thurst44 Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 Couldn't agree more. Good football teams do not lose seven straight games. They do not disappear when adversity strikes. They rise to the occasion. They were not a "good" football team last year (at least in that manner), and it's fairly absurd to expect a young, rebuilding team to overcome the insane barrage of injuries they encountered last year. However, they may be ready to rise to that occasion this year -- oddly enough, aided by all the trials, since it allowed players like A. Williams, Sheppard, Searcy, and Hairston a chance to mature. We'll see. However, the busy off-season, paired with the abundance of promising young players, as well as chance dictating that the injury bug won't bite quite as maliciously this year (yes, yes, i know we're talking about the bills here), should have at least some pundits predicting better days for the Bills this year. However, as many have pointed out here, it doesn't matter. Hopefully, they simply prove they deserve a higher ranking (and frankly, after 08 and 11, i wouldn't blame rankings peeps to be wary of moving them up the charts). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyanC883 Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 Coming from behind and beating the Pats and Raiders is the mark of a bad football team? Being 1st in your division at the halfway mark of the season screams "sucks?" We faded at the end but he hardly showed "nothing." PTR The end is all that matters. The epic crash to end the season shows a serious and alarming lack of depth. Hopefully we have addressed those areas and are going to before this season. But, I agree with you that we showed we can score points when we have FJax in the offense. I think we are much higher than 25. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bladiebla Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 (edited) Lol, so according to ESPN we are still drafting 10th next year? Edited March 26, 2012 by bladiebla Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Wiz Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 Which is more useless, January mock drafts or March Power Rankings? Can I answer true??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poo Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 Yet another popularity contest deciding the rankings. There is no way Dallas or the Jets should be placed ahead of the bills for the start of next season. Dallas added one corner and the Jets added Tebow, these are two franchises that will step back in 2012. The Steelers lost most of their starting offensive line, their defense is aging and their positive moves so far have been to release many older players and hang on to mike wallace. Small market teams and those with clear problems dominate the latter half of the list. Ugh, why do i bother raging about something that doesn't change. A slow NFL news cycle indeed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Since 1972 Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 Coming from behind and beating the Pats and Raiders is the mark of a bad football team? Being 1st in your division at the halfway mark of the season screams "sucks?" We faded at the end but he hardly showed "nothing." PTR Ok, we showed we can fade with the best of em. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobChalmers Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 Because we're the Bills. No playoffs in 12 years. We've shown nothing *on the field* to prove that we are a good football team. Hopefully this will be the year where that all changes. We finished 23rd (that's why we have the #10 pick), despite a pile of injuries, one of the league's toughest schedules, and ignoring the additions of Williams and Anderson. Unless you think we are going to be repeating the same or worse level of injuries AND you think Mario Williams and Anderson will have no significant impact, an objective review would have to start us higher. It IS the sort of thing that's typically written by national media types of the same sort that write we don't have much at LB except for Barnett at _M_LB - IE, written in ignorance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dorkington Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 We finished 23rd (that's why we have the #10 pick), despite a pile of injuries, one of the league's toughest schedules, and ignoring the additions of Williams and Anderson. Unless you think we are going to be repeating the same or worse level of injuries AND you think Mario Williams and Anderson will have no significant impact, an objective review would have to start us higher. It IS the sort of thing that's typically written by national media types of the same sort that write we don't have much at LB except for Barnett at _M_LB - IE, written in ignorance. I'm expecting, like the last 10 years or so, that the Bills will have significant injuries, a lack of quality depth, and questionable coaching decisions. Until I'm soundly proven wrong, that's what I'll *expect*. I'm *hoping* we stay relatively healthy, that our FA acquisitions make significant contributions and Chan/Wanny make some awesome coaching decisions. That clarify it? I can't agree or disagree with a rating on hope, I have to go by history and trends. We don't have good history, or trends. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobChalmers Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 (edited) I'm expecting, like the last 10 years or so, that the Bills will have significant injuries, a lack of quality depth, and questionable coaching decisions. Until I'm soundly proven wrong, that's what I'll *expect*. I'm *hoping* we stay relatively healthy, that our FA acquisitions make significant contributions and Chan/Wanny make some awesome coaching decisions. That clarify it? I can't agree or disagree with a rating on hope, I have to go by history and trends. We don't have good history, or trends. You expect the Bills will have a lack of quality depth on the defensive line/pass rush? The loss of Kyle Williams, Shawne Merriman, and Chris Kelsay were among the top problems with the team past the half way point last year. I continue to object strenuously to the notion that "quality depth" has to include going 3-deep at OLT. The Bills loss of their 1st and 2nd string player on the same day is not something ANY team can expect to face. There's not a team in the league that has "quality depth" with a 3rd stringer at the game's 2nd most important (and expensive) position. Edited March 26, 2012 by BobChalmers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GG Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 Which is more useless, January mock drafts or March Power Rankings? How many inane responses does each get? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eball Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 I'm expecting, like the last 10 years or so, that the Bills will have significant injuries, a lack of quality depth, and questionable coaching decisions. Until I'm soundly proven wrong, that's what I'll *expect*. I'm *hoping* we stay relatively healthy, that our FA acquisitions make significant contributions and Chan/Wanny make some awesome coaching decisions. That clarify it? I can't agree or disagree with a rating on hope, I have to go by history and trends. We don't have good history, or trends. Aside from Ralph Wilson, the "history" and "trends" of the current Bills franchise (GM Nix and HC Gailey) consist of two regular seasons and three offseasons (this being the third). True, they haven't made the playoffs in 12 years, but that's not on the current GM, head coach, or players. By almost any measure imaginable, tangible or otherwise, the Bills are trending "up." Injuries are not a "trend," they're an anomaly. If anything, the Bills are overdue for good luck on that front. Your "expectations" are nothing more than a defense mechanism to prevent you from being the slightest bit optimistic about what's happening at OBD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tcali Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 Coming from behind and beating the Pats and Raiders is the mark of a bad football team? Being 1st in your division at the halfway mark of the season screams "sucks?" We faded at the end but he hardly showed "nothing." PTR I'm not sure 'faded' is a good description for what the Bills did last year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hapless Bills Fan Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 Buffalo at #23, FWIW Hard to believe ESPN is that desperate for material, but there it is. Good Gad. Next they'll be making playoff predictions. I assume Denver wins the Manningbowl. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hapless Bills Fan Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 Which is more useless, January mock drafts or March Power Rankings? I vote for "yes" as the best answer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoSaint Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 Yet another popularity contest deciding the rankings. There is no way Dallas or the Jets should be placed ahead of the bills for the start of next season. Dallas added one corner and the Jets added Tebow, these are two franchises that will step back in 2012. The Steelers lost most of their starting offensive line, their defense is aging and their positive moves so far have been to release many older players and hang on to mike wallace. Small market teams and those with clear problems dominate the latter half of the list. Ugh, why do i bother raging about something that doesn't change. A slow NFL news cycle indeed. I think the theory would be that last year was the step back - whether true is debatable Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hapless Bills Fan Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 (edited) I'm not sure 'faded' is a good description for what the Bills did last year. Not unless "faded" is a synonym for "crawled under the porch and died like a dawg-chewed possum and stunk up the House for two months till it finished rottin' " Edited March 27, 2012 by Hopeful Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dorkington Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 Aside from Ralph Wilson, the "history" and "trends" of the current Bills franchise (GM Nix and HC Gailey) consist of two regular seasons and three offseasons (this being the third). True, they haven't made the playoffs in 12 years, but that's not on the current GM, head coach, or players. By almost any measure imaginable, tangible or otherwise, the Bills are trending "up." Injuries are not a "trend," they're an anomaly. If anything, the Bills are overdue for good luck on that front. Your "expectations" are nothing more than a defense mechanism to prevent you from being the slightest bit optimistic about what's happening at OBD. Wrong, I'm very happy with what the FO is doing. And I hope that it works out. 4-12, 6-10, other than DE there hasn't been much done this off season. We still have glaring offensive line and WR depth issues. We need LBs. Hopefully our QB stays healthy this year. Will we adjust back to the 4-3 well? I dunno, I guess I still see lots of questions. I'm hopeful though, there's a lot of good things happening with this team. It's just we have to put it all together for one full season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Campy Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 Buffalo at #23, FWIW Hard to believe ESPN is that desperate for material, but there it is. Methinks they are much more concerned with page views than journalistic integrity, And as long as we fans continue to link to their crap, they win, On behalf of the mother ship, thanks for driving the traffic! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eball Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 Wrong, I'm very happy with what the FO is doing. And I hope that it works out. 4-12, 6-10, other than DE there hasn't been much done this off season. We still have glaring offensive line and WR depth issues. We need LBs. Hopefully our QB stays healthy this year. Will we adjust back to the 4-3 well? I dunno, I guess I still see lots of questions. I'm hopeful though, there's a lot of good things happening with this team. It's just we have to put it all together for one full season. I'd say taking your team's most glaring weakness and turning it into *potentially* one of the best units in the league deserves a bit more credit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dorkington Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 (edited) I'd say taking your team's most glaring weakness and turning it into *potentially* one of the best units in the league deserves a bit more credit. It deserves a lot of theoretical credit. I couldn't care less if we win the offseason though, I want to see results on the field. Is that too much to ask? Win first, national media respect/power rankings follow. Edited March 27, 2012 by Dorkington Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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