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Why didn't the Bills lose as EXPECTED in 2017?


Punt75

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47 minutes ago, ScottLaw said:

Where's the better QB play coming from? 

 

The team with Sammy and Dareus AND Tyrod with an offensive system that takes advantage of the players it has(as we saw last season) is easily a 10-11 win team.

 

You could just as much blame McBeane and Dennison for the team once again missing the playoffs as you could the QB.

 

 

Exactly.  So keeping Sammy didn't ensure a thing.  TT is just not a good passer.  And when there are coaching changes, you can't keep everything the way it was.

 

Now I'd argue that keeping Dareus might have helped them beat the Jets.  But there's no way to prove that and they beat the Raiders without him. 

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League parity, luck (especially with the early turnover differential), and yes a new scheme with a lack of tape. However, it should be pointed out that they might end losing just as much as they were expected to in the end, primarily due to the rosters glaring lack of depth. I could be wrong, but I recall a lot of commentators having them in the 6 to 8 win range with McCoy being cited as the main talent that would keep them out of the basement.

Edited by MURPHD6
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2 minutes ago, MURPHD6 said:

League parity, luck (especially with the early turnover differential), and yes a new scheme with a lack of tape. However, it should be pointed out that they might end losing just as much as they were expected to in the end, primarily due to the rosters glaring lack of depth. I could be wrong, but I recall a lot of commentators having them in the 6 to 8 win range with McCoy being cited as the main talent that would keep them out of the basement.

 

I heard very few people saying the Bills would win more than a handful of games.  Wasn't the Vegas line at 5 games?

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1 hour ago, Dorkington said:

I was certainly expecting like 4 or 5 wins this season, so it's better than that. But man is it disappointing to be in this position after our hot start. 

 

I agree but our hot start was always suspect.  Our D wasn't dominant.  Our offense certainly wasn't dominant either.   We were winning games because we were winning the turnover battle.  But it was hard to believe that our D would continue to be that opportunistic.  

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14 hours ago, Punt75 said:

 

I wrote "as of Sunday" knowing Shaq was on IR.  I think we'll trade him before the draft.  He's just nothing special and too light and not strong to play inside!  Thanks for the comment.

for a 4th?? why are we so willing to trade serviceable young talent on a cheap contract for a crapshoot pick? Shaq and Ragland were projected first round talents and if anything provide some depth with little cost. We're selling these guys as low as possible.. sell high.

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3 hours ago, Doc said:

 

So you were predicting a 10-11 win season before the moves?  Sure.

 

This team will likely end up being a (legit) 9 win team.  Maybe having Sammy and/or Dareus could have gotten them to 10 or 11 wins.  But better QB play could also have gotten them that. 

 

I know I was of the belief that they could win 10-11 games and said as much many times when clueless joe's were predicting 4 wins at best all offseason.    These discussions were here on TSW but people like yourself just focus on the negatives.

 

The arrow was pointing up on this team but they decided to do serious damage to the roster.

 

When Pegula marched Doug Whaley out with the message "7-9....Not good enough!" the implication was that MUCH more was expected of the talent and that coaching was the problem.

 

 And deservedly so.........that has proven itself out as a lot of that talent has gone elsewhere and excelled.

 

McD has been very fortunate that the bounces of Jauron Ball have been as kind as they have this year.......this could have easily morphed into that 4 win season and thoroughly undermined his message.

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15 hours ago, Punt75 said:

What NFL team comes out with the same less than average QB and a 66% roster CHANGE from the previous year after 17 seasons of not making the play-offs and expects to win??? 

 

 

ANSWER:  NO TEAM !!!

 

 

The 34% who still remain as of Sunday (18 players) are: Groy, Henderson, Mills, Wood, Incognito, Glenn, Tyrod, Miller, Clay, O’Leary, Schmidt, Williams, Alexander, Brown, Hughes, McCoy, Tate, Washington.

 

 

How many are valuable assets for trades?

 

 

The Bills of 2017 were expected to lose.  This was to be the cleansing, flush the toilet and start over season.  Too many 7-9, 8-8 finishes didn’t make us close to being a real Super Bowl contender and we all knew that.  A lucky win here, a missed penalty there and we might have grabbed a play-off spot one of those last 17 years.  Did it really matter?  We didn’t have the talent to be a big winner.

 

 

Somehow, with less talent, the Bills have done the unexpected.  Put us back in that traditional “close to the play-offs” picture.  I look forward to 2018 and beyond.  We’re on the right track.  Enjoy it and don’t complain!   

The reason is simple.  Early in the season the schedule was softer, and the defense was getting a crazy number of turnovers .. a crazy unsustainable number.  So they came out with the very good early season record.  I suspect no one was more surprised than the Bills front office. 

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I think the Bills were not as bad as we thought. At the same time I think that once they were 5-2 many on here got ahead of themselves and started to delude themselves that they were BETTER than they were. The sad fact is that we should have made the playoffs at least 3-4 times in the drought period but we have had mediocre teams who never seemed to get any breaks. They had bad luck or they couldn't recover from horrendous officiating.  This year we have actually got some good luck and the officiating has been slightly less incompetent than usual (even going in our favor like Atlanta).  Add to this that most of the AFC is terrible and you get a team that's on the edge of the playoffs. We have even lost 3 winnable games this year. The Carolina, Cincy and NYJ games were all winnable games. We could  be 9-3 right now if we had a couple of breaks in those games or just slightly better play calling. Alas I think we still miss the playoffs by a game which will really SUCK.

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1 hour ago, TheTruthHurts said:

Tyrod Taylor will go 8-8 most years because he doesn't turn the football over. Give him a a good defense and he wins 10+ consistently. He is Alex Smith. 

 

That is why we will finish in the middle again. 

Right. the old saying "Taylor can win you games... as long as everything else is going perfect."

 

3 points several times

Under 100 yards passing countless times.

he just is not good enough. End of story. 

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37 minutes ago, BADOLBILZ said:

 

I know I was of the belief that they could win 10-11 games and said as much many times when clueless joe's were predicting 4 wins at best all offseason.    These discussions were here on TSW but people like yourself just focus on the negatives.

 

The arrow was pointing up on this team but they decided to do serious damage to the roster.

 

When Pegula marched Doug Whaley out with the message "7-9....Not good enough!" the implication was that MUCH more was expected of the talent and that coaching was the problem.

 

 And deservedly so.........that has proven itself out as a lot of that talent has gone elsewhere and excelled.

 

McD has been very fortunate that the bounces of Jauron Ball have been as kind as they have this year.......this could have easily morphed into that 4 win season and thoroughly undermined his message.

 

You don't know what you're talking about.  I was one of the few saying the Bills would be better because they were going back to a 4-3.  I thought the offense could maintain the same level but as I said, when you change coaches it's hard to keep the same.

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15 hours ago, westerndecline said:

Lucky in Atlanta and Tampa

 

Should be 4-8

Luck is part of the game

1 minute ago, Doc said:

 

You don't know what you're talking about.  I was one of the few saying the Bills would be better because they were going back to a 4-3.  I thought the offense could maintain the same level but as I said, when you change coaches it's hard to keep the same.

My big shock in the thing was Marcel....not that he was traded but that he didnt look better then he did and THEN got traded

 

I thought the 4-3 would bring back a resurgence of Marcel who in his early years was flat dominant....against both run and pass rush...unblockable

 

WTF happened!

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3 minutes ago, John from Hemet said:

Luck is part of the game

My big shock in the thing was Marcel....not that he was traded but that he didnt look better then he did and THEN got traded

 

I thought the 4-3 would bring back a resurgence of Marcel who in his early years was flat dominant....against both run and pass rush...unblockable

 

WTF happened!

 

He's always been lazy and got by on talent.  When he got paid so much guaranteed money, it only got worse.  He's probably being a good boy with the Jags, but that will end soon. 

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1 hour ago, John from Hemet said:

Luck is part of the game

 

Unless you're the Bills, then, it's because you Suck and didn't deserve to win.

 

I've never heard a Steelers fan that said the we're lucky on the "Immaculate Reception" and deserved to lose. In fact, it's known as a great play by the Steelers. They also don't say they were lucky because Jackie Smith dropped a sure TD pass in one of their SB wins.  Or, a Giants fan say they got lucky by Norwood missing FG on last play.

 

 

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On 2017-12-07 at 10:47 PM, WotAGuy said:

Carolina is 8-4.  And Philly has beaten several teams who played really well against them. 

Maybe that's the only winning team they beat. 

And what does that mean 'they beat teams that played well against them'?

does a win not count when it's against a team that played really badly against you?

and how do you quantify that?

 

anyways - My bet is that Philly won't make it far ...

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9 hours ago, Bakin said:

Maybe that's the only winning team they beat. 

And what does that mean 'they beat teams that played well against them'?

does a win not count when it's against a team that played really badly against you?

and how do you quantify that?

 

anyways - My bet is that Philly won't make it far ...

It means good teams beat teams that play well against them. This week Pittsburgh beat Cincy even though Cincy played very well against them.  The Bills haven’t been able to do that for years.  The Bills only win when the other team plays like crap or self destructs.  If the opponent plays well - the Bills lose.  Period.  That’s how you end up 8-8 or worse every year.  The Bills of the 90s could beat teams even when their opponent played their best. 

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5 minutes ago, WotAGuy said:

It means good teams beat teams that play well against them. This week Pittsburgh beat Cincy even though Cincy played very well against them.  The Bills haven’t been able to do that for years.  The Bills only win when the other team plays like crap or self destructs.  If the opponent plays well - the Bills lose.  Period.  That’s how you end up 8-8 or worse every year.  The Bills of the 90s could beat teams even when their opponent played their best. 

Cinci played well?  Or Pittsburgh played poorly?

i think you are getting emotional here thinking we only win when the other team sucks. 

 

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Just now, Bakin said:

Cinci played well?  Or Pittsburgh played poorly?

i think you are getting emotional here thinking we only win when the other team sucks. 

 

That’s exactly what I’m saying.  When was the last time the Bills beat a team that played really well?  

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