corta765

Few cool ones with my dad and now my son: -First Bills game Bills Bears 2000 where RJ got knocked out and the crowd cheered (yikes lol) my dad took me to it. Threw the ball around the parking lot, he got me nice big Bills gloves and a beanie which I still have and the beanie my oldest wears -07 Pats SNF first night game and tailgate ever. Game was a trainwreck and the Bills owe me therapy money and anyone else who attended. But the experience was super fun and it was at that cool age where being in college and 20 my dad could loosen up more and have some drinks -2017 Raiders game my wife and I got him tickets with us. Such a fun game as the hype of the Raiders was high given the playoff year plus Mack was there. BUF torched them and the vibe felt finally different that maybe they would break the drought. He has grown up with the Bills since inception and the Raiders were always a fav of his and mine to hate/like. Hate as they usually were good forever, but they had a charm about them for their bullyish ways and Berman always saying Da Raidas! -2020 Colts playoff game he had people over and it was the first time watching a playoff game with him as an adult where the Bills were legit good (not lucky to be there or 98 Bills Flutie). Fun celebration after With my son the 2020 season in general was a blast as he was going from closing in on 2 years old and started to at least understand football meant fun and excitement. He fell in love with the Shout song both Bills/Original and I went to Buffalo for the AFC title as my dad sister and I were going to riverworks to watch the game. Pretty sure I played the Shout Song 45 times as my son kept asking for it (side note it ended up 1 played that year in my itunes). Bummer we lost to KC but the whole day was a blast -2021 preseason we took my son who was nearly 3 and my mom for the packers. Super awesome moment just having him there. Only stayed the first half but he loved it. in 2022 my dad came for the colts preseason game and the four of us had a blast. By that point my son fully understood a lot more and wanted to see Billy the Buffalo which made him very happy haha Can't wait as this year we have four tickets to Bills Bears preseason and both my sons are going (3 & 5) with my wife and I. Won't take them to a regular season game until probably 10-11 which is when I went though as anything before feels like too much haha

Tend to agree. Probably something like thing: 2019: WC 2020: Division 2021: WC NE wins division over us. People forget the final NE regular season game Josh went absolutely nuts and was the difference as NE was not bad in that 2022: Division 2023: WC MIA wins over us. Joshs running ability was big in the win streak although Cousins probably doesn't throwaway week 1 vs NY. They probably win a playoff round once maybe twice but I think they are still held back in the end as Cousins is really good not great.

I know but as I said at the time it was an awful reflection of the franchise and which looked cheap and mishandled… something that was proven later in again

I would add with that many people forget the 2017 draft class was Whaley/McD not Beane that gave Tre, Milano, & Taron. All three of them became true blue chip difference makers. Beane did get Allen, Edmunds, & Oliver and I do agree like you said the last two draft classes have brought a really nice group of young talent but he really needs a few to elevate to the levels the three from 2017 did.

I look at this two ways: Yearly grade Overall or long term Yearly it will change as the goal of the GM is to build the best possible roster which it then is up to the coach to work with. Overall or long term every team wants a QB, clean cap, and draft picks to work and replenish with. So yearly: 2017 B but mostly because he did not do FA/draft and was more setting up the future. I thought he did a fine job given the circumstances and this is fair 2018 A- Had Wyatt Teller been here still its a A+ but regardless he knocked the draft out of the park and got Josh. FA was still cleaning the cap which was fine 2019 B+ Oliver was has been good and the rest of the draft was productive, Brown Beasley & Morse were all major signings that helped build the future in a big way. Also gave Josh a decent offensive line to sit behind that year. 2020 B- Diggs trade bails out was was a lukewarm draft that long term never really developed and hurts now as none of the guys are left minus AJ Epenesa & Bass 2021 C Emmanuel Sanders was fine as WR3 and Greg Rossesau is a solid DE. The rest of FA was limited and that draft was even worse then 2020. Spencer Brown did have a nice comeback year and if he continues to improve to be a long term answer then I may switch this to a B- 2022 B+ The Von signing hurts because of the contact and brings the grade down from an A-, BUT at the time it felt good and until injury he was playing at a high level. More importantly the draft looks to have netted four starters in Shakir, Cook, Bernard, & Benford plus Spector has been fine in spot duty as 7th round pick. If Elam ever finds himself this draft really looks impressive. Don't forget DaQuan Jones was a cheap FA signing too. 2023 C+ The draft looks to have netted potentially three starters in Kincaid, Torrence, & D WIlliams. The Rasual Douglas was a sensational trade midseason that really helped the back end. Now for the bad, the only quality free agent signing that worked out with Connor McGovern, the cap was a mess from prior years spending locking the Bills out from a needed proven WR, they didn't address WR in the draft as it became clear that Davis probably was walking & Diggs was becoming an issue, and many of the free agent signings that offseason were non factors. The platoon approach especially was questionable at WR rather then going for a proven starter and reared its head more and more throughout the year. Overall B+ / Top 10 GM in the NFL - Overall Beane has managed to find a franchise QB & help his development, fix the cap and for the most part manage it well, most drafts he has found proven starters although he needs a few blue chip players to emerge again like in 2018/19, and he has been thrifty with his free agent/trade dealings finding very good starters there. To me he is a ring away from being in the Top 5 of GMs that exist, but it is not like he isn't in their universe either and is quite respected league wide. The Von signing and Tre White deal both feel unfair to fully put on him because the nature of the injuries they had was freak and in that regard it is hard to predict especially with Tre. Keon Coleman will be probably his one great judgement for the time being as WR seems to be the one spot he has not found a truly great starter year at whereas on virtually every other level of the roster he has found truly quality long term players. I guarantee if Beane were available right now he would be sought after as heck with a legion of teams ready to move for him. I truthfully trust him and care about having him around long term more then I care about McD at this point.

I will try to do this balancing the idea of impact or less then on the field with also defining the Bills themselves over a period of time. This isn't just they were bad or a bad draft pick, it needs to be deeper. With that said: Tom Cousineau - He refused to play in Buffalo as he found the franchise as very blah and the money not enough with Ralph (sound familiar). Ironically the Bills of the late 70s and early 80s were pretty decent, but the overall look of a #1 pick refusing to play for you and part of the reason being money represent a lot of what has went wrong in the past Dick Jauron - He is the drought coach. 7-9 across the board, a team that ripped defeat from the jaws of victory, a coach who played for 3rd and 4 so you could maybe run for a 1st or win field position. The famous 6-3 Browns loss coach along with a bunch of other heart breakers mixed in. Across the board no one else represented ineptitude and being "in the hunt" when truly you stunk like Jauron. Sammy Watkins - If Jauron represented the 2000s version of the drought then Sammy was the 2010s version. Talent existed, hype existed, but the work needed never came together, the expectations failed, and the drama surrounding the player both with the team and fanbase was a tirefire. Hank Bullough - An awful head coach at a time the teams future was rocky and once Kelly got here a guy who was literally told by his players to be fired because it wasn't up to snuff. Story goes Jim Kelly got so tired of him he told Ralph it is him or me, thank god he kept Kelly.

Agreed but also remember Damian Harris who was pretty productive for his role had his season and unfortunately career end mid season. Even if the Bills wanted to switch with Brady to other trust worthy guys, they were banged up in spots and it was Josh or Bust. Completely agree and expect a bit more measured approach this year with hopefully better health.

Not disagreeing at all with this. It is why I said I think by 2010 he knew he had flubbed it bad but it was too late as the teams future made it so hard to get quality people and they had botched so much in the prior decade that Buffalo was Siberia for all intensive purposes. The loss in 2004 to the Steelers had such ramifications short and long term for the franchise. The domino effect of bad decisions for years after was insane.

Ralph was cheap in the worst ways. He would pay players and especially after the 90s teams I think he understood how important it was to treat them right. The problem was the coaches and facility wise he did not pay very well and as the league evolved it caught him hard. He was one of the originals and a very solid businessman, the team was his best business and he helped develop the team with the league in a huge way. I think he was truthfully a better steward for the league then he was an owner of the Bills, but he was also part of the original guard with Al Davis and you could see the game passed him the last decade or so which caught the Bills hard. He was very stubborn which hurt as the league morphed into owners being less involved and just writing checks instead. I think he would admit if he had a redo he would've spent more on coaches/facilities and had a better succession plan from 2000 on as that all together made Buffalo very uncompetitive from the mid 2000s until 2014 when the Pegula's arrived.

Don't disagree but somewhere around 2014-15 the viral piece exploded and for a good 3-4 years it really felt like a competition of how close someone could get to killing themselves lol Toronto was over by 2014 which is why I did not include it. Otherwise yea it would've been bad and weird especially the halftime show featuring the Gangdum Style dude What exactly makes you feel this way specifically about Buffalo? I would say that in general most NFL fans especially in die hard markets like Buffalo feel this way. If I were to do an NFL version of this I would say that the levels the league has now gotten to in the interest of growing the game and increased revenues are very bad and not fan friendly.

Irony is at this point Carr is probably equal in skill to Rodgers especially with his injuries.

I would even add that the Rex idea was not the worst and it was the first time since Chuck Knox the Bills hired a coach who had brand name and some real respect in league circles. That to me was still a win for ownership even if it ended up going sideways. We joke how bad the Bills Rex era was but there is an alternate universe they beat MIA and then the NYJ to make the playoffs in 2016 and he ends up a hero.

I almost listed Hyde & Poyer in good as they were great I just was running too long. T Johnson for sure but I had that with my 2020 moment kind of. Yea the whole Diggs thing is wild as he still attributes Josh for so much. I really wonder what happened after that Bengals game or during that just caused everything to flip so fast. Lol REX 1000% was bad and weird

Haha it was a fun write up. Truthfully my favorite part was the Weird section as there really has been some just incredibly odd things that have happened.

I got to thinking that we are closing out the tenth year since Ralph passed and the Bills were bought by the Pegulas. Many many changes have happened so figured it would be fun to chronicle and look back as a group. The Good The team ending the drought. It hung like a dark cloud forever and then in the most unlikely of seasons as the team was clearly in transition lightning struck and it ended in the best of fashion. The 2017 season will hold a special place to me as a fan after going through the drought and attending so many games in that period. Josh Allen being draft AND developed AND then turning into a demi god of a QB that even Chief fans fear. The fact the Bills actually did their homework and drafted a QB was cool. The fact they helped to properly develop him was honestly surprising. The fact this QB then worked to become the player he is now is truly stunning and something I will never take for granted. Division titles, playoff wins, and the team turning into a perennial contender. I get it the SB win and ring is needed, but it has been awesome the last bunch of years in this time and plenty of memorable games and moments The 2020 season. For those of us who were little dudes/dudettes or not born during the 90s run the idea of playing to make a SB and the energy excitement leading up to it was something we never got. 2020 was a dream season despite not being able to see it in person and after they beat BAL it was pretty surreal to know they actually were that close. Sucks they didn't close but for a lot of us it was that first feeling of "oh wow this is awesome and completely different". Pegula's ownership and commitment to the team. Overall they have invested heavily in the team and facilities which constantly get rave reviews from players. The brand of the team is as strong as it ever has been which just feels other worldly. Ralph was fine and a good owner but the team was long in the tooth when the Pegula's took over just in terms of brand and being a 21st century team. They also have stayed the heck away from the team in terms of football decision for a while now other then writing checks which is all that is needed The evolution of Bills Mafia to something nationally that has a real vibe and connection across the board. Winning helps of course, but it does feel like the fanbase has evolved and widen which is awesome. New Stadium. Whether it ended up being a reno or a new stadium something was needed for the long term and it is nice this is done. LeSean McCoy. Major shout out to him as he was just a great player to watch in his time here and was a huge reason for the drought going away. McBeane. All they've done is stabilize the team and turn them into a consistent winner. Helping to accelerate the Patriots decline. This was quite fun to see happen and put them down. Kyle Williams getting to go to playoffs. Beating Dallas on Thanksgiving The Bad The Rex Ryan era. Buffalo wasted two years of good talent and time with Rex who looked as though the game had passed him pretty quickly. Worse was the fact the team constantly had drama leaking out that seemed never ending. 13 Seconds. I have generally avoided mentioning this much as I believe Josh and the boys will get a ring before the decade closes, but they wasted a golden opportunity with the offense at its peak because of coaching. Damar Hamlin nearly dying on the field. Happy it turned out ok, but this was just awful and it also felt like the season ended that night. Aaron Williams career having to end due to injury. Yes Landry cheap shot'd him, but the game against NE in 2015 week 2 resulted in him being carted off the field in ambulance. Just as he was turning into a truly good safety his career ended short. That sucked. Eric Woods career ending in it's prime. I hate we never got to see Wood with Josh as it would've been so fun. The two players I will hammer forever as wall of fame guys during the drought are Wood and K Williams. The incoming PSL's which are going to alter the stadium seating and fanbase in a sizable way. The stadium will be loud still, the fans will come, but you are going to lose communities of fans who have sat together forever because of this as they move to cheaper seats or worse can't go at all. It is a crappy price the fans have to pay to keep the team as it finishes evolving to todays NFL. Weather forcing home games to be moved either time or location wise. The limited amount of fans who got to see the team in 2020. The team finally evolves into its best form in 30 years and maybe 10,000 people total were live in Buffalo to see them. I understand COVID and why, but still was tough. Soul crushing losses to NFC teams for four years in a row. 2020 Cards Hail Mary, 2021 TB OT loss, 2022 Vikings OT loss, 2023 Eagles OT loss. Ironically after these losses the Bills went on runs the remainder of the year, but for four years in a row now the Bills have played in game of the year type games and lost. Turf on Thanksgiving. Successfully took Tre White and Von who were both each playing at a high level out for the year. Tre White going from future hall of famer to being cut. This one forever sucks as he had become a true all pro and his career was forever altered with the knee injuries. The Raiders loss in 2014 that took the Bills out of the playoffs. This was a fun team with that defense and it fell apart at the worst time possible. Only silver lining was Marrone left then (although I think even with the playoffs he would've tried to leverage leaving anyway). The Weird Vontae Davis retiring at half time. Incredibly weird weird thing while somewhat funny. LeSean McCoy's female only party which ended up leaking online and yeaaa god knows what was happening there The start of Bills fans throwing adult toys at Tom Brady every home game from 2016 on. Again hilarious but weird Bills fans gaining national recognition somewhere around 2014-15ish for just doing outlandishly insane things which includes breaking tables, setting themselves on fire, qui pro quo adult acts for jerseys, and many other things. We have a brand and part of it is apparently we are certifiably insane as a group Sean McD's apparent 9/11 pump up speech on team work Doug Marrone apparently meeting Tim Graham in an airport hanger to discuss his criticism of the football team and the fact he actually branded himself Saint Doug Everything related to the Rex Ryan era The color rush game where the NFL allowed the Bills to wear Red and the Jets green successfully making the game unviewable for those with seeing issues. Simple solution was available for this not to happen Weird weird weather during the 2021 season. For some reason virtually every home game that year had incredibly strong weather ranging from a monsoon vs the Texans, hurricane winds vs NE, snow multiple times and then to finish the year the frozen playoff game vs NE. Allowing a TD against the Jets in the 2016 finale as they decided on the kick return to just not touch the ball or call a fair catch. Nathan Peterman ever being a starting QB and every snap of his existence. Dan Carpenter getting laser'd in the eyes on field goals in 2014 in Detroit Kyle Orton's outfits Why the Bills were not credited for a TD against the Texans in the 2019 playoff game on the kickoff in the 2nd half. Never has been explained fully and it has felt the refs gave Houston a favor there. Both London Bills games All of the Bills away games in general against Jacksonville. Just weird weird losses ranging from heart breaking London 2016, boring playoff game with zero offense 9-3 2018, whatever the heck the 2021 loss in Jags was, and last years London loss that successfully took out half the Bills defense for the year.

For the Bills and what they paid/expected/draft position he was a bust. In the NFL he was a productive player who had a solid career.

YES... but here are the actual reasons why: Injuries: when he was healthy he was a very productive player regardless of effort. But the injuries started and by 2016 he was off the field a lot which really hampered the offenses ability to operate at full potential. It gets forgotten a lot as so much time has gone by but after 2015 he was viewed as a pretty good pick and the combo of him Tyrod & McCoy was usually ranked top 10 for QB-RB-WR. In the top 100 players in the NFL for 2015 he was even ranked 96th by his fellow players so he was pretty good at the time. The problem is 2015 was his best season ever and he never got close to that again. Effort: He himself has said that he wasted a lot of time in Buffalo where his effort never matched what he could do and then when mentally he got it together his body was failing him. The guy had a lot of mental things he had to get through that clearly hampered him and any development he had. But you could also see he cared more about being a star then working to be one as the non TD catch and run vs NYJ showed in 2014. 2014 Draft: This is not Watkins fault but Buffalo traded two 1sts to move up and get him to be a #1 WR. HAD they stayed in place they would've had the Bills could have had ODB, Bradin Cooks, Aaron Donald, Ryan Shazier etc... the amount of talent sitting there that became pro bowl caliber player whether WR or another spot haunted the Bills within a year and half after the draft along with the fact they gave up another 1st for him. As the rest of that star studded class elevated and became big things, he spun his tires only shinning a brighter light on the miss the Bills made which also added more pressure onto him. Buffalo Themselves: The Bills went through a lot of change in so many areas during his time in Buffalo. He had three head coaches Doug, Rex, & McD before trade, two GMs, three offensive coordinators. Pretty much everything from 2014 until McD was a circus around that place as winning the headlines became as much a priority as winning. I will say Roman was not a bad OC for him and once he got Tyrod he had a relatively stable QB situation for his last two years. But the Bills made the trade with the idea of Sammy pushing the team to the next level and to help EJ. Instead EJ flunked out, his contributions were just ok, and then the entire coaching staff left. Certain guys I think develop regardless of good or bad coaching, Aaron Donald was on some atrocious Rams teams with Jeff Fisher and still became the dude. IF Sammy was to hit any where close to his potential you needed a stable coach/gm/franchise that could handle someone with his talent but issues/need to focus in on that talent. Sammy to me is a bust but more in the sense of what could have been. Too many things many self inflicted, some not came together that stopped any real chance of him elevating to the potential he had. I think my reasons fairly illustrate it all but feel free to disagree or converse

I thought the article is pretty on point and those upset I think automatically assume that losses like Hyde/Poyer/Davis/Diggs/Morse are going to be replaced with equal or better production. The problem I have with that is when your only view of the unknown is equal or better you ignore it can also be worse. Previews like this are looking at years of production over time and what you could expect from that. There is a reason many people are saying this year and the prior 2 draft classes are big because you need a lot of these guys to turn into quality starters. Even with aging the Bills lost a bunch of quality starters that were part of many years of success. I still think the Bills will have a good team that wins 10-12 games, but I think those who expect things to hit the ground running may be in for a wakeup call.

You could argue their best pass rushers since we got Josh were Kyle Williams here exactly 1 year and Jerry Hughes who was on the tail end of his career

score more points

Trevor is really tough to judge as I think his three seasons basically can be described like this: Year 1: Rookie with probably the worst NFL coach possible in the last two decades Year 2: True improvement with proper coaching and the back half of the season you saw true flashes of the potential scouts believe in. Year 3: Plataeud for sure but he was doing better until the CIN injury. Can't judge a thing after as you could see he should have been shut down and that injury was a gut punch So truthfully year 2 to me was more his rookie year as Urban was so atrocious, but I can't look past last year was middling for the most part until his injury. I would also add that division is not very strong and the fact he hasn't necessarily took off and run should mean something. For all the hype about Stroud and platitudes on Lawrence the guy who looked the best and scared me the most is Richardson who unfortunately got hurt. One thing across football that happens too much sentiment wise is a QB has to be Top 5 or replace them and their garbage. I think its pretty easy to see you got Pat Josh Burrow Lamar ... and then a group of like 10 quarterbacks ranging from Stafford Dak Hurts Tua Stroud (currently he could go higher only one year of work) Herbert Love that are very good QBs you can win a SB with but they are a notch below the four at the top and their flaws are easier to stop. I think Trevor is either in the lower end of that group or on the cusp of it. That doesn't mean he sucks, it means with good coaching and a solid lineup you can see a truly good QB and win a lot with that. Again doesn't mean T-Law is trash, far from it, just that he will need a bit more stability yearly if you want to see his best version.

I have said for a while the NFL is playing a very dangerous game with US fans as they push to expand the league globally. I get doing regular season games overseas and realistically expect that the 18th game will basically be an overseas game for every team yearly. Fine I get it, not the coolest thing but also not the worst as seeing the Bills play in Berlin would be a fun experience. The major Euro soccer leagues do have matches like this here in the US and the other major US leagues do regular season games abroad too. But the playoffs and the super bowl are entirely a different animal and thing. No other sports like world wide has ever auctioned off their major title like that outside of home grounds and it would be offensive to US fans for the NFL to do that. As it is I think the way the Super Bowl has priced itself away from so many regular fans is wrong in itself. The NFL is the only major US sport where the idea of the casual fan going to the title game is basically a non starter these days. Moving the game to England which means earlier starting times, no US city benefiting from it, a million other things just comes across as tone deaf to your fans and a straight up slap in the face. The smartest thing the NFL has forever had going is the ease of watching games on national networks and the big games being here to see. Folks are already annoyed as it is with the monetization that streaming has brought and this may be the move if they ever made it that fully shakes the applecart in a way you cannot get back.

Oh without a doubt. Once they won again in 2014 vs SEA I don't think they took anything offseason or regular season seriously until the start of the playoffs and honestly probably would have been the same

I am just saying I don't live and die anymore with the offseason. Josh means they most likely are a playoff team every year and depending on the roster that window varies on the shot but it is there. Pre 2020 offseason just meant more because you needed more from the roster to dictate your success or chances of success. Don't get me wrong they need a ring to finish and fully change the narrative, but these days I just wait for the season to start and get another shot at the ring. At this point there isn't much left to prove, they have won division crowns, playoff games, made an AFC title game etc.. it is SB or bust in terms of expectations so realistically for me the offseason only adjusts maybe my perspective on their chances but in the end I expect the playoffs and another roll of the dice.

Probably less now, I understand why Patriot fans basically didn't give a flying f*ck about the offseason for two decades now. If you have a truly great QB you will be in it every year and while some years the roster will be better and others worse, you have a guy who you know can deliver the goods and give you a shot regardless. In a weird way its made it less fun just simply as during the drought days or 2017-20 as the team was on the way up hope sprang eternal and you were excited to see could they take a next step. At this point were at the last step which is winning the SB so the excitement only starts kicking once the season starts for me at this point. Also this offseason had to be lack luster as the cap got cleaned up so any major moves were limited which dampens excitement too. Next offseason if they trade for a WR or sign a name brand FA I am sure my excitement would go up a bit, but again still in the same boat because we got Josh. As for the NFL itself its probably the same. I think the draft is a week too late now and it drags things a little too long at this point.