Meark Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 I just want the Bills to beat the Patriots the next time we play so that we don't start a new "streak" of losing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Hindsight Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 I don't see how the team can "expect to win" when they haven't made the playoffs in 12 years, have only had one winning season in that time (9-7) and lost 8 of their last 9 games. The Bills still need a season where they learn that they can compete with the top teams on an even footing over the course of an entire season before they take the next step to believing that they should beat them every week. I hope that this is the season that the Bills can finally turn the corner and go 9-7, or at least a very competitive 8-8. Then next season take the jump to a championship contender. How many players were on the roster the last 12 years? Kelsay? This is a different team than those years. Gailey had to change the mindset. Judging by the interviews of players, the attitude of big name free agents signing here, and talk of taking the next step and the entire team here for every OTA and mini camp. The record hasn't shown up yet, but ask the lions how much a change in mindset can make a difference for even a team, even after 2 losing seasons. Losing close games to Baltimore, Pitt and the Giants makes this team better. They know they can play with them, they are just men, now go beat them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hondo in seattle Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 While all the NFL prognosticators are saying the Bills improved in the offseason, most are saying the Bills could make it in the playoffs as a Wild card, while the rest are saying the Bills will miss the playoffs. Well, for all of those naysayers, watch this video from the NFL network: http://www.nfl.com/qs/top20games/2011/New-England-Patriots-at-Buffalo-Bills.jsp?module=HP11_hot_topics In the offseason, the Bills did the following: -Promoted Dave Wannstedt to Defensive Coordinator, (who is an A+ as an DC) -Signed an elite DE in Mario Williams -Signed a good pass rushing DE in Mark Anderson -Drafted Stephon Gilmore in the first round of the draft -Hired renowned QB coach David Lee to help Ryan Fitzpatrick work on the mechanics of his game Other notables: -Kyle Williams is healthy for the first time since his collegiate days -Shawne Merriman appears to be healthy for the first time in years The Giants showed in the Superbowl that a great pass rush is key to shutting down Tom Brady. I think the Bills copied that blueprint in the offseason, and the Bills D-line could possibly be better than the Giants (only time will tell on that). When you add all of that up, is there any doubt that the Bills can compete with the Patriots for the AFC East title this season? While I'm optimistic about the Bills this year and expect them to be in the playoff hunt: yeah, there is some doubt! * The Bills haven't made the playoffs since Wooly Mammoths were getting their feet stuck in the La Brea tar pits. * LT is a question mark. In fact, the O Line in general makes me nervous. * Fitz looked great for the first 7 games then bad thereafter. Was it really because of the rib injury? Will he regain his form? * FredEx is 31 and coming off a major injury. Will he be as effective this year? * The defensive front four look impressive on paper. But will they gel and live up to their potential? * Wanny used to be a solid DC but that was some years ago. Has the game passed him by? Will he be successful in Buffalo? * Will Shep step up at MLB? * Will our young corners play as well as we hope? I've been predicting 10 wins this season and hoping for more. But there's always doubt until a team proves it can win. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beast34 Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 Those NFL prognosticators you speak of are well aware of the offseason moves by the Bills. But unlike hardcore Bills fans, they tend not to see the world through red and blue colored glasses. The Bills have sucked for more than a decade. Most impartial observers would tend to believe it will take more than 1 or 2 good offseasons to contend in a conference that contains the mighty Pats*. That's why they have doubt. Its funny how those same prognosticators often point out how well the Pats drafted this year, When in reality the Pats O-line which couldn't contain the Giants pass rush must now over come the loss of their starting LT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hapless Bills Fan Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 (edited) I don't see how the team can "expect to win" when they haven't made the playoffs in 12 years, have only had one winning season in that time (9-7) and lost 8 of their last 9 games. The Bills still need a season where they learn that they can compete with the top teams on an even footing over the course of an entire season before they take the next step to believing that they should beat them every week. I hope that this is the season that the Bills can finally turn the corner and go 9-7, or at least a very competitive 8-8. Then next season take the jump to a championship contender. I will be very disappointed if we only break even on wins. I know we started out with a bare cupboard and a lot of rebuilding to do, and it seems with the "right" team in place, 3 years and an open checkbook off-season ought to at least get us a winning season and competing for a wild card slot. Edited July 19, 2012 by Hopeful Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerry Jabber Posted July 19, 2012 Author Share Posted July 19, 2012 (edited) While I'm optimistic about the Bills this year and expect them to be in the playoff hunt: yeah, there is some doubt! * The Bills haven't made the playoffs since Wooly Mammoths were getting their feet stuck in the La Brea tar pits. * LT is a question mark. In fact, the O Line in general makes me nervous. * Fitz looked great for the first 7 games then bad thereafter. Was it really because of the rib injury? Will he regain his form? * FredEx is 31 and coming off a major injury. Will he be as effective this year? * The defensive front four look impressive on paper. But will they gel and live up to their potential? * Wanny used to be a solid DC but that was some years ago. Has the game passed him by? Will he be successful in Buffalo? * Will Shep step up at MLB? * Will our young corners play as well as we hope? I've been predicting 10 wins this season and hoping for more. But there's always doubt until a team proves it can win. -The same could have been said with the Detroit Lions last year, but they finally made it. -Yes the LT position is a question mark right now, we all hope either Glenn or Hairston do well this season, but the O-line allowed the fewest sacks in the NFL, so I don't see how they make you nervous? -I'm surprised Fitz played with 2 cracked ribs after Fletcher buried the crown of his helmet into his sternum. After that, there's no questioning Fitz's toughness. QB coach David Lee was brought in to work with Fitz on his mechanics. Lee has worked with Pennington, Romo, and most recently Eli Manning last season (and look at how well Eli did). Only time will tell if Fitz can play good for a full season. -Fred Jackson had a broken leg, he didn't have torn muscles, tendons or cartilage. You're making Jackson's injury sound like Eric Wood's double compound fracture, which isn't the case here. Fred is a young 31 as he hasn't had the normal wear and tear of a RB his age. -As for the rest, we'll have to wait and see how the season unfolds. In regards to the Pats dominance, they only beat one team last season with a winning record, and that was in the AFC Championship game. IMO, the Pats got lucky as the Ravens had 2 costly gaffes that cost them the game. Sometimes, that's all you need is luck. Besides the Pats offense being good, their defense sucked last year, especially their secondary. The Pats aren't the unstoppable monsters that they used to be from the early-mid 2000's. Edited July 19, 2012 by Jerry Jabber Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CodeMonkey Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 We have had 2 good off seasons. This team is significantly more prepared to play 16 games then it was 3 years ago. Chan Gailey has done a nice job of changing the "hard to win" culture to an "expect to win" culture. That alone I think makes us contenders You and I differ greatly when it comes to the value of things like ""hard to win" culture to an "expect to win" culture". My opinion is if any player or coach does not always expect to win they should get the !@#$ off the team. In my opinion that "culture" theory doesn't amount to one more win much less in and of itself making the Bills contend for anything. As far as the 2 good off seasons, I agree. Particularly this last one. But I still think Nix needs one more kick ass off season in order to contend. He needs to do for the offense what he did for the defense this past off season. If that happens then watch out! But I would love for you to be right and have us all watching the Bills play in February Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pine Barrens Mafia Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 Ah, the hope of July and August. I'll believe it once November rolls around, IF it's gonna happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
San Jose Bills Fan Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 Ah, the hope of July and August. I'll believe it once November rolls around, IF it's gonna happen. IF it's gonna happen, you'd be the last to realize it most likely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3rdand12 Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 (edited) -The same could have been said with the Detroit Lions last year, but they finally made it. -Yes the LT position is a question mark right now, we all hope either Glenn or Hairston do well this season, but the O-line allowed the fewest sacks in the NFL, so I don't see how they make you nervous? -I'm surprised Fitz played with 2 cracked ribs after Fletcher buried the crown of his helmet into his sternum. After that, there's no questioning Fitz's toughness. QB coach David Lee was brought in to work with Fitz on his mechanics. Lee has worked with Pennington, Romo, and most recently Eli Manning last season (and look at how well Eli did). Only time will tell if Fitz can play good for a full season. -Fred Jackson had a broken leg, he didn't have torn muscles, tendons or cartilage. You're making Jackson's injury sound like Eric Wood's double compound fracture, which isn't the case here. Fred is a young 31 as he hasn't had the normal wear and tear of a RB his age. -As for the rest, we'll have to wait and see how the season unfolds. In regards to the Pats dominance, they only beat one team last season with a winning record, and that was in the AFC Championship game. IMO, the Pats got lucky as the Ravens had 2 costly gaffes that cost them the game. Sometimes, that's all you need is luck. Besides the Pats offense being good, their defense sucked last year, especially their secondary. The Pats aren't the unstoppable monsters that they used to be from the early-mid 2000's. -Good point about Lions even though have some dirty evil cheepshot drug addled players who cheat. - i agree that Lt is a still a question mark. This been addressed by Nix. I billieve we have two servicable+ Left tackles on the team right now. Wood is a concern though, too. will he regain form? but we have depth now real plug and play depth. so i find the offensive line a strength at this point. Continuity will go along way this year too. - I agree that we still dont know about Fitz. I am biased and a homer on this one. i think he will surprise himself this year. - Fred is The man. But i agree we do not know if he can return to form because we have not seen him play since then. Fair cop by the poster. thank goodness Spiller showed as well as he did when Fred went down, so we are not doomed regardless. i expect both of them to play even better than last year myself when Chan has opened the book up with having ota and camp this year. Maybe not statistically but as winning team and team stats. - agree completely. wait til season unfolds is where the fun is. good posts by both of you and thanks Edited July 19, 2012 by 3rdand12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hondo in seattle Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 (edited) -The same could have been said with the Detroit Lions last year, but they finally made it. -Yes the LT position is a question mark right now, we all hope either Glenn or Hairston do well this season, but the O-line allowed the fewest sacks in the NFL, so I don't see how they make you nervous? -I'm surprised Fitz played with 2 cracked ribs after Fletcher buried the crown of his helmet into his sternum. After that, there's no questioning Fitz's toughness. QB coach David Lee was brought in to work with Fitz on his mechanics. Lee has worked with Pennington, Romo, and most recently Eli Manning last season (and look at how well Eli did). Only time will tell if Fitz can play good for a full season. -Fred Jackson had a broken leg, he didn't have torn muscles, tendons or cartilage. You're making Jackson's injury sound like Eric Wood's double compound fracture, which isn't the case here. Fred is a young 31 as he hasn't had the normal wear and tear of a RB his age. -As for the rest, we'll have to wait and see how the season unfolds. In regards to the Pats dominance, they only beat one team last season with a winning record, and that was in the AFC Championship game. IMO, the Pats got lucky as the Ravens had 2 costly gaffes that cost them the game. Sometimes, that's all you need is luck. Besides the Pats offense being good, their defense sucked last year, especially their secondary. The Pats aren't the unstoppable monsters that they used to be from the early-mid 2000's. The O Line makes me nervous because we didn't get a lot of sacks thanks to Chan's short-pass offense and Fitz's quick release. When we needed to run the ball, we couldn't. We were last in the league in 3nd-and-2 and 3rd-and-3 conversions. 28th, I think, in 3rd-and-1. Great offensive lines push the defensive lines back. We didn't do that. We created holes for FredEx with finesse and good play calling. BUT... I'm really hopeful that Cordy Glenn provides us with an upgrade. You are probably right about FredEx. But sometimes injuries are more serious than we fans know and last longer than we expect. I'm not trying to be a Negative Nancy because I do expect the Bills to battle for a playoff spot this year. But I also understand the folks who have some doubts and take the approach that they'll believe it when they see it. Edited July 20, 2012 by hondo in seattle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerry Jabber Posted July 20, 2012 Author Share Posted July 20, 2012 The O Line makes me nervous because we didn't get a lot of sacks thanks to Chan's short-pass offense and Fitz's quick release. When we needed to run the ball, we couldn't. We were last in the league in 3nd-and-2 and 3rd-and-3 conversions. 28th, I think, in 3rd-and-1. Great offensive lines push the defensive lines back. We didn't do that. We created holes for FredEx with finesse and good play calling. BUT... I'm really hopeful that Cordy Glenn provides us with an upgrade. You are probably right about FredEx. But sometimes injuries are more serious than we fans know and last longer than we expect. I'm not trying to be a Negative Nancy because I do expect the Bills to battle for a playoff spot this year. But I also understand the folks who have some doubts and take the approach that they'll believe it when they see it. You've got all valid points. Before the injuries started to rack up, the Bills were in the top half of the league in 3rd down conversions: http://www.buffalobills.com/news/article-2/8---Will-the-offense-rank-in-the-top-10/fac138e5-eda4-47e6-bcb7-ea44034e749d "However, what the offensive unit is most focused on is where they struggled. Third down conversion percentage was a problem as the Bills finished 28th in the league with just a 32.5 percent success rate. Surprisingly, some of their worst success rates on third down were in third and short situations. Buffalo ranked 28th on 3rd-and-1s in 2011 (60%) and last in the league on 3rd-and-2s and 3rd-and-3s (30.8%). As a result Buffalo struggled to sustain drives ranking 30th in 10-play drives in 2011. Of course that wasn’t helped by the fact that the Bills offense was often handed less than advantageous field position. They ranked 29th in average starting position when they got the ball back (26.2-yard line). What has Buffalo’s offense most encouraged is for half a season they were a top 10 offense last year. After their Week 8 victory over Washington in Toronto, the Bills ranked 10th in the league in offense, fifth in rushing, 13th in passing, 11th on third down conversion percentage and third in scoring." A big key to the O-line's success is Eric Wood. The comparison is night and day when Wood is in the line-up. I really hope Wood has no more major injuries, he's a fan favorite, plus he's a great player. I'm glad Nix added new players and depth across the O-line, because the Bills needed it. The big key to the offenses success (and the whole team) is can they stay healthy? If key players start going down again, like in previous seasons, then the Bills will have a hard time making the playoffs. On the other hand, if they stay healthy throughout the season, they will be contenders for the AFC East. -Good point about Lions even though have some dirty evil cheepshot drug addled players who cheat. - i agree that Lt is a still a question mark. This been addressed by Nix. I billieve we have two servicable+ Left tackles on the team right now. Wood is a concern though, too. will he regain form? but we have depth now real plug and play depth. so i find the offensive line a strength at this point. Continuity will go along way this year too. - I agree that we still dont know about Fitz. I am biased and a homer on this one. i think he will surprise himself this year. - Fred is The man. But i agree we do not know if he can return to form because we have not seen him play since then. Fair cop by the poster. thank goodness Spiller showed as well as he did when Fred went down, so we are not doomed regardless. i expect both of them to play even better than last year myself when Chan has opened the book up with having ota and camp this year. Maybe not statistically but as winning team and team stats. - agree completely. wait til season unfolds is where the fun is. good posts by both of you and thanks Good feedback! Thanks!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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