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1st Quarter of 2019 is in the books...


eball

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...and I'm pretty damned happy with this team.  The elite defense I expected has come to fruition, the free agent acquisitions and draft picks have generally been productive, and -- despite some hiccups -- I remain optimistic about Josh Allen's future.  What did I say about this team over the summer?  I said if the offense could raise its play to "average" they would be a playoff team.  They've done better than that, although the turnovers have to stop.  They showed the nation that they aren't the Pats*** whipping boys any more.

 

Now, of course everything isn't rosy.  McD needs to place a higher value on timeouts.  Allen needs to "buy in" to the take-what-they-give-you mentality of running this offense.  ST can't make boneheaded mistakes like the blocked punt last week.  But all of those are doable.

 

The next four games are crucial to the team's postseason hopes.  Go 3-1 and we can legitimately start thinking about playing meaningful football in January.  This defense is going to keep them in every game.  I'm not worried if Barkley starts this week because he'll play the dink and dunk game and they'll be fine against a Tennessee team that has looked terrible at home.  Let Josh rest for an extra week with the bye coming up, and come back ready to go for the three game homestand.

 

We've had a handful of "good" starts over the past 15 years, but none left a feeling of encouragement and legitimate optimism like this one.  These aren't the same old Bills.

 

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4 minutes ago, eball said:

...and I'm pretty damned happy with this team.  The elite defense I expected has come to fruition, the free agent acquisitions and draft picks have generally been productive, and -- despite some hiccups -- I remain optimistic about Josh Allen's future.  What did I say about this team over the summer?  I said if the offense could raise its play to "average" they would be a playoff team.  They've done better than that, although the turnovers have to stop.  They showed the nation that they aren't the Pats*** whipping boys any more.

 

Now, of course everything isn't rosy.  McD needs to place a higher value on timeouts.  Allen needs to "buy in" to the take-what-they-give-you mentality of running this offense.  ST can't make boneheaded mistakes like the blocked punt last week.  But all of those are doable.

 

The next four games are crucial to the team's postseason hopes.  Go 3-1 and we can legitimately start thinking about playing meaningful football in January.  This defense is going to keep them in every game.  I'm not worried if Barkley starts this week because he'll play the dink and dunk game and they'll be fine against a Tennessee team that has looked terrible at home.  Let Josh rest for an extra week with the bye coming up, and come back ready to go for the three game homestand.

 

We've had a handful of "good" starts over the past 15 years, but none left a feeling of encouragement and legitimate optimism like this one.  These aren't the same old Bills.

 

 

LET'S GO!

 

 

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I am happy with where the team is in terms of having a genuine shot at the post-season. The defense is for real (it might even be better than I expected). The defensive gameplans have been outstanding and there is more depth on that side of the ball that I suspected going into camp. The remaining schedule is not that imposing, the Steelers don't look the same threat as they maybe did before the season began and lots of the other games - Miami x2, Denver, Washington appear as winnable as I expected them to be.

 

As for whether I am happy with the team in terms of long term contender status..... I am and I am not. I think so much of this comes down to Josh. I liked week 1 and week 3, I really liked week 2 but this week was concerning and I am going to reign myself back in on him just a little until I see the consistency required. The talent is there, I think the game is there but as yet that reliability and consistency isn't. Overall though I would still characterise myself as being more confident in this organisations GM, HC, QB combo than I have at any point in my fandom.

 

I see this team as a 10/11 win team this year. There are basically 4 key games: this week @ Tennessee, home vs Philly, @ Cleveland and home vs Baltimore. Dallas and New England I think we will lose the rest I am confident enough that we should win. Those are the 4 key games.

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1 hour ago, eball said:

They showed the nation that they aren't the Pats*** whipping boys any more.

I'm very optimistic about the direction of the team - I think we will only get better as we get more experience, confidence, and reduce the number of mistakes. I do think we haven't done enough to show the nation we are not the Pats whipping boys until we can beat them. No moral victories will do that. The Bills were laughed at by many in the national press for "losing in a billsy way."

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1 hour ago, eball said:

...and I'm pretty damned happy with this team.  The elite defense I expected has come to fruition, the free agent acquisitions and draft picks have generally been productive, and -- despite some hiccups -- I remain optimistic about Josh Allen's future.  What did I say about this team over the summer?  I said if the offense could raise its play to "average" they would be a playoff team.  They've done better than that, although the turnovers have to stop.  They showed the nation that they aren't the Pats*** whipping boys any more.

 

Now, of course everything isn't rosy.  McD needs to place a higher value on timeouts.  Allen needs to "buy in" to the take-what-they-give-you mentality of running this offense.  ST can't make boneheaded mistakes like the blocked punt last week.  But all of those are doable.

 

The next four games are crucial to the team's postseason hopes.  Go 3-1 and we can legitimately start thinking about playing meaningful football in January.  This defense is going to keep them in every game.  I'm not worried if Barkley starts this week because he'll play the dink and dunk game and they'll be fine against a Tennessee team that has looked terrible at home.  Let Josh rest for an extra week with the bye coming up, and come back ready to go for the three game homestand.

 

We've had a handful of "good" starts over the past 15 years, but none left a feeling of encouragement and legitimate optimism like this one.  These aren't the same old Bills.

 

 

To me, the bold part and to have the defense continue to play at a high caliber, are the 2 most important things to keep being successful for this season.

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2 minutes ago, Wo-Bah said:

 

To me, the bold part and to have the defense continue to play at a high caliber, are the 2 most important things to keep being successful for this season.

 

Absolutely.  Allen can't continue to consistently give the ball away trying to make the big play.  The good news is that at times he has shown an ability to play within the offense.

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I would have loved 4-0, but am very happy with 3-1.  I'm not as concerned with Josh as some, he looked bad against a really good defense. I do think this weekend is important to make a statement. This is a team you're supposed to beat, go out and do it.

 

What I would like to see is a more killer instinct moving forward.  The Bengals had no right making that a game, I want to see the offense not slow down and keep the foot on the gas.  Against better teams it could result in a loss that should be a win

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I´m very happy with 3-1. I was concerned about the Jets game, we dind´t know much about the team yet. 

 

I´m glad the D is ahead of what I thought it would be. Edmunds is better and will continue to get better. Milano is back at full power. The secondary is scary good. If they can start to add sacks we can be top 3. 

 

The offense is playing as I thought. Inconsistant is what comes to mind. Form top to bottom. Starting with Dabs, his playcalling has been ok for the must part. But he had horrible 3rd Quarters. Surprsingly, we were able to score on the Pats during the 3rd. 

Josh has given us the 4th q clutch play that we need, but he has been reckless with the football. I think we will need to learn to love that about him, as he will make some wow plays and some bonehead mistakes. 

The running game has been ok, not top notch, but efficient. 

Wide outs are making plays, but certanly some have to step up... yeah you know who I am talking about hehehe.

O line need to give Allen better protection, but overall they are an up grade from last season. 

 

Giving the offense some time to gel, they can become a solid unit to close the season and if we are lucky the team can get hot at the end of the season, and those are the teams that can make some noice during the playoffs. Yes I said playoffs!

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