Is Any NFL Fanbase expecting its team to do worse in 2019 than 2018?

[PlayoffsPlease]

There is a bit of a conundrum for me for the off-season. I only follow the Bills.  As a consequence, I fall into the trap of comparing the 2019 Bills vs the 2018 Bills. But those two teams won't play each other ever, so that comparison offers limited value.  Additionally, It makes sense that all of the Bill's personnel moves are designed to make the team better.  As a fan I assume all players who were good last year will be good, and that all young players will improve.  In the case of the Bills we expect our old player who was bad last year (McCoy) to rebound.  All of these assumptions are reasonable to make.

It occurs to me however, that the vast majority of NFL teams are making moves designed to improve their teams. And that all fans expect their teams good players to stay good and their young players to improve.  There are two exceptions to this concept that I can see 1) are any teams in "suck for luck" mode, who have gutted their rosters, and plan to start a QB who is not good now and has no future with the team  or 2) teams that had to shed significant talent for salary cap reasons ( Seahawks and Ravens are teams in the past that had great declines when this happened.)

My question for those that follow more than the Bills are there any teams in the suck for luck, or salary cap shed situations? 

Edited July 29, 2019 by PlayoffsPlease
typo

[Stank_Nasty]

fins fans shouldn't expect much.... I think bengals fans may not have a ton of optimism. they've already lost their top pick and their best player for a maybe a couple weeks in the regular season....

[jletha]

I would say Giants fans.  Eli is older, struggling anyway and you traded away OBJ. Now with Tate being suspended and more injuries...I dont think expectations are particularly high.

[Haplo848]

Giants and Dolphins strike me as falling into the "suck for luck" category, the Fins on porpoise, the Giants due to a horrible front office.  Redskins drafted a QB, but I still don't expect them to be good.  Falling into the second category would probably be the Ravens again.  They lost a lot of talent on D, with Suggs, Smith, Mosely, all jumping ship, not to mention John Brown. 

Additional teams that strike me as a team where I can't recall any big moves they made or anything that would suggest they noticeably improved at all would be the Titans and Lions.  They just seem like teams that are treading water, rather than improving.  The Steelers fall into this category for me as well.  I don't think they'll be bad, per se, just that they haven't really improved at all from last year, and maybe got a bit worse.  Bengals keep trying to redo their OL, but it keeps falling apart on them; the Red Rifle can be fairly decent behind a good line, but has shown he's bad behind a bad OL, which they now have, so I don't hold out much hope for them.  I have no faith in Chuckie being able to build a team out in Oakland.  The Cardinals are consistently believed to have improved greatly due to the new QB/coach dynamic, but I can't help but feel like they're severely overrated.  I'm still looking for them to be picking in the top 5 of the draft next year after doing nothing to improve their OL.

[SlimShady'sSpaceForce]

hahahahaha   Come on OP you know that is a loaded question

 

[eball]

Any Giants or Fish fans I know certainly are expecting worse from their teams.

 

[GunnerBill]

I know a couple of Rams fans who expect them to be worse. But that is obviously worse from a pretty high wartermark. 

[PetermansRedemption]

Teams I expect to be worse this year than last:

 

Dolphins: Did they even make any offseason moves? QB battle between the great Fitzpatrick and Rosen. The latter of which has the designation of being the only top 10 QB in NFL history to be given away after their rookie season.  

 

Giants: Gettleman... yikes. Sticking by Eli for one more year? Or go with the top 50 NFL prospect Daniel Jones. Receivers? Who needs receivers, we have Saquon to run and catch the ball! Good thing we took him instead of one of those heralded 2018 QB prospects. Maybe he can throw it to himself? 

 

Redskins: Will undoubtedly be starting a rookie QB this year, and we know how those seasons tend to go. Historical trends are not kind.

 

Bengals: AJ Green already fighting the injury plague. Andy “Mr Average” Dalton still at the helm. Banged up OL. 

 

Ravens: Worse on D than last year. Starting a RB at QB again this season, and for the entire season. Stop Lamar’s legs and he isn’t going to beat you passing the football. Pull the Tyrod “Make him be a QB” defense out of the playbook. 

 

 

Edited July 29, 2019 by Bills2ref

[dubs]

Pats. 

[row_33]

Every teams fan base thinks a minimum of three more wins easypeasy

 

 

[Hapless Bills Fan]

41 minutes ago, PlayoffsPlease said:

There is a bit of a conundrum for me for the off-season. I only follow the Bills.  As a consequence, I fall into the trap of comparing the 2019 Bills vs the 2018 Bills. But those two teams won't play each other ever, so that comparison offers limited value.  Additionally, It makes sense that all of the Bill's personnel moves are designed to make the team better.  As a fan I assume all players who were good last year will be good, and that all young players will improve.  In the case of the Bills we expect our old player who was bad last year (McCoy) to rebound.  All of these assumptions are reasonable to make.

It occurs to me however, that the vast majority of NFL teams are making moves designed to improve their teams. And that all fans expect their teams good players to stay good and their young players to improve.  There are two exceptions to this concept that I can see 1) are any teams in "suck for luck" mode, who have gutted their rosters, and plan to start a QB who is not good now and has no future with the team  or 2) teams that had to shed significant talent for salary cap reasons ( Seahawks and Ravens are teams in the past that had great declines when this happened.)

My question for those that follow more than the Bills are there any teams in the suck for luck, or salary cap shed situations? 

 

Good points.  (well, I dunno if it's reasonable to expect McCoy to rebound...but I did think a lot of last year was the line, so assuming he hasn't "hit the cliff", as the line goes, so goes McCoy) 

I thought the Bills would be worse last year.  I thought their non-attention to OL and their misplaced adventures at WR and QB would ditch them.  They did better than I expected.  I have higher expectations this year and am hoping they will be "better than I expected" again!
 

The top 5 teams in "Dead Money" for 2019 are the Dolphins, Giants, Cardinals, Jaguars, and Steelers.  Large amounts of dead money are often a sign of a team that's held a fire sale to clear space, right?

The Dolphins are regarded by many as being in "tank mode", but if they start Fitzpatrick, they may wind up like similar teams who have started Fitz, somewhere between 5-11 and 10-6 with 6-10 most probable, depending upon the quality of their OL, WR, and OC.  Their OL is a mixed bag of youth and career journeymen and they are banking on the problem with Stills and Parker at WR being named "Ryan" and playing for Tennesee (see what I did there?).  OC Chad O'Shea has a lot of experience, but guys who come out of NE tend to be a "mixed bag" as Darth Hoodie is notoriously secretive and information-controlling.  (They work hard, but they may not understand as much as they think they do).  However, NE was just a stop on O'Shea's 17 year journey so who knows.  I see giddy positivity on some fan sites, but FL Bills fans have reported low expectations from their Fins fan friends.

The G-men.  What to say about the G-men?  They appear to have a "unique" team-building strategy.  I hope it works out for them.  Actually I don't, like any good Bills fan thru the '80s and '90s I HATE the G-men unless they're defeating the Patriots.  Then I love 'em.  I think Pat Shurmur is a true QB whisperer and strong talent at OC who got a raw deal in his previous 2 stints at HC, but I think personnel-wise as the Giants HC, he's heading for a 3rd plate of steak tartare and sushi.  It's not clear who Shurmur's QB have to throw to.  I think NY/NJ fans expect great results somehow no matter what though, then call for the coach's head when they don't get 'em

Cardinals.  See "why your team sucks 2019".  I can't say it better.  Do they have an OL?  I don't think they did enough.  It says a lot that I think Rosen did well for himself when he got the pink slip to pack his bags for Miami, 'cuz "see above" I don't think Miami is a very good situation.  Plus living in St Louis I'm obliged to hate Bill Bidwell's guts.  But what do their fans expect?  I don't know.  I don't think 'Zona has long-term die hard fans like we do (see sentence about St Louis).  I think they check in when the team is good and shrug when the team is bad.

 

Jaguars and Steelers.  Two teams that have wasted, or are going to waste, a chance to become a dynasty.  But how do their fans see it?  Don't know.

 

 

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

 

 

[GottaRun]

Which fan base could be in the biggest meltdown after 3 weeks?

If we don't start 2-1 or better this place would be unbearable.   Soft looking games to start with the Jets, Giants, and Bengals

Browns fans expectations are so high they will be a fun watch if the Browns stumble out of the gate

[PromoTheRobot]

32 minutes ago, dubs said:

Pats. 

 

Don't laugh. Local radio has been asking some legit tough questions, like who is catching passes besides Edelman.

[RoyBatty is alive]

1 minute ago, PromoTheRobot said:

 

Don't laugh. Local radio has been asking some legit tough questions, like who is catching passes besides Edelman.

How about their first round draft pick?

[PromoTheRobot]

1 minute ago, RoyBatty is alive said:

How about their first round draft pick?

 

Name the last rookie WR that lit up the league?

[RoyBatty is alive]

Cincinnati Fans gcant bee excited at all.  Their O Line was in a shambles and ow they lost their #1 draft pick stud tackle Jonah Williams for the season.

[RiotAct]

35 minutes ago, dubs said:

Pats. 

yep.  not too hard to be worse than last year, when you won the Super Bowl last year!

[H2o]

2 minutes ago, RoyBatty is alive said:

How about their first round draft pick?

James White will be heavily involved as well I'm sure

[RoyBatty is alive]

5 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

 

Name the last rookie WR that lit up the league?

Name the last rookie picked in Rd 1 to be the feature WR (non-slot) for the GOAT QB? 

 

Off the top of my head cant, i am sure there have been.  I just cheated, looked it up OBJ.

4 minutes ago, RiotAct said:

yep.  not too hard to be worse than last year, when you won the Super Bowl last year!

 

 

Yep absolutely, demonstrate the versatility of their offense.  Besides they are trending increasingly towards the run as Brady's passing skill regress.

Edited July 29, 2019 by RoyBatty is alive

[PromoTheRobot]

Just now, RoyBatty is alive said:

Name the last rookie picked in Rd 1 to be the feature WR (non-slot) for the GOAT QB? 

 

Off the top of my head cant, i am sure there have been.

 

...who is 42 this year. And his replacement for Gronk is 38 and came out of retirement...and is suspended for 4 games.  Just saying, if you took an honest look at that team, leaving being the Pats aside, you'd have lots of questions.

[GunnerBill]

2 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

 

Name the last rookie WR that lit up the league?

 

It was the 2014 class and then Amari Cooper had 1,000 yards in 2015 as well. Since then certainly in terms of first rounders it has been slim pickings. 

3 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

 

It was the 2014 class and then Amari Cooper had 1,000 yards in 2015 as well. Since then certainly in terms of first rounders it has been slim pickings. 

 

Just checked and since then Clavin Ridley - 821 yards and 10 TDs is by far the best rookie output. 

[Hapless Bills Fan]

15 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

Don't laugh. Local radio has been asking some legit tough questions, like who is catching passes besides Edelman.

 

Local NE radio is always spreading pre-season gloom about the Pats, and predicting the End of the Pats when they're 2-2 after 4 games (as they have been 4 of the last 9 and 2 of the last 2 seasons).  That way they can glory in a self-created storyline about Overcoming Adversity and Winning as the Underdogs

 

But to your question: last year, Brady's top targets were Edelman, James White, Gronk and Hogan.  So he's still got the first two.

They may expect Demaryius Thomas to rejuvenate himself after a dip in the NE "fountain of youth", they may expect more out of Dorsett, and of course the Hoodie pattern would be to perceive that some late round pick they've been hanging on to for 1-5 yrs and no one has heard of, is ready to take an Edelman-like step.  Then there's their 1st round pick.

[DaBillsFanSince1973]

pats fans expect another sb ring

the reality is

the decline finally begins, patsies** only win 9 games and finish 2nd in the division.

 

bills fans (non homers) expect the bills to win 7  or 8 games

the reality is

bills will  win 11 and take the division after 24 years.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

3 minutes ago, DaBillsFanSince1973 said:

pats fans expect another sb ring

the reality is

the decline finally begins, patsies** only win 9 games and finish 2nd in the division.

 

bills fans (non homers) expect the bills to win 7  or 8 games

the reality is

bills will  win 11 and take the division after 24 years.

 

May you be proven a true prophet! 

 

[formerlyofCtown]

2 hours ago, PlayoffsPlease said:

There is a bit of a conundrum for me for the off-season. I only follow the Bills.  As a consequence, I fall into the trap of comparing the 2019 Bills vs the 2018 Bills. But those two teams won't play each other ever, so that comparison offers limited value.  Additionally, It makes sense that all of the Bill's personnel moves are designed to make the team better.  As a fan I assume all players who were good last year will be good, and that all young players will improve.  In the case of the Bills we expect our old player who was bad last year (McCoy) to rebound.  All of these assumptions are reasonable to make.

It occurs to me however, that the vast majority of NFL teams are making moves designed to improve their teams. And that all fans expect their teams good players to stay good and their young players to improve.  There are two exceptions to this concept that I can see 1) are any teams in "suck for luck" mode, who have gutted their rosters, and plan to start a QB who is not good now and has no future with the team  or 2) teams that had to shed significant talent for salary cap reasons ( Seahawks and Ravens are teams in the past that had great declines when this happened.)

My question for those that follow more than the Bills are there any teams in the suck for luck, or salary cap shed situations? 

Judging by ticket sales, Ravens fans are not looking optomistic.

[Albany,n.y.]

The Cardinals will be drafting their 3rd straight 1st round QB & hiring their 3rd straight new head coach in an attempt to keep their fans hoping.  

24 minutes ago, DaBillsFanSince1973 said:

pats fans expect another sb ring

the reality is

the decline finally begins, patsies** only win 9 games and finish 2nd in the division.

 

bills fans (non homers) expect the bills to win 7  or 8 games

the reality is

bills will  win 11 and take the division after 24 years.

Stop with the low expectations, 11 wins won't get us home field through the playoffs.  14 wins or bust!  

[The Real Buffalo Joe]

Patriots* will see a dip in production without Gronk. But as much as I hope I'm wrong, it won't be as much of a dip as we all hope. Dolphins will be considerably worse. The Giants drafting a project QB tells me that they're in the breakdown phase of a rebuild. Those are the only teams where I would expect the fans to not have high expectations going into the season. 

[mjt328]

2 hours ago, PlayoffsPlease said:

There is a bit of a conundrum for me for the off-season. I only follow the Bills.  As a consequence, I fall into the trap of comparing the 2019 Bills vs the 2018 Bills. But those two teams won't play each other ever, so that comparison offers limited value.  Additionally, It makes sense that all of the Bill's personnel moves are designed to make the team better.  As a fan I assume all players who were good last year will be good, and that all young players will improve.  In the case of the Bills we expect our old player who was bad last year (McCoy) to rebound.  All of these assumptions are reasonable to make.

It occurs to me however, that the vast majority of NFL teams are making moves designed to improve their teams. And that all fans expect their teams good players to stay good and their young players to improve.  There are two exceptions to this concept that I can see 1) are any teams in "suck for luck" mode, who have gutted their rosters, and plan to start a QB who is not good now and has no future with the team  or 2) teams that had to shed significant talent for salary cap reasons ( Seahawks and Ravens are teams in the past that had great declines when this happened.)

My question for those that follow more than the Bills are there any teams in the suck for luck, or salary cap shed situations? 

 

There are some key signs that signal a team is going to take a step back (or will be unable to take a significant step forward).

 

1.  First and foremost, any team planning to start a rookie QB should definitely expect to have a rough season.  It's very rare that QB can play at a consistently high level during his 1st season in the pros.  Arizona (Murray) and Washington (Haskins) will both likely get significant playing time from their first round picks.  I wouldn't be surprised if the NY Giants (Jones) and Denver (Lock) join them, if their veterans flounder early.

 

2.  Second, pay attention to teams who spent the offseason shedding veteran talent for draft picks and cap space.  Sometimes this is a clear sign the front office is thinking about rebuilding.  Sometimes the vets are easily replaced, and it makes no difference.  Miami is the most obvious, but Tampa Bay and the NY Giants really weren't far behind.  Some under-the-radar teams who took heavy vet losses include New England, Pittsburgh and Baltimore.

 

3.  Third, it's never too early to be concerned about the injury bug.  Cincinnati has been devastated by injuries, and we haven't even gotten to August.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[dubs]

2 hours ago, PromoTheRobot said:

 

Don't laugh. Local radio has been asking some legit tough questions, like who is catching passes besides Edelman.

 

Exactly. 

2 hours ago, RiotAct said:

yep.  not too hard to be worse than last year, when you won the Super Bowl last year!

 

Thats part of it, for sure. But also they have some serious questions and at some point Brady is going to run out of those little clear pills from Limitless!

[Yockopondowsk]

First comment ever, on anyone's post.  Here goes.  I was in Tampa quite a bit over the winter.  They are crying themselves to sleep at night down there.  Bulldog-Schopp-the-dope style shows down there have people calling in; in despair.  "Bucs suck", they expect disaster.  Giving Kool Aide away at Publix for free, ... no takers.       

[Buffalo Barbarian]

I think jets will struggle too, not commonly does a new coach come in and start winning, especially with Gase, just didn't seem that impressive in Miami.

 

 

[TigerJ]

I'll go with the Giants after seeing a report that Fin fans, at least some of them think their QB situation is about the best in the league.  Those are some seriously rose colored glasses they're wearing down in south Florida.

[Buffalo Barbarian]

2 hours ago, PromoTheRobot said:

 

...who is 42 this year. And his replacement for Gronk is 38 and came out of retirement...and is suspended for 4 games.  Just saying, if you took an honest look at that team, leaving being the Pats aside, you'd have lots of questions.

 

when Tom and Bill are gone then they can worry. 

[Alphadawg7]

I think Fins are the embodiment of this question.

 

I can see other teams I think will do worse this year, but dont know their fan base all expects it.  Fins fans I know all think they will get the first pick in the draft and have completely written this season off.  

[Mark Long Beach]

31 minutes ago, Alphadawg7 said:

I think Fins are the embodiment of this question.

 

I can see other teams I think will do worse this year, but dont know their fan base all expects it.  Fins fans I know all think they will get the first pick in the draft and have completely written this season off.  

If they start Fitz, they won't have the first pick.   He has enough magical games to push them to the later stages of the top 10 or worse.  I like Fitz, but he's seriously hot and cold.

[Alphadawg7]

3 minutes ago, Mark Long Beach said:

If they start Fitz, they won't have the first pick.   He has enough magical games to push them to the later stages of the top 10 or worse.  I like Fitz, but he's seriously hot and cold.

 

yeah thats the embodiment of FitzCraptrick...just crappy enough to not get you anywhere but also will do just enough to make sure your draft slot is crappier than it should have been.  

[PlayoffsPlease]

Based on the feedback here, it looks like we should expect the Bills 2019 playoff spot to come at the expense of the Ravens. 

 

[Locomark]

8 hours ago, Bills2ref said:

Teams I expect to be worse this year than last:

 

Dolphins: Did they even make any offseason moves? QB battle between the great Fitzpatrick and Rosen. The latter of which has the designation of being the only top 10 QB in NFL history to be given away after their rookie season.  

 

Giants: Gettleman... yikes. Sticking by Eli for one more year? Or go with the top 50 NFL prospect Daniel Jones. Receivers? Who needs receivers, we have Saquon to run and catch the ball! Good thing we took him instead of one of those heralded 2018 QB prospects. Maybe he can throw it to himself? 

 

Redskins: Will undoubtedly be starting a rookie QB this year, and we know how those seasons tend to go. Historical trends are not kind.

 

Bengals: AJ Green already fighting the injury plague. Andy “Mr Average” Dalton still at the helm. Banged up OL. 

 

Ravens: Worse on D than last year. Starting a RB at QB again this season, and for the entire season. Stop Lamar’s legs and he isn’t going to beat you passing the football. Pull the Tyrod “Make him be a QB” defense out of the playbook. 

 

 

While I agree with every team you list , I think The Ravens and Bengals fans think they are playoff caliber and ahead of the Bills.