Just remember this team finished very strong after getting humiliated in 3 straight games last yr

[oldmanfan]

2 minutes ago, row_33 said:

 

you should know how i don't really care about YOUR original content if it doesn't fit my narrative

 

BY NOW.....

 

 

 

 

I know.  You refuse to read.  My bad.

7 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

It really depends upon the coaches and how flexible and educable they are.

 

After watching all-22 myself, focusing on offense, I believe our OL struggles had a lot to do with scheme.  The OL struggles badly when they are asked to perform blocking schemes with motion, especially with crossing motion - left guard moving right as to pull, center and right guard moving left.  These guys simply aren't quick and nimble enough to get where they're going and get into a leverage stance, especially with Groy doing a head-bob tell like a freakin' metronome that let the DL get a half-step jump on the snap.

 

Daboll started the game employing these blocking schemes as part of his pass plays, presumably to "sell" the play fakes.  The result was usually that a DLman  was in Peterman's lap before he had a chance to look up from the fake handoff.

 

It also seemed like at times, the OL were totally confused about their blocking responsibilities with one or two guys standing around blocking no one, and other guys overwhelmed.  If football is a chess match, Daboll got whupped.

 

If Daboll ditches that fancy-pants crap (that I agree a pro OL should ideally be able to do, but ours can't) and focuses on a simplified scheme which lets everyone figure out who they're supposed to man-handle, maybe simplifies the playbook and makes sure each play gets learned well - I believe we will have a better chance and they will keep Allen cleaner.

 

The problem is that coaches usually get tied up in their ego, and blame the players in their mind (whatever they say in pressers) instead of just looking objectively at the film and saying "OK, we are doing that well, we are doing this poorly, let's focus on that and not this"

Can't they just say:  See the guy across from you?  Knock him down.

[thurst44]

20 minutes ago, 26CornerBlitz said:

 

We certainly don't know and this year's Buffalo team will determine their own results to the best of their collective abilities independent of any other year or team in the past.

Sure, fine. No team in the past is exactly like any other team in the past. Therefore, we agree that we don't know how this team will react in the next game.

[JerseyBills]

36 minutes ago, Protocal69 said:

My point was to make when we lose , we lose bad. It was to also point out that we have a losing record over that time 

 

We made the playoffs because we lucked up and played the dolphins 2 twice caught KC when they was on the skid and beat the colts in  the snow where the game winning td had to be overturned. 

 

I'm happy we made the playoffs but for us to have a defensive minded head coach we cant be giving NBA half time scores to ANYTEAM anytime

I disagree. In those final 7 games, only week 16 was ugly, the other Pat's game was close up until the  late 4th . Allowing under 20 points on every team besides NE was impressive , especially in Nov/Dec... All with one of , or the most inconsistent and unimaginable O in the league. 

 

If Allen can just play better than Taylor, which isn't far fetched,   we can definitely have a successful year, as I'm confident the D will bounce back and be improved over last year . Again, I just think after last year, this team and coaching staff deserve a longer leash 

[thurst44]

49 minutes ago, Protocal69 said:

My point was to make when we lose , we lose bad. It was to also point out that we have a losing record over that time 

 

We made the playoffs because we lucked up and played the dolphins 2 twice caught KC when they was on the skid and beat the colts in  the snow where the game winning td had to be overturned. 

 

I'm happy we made the playoffs but for us to have a defensive minded head coach we cant be giving NBA half time scores to ANYTEAM anytime

The Bills also could have curled up into a ball as prior Bills did, you play the teams you played and if you want a trend: the Bills defense held the opposing team to less than its yearlong average in 12 out of 17 games last year. This year they are probably 0-1 as I doubt the Ravens average more than 47 ppg. 

 

For the record: the trend that concerned me is the run defense went significantly south post-Dareus and stayed that way in seven-game streak. They gave up roughly 85 ypg in first 6 games, and even excluding the 3-game streak and including the game before it when they gave up only 55, they averaged 135.

 

You said earlier you were usually a "glass half full" guy...obviously I am, but I don't see the glass as anything but shattered and on the floor right now. I'm just giving Allen the benefit of the doubt that he can help rally the rest of the team to sweep up the shards, try not to get cut or miss a block along the way, and find a better glass with less poison in it. I can see this team going 2-14, and can see the defense not performing as well as I expect it to, but also can see a turnaround b/c that happens.

Edited September 13, 2018 by thurst44
concession of some doubt in how defense played last year

[Mr. WEO]

Also, the O-line really stunk for the first 8 games of the season.

[row_33]

53 minutes ago, thurst44 said:

Sure, fine. No team in the past is exactly like any other team in the past. Therefore, we agree that we don't know how this team will react in the next game.

 

 

i see the great Kelly years as a block of time that was great, no single season stands out

 

and since then it's been a block of suck with very little isolated good memories

 

 

[flmike]

I'll have what he is drinking!

[Boatdrinks]

It’s a weakened version of last years team. Anything that happened last season is close to irrelevant. 

[Dopey]

Love your attitude!

[hondo in seattle]

I love the OPs optimism but here's what scares me... 

 

We haven't drafted well in the past.  As a recent BN article points out, we have the least homegrown talent in the NFL.

 

We're in cap jail.  So we haven't been able to sign a lot of good FAs either.

 

Little drafted talent.  Little FA talent.   It's not a competitive roster.  

[Alphadawg7]

I dont remember last years team being without a veteran QB and 5 pro bowls worth of Offensive Linemen.  This is not the same team.  

 

We are doing what we needed to do for the future, and the cost of that is going to be a long year this year because we shed players who were not going to get us over a plateau and shed contracts to gives us cap space to build the right foundation.  

Edited September 13, 2018 by Alphadawg7

[DCBills_OG]

7 hours ago, drf1835 said:

 

Yep. It''s called not letting one's emotions cloud their judgement. There are too many Chicken Little's, Negative Nancy's, Bandwagon Hoppers, and What Have You done Lately Walleys on the Forum. They may seem either impatient, not open minded, or overreact to everything as they love negativity or complaining. They probably are disciples of Coach Dickerson and Sully.

 

 Let's instead enjoy the Roller coaster, and at years end then analyze the good, the bad, the ugly, and any great. The NFL is not based on one game. And the Process cannot be fixed over night. This year more focus was on trimming and dealing with the remaining fat, getting hopefully our next franchise qb, improving a little the D, and  next year hopefully its O line, receivers and winning time. 

 

I avoid all of those people and only listen to Realistic Reggie....

[Hapless Bills Fan]

4 hours ago, hondo in seattle said:

I love the OPs optimism but here's what scares me... 

We haven't drafted well in the past.  As a recent BN article points out, we have the least homegrown talent in the NFL.

We're in cap jail.  So we haven't been able to sign a lot of good FAs either.

Little drafted talent.  Little FA talent.   It's not a competitive roster.  

 

Agree, it's not a competitive roster.  But why?

 

We have the least homegrown talent in the NFL because each time a new coach came in, he demanded the roster be swept clean of NFL-capable players who didn't fit his scheme.  Many of these guys are now playing elsewhere in the NFL. 

 

Of the 26 guys we drafted between 2014 and 2017, 17 or 65% are still on an NFL roster (mostly starting or playing regularly).  9 or 35% are out of football, which includes some recently cut guys who will probably get another shot.  (these are small numbers so percentage changes with 1 signing - eg if Washington or O'Leary are signed, becomes 70%)

 

We've had 3 coaches and 2 GMs in that time period, and in consequence, only 7 of those guys are playing for us.  But it's not that we''ve drafted so poorly.  The guys we've drafted are just contributing on other teams.

 

And I'll say it again, because it's becoming a peeve of mine - yes, we're in 'cap jail', but it's largely our own personnel choices that put us there.

The only dead cap we're carrying that's largely beyond our control and could not be predicted is Eric Wood's. 

 

 

[GoBills808]

9 hours ago, row_33 said:

 

They hopefully won’t look that bad at the home opener. Chargers smell blood in the water.

 

Chargers got beat in their home opener last week. Against a divisional opponent no less, with a very green QB. 

[Trogdor]

9 hours ago, drf1835 said:

 

Yep. It''s called not letting one's emotions cloud their judgement. There are too many Chicken Little's, Negative Nancy's, Bandwagon Hoppers, and What Have You done Lately Walleys on the Forum. They may seem either impatient, not open minded, or overreact to everything as they love negativity or complaining. They probably are disciples of Coach Dickerson and Sully.

 

 Let's instead enjoy the Roller coaster, and at years end then analyze the good, the bad, the ugly, and any great. The NFL is not based on one game. And the Process cannot be fixed over night. This year more focus was on trimming and dealing with the remaining fat, getting hopefully our next franchise qb, improving a little the D, and  next year hopefully its O line, receivers and winning time. 

What about KoolAid Drinking Karls?  The D so far doesn't seem improved and the team is older. One off season is not nearly enough time to fix this Oline and Dline. That would require a draft loaded with starter ready talent in the late rounds and a good crop of free agents. We can tell already that FA isn't looking so hot.  Can you think of an example of a successful rebuild where the young talent is traded and older role players are brought in? It feels like we've been watching this same debacle unfold for years in both the NHL and NFL. 

[BuffaLoko]

11 hours ago, thurst44 said:

Chargers also lost and had their own issues (admittedly not as profound), so maybe, maybe not.

While admittedly you could say the OP is cherry picking, you are cherry picking even more ridiculously. If you're taking out the Jacksonville game, then I'm taking out the Patriots games -- besides, in one of those games, the Pats actually scored fewer points than their 2018 average. And then, there you have it, the "illuminating claim" that the Bills played poorly in the 3-game stretch and last week, which is part of the original point. 

" If you take out the jags game it would balloon up to 27.5 points per game¨ ...OP lost me  right there as well, I can´t deal with fans that work hard on making a miserable situation worse!!.

 

Edited September 13, 2018 by BuffaLoko

[Straight Hucklebuck]

12 hours ago, oldmanfan said:

We'll see.  They win Sunday  a lot of people around here are going to look really stupid.

Conversely, if they get beat again, the same handful of fans will start digging out the stats on 0-2 teams making the Playoffs. 

 

They’ll also have the built in reason/excuse for Josh Allen starting his first game. 

[oldmanfan]

12 minutes ago, Straight Hucklebuck said:

Conversely, if they get beat again, the same handful of fans will start digging out the stats on 0-2 teams making the Playoffs. 

 

They’ll also have the built in reason/excuse for Josh Allen starting his first game. 

Yes, that is also true.  It will also be true that some here will start all the Allen is a bust, draft another QB if (when) Allen throws his first pick.

 

You call yourself a realist.  I think we both are.  It's how we deal with that feeling that separates us.  You seem to want to wallow more in the negative; I'm more selective.

[Fadingpain]

12 hours ago, Protocal69 said:

Do you know in the BILLS last 11 games the team is 4-7  and in there loses they lost by a average margin of defeat of 24.6 points per game

 

If you take out the jags game it would balloon up to 27.5 points per game.

 

Here are a list of there loses since week 9

21-34 L (-13) week 9

10-47 L (-37) week 10

24-54 L (-30) week 11

3-23 L (-20)   week13

16-37 L (-21)  week 16

3-10 L  (-7)   wild card

3-47 L (-44) week 1 (2018) 

 

So we have games where the defense gave up 34,47,54,23,37,47   Let that sink in for a sec!

 

Im not going to even talk about the offense scores during that stretch as well. You can see for yourself

 

12 hours ago, Protocal69 said:

Do you know in the BILLS last 11 games the team is 4-7  and in there loses they lost by a average margin of defeat of 24.6 points per game

 

If you take out the jags game it would balloon up to 27.5 points per game.

 

Here are a list of there loses since week 9

21-34 L (-13) week 9

10-47 L (-37) week 10

24-54 L (-30) week 11

3-23 L (-20)   week13

16-37 L (-21)  week 16

3-10 L  (-7)   wild card

3-47 L (-44) week 1 (2018) 

 

So we have games where the defense gave up 34,47,54,23,37,47   Let that sink in for a sec!

 

Im not going to even talk about the offense scores during that stretch as well. You can see for yourself

This correlates pretty well with the trade of Marcel Dareus to Jacksonville.

 

Not that his absence is solely responsible for how this team looks now, but you can trace the Bills current downturn to around the time he left.

 

 

12 minutes ago, oldmanfan said:

Yes, that is also true.  It will also be true that some here will start all the Allen is a bust, draft another QB if (when) Allen throws his first pick.

 

You call yourself a realist.  I think we both are.  It's how we deal with that feeling that separates us.  You seem to want to wallow more in the negative; I'm more selective.

And you are not being negative?! 

 

Like most of the "positive" crowd here, you simply direct your negativity at fellow fans/posters. 

 

The "negative" crowd usually directs it at the Bills organization/coaching/players.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Matt_In_NH]

Agreed.  I think getting curb stomped in game 1 is especially painful.    But in terms of last year the QB was an important part of that, the good and the bad.  At this point if Allen does not develop quickly things will stay more bad than good IMO.