Koufax Posted August 10, 2011 Share Posted August 10, 2011 First off, I am definitely a Bills optimist. It is part of the fun. I have had ample opportunity to jump off the bandwagon in the several decades I have not lived in Buffalo, but choose not to and enjoy the ride. But taking a realistic step backwards, does anybody think our defense will not be dramatically improved? Adding Dareus and Williams, swapping ILBs, adding Merriman, having Carrington and Troup get a year under their belt (both seem headed clearly in the right direction), having no downside of their career veterans (Kelsey doesn't count because he never had an upside), being in year 2 of a system (that by the way they struggled to start with at 0-8, then finished 4-4), and adding Dave W. to the staff. I don't know how much better, but anybody who doesn't think the D is better should come up with a decent argument as to why. The offense will also be better. No QB controversy/change, year 2 of Chan, nobody on the downside of their careers (except possibly Lee, who will not find it hard to improve upon his 2010 numbers), getting more than zero from CJ, Freddie is still low mileage, not having two of your starting OL coming off huge injuries and not able to even practice regularly in 2010, etc. I think most agree that Fitz is near his ceiling, but I would expect improved accuracy, timing, and decision making in his first full year running things from the start. No miracles, but he should be able to more consistently do things at the best of his abilities. Add in that the NFL is WAY WAY WAY less predictable than everybody says each year, and scanning through the calendar and picking wins and losses based on last year is so inaccurate. There are lots of teams that you think will be 10-6 which will end up 6-10 and vice versa. This team is much more talented than the #31 ESPN ranking, and I don't see any reason why it shouldn't be expected to get back to the 7-9 Jauron territory fairly easily. So if you add in a few good things happening and a few good bounces, and I think 9-7 is certainly a possibility even if not super likely. But right now I'm just excited about them getting to 1-0. Go Bills! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K Gun Special Posted August 10, 2011 Share Posted August 10, 2011 I see your point. But a bunch of late round picks hitting their stride isnt enough to compete and win in this division and certainly not with this schedule. I do expect them to look better but not win many more games. Fitz- QB's generally dont improve accuracy in their 8th year in the NFL, he has a big problem with setting his feet right when he delivers the ball. He's never been accurate and prob will never be. He will likely improve in his feel for the offense which should help his production. He was pretty comfortable with the Cinci offense when he filled in for Carson but it didnt help much. Jackson- Mileage isnt the issue, age is. He an above average back, he cant run you over or burn by you but is slippery. Not a game changer. OL- The interior should be better, they still have a really hard time generating push on running plays. OT is a huge weakness and might get Fitz killed. D- DL should be a strong point but that may be overshadowed by the shaky LB core. The x-factors will be Barnett and Merriman, without them playing great dont expect a bunch of 7th rounders and d-1aa guys to lead a stellar defense. The secondary should be fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickey Posted August 10, 2011 Share Posted August 10, 2011 I purposely posted this prior to the pre-season and regular season. Looking at this roster on paper I still think we are in yet another rebuilding season. Fitz is still a question mark, the o-line is a question mark, D-Line (while greatly improved), LB's and our secondary is a question mark. Special teams last year were solid minus some Moorman struggles. I'm not really concerned about ST. I just can't put on the rose colored glasses like I have in previous years thinking we are going to win 9 -10 games. Realistically, I see this as a 4-5 win season if we stay reasonable healthy. Looking at the depth (or lack there of) of this roster this season could get ugly if we have some serious injuries at any combination of these question mark positions. I'm not a doom and gloom type guy but I still think we are a few more years out to get to 9 win seasons. If there was anytime I want to be wrong is on this topic. Go Bills! I am a doom and gloom guy and yet, I think this team is capable of a .500 season. I think we are loaded at WR and RB. I think that Fitz showed enough last year for me to be optimistic about this year. I don't know, call it leadership, gravitas whatever, I think that he can be a winner. I think we will get mauled by the Pats and the Jets but other than that, I think they can beat anybody. Chan is a clever guy, we saw a little of that last year. This year we should see a lot more of that. At least on offense. The defense is young and a work in progress. I think they will be capable of scoring a lot of points and with even a small improvement on the defense, we should finally see some light at the end of the tunnel this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dorkington Posted August 10, 2011 Share Posted August 10, 2011 (edited) I think we'll finish somewhere in between 3-13 and 8-8 Edited August 10, 2011 by Dorkington Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koufax Posted August 10, 2011 Share Posted August 10, 2011 I think we'll finish somewhere in between 3-11 and 8-8 I guarantee we won't finish 3-11. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dorkington Posted August 10, 2011 Share Posted August 10, 2011 I guarantee we won't finish 3-11. Whoops. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malazan Posted August 10, 2011 Share Posted August 10, 2011 No depression there at all (and no I didn't click on your dumb link), and I cheer as much or more than any other Bills fan does on sundays, but I am not blind. This product has been garbage for over a decade, so until it gets better why expect it to? Until there is new ownership, among many other things it probably won't change, although I am as hopeful as anyone else, just not convinced like some people on here. We have a quarterback, who odds are will never be a starting quarterback after this season. Our O-Line is still very suspect at best, especially the tackles. I could go on and on, but if you think this team is already a very good team then I don't want to disappoint you, the team will do it for me. I had a much longer post, but decided on this short version instead: There's a ton of people here who *KNOW* how to fix the Bills and many of them were heralds for JP Losman, loved the choice of Mike Williams, thought getting Bledsoe and Milloy from the Pats was pure brilliance and so on. It seems that there is a huge disconnect between these moments for people on this board and their current *infallible* opinions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpberr Posted August 10, 2011 Share Posted August 10, 2011 What's the fun in being a pessimist when it comes to football? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Direhard Fan Posted August 10, 2011 Share Posted August 10, 2011 Corp00008 "Eternal" starts when you pass. Your still here on earth. Be objective. 8-8 would make me happy. Beat N.E. once I would be in heaven. Beat the Jets once and I would be very pleased. We are starting our jouney. Sit back and enjoy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billsrhody Posted August 10, 2011 Share Posted August 10, 2011 I dont believe.. but I Billieve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CodeMonkey Posted August 10, 2011 Share Posted August 10, 2011 What's the fun in being a pessimist when it comes to football? What's the fun in being an optimist when it comes to football? Why can't you just see things how they are, not artificially bad or good? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Long Beach Posted August 10, 2011 Share Posted August 10, 2011 What's the fun in being an optimist when it comes to football? Why can't you just see things how they are, not artificially bad or good? It's still pre-season, we're tied for first place! That's how things are right now. I don't mind being in first place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
floridabillfan Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 The bills can go above .500. the issue is will the front office allow it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3rdand12 Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 KC will be very telling. Some have us picked to lose that. I think we really need to win that game at all cost, part of the foundation for the team attitude. Buddy Chan and even Fitz has said that we need to get into a winning mindset. This is a game we can and should win. I mean how do we match up this year as compared to last season against the Chiefs. But as we all know its how we do in the division that tells how far we can go. Go Bills!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albany,n.y. Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 Being an optomist by nature, yes, with a tinge of cynicism. We will surprise a lot of so called pundits this season. My over/under for the season will be around 10 wins. 3 questions: 1)Will you be at the opening day TBD party? 2)Are you accepting bets on under? 3)What's the maximum bet you'll accept and can we get an escrow account? With Bell, Pears & the rest of the OTs there's no way this team wins 10,9 or 8. What's the fun in being a pessimist when it comes to football? There's no fun, but there a thin line between optimist and delusional when it comes to this team with this roster and this schedule. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cub Reporter Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 Although it's seems to be another rebuilding year at least we are actually making progress. I believe we have a good enough QB for the time being. Our O-Line is still up in the air, the left side is solid, however we don't know how strong the right side is or even if its a problem. And for a change I think we have a respectable TE in Scott Chandler. Our defense seems somewhat improved with the addition of Barnett and Dareus. Also, it looks like Chan and our coaching staff look like they kniw what they are doing. So, if you put that all together I would predicte that the bills are 6-10 or 7-9. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LabattBlue Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 With Bell, Pears & the rest of the OTs there's no way this team wins 10,9 or 8. ^^^ This. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3rdand12 Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 6 wins is good. 7 wins will be gooder even. anything more is a super bonus. Its how well we lose that might tell if we've improved for this season. we scored some points last year but we gave away even more. regardless of schedule if we can score as we did against teams last season i expect the defense to hold up their end of the bargain this time around. or heck maybe put some points on the board themselves! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marv Levy Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 I'm going with 6 wins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 I'll say 9-7. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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