Should we Believe it when the National Media says the Bills will be the Worst in 2018.

[mykidsdad]

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2792785-are-the-buffalo-bills-already-the-nfls-worst-team?utm_source=cnn.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=editorial

 

We are continuing to see some very negative predictions about the Bills 2018 season. The consensus seems to be that the team is bad, because the personel decisions have been bad. Do we trust the process here, or are these guys right? I was feeling good before Cincy, but now I'm feeling like maybe there is real reason to doubt. Will we really be the worst in the league? Is our trajectory downward or middling again? Someone please give me reasons not to believe what these guys are saying.

[StrikeParry]

Bleacher report chief. Wouldn’t call that national media. It’s some fat boy on his couch in Ohio.

[Dadonkadonk]

Did you believe them last year when no one picked them to make the playoffs?  Did you believe all the local media and a large portion of this board that thought they would win 6 games last year?  30% of Superbowl teams don;t even make the playoffs the following year.   Injuries can completely destroy a team and turn a division upside down.

 

The question that is creeping in my mind is - Are the Jets better than the Bills?  Their defense could be legit top 5. People on here think our defense will be good put I'm skeptical of a defense that can't rush the passer nor stop the run when needed.  I see a bottom 5 linebacker group, a below average D-line, and a hole at DB opposite White.  Is the Jets offense any better/worse than the Bills?  Far less playmakers on the Jets but their O-line may be as bad as ours.  I see 6-9 wins for both teams and I can make arguments for either team being at 6 or 9 and may be largely due to the head to head games.  A sweep by Buffalo of Miami and the Jets gives them a legit shot for 8 or 9 wins if they can pull an upset of one of the first four games.  

 

[BuffaloButt]

I find it hard to believe that a McDermott coached team is going to finish last.  I think he's got the makings of being a very good coach and getting the most out of his players.  While last week 1's was a train wreck, it's preseason so you can't take much stock in what we're seeing with no game planning and all the experimenting they were doing which is the right time to do it in the preseason.  I'm not expecting much from this team this season maybe 7-9 but I better see better QB play and improving defense this year.  The plan should be spend in FA next year, draft OL help, and make another playoff run next year.  That's what Philly did and so can we.  Go Bills!!!

Edited August 30, 2018 by BuffaloButt
Spelling

[Rocky Landing]

I don't really follow other teams as much as I'd like. So, the question that crosses my mind is: Who's worse?

[Buffalo Barbarian]

Nope

 

 

[fansince88]

To Quote a great man named Bluto at a time like this:

"What? Over? Did you say "over"? Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no!"

[Fadingpain]

2 hours ago, mykidsdad said:

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2792785-are-the-buffalo-bills-already-the-nfls-worst-team?utm_source=cnn.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=editorial

 

We are continuing to see some very negative predictions about the Bills 2018 season. The consensus seems to be that the team is bad, because the personel decisions have been bad. Do we trust the process here, or are these guys right? I was feeling good before Cincy, but now I'm feeling like maybe there is real reason to doubt. Will we really be the worst in the league? Is our trajectory downward or middling again? Someone please give me reasons not to believe what these guys are saying.

You don't have to figure this out in the next 10 minutes.

 

Watch the games and try to enjoy them.

 

We'll all find out soon enough if these predictions were accurate or not.

 

 

[Fadingpain]

1 hour ago, Rocky Landing said:

I don't really follow other teams as much as I'd like. So, the question that crosses my mind is: Who's worse?

From the article:

 

Only a few other squads are in the conversation as the league's worst.

Cleveland finished 0-16 last season yet made significant changes throughout the roster. The Arizona Cardinals have a veteran quarterback in Sam Bradford to lean on (until Josh Rosen is ready or needed). The Tampa Bay Buccaneers added Jason Pierre-Paul and Vita Vea after finishing dead last in total defense a year ago. Ryan Tannehill returns to the Miami Dolphins, while the franchise underwent a locker room cleansing. A year later, the non-tanking Jets still have some issues, but they're far more settled at quarterback than Buffalo, even if a fellow rookie starts.

[Bangarang]

The media is usually spot on so I probably would believe what they say.

[The Process]

57 minutes ago, Bangarang said:

The media is usually spot on so I probably would believe what they say.

I see what you did there.

I believe the media as much as I believed Bill Clinton....when he sternly looked into the camera and said "I did not have sex with that woman.....". 

[Jpsredemption]

Everyone was wrong last year but generally not when it comes to the Bills. They see a poorly built roster with Nathan Peterman likely the starter and a rookie who was over drafted as the heir apparent.

 

This is not a good team and everyone except some delusional Bills fans see it.

[The Red King]

2017 Bills were supposed to be the worst in the league.  Rodak even said "...their season is over before it began."

 

Click-bait.  The Bad Luck Bills are easy to bash.  Or, to give a straight answer, no.  The Bills are not the worst team in the league.

[Pbomb]

3 minutes ago, Jpsredemption said:

Everyone was wrong last year but generally not when it comes to the Bills. They see a poorly built roster with Nathan Peterman likely the starter and a rookie who was over drafted as the heir apparent.

 

This is not a good team and everyone except some delusional Bills fans see it.

Over drafted according to who, you?

What happens when a fan is overly negative and says everything is terrible and bad, are they also delusional?

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

1 minute ago, Pbomb said:

Over drafted according to who, you?

What happens when a fan is overly negative and says everything is terrible and bad, are they also delusional?

 

Yes.

 

[row_33]

It’s okay to be perceived as bad and then earn respect by doing better.

 

Preseason polls don’t matter in pro football as they do in the NCAA.

 

i define mediocre as less than 11 wins in a season.

 

 

 

[greeneblitz]

Bills will be middling, same as almost every single year for the last 20 years.

[dayman]

Good article. All valid points.

[mead107]

19-0 Baby 

[row_33]

6 minutes ago, greeneblitz said:

Bills will be middling, same as almost every single year for the last 20 years.

 

6-10, the same pick since 2002

 

 

[White Linen]

Predicting the future is not perfect. 

[Trogdor]

3 hours ago, BuffaloButt said:

I find it hard to believe that a McDermott coached team is going to finish last.  I think he's got the makings of being a very good coach and getting the most out of his players.  While last week 1's was a train wreck, it's preseason so you can't take much stock in what we're seeing with no game planning and all the experimenting they were doing which is the right time to do it in the preseason.  I'm not expecting much from this team this season maybe 7-9 but I better see better QB play and improving defense this year.  The plan should be spend in FA next year, draft OL help, and make another playoff run next year.  That's what Philly did and so can we.  Go Bills!!!

Penalty issues, poor clock management, and a bad defense. I think McD has a long way to go until he can be considered good. This team got out coached a lot last year. 

[GunnerBill]

23 minutes ago, Pbomb said:

Over drafted according to who, you?

What happens when a fan is overly negative and says everything is terrible and bad, are they also delusional?

 

If they are overly negative - then yes. I confess from being pretty sure 3 weeks ago that this team's floor was about 6 wins to believe it may be closer to half that. That doesn't mean I am predicting 3 wins.... but some of the question marks we had 3 or 4 weeks ago are now more significant worries:

 

- can Vontae Davis match EJ Gaines' production at the RCB spot?

- do we have enough receiving talent after Kelvin Benjamin?

- is our offensive line capable of giving any of our QBs the time needed to make throws?

- is Trent Murphy healthy enough to be the bump our pass rush requires?

- are we getting a totally committed, all-in, version of Star?

- can one of the QBs separate from the pack?

 

At the start of training camp those were all genuine questions that were discussed on this board and elsewhere. Fair questions. I know camp and pre-season are camp and pre-season but can anyone honestly say that they feel better about any of those scenarios now than they did 5 weeks ago? I'd be lying if I said I did.  

 

I'm worried. Much more worried than I was at this time last year. I think this season could be rough. I'm not going to panic if it is I still believe in the coach and am still willing to give Beane the benefit of the doubt (Allen is massive for him) and we could still be on the right long term trajectory even if this season is rough. But it is fair to be concerned at this stage. More than fair in my mind. 

 

2 minutes ago, Trogdor said:

Penalty issues, poor clock management, and a bad defense. I think McD has a long way to go until he can be considered good. This team got out coached a lot last year. 

 

No it didn't.  

Edited August 30, 2018 by GunnerBill

[row_33]

4 minutes ago, Trogdor said:

Penalty issues, poor clock management, and a bad defense. I think McD has a long way to go until he can be considered good. This team got out coached a lot last year. 

 

Prematurely announcing Tyrod’s benching was a bad move, even if it had worked out.

 

that’s about it for last year, all things considered

 

 

Premature as in announcing it days before he had to announce, I didn’t mind the benching.

 

[Cripple Creek]

39 minutes ago, Jpsredemption said:

Everyone was wrong last year but generally not when it comes to the Bills. They see a poorly built roster with Nathan Peterman likely the starter and a rookie who was over drafted as the heir apparent.

 

This is not a good team and everyone except some delusional Bills fans see it.

Lots of room for improvement, but if you didn’t like what you saw from Allen during the preseason then perhaps it is JPs redemption who is delusional.

[Trogdor]

1 minute ago, row_33 said:

 

Prematurely announcing Tyrod’s benching was a bad move, even if it had worked out.

 

that’s about it for last year, all things considered

 

 

This team still hasn't learned to adjust to other teams. Even when they were able to jump out to a lead, they couldn't keep the momentum going. The turnovers were great, but I think that they kind of covered up just how bad the defense was. They only beat 2 playoff teams last year, and one had to lose both WRs to make it happen. The playoffs were great, but this board is really going crazy over nothing. Mularkey and Marrone both got to 9-7, and I don't remember people jumping on the bandwagon this hard. 

[row_33]

4 minutes ago, Trogdor said:

This team still hasn't learned to adjust to other teams. Even when they were able to jump out to a lead, they couldn't keep the momentum going. The turnovers were great, but I think that they kind of covered up just how bad the defense was. They only beat 2 playoff teams last year, and one had to lose both WRs to make it happen. The playoffs were great, but this board is really going crazy over nothing. Mularkey and Marrone both got to 9-7, and I don't remember people jumping on the bandwagon this hard. 

 

It was a first year for a regime taking over from two decades of failure and more recently the Rex years

 

most fans have put the playoff thing in proper context, nice to make them but it wasn’t a great season, and the QB was dumped as deserved

 

 

 

 

[8-8 Forever?]

Well, with $46m of dead cap hit this year, we cannot expect too much this year.   The roster will be as limited as its been in recent years.  so, we should not expect much this year... of course, we didn't expect much last year either....  so go play the games

Edited August 30, 2018 by 8-8 Forever?

[Trogdor]

2 minutes ago, row_33 said:

 

It was a first year for a regime taking over from two decades of failure and more recently the Rex years

 

most fans have put the playoff thing in proper context, nice to make them but it wasn’t a great season, and the QB was dumped as deserved

 

 

 

 

I'm not sure how this qualifies him as a good coach though. The same issues linger from Rex. I just really hope we don't get a Mularkey type slip into the second season. He only got two years with a 9-7 and then only 5 wins. 

[row_33]

Just now, Trogdor said:

I'm not sure how this qualifies him as a good coach though. The same issues linger from Rex. I just really hope we don't get a Mularkey type slip into the second season. He only got two years with a 9-7 and then only 5 wins. 

 

That’s how it goes, don’t worry too much about it

[oldmanfan]

Let them play and see what happens.  McD and Beane are working well together, they have short and long term goals. If I'm Terry I give them each 10 year guaranteed contracts and let them work their plan.  The Russian roulette of coaching and GM changes is what caused the 17 year drought.

[Radar]

Maybe not vthe worst but pretty bad. Hopefully a development year as team rebuilds. Still think 5-6 wins. Close to bottom.

Edited August 30, 2018 by Radar

[Trogdor]

11 minutes ago, oldmanfan said:

Let them play and see what happens.  McD and Beane are working well together, they have short and long term goals. If I'm Terry I give them each 10 year guaranteed contracts and let them work their plan.  The Russian roulette of coaching and GM changes is what caused the 17 year drought.

Is there any actual evidence that they are working well together? If this team slips to 5 wins, what is different from when Mularkey was here? I keep seeing posts that talk about the stability now, but there are signs that it's the same dumpster fire as before. 

[mannc]

It’s amazing how much one stinker of a preseason game changed peoples’ perspectives on this team-like a bucket of cold water to the face.  Have to admit, I’m one of them.

[teef]

26 minutes ago, Cripple Creek said:

Lots of room for improvement, but if you didn’t like what you saw from Allen during the preseason then perhaps it is JPs redemption who is delusional.

do you remember him from the previous board?  he's the type of poster that loves misery.  if the bills are doing well, he'll be nowhere to be found.  the moment there's a hiccup, he's hovering like a vulture.  have you seen him post much at all over the last few months?  all of the sudden, one bad preseason game happens, and he's like flies on ****.  why some people operate this way, i'll never know.  

2 minutes ago, mannc said:

It’s amazing how much one stinker of a preseason game changed peoples’ perspectives on this team-like a bucket of cold water to the face.  Have to admit, I’m one of them.

am i wrong or didn't something similar happen last year?  i may be making this up, but i remember thinking this team could win 8 games until a bad preseason outing.  it made me nervous and i dropped the prediction down to 6.  not saying this year will mimic the success of last year, but i think there was a preseason stinker in there in 2017.

[DKBills25]

Well look what they said last year 

prime example is USA Today has us going 4-12 in 2017 

then what happened: playoffs 

 

[oldmanfan]

9 minutes ago, Trogdor said:

Is there any actual evidence that they are working well together? If this team slips to 5 wins, what is different from when Mularkey was here? I keep seeing posts that talk about the stability now, but there are signs that it's the same dumpster fire as before. 

Yes there is.  Just listen to their comments when interviewed.  They have a similar mindset and are working together to build a team that competes on a yearly basis.

 

You say if they slip.  Well, what if they don't?  You say it's the same dumpster fire, but yet at this time last year there was doom and gloom, and they made the playoffs.  will they be as good this year?  I suspect not; they need to have to O line come together.  But that does not mean they are a dumpster fire.  I'm thinking 6-8 wins myself.

 

I honestly don't understand your mindset.  You are presumably a Bills fan or you wouldn't spend that much time on this site.  But it seems you are hoping for them to do poorly.  Is it just a defense mechanism to guard against being disappointed?  Do you take some kind of perverse delight in being a Debbie downer?  What motivates your behavior?

 

[Bob in STL]

I see a lot of questions, mostly on offense but really there are questions related to talent and depth across the board.  

 

What you cant tell yet is preparation and execution... last year McDermott surprised a lot of people by having his team prepared on most weeks.  

 

I was was shocked to win 9 last year with the talent purge that happened.  This year it’s the OL retirements and trades (Wood, RI, and Glenn) that worry me most.  We essentially did nothing to replace these guys.  Also losing steady but un spectacular Tyrod for a big unknown at QB.  It’s easy to see the negative press.  McD has his work cut out for him.  

 

 

[Mr. WEO]

5 hours ago, mykidsdad said:

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2792785-are-the-buffalo-bills-already-the-nfls-worst-team?utm_source=cnn.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=editorial

 

We are continuing to see some very negative predictions about the Bills 2018 season. The consensus seems to be that the team is bad, because the personel decisions have been bad. Do we trust the process here, or are these guys right? I was feeling good before Cincy, but now I'm feeling like maybe there is real reason to doubt. Will we really be the worst in the league? Is our trajectory downward or middling again? Someone please give me reasons not to believe what these guys are saying.

 

I don't know if we should believe it, but we certainly should keep starting new threads about it...

 

 

[SoTier]

21 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

 

If they are overly negative - then yes. I confess from being pretty sure 3 weeks ago that this team's floor was about 6 wins to believe it may be closer to half that. That doesn't mean I am predicting 3 wins.... but some of the question marks we had 3 or 4 weeks ago are now more significant worries:

 

- can Vontae Davis match EJ Gaines' production at the RCB spot?

- do we have enough receiving talent after Kelvin Benjamin?

- is our offensive line capable of giving any of our QBs the time needed to make throws?

- is Trent Murphy healthy enough to be the bump our pass rush requires?

- are we getting a totally committed, all-in, version of Star?

- can one of the QBs separate from the pack?

 

At the start of training camp tho se were all genuine questions that were discussed on this board and elsewhere. Fair questions. I know camp and pre-season are camp and pre-season but can anyone honestly say that they feel better about any of those scenarios now than they did 5 weeks ago? I'd be lying if I said I did.  

 

I'm worried. Much more worried than I was at this time last year. I think this season could be rough. I'm not going to panic if it is I still believe in the coach and am still willing to give Beane the benefit of the doubt (Allen is massive for him) and we could still be on the right long term trajectory even if this season is rough. But it is fair to be concerned at this stage. More than fair in my mind. 

 

 

Excellent post.       I have been a critic of the current regime's personnel moves with the offense this off season, but the first team defense looked anemic against Cinci, too, in what was supposed to be the "dress rehearsal" for the regular season.   That is very troubling to me.   Many of the teams that were bottom feeders last season -- the Browns, Giants, Broncos, Cardinals, Tampa Bay -- have made significant improvements on paper.  If the Bills D doesn't step up in the regular season, the Bills are seriously in the running for the #1 overall pick in 2019.