Albany,n.y. Posted September 27, 2010 Share Posted September 27, 2010 (edited) The 1984 & 1985 teams were the worst in the NFL each of those 2 seasons. Yet no matter how bad they were, there were weeks they were competitive or better. So, lets not get overenthusiastic because we were close to the Patriots yesterday, in the same place where the Bills almost won last year with Trent Edwards at QB. Here are some games that gave us reason for optimism in 1984 & 1985 even though both teams went 2-14. (Thanks to the Bills media guides for 1985 & 1986 for some of the info) 1984: Week 1 NE 21@ Bills 17-Bills fall behind 21-3 early then come back to only lose by 4. Dominate time of possession 34:08 to 25:52 Outgain NE 326 yds to 315 Week 3 Miami 21 @ Bills 17-Once again trailing 21-3, the Bills fought back to get within 4 late. Week 4 Jets 28@ Bills 26 -Bills open up a 10-0 lead, then fall behind 21-10. Bills rally back & get in the game. If department-Bills within 2 when Ferguson gets hurt, Kofler ineffective last 2 series. Week 7 Bills 28 at Seattle 31-Once again Bills fall behind early 17-0, then battle back to gain a 28-24 lead in the 4th quarter, before losing 31-28. Bills dominate time of possession 35:13 ti 24:47, Bills D performs well with Seattle held to 41 rushing yds, 238 total yds, 3 sacks & 2 ints. Week 10 Cleveland 13 @ Bills 10-Bills led 10-6 going into the 4th quarter. Bills lost when Ernest Byner recovered a teammate's fumble and ran 55 yards for the winning TD. Week 12 Dallas 3 @ Bills 14 -Victory! Greg Bell runs for 85 yards on the opening play & the Bills stun the Coyboys for their 1st win of the season. Week 14 Indianapolis 15 @ Bills 21-Victory #2. Bills go up 21-0 in the 1st quarter and never score again, but Indy Art Schlichter can't get closer than 6 points as Indy can only get 5 FGs & no TDs. Week 15 Bills 17 @ Jets 21. The Bills were ahead 17-7 at halftime before getting shutout in the 2nd half and losing when the Jets scored TDs in the 3rd & 4th quarters. So, even though the team was 2-14, they were competitive or won in half the games they played. 1985: Week 1 San Diego 14 @ Bills 9 - Bills comfortably win time of possession 33:43 to 26:17, outgain the Chargers 455 yds to 308 yds, Ferragamo passes for 377 yards. Nobody scores in 2nd half as halftime score ends up as final score. Week 3 New England 17 @ Bills 14 -Game turns on a NE punt return for a TD after a Bills penalty makes the Bills rekick the punt. Bills get close in the end with a Ferragamo to Reed TD in the 4th quarter. Week 4 Minnesota 27 @ Bills 20-The Bills go down 20-3 in the 1st half the score 17 unanswered points to tie the game 20-20 in the 4th quarter. Bills lose when Minnesota gets a TD with less than 3 minutes left on a trick play. Kay Stephenson gets fired. Week 7-Indianapolis 9 @ Bills 21 Victory! Hank Bullough wins his 1st game as a head coach. The "Doctor of Defense" sees his D hold the Colts to 191 total yards. Week 8 Bills 17 @ Philadelphia 21. In a game I went to with high hopes, the Bills jump out to a 17-0 lead on the road. The bad news was that with the Bills leading 17-0 going into the 4th, Philly was deep in Buffalo territory as the 4th quarter started. The things I remember were there were 5-6 Bills fans behind me in the stands, when Philadelphia went ahead 21-17 5 of them pulled out bags with each letter of BILLS and put them over their heads, then after the game Marion Campbell was saying how the Eagles beat a good Buffalo team in the postgame PC. Week 9 Cincinnati 23 @ Bills 17 -For the 4th straight week, the Bills led at halftime, this time 10-6. Bills lose in 3rd & 4th quarters as Vince Ferragamo is permanently benched. Week 10-Houston 0 @ Bills 20-Mathison's 1st start is a success, the Doctor's D shuts out the Oilers & Warren Moon. The Bills last win of the year. Week 15 Bills 24 @ Pittsburgh 30- The Bills jumped out to a 21-0 lead in the 2nd quarter befor the Bills folded and the Steelers came back with 3rd string QB Scott Campbell leading the comeback. With 9 minutes lefty the Bills led 24-20. Once again the Bills were competitive or won in half their games. In fact, the Bills led at halftime in 7 of their 16 games. Bad teams can stay in games, but eventually they lose most of them. Edited September 27, 2010 by Albany,n.y. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maddog69 Posted September 27, 2010 Share Posted September 27, 2010 Good teams do to. Like New Orleans yesterday. Just saying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ricojes Posted September 27, 2010 Share Posted September 27, 2010 Bad teams lose close games Who's saying the Bills are a good team? Has to be less than 1% of this board, if that. I don't get the point of this post... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albany,n.y. Posted September 27, 2010 Author Share Posted September 27, 2010 Who's saying the Bills are a good team? Has to be less than 1% of this board, if that. I don't get the point of this post... The point is that if we keep it close, don't think we're on the verge of even rising to mediocrity. There are a lot more people than you realize thinking we can be competitive and win more than 4 games just because Edwards is on the bench. Just look at all the people who thought we couldn't possibly win fewer games this year than last year due to the coaching change. Just trying to keep it real. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benjamin Posted September 27, 2010 Share Posted September 27, 2010 'Bad Teams' lose close games, 'Terrible Teams' get blown out by their opponents. 'Good Teams' win close games, 'Great Teams' blow out by their opponents. For the first two games the Bills were a 'Terrible Team.' Yesterday they were, perhaps, upgraded to 'Bad Team.' I suspect that they may alternate between 'Bad' and 'Terrible' all season long. More the latter than the former. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dayman Posted September 27, 2010 Share Posted September 27, 2010 This is the NFL. This post is nothing new. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albany,n.y. Posted September 27, 2010 Author Share Posted September 27, 2010 Good teams do to. Like New Orleans yesterday. Just saying. Good teams don't lose 90% of the close games like bad teams do. When New Orleans loses enough close games to be contending for the top pick, get back to me on that one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsVet Posted September 27, 2010 Share Posted September 27, 2010 (edited) The Bills have been keeping it close the past 4+ seasons, and during this time they've gone (EDIT: 27-40). I can only recall two out and out blowouts: at Chicago in 06 and home versus NE in 2007. Other than that, they have a lot of close games (it is the NFL) and don't win enough of them. Edited September 27, 2010 by BillsVet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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