Are Bills fans expectations too high????

[Billsfan1972]

Yes it is a Super Bowl Victory or bust year, but coming out of yesterday's game (particularly the second half) and you wonder whether we as fans have set the bar too high.

 

The first half was vintage Buffalo (after the first three & out) and well on the way to 40+ points.

 

Then came the second half & wonder if it was hubris, taking one's foot off the gas or just bad play and they looked shall we say "normal". 

 

The Bills were gashed on the run and the offense looked lost.  Allen was underwhelming, missed some throws, others were bad and made mental errors (and a few drops).

 

And the result was a 10 point victory. 

 

Yes I'm very conflicted.  Sure I expect them to be angry vs. NYJ, but was yesterday's second half an anomaly, a wake-up call or a portend of things to come.   

Edited October 31, 2022 by Billsfan1972

[hemma]

I sort of expected a sloppy first half and precise second half.

 

I’m not as comfortable with the flip side.  Let’s hope they work it out this week in practice.

[billsfan1959]

I expected them to be 6-1 after last night's game. They are 6-1. Expectations met.

 

Edited October 31, 2022 by billsfan1959

[Billsfan1972]

3 minutes ago, billsfan1959 said:

I expected them to be 6-1 after last night's game. They are 6-1. Expectations met.

 

6-1, but a wake-up call when they needed it? 

[GunnerBill]

I am not frustrated because of high expectations.... I am a little frustrated because they lost their concentration last night. Their playing keep away and makong the game chippy seemed to get to our guys second half.

 

It is 6-1 and that second half matters little in the grand scheme of things. It will be lost in the wash by the season's end. But that was an ugly second half to watch.

[Billsfan1972]

1 minute ago, GunnerBill said:

I am not frustrated because of high expectations.... I am a little frustrated because they lost their concentration last night. Their playing keep away and makong the game chippy seemed to get to our guys second half.

 

It is 6-1 and that second half matters little in the grand scheme of things. It will be lost in the wash by the season's end. But that was an ugly second half to watch.

Agreed, was a slog.  Juxtapose this to the first half vs. KC, where the Bills had only 3 points going into the last 2 mins & I wasn't worried or overly upset with their play, just a little frustrated with leaving points out there.

[HOUSE]

WHAT EXPECTATIONS?

 

I turn on the TV and whatever happens,  happens..

[billsfan1959]

5 minutes ago, Billsfan1972 said:

6-1, but a wake-up call when they needed it? 

 

Wake up call to what? It is the NFL. They are going to have plays, drives, quarters, halves, even games, when they don't play to the level of which they are capable - offensively and defensively. Every team does. Why does it have to be interpreted as anything other than what it was?

[SageAgainstTheMachine]

I am not with the doomers who lose their minds whenever we give up a first down but…that was not a great game.  We made enough mistakes that a team with better weapons would probably have beaten us or at least made it come down to the last second.  

[stosh64]

3 minutes ago, SageAgainstTheMachine said:

I am not with the doomers who lose their minds whenever we give up a first down but…that was not a great game.  We made enough mistakes that a team with better weapons would probably have beaten us or at least made it come down to the last second.  

But...

Just face it, you're one of the "doomers"

[SageAgainstTheMachine]

Just now, stosh64 said:

But...

Just face it, you're one of the "doomers"

 
Ok.  Check my post history, I’m like 99% positive on the team.  

[MAJBobby]

37 minutes ago, Billsfan1972 said:

Yes it is a Super Bowl Victory or bust year, but coming out of yesterday's game (particularly the second half) and you wonder whether we as fans have set the bar too high.

 

The first half was vintage Buffalo (after the first three & out) and well on the way to 40+ points.

 

Then came the second half & wonder if it was hubris, taking one's foot off the gas or just bad play and they looked shall we say "normal". 

 

The Bills were gashed on the run and the offense looked lost.  Allen was underwhelming, missed some throws, others were bad and made mental errors (and a few drops).

 

And the result was another 10 point victory. 

 

Yes I'm very conflicted.  Sure I expect them to be angry vs. NYJ, but was yesterday's second half an anomaly, a wake-up call or a portend of things to come.   

Well if you can play your worst half of football in a long long time and still coast to a 10 point win as how this team is for things to come. 
 

SIGN ME UP for that team. Oooo wait we have that team. 

[zow2]

Of course expectations are too high.  They are in year 2 of a realistic 4 year SB window (they should've won it last season).  And because the NFL is watered down,  this year might be the best chance to win it.   

[nucci]

No, they're just about right

[Mr. WEO]

6 minutes ago, MAJBobby said:

Well if you can play your worst half of football in a long long time and still coast to a 10 point win as how this team is for things to come. 
 

SIGN ME UP for that team. Oooo wait we have that team. 

 

that wasn't coasting in the 4th Q

[Billsfan1972]

Never fails from some of the regulars.  Billsfan1959 will always tell you that you are wrong when you question anyone about this team & House is "just too cool for school" and posts something pith, sarcastic and never says a single thing, just looks for a reaction.

 

A little early & awaiting some other regulars to chime in.

 

I'm not worried & certainly that wasn't the point of the thread (waiting to read that it is a LAMP Thread), just saying that was a brutal half of football I watched and "brought me a little back to earth", so to speak. 

[Buffalo Boy]

24 minutes ago, Billsfan1972 said:

Yes it is a Super Bowl Victory or bust year, but coming out of yesterday's game (particularly the second half) and you wonder whether we as fans have set the bar too high.

 

The first half was vintage Buffalo (after the first three & out) and well on the way to 40+ points.

 

Then came the second half & wonder if it was hubris, taking one's foot off the gas or just bad play and they looked shall we say "normal". 

 

The Bills were gashed on the run and the offense looked lost.  Allen was underwhelming, missed some throws, others were bad and made mental errors (and a few drops).

 

And the result was another 10 point victory. 

 

Yes I'm very conflicted.  Sure I expect them to be angry vs. NYJ, but was yesterday's second half an anomaly, a wake-up call or a portend of things to come.   

     First, it shouldn’t amaze me anymore but the way Doom and Gloom arrives during the in-game thread, as if triggered by a switch, is 🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️. 
     The Bills were the better team, all game long.
     That first TD by GB was against textbook perfect coverage and the catch was top ten of the year worthy. Apparently, Rogers is actually a more than capable QB who is still dangerous. If he’s on the field , they have the chance to score….always. 
     I agree that this was a bit of a wake-up and I LOVE when wake-up games come as ten point victories that are never in doubt.

    GB did their homework, especially against the D line run defenders. As film study clips start coming out , I’d wager a princely sum that GB ran some new stuff that opened up the middle gaps in a very specific way. Add Adam Jones to that and they could move the ball on the ground. Ultimately, how did that work out for them? They ran a draw on 3rd and 16 to end the second half?!?! Kudos to our D for having beaten them into submission before the half.

     Josh was Pissed after the game. Diggs and Davis were pissed during the game. A great chance to get coached up about composure for all three.

    As with last year , this team is still trying to fully find itself and isn’t playing its best ball. Last year, it resulted in losses, some of them Fugly.

     My expectations are exactly where they need to be. GO BILLS

[Greg S]

They are 6-1 and these first 7 games were supposed to be the toughest part of the season. They didn't look sharp in the 2nd half but that happens sometimes. Bottom line they got win #6. I am sure they will review things in film and work on things in practice to get better. 

[Billsfan1972]

3 minutes ago, Greg S said:

They are 6-1 and these first 7 games were supposed to be the toughest part of the season. They didn't look sharp in the 2nd half but that happens sometimes. Bottom line they got win #6. I am sure they will review things in film and work on things in practice to get better. 

Pretty much what I said.  Gone back & bolded the 10 point part.....😉

[BuffaloBillyG]

6-1. Literally the only thing that matters. I don't care if they have a game like the Pats playoff (perfect game) or if it's a slop fest. It's football and football is rarely perfect. 

 

I'm thankful for games like last night. Beating a 2 time reigning MVP on national TV? I'll take it no matter the surrounding stories. Wasn't that long ago we were just hoping the Bills wouldn't be abused and embarrassed on a big stage when they had a rare national game. A week 8 game with some flaws is perfect to keep the Bills "growth mindset" and keep working. 

 

I swear when/if the day comes and the Bills finally win the big one half the threads start the next day will be "Yea, we won the Super Bowl....but..." and the other half will be telling us how terrible a select few of the players played in the game. It's football, take the win any way they come. On to the Jets.

[Casey D]

It was a horrible second half.  At this point that is all it is as they got the W.  There were plenty of times last year where they looked a whole lot worse for entire games and lost, e.g., Jax, Indy.  By year's end, that was all irrelevant.  Taking this all in, we will be fine IMO-- and they will learn some things from this game.  No athlete/team has its "A" game all the time.  Just ask Justin Verlander about the World Series.

[loveorhatembillsfan4life]

I think the Bills have a standard of play they set to achieve each and every week. Listening to the Post Game comments it’s clear they know it wasn’t great.. which is exactly how it translated on TV. Kinda just a mess and tough to watch that second half. Davis and Diggs were constantly talking back and forth with the other players. Gabe and Knox dropped some easy balls.. 

 

Josh is also super competitive with and It wouldn’t surprise me if in the huddle they were going an extra mile to try and stick it to them. (Without telling us so)

 

Anyways 6-1 is better than I had originally thought with the start of our schedule. 
 

We have good leaders who will focus and dial it back in this week.

 

I am kinda  concerned with Poyer at this point. 

[Moulds 808080]

We just looked bad in second half to a bad team. This is not last years Packers. Yeah my expectations are always high when it comes to the Bills!!!

[CountDorkula]

No. The team is superbowl or bust so that’s my expectations. 
 

everyone including Vegas thought the Bills would roll this team. the Packers are a bad football team. Bills dumb mistakes kept the Pack in the game. 
 

all that matters is the W but…..
 

contrary to what others think, where any criticism is considered doom and gloom, you are allowed to say things like “probably shouldn’t give up 200 rushing yards” and “Josh Allen can’t make those rookie mistakes”  and “The Packers got in the Bills heads last night and it effected their play” and it not be doom and gloom. 

[JohnBonhamRocks]

I expect them to be Super Bowl Caliber and they are so it works out.

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

21 minutes ago, MAJBobby said:

Well if you can play your worst half of football in a long long time and still coast to a 10 point win as how this team is for things to come. 
 

SIGN ME UP for that team. Oooo wait we have that team. 

 

Exactly, Bob. Doomerism is ridiculous at this point. This team played its "C" game and still came away with a 10 point win.

 

[Peter]

Ugly win, but a win.

 

Nevertheless, the run defense was awful, and there were times when we saw the rookie version of Josh and not the 2022 MVP version. 

 

 

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

2 minutes ago, CountDorkula said:

No. The team is superbowl or bust so that’s my expectations. 
 

everyone including Vegas thought the Bills would roll this team. the Packers are a bad football team. Bills dumb mistakes kept the Pack in the game. 
 

all that matters is the W but…..
 

contrary to what others think, where any criticism is considered doom and gloom, you are allowed to say things like “probably shouldn’t give up 200 rushing yards” and “Josh Allen can’t make those rookie mistakes”  and “The Packers got in the Bills heads last night and it effected their play” and it not be doom and gloom. 

 

Vegas  had a 10.5 point line. The Bills won by 10.

 

And yes, that nonsense in the third paragraph is doomerism.

 

[thenorthremembers]

The expectations are exactly where they should be.      Fans should expect Josh to play well and not turn the ball over, and they should expect the offensive coordinator to run the ball when you're facing a two high shell and good man corners.    

[CountDorkula]

2 minutes ago, Peter said:

Ugly win, but a win.

 

Nevertheless, the run defense was awful, and there were times when we saw the rookie version of Josh and not the 2022 MVP version. 

 

 

Apparently this is now doom and gloom. 
 

 

[MAJBobby]

3 minutes ago, thenorthremembers said:

The expectations are exactly where they should be.      Fans should expect Josh to play well and not turn the ball over, and they should expect the offensive coordinator to run the ball when you're facing a two high shell and good man corners.    

And should expect an easy win against an inferior team. We did that too. 

[SoCal Deek]

Honestly? That was the best thing that could’ve happened going into a road game against the upstart Jets this Sunday. The Bills coasted through a dull second half, that despite winning, will give both the players and coaches a motivational wake up call for next week. I’m good! 

[Wayne Cubed]

I don’t think it’s doom and gloom to point out the Bills looked pretty flat/bad in the 2nd half. That’s just being observational.

 

It was a combination of things, thought the offensive play calling was pretty bad. Josh made mistakes and was trying to force it. Mental errors that led to penalties.

 

Not as worried about the run defense, I think there was no way Frazier was going to bring an extra safety into the box or bring an extra LB on the field. All those yards on the ground and time used up, the Pack sort of played themselves out of the game.

[Southern_Bills]

Success brings expectations, It's life.

 

Are people overreacting to a game where the team was "off" for lack of a better term? Probably. 

 

Better than arguing about if the backup QB is better than the starter. Always have problems, realize when you have good problems. 

[The Red King]

Many fans are afraid, very afraid.  We have something special here.  We're Bills' fans, though.  Our past consists of losing four straight Super Bowls, Wide Right, 13 Seconds...so fans are terrified that at some point the wheels are coming off the bus.

 

So, yesterday gave those fans a chance to panic, to feel like "See!  There it is!  It's happening again!  I knew it!  We can't have nice things!"

 

In some, it's just a conditioned reflex at this point, sadly.

[CountDorkula]

16 minutes ago, Pine Barrens Mafia said:

 

Vegas  had a 10.5 point line. The Bills won by 10.

 

And yes, that nonsense in the third paragraph is doomerism.

 

So the coaches are the “doomerism” types then? 
 

because their press conferences were less than glowing about this game. 

[Greg S]

I would rather win ugly then lose pretty. Despite the poor second half this game was basically over by halftime. GB scores midway thru the 4th Q to make the score look respectable but the Bills were never in danger of losing last night. I was at the Jets - Pats game and I can say Wilson is trash. Jets fans were calling for Mike White. I don't know if the Jets game was televised in the Buffalo market but if it was you saw Wilson makes terrible decisions when pressured. Stop the run and pressure him and the Bills defense will have a lot chances to get turnovers. The Jets D is legit. They had a pick 6 called back because of a roughing the passer penalty. That was the play of the game. Jets would have increased their lead to 17-3 if that play stood. The Bills should win but Allen and company will have to be much better against a tough Jets D.

[Rc2catch]

All the W’s look that same at the end of the season. It was not their best football but I didn’t come away from the game thinking anything other than it was a sloppy half of football and on to next week. 

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

1 minute ago, CountDorkula said:

So the coaches are the “doomerism” types then? 
 

because their press conferences were less than glowing about this game. 

you and I both know the usual suspects have been doomering it up all year.

 

 

[Billsfan1972]

Nothing "doomering" at all.  Just a little reality check.

 

For me there isn't a single game where I don't expect the Bills to score every drive and make it look effortless.  Yesterday they were bad the second half.

 

My biggest worry prior to yesterday was "weather forecasts".😉