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With expectations higher, is anyone else calm?


Virgil

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4 hours ago, Shaw66 said:

These are fair points to make, and pretty well balanced.   

In response I will say that I'm optimistic not because McDermott has done everything right but because he is so committed to continuous improvement.  McDermott believes in the process for himself as well as for everyone else.  HIS performance is evaluated, and HIS goals are established.  His expectation of himself is that he will continuously improve, including how he manages the offense and how he makes in-game decisions.  He studies all that, keeps notebooks about it, adds to his knowledge.  He will be a better coach five years from now than he is today.  

 

My concern about McD is this: players can keep learning, but sometimes they run into physical limitations that mean that the player can't get any better.  Coaches can run into mental limitations.  Some coaches just are more intuitive, more creative than others, in a football sense.  If McD isn't one of those, it doesn't matter how much he studies.  

 

I'm optimistic because I know that of McD fails, it isn't going to be because of lack of effort. 

 

I like this post a lot. Completely agree with everything.

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21 hours ago, Chandler#81 said:

Anxious. These feelings of ‘we’re very close’ are a bit foreign to me. But I’m calm. currently...

You are clearly not paying enough attention to @transplantbillsfan 's exhaustive research on the subject. The epitome of optimism is slowly transferring to my subconscious.

 

I'm personally calm and anxious about things because JA looks like a home run pick so far. Beane and McDermott haven't been perfect and it's perfectly reasonable to criticize that. But just like JA, these guys were rookies when hired and I have to assume they're learning quickly as they go as I also have to see from JA (which he certainly did show even in the span of 1 season between pre and post injury).

 

We have a lot of "if XYZ improves" scenarios playing out, which is why I'm not ready to fully dive in on this team being a perrennial playoff team anytime soon.

Edited by BarkleyForGOATBackupPT5P
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22 hours ago, Chandler#81 said:

Anxious. These feelings of ‘we’re very close’ are a bit foreign to me. But I’m calm. currently..

To be more succinct bud, I'm currently of the same opinion. Although some here think JA will be MVP next year.. which, while hilarious, does make me excited about the ceiling right now.

 

But as far as floor.. I'm calm. I like the improvement we made just over the course of a single season and have less anxiety than usual about the possibility of having a stable successful regime that doesn't go up in smoke for once.

 

But next year should really shed some light on the Regime.. good or bad

Edited by BarkleyForGOATBackupPT5P
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My expectations are slowly rising, mainly because of Josh Allen and our ability to upgrade important positions of need through FA and the draft. McD is getting better each year and seems to be a good coach and leader that the players seem to follow. We still have a ways to go but at least the arrow feels like it is pointed up.

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I'll be calm when FA is over. I haven't been super impressed with our FA pickups since Beane took over. He has done a great job with UDFAs and IMO in the draft, but we haven't really signed any impact FAs. Granted, we were constrained by the cap and purging dead weight, but we've taken a LOT of shots signing these high-upside WRs and have come away without a single decent vet WR.  

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On 2/16/2019 at 6:25 AM, eball said:

 

It's curious how you think it's entertaining to tell people to "enjoy" all you proclaim is wrong with the Bills.

 

That curiosity aside, I'd really like to get a chance to sit down for a beer with McD one day and ask "WTF?" with respect to Peterman.

 

With respect to free agency I believe you're a bit harsh.  Is Star really a "miss?"  I know he's probably a bit overpaid but by all accounts he provided exactly what they were looking for.  At worst it was an average signing.  Chris Ivory was pretty solid when not hurt.  Vontae was an obvious miss but who saw that coming?  I just casually glanced at every team's 2018 free agency list and it doesn't appear that Beane did a markedly worse job here than the average team.  Anyway, most of these signings weren't meant to carry the Bills into prominence anyway; they were hole-pluggers in a rebuilding project.  Beane's first draft looks pretty good at this point.  I'll give him more than one offseason before piling on the dirt, especially when I've seen what he's been able to accomplish on the trade market.

 

 

My belief regarding Peterman is that in practice and preseason games, he shows that he knows where to go with the ball very consistently and throws with accuracy.  He gets into a regular season game and he’s a deer in headlights.  With what McD had seen of him in practice, he figured it was a matter of time before Peterman showed it in real games but it never materialized.

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On 2/16/2019 at 4:00 PM, eball said:

 

I wasn't necessarily referring to myself, but sure, thanks for responding.

 

Star -- anyone expecting "production" in the classic sense (tackles and sacks) out of him wasn't paying attention to what he was brought in to do.  The Bills were horribly weak up the middle in 2017.  Star's PFF grade (if you put stock in that stuff) for 2018 ranked as "average."  Was it a great signing?  No, but it also wasn't a bad one -- and the money doesn't hamstring them.

 

Chris Ivory ranked as "above average" with PFF.  You're really dinging a RB for YPC behind that OL?  He made several big plays in the passing game as well.

you're correct on Star and exactly why they brought him in. They've discussed it themselves. Both guys are actually pretty revealing if one listens. And the Star $ is high but he's also pretty reliable and available so that high guarantee won't hurt them likely. The gashings the Bills D received right up the gut in 2017 were addressed. Even when the Pats got us this season it was on the edges.

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On 2/15/2019 at 9:03 PM, Virgil said:

 

I’m excited as well. So maybe calm isn’t the right word. Relaxed maybe?

 

I’m excited to see who we get, without expectation.  Whoever they pick up, I’m trusting it will be the right person 

Content. You appear to be content to let things play out.

Confident. You appear to be confident that the FO and HC will get it right.

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Pretty calm or relaxed overall here.

 

My expectations are pretty much in check now that we possibly have a a real QB since Bledsoe with great upside. This was phase #1 for me and all that mattered since 2004. 

 

Now (2019) we have to get Allen proper O-line protection or he will be sacked liked Bledsoe 140 times in 3 seasons (Other, than Ruben in 2002 the line sucked bad). Fixing the O-line to let Allen further develop is my only expectation for this team. Once that is established everything else will become clear of what has to happen next in 2020. 2020 is the make or break year for Allen, McD and Beane IMO. I hope this just all works out.

Edited by Real McCoy
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3 hours ago, ScottLaw said:

Since Bledsoe? 

 

Outside of 8 games, Bledsoe was trash here. 

Yeah since Bledsoe, I have had zero faith in anything the Bills drafted (JP or EJ) or brought in since that time actually until we drafted JA last year

Say what you will about Bledsoe but remember that he was already a statue behind one of the worst O-lines for 3 years that I have ever seen here. He was still a .500 QB with the Bills 3 seasons and the only QB to throw for over 4K yards in franchise history. He was flat trash as you said for numerous reasons  One of the biggest reasons was putrid O-line play rendering 46 sacks a season. 

Last years O-line reminded me a lot of those 2002-2004 seasons. Josh would have been sacked 40 times (projected)  if he could have played the entire year. 

 

So back to my original statement, the only expectation I have for the coaching staff and FO is to give JA a proper O-line to protect our multiple 1st rd pick investment, anything else is failure in my mind. 2019 is still another building year so I'm calm overall with what unfolds everywhere else on the field.

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This team is about to start winning. 

 

McDermott is, IMO, a good NFL coach. I don't think he's on the level of Reid, McVay, Pederson, Payton, Carroll, or even Harbaugh.

 

But I would put him up there with Zimmer, Tomlin, Quinn, Rivera, Lynn and Washington Gruden. And he's IMO far above a LOT of current head coaches. We could do a lot worse. 

 

you can win a lot of games with guys like MCD who are good to above average if you have the players. I didn't mention Belichick because he is on a level all his own. But he does lose games and he does get outcoached (see Giants Super Bowls x2 and the Eagles SB last year). So you don't need to be Belichick to beat Belichick, even on the biggest stage. 

Edited by TheFunPolice
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1 hour ago, Call_Of_Ktulu said:

I'm calm until we play the Patriots then I just get sick and pissed. Someone said holding happens every play and my question would be why is it only called against us when we play those cheating ***** s.

I have bent my mind around the fact that we need to win the needed games MINUS the Patriots games.....

 

Then if we can manage a split with them......gravy on the top.

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5 minutes ago, John from Riverside said:

I have bent my mind around the fact that we need to win the needed games MINUS the Patriots games.....

 

Then if we can manage a split with them......gravy on the top.

I always feel like we play the Patriots better the earlier that we play them in the season. Win or Lose it's a measuring stick type game for me for how the season might turn out. 

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