NFL.com Analyst puts Bills 2nd to last...

[Never NEVER Give-up]

How can you argue the point. They do these rankings almost weekly and right now we are a busload of question marks. I'd rather be at 31 now than in January. Besides, that ranking just may get some of these guys ticked-off enough to do something about it.

 

I have no problem at all with that ranking at this time.

[billsfan89]

Every year we are put in the bottom 4 or picked to have 1-3 wins and each year we manage not to be that bad. Now do I think that we will make the playoffs next year no I don't. HOWEVER I do think we will go somewhere between 6-10 and 8-8. Our O-line play (Particularly LT) and our QB play will dog us this year HOWEVER our D will hold us in a lot of games and give us a punchers chance in every game we play.

 

If our O-line can come together and we get a rebirth by Trent or Brohm realizes his potential we might have a chance to make the playoffs. But I just don't see either let alone both happening. But mark my words our D will be really good this season. Our 3-4 should be at least decent at stopping the run and our secondary is one of the best in the league.

[....lybob]

Every year we are put in the bottom 4 or picked to have 1-3 wins and each year we manage not to be that bad. Now do I think that we will make the playoffs next year no I don't. HOWEVER I do think we will go somewhere between 6-10 and 8-8. Our O-line play (Particularly LT) and our QB play will dog us this year HOWEVER our D will hold us in a lot of games and give us a punchers chance in every game we play.

 

If our O-line can come together and we get a rebirth by Trent or Brohm realizes his potential we might have a chance to make the playoffs. But I just don't see either let alone both happening. But mark my words our D will be really good this season. Our 3-4 should be at least decent at stopping the run and our secondary is one of the best in the league.

 

simply not true it wasn't too long ago when a lot of analysis had the Bills on the cusp- but the Bills regressed or stagnated - it's only the last couple years that they've been predicting 3-4 wins- and why wouldn't you after the Bills have burned you.

[thewildrabbit]

The Bills have been outplayed because they have been small, and outpowered. The offense couldn't get a first down because they were so predictable that we could have guessed what they were doing just by watching the tv. I think the defense will be better and stronger, and our offense will get more first downs because they won't be so predictable. I think the training will be tougher, hence making the team tougher and I feel the comfort relaxed style of play will be out the window this year. That alone will get us a few more more wins. I'm not saying a playoff run, but at least close to 8-8 at best. We have 6-8 wins this year, then we know Chan is the real deal. Rome wasn't built in a year and neither will the Bills. I do believe that who ever plays us will know that we came to play and win, and that might even get us a win or two. Being the underdog can turn the tables pretty fast so I expect a good entertaining season with us being in a lot more games than we thought. No playoffs, but at least fun to watch!!!!

I disagree, the Bills wanted the smaller/quicker players to swarm to the ball in order to run the Tampa 2 properly, its main drawback is that it will always be susceptible to the run, which it was in Buffalo for four years. The defense against the run did get slightly better under Perry Fewell as head coach tho.

 

So for me, it was the scheme that was bad with the Bills and not so much the players. Bigger and stronger isn't always better concerning pass coverages.

 

This is a bunch of college coaches and assistants all learning to coach in the NFL, Gailey can't do everything. I look at this year as a learning curve for the entire team, so yea one- two wins... I wonder if RW will have patience to endure a 1-15 season

[Bronc24]

Another "journalist" going out on a limb.

 

 

Kirwan is one guy whose opinion I actually respect. I guess we have to look at it this way....we certainly can't disappoint, but we sure can surprise....

[Green Lightning]

Kirwan is one guy whose opinion I actually respect. I guess we have to look at it this way....we certainly can't disappoint, but we sure can surprise....

 

 

Kirwin is King - redux. A lot of what he wrote about other teams I've seen regurgitated in many other columns by "experts" but so what? The convential wisdom is we suck and that's fine. We have to prove we are on the right track and play some good football. I like our chances of not finishing in the bottom five.

[Owen]

If the Bills need a QB next season lets hope Cleveland, Jacksonville and Seattle do not finish below the Bills. They too also need a quality QB. At the same time I hope the Bills do not need a QB next season... Wouldn't that be great ?

[K Gun Special]

Buffalo Bills: I will get some negative comments about the Lions being ranked ahead of the Bills, but Buffalo has many problems. Who is the QB? Who blocks the edges in the protection schemes? Who replaces the production WR Terrell Owens delivered last year? How does a defense that gave up 156.3 yards per game on the ground get better when the front office took a running back in the first round of the draft and converted to a 3-4 scheme?

 

i usually like kirwan, he's a fairly knowledgable guy, but come on, As a former GM he should know that its not all about the first rd, bringing in troup, carrington, edwards, davis, should go a long way towards shoring up that run D, plus moving guys like maybin, poz, and even ellis to positions that better suit their talents.

 

we should be able to cut that # in half almost

 

 

Run defense gets better by having a better offense and thereby keeping the defense off the field. The bills defense was worse in the second half, and with an offense that was so pathetic who should be surprised.

[CarolinaBill]

Run defense gets better by having a better offense and thereby keeping the defense off the field. The bills defense was worse in the second half, and with an offense that was so pathetic who should be surprised.

thats not the original question though, kirwan asked, how is the run D going to improve when we took a rb first and are switching to a 3-4 defense.

 

we've done quite a bit to shore up the run D so far, and found guys to fit the 3-4 defense, whether or not they produce on the field is a question we cant answer yet, but on paper we have addressed those issues. For a journalists and former GM like Kirwan to fail to acknowledge that fact, I find it sloppy work.

 

Of course having a more productive offense will help the D, but that wasn't part of what he said.

[Pondslider]

Who replaces the production WR Terrell Owens delivered last year?

 

Who cares? I'm sure any of the guys on the roster can play halfassed and drop balls like TO did. They won more games the previous 3 years without TO. Why should they be worried about replacing him?

[billsfan89]

simply not true it wasn't too long ago when a lot of analysis had the Bills on the cusp- but the Bills regressed or stagnated - it's only the last couple years that they've been predicting 3-4 wins- and why wouldn't you after the Bills have burned you.

 

I was more so talking about the last few seasons in 2007 2009 and this up coming year we were all suppose to be a 1 to 3 win team

[BADOLBILZ]

I'm not saying he's completely off with his estimation, but Kirwan suffers from groupthink a bit more than I care for. I don't put a ton of weight on most of his stuff.

 

What is your opinion of how the Bills will do?

[CarolinaBill]

What is your opinion of how the Bills will do?

I think we can be competitive and finish anywhere from 8-8 to 11-5

[Malazan]

Season Over, time to slit the wrists. If Kirwan says it, it's gold.

[Rob's House]

It wasn't so much that he said the Bills would suck that I have a problem with (although i disagree) but the sorry follow up as to why. I think anyone on this board could have written that article as well or better.

 

His justification that the D wouldn't improve b/c we didn't address it in the first round was either dumb or lazy. It reminds me of games where the QB has put the ball in the slippery hands of recievers who miff the catch and get the ball picked off only to hear an ESPN commentator (who clearly only looked at the stat sheet) talk about how bad his accuracy was.

[RuntheDamnBall]

Kirwan must not have much faith in the coaching staff.

I know it's plenty of years ago, but the Steelers made the second round of the playoffs in 1996 with an offense basically built with these players:

QB: Mike Tomczak, Kordell Stewart, Jim Miller

RB: Bettis

C: D. Dawson

WR: Charles Johnson

Yancey Thigpen

Andre Hastings

TE: Mark Bruener

 

 

The WRs were nothing to write home about. The QB "success" of Tomczak, a true stinker, should be considered a McGyver job by Gailey. The O-Line was not at all one of the Steelers' greatest casts, though I always remember them being solid and Dawson was a fantastic anchor. Basically this offense thrived on Bettis and Slash play.

 

I see the Bills offense as having far better potential pieces, but with a lot of work to do to get them all lined up.

 

The Steelers as usual had a very good defense, but a lot of the big pieces were aging.

 

The next year they just missed the Super Bowl, losing to Denver, with Kordell freaking Stewart at the helm.

 

This should be enough to generate some mild confidence in Gailey's potential to work with this cast. Of course, the franchise isn't the Steelers, but I think they're turning the corner.

[tennesseeboy]

I know it's plenty of years ago, but the Steelers made the second round of the playoffs in 1996 with an offense basically built with these players:

QB: Mike Tomczak, Kordell Stewart, Jim Miller

RB: Bettis

C: D. Dawson

WR: Charles Johnson

Yancey Thigpen

Andre Hastings

TE: Mark Bruener

 

 

The WRs were nothing to write home about. The QB "success" of Tomczak, a true stinker, should basically be considered a McGyver job by Gailey. The O-Line was not at all one of the Steelers' greatest casts, though I always remember them being solid and Dawson was a fantastic anchor. Basically this offense thrived on Bettis and Slash play.

 

I see the Bills offense as having far better potential pieces, but with a lot of work to do to get them all lined up.

 

The Steelers as usual had a very good defense, but a lot of the big pieces were aging.

 

The next year they just missed the Super Bowl, losing to Denver, with Kordell freaking Stewart at the helm.

 

This should be enough to generate some mild confidence in Gailey's potential to work with this cast. Of course, the franchise isn't the Steelers, but I think they're turning the corner.

Solid offensive line is the key to success in almost every case. We are halfway there with Wood and Levitre, but need tackles and some solid backups to go anywhere.

[RuntheDamnBall]

Solid offensive line is the key to success in almost every case. We are halfway there with Wood and Levitre, but need tackles and some solid backups to go anywhere.

I know they haven't gone first round with many picks, but they seem to be following that strategy and at the very least pursuing depth on the lines.

 

Wang is an intriguing prospect, as is Meredith, and while I have very little confidence in a somewhat healthy Bell, this staff seems to have some. I also don't mind Hangartner but I'd love to see an All-Pro center again in Buffalo. I think the position is far underrated in its importance, even moreso than the left tackle position. Every great team has a top-notch center IMO.

 

Jury's out on Green, Bell, Hangman being good pieces. The health of Wood is a big factor, too. Hopefully Spiller can take some pressure off while they heal up.