense beside 17 is the O-line which is Top 5 and they have some truly good players in Cook & Shakir that help for sure. A WR or two emerging or Kincaid will help to make the offense more dynamic, fingers crossed Palmer does what projections show. But the big question is WR heading into the season which to me until an answer shows makes it hard to see them improved over last year. I doubt we ever see Josh with a WR group like 2020-2022 as the NFL had changed also with more an emphasis on the run and the 2 safety shell high. Additionally he is so good and helps the WRs that you can get away with lesser talent .. a la Brady in NE. I don't fully agree with this as they wasted 2023/24 draft to double dip at WR and we only got Coleman, but again with Josh no longer on rookie contract this is life. On defense the D-line is probably the deepest yet, LBs are solid, and CB is decent especially at CB1/NCB. I am really hoping Bishop is something solid at safety because when Rapp was gone SAF was real safety. CB2 having a true solution whether it be Maxwell or Tre would be big to real up the floor of the secondary. So again while not perfect as there are areas you wish you had a few more solutions, they have plenty of good impact guys that give a really solid roster now. I hate looking back and saying "if only" but 21/22 for different reasons give that feeling given how the roster was.

Agreed. I still think his contract is too high for the production given, but he is very integral to the offense.

I would put the position up to 23 (or argue around that high). Cook is a legit Pro Bowler, Shakir's numbers have shown him to be a top 3 slot guy by advance measures, and TE wise Knox/Kincaid are around 20th league wide as a combo IMO. I do not disagree on the rest of the thoughts on the WR corp, BUF is betting Coleman/Palmer/Samuel one, two, heck all of them have very good seasons. If they do then the overall skill group is close to top 10 at that point. I am high on Palmer being a legit guy this year and basically replacing Hollins/Coopers production combine, but the other two I honestly have no idea what to think. Luckily for Buffalo they not only have 17, but the O-line is top 5 and Brady is a wizard as an OC. The offense season has a truly higher ceiling if Kincaid or Coleman turn into something, otherwise they are similar to last year (which is still really good). One thing I do hate about these rankings is so much is based on past production and not the future so it always feels a bit fruitless in a way.

The D line is better then 2022. The key with the D line is a guy or two emerging into a game changer, they have a lot a lot of good close to great players but not great or game changer. CB if someone emerges at the CB2 spot changes that into a huge strength. Safety to me is the biggest question mark on the roster even more than WR at this point. Rapp was decent when he played, otherwise it was a true weakness last year.

That is where I am. Probably the best roster overall they have had since Josh and the schedule is favorable even with some tough home matchups. KC is not as good while still scary and the AFC North is tough as hell even if BAL is a beast. It is kind of now or never.

Well if you have Allen, Lamar, Mahomes or you PHI with Hurts and that roster how is that wrong? Honestly that should be the expectation given the rosters they have and caliber of QB play. Once you hit the divisional round/title games your talking about slim margins between winning and losing so you have to be realistic with that. But if I was a fan of any four of those teams my expectation should be SB title optimistically. Again CIN is weird because Burrow and the offense is elite, but the defense was so bad (and this hasn't been a banner offseason of improvement) that it weighs down what they do. It is a quasi Manning Colts situation there, except IND at least spend real money and resources whereas CIN is fighting with their best pass rusher and their 1st round pick who also is a talented rusher over contract language sooo yeaaaa

I appreciate that. This is more expectation wise what feels optimistic vs realistic. If you look at the last 20 years since QBs got more protected and rules favored offenses typically your top 10 QBs rotate in the SB, if you don't have that you need a Bo Nix or Daniels ascension from a rookie or 2nd year guy to change the expectation from realistically playoffs to SB or bust. If I told you the next 5 years you had Allen, Lamar, & Burrow against the field to make at least one SB I think you would take those 3 against the field. Good QBs tend to have good and consistent results team wise. Also any team with a title game appearance does not mean a loss as much as they at least get there. I actually am really high on Green Bay but Love needs to take that step from really good to elite. I think he can and if he does the optimistic view becomes realistic in my eyes. That is basically the fulcrum point I am viewing things through if you don't have an elite guy passing. Cincy is weird because Burrow is absolutely elite, but I don't trust the defense enough to be a 1 seed even if they are a playoff team.... BUT Burrow absolutely is good enough to go hot like Rodgers in 2011 on his own so even though my realistic expectation is less then title game they absolutely are a threat.

I said the Ravens SB win and Eagles also. If realistic is the outcome my liver is toast lol