PromoTheRobot Posted August 30, 2010 Share Posted August 30, 2010 Interesting...I don't think these stats can be ignored too much, but how much of the "starters vs starters" argument can be used? Is it that the starters on the opposition haven't warmed up yet? Are the other teams not going in with a game plan just to allow the starters to get sharp? And how do we quantify that? I mean, there could be two guys who are playing with the first unit that would normally be on the bench and those guys miss an assignment, blow a coverage, or miss a block due to whatever reason. I understand your enthusiasm. I'm cautiously optimistic about what we've seen & heard from camp and the preseason games. That said, I maintain - and always will - that it's preseason and the results of these games (stats, W/L, etc) mean diddly-poo. Preseason is just a stretch to get the starters in game-ready shape for the regular season. We'll really know the real deal for this team by Week 5. Compare the Bills starters in 2010 to 2009...a real eye-opener: 2010 starters after 3 games: 6 TD's 16 pts avg. 22-37/304 yds/2 TDs/1 INT 133 yds rushing/2 TDs 2009 starters after 5 games: 0 TD's 0.6 pts avg.!! (not a typo!) 35-55/262 yds/0 TDs/3 INT 97 yds rushing/0 TDs We have already blown away our 5-game 2009 performance in 3 games! Heck, we blew it away in 1 quarter!!! PTR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest dog14787 Posted August 30, 2010 Share Posted August 30, 2010 Compare the Bills starters in 2010 to 2009...a real eye-opener: 2010 starters after 3 games: 6 TD's 16 pts avg. 22-37/304 yds/2 TDs/1 INT 133 yds rushing/2 TDs 2009 starters after 5 games: 0 TD's 0.6 pts avg.!! (not a typo!) 35-55/262 yds/0 TDs/3 INT 97 yds rushing/0 TDs We have already blown away our 5-game 2009 performance in 3 games! Heck, we blew it away in 1 quarter!!! PTR Wow, an amazing comparison, and we actually went on to almost beat the Patriots in the season opener and folks don't think we will do better this season, its a no brainer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glory Bound Posted August 30, 2010 Share Posted August 30, 2010 What really impresses me so far PTR and Trent Edwards touched on it briefly in a recent inerview, was the offenses/teams ability to fight back from momentum swings This also impressed me! How many times in the past few years have we seen momentum swing from our favor to the opponents, only to never be recaptured? I would watch this & would say..."Here we go again...game over." It was as if the Bills collectively accepted defeat when the pendulum swung the the other way. If we can just get the tude..."Oh no ya don't...we're the Bills & we're taking this game", then we'll see some comebacks & win the tight ones. I think Gailey can bring this out of the guys. Spiller certainly has this attitude! My dad was a coach...if he said it once he said it a thousand times to the team..."it's all up here"...while pointing to his temple. He also taught psychological warfare in the army. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CodeMonkey Posted August 30, 2010 Share Posted August 30, 2010 Yes, we know. It's pre-season. But take note that most of the points we have scored have been with out first team. Starters vs starters, not scrub vs scrub. PTR I'm not too sure about the starter vs starter stuff. Our starters have played longer (upwards of 50% longer in most cases) than our opponents this preseason. Even this past Saturday Cincy sat their starting QB and running back after the first quarter. I believe the Cincy defense sat a few starters at that same time as well, but I do not know their lineup enough to say for sure. It was their 4th and last preseason game after all. Our offense clearly looks better at this point in the preseason than it did last year. But Sunday September 12th we will start to find out how real this improvement is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muggins Posted August 30, 2010 Share Posted August 30, 2010 I have to watch the game tonight as I have it on DVR, but after seeing the stats and highlights I think I'm ready to give Chandler the benefit of the doubt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly the Dog Posted August 30, 2010 Share Posted August 30, 2010 And yet if we we're 0-3 and only scored 6 points, would we still be saying it's only pre-season? Of course not. It would be proof of that we really are the worst team in the NFL. P R O O F !!!! PTR Last season we were clearly the worst team in football in pre-season. Especially on offense. So what did we do? We immediately came out and (arguably) played our best game of the entire season in game one, the late loss notwithstanding. The offense looked pretty decent. The line blocked great. We ran all over the Patriots. The defense looked very good until the late collapse. And we would have won and beat the Patriots in an enormous upset without the ridiculous fumble on special teams. Pre-season ultimately doesn't mean anything. Our (good looking) offense may or may not look like this against the Dolphins. Our (awful looking) defense may or may not look like they have against the Dolphins. Our (awful looking) special teams may or may not look like that against the Dolphins. I'm actually predicting a win against the Fins (mostly because it's home and I don't think the Fins are that good). But the pre-season really doesn't mean anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Caveman Posted August 30, 2010 Share Posted August 30, 2010 The alphabetical thing worries me. If we move to Niagara, we would be 3rd in the division. I think Ralph had that in mind when he located in Buffalo. Alpha order may have been the tiebreaker all the way back then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eball Posted August 30, 2010 Share Posted August 30, 2010 Last season we were clearly the worst team in football in pre-season. Especially on offense. So what did we do? We immediately came out and (arguably) played our best game of the entire season in game one, the late loss notwithstanding. The offense looked pretty decent. The line blocked great. We ran all over the Patriots. The defense looked very good until the late collapse. And we would have won and beat the Patriots in an enormous upset without the ridiculous fumble on special teams. Pre-season ultimately doesn't mean anything. Our (good looking) offense may or may not look like this against the Dolphins. Our (awful looking) defense may or may not look like they have against the Dolphins. Our (awful looking) special teams may or may not look like that against the Dolphins. I'm actually predicting a win against the Fins (mostly because it's home and I don't think the Fins are that good). But the pre-season really doesn't mean anything. Kelly, for the most part I agree with you. It is nearly impossible to predict regular season performance based upon the practice games. I do believe, however, that certain strengths and/or weaknesses can reveal themselves, and there is no better example than last year's Bills. The Bills executed a great gameplan against NE* and nearly pulled off the shocker, but the evidence of poor offensive output from preseason soon reared its' ugly head. Even though Indy doesn't care about winning in the preseason, you watch their first string and it's obvious Manning & company will be fine when the bullets start flying for real. I think you can make some observations from the early part of these games to create some partially-credible expectations. In other words...the games are good for something; I'm just not sure what. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Senator Posted August 30, 2010 Share Posted August 30, 2010 WOO HOO!!!!! 19 and 0 baby!!! GO BILLSSS!!!! PosLUSZny!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glory Bound Posted August 30, 2010 Share Posted August 30, 2010 In other words...the games are good for something; I'm just not sure what. Yes they are...you can pick up on trends & potentials...you can get inklings...suspicions & gut feelings...Then you can piece it all together & figure it all out by game one, only to realize how wrong you were about most everything, then brag about the few things you were right about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Caveman Posted August 30, 2010 Share Posted August 30, 2010 I know its only preseason, but isn't this record and these statistics hard to square with us being the "worst team" in the NFL? I can't believe the media having orgasms over other teams based on preseason performance or dooming teams for poor performance and completely ignoring our record to date. Yes, its only preseason, but right now preseason is all they have to talk about. We have certainly provided something to talk about and we aren't hearing a darn thing. I'm starting to buy into the media being biased stuff that's been posted. Detroit went 4-0 in the preseason the year they went 0-16 when the games meant something. this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Tom Posted August 30, 2010 Share Posted August 30, 2010 God, I !@#$ing hate preseason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobChalmers Posted August 30, 2010 Share Posted August 30, 2010 (edited) Yes, we know. It's pre-season. But take note that most of the points we have scored have been with out first team. Starters vs starters, not scrub vs scrub. PTR +1 That's an incredibly important point the naysayers on this board want to ignore. Our first team offense (yes folks - the one TE has been running) has been getting it done against the other team's first's. Even in the Bengals game, where they pulled their offensive starters early (after whipping our Defense) the Bengals were still using their first team defense while our first's were out there. This is a complete reversal of last year, and unlike preseason final scores, the performance of the 1's vs. the 1's is a real indicator of the status of the team going into the regular season. Edited August 30, 2010 by BobChalmers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattsox Posted August 30, 2010 Share Posted August 30, 2010 its the preseason playoffs baby! Love the enthusiasium, and I sincerely hope they do come out and do a good job come regular season. But I don't see them winning come week 1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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