Buftex Posted December 25, 2013 Share Posted December 25, 2013 The "something to play for" motivation is overstated. Professionals in all sports play for money. There are very few players in the NFL that can afford to show themselves on film not playing hard. If you look around the league teams like Atlanta, Washington, Tampa Bay, and Jacksonville are all still "playing hard." The Bills will not be lacking motivation on Sunday. I agree...to a degree. There are teams like the Bills, who played hard, all year, and then had that one stinging loss against the Falcons, which, effectively, dashed their hopes for the playoffs...what happned? They came out and played their worst game of the season (Bucs), in all phases of the game...as if the entire team, as one unit, had the collective realization that their season was, alas, over. They got back on the horse for the Jags and Dolphins...they have been living with the spectre of "meaningless games" for about 3 weeks now...not saying they can't possibly beat the Pats on Sunday, but I think it is more likely that they get rolled over. And, I don't think that will necessarily mean they have regressed, or Marrone can't get them ready for games, etc etc...you know, all those cliches. It is just human nature..professionals or not. The Pats are professionals too, and they will have much more motivation to try to troucne a weaker oppenant, when having a bye-week is on the line. We see it every year, some team starts out 1-8, or 2-9, and then gets their **** together and wins 4 or their last 5, or something like that...it is just a cycle that most teams go through every year. Success breeds more success...failure...well you know what that does.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chandler#81 Posted December 25, 2013 Share Posted December 25, 2013 *uncertain* Bills have had trouble putting two good games together all season. Bills have also had trouble playing on the road all season. I would like to see the Bills demonstrate they are "on the right road" to changing both those factors, but I can't blame NE press from taking us lightly. 1.) The Bills have put 3 good games together in a row. SC & SJ fumbles don't mean the team didn't play well enough to win and probably should have. 2.) I include Tron'O as a Road Game and no, not ALL season. Fairly certain the Bills won last week on the road. 3.) I doubt we win on Sunday, but if we do and with highly questionable QB play, I won't care what NE press thinks of us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buftex Posted December 25, 2013 Share Posted December 25, 2013 Well it certainly has "Bills fans whining about a ref-screw-job" written all over it. Nice to see it is already a work in progress. This is probably why there is so much ref whining here. If you go into every game looking for it, then you are going to see it. Whether it is there or not. While I tend to agree that the Pats seem to get an awful lot of things go their way, at crucial times, over the years...they have actually had a number of pretty bad calls, or no-calls, that contributed to them losing a few games this year...the most recent Jets loss, and the Panthers games come to mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Golden Wheels Posted December 25, 2013 Share Posted December 25, 2013 Until the Bills win a game at Gillette Stadium, they will not have respect in New England. It's as simple as that. It would be a happy new year indeed if they can finally get off the schneid Sunday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
littlelouie Posted December 25, 2013 Share Posted December 25, 2013 (edited) NEBillsFan - If you totally dominated another team for 15 years wouldn't you be confident and arrogant? To dominate a team for 15 years is unheard of. That's so rare it's hard to even imagine. Just look at the win/loss record of New England over Buffalo the past decade and a half. I would chalk up any game against the Bills as an automatic win if I were them. Like they say any team can win on any given Sunday but it's hard to ignore past history. It's rare that a team can DOMINATE another for that many years Look at it this way,.the last time the Bills could compete with the Pats, todays high school seniors were still in diapers and weren't even in pre-school. Edited December 25, 2013 by littlelouie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogbyte Posted December 25, 2013 Share Posted December 25, 2013 Yes, they are awesome fans...unless they start to lose. Then there will be tumbleweeds blowing through Gillette Stadium. Kraft's financial plan would collapse if the Pats started to suck. Don't think the NFL doesn't know that. Ever wonder why they get the calls? PTR I do not think so! I think their ownership would not allow them miss the playoffs 14 years in a row!They would go all out to rectify the problems. They have become a solid NFL franchise. Let's what happens to Bills fans when new ownership raises the ticket prices to normal NFLteam prices to pay for the purchase of the team? It will not stay the lowest in the NFL when it happens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NEBuffaloBillsFan Posted December 26, 2013 Author Share Posted December 26, 2013 NEBillsFan - If you totally dominated another team for 15 years wouldn't you be confident and arrogant? To dominate a team for 15 years is unheard of. That's so rare it's hard to even imagine. Just look at the win/loss record of New England over Buffalo the past decade and a half. I would chalk up any game against the Bills as an automatic win if I were them. Like they say any team can win on any given Sunday but it's hard to ignore past history. It's rare that a team can DOMINATE another for that many years Look at it this way,.the last time the Bills could compete with the Pats, todays high school seniors were still in diapers and weren't even in pre-school. Louie - Remember, I am talking about these two yahoos on the radio. Not the Pats themselves. Also, confidence is one thing and I agree that they should be confident. Arrogance is another. They EXPECT the Bills to just roll over and play dead just because they have nothing to play for and are just looking forward to time off. That's what pisses me off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PromoTheRobot Posted December 26, 2013 Share Posted December 26, 2013 I do not think so! I think their ownership would not allow them miss the playoffs 14 years in a row! They would go all out to rectify the problems. They have become a solid NFL franchise. Let's what happens to Bills fans when new ownership raises the ticket prices to normal NFLteam prices to pay for the purchase of the team? It will not stay the lowest in the NFL when it happens. Let me ask you something? Do you think Bob Kraft is the very first owner in the history of the NFL to "care" enough so his team makes the playoffs 14 straight years? All the teams in all the years of the NFL have had great years followed by lean ones. But Bob Kraft is the only guy to crack the code so his team never goes bad? Yeah. I buy that. PTR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thurmal34 Posted December 26, 2013 Share Posted December 26, 2013 They should be arrogant. Why wouldn't they be? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clippers of Nfl Posted December 26, 2013 Share Posted December 26, 2013 No doubt Brady will be well protected by the Referees as usual. So stand by for a few 15 yard "Roughing the Passer"penalties. But if we are going to get flagged we might as well Rough the Passer good and proper so that Brady remembers it for next year. Hit him hard and often boys. Im not worried about the roughing the passer penalties. Im concerned for the constant pi calls they get. Last sunday I wanted to enjoy a good game. Ravens/pats. On the pats' first drive the stupid wr runs into the db and gets a pi call in the endzone. I didnt continue watching the game. But that must kill your motivation. When you know the refs are just going to "give it" to them. I deleted the game after that first drive. I ended watching big history on the history channel. This was more entertaining than the pats/ravens. Their play is called "fly idiot 42 ref help". It's basically the wr running into the db in hopes of getting a pi call. So the score doesnt matter people. Even if we have a lead. All they have to do is run that play 3 times and it's 3 tds just like that. It's kind of fugged up when you really really really think about it. Ps. I think I may be developing carpal tunnel. So I'm not playing on my phone (that much) or typing too much. It will not happen. But I hope we beat them. That would be our 2nd superbowl in 2 weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boatdrinks Posted December 26, 2013 Share Posted December 26, 2013 While I tend to agree that the Pats seem to get an awful lot of things go their way, at crucial times, over the years...they have actually had a number of pretty bad calls, or no-calls, that contributed to them losing a few games this year...the most recent Jets loss, and the Panthers games come to mind. Those two calls were actually most likely correct. Judgement call for the end zone play vs CAR but likely the correct judgement. The distinction is that the Pats so vocally acted like they were screwed somehow. When the close/judgment calls always go your way, apparently you get a sense of entitlement on the rare occasion that one does not. That seems to be the case with the Pats*. I mean, their receivers look around for a flag or make a gesture with their hands after every incompletion. It's truly disgusting to watch because the Refs seem so ready to oblige them. Makes Pats games almost unwatchable IMO. The only Ref's I see officiate theri games competently are Carey, Boger, and I'd have to say Blakeman though he may be gunshy the next time around after the CAR non-call. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marv's Neighbor Posted December 26, 2013 Share Posted December 26, 2013 Arrogance in NE is NOT limited to Sports Radio! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoSaint Posted December 26, 2013 Share Posted December 26, 2013 (edited) Louie - Remember, I am talking about these two yahoos on the radio. Not the Pats themselves. Also, confidence is one thing and I agree that they should be confident. Arrogance is another. They EXPECT the Bills to just roll over and play dead just because they have nothing to play for and are just looking forward to time off. That's what pisses me off. well, hopefully they arent right and they play for jobs, and pride. i recall plenty of threads around here expecting the same out of other teams though. fans get so wrapped up in the psychology of it and declaring how teams will play based on things other than matchups and skill level.... responding to comments from the media, or due to the results of the game before, or looking ahead to the game after, or.... really, most of it is skill of the players, if the coaches make the right calls/adjustments, and a little luck.... they tend to have us beat on most of those lately. sure, teams play amped up, or come out flat - but a lot of it seems to be dumb luck to predict. Edited December 26, 2013 by NoSaint Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STC Posted December 26, 2013 Share Posted December 26, 2013 I prefer to call them Mass-holes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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