The Red King

My efforts to make a mock have ended in failure, so I'll just post the idea. If was going to change the unis up, I think I do like the Red, White and Blue theme we had in the Super Bowls era. But...with a few changes. First, if we're looking at a red helmet, road pants have to be blue. Seriously, look at pics from SB XXV. We had red helmets, white shirts and pants. Looked like a bunch of lighthouses. Second, the red on the helmet was a bit too bright (honestly, I absolutely hated that shade of red for our helmets). Why not have a darker red, perhaps even a chrome red helmet, with tweaking to the logo color shading? Something like... Then for the uniforms, I'd keep the actual design as it is now. I'd just change any of the red trim/piping/portions of the uni from red to a chrome red to match the helmet. Finally, I'd then darken the uniform a bit to better match the helmet. Would still be blue, just a bit darker. Not as dark as the Drew Bledsoe era Bills, maybe a shade halfway between that and our current. I think it would all look sharp tied together. The Bills would still have their identity, still have the symbol. They would return to the red, white and blue of the Super Bowl years...a color scheme unique to them, even if the Pats did try to steal our image with their last uni change. At the same time, we'd have something that looked a little sharper, edgier, and of course something most dear to the NFL...marketability!

"Today the Patriots tested their new system for removing Brady even more quickly from plays where he throws an interception..."

Ugh, anyone know a good online site or such to make mock-up helmets? I'm having zero luck. All I can find are photoshop templates that don't work properly in the Gimp. >.>

Ironically... I actually don't like the old red standing buffalo helmet. It seems quite bland and monotone, far from dynamic. I know you're getting ready to blast me because I'm a 44-year old punk that grew up with the newer logo...but! My father, who attended games in the old rockpile hated that logo. Every time he saw it, he'd refer to it as "...the standing Buffalo! You know! The one that looks like a cow is standing in a meadow taking a dump!" I'm...less hostile toward it. I agree with many posters. I actually love what we've got right now. Favorite uni combo to date. However, the OP made it clear this thread was not about whether or not we should change the unis, rather if we did change them...what should we change it to. In the spirit of that topic, I have an idea, and will start poking around online and with Gimp, to see if I can't make a mock-up!

Unless he has mastered an ancient secret for rejuvinating his own flesh with the raw power of his ego, Tom's going to slow down. The problem is, he thinks he's immortal, that it's a mental thing, that he won't have to retire until he wants to. Sorry, that's a call your body can make for you. Personally, I think it's ego-driven. He wants more rings, wants more press clippings, wants to be the QB that went to his mid-40s, anything and everything to pad his legacy. I almost get the impression he'd be lost if he retired. No games, no drama, no NFL experts talking about him being the GOAT week in and out. He'd miss the limelight. I just have a very bad feeling Father Time will catch up to him, and his legacy will end with him curled up in a broken ball on the field after a clean hit in a regular season game. About the farthest thing from riding off into the sunset.

Read it carefully. I have no trouble believing NE considered it, called, asked how much it would cost to move up and 'nope'ed out of that immediately. Like when you see something nice in the store, pick it up, check the price tag, go white and walk away...

What are this week's winning Lotto numbers? I mean, I figure if you can see into the future and know for certain the QB will be crap and FO will be gone in three years, surely you can tell me the winning Lotto numbers! ...wait... You're not one of those people that mistake personal opinions and predictions with facts, are you? ...seriously getting sick of this...

I hated all the a announced gimmicks. Parrot bringing up a pick and such. Thought they were flashy, silly and pointless. Then this happened. A beautiful moment, a class act. I lost my dad, the man who made me a Bills fan, hell a football fan in general (I also watch college, even the CFL when we visit the in-laws) to cancer, so this hit home. I love that for all the flak this city and fans get, that the nation got to see what this city and its people are really about, how close and supportive we are. And I'll never forget the look on Poncho's face...the mention, he expected. But when he was asked up on stage, his expression...that was priceless.

Hope? This regime got us into the playoffs for the first time this century. If that's just "hope", I'd love to hear your definition of "substance".

Enough with the absolutes. That's why OP catches so much flak, and he's not the only one. All these statements about how we definately overpayed, or how someone will be a bust are grating. If you can see into the future, buy winning lottery tickets, buy the team, and make any personel decisions you want. If you cannot see into the future, stop talking as if you can. Stop posting opinion as foregone conclusion. Start saying things like "In a few years I believe Allen will be revealed as a bust." or "A few years from now I think it will be clear the 2018 draft was a bust."

Come now, for a good story you need a villain, some arrogant punk with a sneer that makes your skin crawl, and who spouts things that make bile come up in your throat. Also needs a hero who starts the story unprepared, a novice that isn't powerful enough to dethrone the villain right away though with the potential to do so as he learns and grows during the story. Someone you can cheer for. ...oh...wait...this story actually has both...and both were available when the Bills picked at 7.

Can only do so much at a time. We free up a ton of cap space next season. Expect the Bills O to receive a full overhaul and lots of loving next offseason via draft and FA.

Illuminati involvement in the Bills' rebuilding confirmed!

The KB trade had zero to do with Watkins. Completely different types of receivers. The Bills sucked in the Red Zone, and KB was brought in to provide a tall end-zone target for TT. Didn't help because KB was injured part of the time, and TT simply didn't throw to him when he was healthy anyway. As for the poll, "no" is a perfectly acceptable answer. Saying you disapprove of Beane's moves is different then saying the draft was a failure (which is impossible to know for certain unless you can look ahead in time). The crux is the Allen pick, which shattered several fans' confidence. Those disillusioned fans are handling that different ways. Some are able to keep their cool, and look at the other moves objectively. Some let that frustration lead to anger and color how they look at the other moves. The only thing that truly bothers me are the people who insist they can see the future, insist that the moves are already predetermined failures, and anyone that doesn't agree with their assertations are blind idiots. Nobody can tell the future. The only thing we know for certainty is that Beane went after the players he wanted. Whether or not the players pan out and the question of whether or not we overpayed is impossible to answer until we see how these players turn out.

Reality. The Bills lost to one of the 3-4 most talented rosters by just seven points in their own stadium.

You don't consider making the playoffs and ending a 17-year drought in year one "results"?

As I noted earlier, 99% of the fans that hated the Allen pick are openly hostile and insulting. Precious few discuss the point calmly and civilly. Now, unlike some people here, I rarely, if ever, deal in absolutes. There are indeed fans that hate the Allen pick that are calm and civil...they are simply in the vast minority here. Careful, keep trying to reason with them and you'll all be called doodie-heads next! Year One of The Process got us to 9-7 and the end of a 17-year playoff drought. I think they earned a bit of trust.

Poyerhydebushneal Is that a 17-sided object?

C'mon, like I said it's obvious. Many hold the view that if McBeane took Allen over Rosen he is utterly incompetent and unable to make good picks, ergo every pick of his must be a bad one and the Bills will, with 100% certainty, be terrible next year. And it will take a lot more then piddly things like "facts" and "logic" to sway them.

I'll simplify this thread... Do you hate the Allen pick? Then you are 99% likely to say the entire draft sucked, and be very volatile about it, hurling insults at McBeane and saying such things like "Only the Bills would draft Allen at 7 when Rosen was on the board!" when it was earlier revealed the Cardinals were attempting to do just that and were upset the Bills beat them to it. You are also most likely to say we overspent to get to 7 while also being one of the same people who before the draft yelled and screamed that we needed to trade up for our QB "whatever the cost". I have thus far seen precious few people that hated the Allen pick that are actually calm and objective when discussing it. Most sound like McBeane punched their household pet.

Oh goodie, another thinly veiled "I hate that they took Allen instead of Rosen, so McBeane and the Front Office suck!" threads...

Not enough offensive weapons to start Allen. AJ was brought in as a 1-2 year bridge. Now if we added more offensive weapons, there would be more pressure to start Allen early. This is AJ's year to show what he's got. I don't have faith, but that's based on limited body of work. I am, however, willing to see what he's got.

Sadly there are a number of people so upset about the Allen pick, that the draft was an immediate disaster in their eyes. Every move past that was seen in the most negative light possible, no matter how positive it might actually seem. If you look closely, most people calling this draft a bust and/or disaster share two traits...first, they hated the Allen pick and second they are outright hostile and abusive. It's rarely a calm, clean critique. It's Beane did everything wrong, is an idiot, everyone is going to be a bust and we will have a new coach/GM in a year or two. Some fans got overemotional over Allen being picked and allowed it to severely taint any other draft pick later taken in their eyes.

There is a plan. Some of you don't like it, or the moves made for it, but it's there. We got our franchise QB, like him or not. I was careful to say 'if it works'. I don't have a crystal ball, I don't know the outcome (as some on this board somehow insist they do), but I know there is a plan, I'm watching it unfold, and that is something we've been lacking for awhile.

You can only do so much in one off-season. Beane's priority is long term, but he's trying to do what he can to win now. Last year's plan got us to 9-7 and the playoffs and he's doubling down. Beef up the defense, swap in a bridge QB who isn't afraid to take some chances, and lean on the D heavily. Before the draft I predicted 9-7, nabbing a Wild Card week 17. I'm standing by that. Like last season our D can win us a number of games. The D will struggle now and then, all units do, and it's unlikely our O will be able to bail them out when they do. With the pressure more on the D then the O, Allen can sit and learn. Next off-season when we free up a ton of cap room, the Bills will completely overhaul the O through free agency and the draft, building it around Allen. And that's when they become dangerous. 2018 is going to look a lot like 2017. But remember, 2017 was a playoff year. If we can play as well or better on D and get even marginally better on O, there is no reason this team can't return to the playoffs, even if they're not yet an elite team.