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

[thurst44]

4 hours 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?

In the Pre-Season, since we're wigging out about that and ascribing attributes to our team based on it: Falcons, Eagles, and Cowboys are all winless and have looked terrible while doing it.

 

If I were to predict, I'd say the Browns, Dolphins, Jets, 49ers (Garoppollo-haze likely to revert a bit to mean), Bears, Broncos, Redskins and Seahawks could all be pretty bad (or could surprise).

 

Then there's always wild-card disasters. Cowboys could really go south fast, especially if anything happened to Zeke. Texans strike me as very overrated for a team who couldn't buy a win last year and were under .500 even when Watson was putting up unworldly rookie numbers. Ravens pre-season rings false to me, and would not be surprised if we're the upset special of Week 1. Mahomes has been crowned an all-star before even throwing one touchdown in the league, and the Chiefs lucked into the playoffs even more than we did. Jags should take the next step to perennial SB contenders, but often upcoming teams implode (look at last year's Raiders). Titans have the framework of a wreck. Finally, the Rams are so packed with new players that it almost seems like a Hubris the football gods will smack down.

[Stank_Nasty]

33 minutes ago, teef said:

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.  

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.

Fairly certain it did happen last year as well. I had a buddy texting me the other day after the game about how the season was a wash and all I told him was “we literally had this same exact talk last year and I had to talk you down off the ledge. And didn’t you look silly?” 

 

Ill admit that game swayed my gut feeling a bit but I just kept repeating under my breath “just preseason. It’s just preseason. It’s just preseason” ..... over and over and over again. 

[teef]

3 minutes ago, Stank_Nasty said:

Fairly certain it did happen last year as well. I had a buddy texting me the other day after the game about how the season was a wash and all I told him was “we literally had this same exact talk last year and I had to talk you down off the ledge. And didn’t you look silly?” 

 

Ill admit that game swayed my gut feeling a bit but I just kept repeating under my breath “just preseason. It’s just preseason. It’s just preseason” ..... over and over and over again. 

it may have even been the third game as well.  the team looked fairly competent in the first two games, so I don't know if the third was that much of an outlier.  this last game is practically useless to determine anything, (as i guess all of preseason is).  if they come out against the ravens like the did in cincy, i'd expect a long year.

[thurst44]

8 minutes ago, ScottLaw said:

I thought we were just talking about teams worse than the Bills.

 

Of that list above I don't think any of those teams(except maybe the Dolphins or Broncos) will be worse than the Bills. Not even the Browns.

What criteria are you using? Would you have said the same thing last year at this time (check the comments)? How exactly are the Bears, unit-by-unit, better than the Bills? I can't help but suspect that it's the whole reverse of the George Carlin concept ("our stuff is s&*(, their s&*( is stuff").

 

I think you're missing my point: we really don't know who's better or worse.

 

Why does it bother me? We do this every bleeping year and so many on this board are dismissive if you say one thing positive, or that we may not be one of the worst teams in football, yet we're over .500 for the last four years. Last year, we have the same wailing and gnashing of teeth, yet went to the playoffs...and still this year it's lather, rinse, repeat, repeat, repeat...I'm just suggesting maybe we won't be one of the worst, like I have most years -- and other than the time we started 0-8, I've been right with this very low-risk bet.

Edited August 30, 2018 by thurst44

[ddaryl]

We will have some growing pains this year for sure... I could see us coming out cold and getting better as the year goes on.. Hopefully finishing strong, but it all rests on the OL debacle IMO... 

 

Hopefully we get lucky and grab a FA OG or 2 that have a some gas left it he tank... At t his point my only real concern in our interior OL, that would destroy everything if it is bad as it has looked

 

 

Edited August 30, 2018 by ddaryl

[thurst44]

1 minute ago, ddaryl said:

We will have some growing pains this year for sure... I could see us coming out cold and getting better as the year goes on.. Hopefully finishing strong... 

 

Hopefully we get lucky and grab a FA OG or 2 that have a some gas left it he tank... At t his point my only real concern in our interior OL, that could destroy everything if it is bad as it has looked

 

 

If I had to guess, we'll start 2-6 and finish 6-2 or 5-3 or maybe even 7-1...not great, not worst...but who knows. I'm not ruling out 1-15, but this team has a lot of potential and the only hopeless seeming part is offensive line.

[ddaryl]

Just now, thurst44 said:

If I had to guess, we'll start 2-6 and finish 6-2 or 5-3 or maybe even 7-1...not great, not worst...but who knows. I'm not ruling out 1-15, but this team has a lot of potential and the only hopeless seeming part is offensive line.

 

 

like I said the OL could destroy it all.. that's my real only worry. I think everything else on the team will do well .. Of course there is room for improvements in multiple areas outside of OL but the OL is scary bad right now

[thurst44]

Just now, ddaryl said:

 

 

like I said the OL could destroy it all.. that's my real only worry. I think everything else on the team will do well .. Of course there is room for improvements in multiple areas outside of OL but the OL is scary bad right now

Yes, the offensive line is terrible, and even I'm not going to try to sugar-coat that one ;). However, last year the o-line would look otherworldly a few weeks, then like amateur turnstiles for the next few weeks. Hopefully, they can find a rhythm or overcome it. While we tend to get fixated on our own problems, there are some terrible o-lines on other teams as well. I'm in the NYC area and the Jets and Giants both have major issues there (Giants may have fixed theirs, but only one way to see). 

[Captain Hindsight]

Seahawks has the absolute worst roster in the league. If they didnt have Russell Wilson, they would be strong favorites for the number one pick.

 

Cleveland coaching staff is awful and I could see them losing games they shouldn't (see 1-31) Even the game they won was because the Chargers kicked missed a FG!

 

Oakland is going to struggle despite Spider 2 Y Banana being called every other play.

 

Also think Jacksonville is going to struggle this year. Top receiver injured, probably overachieved last year and they still have Blake Bortles "throwing" passes

 

Tampa Bay will also suck. Dirk Koetter is an awful coach and that roster is not strong.

[GunnerBill]

1 hour 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.

 

Me too. I was thinking before that we probably don't make the playoffs but we are around .500.  That OL was so freaking bad though. 

[Peace Frog]

Predicting a team's record is hard in the NFL.  You have a mere 6.25% chance of getting it right.

[Midwest1981]

1 hour ago, 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. 

Your posts in this thread are wrought with mistaken perceptions, including that most Bills’ fans are totally enamored with McBeane  and don’t attribute last year’s Playoff berth to a litany of things, some of which highly likely won’t be repeating themselves. 

 

And you’re objectively wrong about Mularkey’s exit since he was given the option to stay by Levy- he just didn’t feel comfortable remaining with Donahue leaving.

Edited August 30, 2018 by Midwest1981

[GunnerBill]

13 minutes ago, ScottLaw said:

 

We do what every year? I never thought the Bills were the worst team in the league the past few years at all.(Although last year I thought they'd have a top 7 pick at least and they surprised thanks to Tyrod and the opportunistic defense) 

 

I've mostly thought they'd be around .500 the last 5 or so years and that they would be a good team in 2015. 

 

 

Same. My pre-season predictions since 2012 by year:

 

2012 - Predicted: 9-7; Finished: 6-10

2013 - Predicted: 7-9; Finished: 6-10

2014 - Predicted: 8-8; Finished: 9-7

2015 - Predicted: 10-6; Finished: 8-8

2016 - Predicted: 7-9; Finished: 7-9

2017 - Predicted: 8-8; Finished: 9-7

 

 

Edited August 30, 2018 by GunnerBill

[ddaryl]

1 minute ago, thurst44 said:

Yes, the offensive line is terrible, and even I'm not going to try to sugar-coat that one ;). However, last year the o-line would look otherworldly a few weeks, then like amateur turnstiles for the next few weeks. Hopefully, they can find a rhythm or overcome it. While we tend to get fixated on our own problems, there are some terrible o-lines on other teams as well. I'm in the NYC area and the Jets and Giants both have major issues there (Giants may have fixed theirs, but only one way to see). 

 

 

Tyrod with Woods Incognito in the middle.. That's a huge change moving to pure pocket passers. Tyrod's ability to make defenders miss was a big part of our limited success last year. If our Offense is going 3 and out or stalling drives regularly and losing field position our defense will be torched at the end of games

 

As for the Jets and Giants etc...  can't say I follow their situation but I just can not imagine they are looking as bad as ours have. I don't think I have ever witnessed an OL this bad and in Buffalo we have seen our share of poor OL play

 

Our salvation IMO is

1. Peterman's ability to get the ball out quickly and hoping Allen's ability in the same area get much better by mid season where he can take over from there
2. Some last minute FA OG additions that make the difference

I do agree we could get better as the year goes on but the 1st few weeks / half of season,  might be real real bad. 

[thurst44]

4 minutes ago, ScottLaw said:

Bears being worse wouldn't surprise me.

 

We do what every year? I never thought the Bills were the worst team in the league the past few years at all.(Although last year I thought they'd have a top 7 pick at least and they surprised thanks to Tyrod and the opportunistic defense) 

 

I've mostly thought they'd be around .500 the last 5 or so years and that they would be a good team in 2015. 

 

Looking at the talent level, I think they will be bad. Top 7 pick bad mostly due to being worse at QB and offensive line. They have progressively got worse on paper the last couple years, but I was wrong last year and I could be again. 

 

 

Where's the potential on offense?(Besides Allen and who knows how long it takes him to adjust to the NFL game.)

Kelvin Benjamin has been making some great catches. As no-name as the rest of the wide receivers are, there's going to be a heck of a battle to make the team, and Jones has shown moments of being better (although Coleman may have underwhelmed and hard knocked his chances while barely here). I actually like the tight end unit (even Clay). In the first game, the offense looked a lot more well-oiled than the third. The o-line...yeah, again, got nothing -- except that fortunes change sharply and suddenly in this league.

 

Last year the defense kept us in a lot of games and this one portends to be even better once the live bullets fly, especially if Edmunds keeps progressing, Tre doesn't regress, and they can generate some sort of pass rush in the real games.

 

I do think I sort of remember you being generally "positive" before last season, but most weren't...it was pretty much the same hue and cry, perhaps not as centralized because Game 3 wasn't such a trainwreck. 

 

I'm not saying this team might not be "Top 7" bad...there's a definite chance of that. It's just not the given a lot of people here and in the national press are implying.  

[Midwest1981]

Even with a better roster without clear, glaring weaknesses at critical spots like along 4/5th’s of the offensive line, WR, and QB (until/unless Allen ascends) the Bills wouldn’t likely thrive this year against a schedule that’s empirically the toughest in the first-half of the league: 5 of our first 7 on the road, home game #3 is in primetime against the Pats, and every opponent in the first-half has either highly realistic Playoff- if not championship- aspirations except for the Colts, who get back Luck.

 

This year isn’t fundamentally about our record, IMO. It’s about Allen showing development and demonstrating genuine promise. With a top-5 pick (and top-37 pick... and top-70 pick, two 4th’s, etc.) this spring, plus $80 million in cap space (with the ability for that to approach $95 million with some releases like then 31-year old McCoy and Hughes) 2019 will be a more litmus test for where we are as a franchise.

[Kemp]

2 hours ago, The Process said:

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.....". 

 

I will build a great, great wall on our southern border, and I will have Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words.

[thurst44]

2 minutes ago, ddaryl said:

 

 

Tyrod with Woods Incognito in the middle.. That's a huge change moving to pure pocket passers. Tyrod's ability to make defenders miss was a big part of our limited success last year. If our Offense is going 3 and out or stalling drives regularly and losing field position our defense will be torched at the end of games

 

As for the Jets and Giants etc...  can't say I follow their situation but I just can not imagine they are looking as bad as ours have. I don't think I have ever witnessed an OL this bad and in Buffalo we have seen our share of poor OL play

 

Our salvation IMO is

1. Peterman's ability to get the ball out quickly and hoping Allen's ability in the same area get much better by mid season where he can take over from there
2. Some last minute FA OG additions that make the difference

I do agree we could get better as the year goes on but the 1st few weeks / half of season,  might be real real bad. 

Any unit at its worst looks really bad and I suspect we have all said the same at past times (this one feels more pronounced with the insane way Wood and Incognito got hurt and went bonkers respectively). And look up high first rounder Ereck Flowers and watch some of his games. There have been worse offensive lines, especially in pre-season, in other games. That being said, no, we can't win much if they play like last Sunday. Also, wasn't the reason Tyrod was practically ran out of town his propensity for 3 & outs? I loved Tyrod, but it's funny how now people seem a bit misty for him. But, yeah, o-lines are hard to solve. Of first round linemen, there are more Luke Joeckels than Joe Thomases, and we're pining after Joeckel right now. 

 

On other thing that could make a difference: our best lineman didn't play last week. Admittedly, most of our problems stemmed from the interior. Sigh, we'll see how they do next weekend. 

 

We're also forgetting, Allen is pretty elusive -- obviously not Tyrod elusive (he's up in the Cam-osphere in that regard) -- but it's why I'm for him to start. Despite Sunday's debacle, he's still the QB who can do the most damage with his legs.

[PromoTheRobot]

We are never as bad as people predict but watching Sunday it's hard not to think that.

[ddaryl]

2 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

We are never as bad as people predict but watching Sunday it's hard not to think that.

 

I'm usually a glass half full kind of guy this time of year but it sure look half empty on the OL side for me.. 

 

fingers crossed