corta765

Lose twice... and go 14-2 really mind bend everyone!

Well that is a matter of perspective and two decades of irrelevance. Up until the drought Buffalo was a relatively respected market with the 60s being good, 70s not great but OJ was a star, 80s good early-rough middle-great late, and 90s great throughout. The problem with the Bills with Ralph was his willingness to be cheap in the weirdest ways and times such as not keeping Chuck Knox despite Knox fulfilling exactly what he promised but then in the mid 2000s spending a boat load of money of OL FA's like Derrick Dockery and Langston Walker. If the Minnesota Vikings are the definition of a model franchise who has done everything but win the big one, Buffalo is like the bizzaro world version inverted where they walked into success not necessarily intentionally with some really strange moves along the way.

I was thinking about this on the way to work. Outside of the Bills crashing to the bottom of the NFL this year Sean McDermott should be the head coach for at least four years for the Buffalo Bills. That got me wondering how many Bills coaches have made it four years or more. Well its a short list: Dick Jauron 2006 to 2009: 4 seasons fired mid way into his last and the only one of the four to not ever make the playoffs Marv Levy: 1986 to 1997 Chuck Knox: 1978-1982 Lou Saban: 1972- 1976 and 1962-1965 That is it. The plus side is other then Jauron any coach who has went at least four seasons made the playoffs two times and had a decent record of success relatively speaking. Historically that does bode well for McDermott. Only five coaches excluding the ones above and not including McDermott made it three seasons: Joe Collier 1966-68, Kay Stephenson 1983-1985, Wade Phillips 1998-2000, Greg Williams 2001-2003, and Chan Gailey 2010-2012.

For every good defensive game there are 4-5 that are the Bills Titans which are absolutely ugly games with nothing exciting. I hated the Pats Rams SB because it was boring not because it was low scoring. The Pats Giants game in 07 was a game with many dramatic big moments that was low scoring same with the Panthers Broncos a few years ago. Watching teams just punt back and forth for an entire game is not exciting. The Bills Browns have had some atrocious low scoring snoozefests highlighted by the 6-3 game in 2009 which every fan for both teams deserves a refund for. I do agree that the the rules suck and I hate that if you graze a QB or WR it's almost always a penalty and I'd like to see that swing back to something more rational. Second Allen vs Mayfield are two QBs with the potential to produce a ton of incredibly exciting big moments which Id rather see.

The Bills deserve credit for not keeping Taylor and trying for another 9-7 or 10-6 playoff run fooling themselves that would be enough and taking the swing they did last year. The Dolphins and Giants are case and point of what happens thinking what they had is enough and now they enter a QB market that is lackluster as heck this draft and FA wise.

The thing with the Patriots is I doubt they play division. KC or PIT or even CLE is a far more sexy SNF matchup

Absolutely! This draft is deep on both OL/DL which we need and the WR side once your out of the top 10 you actually have a good selection of guys without reaching. If we have to give a 2nd and an extra 5th for two firsts that result in OL and WR I am all for it.

That's where I have been for years and we have saved money because of it. For example 2017: Pre-Season vs. Vikings: $30 total with fees Raiders: $150 with fees Saints: $165 with fees Colts: $100 with fees bought before season Total: Spent $445 for 4 of the 10 games and mind you that the Raiders and Saints game were two of the most expensive that season. I think we did well.

Agreed whole heartily there. I think one of the reasons fan behavior seems to have improved the last 5-6 years is the fact the team was far more competitive compared to years prior. But I would def agree that the crowd certainly changes if it is the cheaper "$20 to sit anywhere games" and you get many more people there to drink and party with no regard for the game or people around them.

Last years December proved why having seasons many of time is a losing venture if your concerned with money. My wife and I use to love those insanely cheap games because you could get great seats for virtually nothing and still have fun without the massive investment. I loved having seasons in 2016 we were section 143 and paid $1300 for both which I thought was fair and having seasons for sure worked out better money wise that season even with three straight December home games given the price for the Jets night game and Steelers home game alone. Our big thing why we didn't renew was the time commitment. September and October you could get back to Rochester by 6ish most of the time, but once Nov/Dec hit it was 7:30-8 and that just killed the day. I still think at some point we may return to seasons though it was a great experience.

The Ravens and Bills have a very odd relationship playing each other. Buffalo has won both meetings in Buffalo and Baltimore has won all of games in Baltimore minus the first time they ever played which would make sense given Baltimore was basically a quasi-expansion team at the time.

Last year the NFL was asked by the networks for better Thursday Night Games as opposed to the mostly divisional spread which gave everyone "classics" like the Jaguars Titans for years or Browns Bengals. The NFL removed the rule that every team most play on TNF and helped give better matchups which you saw. Being this is the 100th anniversary though I think the TNF schedule will go back a bit to being lesser matchups and Bills/Browns would seem very possible. MNF Buffalo absolutely has a shot for. SNF is the most exclusive teams and matchups now because it is the NFLs biggest draw. Darnold Allen p1 was already fun and with more weapons for both hopefully we get more high scoring games. But Baker Allen will be insane. Both QBs are confident and arrogant as heck with personality which I love. The problem is both BUF and CLE have good defenses which could slow the game into a crawl.

Maybe but with the NFLs 100th season I feel they may use more primetime games with big market teams like NYG or DAL as opportunities to reemphasize those teams. Giants at night would be really fun.

Agreed. I can see the NFL selling the crap out of that game being Baker v Allen somewhere between weeks 3-5. AND then the game will be a 13-10 defensive slug fest haha

Hey everyone I am back with some schedule updates now that the season is officially completed. First off the Bills opponents are set for the 2019 season: Home: NYJ, NE, MIA, BAL, PHI, WSH, DEN, CIN Away: NYJ, NE, MIA, DAL, NYG, PIT, TEN, CLE The Bills strength of schedule is rated at .480 which is 24th in the NFL facing 5 playoff teams and 4 ten win teams. Now that obviously will change once the season starts but that is not a bad place to begin. This is the NFL's 100th season coming up and I am sure you will see lots of celebrations all over the league. Because of that anniversary rumor has it the opening NFL game will not be the Super Bowl champions hosting an opponent like normal but the Packers against the Bears. They are saying the Patriots should still get a night game and my prediction would be the Chiefs or Steelers on Sunday Night Football so you can cross those two opponents off for the Bills to play week 1. Buffalo opened on the road for the 2018 season so they be home to open the 2019 season. The only time in the last decade the Bills opened on the road back to back years was the 2011 (@ KC) to 2012 (@ NYJ) seasons and with the NFL's greater scheduling focus I would doubt you see the Bills forced on the road. With the Bills opening at home I would predict Buffalo takes on Miami week 1. Typically the NFL does like to have divisional matchups week 1 with the Bills recently hosting the Jets in 2017. The Bills have kind of done a flip flop of AFC foes and AFC Divisional opponents for the home opener with it going Chargers 18, Jets 17, Jets 16, Colts 15, Dolphins 14, Patriots 13, Chiefs 12. Buffalo also has not hosted Miami week 1 since 1991 when they beat Miami 35-31 and it feels like this may be the year the Bills break that streak. Based off my research Buffalo should receive a more favorable home schedule layout then last years 6 away games in the first 8 games to start the year. In 2016 the Bills got dealt a rough home schedule with 6 away games in their first 10 games and four home games in the final six, only to receive a far more favorable 5 homes games in the first 9 games for the 2017 season. My prediction is the Bills get something similar with at least 4 home games by the end of October. If you are looking to go to an away Bills game this is one heck of a year to do it with trips to Nashville, Cleveland, & Pittsburgh all on the schedule which all are great fun cities and drive able or a very quick flight. Dallas also is on there if you want to go to Jerry World. The Bills will not be playing in London this year none of their opponents are hosting a game and the Bills were not selected to host one (thank god). For those of you who are fans of 1:00 pm starts this will be a good year for you. The Bills have just one away game that is not EST being the Dallas game which could start at 4:15 although the last two games in Dallas started at 1:00 pm (Buffalo has not won in Dallas since the 1993 season). The only other game which possibly could receive a 4:15 start due to the geographic location of a team is when the Bills host the Broncos. Again historically Buffalo has not had that game be at the 4:15 slot since the 1990s and typically 4:00 games are far more marquee matchups. Assuming both games receive 1:00pm start times the Bills potentially will have a schedule of all 1:00pm games minus any possible night games, flex games, or the NFL actually moving the Bills into a 4:00 start. So if you like 1:00pm congrats because it is looking like a great year, for those like me who like later games it will be a bummer. Finally night games. The Bills have rarely received two night games in a season. The only two times in the last decade Buffalo played twice at night was the 2015 (at NYJ & at NE) and 2016 (NYJ home and at SEA) seasons which you can give credence to Rex Ryan being the head coach for that attention. The NFL seems to finally be letting Bills fans have a little fun at home with games on Thursday Night Football 2016 and Monday Night Football 2018. This has be received positively around the league with famed NFL writer Peter King commenting that Buffalo deserves a night game every year because of the environment and how good it reflects for the NFL. Additionally there was no real issues locally before or after the game which helps support the team hosting. To play at night you need to have a QB with some brand if you want to make your mark. Josh Allen had a solid rookie season with many highlight moments that should help a little for the Bills night game cause. Having fellow QB class brethren Sam Darnold 2x and Baker Mayfield on schedule certainly is a selling point too. All of that said I think Buffalo gets one night game and it is a road game at NYJ or Cleveland who Buffalo has played before at night. If the Bills do receive a home game, the Patriots, the Jets, or another big market team like the Eagles with Wentz would same probably be the opponent on Monday Night Football. The Bills will not receive a Sunday Night Game until they improve more consistently. If the Bills do get two night games it will almost certainly be a combination of above with the Bills traveling to NY/CLE and hosting NE/PHI/NY. I would be stunned if the Bills night game is much past week 11 because the NFL usually puts its lower market games earlier in the season when things are still new and exciting.

This may be the best post to really show Buffalo's mediocrity that I've ever seen on TBD.

Already won the first day of the offseason!

All depends on situation. Miami loss I still left feeling happy and pumped because Allen was amazing. Jets lost the next week after I wanted to break something and it ruined that day and monday for sure. The Seattle loss on MNF was probably the worst recently because it just lingered all freaking week and the Bills were so close to pulling off that upset and needed that win badly for the playoffs.

Someone in the media had the best quote with Rex that was along the lines of he loved being a head coach and the glitz and glamour that can come with it, but the work, collaboration, creativity, and grind needed across the board to be successful was never apart of his DNA.

It's funny because as a kid I remember the AFC vs NFC thing being huge part of why Broncos win over Packers was awesome for me. I think it was in the mid 2000s when it seemed to finally die down a lot and I do miss it. SB25 my Dad has said the same that we lost because we didn't run the ball, the defense missed tackles, and we had another play we could've run with 8 seconds to go to get the ball a little further for Norwood. Never heard him blame him for the miss. SB28 Haha again my dad said literally what you did that we were too conservative and Marv really was to blame. In his eyes the moment Thurman fumbled Marv should've called the team together and done something so crazy like mooning them or something to shake them back because you could tell their hearts felt here we go again and needed something to ground them. I wish I was old enough to remember those SB days because if the one week period when we broke the drought to the Jags game was any marker for what it was like that had to have been other worldly.

I think the BAL/SF game gets kind of forgotten about because neither team made it back to the SB and kinda leveled off afterward. It was a great game just teams with more name brand tend to get higher coverage IMO

I thought about the Falcons v Patriots and it was good, but it felt like Pete Carrolls coaching error basically stretched out over an entire half which made it hard for me to put it higher just because ATL had no business blowing that even with Brady lights out.

With the Super Bowl coming up figured I would post a fun thread on your favorite SB's you've watched in your lifetime. This is not what are the best SB's ever even if you haven't seen them because if that was the case SB 23 and SB 13 would be on there for me. This is not who I was happiest winning because in three of my top five I hated the winner rather best game/entertaining. Because I am 30 the first SB I remember watching in any form was the 49ers vs Chargers (probably for the best I don't remember the Bills losing) so this is my rankings: 1. SB 42 Giants over Patriots- I was at the Patriots beat down of the Bills 56-10 which I have said all fans should be entitled to therapy for paid by the Bills. That Patriots team seemed unbeatable... until it wasn't. The longer you watched and the longer the Giants hung in there you had this feeling like just maybe they can knock out the bad witch. And boy did they ever knock that witch out thanks again David Tyree. 2. SB 43 Steelers over Cardinals- The Cardinals were the ultimate underdogs, a franchise forever as crappy as the Lions yet here came a likeable team led by Warner and Fitz. The game was amazing from start to finish and even though the Steelers sadly won, for a brief time you actually wondered if the Cards would pull it out. 3. SB 32 Broncos def Packers- The AFC had lost 13 straight SBs and by this point everyone wanted Elway to get that ring which almost felt like he was winning it for Kelly and Marino too. The game itself was a thriller (finally) after years of duds since SB 25. Plenty of big moments throughout highlighted by Elway's helicopter jump. The ending had fantastic drama and back at a time when AFC vs NFC seemed to matter far more it was nice to see the AFC finally break its drought. 4. SB 49 Patriots over Seahawks- For the record I drove home in snow storm having to angrily contemplate why in the heck Carrol didn't run Lynch. That said it was an incredible game between the two best teams in the NFL and if Brady was to get his 4th ring at least it was against top competition. 5. SB 38 Patriots over Panthers- This Superbowl seems to be forgotten a lot probably because of a "wardrobe malfunction" by Janet Jackson, but it was one of the wildest second halves in SB history. The Panthers were a plucky upstart led by a likable QB in Jake Delhomme and coach in John Fox that were easy to pull for. This should've been the first SB to go to OT, but Carolina's John Karney gave the Patriots an easy starting point at the 40 and the rest was Brady being Brady.

I believe a lot of this up until about 2016. I say 2016 because since then Buffalo has seen a massive revitalization with the downtown area with a lot being offered and open with articles coming out monthly saying its a place to visit. They city fundamentally is different since then and the also in 2016 was the real elevation of the Bills Mafia crazyness. I do not doubt some would avoid the area for certain reasons, but reputation wise I do think the area is different now compared to even 5 years ago which does matter. That said reputation is what it is the team will have to work harder then others and overcome taxes like Tim discusses. And the biggest thing is winning. When Buffalo was winning they got FA's like Bryce Paup and James Lofton. If Allen goes 11-5 next year and lights it up players will over look a good amount.