Jump to content

Five reasons why the Bills will make the 2018 NFL playoffs


HOUSE

Recommended Posts

On 7/17/2018 at 12:39 PM, Luxy312 said:

We simply do not know what we have in terms of the offense.  Overall, the offense was 29th in the NFL last year, and that was made better by the fact that they had the 6th best rushing attack.  They mustered a whopping 176.6 YPG passing, which was 2nd worst only to the Bears.  I can't fathom being worse than that.

It's easy to imagine them being worse than that even if Shady plays the whole season. He's over thirty and his backup is over thirty and the o-line is full of question marks. They have one credible wide receiver. Yes, they passed for less than 200 yards per game but Taylor (who I did not care for) still only threw only 4 interceptions for the season. Peterman threw more than that in one half. Whoever plays QB for the Bills is going to turn the ball over a lot more than Taylor for sure. They may pass for more than 200 yards per game but that doesn't mean they are going to score points. 

 

Plus the defense got 25 turnovers. They are going to have to do better than that to come out even. 

 

Maybe Allen of somebody will play lights out at QB and Zay Jones will suddenly look great at receiver and the journeymen at center will play way above their heads and the defense will get even more turnovers, but on paper this looks like a worse offense than last year's, with the possibility of a defense equal or maybe slightly better if all the new parts work right.  

  • Like (+1) 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Dr. K said:

It's easy to imagine them being worse than that even if Shady plays the whole season. He's over thirty and his backup is over thirty and the o-line is full of question marks. They have one credible wide receiver. Yes, they passed for less than 200 yards per game but Taylor (who I did not care for) still only threw only 4 interceptions for the season. Peterman threw more than that in one half. Whoever plays QB for the Bills is going to turn the ball over a lot more than Taylor for sure. They may pass for more than 200 yards per game but that doesn't mean they are going to score points. 

 

Plus the defense got 25 turnovers. They are going to have to do better than that to come out even. 

 

Maybe Allen of somebody will play lights out at QB and Zay Jones will suddenly look great at receiver and the journeymen at center will play way above their heads and the defense will get even more turnovers, but on paper this looks like a worse offense than last year's, with the possibility of a defense equal or maybe slightly better if all the new parts work right.  

 

Sure, he threw only 4 interceptions.  How many touchdowns did he have in the air again?  OK, so you don't have to look it up, only 14.  He was right there with Jacoby Brisett.  He was lousy.  Terrible.  When he needed to execute drives, he couldn't.  For the defense, they did have 25 turnovers.  Regardless, that wasn't world breaking.  That ranked them 9th in the NFL overall.  To boot, they didn't score points off of turnovers last season.  They were near dead last in the NFL at 2.2 points per turnover.  The Patriots by comparison were #1 at 6.0 points per turnover.  I don't think that the Bills QB (whomever it is) needs to be "lights out".  They need to simply be average.  The defense, provided they stay healthy, should be better than last year.  Don't forget that they ranked 26th in yards and 18th in points.  That's despite all of those turnovers.  Except for turnovers, the defense wasn't that good either.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Luxy312 said:

 

Sure, he threw only 4 interceptions.  How many touchdowns did he have in the air again?  OK, so you don't have to look it up, only 14.  He was right there with Jacoby Brisett.  He was lousy.  Terrible.  When he needed to execute drives, he couldn't.  For the defense, they did have 25 turnovers.  Regardless, that wasn't world breaking.  That ranked them 9th in the NFL overall.  To boot, they didn't score points off of turnovers last season.  They were near dead last in the NFL at 2.2 points per turnover.  The Patriots by comparison were #1 at 6.0 points per turnover.  I don't think that the Bills QB (whomever it is) needs to be "lights out".  They need to simply be average.  The defense, provided they stay healthy, should be better than last year.  Don't forget that they ranked 26th in yards and 18th in points.  That's despite all of those turnovers.  Except for turnovers, the defense wasn't that good either.

I said I did not care for Taylor, for exactly the reasons you say. I never saw the Bills look worse as a team than they did at home against New Orleans in the blowout (they lost by 37 points!) that made McDermott bench him and start Peterman against SD. I was 100% behind that move even though it blew up in their faces. 

 

So yes, let's hope that whoever plays QB will move the ball better. But they are going to turn it over a LOT more than Taylor did; that's a foregone conclusion, and to assume that they are going to make up for that by scoring more, given the huge deficits in offensive talent, is foolish, in my opinion. The predictions that they will go 9-7 or 10-6 are fantasy. 

 

I hope I'm wrong and they somehow play lights out but there's no way, at this point, seeing who they will likely be putting on the field, that anybody ought to reasonably expect that. This is going to be a learning season. If they make it to 8-8 it will be a huge achievement. I'm thinking 6 wins max. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 minutes ago, Dr. K said:

I said I did not care for Taylor, for exactly the reasons you say. I never saw the Bills look worse as a team than they did at home against New Orleans in the blowout (they lost by 37 points!) that made McDermott bench him and start Peterman against SD. I was 100% behind that move even though it blew up in their faces. 

 

So yes, let's hope that whoever plays QB will move the ball better. But they are going to turn it over a LOT more than Taylor did; that's a foregone conclusion, and to assume that they are going to make up for that by scoring more, given the huge deficits in offensive talent, is foolish, in my opinion. The predictions that they will go 9-7 or 10-6 are fantasy. 

 

I hope I'm wrong and they somehow play lights out but there's no way, at this point, seeing who they will likely be putting on the field, that anybody ought to reasonably expect that. This is going to be a learning season. If they make it to 8-8 it will be a huge achievement. I'm thinking 6 wins max. 

 

Your opinion is consistent with the Vegas line of 6.5 games.  Your perception of "lack of offensive talent" is couched in last years offense led by an inept QB that was unwilling to throw the ball.  Right or wrong, I believe that the talent on offense is there and simply dependent on whether we have a QB that is willing to go downfield.  None the less, I'm happy to make a gentleman's bet with you for $100 that the Bills offense is better than 29th in the NFL in offensive yards.  In a nutshell, I think two things.  1 - Daboll is going to be more aggressive and more dynamic of a play caller than Dennison.  Heck, I don't think there's any OC out there that's more conservative than Dennison was.  2 - Whomever is QB is going to be asked to throw the football.  As far as the wins and losses are concerned, I wouldn't bet the over or the under, as I think it's a 50-50 proposition.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, Luxy312 said:

 

Your opinion is consistent with the Vegas line of 6.5 games.  Your perception of "lack of offensive talent" is couched in last years offense led by an inept QB that was unwilling to throw the ball.  Right or wrong, I believe that the talent on offense is there and simply dependent on whether we have a QB that is willing to go downfield.  None the less, I'm happy to make a gentleman's bet with you for $100 that the Bills offense is better than 29th in the NFL in offensive yards.  In a nutshell, I think two things.  1 - Daboll is going to be more aggressive and more dynamic of a play caller than Dennison.  Heck, I don't think there's any OC out there that's more conservative than Dennison was.  2 - Whomever is QB is going to be asked to throw the football.  As far as the wins and losses are concerned, I wouldn't bet the over or the under, as I think it's a 50-50 proposition.

You opinion is not crazy, though I just don't see this as a good passing team, and I expect a decline in the running game too. I'm not much of a betting man so I'll pass on your suggested bet--take yourself out for dinner if you win, and I will do the same. 

 

I would love to see Daboll get some production out of these players, and I am glad that Taylor's deficiencies as a passer are no longer our problem. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...
On 7/17/2018 at 9:39 PM, eball said:

 

Says nobody, ever.  Do some homework.

 

Just did more homework. Best he has ever done as a Bill is 14th in receptions, averaging 3 TDs a season, on a team where short passing has been the norm since his arrival.

 

I suppose you could think of that as decent in that it's not horrible, but if he missed an entire season, I seriously doubt there would even be the slightest negative effect on the team. 

 

This kind of production from a player the team went out and gave what is now the 9th best contract in the NFL is piss-poor ROI.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm always optimistic at the start of the season. This year I will only expect Buffalo to win 9 or more games is if Allen wins the job in preseason.  If Allen doesn't start I have little faith in the offense.  Neither McCarron or Peterman I see winning more games than losing.  Allen offers the best potential, the sooner he realizes/ reaches that potential the better the Bill's will be. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, Mat68 said:

I'm always optimistic at the start of the season. This year I will only expect Buffalo to win 9 or more games is if Allen wins the job in preseason.  If Allen doesn't start I have little faith in the offense.  Neither McCarron or Peterman I see winning more games than losing.  Allen offers the best potential, the sooner he realizes/ reaches that potential the better the Bill's will be. 

i believe with this defense that either /or a combination of a.j. and nate can get us to 10-6. i believe the staff is all about winning and the players counsel has just as much say as the staff on who they think helps them to win. i highly doubt that counsel is gonna vote the rookie given the schedule early on. whoever the team wants will start. period....and i don't care what team or situation , you have 52 other guys who want to go to the post season....not go through what ifs and growing pains. sincerely...kw, jerry and etc.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

23 minutes ago, billsredneck1 said:

i believe with this defense that either /or a combination of a.j. and nate can get us to 10-6. i believe the staff is all about winning and the players counsel has just as much say as the staff on who they think helps them to win. i highly doubt that counsel is gonna vote the rookie given the schedule early on. whoever the team wants will start. period....and i don't care what team or situation , you have 52 other guys who want to go to the post season....not go through what ifs and growing pains. sincerely...kw, jerry and etc.

The end of the day you win by scoring more points than the other guy.  Peterman is very similar in play to Allen but doesn't have the arm to make the throws he wants to make.  McCarron seems like nothing more than a back up.  I think Buffalo is better off playing good D, running the ball and Allen making a handful of plays to win.  If you are afraid of ints you keep Taylor and cut Peterman.  Thursday night will provide a lot of insight.  I think Allen is closer than some maybe I'm right maybe I'm wrong. Imo if he is ready it's the best thing for the Bills.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...