eball Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 As we are on the cusp of pre-season I've come to the conclusion the Bills, on paper, sit at about 9th best in the AFC. Their combination of talent/coaching is, in my opinion, stronger than that of the following seven teams: CIN, CLE, DEN, JAX, MIA, OAK, TEN. I'm sure a couple of those teams could be debated, but hear me out. So how do we get from 9th to 6th? If the Bills do as they "should" then they get six wins out of the "bottom seven" (CIN, DEN, OAK, TEN, MIAx2) -- note that four of those six games are at the Ralph. Buffalo plays the NFC East this year (DAL, NYG, PHI, WAS). The Bills will break the Toronto jinx and defeat the Skins. I'm going to go out on a limb and give them one more win against that group for a split. Now we're 8-2. This leaves games against NE*(2), NYJ(2), SD, and KC. Tough schedule. I'm giving Buffalo a win at KC in the opener (stop the run), and a <gasp> split against the Pats* and Jets. They'll lose in SD. That, my friends, puts us at 11-5 and (probably) in wild card position in the AFC. Please allow me to dream... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dorkington Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 I disagree with your prediction... But I sure as **** hope I'm wrong and you're right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buffalos#1Fan Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 As we are on the cusp of pre-season I've come to the conclusion the Bills, on paper, sit at about 9th best in the AFC. Their combination of talent/coaching is, in my opinion, stronger than that of the following seven teams: CIN, CLE, DEN, JAX, MIA, OAK, TEN. I'm sure a couple of those teams could be debated, but hear me out. So how do we get from 9th to 6th? If the Bills do as they "should" then they get six wins out of the "bottom seven" (CIN, DEN, OAK, TEN, MIAx2) -- note that four of those six games are at the Ralph. Buffalo plays the NFC East this year (DAL, NYG, PHI, WAS). The Bills will break the Toronto jinx and defeat the Skins. I'm going to go out on a limb and give them one more win against that group for a split. Now we're 8-2. This leaves games against NE*(2), NYJ(2), SD, and KC. Tough schedule. I'm giving Buffalo a win at KC in the opener (stop the run), and a <gasp> split against the Pats* and Jets. They'll lose in SD. That, my friends, puts us at 11-5 and (probably) in wild card position in the AFC. Please allow me to dream... I've got good news and bad news for you. Bad news is we will most likely split the bottom seven, lose 3/4 of NFC (we beat DAL), and lose against NE, NYJ, SD, and KC. We will go 4 and 12, and just miss out on andrew luck. The good news is that I saved a lot of money switching my car insurance to Geico. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KD in CA Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 I think getting 6 wins out of 7 from the bottom group is unrealistic for a team that hasn't shown they know how to close out games. IMO, 4-3 vs. that group is more likely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CodeMonkey Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 Please allow me to dream... If you can't dream now my friend then when can you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Hammersticks Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 “A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world.” One of my favorite Oscar Wilde quotes. I really like your optimism Eball, I can't say that I see us winning 11 games this season.....but I like your optimism. Dream on brother!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HARCO186 Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 You know you could be more right than most see it. Most see the Bills as 4-12 last year but fail to notice we almost beat Pitt, and the Ravens. We should have gone 7-9 last year with a new head coach and new system on a very weak defensive team. That being said the Bills did improve towards the end of the year, and this year alone they are looking much stronger and better than last year. Many people will say that we are much better than last year just by the team getting another year under Chan and now they have Dave W. and he will be helping George Edwards out a lot with how to set things up. Dave is a very good defensive coach and that will show big time with Buffalo. I can see the Bills being better than 7-9. I can easily see them being a 8-8 plus team. Who knows? If Chan can open that offense up and the defense plays much better against the run then the Bills will have a shot. I see them as a true sleeper that will open eyes in a huge way this year for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saundena Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 8-8 +/- 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NaPolian8693 Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 5-6 wins with more contributions from some of the young guys is a successful season Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbosrrgood Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 (edited) I've got good news and bad news for you. Bad news is we will most likely split the bottom seven, lose 3/4 of NFC (we beat DAL), and lose against NE, NYJ, SD, and KC. We will go 4 and 12, and just miss out on andrew luck. The good news is that I saved a lot of money switching my car insurance to Geico. While I would love to get Andrew Luck next year, Landry Jones also looks like he could be the real deal. Unfortunately I think the Bills are good enough to win 5-7 games this year, putting them back in the 8-11 1st round pick range...That means we will probably miss them both and select the 4th best safety available.... Sorry, just regressed into a pessimism fit... Edited August 8, 2011 by Turbosrrgood Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenny3000 Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 You know you could be more right than most see it. Most see the Bills as 4-12 last year but fail to notice we almost beat Pitt, and the Ravens. We should have gone 7-9 last year with a new head coach and new system on a very weak defensive team. That being said the Bills did improve towards the end of the year, and this year alone they are looking much stronger and better than last year. Many people will say that we are much better than last year just by the team getting another year under Chan and now they have Dave W. and he will be helping George Edwards out a lot with how to set things up. Dave is a very good defensive coach and that will show big time with Buffalo. I can see the Bills being better than 7-9. I can easily see them being a 8-8 plus team. Who knows? If Chan can open that offense up and the defense plays much better against the run then the Bills will have a shot. I see them as a true sleeper that will open eyes in a huge way this year for sure. +1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BUFFALOTONE Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 9-7 and I will shat my pants with joy. I am not convinced NE will be dominate for the simple fact that Ocho is not a top flight WR anymore, Haynesworth is a male content but their nucleus is good and lets face it they get every fkn call in the book. The JESTs will take a huge step back and here is why. Addition by subtraction, there D will be great because they have probably the best defensive mind in the game. Yes better then Man Cans in NE. Rex is a blow hard but knows defense, his rah rah garbage wont help the O this year and Sanchez regresses likely a smeckle in ice cold water. Holmes got paid and that is all he wanted, he will do something stupid and be gone for the year, he already has 2 strikes per Rog. That leaves Plax as the play maker alongside Keller. The Fish, where to start? their HC is even unsure about his starting QB, they went as far as to speculate bringing Favre back. The RB situation is a mess but we have seen stranger things in the past, plug and play pretty much. Bush was a fine addition but they really needed someone other than a 3rd down back, Marshall gets double teamed and Bess is a very good slot WR. They should have went after a #2. The D is good, very good secondary with Nolan running the game plan. Not sure why they brought back JT, they have a lot of youth on the outside. I thought they did it so he would retire a dolfin but I guess he wants to play. All in all we have better than a punchers chance here. we just have to come together and learn to FINISH teams off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnC Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 (edited) As we are on the cusp of pre-season I've come to the conclusion the Bills, on paper, sit at about 9th best in the AFC. Their combination of talent/coaching is, in my opinion, stronger than that of the following seven teams: CIN, CLE, DEN, JAX, MIA, OAK, TEN. I'm sure a couple of those teams could be debated, but hear me out. So how do we get from 9th to 6th? If the Bills do as they "should" then they get six wins out of the "bottom seven" (CIN, DEN, OAK, TEN, MIAx2) -- note that four of those six games are at the Ralph. Buffalo plays the NFC East this year (DAL, NYG, PHI, WAS). The Bills will break the Toronto jinx and defeat the Skins. I'm going to go out on a limb and give them one more win against that group for a split. Now we're 8-2. This leaves games against NE*(2), NYJ(2), SD, and KC. Tough schedule. I'm giving Buffalo a win at KC in the opener (stop the run), and a <gasp> split against the Pats* and Jets. They'll lose in SD. That, my friends, puts us at 11-5 and (probably) in wild card position in the AFC. Please allow me to dream... I don't want to burst your hallucinatory bubble. But when you are dreaming you eventually to have to wake up and face reality. This is a 5-6 win team. If the Bills win 7 games it will be a tribute to Gailey. This season isn't about wins. It is about the Nix drafted players developing and contributing. Edited August 8, 2011 by JohnC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yungmack Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 I'll wait until they're closer to the first game before giving my personal opinion, but I agree with your thinking. Right now I lean toward thinking they could do much, much better than even you are predicting. My reason is simple: I believe the defense is going to be vastly improved over last season and if it is, then opposing offenses are going to score less (duh!), and have a lower time of possession. Fewer points means the Bills don't have to play from behind as often (when everyone on the field knows you're going to have to rely on the pass), and won't necessarily have to score a ton of points (critical to an offense that's on the upswing but hardly in the elite category). More time of possession means more shots at scoring. Put all that together and I believe the Bills are going to surprise a lot of people, particularly the numbies who pass themselves off as pundits on ESPN and NFLN. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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