Got_Wood Posted October 21, 2010 Share Posted October 21, 2010 The two remaining winless teams in the NFL have several similarities. Four areas strike me as the most important: No Pass Rush: Like the Bills, the Panthers are close to the bottom of the league in sacks with 7. Losing a guy like Julius Peppers is huge, just like losing Aaron Schobel was huge for the Bills (although Schobel wasn't quite as elite as Peppers, he was an effective threat). Carolina has two young guys in Everette Brown and Greg Hardy that are struggling to get to the QB and are losing playing time to average skilled veterans due to their inexperience. The Bills have young guys in Maybin, Coleman, and Moats that don't have experience and aren't sure what their role is in the current defensive system they employ. Both teams need to address this need in the offseason to better attack opposing QB's. No QB: Like the Bills, the Panthers have two young, unproven QB's that are expected to lead the team. No veterans remain on the roster to mentor Moore or Clausen, and the burden is on them to lead the offense this season. While the talent might be there, the experience and leadership haven't yet sunken in. Both of these teams need veteran backups to help lessen the burden on these young guys. Strong RB's, but only one Receiving threat: Like the Bills Lee Evans, Steve Smith is the only star receiving threat on the roster. Opposing defenses can double up coverage on these guys, and stack up against the run because of the lack of additional threats out there. Now the difference between these two teams is that Carolina will have a stronger O-Line once Jeff Otah comes back from injury. I expect to see them win a couple more games than the Bills because of this fact alone. But the fact remains that each of these teams need additional WR/TE threats in order to better attack opposing defenses. Trouble at LB: Due to injuries, Buffalo and Carolina have very weak linebacking cores this season. Thomas Davis was lost to another ACL injury, and Kawika Mitchell of the Bills was lost to a knee injury as well. The loss of these second level tacklers, hurts both teams badly against the run. Paul Posluszny and Andra Davis, like John Beason and Dan Connor are the only effective tacklers on each team. The bottom line is, there is a common thread among losing teams. Above all, you have to have a quality Passer/Leader and you have to have a quality Pass Rush. Both of these teams are lacking in these areas. You can't expect rookies and 2nd year players to lead your team in these critical areas unless you have a superstar cast around them (i.e.: Jets). Carolina might get a couple wins when Jeff Otah returns, but they will still be in the bottom of the league like the Bills until they fill in these two areas. That's just my observation. Take it for what it's worth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Over 29 years of fanhood Posted October 21, 2010 Share Posted October 21, 2010 Both teams suffer immensely from a Polian hangover. Does he plant landmines or something? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsVet Posted October 21, 2010 Share Posted October 21, 2010 Both teams suffer immensely from a Polian hangover. Does he plant landmines or something? Polian his the Ralph Wilson landmine. Both teams stink, although my money is on Carolina getting better faster. They've got some building blocks in Jon Beason, Jordan Gross, Deangelo Williams, Ryan Kalil, and Jonathan Stewart among others. Buffalo has nothing established to speak of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Got_Wood Posted October 21, 2010 Author Share Posted October 21, 2010 Polian his the Ralph Wilson landmine. Both teams stink, although my money is on Carolina getting better faster. They've got some building blocks in Jon Beason, Jordan Gross, Deangelo Williams, Ryan Kalil, and Jonathan Stewart among others. Buffalo has nothing established to speak of. I think the only area they're better than the Bills at is their O-line. We need one big time offensive tackle and maybe a guard to get this unit stacked up. Otherwise, I think we've got good building blocks in Spiller, Evans, Wood, Bell (yes I said it), McIntyre (tough guy), Nelson (WR), Williams, Troup, Poz, McKelvin, and Byrd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JÂy RÛßeÒ Posted October 21, 2010 Share Posted October 21, 2010 No QB: Like the Bills, the Panthers have two young, unproven QB's that are expected to lead the team. No veterans remain on the roster to mentor Moore or Clausen, and the burden is on them to lead the offense this season. While the talent might be there, the experience and leadership haven't yet sunken in. Both of these teams need veteran backups to help lessen the burden on these young guys. this is not quite right. The Bills do have a veteran backup. Unfortunately he's starting. What we don't have (yet) is the young QB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Got_Wood Posted October 21, 2010 Author Share Posted October 21, 2010 (edited) this is not quite right. The Bills do have a veteran backup. Unfortunately he's starting. What we don't have (yet) is the young QB. You're actually right. Either way, we're missing a piece there. I think Fitz could manage this offense until the young guy is ready, but we do need that prototypical big armed, tough young QB to be groomed for the future. That is when hope will be restored in Buffalo. And to be honest, Fitz isn't the type of veteran I was thinking. I still consider him a young guy, because he never started for a team for multiple seasons and had the experience of being the number one guy for a franchise. When I think of veterans, I think of Brunell, Garcia, Collins, etc. Edited October 21, 2010 by Got_Wood Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bills_fan_in_raleigh Posted October 21, 2010 Share Posted October 21, 2010 Both have Owners that still have the first dollar bill they ever made in their wallets and every penny spent is screaming Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bizell Posted October 21, 2010 Share Posted October 21, 2010 Jon Beason by himself is more talented than all of the Bills' linebackers combined. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shrader Posted October 21, 2010 Share Posted October 21, 2010 You're actually right. Either way, we're missing a piece there. I think Fitz could manage this offense until the young guy is ready, but we do need that prototypical big armed, tough young QB to be groomed for the future. That is when hope will be restored in Buffalo. And to be honest, Fitz isn't the type of veteran I was thinking. I still consider him a young guy, because he never started for a team for multiple seasons and had the experience of being the number one guy for a franchise. When I think of veterans, I think of Brunell, Garcia, Collins, etc. How many teams actually have veteran backups like that though? Your examples seem borderline geriatric. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Got_Wood Posted October 21, 2010 Author Share Posted October 21, 2010 How many teams actually have veteran backups like that though? Your examples seem borderline geriatric. Sorry, first guys that came to mind. That, to me, is the ideal situation when rebuilding. Sanchez has Brunell, Flacco has Bulger, Henne has Pennington, Young has Collins, etc. But I guess you have "Fitz-like" guys in St. Louis (Feely), Atlanta (Redman), and Detroit (Hill). I think ideally you have one of those older "proven" vets like the first guys I mentioned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catholic Guilt Posted October 22, 2010 Share Posted October 22, 2010 I'm lucky enough to be a fan of both teams. SIGH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sisyphean Bills Posted October 22, 2010 Share Posted October 22, 2010 I'm lucky enough to be a fan of both teams. SIGH 0-32 would be pretty rough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsVet Posted October 22, 2010 Share Posted October 22, 2010 I think the only area they're better than the Bills at is their O-line. We need one big time offensive tackle and maybe a guard to get this unit stacked up. Otherwise, I think we've got good building blocks in Spiller, Evans, Wood, Bell (yes I said it), McIntyre (tough guy), Nelson (WR), Williams, Troup, Poz, McKelvin, and Byrd. Spiller is unproven but exciting, Evans is the 9 route king, Wood has been so-so since the injury, Bell is backup/cut material, McIntyre is the FB and plays ST, D. Nelson is a backup, Williams is high-effort but overmatched as a 3-4NT (and part of many bad run defenses), Troup is unproven, Poz is average, McKelvin was a backup to start the season, and Byrd has one year under him. Stewart, D. Williams, Beason, Kalil, and Gross are all proven NFL commodities. None of those Bills have 2 or more seasons of above-average play. Buffalo has average players at the secondary positions (ILB, CB, S, G) and is woefully talent-less at the important ones (QB, OT, pass rush). That's how they're 0-5 on the fast track to 0-6. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sisyphean Bills Posted October 22, 2010 Share Posted October 22, 2010 (edited) Spiller is unproven but exciting, Evans is the 9 route king, Wood has been so-so since the injury, Bell is backup/cut material, McIntyre is the FB and plays ST, D. Nelson is a backup, Williams is high-effort but overmatched as a 3-4NT (and part of many bad run defenses), Troup is unproven, Poz is average, McKelvin was a backup to start the season, and Byrd has one year under him. Stewart, D. Williams, Beason, Kalil, and Gross are all proven NFL commodities. None of those Bills have 2 or more seasons of above-average play. Buffalo has average players at the secondary positions (ILB, CB, S, G) and is woefully talent-less at the important ones (QB, OT, pass rush). That's how they're 0-5 on the fast track to 0-6. The strength of the team could all become free agents in an estate sale next year. Whitner, Florence, Youboty, Wilson are all in their final year, I believe. Corner may be as well. Then you got Posluszny and Ellison in their last year as well. As good as this unit has been this year, I'd expect any rat with a few survival skills to run like his tail is on fire for the exit. Edited October 22, 2010 by Sisyphean Bills Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarthICE Posted October 22, 2010 Share Posted October 22, 2010 Carolina has a much better owner in Richardson and a much better core of players. Look Richardson dumped a ton of worthless veterans, bad salaries etc. He is going to dump his average coach at the end of the season most likely for Cowher that lives there. Other than the current record, Carolina and Buffalo are night and day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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