Now that the dust on the season has settled (a bit) can we please consider the Elephant in the room?

[ExiledInIllinois]

Yet... As fans we act like Patton:

 

 

[transplantbillsfan]

6 hours ago, Governor said:

They really are. It isn’t close. They probably would’ve eliminated us last season too.

 

The Bengals are one of the most inconsistent teams in the NFL over the last couple years. They luck into wins. I don't know how better to demonstrate that than them getting a 99 yard fumble return late in the game against Baltimore when the Ravens were about to go up by a TD in a game they were pretty close to dominating defensively or a final drive fumble by the Patriots when basically all they had to do was hold onto the football and they would have won.

 

The Bengals are a really good team. But please stop putting them up on that pedestal.

[transplantbillsfan]

6 hours ago, BillsPride12 said:

I have a lot of respect for the way the Bills battled through the insane amount of adversity that they faced this season.  In all honesty I've never seen a team go through as much as the Bills had to.  It was a DRAINING season as a fan, I can't imagine how the players must feel.  They pulled out some wins in some games they probably had no business winning.  So props and respect to those guys for the way they battled this season.

 

But I think if we are being honest with ourselves that Bengals game did expose this Bills team as still being a bit off from being a true Super Bowl team.  We really have some weaknesses on both lines and probably still missing a couple of legit playmakers in general.  Playcalling is a bit suspect.  These things don't have anything to do with the adversity.  

 

They do not have to be mutually exclusive thoughts.  

 

I think replace Saffold with a highly touted Guard in FA or the draft will help a lot. That and a full offseason for Spencer Brown. Also, our best DT was out against the Bengals. Daquan Jones was such a great find in FA.

 

And yeah... there's Von Miller... since we're talking lines.

 

 

 

 

Trade for Hunter Renfrow, perhaps?

6 hours ago, TheBrownBear said:

Yes, there was an unusual amount of adversity within the larger Buffalo community, but I think 99% of the non-injury stuff had little to no impact on what we saw on Sunday. 

 

I do, however, believe that the Damar thing was huge.  That was a legitimate trauma inducing event.  And isn't easy to bounce back from.  I think back to the difficult birth of my youngest son and watching him have to be resuscitated in front of me over many minutes while my wife cried and begged to know why the baby wasn't crying and asked if he was dead.  Happy ending as he's fine now, but he was in the ICU for almost two weeks and I would just randomly cry throughout the day for a couple of weeks and really didn't move past it (or stop revisiting it daily) until he had been home for a couple of months.  I can see how the players might have been a little emotionally burned out from the whole thing and have it effect them despite their best intentions to move forward and win it for themselves and Damar.  It's just human nature.

 

Having said that, it doesn't excuse what we saw in terms of strategy or lack thereof, and the first quarter of the earlier game had already revealed that we had serious issues dealing with the Bengals personnel and approach.  The better team won on Sunday.  No doubt in my mind regarding that.

 

Weird. I think you just excused the entire team and coaching staffunintentionally.

 

How does trauma not impact the mental aspect of the game? Do you think the coaches were unaffected by the Damar incident?

 

Gotta be honest, I was borderline "fire Frazier!" but after reading your anecdote I'm starting to second guess that.

Edited January 28, 2023 by transplantbillsfan

[BeastMaster]

The only thing I'll give you is the injuries

 

Take away all the other stuff, and this squad still lays eggs in the biggest games

[reddogblitz]

The elephant in the room is we don't have a run game.  Well, actually we do.  Its not that we can't run the football, we choose not to.

 

[NastyNateSoldiers]

7 hours ago, TheBrownBear said:

Yes, there was an unusual amount of adversity within the larger Buffalo community, but I think 99% of the non-injury stuff had little to no impact on what we saw on Sunday. 

 

I do, however, believe that the Damar thing was huge.  That was a legitimate trauma inducing event.  And isn't easy to bounce back from.  I think back to the difficult birth of my youngest son and watching him have to be resuscitated in front of me over many minutes while my wife cried and begged to know why the baby wasn't crying and asked if he was dead.  Happy ending as he's fine now, but he was in the ICU for almost two weeks and I would just randomly cry throughout the day for a couple of weeks and really didn't move past it (or stop revisiting it daily) until he had been home for a couple of months.  I can see how the players might have been a little emotionally burned out from the whole thing and have it effect them despite their best intentions to move forward and win it for themselves and Damar.  It's just human nature.

 

Having said that, it doesn't excuse what we saw in terms of strategy or lack thereof, and the first quarter of the earlier game had already revealed that we had serious issues dealing with the Bengals personnel and approach.  The better team won on Sunday.  No doubt in my mind regarding that.

I won’t say the better team I would say the more intelligent team won. Both teams are pretty close in talent. 

[london_bills]

For me the elephant in the room is Beane.

[TheWeatherMan]

8 hours ago, Lost said:

They battled through adversity knocking out win after win and just when they turned the corner...things were looking better, Damar was back in the building...they were 2 games away from their dream...just at that moment they decided they didn't have anything left in them.   Sorry I don't buy it.  I feel for all the players went through this season but Cincy game was a complete coaching mismatch.  

This x 100!  Our coaches suck donkey huevos.  How many colossal coaching mistakes can a single team make in one season?  The Bills shattered that record this year only a few month removed from making one of the biggest mistakes in the history of football, 13 seconds!  We’re going nowhere with this coaching staff.

[DCbillsfan]

6 hours ago, Sammy Watkins' Rib said:

 

The thing that sucks is I think they caught the Chiefs based on winning two out of the last three. But now the Bengals are better than both teams. If Burrow didn't have the appendectomy surgery that caused him to miss the entire preseason, leading to an 0-2 start, they probably take the 1 seed over both the Chiefs and Bills. 

Good point.  Their oline was a little spotty early on.  Took a few games for them to come together.  Lot of new faces but experienced guys.

[QCity]

2 hours ago, transplantbillsfan said:

 

 

The Bengals are a really good team. But please stop putting them up on that pedestal.

 

They went to the Superbowl last year by defeating KC. They just whipped our butts. They've demonstrated over the last 2 seasons that they are a better team than us. If you're not going to put them on a pedestal, you better damn well not put us on a pedestal. 

[Thurman#1]

It has been covered.

 

But many still want to forget it or gloss over it. It had to have a huge effect on these guys, and IMO they didn't look like the same team against the Bengals.

 

It doesn't forgive everything, but it probably is a lot of the reason we played so badly.

[UKBillFan]

I argued this before but actually... no. Under McDermott the Bills have had this kind of blow out every single season, sometimes more than once in the early years, where no side of the ball shows up. Chargers, Saints, Pats, Eagles, Titans, Colts, Bengals. It has nothing to do with Damar, or the snow, or shootings, or Josh Allen's elbow. It's due to the team turning up at least once woefully underprepared and woefully under-motivated.

 

The positive side is the team has bounced back from all of those games and recovered. I think the Bengals are better than the Bills but not to the extent shown last week. The negative aspect is why do the Bills have this kind of mentality problem at least once a season.

[JohnBonhamRocks]

7 hours ago, transplantbillsfan said:

The thing is, it's become the afterthought to the belief this team needs major changes personnel wise to compete for a Super Bowl.

 

Since priority #1 on this board right now appears to be "Fire! Cut! Trade! Upgrade!" I think it fits.

I think the team went through significant adversity and needs major personnel changes, at least on both lines, and at WR, and maybe LB and S. 

[Bill from NYC]

4 hours ago, ExiledInIllinois said:

How does one come out and say: "I don't want to compete because I am stressed about dying?"

 

Never before did a team face death face to face on the field. This team did. They blocked it off with a human wall to stop the prying cameras of today from viewing, recording it.  Even the Bengals players were walled off to a certain extent.

 

The PTSD is different for the players that have to put themselves right back into the situation that caused the stress.  Probably the first time in their careers they thought about how dangerous their occupation reallt is. 

 

Not using it as an excuse, yet it probably isn't a coincidence that the team was off the next time they met the Bengals.

 

Just saying... I will give them a bad game solely for that reason. 

 

Remember,  everyone handles stress in different ways.  These guys aren't robots. 

I appreciate your post but disagree with the bolded. Players have been crippled, paralyzed, in pain for the rest of their lives, etc. I don't know how any player could be stupid enough to not clearly see the risks of playing professional, or even college football. 

 

The above is why the NFL (much like professional boxing) consists almost entirely of people from poor economic backgrounds. If I had a million dollars or so in my pocket, I would not want to get tackled by Bruce Smith or punched by Mike Tyson. 

 

Btw, this is why the NIL thing is so disruptive to college football and will almost inevitably reduce the quality of play in the NFL, but this is a topic for the college board.

[TAinLack.]

2 hours ago, TheWeatherMan said:

This x 100!  Our coaches suck donkey huevos.  How many colossal coaching mistakes can a single team make in one season?  The Bills shattered that record this year only a few month removed from making one of the biggest mistakes in the history of football, 13 seconds!  We’re going nowhere with this coaching staff.

Why is Leslie Frazier still our DC?!

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

https://youtu.be/gXDSxgDUv-c

[machine gun kelly]

11 hours ago, JohnBonhamRocks said:

I do think both teams at full health are fairly evenly matched. But clearly their depth on both lines is superior to ours and even some of our starters. 

Until we fix the WR problem and the Guards problem, we are behind.

[leh-nerd skin-erd]

12 hours ago, transplantbillsfan said:

This is something we all know and acknowledge anyway about the 2022-2023 Buffalo Bills:

 

They went through some *****!!!

 

Tops shooting

Kim Pegula getting sick

Knox's brother dying

120 degree heat game in Miami

Davis lingering ankle injury (multiple reporters, including Dan Fetes, said he just didn't look right in practice for most of the season)

Dane Jackson having to get taken off the field in an Ambulance

Micah Hyde being lost for the season

Josh Allen elbow injury and minimal practice/throwing for a couple weeks and lingering through the season

7 foot blizzard that didn't allow for a week of real practice and then relocated a home game to Detroit

A 2nd home game in Detroit 4 days later

4 away games in 11 days

Getting stuck in Chicago overnight on Christmas Eve because of a blizzard that killed dozens of people in Buffalo

Missing what many would argue are the 2 biggest Holidays of the year with their families

Damar

 

And I'm sure I'm missing some of these things.

 

EDIT: Somehow I forgot losing Von Miller... insane list 

 

These guys are human beings and I challenge anyone to find another team in NFL history that went through as much crap as Buffalo did this year and still managed to go 13-3 in the regular season and win a playoff game with one of the harder SoSs in that year.

 

I had issues with the offensive and defensive gameplan by Dorsey and Frazier.  Obviously a problem--big problem as far as Frazier goes when you're playing zone with guys 10 yards off the line against a QB with one of the quickest releases in the NFL.

 

But let's all take a breath.  This clearly wasn't our year.  But maybe it's more Acts of God than the team just not being good.

It is the journey that makes us men. 
 

 

[zow2]

10 hours ago, DCbillsfan said:

This is the grim reality.  Reminds me of when we lost to Chiefs in AFC Championship game.

 

It sucks that we have already been knocked down as the Chiefs main rival.  It’s now the Bengals.  When next season starts the Bills will prob be lumped in with the Ravens, Chargers, Jags, etc.  Maybe even picked by some to finish 2nd in the AFC East. 

Possibly with lower expectations and fewer injuries the team will overperform in the playoffs should they get there. 

[D. L. Hot-Flamethrower]

3 hours ago, london_bills said:

For me the elephant in the room is Beane.

To me this is the answer as well. It really kind of snuck up on a lot of people about how our player selection has been so abysmal.

[MAJBobby]

12 hours ago, transplantbillsfan said:

This is something we all know and acknowledge anyway about the 2022-2023 Buffalo Bills:

 

They went through some *****!!!

 

Tops shooting

Kim Pegula getting sick

Knox's brother dying

120 degree heat game in Miami

Davis lingering ankle injury (multiple reporters, including Dan Fetes, said he just didn't look right in practice for most of the season)

Dane Jackson having to get taken off the field in an Ambulance

Micah Hyde being lost for the season

Josh Allen elbow injury and minimal practice/throwing for a couple weeks and lingering through the season

7 foot blizzard that didn't allow for a week of real practice and then relocated a home game to Detroit

A 2nd home game in Detroit 4 days later

4 away games in 11 days

Getting stuck in Chicago overnight on Christmas Eve because of a blizzard that killed dozens of people in Buffalo

Missing what many would argue are the 2 biggest Holidays of the year with their families

Damar

 

And I'm sure I'm missing some of these things.

 

EDIT: Somehow I forgot losing Von Miller... insane list 

 

These guys are human beings and I challenge anyone to find another team in NFL history that went through as much crap as Buffalo did this year and still managed to go 13-3 in the regular season and win a playoff game with one of the harder SoSs in that year.

 

I had issues with the offensive and defensive gameplan by Dorsey and Frazier.  Obviously a problem--big problem as far as Frazier goes when you're playing zone with guys 10 yards off the line against a QB with one of the quickest releases in the NFL.

 

But let's all take a breath.  This clearly wasn't our year.  But maybe it's more Acts of God than the team just not being good.

To be Honest. With that List if McD isn’t the coach of the year I have serious questions about how they judge that Honor. 

[JohnBonhamRocks]

54 minutes ago, machine gun kelly said:

Until we fix the WR problem and the Guards problem, we are behind.

Agreed. But I also think every OL position is fair game to be upgraded. 

[FireChans]

13 hours ago, transplantbillsfan said:

This is something we all know and acknowledge anyway about the 2022-2023 Buffalo Bills:

 

They went through some *****!!!

 

Tops shooting

Kim Pegula getting sick

Knox's brother dying

120 degree heat game in Miami

Davis lingering ankle injury (multiple reporters, including Dan Fetes, said he just didn't look right in practice for most of the season)

Dane Jackson having to get taken off the field in an Ambulance

Micah Hyde being lost for the season

Josh Allen elbow injury and minimal practice/throwing for a couple weeks and lingering through the season

7 foot blizzard that didn't allow for a week of real practice and then relocated a home game to Detroit

A 2nd home game in Detroit 4 days later

4 away games in 11 days

Getting stuck in Chicago overnight on Christmas Eve because of a blizzard that killed dozens of people in Buffalo

Missing what many would argue are the 2 biggest Holidays of the year with their families

Damar

 

And I'm sure I'm missing some of these things.

 

EDIT: Somehow I forgot losing Von Miller... insane list 

 

These guys are human beings and I challenge anyone to find another team in NFL history that went through as much crap as Buffalo did this year and still managed to go 13-3 in the regular season and win a playoff game with one of the harder SoSs in that year.

 

I had issues with the offensive and defensive gameplan by Dorsey and Frazier.  Obviously a problem--big problem as far as Frazier goes when you're playing zone with guys 10 yards off the line against a QB with one of the quickest releases in the NFL.

 

But let's all take a breath.  This clearly wasn't our year.  But maybe it's more Acts of God than the team just not being good.

A million puke emojis.  A hot game in September?  Missing NYE? GTFO.

Edited January 28, 2023 by FireChans

[JustHewIt]

51 minutes ago, zow2 said:

 

It sucks that we have already been knocked down as the Chiefs main rival.  It’s now the Bengals.  When next season starts the Bills will prob be lumped in with the Ravens, Chargers, Jags, etc.  Maybe even picked by some to finish 2nd in the AFC East. 

Possibly with lower expectations and fewer injuries the team will overperform in the playoffs should they get there. 

Why do we as a fanbase care so much about this?  Does it somehow help the performance of the team to be the heavily favored juggernaut of the league?  If we start 4-0 next year, we'll once again be touted as a super bowl favorite.  If anything, you'd rather be doubted--look at the Bengals, who use every scrap of doubt they can to get really ticked off before each game

[FireChans]

11 hours ago, Xwnyer said:

The elephant is Josh without him this team is 5-12 

Like most teams in the NFL.  Bengals were bad enough to go #1 overall. So were the Jags.  Chargers had a top 5 pick before Herbert.  Etc etc etc.

[Billzgobowlin]

12 hours ago, Strethor said:

This is all an excuse, the Bills failed with their mission! All teams fight through adversity, even where there is none teams will manufacture it out of thin air to gather the chip on the shoulder mentality. Of course the adversity was an all time high - things won't get any easier.

To some extent you are right but you are also wrong.  A pulled hammy that takes a 3 months to heal might be an excuse to not play but a torn hammy while might be considered an excuse when it is actually is a viable reason.  This year was a torn hamstring in both legs when Damar went down.  Anything before that would have been an excuse.  That being said I think Beane said something interesting that if they actually played the whole Bengals game when Damar went down they would have been able to plan better for them in the playoffs.  That to me is a problem.

11 minutes ago, JustHewIt said:

Why do we as a fanbase care so much about this?  Does it somehow help the performance of the team to be the heavily favored juggernaut of the league?  If we start 4-0 next year, we'll once again be touted as a super bowl favorite.  If anything, you'd rather be doubted--look at the Bengals, who use every scrap of doubt they can to get really ticked off before each game

That's already worn out from the end of the year.  They look stupid now picking fights with everyone

[Xwnyer]

1 minute ago, Billzgobowlin said:

To some extent you are right but you are also wrong.  A pulled hammy that takes a 3 months to heal might be an excuse to not play but a torn hammy while might be considered an excuse when it is actually is a viable reason.  This year was a torn hamstring in both legs when Damar went down.  Anything before that would have been an excuse.  That being said I think Beane said something interesting that if they actually played the whole Bengals game when Damar went down they would have been able to plan better for them in the playoffs.  That to me is a problem.

on defense they knew what bengals were gonna do just like they were carving us cup into the Damar play. On offense we drove but had to go for 3 since we went homer versus moving the chains plus some bad drops

[SoCal Deek]

12 minutes ago, JustHewIt said:

Why do we as a fanbase care so much about this?  Does it somehow help the performance of the team to be the heavily favored juggernaut of the league?  If we start 4-0 next year, we'll once again be touted as a super bowl favorite.  If anything, you'd rather be doubted--look at the Bengals, who use every scrap of doubt they can to get really ticked off before each game

An interesting take, but I don’t believe the Bills are going to be touted (except by Bills fans) no matter how they start next season. The bloom is most definitely off the rose. 

[Boatdrinks]

2 minutes ago, Billzgobowlin said:

To some extent you are right but you are also wrong.  A pulled hammy that takes a 3 months to heal might be an excuse to not play but a torn hammy while might be considered an excuse when it is actually is a viable reason.  This year was a torn hamstring in both legs when Damar went down.  Anything before that would have been an excuse.  That being said I think Beane said something interesting that if they actually played the whole Bengals game when Damar went down they would have been able to plan better for them in the playoffs.  That to me is a problem.

If Beane said that, it’s pretty much an indictment of the coaching staff and their ability to game plan. 

[TheWeatherMan]

2 hours ago, TAinLA said:

Why is Leslie Frazier still our DC?!

The same reason half our roster at one point were Carolina Panthers.  Our FO has no idea how evaluate talent so they just sign players and coaches they are familiar with.

[BillsPride12]

7 hours ago, transplantbillsfan said:

 

The Bengals are one of the most inconsistent teams in the NFL over the last couple years. They luck into wins. I don't know how better to demonstrate that than them getting a 99 yard fumble return late in the game against Baltimore when the Ravens were about to go up by a TD in a game they were pretty close to dominating defensively or a final drive fumble by the Patriots when basically all they had to do was hold onto the football and they would have won.

 

The Bengals are a really good team. But please stop putting them up on that pedestal.

It's not so much about putting the Bengals on a pedestal as much as realizing the Bills are not up on the pedestal like everybody had them going into this season  IMO

[muppy]

14 hours ago, MrEpsYtown said:

“Excuses are the tools of the weak and incompetent. They build bridges to nowhere and tunnels to nothingness…Those who excel in them seldom do in anything else, therefore, there are no excuses.”

 

I googled the author of your quote. His name is Vernon Brundage Jr..

 

Brilliant quote. There are reasons Yes. But noone agrees on which exactly those are.  One persons reason is another persons excuse.

[transplantbillsfan]

16 hours ago, JJGauna said:

Meh, New Orleans fell into the Gulf of Mexico and they still won a Super Bowl.

 

 

 

Uhhhh... New Orleans won the Super Bowl in 2010. Katrina was in 2005.

[JJGauna]

4 minutes ago, transplantbillsfan said:

 

Uhhhh... New Orleans won the Super Bowl in 2010. Katrina was in 2005.

True but the recovery took forever. So bills bowl in 5?

[Toledo Bill]

18 hours ago, Lost said:

They battled through adversity knocking out win after win and just when they turned the corner...things were looking better, Damar was back in the building...they were 2 games away from their dream...just at that moment they decided they didn't have anything left in them.   Sorry I don't buy it.  I feel for all the players went through this season but Cincy game was a complete coaching mismatch.  

It would be nice if one of our gutless reporters really called them out in a scathing article. Out-coached and out motivated. I admire how they came through all the adversity but that last game was a joke.

[Mr. WEO]

5 hours ago, MAJBobby said:

To be Honest. With that List if McD isn’t the coach of the year I have serious questions about how they judge that Honor. 

 

no chance

[balln]

8 minutes ago, Toledo Bill said:

It would be nice if one of our gutless reporters really called them out in a scathing article. Out-coached and out motivated. I admire how they came through all the adversity but that last game was a joke.

They’re literally soft and not good enough in the trenches - especially the OL. It’s their kryptonite. I blame beane and the coaches for accepting it / not improving it. And fine if your stuck w the softies / finesse OL personnel wise - then I blame Dorsey and McD for not gameplanning around it. Remember lee smith ?! Need extra blockers / need chipping the ends. Need quick passing game. No other excuses !

[Sjwalker1]

18 hours ago, transplantbillsfan said:

This is something we all know and acknowledge anyway about the 2022-2023 Buffalo Bills:

 

They went through some *****!!!

 

Tops shooting

Kim Pegula getting sick

Knox's brother dying

120 degree heat game in Miami

Davis lingering ankle injury (multiple reporters, including Dan Fetes, said he just didn't look right in practice for most of the season)

Dane Jackson having to get taken off the field in an Ambulance

Micah Hyde being lost for the season

Josh Allen elbow injury and minimal practice/throwing for a couple weeks and lingering through the season

7 foot blizzard that didn't allow for a week of real practice and then relocated a home game to Detroit

A 2nd home game in Detroit 4 days later

4 away games in 11 days

Getting stuck in Chicago overnight on Christmas Eve because of a blizzard that killed dozens of people in Buffalo

Missing what many would argue are the 2 biggest Holidays of the year with their families

Damar

 

And I'm sure I'm missing some of these things.

 

EDIT: Somehow I forgot losing Von Miller... insane list 

 

These guys are human beings and I challenge anyone to find another team in NFL history that went through as much crap as Buffalo did this year and still managed to go 13-3 in the regular season and win a playoff game with one of the harder SoSs in that year.

 

I had issues with the offensive and defensive gameplan by Dorsey and Frazier.  Obviously a problem--big problem as far as Frazier goes when you're playing zone with guys 10 yards off the line against a QB with one of the quickest releases in the NFL.

 

But let's all take a breath.  This clearly wasn't our year.  But maybe it's more Acts of God than the team just not being good.

It would be breath of fresh air if people would quit saying “oh they had a tough year”. Yes these millionaires had a tough year and life cashing their checks. Please try to compare what soldiers have endured the past 20 years while these millionaires took a knee on the field. These players have zero idea what a solider getting paid $9 an hour endures so these millionaires can play football on tv. They certainly don’t have it in china, Russia, North Korea, Afghanistan, etc…

[transplantbillsfan]

14 hours ago, Success said:

I 100% agree w/ the OP. It's too easy to say "every team faces adversity" and expect these guys to be robots.  

 

After Hamlin, the season flipped for me. I went from riding the SB train, to just hoping he'd be alright.  The season didn't even seem to matter anymore.

 

When Hines returned that 1st kick against the Pats, I was sort of back in - hey, maybe they can really do this. But even that game, they were kind of going on fumes. Without the TD returns, we might have lost that game - to a much worse team, at home.

 

Adversity does reach a kind of critical mass at some point, and we got there this season.  It just wasn't in the cards.  Eyeroll & vomit away.

 

 

Well said. And we're just fans. Imagine how the players felt. I don't think the comments from Saffold and others on Monday about the team being fatigued should be dismissed or looked at as "just another excuse!" This team went through an unprecedented amount of crap before week 17.

 

And then Damar.

 

I basically moved onto next season as all that unfolded.

13 hours ago, reddogblitz said:

 

We'll see on Sunday who is better. KC or the mighty Bengals.

 

I'd actually prefer to see the Bengals win and then the 49ers beat them in the Super Bowl.

[transplantbillsfan]

6 hours ago, zow2 said:

 

It sucks that we have already been knocked down as the Chiefs main rival.  It’s now the Bengals.  When next season starts the Bills will prob be lumped in with the Ravens, Chargers, Jags, etc.  Maybe even picked by some to finish 2nd in the AFC East. 

Possibly with lower expectations and fewer injuries the team will overperform in the playoffs should they get there. 

 

Fine by me. Most teams play better as underdogs. Just look at the way the Bengals have approached this season.