Which Mentality? Underdog or Champion

[Wizard]

Both a Champion's Mentality and the Underdog Mentality make up a team's attitude and the way players approach the psychological preparation for a game.

 

What approach do you prefer for the Bills?  Do you want them to primarily be the hungry, scrappy, and we are glad to be fighting Underdog? Or, do you want them to be the confident, we have the skill and experienced champion approach with steady nerves like they've been there?

 

Each style is part of what defines a team's ability to thrive. success. Which approach do you feel would be most helpful for this Buffalo team?

 

For me, I want some fire in the belly and seeing disciplined but hunger and scrappy play. Give me the chip on the shoulder Underdog Mentality for this team. 

 

 

[Ethan in Cleveland]

I want calm Josh not hero ball sugar rush Josh. That's all that matters. 

[Joe Ferguson]

I want an underdog Bills going into the post season. So i am fine Bills getting the 3rd seed. Beating the Bungles and Queefs on the road to get in the Super Bowl will be sweet!

[Mango]

The answer is yes!

Edited December 29, 2022 by Mango

[Nephilim17]

They must feel like champions to win it all. Without that confidence it won't happen.

 

But if they feel like they're dismissed by much of the NFL and media, that's cool too. 

 

You can still feel like a champ and feel like underdogs, IMHO. It's not a binary thing. But believing you can beat any team is paramount.

[TBBills]

Whichever one wins.

[quinnearlysghost88]

I think as a fandom we are so used to Josh dominating that we’re uncomfortable with the defense leading the charge as of late. But we have to be comfortable with being uncomfortable. The run game and defense will lead us to the Super Bowl, not Josh. We have to make peace with that. 

Edited December 29, 2022 by quinnearlysghost88

[Don Otreply]

Just win the game in front of you, that’s all i want, these guys all want it bad!

[msw2112]

1 hour ago, quinnearlysghost88 said:

I think as a fandom we are so used to Josh dominating that we’re uncomfortable with the defense leading the charge as of late. But we have to be comfortable with being uncomfortable. The run game and defense will lead us to the Super Bowl, not Josh. We have to make peace with that. 

 

I partially agree and partially disagree with this.  All of Josh, the run game, and defense will lead us to the Super Bowl.  Josh has not played his best lately and has made some poor decisions leading to key turnovers, but he has been clutch when the game is on the line, again and again.  The defense has kept us in games, for sure, but when the game was on the line, Josh has delivered.  Those winning drives have also featured key contributions from the running backs.

 

What makes this team dangerous in ways that other teams (such as last season's team) were not is that they are going to be more difficult to game plan against if they have multiple ways to beat you.

Edited December 29, 2022 by msw2112

[HOUSE]

To much pressure,  you pick

[PromoTheRobot]

3 hours ago, Ethan in Cleveland said:

I want calm Josh not hero ball sugar rush Josh. That's all that matters. 

 

I want Beast Mode Josh.

 

 

[AuntieEm]

4 minutes ago, msw2112 said:

 

I partially agree and partially disagree with this.  All of Josh, the run game, and defense will lead us to the Super Bowl.  Josh has not played his best lately and has made some poor decisions leading to key turnovers, but he has been clutch when the game is on the line, again and again.  The defense has kept us in games, for sure, but when the game was on the line, Josh has delivered.  Those winning drives have also featured key contributions from the running backs.

 

What makes this team dangerous in ways that other teams (such as last season's team) were not is that they are going to be more difficult to game plan against if they have multiple ways to beat you.

 

  It's because the team believes in each other and in Josh.  They know he won't stop so you rarely see our guys stop until the whistle blows.  Josh has taken advantage of those extra efforts.

[John from Riverside]

The bills have been the hunted all year I think the days of playing the underdog are over and have been for a little while

[LOVEMESOMEBILLS]

42 minutes ago, msw2112 said:

 

What makes this team dangerous in ways that other teams (such as last season's team) were not is that they are going to be more difficult to game plan against if they have multiple ways to beat you.

 

 I agree with this. Over the last 2 games they've ran the ball the best they have in years and spread the ball around in the passing game. 9 different receivers have caught passes in each of those games and over the last 5 quarters Buffalo has rushed for 353 yards. With Allen, Singletary & Cook each getting a chunk of the yards.

 

 They're spreading the Tds around also. Over those 2 games Allen, Singletary and Cook all have a rushed for a Td and Morris, Hines, Davis & Cook have a receiving Td, Knox has 2.

 

 This team will be much harder to beat if they continue to spread the ball around effectively like they have been lately.

 

 

Edited December 29, 2022 by LOVEMESOMEBILLS

[Scott7975]

Whatever mentality they need to win the game. 

[quinnearlysghost88]

3 hours ago, msw2112 said:

 

I partially agree and partially disagree with this.  All of Josh, the run game, and defense will lead us to the Super Bowl.  Josh has not played his best lately and has made some poor decisions leading to key turnovers, but he has been clutch when the game is on the line, again and again.  The defense has kept us in games, for sure, but when the game was on the line, Josh has delivered.  Those winning drives have also featured key contributions from the running backs.

 

What makes this team dangerous in ways that other teams (such as last season's team) were not is that they are going to be more difficult to game plan against if they have multiple ways to beat you.

The game has been on the line bc Josh has made bad decisions earlier in the game. We wouldn’t be in this spot late in games without him putting there in the first place. 

[YoloinOhio]

Champion 

[JerseyBills]

After an AFC title performance and 13 seconds from back to backback, it's definitely Championship mentally 

 

I'm pretty sure they Put up Championship Caliber once we clinch a PF birth 

 

I'm sure the boys turn up the intensity 

[AlfaBill]

7 hours ago, Ethan in Cleveland said:

I want calm Josh not hero ball sugar rush Josh. That's all that matters. 

Not that I’m picking on you but I really hate the Sugar High Josh moniker. I feel it takes away from his gunslinger, big play attitude. It doesn’t always work but its risk Vs reward. The Bills have lost 4 games over the past 25. He’s not sugar high or hero ball. It’s Josh Allen in all his glory. 

[Ethan in Cleveland]

3 hours ago, John from Riverside said:

The bills have been the hunted all year I think the days of playing the underdog are over and have been for a little while

100% agree! The Bills have been the regular season SuperBowl for most teams. 

19 minutes ago, AlfaBill said:

Not that I’m picking on you but I really hate the Sugar High Josh moniker. I feel it takes away from his gunslinger, big play attitude. It doesn’t always work but its risk Vs reward. The Bills have lost 4 games over the past 25. He’s not sugar high or hero ball. It’s Josh Allen in all his glory. 

Fair enough but there is a reason Brady has 6 SuperBowls, Montana has 4, and Aikman 3.  These guys were absolute assassins in the playoffs with very few mistakes. Allen played that way last season but so far this year not so much. I just hope last seasons end doesn't make him think he has to do it all on his own. 

[ganesh]

7 hours ago, Nephilim17 said:

They must feel like champions to win it all. Without that confidence it won't happen.

 

But if they feel like they're dismissed by much of the NFL and media, that's cool too. 

 

You can still feel like a champ and feel like underdogs, IMHO. It's not a binary thing. But believing you can beat any team is paramount.

swagger

[BillsPride12]

Somewhere in the middle 

[Buffalo ill]

58 minutes ago, AlfaBill said:

Not that I’m picking on you but I really hate the Sugar High Josh moniker. I feel it takes away from his gunslinger, big play attitude. It doesn’t always work but its risk Vs reward. The Bills have lost 4 games over the past 25. He’s not sugar high or hero ball. It’s Josh Allen in all his glory. 

Some folks insist every aspect of the team (fan base, defense, players etc) needs a nickname, and most of them are trying a little too hard with said nicknames.

[AlfaBill]

11 minutes ago, Buffalo ill said:

Some folks insist every aspect of the team (fan base, defense, players etc) needs a nickname, and most of them are trying a little too hard with said nicknames.

I don’t care for nicknames either unless they’re natural earned so to speak. That said, I was more referring to the Josh that people claim takes chances, plays erratic and mistake prone. I don’t really see that. I think he plays his game and sometimes it doesn’t work but more often than not it does. The previous poster said being an assassin in the playoffs and to that I agree because there is no tomorrow. 

Edited December 30, 2022 by AlfaBill

[LeGOATski]

4 hours ago, John from Riverside said:

The bills have been the hunted all year I think the days of playing the underdog are over and have been for a little while

This. I want a calm and confident team.

[BADOLBILZ]

8 hours ago, Joe Ferguson said:

I want an underdog Bills going into the post season. So i am fine Bills getting the 3rd seed. Beating the Bungles and Queefs on the road to get in the Super Bowl will be sweet!

 

 

There is a part of you that misses the drought, isn't there?

 

On SB Sunday nobody cares if a team won road playoff games to get there.

 

Always best to be able to celebrate a SB march in your home stadium.

 

 

[Success]

I remember seeing a thing on that magical NC State b-ball run in the '80s.  Supposedly, Valvano would end practices by taking out a ladder & some scissors, and having the team cut down the net like the champs do at the end of the NCAA tournament.  

 

That was an underdog team - but they thought like champions.

 

I always find myself hoping also that the team doesn't think like the fans.  At least some of us older ones - who carry around past failures like a ball & chain.  I hope that they consider themselves to just be an up & coming team w/ the future of possibilities right out there in front of them.

 

 

[ChronicAndKnuckles]

I think the Bills will continue to be looked at as an underdog franchise until they win it all and I’m fine with that. 

[Nextmanup]

A football team is made of a lot of individuals.  I would imagine each are thinking different things and relying on different motivations to achieve success.

 

Whatever produces wins is what works for me.

 

 

[machine gun kelly]

15 hours ago, Joe Ferguson said:

I want an underdog Bills going into the post season. So i am fine Bills getting the 3rd seed. Beating the Bungles and Queefs on the road to get in the Super Bowl will be sweet!

 

Im not as I’m hopeful we get the bye, those two cannibalize each other and we face the other in the AFCCG.  That will be the toughest game as I think the actual SB will be an easier game.

 

Probably it will be the Eagles, 49ers, or the Cowgirls.

[ganesh]

6 hours ago, Success said:

I remember seeing a thing on that magical NC State b-ball run in the '80s.  Supposedly, Valvano would end practices by taking out a ladder & some scissors, and having the team cut down the net like the champs do at the end of the NCAA tournament.  

 

That was an underdog team - but they thought like champions.

 

I always find myself hoping also that the team doesn't think like the fans.  At least some of us older ones - who carry around past failures like a ball & chain.  I hope that they consider themselves to just be an up & coming team w/ the future of possibilities right out there in front of them.

 

 

Not happening with McDermott and his preach of "being humble" 

[ProcessTruster]

Most in the media are picking Cinci Monday night, which tells me the Bills will need to do it before it is believed.   Such a great set up, to go out and do it against a not so sure outside world.  perfect.   so i guess underdog , but not believing you are.  how's that? 

[freddyjj]

10 hours ago, AlfaBill said:

The Bills have lost 4 games over the past 25.

Not sure this is accurate as they are 12-3 in 2022, went 1-1 in playoffs last year and were 5-3 in last 8 regular season games in 2021.  So 18-7 in last 25 ?

[london_bills]

18 hours ago, Wizard said:

Both a Champion's Mentality and the Underdog Mentality make up a team's attitude and the way players approach the psychological preparation for a game.

 

What approach do you prefer for the Bills?  Do you want them to primarily be the hungry, scrappy, and we are glad to be fighting Underdog? Or, do you want them to be the confident, we have the skill and experienced champion approach with steady nerves like they've been there?

 

Each style is part of what defines a team's ability to thrive. success. Which approach do you feel would be most helpful for this Buffalo team?

 

For me, I want some fire in the belly and seeing disciplined but hunger and scrappy play. Give me the chip on the shoulder Underdog Mentality for this team. 

 

 

Good question.

[Thurman#1]

Champion is just plain the wrong word. You're not a champion till you win a championship. Thinking yourself a champion when you're not is just trying to fake it till you make it. Doesn't work.

 

But maybe you could say "Alpha Dog" instead of champion and then it would make sense.

 

I'd rather have 'em feel themselves a talented underdog than an alpha dog. Till they've won a championship anyway.

[The Wiz]

47 minutes ago, Thurman#1 said:

Champion is just plain the wrong word. You're not a champion till you win a championship. Thinking yourself a champion when you're not is just trying to fake it till you make it. Doesn't work.

 

But maybe you could say "Alpha Dog" instead of champion and then it would make sense.

 

I'd rather have 'em feel themselves a talented underdog than an alpha dog. Till they've won a championship anyway.

Maybe that's why McD preaches "championship caliber".  It's not calling them champions.

Edited December 30, 2022 by The Wiz

[SoCal Deek]

21 hours ago, Ethan in Cleveland said:

I want calm Josh not hero ball sugar rush Josh. That's all that matters. 

This…..end thread. 

[BillsBytheBay]

From one to the other.  

Greatest dynasty in football history was champion mindset.  And every other one i can think of too.

  Imposing your will with arrogance is intoxicating.   

[AlfaBill]

6 hours ago, freddyjj said:

Not sure this is accurate as they are 12-3 in 2022, went 1-1 in playoffs last year and were 5-3 in last 8 regular season games in 2021.  So 18-7 in last 25 ?

I was never good on math but the win ratio is high. Lol