Seems like a bit too much panic right now

[Mikie2times]

 

13 minutes ago, Sierra Foothills said:

 

I agree.

 

I see the constant negativity and/or bipolar overreactions exhibited by many posters here and it doesn't make me question their football knowledge.

 

More than anything it makes me wonder what kind of people they are and how well-adjusted they are (or aren't)... how they react to adversity in their own lives, how successful they are as human beings... how happy they are (or aren't) in their lives... whether they're hypocritical in holding others to higher standards than they hold themselves... whether they live vicariously through the team because they're frustrated in life... whether they're too invested in the Bills to an unhealthy degree... those are the sort of questions that come to mind when I read a lot of the posts here.

 

It’s ok for fans to not like elements about this team. All of us just don’t have to turn in our fan card because the regular season success isn’t doing it for us anymore. Most of us already went thru the 90’s. You aren’t beating that group for success without a Super Bowl win so running that back is a tad hollow as Allen approaches 30. So as we fumble thru an insanely weak part of our schedule looking ripe to have KC or somebody else decimate our defense when it matters it’s all valid talk. 

[GolfandBills]

Every good team will probably lose 3-5 games.  The way a lot of fans are it’s either win or panic.  

[Ray Stonada]

6 hours ago, Low Positive said:

Most of us have been waiting for the Bills to suck again for the past 6 years

This is crazy.

[EssexBill]

I disagree that it’s a panic, I think a few people had legitimate concerns before the game as in another dimension we could have been 1-3 going into the pats game. The ravens win was a once in a lifetime miracle, and we were a brainless blocked punt penalty away from possibly losing to both the dolphins and the saints. 
 

A loss had been coming, it was just doubly frustrating that it came to the pats and Diggs 

[Scott7975]

7 hours ago, Success said:

We played our worst game of the season, turned the ball over 3x, and faced some....what shall we call it...."overactive officiating?"

 

One less turnover, or a different ref crew - and it's a good bet we're the last undefeated team in the league.

 

I feel like we need an AR "R-E-L-A-X" or something.  We have some needs for sure, but we also have some guys coming back, and 2 guys coming who haven't even seen the field yet.  I'd agree that the secondary is a concern right NOW, but either Hairston or Strong back will help quite a bit.

 

And I expect a move or 2 by the deadline.  But it's not like we're in a dire situation here.  Remember KC's season last year?  They won something like 11 games by a play or 2.  There was a ton of hand-wringing there, and they still made it to the SB.

 

I still think this is the best team in the AFC, by a somewhat comfortable margin.

 

 

 

I'm not panicking at all. We weren't going to go undefeated. I do have concerns over this defense and our offense as well though.

Edited 4 hours ago by Scott7975

[GunnerBill]

4 hours ago, Mikie2times said:

 

 

It’s ok for fans to not like elements about this team. All of us just don’t have to turn in our fan card because the regular season success isn’t doing it for us anymore. Most of us already went thru the 90’s. You aren’t beating that group for success without a Super Bowl win so running that back is a tad hollow as Allen approaches 30. So as we fumble thru an insanely weak part of our schedule looking ripe to have KC or somebody else decimate our defense when it matters it’s all valid talk. 

 

Fans should absolutely analyse parts of the team that are and are not looking good. I think that is slightly different than catastrophising doom and there has been an element of that the past few days. Just the same as the team wasn't bound for the Superbowl at 4-0 the sky is also not falling at 4-1. What is the most frustrating element of this season for me so far is the two things that were major weaknesses on last year's roster - the secondary (save for Benford last year and right now he is not playing well) and the outside receivers - are exactly the same this year. They get a bit of a mulligan on the secondary with regards to their first round pick being hurt, however.... the two worst position groups on last year's roster - safety and receiver were largely ignored. 

54 minutes ago, EssexBill said:

I disagree that it’s a panic, I think a few people had legitimate concerns before the game as in another dimension we could have been 1-3 going into the pats game. The ravens win was a once in a lifetime miracle, and we were a brainless blocked punt penalty away from possibly losing to both the dolphins and the saints. 
 

A loss had been coming, it was just doubly frustrating that it came to the pats and Diggs 

 

I don't think we were ever losing to the Saints or Dolphins personally, they just weren't talented enough to make the Bills pay for sleepwalking through those games at different points. The Patriots are a better team than both of them though. They will be a playoff contender - an 8 to 10 win team.... and they were talented enough to make an underwhelming Bills team that made major mistakes pay. Atlanta this week are in a similar bracket for me. A borderline playoff type team who if the Bills don't play well and execute in key moments can catch them out. 

 

Let's hope the performance is better. 

[ChronicAndKnuckles]

7 hours ago, Success said:

We played our worst game of the season, turned the ball over 3x, and faced some....what shall we call it...."overactive officiating?"

 

One less turnover, or a different ref crew - and it's a good bet we're the last undefeated team in the league.

 

I feel like we need an AR "R-E-L-A-X" or something.  We have some needs for sure, but we also have some guys coming back, and 2 guys coming who haven't even seen the field yet.  I'd agree that the secondary is a concern right NOW, but either Hairston or Strong back will help quite a bit.

 

And I expect a move or 2 by the deadline.  But it's not like we're in a dire situation here.  Remember KC's season last year?  They won something like 11 games by a play or 2.  There was a ton of hand-wringing there, and they still made it to the SB.

 

I still think this is the best team in the AFC, by a somewhat comfortable margin.

 

 

People are seeing the same issues that have plagued McDermott for years and that is why they are panicking. With that being said…

 

It’s really no different from the last time the Bills played the Patriots except the Bills lost by 3 instead of won by 3. Drake Maye methodically carved up the defense through the air and also ran for key 1st downs just like the last game. Defense had a hard time wrapping him up. This must be a taste of what it’s like to be on the other side. 
 

I get why people are freaking out, but I think it’s a little overblown for a couple reasons. 
 

1) It’s a divisional game. Patriots knew Buffalo’s tendencies very well. Their defense is constructed to take down the top dog which is us. Not Miami. Players drafted specifically because of how they might play Josh Allen. We’ve seen great teams lose division games before that they had no business losing. How many times has Brady played poorly against the lowly Jets? 
 

2) Injuries. I know this excuse gets tired, but it’s still a valid one. The defense you saw on Sunday will not be the one you see in the playoffs or even in several weeks. Tre White has been decent and it’s commendable that he is still on a roster after his previous injuries, but it’s clear he isn’t starting caliber anymore. Rookie or not, Hairston should be a major upgrade whenever he comes back. Ed Oliver is also a core player who is greatly missed. 
 

3) Mike Vrabel. People are acting like he is the Second Coming of Bill Bellichick. What has this guy really done AS A COACH in the NFL? Had a strong start in Nashville, but never saw the success of his rookie year ever again. Got smoked in the 1st round of the playoffs every time since despite having a great defense, a HOF RB, and AJ Brown. Why are people so quick to crown him over McDermott? 

[Sweats]

9 hours ago, BringBackFergy said:

 

 

 

bwahahahahahaha........i actually smoked a little dope last night and watched this ole time great

[AlCowlingsTaxiService]

9 hours ago, GoBills808 said:

Not panic personally 

 

More just justifiable frustration after voicing legitimate concerns, being met w 'fOuR aNd oH', them immediately seeing those concerns manifest in a loss

Agreed … and for the “win is a win” contingent, it’s also true that “a loss is a loss”

[HOUSE]

The Buffalo Bills have 2 bad habits

Sheety first half game plans & playing down to lesser teams.

We all knew this loss was coming and some people are frustrated with the trend. 

Hey, you asked?

[WNYFAN1]

10 hours ago, Success said:

We played our worst game of the season, turned the ball over 3x, and faced some....what shall we call it...."overactive officiating?"

 

One less turnover, or a different ref crew - and it's a good bet we're the last undefeated team in the league.

 

I feel like we need an AR "R-E-L-A-X" or something.  We have some needs for sure, but we also have some guys coming back, and 2 guys coming who haven't even seen the field yet.  I'd agree that the secondary is a concern right NOW, but either Hairston or Strong back will help quite a bit.

 

And I expect a move or 2 by the deadline.  But it's not like we're in a dire situation here.  Remember KC's season last year?  They won something like 11 games by a play or 2.  There was a ton of hand-wringing there, and they still made it to the SB.

 

I still think this is the best team in the AFC, by a somewhat comfortable margin.

 

 

It's not just the loss. They struggled at times to beat Miami and New Orleans, two of the worst teams in the NFL, needing roughing the punter calls in both games. We needed heroic efforts and a great deal of luck to get the win against the Ravens. 4 out of our first 5 games at home, and we drop one of those to a division reival.

 

I think they are the best team in the AFC, but I wouldn't necessarily say "by a somewhat comfortable margin", at least not yet.

[Gregg]

This board will go full blown nuclear if the Bills are 4-2 late Monday night.

[Andrew Son]

3 hours ago, EssexBill said:

I disagree that it’s a panic, I think a few people had legitimate concerns before the game as in another dimension we could have been 1-3 going into the pats game. The ravens win was a once in a lifetime miracle, and we were a brainless blocked punt penalty away from possibly losing to both the dolphins and the saints. 
 

A loss had been coming, it was just doubly frustrating that it came to the pats and Diggs 

Yep.  This team could very easily be sitting at 1-4 right now.  There are issues.

[Gregg]

2 minutes ago, Andrew Son said:

Yep.  This team could very easily be sitting at 1-4 right now.  There are issues.

 

I don't know about 1-4. The only game they really should have lost was the Ravens game. They had a blowout win vs the Jets. The games against the Fins and Saints were close, but most NFL games are. Even the bad teams can play a competitive game, The Saints game was close for 3 quarters but the Bills did pull away in the 4th quarter for a 12-point win. The Dolphins is a rivalry game, and they were fighting to save their season. I actually expected the Fins game to be close. The NFL isn't like many college games where the score is 63-0 in the 3rd quarter. With all that said they do have issues on defense. I don't know if it's lack of talent or scheme they run, but something isn't right. The offense is fine IMHO. Fixing the defense will be a hard thing to do in season. I expect the Bills 1st Rd pick in the 2026 draft to be either DT, LB, or CB/S is my guess.

[transplantbillsfan]

10 hours ago, NoSaint said:

I think there’s a, not totally undeserved, feeling that we have a qb that makes us a contender annually but the rest doesn’t always measure up. 
 

while the Trent and fitz teams that started hot were fools gold for wild card contention, this one feels a bit like that for the Super Bowl. 
 

in a league where you pass and stop the passer we are missing a secondary and a pass rush, as well as pass catchers. 
 

I’ll admit I think we overachieved last year a bit and outside of bosa we didn’t add a lot of new to the cupboard. Bosa might really help one of those 3 phases- maybe even 2 by taking stress off the secondary

 

none of that to say we are some 6 win fraud… but that I’m also not buying the if we beat New England we are the last undefeated and those question marks disappear. 

 

Sorry but this is a year every team in the NFL is flawed. We aren't fools gold to win the Super Bowl. We haven't been that since 2020. This team has been perfectly capable of winning a Super Bowl since 2021.

 

We just haven't done it.

[Fan in Chicago]

8 hours ago, Big Blitz said:

 

Saints

Titans

Browns

Falcons

Bucs

Jets

Bengals

Giants

Bills

Ravens

Jets

Dolphins

 

 

 

Assuming we win there - which has now become a must win so nice job Bills - where are there 2 other losses on that list?  If we lose to them they will need to be 11-6 for us to have a great shot.  
 

It’s very real we only go 11-6 or 12-5.  
 

We just laid that egg to them but we won’t lose 3 or 4 more games?  

As is said, we can only control our own games. While it will look underwhelming, if we go, say, 13-4 and still get the top seed, I won't be disappointed. I will hope though that we would be finding our sea legs and stay relatively healthy by the time the playoffs roll around. 

Falcons appears to be a "must win" just to alleviate our fears that this team is a pretender and not a real contender. 

I had said earlier in a different post - there isn't a fully dominant team in the NFL at this point. We look at our angelic baby too often and worry it is uglier than the neighbor's. When in reality, the other poor sap is thinking the same. 

[Whites Bay]

42 minutes ago, Gregg said:

This board will go full blown nuclear if the Bills are 4-2 late Monday night.

It gets worse when you consider that it's a bye week thereafter, so the poison and gruel would continue for 2 weeks until the Carolina game.

[zow2]

We’re in a place where only a Super Bowl appearance will be a successful season.  We’ve waited long for KC to be down a rung or two in the AFC hierarchy, Baltimore is temporarily off the map, and upstart Indy, Jax and maybe Denver are the biggest challengers. If the Bills can make a trade for a CB and get some guys back there’s no reason to not win the AFC.  So yes, a loss vs middling Atlanta will not be taken well.