Would you rather go 7-9 or 1-14?

[Koufax]

Let's see. Watching the Bills win a game is enjoyable for me. Watching them lose is sigificantly less enjoyable. So, I'm gonna say 7-9 is better than 1-15. Shocker.

 

The ol' "lose now = draft high & win later" logic holds very little water for me.

 

+1

 

I would rather have every win we can get regardless if it is the first the 5th, the 10th. Regardless of how it affects our draft order. Winning football games is good for me as a Bills fan and good for the Bills players. I know there are 1-15 to 10-6 turnarounds and Peyton Mannings, but there are a lot more 7-9 to 10-6 turnarounds and there are a lot more Jamarcus Russels and Ryan Leafs. Losing as a solution seems pretty dumb to me, especially for the frustration that the 40 or so returning guys will feel. And losing also sure makes the actual season less fun too.

 

I'm just excited about getting to 1-0 against the Fish and going into week 2 in first place!

 

Go Bills!

[kota]

How about 11-5 playoffs.

[SageAgainstTheMachine]

How about 11-5 playoffs.

 

C'mon dude, you clearly don't know much about football so I'll set you straight. You don't win games by winning games, you win games by LOSING games so that you can then take a gamble on one potentially good player, who will probably refuse to sign unless he receives the biggest contract in NFL history.

Edited September 1, 2010 by SageAgainstTheMachine

[Fitzmagic]

7-9 because I don't want to see the Bills pay too much money for a top 10 bust if we went 1-16

[sweatpantsjoe]

The bills will continue their winning streak over the bengals. If I'm still alive in survival football ill take them that week.

[Steve in NY]

I'm not very optimistic about this year. I think we'll be closer to about 3 wins which would still put us in contention for the #1 pick. I'd love to be proved wrong.

[EastRochBillsfan]

Here's the inherent flaw in the "Let's lose to win" logic...it's not as if there's some guarantee that a QB drafted in the first few picks is going to be successful. For every Peyton Manning and Donovan McNabb, there's a Ryan Leaf and Tim Couch. Plus you're paying them a TON of money.

 

Two of the best QBs in the game today are Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers. Rodgers went 24th overall and Brees went 32nd. So riddle me this...who's to say we can't have a successful (or at least marginally successful) season and still walk away with a franchise QB in the 2011 draft?

My thinking exactly. If we need a qb in next years draft, 2 things can happen if we are picking in the middle of the pack. The guy we like will drop to us. Or 2, we trade up. But either way, we can get him if we want him bad enough. Also, if we want any chance at a decent free agent I would think someone would rather sign with us if they see that the Bills are headed in the right direction.

 

C'mon dude, you clearly don't know much about football so I'll set you straight. You don't win games by winning games, you win games by LOSING games so that you can then take a gamble on one potentially good player, who will probably refuse to sign unless he receives the biggest contract in NFL history.

huh? is my last sentence above what you are trying to say?

[Cannon]

7-9 is not usually that far off from the wildcard. Over the course of a season it could be as little as a handful of plays to make the wildcard with a 7-9 team. 1-15 would completely suck, yes we would get the #1 draft pick and get a new QB. But Locker, why? Just because he can run and throw pretty good, it seems like experts these days judge players on their bodies more than their drive, guts, and ability to win, the intangibles. Number One Overall pick QB's are not all they are made out to be. Since Peyton Manning I remember Dave Carr, Alex Smith, Jamarcus Russell, Eli Manning(whatever), Carson Palmer(up and down career), Matt Stafford and Sam Bradford(we'll see). Almost forgot the overrated Tim Couch. I know late round QB's bust too and its not like a Tom Brady and a Kurt Warner are easy to find. Just saying to all of you who are wishing for a 1-15 season for the draft. The NFL aint as easy as your fantasy football league.

[Metal Man]

I don't even see how this is debatable.

 

Maybe it isn't the norm for most, but I thought you watch the games to root for your team to win.

 

Plus since when does drafting top 10 guarantee you a franchise QB?

[bills1960]

I don't care about the whole draft set up, I would never hope for more losses, it's not what footballs about. A Bills win no matter what makes me happy, even if it's a meaningless one like the Colts last year. You could also trade up, (although the Bills haven't done it in a while). I'd take 7 seven wins over 1 no matter what.

[Koufax]

Way too soon to know what these opponents are going to look like each week.

 

The pessimists say "that team sounds pretty good and was good last year...no chance" when we don't know what injuries and the ups and downs of the NFL season will bring. And the optimists say "that team sounds pretty bad and was bad last year...we win that easy".

 

As examples, I give you the 2008 game against the Arizona Cardinals. Penciled in as a win by EVERYBODY, especially after we started 4-0. Was an embarrassing loss at the time, but then it turned out, wait, Arizona was a Super Bowl team...

 

And our 2008 opener against the Seahawks and Jaguars were supposed to be tough with those being 10 and 11 win teams contending for the super bowl...but then they turned out to be 4 and 5 win teams in 2008 that we beat.

 

So don't think that because you think you know how good a team was last year or is supposed to be this year that you can read our schedule and check off "easy win" and "no chance". The NFL just doesn't work that way. You can still guess what you think the outcome is, but I've heard way too many "You are crazy if you think we have a chance to win against XYZ".

 

Go Bills

 

Browns, Lions, Bears, Chiefs, Jags, Jets and Fins -- I would give us a 50/50 chance of winning against these teams. All of them have us penciled in as WIN in their preseason predictions. Since you have us splitting games with Jets & Fins, I guess we will probably win 3 of the 5 that you have pegged as wins. That gives us 5 wins and say we pull off one upset (or season ending pretend game like our win vs Indy) of the nine losses you show and that makes us 6-10 again. Get used to it people.

[Cash]

During every actual game, I will want the Bills to win, be happy if they win, and be upset if they lose. But from a "take a step back and look at the forest" perspective, I think we may be better off next year if we went 1-15 this year. Another 7-9 year might be just enough to give Edwards 1 more year, or maybe we just miss out on any blue-chip QBs in the draft. 7-9 isn't a strong indication that we have the right coach/schemes/personnel, but it's decent enough to give them another chance. That's how we wound up with 4 years of Dick Jauron. Maybe it's just because that regime has left a bitter taste in my mouth, but I think the team is better served by spectacular failure than another year of mediocrity. Doesn't make sitting through it any more palatable, though.

 

Here's a slight variation on the question: Would you rather:

 

A.) The team goes 2-14, but in entertaining fashion, i.e., losing 42-37 on amazing last-minute drives, lots of highlight reel plays by both teams, the Bills are aggressive and go for gambles, but we almost always come up a little short, or

 

B.) The team goes 7-9, but it's as listless and boring as Jauron Ball. More 6-3 wins (and losses), the team never takes a chance on offense or defense, the highlight shows gloss over all of our games.

 

For me, it's A. At least then I'd feel like we've got something to build on.

[JPicc2114]

I think the Bills could pull it out against the Steelers. Even with Big Ben

[beggar13]

Way too soon to know what these opponents are going to look like each week.

 

The pessimists say "that team sounds pretty good and was good last year...no chance" when we don't know what injuries and the ups and downs of the NFL season will bring. And the optimists say "that team sounds pretty bad and was bad last year...we win that easy".

 

As examples, I give you the 2008 game against the Arizona Cardinals. Penciled in as a win by EVERYBODY, especially after we started 4-0. Was an embarrassing loss at the time, but then it turned out, wait, Arizona was a Super Bowl team...

 

And our 2008 opener against the Seahawks and Jaguars were supposed to be tough with those being 10 and 11 win teams contending for the super bowl...but then they turned out to be 4 and 5 win teams in 2008 that we beat.

 

So don't think that because you think you know how good a team was last year or is supposed to be this year that you can read our schedule and check off "easy win" and "no chance". The NFL just doesn't work that way. You can still guess what you think the outcome is, but I've heard way too many "You are crazy if you think we have a chance to win against XYZ".

 

Go Bills

 

 

Best logic I have heard so far.

[purple haze]

I think we are headed for another seven and nine season and I just don't know how I feel about that.

 

On a previous post, I commented that I would like to see us go 1-15 and take a QB. Since that time we have seen the offense look good against the Colts and Cinci. Even if we are going to be better that most "experts" are predicting, is another 7-9 season better than a 1-15? Right now I really don't know which I would prefer, which is why I thought I would post the question and get your thoughts.

 

OK, I can't type this early in the day. 1-15 is what the subject line should say.

 

I want to see the Buffalo Bills win as many games as they possibly can. if that's 7-9 then so be it. Losing is never a remedy for a true competitor! I cannot even believe a fan would rather the team be terrible in hopes of getting a pick in the draft that may or may not wind up being any good. I know we are all frustrated with the past several years, but as a fan we cannot lose sight of what's important and that is the team winning. Tom Brady was a sixth round pick. Montana went in the 3rd round. Warren Moon was not even drafted. A top ten QB is no guarantee of anything. I would rather see them win especially with all the slick talking prognosticators who just know the Bills won't do anything and are terrible. yeah, right. THEY WILL SEE...

[ganesh]

I'd rather have 7 happy sundays than 1.

 

+1

 

Plus having to endure 15 weeks of Steelers fans at work is unbearable.

 

7-9 means we are getting better.

 

1-15 means we hired the wrong coach, drafted the wrong players, and overall, got way worse. We go 1-15, that will completly just suck. screw a top 3 draft pick. It has done the lions and rams SO well already...

 

You don't need to get a franchise QB by going 1-15. Franchise QBs can be found even at 7 through 20 position. Big Ben was a 12th overall pick...Flacco was somewhere in the 15-20. What this team needs is stability in the coaching staff especially at the coordinator position. The team as a overall showuld believe in ONE system for a period of time and execute within that system.

 

This team cannot take the financial responsibility of picking #1. It does not have the cash to pay a 55-60M guaranteed money to a rookie QB (especially if the QB is a miss). It will break Ralph and the team will go bankrupt and move. It will really set this franchise back for anther 10 years.

 

It depends how Edwards plays the whole season. All I know is the worst possible scenario is a 7-9 season where we still need a QB. I would rather have 1-15 knowing that Edwards is a star and we lost all those games by a close margin......Hope is what this team needs - hope

 

That will never happen. IF we go 1-15, the blame will be on the QB. If Edwards has a pretty good season, I believe we have the necessary pieces to win 7 (seven) games.

 

Wasn't there a season when JP was looking good that we had hope up until maybe the second to last game of the season? If I recall correctly, I think Tennessee killed our hopes that year. That was the season before we drafted Lynch and Edwards. I saw them play that amazing game in Houston (best Bills game I have ever seen in person).

 

Agreed. That was the last time when we were excited about the Bills in December. We won with that last minute TD in Houston. Vince Young and Travis Henry killed us in the game versus the Titans. We laid a few eggs along the way and could definitely have made it to the post season that year.

[pBills]

After 10 years of misery, I want the team moving in the right direction. A 10 win season... hell a 9 win season would be nice. Of course, that will screw so many people.. they will actually have to do some real scouting on the Bills instead of simply righting they suck and should only win one game.

[WickedGame]

Count me among those who think 7 enjoyable Sundays is better than 15 miserable ones (Is 1-14 really an option?). The difference in draft position is negligble -- you're looking at 1st vs maybe 9th-11th.

 

What does #1 get us? A shot at the top QB? The #2 QB, if available at 11, would still be a very good QB. The #1 tackle? Again, whatever tackle is left at 11 would be a very talented player.

 

Sorry, the trade-off just isn't worth it. It's called "rebuilding with a plan," not "throwing the games and hoping Jesus or Steve Jobs declares for the draft."

[thewildrabbit]

So far Trent Edwards has shown me this preseason what I already knew...that given a decent game plan and scheme along with adequate protection and playcalling he can get the job done. I've gotten flamed and roasted for stating that in eariler posts, this time I might be spared the barbs from the Trent haters because he has played well, much to their chagrin.

 

Should the Bills go 1-15 and then draft a QB that will take 4 years to develop... then find out they drafted another Matt Leinart.

 

 

The Bills will be bad this year record wise... but it will be because they still have 2 crap O tackles, need an upgrade at tight end and center and have a bad defense that is still learning to run the 3-4.

 

The Bills offense will be better stat wise because of a loaded backfield and better scheme, play calling and overall offense

[Maddog69]

Here's the inherent flaw in the "Let's lose to win" logic...it's not as if there's some guarantee that a QB drafted in the first few picks is going to be successful. For every Peyton Manning and Donovan McNabb, there's a Ryan Leaf and Tim Couch. Plus you're paying them a TON of money.

 

Two of the best QBs in the game today are Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers. Rodgers went 24th overall and Brees went 32nd. So riddle me this...who's to say we can't have a successful (or at least marginally successful) season and still walk away with a franchise QB in the 2011 draft?

 

I understand with your logic and I agree with you for the most part. The only thing is that an extra win here or there could take you out of position to land a franchise QB. Take 2006. We beat Cincy on Christmas eve in a meaningless game. But that meant we dropped 2-3 draft positions and ended up missing out on Manning/Rivers/Big Ben. Had we not won that one game, we could potentially have had our franchise QB. I would much prefer to go 10-6. But if I have to sit through a 2-14 season to guarantee that we land the top QB in the draft, then so be it.