Is this 1986 again?

[PromoTheRobot]

we can dream. I hope you're right but I'd then prefer to avoid the Derrick Burrough's penalty against Cincy, Harmon's drop, the Bickering Bills and the Super Bowl failures. Having said all that it was a heck of a good run.

 

We talk about 4 SBs but the Bills went to 5 of 6 AFC title games from '89 to '94.

 

PTR

[Chandler#81]

One of the first things Marv did heading into his first full season ('87), was focus on turnovers. It's a quick remedy and paid dividends early for that team. Throughout his coaching tenure here, the Bills were very good at TO's. We routinely had a lower ranked Defense -even with significant star power- but were regularly among the league leaders in TO's.

 

To date, turnovers have been virtually non-existant. Just think what our record would be with just 1 (1 more) TO each game..

[Van_phelaN1]

No, not it's not.

 

Fitz will never lead this or any team to a SB championship. Chan is no Marv. We need a better GM.

 

What does winning a Super Bowl have to do with being compared to 1986? Or Jim Kelly or Marv Levy for that matter?

[bills_fan_in_raleigh]

If Eli Manning could do it, so to can Ryan Fitzpatrick. Give him a few pass rushers and a TE and this team can win it all.

 

Fitzpatrick looks like a cross between Drew Brees (short, but very smart and quick on where to go with the ball) and Eli Manning (passes don't always look pretty, but he gets the job done).

 

Now all Fitzpatrick needs is a pass rushing defense built and couple of players on offense so that a dream playoff run like the Giants did a few years back can become a reality. I can totally see the Bills winning it all with Fitzpatrick.

+190000 thats why I say 2011 draft should be LB, LB, LB, De, OT, OL. Steelers and Giants showed how ya can win a SB with decent QBs

[PearlHowardman]

Bills fans - We barely hung on to beat the Lions but we had a very good showing against an awful Cincinnati team. These are the only two wins that the Buffalo Bills have this season.

 

To see how the Bills played against 8-3 Pittsburgh, you need to read the game review in a Pittsburgh newspaper.

 

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10333/1106904-150.stm

 

"Abandoned by an offense that generated a touchdown on the game's first possession and then took the next three hours off, caught in a tug-of-war by an unlikely saboteur named Chris Kemoeatu (four penalties, three enforced), the Steelers' defense delivered one monster moment after the next until Shaun Suisham's fourth field goal closed out a 19-16 victory."

[BuffaloBill]

No, not it's not.

 

Fitz will never lead this or any team to a SB championship. Chan is no Marv. We need a better GM.

 

 

I am not as negative but your point about GM is spot on. Polian kept the talent cupboard full. Nix is a huge step up from what we have had for the past decade but he has not shown he is Polian yet.

 

Also the dynamics in the new era of free agency change the whole situation. You can argue the Bills are four players away from excellence - Pass rushing DE, ILB, OLB and RT (some will still argue LT). The Bills might get two of the needs addressed in the next draft - the other two will need to be FA.

 

Let's see if Nix can get it done.

[1B4IDie]

Bills fans - We barely hung on to beat the Lions but we had a very good showing against an awful Cincinnati team. These are the only two wins that the Buffalo Bills have this season.

 

To see how the Bills played against 8-3 Pittsburgh, you need to read the game review in a Pittsburgh newspaper.

 

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10333/1106904-150.stm

 

"Abandoned by an offense that generated a touchdown on the game's first possession and then took the next three hours off, caught in a tug-of-war by an unlikely saboteur named Chris Kemoeatu (four penalties, three enforced), the Steelers' defense delivered one monster moment after the next until Shaun Suisham's fourth field goal closed out a 19-16 victory."

Quoting the Pittsburgh media, why don't you just jump on the Pittsburgh wagon, its crowded but its a much easier than being a Bills fan.

 

The 1986 Buffalo Bills were 4-12 with 7 losses under 5 points.

The 2010 Buffalo Bills are 2-9 with 5 losses by 5 points or less.

 

There are some similarities but more importantly the team is playing well and has much more potential than the DJ system.

[bananathumb]

We got Bruce with first overall pick, which we've blown. We got Bennett in a blockbuster trade. Until we get those two pieces, there will be no repeat of the late eighties.

[Realist]

Bills fans - We barely hung on to beat the Lions but we had a very good showing against an awful Cincinnati team. These are the only two wins that the Buffalo Bills have this season.

 

To see how the Bills played against 8-3 Pittsburgh, you need to read the game review in a Pittsburgh newspaper.

 

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10333/1106904-150.stm

 

"Abandoned by an offense that generated a touchdown on the game's first possession and then took the next three hours off, caught in a tug-of-war by an unlikely saboteur named Chris Kemoeatu (four penalties, three enforced), the Steelers' defense delivered one monster moment after the next until Shaun Suisham's fourth field goal closed out a 19-16 victory."

Don't really see your point. It sounds like he's giving Buffalo props but says the Pittsburgh Defense came up big when they needed to. Some could argue that Pittsburgh offense took the next three hours off, due to Buffalo's defense.

[1billsfan]

Bills fans - We barely hung on to beat the Lions but we had a very good showing against an awful Cincinnati team. These are the only two wins that the Buffalo Bills have this season.

 

To see how the Bills played against 8-3 Pittsburgh, you need to read the game review in a Pittsburgh newspaper.

 

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10333/1106904-150.stm

 

"Abandoned by an offense that generated a touchdown on the game's first possession and then took the next three hours off, caught in a tug-of-war by an unlikely saboteur named Chris Kemoeatu (four penalties, three enforced), the Steelers' defense delivered one monster moment after the next until Shaun Suisham's fourth field goal closed out a 19-16 victory."

 

Bull****, the Steelers knew going in that the Bills game wasn't going to be easy. I could see them taking the game off as an excuse if the Bills were a crappy team that was getting owned every week. But that wasn't the case, was it. The Steelers KNEW they were going to be in a battle and they STILL needed a dropped ball to beat them in the end. Wow, are you gullible.

[bills44]

I love Kyle Williams, and the "never say die" attitude of this team, but there's nobody even remotely resembling Bruce Smith on this roster. He made that defense go.

[mousetrap08]

The Bills went 4-12. Jim Kelly's rookie year. Levy joins the Bills as coach halfway through the season. 1987 they went 7-9. 1988 they go to the AFC championship.

 

Chan has been here from the start of the season and Fitz isn't a rookie but the Bills might be on a similar track. Let's hope.

 

PTR

Yes I was just thinking about that last week

[T master]

No, not it's not.

 

Fitz will never lead this or any team to a SB championship. Chan is no Marv. We need a better GM.

 

NOTHIN LIKE LOOKIN ON THE BRITE SIDE OF THINGS !!! GO ROOT FOR CINCI PLEASE WE DON'T NEED YOUR KIND OF FANDOM !!!

 

THERE'S ALWAYS GOT TO BE AT LEAST ONE IN THE BUNCH

[The Big Cat]

My fear is that it's 2006 all over again:

 

FIVE losses by 3 or less, promising close-game wins over teams of similiar stature, including one divisional opponent (NYJ) who would go on to make the playoffs.

 

Young team, out-played their abilities, put it on the line for the new coach...

 

I think we'll find out next year if 2011 is 2007 or the start of something truly special.

 

Until then, this is still just a team who can't figure out how to mark one in the W column, and it causes me great pain to say that.

[Buffalo Barbarian]

The Bills went 4-12. Jim Kelly's rookie year. Levy joins the Bills as coach halfway through the season. 1987 they went 7-9. 1988 they go to the AFC championship.

 

Chan has been here from the start of the season and Fitz isn't a rookie but the Bills might be on a similar track. Let's hope.

 

PTR

 

[JESSEFEFFER]

Here's what I posted to start a thread "Keep an Open Mind":

 

 

Lot's of people wanting to say that Ryan Fitzpatrick is or isn't worthy of being the Bills" #1 QB going forward. I cite the following:

 

1) Quick decisions & quick release = very tough to sack.

 

2) Stands up in the face of pressure and delivers accurate throws-downfield. I'd like to see the numbers on this but when a pass rusher is coming in unblocked he does not wilt. He's got guts and can take a hit. HE CAN BEAT PRESSURE!!!

 

3) While he has a few flyers-he very rarely has a misread. Wunderlick score aside, he obviously has a clue.

 

4) While they haven't won much with him, the losses are looking alot like those they had in 1986, if you catch my point.

 

5) The offensive line and receivers were supposed to be bottom of barrel. Well they don't look like it with him playing. Raising the level of play of one's teammates is the primary sign of a great player, in my way of thinking.

 

6) He can make plays in the "other" category. A scramble and a dive for a first down or a key block when a back reverses field. I am waiting for him to closeline a defender after a pick or fumble recovery. I think he'd deliver a blow. He is a football player.

 

I think the Bills could win 3 or 4 of their last 7 and go into next year looking like an organization that has an idea. Having a smart, tough, quick thinking, gunslinging, humble, team first and calm under pressure QB to lead them isn't so bad.

 

All this says in my mind that as fans we should let this play out and not let Fitzpatrick's draft round or college team cloud our judgement. Keep an open mind and let his play speak for itself. It's been so long since we have seen consistently productive QB play that it seems many of us have forgotten what it looks like. I think Chan knows it when he sees it.

 

Fitzpatrick is only 14 months older than Kelly was that 1986 season so there is tread left on those tires. Two USFL seasons and Ryan's 5 years in the league are roughly equivalent in experience although Ryan has never gone through a preseason as "the man." So I agree with the analogy (it's an optimistic one) but it most directly applies to the QB, coach and offense. Hopefully the rest of the pieces fall in line.

[Andrew in CA]

My fear is that it's 2006 all over again:

 

FIVE losses by 3 or less, promising close-game wins over teams of similiar stature, including one divisional opponent (NYJ) who would go on to make the playoffs.

 

Young team, out-played their abilities, put it on the line for the new coach...

 

I think we'll find out next year if 2011 is 2007 or the start of something truly special.

 

Until then, this is still just a team who can't figure out how to mark one in the W column, and it causes me great pain to say that.

Right on– next season will tell if this is the start of something real or another sputtering engine going nowhere.

[The Senator]

We talk about 4 SBs but the Bills went to 5 of 6 AFC title games from '89 to '94.

 

PTR

I would've been 6-straight, Promo, if this hadn't happened...

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OOWQxv2_M4

 

 

Imagine 6 consecutive AFC title games, if Harmon doesn't drop that one!

 

Sometimes I think people forgot just how great that team was.

[Homey D. Clown]

I do want to preface my comments with the statement that I truly appreciated the Bill Polian era, and we probably would still be a competitive team to this day, but when you look at Polian's body of work, it's hard not to question what does he seem to lack in order to win a SuperBowl, or even further, field a team that can win in the post season deep, or be the dominant team in the post season?

 

I ask this strictly because if it weren't for Rex Grossman, Polian's SuperBowl teams would be 0-6. The Colts have been outplayed by Pittsburgh and New England at times in the playoffs and regular season that really make you think that there has to be something to this theory I have that Bill Polian is great at getting you there, but not dancing with you.

 

I know the man-love in Bill country will disagree with my theory in a landslide manner, but when you have QB's like Jim Kelly, Peyton Manning, and even Frank Reich, and all the Hall of famers he dug up on offense for these teams, maybe, just maybe we as a team would have only been in for more heartache.

 

It's time to look at his leaving in a different light and put it behind us as a franchise. Maybe we're actually better off. I honestly think this team will be.

Edited December 1, 2010 by McKinleys Curse

[PromoTheRobot]

I would've been 6-straight, Promo, if this hadn't happened...

 

youtube.com/watch?v=2OOWQxv2_M4

 

 

Imagine 6 consecutive AFC title games, if Harmon doesn't drop that one!

 

Sometimes I think people forgot just how great that team was.

Kelly threw an INT to Shane Matthews Sr. on the following play. I wonder how many people felt Kelly wasn't "franchise QB" material after that?

 

PTR