Not as far away as some may think...

[Armchair GM]

Look guys & gals, this team has a lot of average level talent, a couple guys above average, and inevitably some mediocre guys...(mediocre=average or slightyl below it). We are a couple key contributers away from being a playoff level franchise. For instance, if we get ONE guy on each of the OL, DL, & LB positions, the level of play of the rest of the guys raises and all of a sudden our "lack of talent, overachievers" are a solid team. I'm not saying we're definitely going to the playoffs next year, but if we have a good offseason, its not as far fetched an idea as some may think.

[KD in CA]

I've been hearing the exact same line every December (at the conclusion of another crappy season) for years.

 

Until the Bills learn what to do with a first round draft pick, this team is going nowhere.

[OldTimer1960]

Look guys & gals, this team has a lot of average level talent, a couple guys above average, and inevitably some mediocre guys...(mediocre=average or slightyl below it). We are a couple key contributers away from being a playoff level franchise. For instance, if we get ONE guy on each of the OL, DL, & LB positions, the level of play of the rest of the guys raises and all of a sudden our "lack of talent, overachievers" are a solid team. I'm not saying we're definitely going to the playoffs next year, but if we have a good offseason, its not as far fetched an idea as some may think.

 

My opinion is that they need significant upgrades at:

1 OLB - I think Moats might be a starting caliber player, but nobody else

on the roster should be starting in the NFL at OLB

 

1 ILB - There needs to be another good ILB next to Poz if they are staying w the 3-4.

 

TE - There is ZERO threat from the Bills TEs. The D doesn't even need to cover them.

 

 

OT - MAYBE Demetrius Bell can be an OK starter at LT or possibly RT, but they must find

a good starter for the other T position.

 

DE - Stroud may not be back next year and I'm not sure that he is playing that well

anyway. Maybe Carrington can be one DE with Dwan Edwards on the other side.

 

I can live with Fitz at QB next year, but I still haven't seen enough from him to

believe that he is an upper-eschelon starting QB in the NFL. Maybe he'll continue

to develop - he's the kind of guy that you want to pull for, but he may not have

enough natural talent to be a top-flight starter.

[Billmatic]

The common theme among superbowl caliber franchises is a game changing player, someone who has the ability to turn the game in your favor whether its with a TD pass, run interception forced fumble or whatever. Polamalu is a perfect example, Ravens game joe flacco fumble. Someone to make a big time play and does so on a consistent basis.

 

The Bills have some good players but i think they lack that type of player. hopefully someone we have now develops into that but its what the team needs to take it to that level of competition. Go Bills.

[Fitzmagic]

Wildcard 2011!

[CosmicBills]

Look guys & gals, this team has a lot of average level talent, a couple guys above average, and inevitably some mediocre guys...(mediocre=average or slightyl below it). We are a couple key contributers away from being a playoff level franchise. For instance, if we get ONE guy on each of the OL, DL, & LB positions, the level of play of the rest of the guys raises and all of a sudden our "lack of talent, overachievers" are a solid team. I'm not saying we're definitely going to the playoffs next year, but if we have a good offseason, its not as far fetched an idea as some may think.

I'd love for you to break down the roster and classify all the players you feel are above average, average, and below average. I think if you do that honestly, you'll see this is a roster comprised of far more below average NFL players/starters than there are average. And the "above average" players on this roster aren't playmakers ... which is why the playoffs are a long ways off.

[dgrid]

1 ILB - There needs to be another good ILB next to Poz if they are staying w the 3-4.

+1

[Thoner7]

Sorry man, but I have to disagree – we are more than 2-3 players away. To make the playoffs, we have to beat out 2 of the other 3 teams in our division, and all the other wild card teams.

 

Think of just how talented the jets are – they have players at every position that are better than our players. Our strongest 3 positions I would say are RB, DB, and WR – they are better in all three, plus they have a great OL and DL and LB core while ours suck a lot.

 

We think we are very close because we went to OT with some good teams and have lost close games, but it takes a whole lot to overcome 3 points in an NFL game and losing doesn’t make you “close” to anything but the #1 overall pick. If we won half or more of those close games, and lost the other half, then we wouldn’t be as far off. But we are more than 2-3 players away from being a playoff team. We are more like 5-6 very very good players away, and considering how well we draft, itll take us 12-15 years to add 5-6 very good players, and at that point all the players we already have will have retired.

[JPS]

Sorry man, but I have to disagree – we are more than 2-3 players away. To make the playoffs, we have to beat out 2 of the other 3 teams in our division, and all the other wild card teams.

 

Think of just how talented the jets are – they have players at every position that are better than our players. Our strongest 3 positions I would say are RB, DB, and WR – they are better in all three, plus they have a great OL and DL and LB core while ours suck a lot.

 

We think we are very close because we went to OT with some good teams and have lost close games, but it takes a whole lot to overcome 3 points in an NFL game and losing doesn’t make you “close” to anything but the #1 overall pick. If we won half or more of those close games, and lost the other half, then we wouldn’t be as far off. But we are more than 2-3 players away from being a playoff team. We are more like 5-6 very very good players away, and considering how well we draft, itll take us 12-15 years to add 5-6 very good players, and at that point all the players we already have will have retired.

Very well put. Next year we will be pointing at the few games that cost us a playoff birth and narrowing our wrath to 1 or 2 positions.

[BuffaloWings]

Sorry man, but I have to disagree – we are more than 2-3 players away. To make the playoffs, we have to beat out 2 of the other 3 teams in our division, and all the other wild card teams.

 

Think of just how talented the jets are – they have players at every position that are better than our players. Our strongest 3 positions I would say are RB, DB, and WR – they are better in all three, plus they have a great OL and DL and LB core while ours suck a lot.

 

We think we are very close because we went to OT with some good teams and have lost close games, but it takes a whole lot to overcome 3 points in an NFL game and losing doesn’t make you “close” to anything but the #1 overall pick. If we won half or more of those close games, and lost the other half, then we wouldn’t be as far off. But we are more than 2-3 players away from being a playoff team. We are more like 5-6 very very good players away, and considering how well we draft, itll take us 12-15 years to add 5-6 very good players, and at that point all the players we already have will have retired.

Remember the tone of Jerry Sullivan's article...the Bills are beating the bottom-feeders, but there's nothing to be excited about until they start beating the "better" teams of the league.

 

Perhaps the Bills are 2-3 players away - just look at the improvement throughout the course of the season. Coaching has a lot to do with that, so if you add the 2-3 players at the right positions, it could be enough to jump the Bills into the next higher flight of teams. Not necessarily the elite group of teams, but the group that's on the playoff bubble right now.

Edited December 13, 2010 by BuffaloWings

[CardinalScotts]

Sorry man, but I have to disagree – we are more than 2-3 players away. To make the playoffs, we have to beat out 2 of the other 3 teams in our division, and all the other wild card teams.

 

Think of just how talented the jets are – they have players at every position that are better than our players. Our strongest 3 positions I would say are RB, DB, and WR – they are better in all three, plus they have a great OL and DL and LB core while ours suck a lot.

 

We think we are very close because we went to OT with some good teams and have lost close games, but it takes a whole lot to overcome 3 points in an NFL game and losing doesn’t make you “close” to anything but the #1 overall pick. If we won half or more of those close games, and lost the other half, then we wouldn’t be as far off. But we are more than 2-3 players away from being a playoff team. We are more like 5-6 very very good players away, and considering how well we draft, itll take us 12-15 years to add 5-6 very good players, and at that point all the players we already have will have retired.

 

We are pretty close to competing for the 5 or 6 spot for the 2011 season. Pitt isnt great, Baltimore again not great, the west is likely to have one playoff team for awhile even if I'm wrong do you fear the chiefs or raiders ? Ar they further along than we are or just playing a much weaker schedule. Jacksonville is a nice club but not good, Indy is on a huge slide with Manning going into year fifteen. That leaves the Dolphins who have a little better D than we do and a more physical O-line. Anybody want Chad Henne ? - they don't either. Or the Jets what a blessed existence they have had this year. A miracle in about 4 spots are they are going to struggle to be .500. The wild card teams are not that much in front of us (and others) and the division leaders don't scare anyone either. The only team that continues to roll along is New England

[SJ Bills backer]

Au contraire! We are indeed a LONG way from the playoffs.

 

The Bills are NOT blessed by being in one of the two of the weakest divisions in recent NFL history (AFC and NFC west). Instead look to OUR competition in the AFC East. The Pats are CLEARLY one of the best teams in the NFL and manage to maintain this position year after year. Behind them, there's the Jets who until the last 2 weeks were looking pretty good too. Heck, we couldn't even beat Miami. And as others have noted, we've only beaten teams that somehow look worse than us, and despite these pyrric victories we're still firmly entrenched in the cellar.

 

So no kool aid for m. This team is what it is - entertaining, competitive, but ultimately they are as good as their record states and given ownership and salary issues they're not likely to be moving up any time soon.

[KD in CA]

Remember the tone of Jerry Sullivan's article...the Bills are beating the bottom-feeders, but there's nothing to be excited about until they start beating the "better" teams of the league.

 

Exactly. Squeaking out home wins against the Browns and Lions isn't exactly one stop from a deep playoff run. They've lost 5 division games in a row and 13 of the last 15.

 

Bad teams need more than one or two guys to turn it around. For instance, the Rams have been stocking up on core players for the last few years; including both starting tackles drafted in the last 2 years, plus solid players at all 3 levels of defense. That's how you build for long term success. The Bills need to stop spending high draft picks on questionable players or on guys they don't need.

Edited December 14, 2010 by KD in CT

[Mr_Blizzard]

Look guys & gals, this team has a lot of average level talent, a couple guys above average, and inevitably some mediocre guys...(mediocre=average or slightyl below it). We are a couple key contributers away from being a playoff level franchise. For instance, if we get ONE guy on each of the OL, DL, & LB positions, the level of play of the rest of the guys raises and all of a sudden our "lack of talent, overachievers" are a solid team. I'm not saying we're definitely going to the playoffs next year, but if we have a good offseason, its not as far fetched an idea as some may think.

 

How quickly we forget that the Vikings ate us for lunch last week. When we line up against really good lines, our weaknesses become apparent. Our defensive front 7 is weak, and we have a couple former first rounders who can't even crack the starting line-up.

[Thoner7]

To re-word my post.

 

We are close in the sense we lost 3 OT games vrs likely playoff teams, but we are far off in the sense that it ill take us a few years just to make up those 3 points. And even then we will be competing for wins, and not winning constantly.

[PromoTheRobot]

I think it's bad ju ju to talk about how close we are. So I will not enter into that discussion. All I will say is I like this coach to make it happen.

 

PTR

[Dorkington]

Same thing said every year. Except now we have a worse record than previous years.

 

Go Bills.

[qdawg in philly]

Imho, we are still maybe 2 years away! What we lack are elite players at almost every position! Look over our entire roster and we have 1! Kyle Williams and he is beast with no one to compliment his play! Just look at the teams in our divison! They have studs at more than one position! The bills simply don't! Average good core players, but no studs!!

[ConradDobler]

Imho, we are still maybe 2 years away! What we lack are elite players at almost every position! Look over our entire roster and we have 1! Kyle Williams and he is beast with no one to compliment his play! Just look at the teams in our divison! They have studs at more than one position! The bills simply don't! Average good core players, but no studs!!

 

Would you please stop using exclamation points after every sentence?

 

Edit: anyone that names themselves xxxdawg is entitled to a pass.

 

Thank you for supporting the Buffalo Bills.

Edited December 14, 2010 by ConradDobler

[Captain Hindsight]

Au contraire! We are indeed a LONG way from the playoffs.

 

The Bills are NOT blessed by being in one of the two of the weakest divisions in recent NFL history (AFC and NFC west). Instead look to OUR competition in the AFC East. The Pats are CLEARLY one of the best teams in the NFL and manage to maintain this position year after year. Behind them, there's the Jets who until the last 2 weeks were looking pretty good too. Heck, Trent Edwards couldn't even beat Miami. And as others have noted, we've only beaten teams that somehow look worse than us, and despite these pyrric victories we're still firmly entrenched in the cellar.

 

So no kool aid for m. This team is what it is - entertaining, competitive, but ultimately they are as good as their record states and given ownership and salary issues they're not likely to be moving up any time soon.

fixed