Stallions Posted September 5, 2019 Share Posted September 5, 2019 This ESPN article sounds GREAT for the Bills until you re-read the first sentence. The Buffalo News makes us sound like guaranteed contenders. What's your view? Bills 2019 Season in a Nutshell-- Marcel Louis-Jacques ESPN Sports 9-2-19 The Buffalo Bills are ranked No. 26 for 2019 in ESPN's preseason Football Power Index. The Bills want their young quarterback to opt for his check-downs and intermediate options over pushing the ball downfield this season. His ability to do so and take care of the ball is paramount to offensive success in 2019. A rebuilt offensive line (Mitch Morse, Quinton Spain, Ty Nsekhe, Cody Ford), a rebuilt receiver room (John Brown, Cole Beasley) and bolstered backfield (Frank Gore, Devin Singletary) give the Bills a new look in 2019. If Allen can take care of the ball and make smart decisions, this unit should be markedly improved from 2018. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mramefa Posted September 5, 2019 Share Posted September 5, 2019 So despite all the upgrades we are expected to finish 26th, vs 24th last year. Seems reasonable... 3 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WMDman Posted September 5, 2019 Share Posted September 5, 2019 ESPN blows 6 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Brown Posted September 5, 2019 Share Posted September 5, 2019 2 minutes ago, nrenegar said: So despite all the upgrades we are expected to finish 26th, vs 24th last year. Seems reasonable... They must've really liked Peterman last year. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SlimShady'sSpaceForce Posted September 5, 2019 Share Posted September 5, 2019 MarcelLouis-Jacques is the new beat reporter and so far he’s been pretty honest in his reporting. It’s the hacks that don’t do the proper leg work that post stupid things. Imo of course 11 minutes ago, Stallions said: This ESPN article sounds GREAT for the Bills until you re-read the first sentence. The Buffalo News makes us sound like guaranteed contenders. What's your view? 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stallions Posted September 5, 2019 Author Share Posted September 5, 2019 7 minutes ago, nrenegar said: So despite all the upgrades we are expected to finish 26th, vs 24th last year. Seems reasonable... either they don't respect our defense, don't like Josh or feel the Bills are irrelevant as a franchise Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nextmanup Posted September 5, 2019 Share Posted September 5, 2019 Just now, Stallions said: either they don't respect our defense, don't like Josh or feel the Bills are irrelevant as a franchise You said it yourself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dean Posted September 5, 2019 Share Posted September 5, 2019 Stallions, nothing against you in particular here. But I just thought I'd take the opportunity here to point this out: ESPN didn't say this. Marcel Louis-Jacques, from ESPN.com said that. ESPN has (please excuse the exaggeration) 1,000 different reports/announcers/analysts with 1,000 different opinions. Same with CBS, Fox, NFL Network, SI, etc. Carry on. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJS Posted September 5, 2019 Share Posted September 5, 2019 We should absolutely be ranked in the 20's. What have we proven to be ranked higher? If we win a bunch of games we'll go up in the imaginary rankings. If we lose a bunch we'll go down. That's how these things work. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stony Posted September 5, 2019 Share Posted September 5, 2019 5 minutes ago, SlimShady'sGhost said: MarcelLouis-Jacques is the new beat reporter and so far he’s been pretty honest in his reporting. It’s the hacks that don’t do the proper leg work that post stupid things. Imo of course Agreed. He's been really good, actually. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whorlnut Posted September 5, 2019 Share Posted September 5, 2019 2 minutes ago, MJS said: We should absolutely be ranked in the 20's. What have we proven to be ranked higher? If we win a bunch of games we'll go up in the imaginary rankings. If we lose a bunch we'll go down. That's how these things work. Exactly. I think it’s a bit of a joke when fans get butt hurt over their team being shafted in rankings. Go win the games. That’s all that matters. We haven’t done anything yet and there is good reason for “experts” to be skeptical. Nothing to see here... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stallions Posted September 5, 2019 Author Share Posted September 5, 2019 3 minutes ago, stony said: Agreed. He's been really good, actually. Well, I'll take your word about that. If he knows what he's talking about we ARE the 26th ranked team out of 32 heading into the season. Not good! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJS Posted September 5, 2019 Share Posted September 5, 2019 1 minute ago, Stallions said: Well, I'll take your word about that. If he knows what he's talking about we ARE the 26th ranked team out of 32 heading into the season. Not good! We went 6-10 last year. Should we be vaulted into the top 15 for no reason? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stallions Posted September 5, 2019 Author Share Posted September 5, 2019 3 minutes ago, whorlnut said: Exactly. I think it’s a bit of a joke when fans get butt hurt over their team being shafted in rankings. Go win the games. That’s all that matters. We haven’t done anything yet and there is good reason for “experts” to be skeptical. Nothing to see here... I agree! I'm not butt hurt at all. I think way too many people have jumped on the Allen train with out seeing anything to justify it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SlimShady'sSpaceForce Posted September 5, 2019 Share Posted September 5, 2019 (edited) 6 minutes ago, Stallions said: Well, I'll take your word about that. If he knows what he's talking about we ARE the 26th ranked team out of 32 heading into the season. Not good! He is not responsible for the 26 the clueless ESPN consortium is. Where did we draft? THAT s/b where the Bills are ranked Edited September 5, 2019 by SlimShady'sGhost 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whorlnut Posted September 5, 2019 Share Posted September 5, 2019 2 minutes ago, Stallions said: I agree! I'm not butt hurt at all. I think way too many people have jumped on the Allen train with out seeing anything to justify it. Well...to be fair, we have seen it. He’s markedly improved with his reads and short game. Time will tell if it translates to wins on the football field, but I certainly wouldn’t bet against it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rad Likes The Bills Posted September 5, 2019 Share Posted September 5, 2019 Marcel Louis - Jacques has been just about as good as a beat reporter you can find on ESPN. He seems to really enjoy covering the Bills and it appears as though he is very honest with his evaluations. Never too positive, never too negative and he gives a lot of insight into the team. Night and day better than Rodak but still not good enough to cover the other crap that ESPN puts out. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSHMEAB Posted September 5, 2019 Share Posted September 5, 2019 (edited) Why in the world do people get so worked up about these stupid prognostications? If the Bills actually win, what on God's green earth does it matter what some writer opines about in early September? Edited September 5, 2019 by LSHMEAB 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoPar_v2 Posted September 5, 2019 Share Posted September 5, 2019 ESPN doesn’t even try anymore. Sure, there’s a smattering of quality talent lurking around there still amongst the legions of hacks, but as a whole they’ve grown fat as lazy off their past success. Save your brain cells and skip ESPN (especially reading anything they put out.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaw66 Posted September 5, 2019 Share Posted September 5, 2019 40 minutes ago, MJS said: We should absolutely be ranked in the 20's. What have we proven to be ranked higher? If we win a bunch of games we'll go up in the imaginary rankings. If we lose a bunch we'll go down. That's how these things work. I really understand and agree with this. What ESPN said is true - Buffalo is a collection of really interesting talent that may or may not be able to win a lot. Still, you can't rate them too highly yet, because they haven't DONE anything yet. I think is true and a fair assessment. I happen to believe it's easy to see how nicely all of the ingredients fit, so the experts are likely to be surprised. But some of my belief is just based on how badly I want the Bills to be really good this time. Nothing matters in the end except the Ws and the Ls. Whether these guys actually can win a lot is yet to be seen. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldmanfan Posted September 5, 2019 Share Posted September 5, 2019 I don’t get upset by negative preseason stuff and I don’t get all excited by positive preseason stuff. No one knows what’s going to happen - every year teams that are supposed to stink do well and vice versa. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zow2 Posted September 5, 2019 Share Posted September 5, 2019 The Washington Post NFL preview today also has the Bills ranked in the mid-20’s.... BEHIND the Jets, Bucs and Redskins! I’m really hoping this is just lazy analysis as it seems teams were ranked somewhat based on last years records. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JinxedBill1 Posted September 5, 2019 Share Posted September 5, 2019 ESPN is owned by Disney. Enough said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaw66 Posted September 5, 2019 Share Posted September 5, 2019 1 minute ago, oldmanfan said: I don’t get upset by negative preseason stuff and I don’t get all excited by positive preseason stuff. No one knows what’s going to happen - every year teams that are supposed to stink do well and vice versa. Yes, this is true for some teams, but it's not true for EVERY team. Each year there are a few teams everyone knows WILL be good and a few everyone knows WILL be bad. What's exciting about these Bills is they look like they're being built to be consistently good, year after year. I feel like this is different, this is a group of young men who have come together to build something that is consistently excellent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldmanfan Posted September 5, 2019 Share Posted September 5, 2019 Just now, Shaw66 said: Yes, this is true for some teams, but it's not true for EVERY team. Each year there are a few teams everyone knows WILL be good and a few everyone knows WILL be bad. What's exciting about these Bills is they look like they're being built to be consistently good, year after year. I feel like this is different, this is a group of young men who have come together to build something that is consistently excellent. I think anywhere from 8-8 to 10-6, and by the way I agree completely with your opinions in the two other big threads today. I think a team that will fall back includes the Rams. People will start figuring out MacVay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Another Fan Posted September 5, 2019 Share Posted September 5, 2019 After reading a thread on Off The Wall, ESPN it seems is basically a porn site. A waste of energy to get worked up over Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaw66 Posted September 5, 2019 Share Posted September 5, 2019 16 minutes ago, oldmanfan said: I think anywhere from 8-8 to 10-6, and by the way I agree completely with your opinions in the two other big threads today. I think a team that will fall back includes the Rams. People will start figuring out MacVay. And this is what has me so excited. I am not convinced that Mahomes or Goff or Mayfield is going to be a consistently good, long-term star. I'm just not convinced. But I really think Allen will be a star in a few years. It's part of the Bills being built for the long-term. I'm not sure about the Rams, certainly not sure about the Browns. I really do believe the Bills are going to be good this season and better, maybe dominant, in 2020. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PromoTheRobot Posted September 5, 2019 Share Posted September 5, 2019 I'm done arguing They'll either prove everyone wrong or fall on their faces. I'm betting the over. This is supposed to be fun. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John from Riverside Posted September 5, 2019 Share Posted September 5, 2019 Im fine with it Let the games begin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uticaclub Posted September 5, 2019 Share Posted September 5, 2019 MLC has been such an upgrade from Rodak. Unfortunately, there is a possibility we are worse then last year. Yes we have talent, actually the Bills have talent most years, it comes down to coaching & QB play. No one is convinced McDermott can coach in his league or Allen can be a franchise QB. Hopefully, the doubters are proved wrong, but this team does lack playmakers, unless some of the young guys develop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purple haze Posted September 5, 2019 Share Posted September 5, 2019 1 hour ago, zow2 said: The Washington Post NFL preview today also has the Bills ranked in the mid-20’s.... BEHIND the Jets, Bucs and Redskins! I’m really hoping this is just lazy analysis as it seems teams were ranked somewhat based on last years records. The Washington Post covers the 'Skins. The rest of the league isn't followed as closely, outside the known dominant teams. The Jets got Jamison Crowder (A player the 'Skins beat reporters know well) and Leveon Bell and CJ Moseley; respected "impact" players. The Bucs got Bruce Arians to come and coach them. The 'Skins is that hometown joy juice talking, but all they know of the Bills is win-loss record (6-10) and a young, QB who might or might not be a franchise guy. I get it. All the Bills have to do is win more games than they lose and perceptions will change. In fact, they will change week to week as rankings do. Fret not. Sunday is coming quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr.Sack Posted September 5, 2019 Share Posted September 5, 2019 ESPN is subpar at football analysis, so let’s prove them wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobbyC81 Posted September 5, 2019 Share Posted September 5, 2019 5 hours ago, nrenegar said: So despite all the upgrades we are expected to finish 26th, vs 24th last year. Seems reasonable... NFL Network has the Bills at 23 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigDingus Posted September 5, 2019 Share Posted September 5, 2019 (edited) So here's the link to the article that actually works - https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/27435008/buffalo-bills-2019-nfl-season-preview-josh-allen-next-step Also, if this prediction ends up being true, our offense will be massively improved over 2018 - Bold prediction: Beasley finishes with a 100-catch season The former Dallas Cowboy has averaged 3.1 receptions per game in his career after playing in a run-heavy offense with elite receiving options around him. But he'll be one of, if not the focal point of Buffalo's passing attack in 2019. He might not lead the league in receiving yards, but he can average the 6.3 receptions per game he needs to reach the 100-catch mark. -- Louis-Jacques Edited September 5, 2019 by BigDingus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SlimShady'sSpaceForce Posted September 5, 2019 Share Posted September 5, 2019 8 hours ago, zow2 said: The Washington Post NFL preview today also has the Bills ranked in the mid-20’s.... BEHIND the Jets, Bucs and Redskins! I’m really hoping this is just lazy analysis as it seems teams were ranked somewhat based on last years records. 26th ... but they just follow the Big Boys and "pull from the AP pool" 12 pages of Redskins trash and the 2 inside pages that listed the full NFL schedule. 7 hours ago, PromoTheRobot said: I'm done arguing They'll either prove everyone wrong or fall on their faces. I'm betting the over. This is supposed to be fun. It is .... you just have to ignore those who don't put in real work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoTier Posted September 5, 2019 Share Posted September 5, 2019 10 hours ago, nrenegar said: So despite all the upgrades we are expected to finish 26th, vs 24th last year. Seems reasonable... Get over it, dude. The Bills OL in 2018 wasn't in the same league as the Eagles or Cowboys' OLs and the Bills WRs didn't belong in the same stadium as the Rams or Chiefs' WRs. Replacing OLers and WRs who shoiuldn't even have been in the NFL much less starting with mostly modest FA veterans plus a few rookies and UDFAs isn't going to impress too many objective observers when other teams added major talent with acquisitions of players like Beckham, Bell, Brown, and Tunsil. IOW, the Bills weren't the only team to upgrade their talent, and many of those teams added more talent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCOrange Posted September 5, 2019 Share Posted September 5, 2019 11 hours ago, Stallions said: either they don't respect our defense, don't like Josh or feel the Bills are irrelevant as a franchise FPI has Buffalo rated tied for the 6th best defense in the league. However, Buffalo is tied for 9th worst special teams and the 3rd worst offense, ahead of only Miami and Arizona. Also, it should be noted that prior to the start of the regular season, the biggest factor in FPI ratings are Vegas odds, which as we all know, don't have Buffalo rated highly this year. Other factors include returning starters (offense is pretty much brand new, so that probably cancels out a lot of the talent upgrade) and the remaining starters were average or worse last year. Knowing the criteria that they use, it shouldn't be surprising that the offense is graded particularly poorly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocket94 Posted September 5, 2019 Share Posted September 5, 2019 Why does anyone read this stuff anyway? We already know what they are going to say. If the Bills have a winning record by mid season, they will revise it and say the Bills are on the rise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H2o Posted September 5, 2019 Share Posted September 5, 2019 All you have to take into account is ESPN. Below is the first look at the set's new background light board for SportsCenter...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocket94 Posted September 5, 2019 Share Posted September 5, 2019 (edited) 10 hours ago, oldmanfan said: I don’t get upset by negative preseason stuff and I don’t get all excited by positive preseason stuff. No one knows what’s going to happen - every year teams that are supposed to stink do well and vice versa. Who has time to read it. I am more focused on the Bills and what they are doing right now. Edited September 5, 2019 by Rocket94 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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