Unrealistic Expectations = Disappointment

[H2o]

It seems to me that a lot of people on this board had unrealistic expectations about this team. It has led to all of the "fire everyone", "cut or trade everyone", and "whaaaa" threads. At the beginning of the season I thought we MIGHT win 6 or 7 games by splitting with the Phins and Jets, then beating Cleveland, KC, Jacksonville, Carolina, and possibly Tampa. This team is pretty much where I expected them to be win/loss wise even though we didn't beat a couple of the teams I thought we would and there are still 3 games left. Let's break down what we actually have here in Buffalo.

 

Let us begin by taking a look at the coaching staff. We have a rookie NFL head coach. Doug Marrone has some quality experience in the NFL as he served under Herm Edwards in NY and was Sean Payton's OC/OL Coach in New Orleans from 2006-2008. Everyone wants to throw him under the bus already. He hasn't even had a full season, not to mention he has had an often injured ROOKIE QB, an UNDRAFTED FA ROOKIE QB, and a QB that came over late in the process having to learn a new offense while trying to build a rapport with new players. He inherited a 6-10 team people, not a 10-6 team like Trestman. I do question some of the guys on his staff, mainly the ST Coordinator is a bum if you ask me, but everyone else is going to have the same growing pains because of what we have under Center. With the DC, Mike Pettine, you knew what you were going to get. I love the direction of the defense. We are more than likely going to break the team's single season sack record under Pettine's tutelage. Bottom line, Doug Whaley and Doug Marrone will work together through this next offseason to get the players that they feel we need to win. If you think these guys don't want to win then you are insane. This is their job, their reputation, and their livelihoods are on the line here.

 

Now let us take a look at the offensive side of the football. All of these guys are learning a new offense. As stated in the above paragraph, we have started 2 ROOKIE QB's and a guy with VERY LITTLE experience overall who not to mention didn't have a full TC to even attempt to learn the system. Even still this team has been extremely competitive. The losses of Andy Levitre and Joe D'Alessandris are the most evident for our team from last season to this one. The OL play outside of Cordy Glenn has been inconsistent at best. This is what mainly needs to be upgraded. We need to find at least two quality starters and quality depth for the OL this offseason. If we go into next year with an OL situation as screwed up as this year's then it will be a train wreck all over again. We have two good, if not great, RB's in Fred Jackson and CJ Spiller, but if the OL is not performing at a solid/consistent level then those guys are going to struggle. Some of you may scream, "Well, Doug Marrone was an OL coach in New Orleans and he should be able to fix this immediately!!!" I will say look what he had to work with in New Orleans. Stevie Johnson is the only veteran WR that our corp has. That's it. Everyone else is is young and inexperienced. I have gone on record saying that we should trade Stevie, but only if we are offered a 3rd or better. His inconsistency, drops, and turnovers at crucial moments of games have been EXTREMELY frustrating along with the fact he is often injured. Doesn't mean I don't like him, but I just expected more from our #1 WR. If he is still in the fold when next season rolls around I won't be disappointed because I still like him as a player. I love the young WR's we have in Robert Woods and Marquise Goodwin. Both of them have shown flashes this year of what is to come I believe and their future looks bright. I do believe that our TE situation needs an upgrade. Chandler is servicable, but he should be a backup that is on the field for two TE sets and as a redzone threat because of his size. He is easily in the bottom third of the league as far as starting TE's go. Moeaki and Gragg could very well be the answer @ the TE position for us, but we will not know until they get their chance in the offense. Even then their production still depends on the guy who is under Center. Everything I talk about here, minus the dropped passes and fumbles of course, hinge on two things. They hinge on the performance of our OL and QB. It is up to our FO to get the personnel we need, the coaching staff to help them grow as players, and then to put them into situations that they can succeed. We don't have the right pieces yet on our offense in key areas.

 

Now to the defense. Wow, what a difference a year and a DC makes. Everyone will still cry about how we can't stop anyone from running the football, but atleast we have gotten the pass rush right. We went from 18th in the league last year to LEADING THE NFL this season. A healthy Mario Williams and Kyle Williams along with the additions of Jerry Hughes and Manny Lawson have made a difference in getting to the QB. I love Pettine and his attacking style defense. Dareus has also stepped up his level of play this year. It seems we got a steal in the second round with the selection of Kiko Alonso. I also can't believe how reliable McKelvin has been for the most part. The defense is surely headed in the right direction. IF, and I say IF, we can re-sign Byrd this offseason then this defense is one CB and a couple LB's away from being top 5. If we get a couple of guys who can get off of blocks and smack RB's in the mouth @ the LB spot along with another good CB the AFC East is in trouble. I truly believe that. This all hinges on whether we can keep Pettine or not. Part of me worries that he will bolt for another team. Either way, as of right now, this defense looks to be on the rise.

 

Now to the ST. Fire the coach. Start over. Marquise Goodwin is really fast. Dan Carpenter has been a find for us.

 

If you expected us to make the playoffs this year then you were sadly mistaken. If you expected Doug Marrone and Nathaniel Hackett to be able to work miracles with 3 inexperienced QB's (two rookies and one newbie), this OL, and a mainly inexperienced group of WR's in a new system then you were sadly mistaken. If you expected that our rookie/newbie QB's would not have any kind of growing pains this year then you were sadly mistaken. If you thought one Kiko Alonso was enough to take on any and all blockers while still stopping the RB @ or behind the line of scrimmage then you were sadly mistaken. If you thought that unrealistic expectations did not lead to disappointment then you were sadly mistaken. Chin up Bills fans, the future IS looking bright in Buffalo regardless of what all the Nancy's would want you to believe. Happy game day.

[FireChan]

Wow, we expected a record at least the same or better than last year? If that's unrealistic, that's the staff's fault.

[BLZFAN4LIFE]

What should the Chiefs have expected this year? What about the Eagles, a rookie head coach filling some pretty big shoes and they lose their starting qb. There are a few very good teams in this league and a couple very bad ones. Then you can throw a blanket over the other 26 teams. Parity is in full effect in this league. It shouldn't be difficult to make a run at the playoffs. The right coach could have done it this year with this roster. Instead we get a season of wasted opportunities and two more years of yet another failed rebuild.

Edited December 15, 2013 by BLZFAN4LIFE

[NoSaint]

 

If I recall my over/under bounced between 5.5 and settled mostly on 6.5 in the offseason.

 

Hopefully we get 1-2 more "ups" I'm what was expected to be an up and down year

Edited December 15, 2013 by NoSaint

[BillsFan-4-Ever]

Wow, we expected a record at least the same or better than last year? If that's unrealistic, that's the staff's fault.

For all the changes this team when through, hell yes it should have been expected.

 

Go back and look at the local news sports people and see what they predicted. You'll see that they were not that far off from what the record is.

[H2o]

What should the Chiefs have expected this year? What about the Eagles, a rookie head coach filling some pretty big shoes and they lose their starting qb. There are a few very good teams in this league and a couple very bad ones. Then you can throw a blanket over the other 26 teams. Parity is in full effect in this league. It shouldn't be difficult to make a run at the playoffs. The right coach could have done it this year with this roster. Instead we get a season of wasted opportunities and two more years of yet another failed rebuild.

 

Andy Reid is a top tier coach in this league and has been for some time. He lost the team in Philadelphia. He got the EXPERIENCED NFL QB that HE WANTED EVEN WHILE IN PHILADELPHIA, something that KC was CLEARLY LACKING, and you see the results. In Philadelphia you have a better OL than what we have here, a top 5 RB in McCoy, and a GOOD 2nd year QB in Foles. If you think their defense is going to hold up in the playoffs (if they make it) then you will be proven wrong. Parity IS in full effect in this league, but we don't have the pieces in KEY areas yet to be in the discussion yet. We have 4 or 5 games that one could argue we should have won this season that we did not. The games against NE, 1st against NY, Cincy, KC, and even argueably Cleveland if EJ doesn't get hurt are all games we could have won. What would our record be then? Those are the breaks, no matter how disappointing they may be. I'm just thankful that all of the emotional, knee-jerk people on this board aren't running the organization though many believe that they could be doing "a much better job."

Edited December 15, 2013 by H2o

[BillsFan-4-Ever]

KC got duped with the Matt Cassel trade when the former Cheatriots coach Romeo Crennel and Josh McDaniels brought him in

[BLZFAN4LIFE]

Andy Reid is a top tier coach in this league and has been for some time. He lost the team in Philadelphia. He got the EXPERIENCED NFL QB that HE WANTED EVEN WHILE IN PHILADELPHIA, something that KC was CLEARLY LACKING, and you see the results. In Philadelphia you have a better OL than what we have here, a top 5 RB in McCoy, and a GOOD 2nd year QB in Foles. If you think their defense is going to hold up in the playoffs (if they make it) then you will be proven wrong. Parity IS in full effect in this league, but we don't have the pieces in KEY areas yet to be in the discussion yet. We have 4 or 5 games that one could argue we should have won this season that we did not. The games against NE, 1st against NY, Cincy, KC, and even argueably Cleveland if EJ doesn't get hurt are all games we could have won. What would our record be then? Those are the breaks, no matter how disappointing they may be. I'm just thankful that all of the emotional, knee-jerk people on this board aren't running the organization though many believe that they could be doing "a much better job."

- Why don't we ever bring in a top tier coach. We hire "yes men" on the cheap who are just happy to be an NFL head coach. Why isn't our offensive line better. Doug Marrone is a former O-lineman and that's how he worked his way up in the NFL. Shouldn't his area of expertise be a strong point of the team? We did have a lot of close calls, wasted opportunities as I see them. You know how to turn around a culture of losing? BY WINNING! Anything else just reinforces the losing culture! Time will tell if Marrone can improve. I say I've seen enough!

[mousetrap08]

All I was looking for this season was steady progress but it looks like this team has regressed the last few weeks that is what disappoints me but maybe some of the young player hit that "wall" so to speak.

[billsfan_34]

It seems to me that a lot of people on this board had unrealistic expectations about this team. It has led to all of the "fire everyone", "cut or trade everyone", and "whaaaa" threads. At the beginning of the season I thought we MIGHT win 6 or 7 games by splitting with the Phins and Jets, then beating Cleveland, KC, Jacksonville, Carolina, and possibly Tampa. This team is pretty much where I expected them to be win/loss wise even though we didn't beat a couple of the teams I thought we would and there are still 3 games left. Let's break down what we actually have here in Buffalo.

 

Let us begin by taking a look at the coaching staff. We have a rookie NFL head coach. Doug Marrone has some quality experience in the NFL as he served under Herm Edwards in NY and was Sean Payton's OC/OL Coach in New Orleans from 2006-2008. Everyone wants to throw him under the bus already. He hasn't even had a full season, not to mention he has had an often injured ROOKIE QB, an UNDRAFTED FA ROOKIE QB, and a QB that came over late in the process having to learn a new offense while trying to build a rapport with new players. He inherited a 6-10 team people, not a 10-6 team like Trestman. I do question some of the guys on his staff, mainly the ST Coordinator is a bum if you ask me, but everyone else is going to have the same growing pains because of what we have under Center. With the DC, Mike Pettine, you knew what you were going to get. I love the direction of the defense. We are more than likely going to break the team's single season sack record under Pettine's tutelage. Bottom line, Doug Whaley and Doug Marrone will work together through this next offseason to get the players that they feel we need to win. If you think these guys don't want to win then you are insane. This is their job, their reputation, and their livelihoods are on the line here.

 

Now let us take a look at the offensive side of the football. All of these guys are learning a new offense. As stated in the above paragraph, we have started 2 ROOKIE QB's and a guy with VERY LITTLE experience overall who not to mention didn't have a full TC to even attempt to learn the system. Even still this team has been extremely competitive. The losses of Andy Levitre and Joe D'Alessandris are the most evident for our team from last season to this one. The OL play outside of Cordy Glenn has been inconsistent at best. This is what mainly needs to be upgraded. We need to find at least two quality starters and quality depth for the OL this offseason. If we go into next year with an OL situation as screwed up as this year's then it will be a train wreck all over again. We have two good, if not great, RB's in Fred Jackson and CJ Spiller, but if the OL is not performing at a solid/consistent level then those guys are going to struggle. Some of you may scream, "Well, Doug Marrone was an OL coach in New Orleans and he should be able to fix this immediately!!!" I will say look what he had to work with in New Orleans. Stevie Johnson is the only veteran WR that our corp has. That's it. Everyone else is is young and inexperienced. I have gone on record saying that we should trade Stevie, but only if we are offered a 3rd or better. His inconsistency, drops, and turnovers at crucial moments of games have been EXTREMELY frustrating along with the fact he is often injured. Doesn't mean I don't like him, but I just expected more from our #1 WR. If he is still in the fold when next season rolls around I won't be disappointed because I still like him as a player. I love the young WR's we have in Robert Woods and Marquise Goodwin. Both of them have shown flashes this year of what is to come I believe and their future looks bright. I do believe that our TE situation needs an upgrade. Chandler is servicable, but he should be a backup that is on the field for two TE sets and as a redzone threat because of his size. He is easily in the bottom third of the league as far as starting TE's go. Moeaki and Gragg could very well be the answer @ the TE position for us, but we will not know until they get their chance in the offense. Even then their production still depends on the guy who is under Center. Everything I talk about here, minus the dropped passes and fumbles of course, hinge on two things. They hinge on the performance of our OL and QB. It is up to our FO to get the personnel we need, the coaching staff to help them grow as players, and then to put them into situations that they can succeed. We don't have the right pieces yet on our offense in key areas.

 

Now to the defense. Wow, what a difference a year and a DC makes. Everyone will still cry about how we can't stop anyone from running the football, but atleast we have gotten the pass rush right. We went from 18th in the league last year to LEADING THE NFL this season. A healthy Mario Williams and Kyle Williams along with the additions of Jerry Hughes and Manny Lawson have made a difference in getting to the QB. I love Pettine and his attacking style defense. Dareus has also stepped up his level of play this year. It seems we got a steal in the second round with the selection of Kiko Alonso. I also can't believe how reliable McKelvin has been for the most part. The defense is surely headed in the right direction. IF, and I say IF, we can re-sign Byrd this offseason then this defense is one CB and a couple LB's away from being top 5. If we get a couple of guys who can get off of blocks and smack RB's in the mouth @ the LB spot along with another good CB the AFC East is in trouble. I truly believe that. This all hinges on whether we can keep Pettine or not. Part of me worries that he will bolt for another team. Either way, as of right now, this defense looks to be on the rise.

 

Now to the ST. Fire the coach. Start over. Marquise Goodwin is really fast. Dan Carpenter has been a find for us.

 

If you expected us to make the playoffs this year then you were sadly mistaken. If you expected Doug Marrone and Nathaniel Hackett to be able to work miracles with 3 inexperienced QB's (two rookies and one newbie), this OL, and a mainly inexperienced group of WR's in a new system then you were sadly mistaken. If you expected that our rookie/newbie QB's would not have any kind of growing pains this year then you were sadly mistaken. If you thought one Kiko Alonso was enough to take on any and all blockers while still stopping the RB @ or behind the line of scrimmage then you were sadly mistaken. If you thought that unrealistic expectations did not lead to disappointment then you were sadly mistaken. Chin up Bills fans, the future IS looking bright in Buffalo regardless of what all the Nancy's would want you to believe. Happy game day.

I expected 2 wins and posted it on here long ago.

[H2o]

Let us begin by taking a look at the coaching staff. We have a rookie NFL head coach. Doug Marrone has some quality experience in the NFL as he served under Herm Edwards in NY and was Sean Payton's OC/OL Coach in New Orleans from 2006-2008. Everyone wants to throw him under the bus already. He hasn't even had a full season,

 

Bottom line, Doug Whaley and Doug Marrone will work together through this next offseason to get the players that they feel we need to win. If you think these guys don't want to win then you are insane. This is their job, their reputation, and their livelihoods are on the line here.

 

Now let us take a look at the offensive side of the football. All of these guys are learning a new offense. As stated in the above paragraph, we have started 2 ROOKIE QB's and a guy with VERY LITTLE experience overall who not to mention didn't have a full TC to even attempt to learn the system. Even still this team has been extremely competitive. The losses of Andy Levitre and Joe D'Alessandris are the most evident for our team from last season to this one. The OL play outside of Cordy Glenn has been inconsistent at best. This is what mainly needs to be upgraded. We need to find at least two quality starters and quality depth for the OL this offseason. If we go into next year with an OL situation as screwed up as this year's then it will be a train wreck all over again. We have two good, if not great, RB's in Fred Jackson and CJ Spiller, but if the OL is not performing at a solid/consistent level then those guys are going to struggle. Some of you may scream, "Well, Doug Marrone was an OL coach in New Orleans and he should be able to fix this immediately!!!" I will say look what he had to work with in New Orleans.

 

- Why don't we ever bring in a top tier coach. We hire "yes men" on the cheap who are just happy to be an NFL head coach. Why isn't our offensive line better. Doug Marrone is a former O-lineman and that's how he worked his way up in the NFL. Shouldn't his area of expertise be a strong point of the team? We did have a lot of close calls, wasted opportunities as I see them. You know how to turn around a culture of losing? BY WINNING! Anything else just reinforces the losing culture! Time will tell if Marrone can improve. I say I've seen enough!

 

Thanks for making me look prophetic

[Mr. WEO]

Andy Reid is a top tier coach in this league and has been for some time. He lost the team in Philadelphia. He got the EXPERIENCED NFL QB that HE WANTED EVEN WHILE IN PHILADELPHIA, something that KC was CLEARLY LACKING, and you see the results. In Philadelphia you have a better OL than what we have here, a top 5 RB in McCoy, and a GOOD 2nd year QB in Foles. If you think their defense is going to hold up in the playoffs (if they make it) then you will be proven wrong. Parity IS in full effect in this league, but we don't have the pieces in KEY areas yet to be in the discussion yet. We have 4 or 5 games that one could argue we should have won this season that we did not. The games against NE, 1st against NY, Cincy, KC, and even argueably Cleveland if EJ doesn't get hurt are all games we could have won. What would our record be then? Those are the breaks, no matter how disappointing they may be. I'm just thankful that all of the emotional, knee-jerk people on this board aren't running the organization though many believe that they could be doing "a much better job."

 

Say what? His record is 3 qnd 6. HE hasn't won a game on the road. He's thrown 3 TDs and 4 ints in the last 3 games. Sure he missed games in the beginnign of the season. But assuming or we could have won all of those games had he not been injured is not consistent with what we are seeing on the field. LAst week's gaem should be the eye opener for you.

[H2o]

Say what? His record is 3 qnd 6. HE hasn't won a game on the road. He's thrown 3 TDs and 4 ints in the last 3 games. Sure he missed games in the beginnign of the season. But assuming or we could have won all of those games had he not been injured is not consistent with what we are seeing on the field. LAst week's gaem should be the eye opener for you.

 

I'm talking about the team's win loss record as a whole and the people that were clamoring about us being able to beat Cleveland if EJ had not gotten injured for THAT game. Not all of the other ones he missed. I don't know if EJ is "the guy" or not, but I hope he or one of the others are. I'm just talking about what our coaching staff has been trying to work through overall this year and the expectations that people had unrealistically developed about what our record "should" be right now. This not another "EJ" thread.

Edited December 15, 2013 by H2o

[Wayne Cubed]

 

 

I'm talking about the team's win loss record as a whole and the people that were clamoring about us being able to be Cleveland if EJ had not gotten injured for THAT game. Not all of the other ones he missed. I don't know if EJ is "the guy" or not, but I hope he or one of the others are. I'm just talking about what our coaching staff has been trying to work through overall this year and the expectations that peole had unrealistically developed about what our record "should" be right now. This not another "EJ" thread.

 

Some fans expectations of EJ directly correlate to lasts years rookie QB class. They saw the success of Luck, RGIII, Wilson and to an extent Kaepernick(although he was in his second year). People assumed this would be the same with EJ and if not he is a crappy QB, obviously.

 

Fast forward to this year and except for Wilson, all of these QBs have struggled.

[Dorkington]

I expected 4-6 wins.

 

I'm still disappointed.

 

I don't want to expect a losing team. I don't want those expectations to come true.

[NoSaint]

I expected 4-6 wins.

 

I'm still disappointed.

 

I don't want to expect a losing team. I don't want those expectations to come true.

 

What's starting to bother me is the mood or aura or whatever around the team having a bit less fire than I expected. I expected play to have a lot of lows along the way but I expected more wind in the sails regardless of outcomes.

 

Seeing what the staff has in store for January through May will be interesting with regards to bringing their vision into view for the fans.

[xsoldier54]

I believe this team has played below it's potential. There is enough talent on this roster to be a playoff team. What they seem to lack is discipline. Too many mistakes that have cost them winnable games. When you have an opportunity to win a game in the NFL, you have to take advantage of that opportunity. That is the difference between this team and some that will make the wild card. It's not talent, it's mental toughness and discipline.

[Rob's House]

Apparently if you expected this team to look better in in weeks 13 and 14 than it did in weeks 2 and 3 your expectations were unrealistic.

[offyourocker]

What should the Chiefs have expected this year? What about the Eagles, a rookie head coach filling some pretty big shoes and they lose their starting qb. There are a few very good teams in this league and a couple very bad ones. Then you can throw a blanket over the other 26 teams. Parity is in full effect in this league. It shouldn't be difficult to make a run at the playoffs. The right coach could have done it this year with this roster. Instead we get a season of wasted opportunities and two more years of yet another failed rebuild.

What should the Chiefs have expected this year? What about the Eagles, a rookie head coach filling some pretty big shoes and they lose their starting qb. There are a few very good teams in this league and a couple very bad ones. Then you can throw a blanket over the other 26 teams. Parity is in full effect in this league. It shouldn't be difficult to make a run at the playoffs. The right coach could have done it this year with this roster. Instead we get a season of wasted opportunities and two more years of yet another failed rebuild.

 

Fair assesment

 

[jjmac]

I expected 4 wins. I do get disappointed when we lose, but even more so when we play so poorly that we just give the game away.