We've all heard the stories

[Doc]

wow

I agree. How anyone can say that Butler was the Bills' best OL, when he barely played 2 full games at RT, is interesting. And Incognito played in just (the final) 3 games for the Bills.

[profile]

You guys need a reality check and I am the one to give it to you. The Bills are going to "SUCK" this year. Be objective and not "subjective" and you cannot come up with another other conclusion. The following are indisputeable facts.

 

(1) Our OL is very young and unproven. We are very weak at LT and RT. Average at center. The is the foundation of an offense. Our foundation is "cracked" and "slippery" at best.

 

(2) Our QB situation is "pathetic." We have "caption checkdown," Fitz a career backup who is very inaccurate, and Brohm who couldn't even beat out Flynn last year for the 3rd string QB. Levi Brown who is as raw as "sushi."

 

(3) A team with a very weak receivers. Lee Evans and that's it.

 

Bottom line below average OL , below average QB , below average WR equals losing not "w's"....I like Chan but he can't work mircles guys...Come on guys smell the coffee. Don't believe your own lies! STOP LIVING IN FANTASYLAND.

 

Teams are going to stack the box and take away our running game. Run blitz and force us to beat them will the pass. Its not going to happen.

 

Next the defensive side of the ball.

 

New defensive scheme means great learning curves wwhich means lots of mistakes. Without a doubt, the transition will be difficult and painful. No team in the history of the NFL has made a super smooth transition from the 4-3 to 3-4. What makes you think the Bills with "medicore" players are going too.

 

LB core is average at best.

 

Bills still can't rush the opposing QB or stop the run. What makes you think they will be able to this year? Troup is young and Schobel is likely to be gone.

 

The secondary is excellent and thats about our only bright spot.

 

Now, I do believe I have proven without a "shadow of a doubt" the Bills are going "SUCK" this year. Oh well there is always next year. I have been saying that for ten years and its getting old.

 

I am SOOOO glad you posted this for everyone, THANK GOD you know how the season will play out. Now I don't have to watch those pesky Bills games this year. WHEEEEWWW!

 

Please post up when they are going to win the superbowl so I can watch that year...

 

Oh yes... one favor to ask: Winning lottery numbers please, PM them to me so no-one else will see them, thanks.

[Logical Reasoning]

The Bills haven't got worse? Yes, they have. Kyle Williams was a damn good DT, but won't be a damn good NT. Marcus Stroud has never played DE. T.O. is gone. Incognito is gone and our best offensive lineman, Butler, retired. Our LBs are mostly DEs. Our best defensive player, Schobel, isn't coming back. Schobel and so many people switching positions definitely makes us worse.

 

Three fair QBs? You know, if you look at the QB stats and ratings and productivity, that observation just doesn't hold up. What we have is three below-average QBs and a rookie.

 

 

 

 

 

 

You're boggling my mind. Are you somehow saying that switching to a 3 - 4 was in response to the players we had on the roster, despite the obvious fact that they had all been drafted for the 4 - 3, that their body types don't fit the 3 - 4, and that the two most important positions in the 3 - 4 defense are nose tackle and ROLB, the pass rushing demon, and that we had to draft an NT (and that NTs traditionally have a very hard time their first year) and still have no idea whatsoever who will be our ROLB or whether he'll be any good? Seriously?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You're right, very few teams are completely set in all phases. However, the good teams are not weak at QB, OL, DL, LB, and WR all at the same time. Covering up for one or two mediocre dudes is very possible, particularly if you're sensational elsewhere. More than half the team being huge question marks is just not a good sign. And if he needs to see someone for depression, maybe you could use some downers for the manic phase of your manic depression.

[CodeMonkey]

If I was a defensive coodinator that is exactly what I'd do. I'm interested in seeing if they have a counter to this game plan.

Three and out.

[Mr. WEO]

If the no one steps-up at #2 WR, things could be very ugly offensively as teams stack the box. I'm not so worried about the OL, since a lot of what happened last year was unusual (Walker getting cut just before the season and the inexperienced/unprepared Bell getting the start with up to 3 other true rookies starting, Butler going down in week 2, all the injuries, bad coaching) and the coaching and schemes should be better. The QB's are the same and should improve with Gailey working with them. But if the running game gets shut down, it's all over.

You are correct.

 

If the Bills are forced pass, it's going to be a problem. In Pitt and Miami, the passing games under CG weren't any good (27th,26th,19th and 27th).

[Doc]

You are correct.

 

If the Bills are forced pass, it's going to be a problem. In Pitt and Miami, the passing games under CG weren't any good (27th,26th,19th and 27th).

Total passing yards aren't worth much since they're dependent on pass attempts. In that department, Gailey's offenses ranked 30th and 26th (out of 30) with the Steelers from 1996-1997 and 31st and 29th (out of 31) with the Dols from 2000-2001, which would explain the low passing totals. The more important stat is YPA, which were 14th, 9th, 15th and 6th, with guys like Mike Tomczak, Kordell Stewart, and Jay Fielder as his QB's.

[Mr. WEO]

Total passing yards aren't worth much since they're dependent on pass attempts. In that department, Gailey's offenses ranked 30th and 26th (out of 30) with the Steelers from 1996-1997 and 31st and 29th (out of 31) with the Dols from 2000-2001, which would explain the low passing totals. The more important stat is YPA, which were 14th, 9th, 15th and 6th, with guys like Mike Tomczak, Kordell Stewart, and Jay Fielder as his QB's.

The passing YPA are going down as the atttempts go up with mediocre QBs and with no run game to set up the pass.

[Doc]

The passing YPA are going down as the atttempts go up with mediocre QBs and with no run game to set up the pass.

As I showed with both teams, the YPA went up significantly in the 2nd year while attempts increased marginally. With the Bills, we'll have to wait and see.

[Mr. WEO]

As I showed with both teams, the YPA went up significantly in the 2nd year while attempts increased marginally. With the Bills, we'll have to wait and see.

True, we will have to wait. Of course.

 

But I still agree with your original argument, for the reason I cited:

 

The QB's are the same and should improve with Gailey working with them. But if the running game gets shut down, it's all over.

[dpberr]

I'd hope that since the offense sees the 3-4 every day in practice, they will be able to solve it on gameday. The offense looked absolutely lost when up against a 3-4.

 

I'm one of those optimists. I think last season went wrong in so many ways off the field...and the team has attempted to correct those problems and the injury-riddled talent cranked out six wins despite everything.

 

Their corrections in the front office, coaching and conditioning have given me hope for this season.

[bills in va]

If you have been a Bills fan for the past five to seven years, you have heard of defensive players from the Jets, Pats and Dolphins note that the Bills offense was fairly predictable. I almost recall Bruschi saying that he knew exactly where the Bills were going and the play they called.

 

If Gailey is the slightest bit more clever than the other coordinators, which I believe he is, we should be much better off than we have been. It is way too early to make predictions but the Bills are some 'slight improvements' away from a playoff spot.

 

To those of you who say that this post is typical foreshadowed optimism, you have hit the nail on the head, but two or three reversed plays that go with the Bills, some healthy players and seven and nine can become nine and seven and then you have to arguably win one more to be in.

Woulda-Shoulda-Coulda!

Darnit if I woulda been 6 inches taller, 50 pounds heavier and ran twice as fast I woulda played pro ball.

[mpl6876]

I am SOOOO glad you posted this for everyone, THANK GOD you know how the season will play out. Now I don't have to watch those pesky Bills games this year. WHEEEEWWW!

 

Please post up when they are going to win the superbowl so I can watch that year...

 

Oh yes... one favor to ask: Winning lottery numbers please, PM them to me so no-one else will see them, thanks.

 

Hey K GUN, it is quite obvisous you didn't like what I wrote. In fact, I don't even like what I wrote. However, that is the way I see things playing out and that is my opinion. I don't claim to be a know it all and your sarcasim isn't appreciated. Why not try to counter my points in a intelligent fashion instead of trying to belittle me.

[Meathead]

Not every team uses a lot of misdirection. Some teams simply dare you to stop what they do best. The Super Bowl Bills were an example. They weren't tricky. Neither were the teams that beat them.

thank you

 

often when they went to the no huddle they ran the same plays over and over. didnt matter

 

i dont think it was a good thing to be as predictable last season, but its not motion and junk thats gonna make the offense improve as much as solid fundamentals and execution

[Meathead]

and yeah this team will struggle badly. decent offense, horrible defense. four wins

[Sisyphean Bills]

There is no doubt in my mind that Gailey is an upgrade by orders of magnitude [edit: in terms of the offensive coaching]. However, tricking others can only help one so much. Unless he can get some of the DJ oil slick off what amounts to mostly the same players that washed up on the oily beach last year, they'll still be floundering with the tar balls on offense and all the talk of soaring is just more talk. That is, he just may not be able to save them all; some of the birds he has inherited may just not be really all that good.

[Doc]

There is no doubt in my mind that Gailey is an upgrade by orders of magnitude [edit: in terms of the offensive coaching]. However, tricking others can only help one so much. Unless he can get some of the DJ oil slick off what amounts to mostly the same players that washed up on the oily beach last year, they'll still be floundering with the tar balls on offense and all the talk of soaring is just more talk. That is, he just may not be able to save them all; some of the birds he has inherited may just not be really all that good.

When it comes to a Jauron offense versus a Gailey, I have no doubt that we'll find that the birds clean up nicely. That's not to say that they don't need some new, clean birds.

[l< j]

I almost recall Bruschi saying that he knew exactly where the Bills were going and the play they called.

 

'Cuz Belicheck's Patri*ts cheat.

[Sisyphean Bills]

When it comes to a Jauron offense versus a Gailey, I have no doubt that we'll find that the birds clean up nicely. That's not to say that they don't need some new, clean birds.

Some of them may yet fly. I don't expect deus ex machina style miracles to happen and happen overnight however.

[Doc]

Some of them may yet fly. I don't expect deus ex machina style miracles to happen and happen overnight however.

Jauron's desired offense was like Schonert called it: "Pop Warner." His offenses as a HC have consistently been weak, and I had hoped that he'd learned something from his Bears stint when the Bills hired him, but it didn't happen. If the Bills had kept TO and essentially kept the same offensive personnel as last year, we'd be able to compare apples to apples. In absence of that, if the Bills can find a good #2 WR, we should still be able to see the difference.

[leh-nerd skin-erd]

I'd hope that since the offense sees the 3-4 every day in practice, they will be able to solve it on gameday. The offense looked absolutely lost when up against a 3-4.

 

I'm one of those optimists. I think last season went wrong in so many ways off the field...and the team has attempted to correct those problems and the injury-riddled talent cranked out six wins despite everything.

 

Their corrections in the front office, coaching and conditioning have given me hope for this season.

 

 

when the choice is pessimism v. optimism, i go with optimism. if it breaks as badly as some say, i can (again) be miserable September to November, and comfortably numb in December. that's the beauty of the game, and i see no reason to get an early jump on it.

 

my reason(s) for optimism are as follows:

1. the jets have a volatile mix and there is no certainty their science project will work. plus, year two can be a real nut-cruncher for a coach.

2. the pats have brady, the pats have beli, and the pats may yet again sweep us. that said, they were quite beatable last year and have aged just a bit more, conventional wisdom is their defense has not substantially improved, and as sucky as we've been, we've had chances virtually every year to split the series with them. someone said a few posts ago---we lost because we were a bad team. true enough. but, if our game plan and exectuion is better, one might assume we win those and squeak a couple more out. in other words, we need to be good enough to win some close ones.

3. dolfinkies are year three, beatable as always. maybe sparano lines 'em up for a run this year, maybe not. defensive coordinator has some skill, so they may be tough. we'll see.

 

i personally like the attitude that appears to rule the day with gailey and his staff. seem like a no-nonsense approach to football, seems like he has a definite plan on fielding a tough football team--and iti's tough to imagine a more painful offensive line shuffle than we had last year. consistency should help any team, and gailey's been around long enough to work some magic (note some, not alot) schematically to address some of the4 shortcomings of this offense.

 

defensively---who the frig knows.

 

i hope for solid coaching. that is reason enough for optimism for right now.