corta765

This was specific for teams with rings otherwise I'd agree Vikings. Browns never had an elite QB so can't agree there, Bernie was good not great. Broncos of the 80s are closer example.

A lot has been made about the Bills inability to breakthrough to a SB and win at this point and for understandable reason when you have a QB like Allen and the regular success they have had since 2019. I am pretty big into football history post SB 1 on and these three teams are very big comparables to the Bills right down to having a team block their way who was their own dynasty and literally took rings off the board. This is not meant to guarantee a SB for the Bills (I wish) as much as show that sometimes you are on the wrong side of the coin but the success in itself is still impressive and appreciate the wins when they come. My criteria for this were franchises who had long term success (decade), consistently won their division, and had some playoff success outside of their super bowl victory. Oakland Raiders 1969-1978 Record 103-32-7 W/L/T, 1 Super Bowl, 7 Division titles, 8 playoff appearances in 10 years, 7 AFC title appearances (1 Victory) John Madden's Raiders were sublime during there time and one of the best teams in the NFL for over a decade. Unfortunately they happened to be in the AFC as the 70's Steelers Dynasty a team they would lose three times in the playoffs including back to back AFC title games in 1974 & 1975 (one of those games were at home). When the Raiders finally broke through in 1976 they demolished the Steelers in the AFC title game at home 24-7 before routing the Vikings in the Super Bowl 32-12. They made the AFC title game against the Broncos the next season before missing the playoffs at 9-7 in 1978 due to tie breaker which was also Madden's last season as a coach. They were truly a great team during that time led by Ken Stabler & George Blanda at QB, HOF WR Fred Bilientnitkoff, HOF OT Art Shell, etc.. They may be the team the most resembles the Bills as they played the Steelers tough and clearly were the 2nd best team in the AFC during the 70's who probably would have been a dynasty had the Steelers not been in their way. San Francisco 49ers 1990-99 Record 113-47 W/L, 1 Super Bowl, 6 Division titles, 8 playoff appearances in 10 years, 5 NFC title appearances (1 Victory) This is an interesting submission because the 1980's 49ers were the dynasty and immovable object of the decade under Bill Walsh & Montana. Head coach George Seifert took over in 1989 from Walsh and won the SB with Montana who was also the league MVP. I am viewing this more as the Steve Young 49ers while using the 1990 season as the starting point. Things changed in 1990 as the 49ers were upset at home by the Giants in the NFC title game and Montana was knocked out of the game (and 49ers lineup as the starter for good). From 1991 on Steve Young became the starter and regular season success was just as frequent as it was for the 49ers in the 80s... until the NFC title game. The Cowboys dynasty stood in the way as Dallas took out the 49ers at home in the 93 NFC title and then in Dallas in 1994. The 49ers finally got revenge in 1995 as they loaded up their defense adding Deion Sanders and linebacker Ken Norton (from Dallas) to win the NFC title and Superbowl. But the following three years the Packers led by Brett Farve & Mike Hologram knocked the 49ers out in the divisional round (96 & 97) and the NFC title in 1998 which again the 49ers lost at home. In the 1998-99 season the 49ers went 12-4 and finally beat the Packers in the playoffs only to lose to the Falcons in the divisional round when stud running back Garrison Hearst (rushed for 1510 yards that year) broke his ankle early in the 1st quarter. 1999 would be Steve Young's last season as the 49ers started 3-1 but saw Young get knocked out with a concussion that would end his career and send the 49ers plummeting to a 4-12 record. The 90's 49ers were truly great throughout but failed to capitalize at home in the NFC title going 1-3 in that time (and 1-4 overall). The team was loaded with future HOF's such as Young, Jerry Rice, Charles Haley, Deion Sanders, & Bryant Young etc.. all were on the team for portions or the entire time. There is a saying that iron sharpens the sword the the 49ers of this period faced some truly great teams in Dallas & Green Bay that all went on to win rings and were just a little better a few times than San Fran. Indianapolis Colts 1999-2010 Record 138-54 W/L, 1 Super Bowl, 8 Division titles, 11 playoff appearances in 12 years, 3 AFC title appearances (2 victories) The favorite comparison for every team/fanbase with a great quarterback that hasn't broken through and for good reason as the Colts from 99-2010 really were a dominate wagon that consistently came up short come playoff time. Much is made about the Patriots being in the way come playoff time, but the Colts & Patriots played three total times with IND breaking through in 2006 to go to the Super Bowl. The greater issue for the Colts was the offense went quiet way to often with Colts scoring under 20 points in nine of their ten playoff defeats during that time (including Super Bowl XLIV vs New Orleans). The Colts also lost two games in overtime during this run as they couldn't close vs the Dolphins in 99' and Manning didn't even see the ball in their 2008 loss to the Chargers. Additionally the 2005 loss to Pittsburgh was especially painful as the Colts defense forced a fumble of HOF running back Jerome Bettis at the goal line which the Colts returned close to mid field only for kicker Mike Vanderjagt to miss the game tying field goal badly (he was perfect kicking at home all season) preserving a 21-18 Steeler win. Many people bring up that the Colts never had a great defense during that time which is a fair point and only when safety Bob Sanders was healthy were they really a good unit. What is kind of ignored though is the Colts defense in the playoffs were not sieves the way the Bills defense has been vs KC. The Colts defense in six of the ten playoff defeats held their opponent to 21 points or less including the two playoff games they allowed 17 pts heading into OT. Again they were not a top flight unit, but they certainly did a decent job for the league's top offense to have a good chance to do work. In defense of the Colts offense, they ran into many of the leagues top defenses in these losses as the 99 Titans, 03 Pats, 04 Pats, 05 Steelers, & 2010 Jets all fielded top 5 defenses in the NFL in those years. The Colts only having three AFC title appearances during this time is a reflection of a team that probably relied on its offense too much, but an offense that also failed to hold the pace it regularly did during this period. It is forever interesting to me that Manning in just four years in Denver got to the same number of Super Bowls and just one less AFC title game then his entire time in IND (also in their loss to BAL he was tremendous, you can blame the D for that blown AFC title game appearance). Tony Dungy led to the greatest height of these Colts and it is a fair question what would have happened and if Manning even would have left if Dungy was still his coach. Regardless the Manning Colts are the latest great example of a team being blocked out of a dynasty but at least getting their ring to solidify the success they had during this run.

Someone ran the numbers and the money given to the Bills amounted to like .5% in one NYS state budget for one year. One year .5% total. I can guarantee you if you go line by line you will find many things just as annoying or unneeded as a taxpayer.

Can we legally play the ship at safety? It would cover alotttt of ground

lol Main street has improved but is without a doubt a work in progress. The area by the gold dome building I remember forever being awful and it is nice to see it more filled in. Forever one of my favorite stories to tell of old Buffalo before things turned up a bit was in 2006 heading to Thursday at the Square and getting off by the TGIF. Walking over my buddies and I were like oh see Buffalo isn't as bad downtown as it used to be. Legit 3 seconds later two guys start screaming 20 yards in front of us and fight each other. Never change Buffalo never change hahahaaha

The real Buffalo Resurgence was 2014-2019 and you are 100% right COVID killed the momentum although I would not say its 90/00s as the issues Buffalo is facing with office vacancy is a national issue. If anything because the city had already started working to get more apartments and residential units downtown before COVID it muted the impact compared to other cities. Regardless the city needs to quickly move back to things like Thursday at the Square and other events downtown to bring people while working as best it can within the state tax issues to bring in more commercial companies. The brewing boom is over and you are not going to see those keep filling in vacant spots the way it had during the 2010s. Downtown at least has a few different vibrant areas that are fun and it is not like the 90's where downtown really had verry little happening or going for it, but it is a bummer after seeing the "14-19" time where there was a legit energy that was pretty cool to see and be apart of if you live or visit Buffalo regularly. The Bills are back to being the major focal point community wise which is great, but I do hope with new leadership the city can get back to being on the up and up.

Honestly not impressed. No sails, no cannons, no weapons, no nautical style. For 100 million or more you could do so much more fun stuff.

Haha gotta lose to the Bucs now to give them a false sense of confidence come November.

Dunkirk Don...?

The 2022 class which is the foundation of the new core didn't really start making a mark until the back half of 2023 and only by the end of the year could you look and start really really feeling good about where it was going. Making any type of judgement on 2024 good or bad is a mistake until at minimum after this season and really like you said it should be year 3 where its yay or nay.

The entire fanbase should box each other in the parking lot to motivate the team the night before

I never thought the NFL would leave Buffalo (at least at that time) given the leagues rules for owners to try everything to stay which included a city building a new stadium which per league rules meant the owner couldn't leave. Toronto sucked but LA always felt more like the real threat if they would go just given the open spot there. Ironically my view on the team leaving changed in 2014 even though Pegula had the team. If you read the details on St. Louis with the Rams they did everything by the book for the NFL to keep the team and was needed to block an owner from moving... and the NFL still let it happen. Chargers & Raiders never had real stadium plans so that wasn't a surprise that they would leave those markets, but St. Louis by the leagues own rules did it right and the NFL let em go regardless to the point the Rams & League are paying St. Louis back. Once that happened it open my eyes to the NFL not really giving a sh*t regardless of history market etc. People talk about Green Bay and how they wish more markets could do that, but the Packers are a complete pain the a$$ for the NFL because they do not have the goal of max money because they are community owned. The last thing the NFL ever desires now would be another market having that type of reach given the oodles of money Owner owed teams bring in and can get out of markets.

It is funny because the WR corp is probably a grade of B at best... but the floor is also decently high and someone is going to be cut who will go somewhere else and do relatively decent.

Bro they have like 7 different drafts during the drought you could say the same thing about lol The Bills drought is a lesson in bad asset mgmt to max and failing to build upon what you have.

Everyone knows Dick typically collected unregistered firearms after every practice and didn't that day. Duh

I will make a "in defense of" piece for the Bills with both hires. Donahoe was highly regarded when he came in given the work he had done with PIT. It was viewed as a stabilizing move at the time and one that the Bills were moving into the future bringing in a strong mind outside the org. It didn't work, but the true sin was not doing so again and instead going internal. Like QB if your GM doesn't work you need to try again with the best candidates possible which many times are outside of your org when your not doing so hot. Ralph instead got a yes man in Marv (with due respect) and the org sunk lower. Whaley was part of the Nix group and had similar vibes as he scouted much of that PIT D which dominated in the 2000s. I honestly think he was a decent GM as he found good players in later rounds and had a real good feel for the FA market regarding affordable options. The problem is he went nuts when the check book opened in 2015 although I'd argue Rex stopped that team from being a playoff group. His move for Watkins also was wayyy too aggressive for a team that was not in position for it. Whaley I at least get why he made those moves because by the time he took over they were desperate to slay the drought and the team had enough talent to make it happen (which kind of did happen in 2017). He never could get out of the way with his EJ pick which hurt him & its been covered in length the missteps with Watkins/2015 FA spending spree, but I honestly think with another go around he would be a pretty good GM as he had a good eye for talent in all rounds and he was really good with finding cheap FA's or trades (remember he traded for Jerry Hughes).

lol I love that they were interviewing him on ESPN in 2015 about his status on contract with the Bills.. and then the Bills literally traded for McCoy mid interview and yea his time was toast hahaha

Eh your saying in 4 years your profit is 100 mil just by existing. That is pretty dang good.

Aaron Schatz made a good point that the Pats coaching was so bad that even if Vrabel is more a .500 head coach that is still a mammoth improvement in a lot of ways. Their defense I expect to be in the top half of the league, but the offense I think will still take time as the WR corp is so weak and the offensive line needs a lot of work. I am high on Maye but it will take time and a 7-10 8-9 year is great growth imo for them.

I member when he got signed we were at my aunt and uncles and everyone had the same reaction... he picked Buffalo? Ralph really is trying to sell tickets lol. But I do remember drinking the koolaid so bad that the offense wasn't bad the year prior, Trent had some good moments TO can help him blah blah blah lol. It was at least fun and he was a solid teammate here. My wife and I were at a sparsely attended camp (had to have been 100 people tops there) and it was cool to see him from like 7 ft away.

I think the Ravens on paper right now have the most complete roster. I also think they play in an incredibly tough division which adds attrition in a very real way, their overall schedule is very tough, and I will say the quiet part out loud Derrick Henry is 32 in January and NFL history shows RB's break down now. He has 950 carries the last three years which historically means an injury is now very possible. Henry is a beast and one of my favorites to watch... I also want to see if he lasts and if he doesn't how that offense responds because he adds an element that is irreplacable.

Josh not making a SB would break me as a fan if that is how he retires. The 90s teams had their shot and made a legacy even if they did not win the big game. Norwood's miss hangs big because it was their best chance and they were that close to have the crown. Josh coming here, growth, and ascension into a truly all time elite QB is what you dream of. In a league where QBs are favored and given every adventure rules wise, to not break through with what will be the most talented QB we will ever have in my lifetime is the worst. Your telling me they make or win a SB with a lessor talent and team after all of that? I am sorry but I just don't buy it with how circular sports are with good and bad. Green Bay is truly the one exception to that rule but they sucked for the 20+ years between Lombardi & Farve. The down periods are real and when you in the up period you better hit the f*cking mark especially when the QB you have is setting all types of records. Pittsburgh has been a model of consistency but even they are seeing how hard it is to make a SB even in a better org and culture. I honestly do not even think Cowher would make a SB in the 90s if todays rules and game existed given how important the QB is. The AFC title lost this last year was probably the worst loss I've went through as a Bills and Sabres fan because of the opportunity that was lost. I am still very very optimistic the break through is coming so I am ignoring the other the side of the coin at this point. BUT where after the 2020 AFC Title loss the sky felt like the limit, it now feels like the hour glass is moving and the next 5-7 years it better happen otherwise uh oh. The Bills are the 70's Raiders v the Steelers. Look at the success those Raiders teams had until they broke through and how many times PIT blocked them out. It finally happened and they got their ring, but they could've been a dynasty had PIT not been that good. That is what I see right now.

Yep. I live here and it is a huge huge draw. Additionally because the area in general is so nice and the canal is nearby they get a lot of residual business just given proximity.

Go for a walk, touch the grass, get some ice cream... it will be OK

It is always a good idea to make massive assumptions about the team based off a quarter of pre season game one with zero gameplan.