Don't panic

[JohnNord]

3 hours ago, Ray Stonada said:

I knew I would get killed for saying that in the postgame thread. And I probably will here too. But... here's my reasoning:

 

Losses like this are actually better than wins right now. Right now, wins hide a flawed, one-dimensional offense. In a game like this, we actually have to work on throwing the ball. Even with a terrible receiving corps, Allen's passing stats in the second half extrapolate to 400 yards and 4 TDs for a game. And he did the same in the Ravens game. Getting down big is the only thing that gets the Bills out of their scheme. We need to get out of our scheme, get back to being a 3D football team.

 

I know it's like pulling teeth watching this staff try to learn from what's actually happening, instead of assuming their schemes are brilliant. And Beane is guilty of malpractice with the receiving room and not getting a real #1. And, yes, I'm bummed we probably won't get the one seed in a year when KC and Baltimore won't either. But the young teams are a LOT hungrier than we are for regular season wins. NE, Indy and Denver are tasting their first success after years in the wilderness. That's the kind of motivation that sometimes drops once they get to the playoffs--they're playing with house money at that point. 

 

In 6 wins this year our team has looked completely different than in the 3 losses. When our motivation isn't there, the coaches can't save us. But, all we care about is the playoffs, when our motivation will be high. However, we need is to be a more balanced team by then, not a team that can't complete a pass 25 yards downfield. Our only hope this season is to develop a downfield passing attack to go with our run game (and get guys back on D).

 

Adversity is the only way we're going to get there. Plenty of teams have found themselves after ten games and went on a run to the Lombardi. Freaking out now and starting a rebuild mentality is not going to get us there. And by the way, our coach and GM are not going to be replaced unless we go like 5-12 for two or three years in a row. So all we have is the hope that bad losses help them recognize we need to be able play real NFL offense and not think they're going to outsmart the league with three tight ends on every down.

 

The best teams have 2 losses. We have 3. Teams as stacked as the Rams have 3 as well. A lot can still swing if we fix our approach.

 

Finally: every week, people predict how teams are going to do for the rest of the year, based on how they look this week. We have no idea. So yeah, the Pats look good and had a great win against the Bucs. They could easily stumble, have some bad injury luck, or run out of gas. So don't panic.

This take isn’t correct.  Don’t get me wrong, the loss to Miami was disgusting but considering that Buffalo took down Kansas City last week, I’m pretty sure it’s not a true indication of their team.  They just played like crap.  
 

I’ve also never believed that the Bills need home field advantage.  They just have to get hot at the right time and yes, it’s still a long season

[nedboy7]

I understand the desire to be prudent with Buffalo’s resources, but this was the season to put the hammer down and go for it. The AFC is wide, wide open. It’s a conference literally waiting for someone other than the Indianapolis Colts or New England Patriots to show they want to actually win it. The Chiefs, who struggled for the first part of the season and found themselves in a hole might struggle to dig their way out. The Bengals are dead in the water without Joe Burrow.

This should have been the Bills year, but after Sunday it feels like they’ve pushed things a little too far by relying on Josh Allen to carry everything with sub par talent. The braintrust in the front office are repeating the same mistakes they made when the gang was together on the Carolina Panthers with Cam Newton: Expecting the quarterback to mask every other deficiency on a football team. It just doesn’t work.

 

https://www.sbnation.com/nfl/1089302/nfl-winners-and-losers-mismanagement-will-be-the-bills-downfall?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-us

[Gregg]

14 minutes ago, nedboy7 said:

I understand the desire to be prudent with Buffalo’s resources, but this was the season to put the hammer down and go for it. The AFC is wide, wide open. It’s a conference literally waiting for someone other than the Indianapolis Colts or New England Patriots to show they want to actually win it. The Chiefs, who struggled for the first part of the season and found themselves in a hole might struggle to dig their way out. The Bengals are dead in the water without Joe Burrow.

This should have been the Bills year, but after Sunday it feels like they’ve pushed things a little too far by relying on Josh Allen to carry everything with sub par talent. The braintrust in the front office are repeating the same mistakes they made when the gang was together on the Carolina Panthers with Cam Newton: Expecting the quarterback to mask every other deficiency on a football team. It just doesn’t work.

 

https://www.sbnation.com/nfl/1089302/nfl-winners-and-losers-mismanagement-will-be-the-bills-downfall?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-us

 

Watch out for the Ravens. They are healthy now and will probably catch the Steelers for the division. I think they will be the team that represents the AFC in the Super Bowl if they can remain relatively healthy going forward. 

[SCBills]

1 hour ago, Slack_in_MA said:

That’s just recency bias. He didn’t look too broken after the Chiefs game. Look at most QBs that lost yesterday and you’ll say they looked similarly “broken”. 
 

I think “disappointed” is the right word.

I’ll take any reason for hope, so I’ll choose to believe they bounce back against Tampa … but we’re getting real close to a breaking point with injuries and New England is about one more game from potentially putting the Division out of reach, nevermind the 1 seed which we apparently will just never get. 

[Green Lightning]

I'm not panicked, I'm resigned. This is not a Superbowl team. It may not even be a wildcard team. Years of bad contracts and poor drafts have caught up with us. Milano, Bernard and Taron Johnson are washed. Why? We draft undersized, fast LBS that get pounded and injured. Johnson is a DB they make play LB. They never seem to make it to the playoffs when we need them the most. Massive contracts like Beane gave Knox limit our ability to acquire FAs. Missed early picks on D Line and cornerback  have hurt. This big contract to Ed Oliver, another undersized (see a pattern?) player for his position limits us and he is once again out. The money we gave FA receivers is ridiculous. None of them are better than a 3 or 4 wideout on other teams. The pass on Worthy for Keon is really aging well. We do have a solid OL and stud RB, something to build on there. And of course Josh, but the years are flying by and we have no championships to show for it.

 

So no panic, just the realization that not only has the league caught up and passed us, so has the AFCE. The Pats aren't panicking because they win with methodical offense and tough defense -AND- they don't beat themselves. They can run, pass and defend. We can only run. The core of this team is just not good enough. That's not panic, it's just time to flush and rebuild while Josh had some years left. I'd rather rebuild with a new GM and HC. A GM that actually builds around a generational QB and a HC that can maximizes that QB's talent and build a defense with size, speed and grit that can actually stay on the field and not live in the blue tent. I'd rather a regime change, but don't count on it. I just pray we're not in for another few years of washed re-treads at skill positions and a D scheme that OC"s have long figured out.

[GolfandBills]

4 hours ago, Ray Stonada said:

I knew I would get killed for saying that in the postgame thread. And I probably will here too. But... here's my reasoning:

 

Losses like this are actually better than wins right now. Right now, wins hide a flawed, one-dimensional offense. In a game like this, we actually have to work on throwing the ball. Even with a terrible receiving corps, Allen's passing stats in the second half extrapolate to 400 yards and 4 TDs for a game. And he did the same in the Ravens game. Getting down big is the only thing that gets the Bills out of their scheme. We need to get out of our scheme, get back to being a 3D football team.

 

I know it's like pulling teeth watching this staff try to learn from what's actually happening, instead of assuming their schemes are brilliant. And Beane is guilty of malpractice with the receiving room and not getting a real #1. And, yes, I'm bummed we probably won't get the one seed in a year when KC and Baltimore won't either. But the young teams are a LOT hungrier than we are for regular season wins. NE, Indy and Denver are tasting their first success after years in the wilderness. That's the kind of motivation that sometimes drops once they get to the playoffs--they're playing with house money at that point. 

 

In 6 wins this year our team has looked completely different than in the 3 losses. When our motivation isn't there, the coaches can't save us. But, all we care about is the playoffs, when our motivation will be high. However, we need is to be a more balanced team by then, not a team that can't complete a pass 25 yards downfield. Our only hope this season is to develop a downfield passing attack to go with our run game (and get guys back on D).

 

Adversity is the only way we're going to get there. Plenty of teams have found themselves after ten games and went on a run to the Lombardi. Freaking out now and starting a rebuild mentality is not going to get us there. And by the way, our coach and GM are not going to be replaced unless we go like 5-12 for two or three years in a row. So all we have is the hope that bad losses help them recognize we need to be able play real NFL offense and not think they're going to outsmart the league with three tight ends on every down.

 

The best teams have 2 losses. We have 3. Teams as stacked as the Rams have 3 as well. A lot can still swing if we fix our approach.

 

Finally: every week, people predict how teams are going to do for the rest of the year, based on how they look this week. We have no idea. So yeah, the Pats look good and had a great win against the Bucs. They could easily stumble, have some bad injury luck, or run out of gas. So don't panic.

[Fleezoid]

2 hours ago, BuffaloBillyG said:

Did you really type that sentence, look at it and think..."Yup....that's a great point"?

 

In no world is any loss better than a win. 

 

Agreed. And losses shouldn't be what it takes to expose a teams weaknesses. If the coaching staff can't see it at any time, they have no business being coaches. 

[L Ron Burgundy]

I see this perspective for sure.  But I also see Beane not adding anyone at the trade deadline as possibly being an admission that he knows we have no chance this year.  I'm not saying this because we didn't add the most expensive pieces but because we added nothing.

 

And the Pats will likely be better next year.  Maybe they fall off a cliff this year.  It's not very likely imo.

[Mike R]

“In 6 wins this year our team has looked completely different than in the 3 losses.” 

No it hasn’t. They played like dogcrap against the Ravens at the home opener for 3 quarters and we’re getting whipped. They beat the Saints but did not look good doing it. They barely beat the Dolphins the first game and always have stretches during games where they look terrible. Face it. This teams strategies and game prep are not good. Their roster is not great and when they don’t show up to play, this is what they are. They are going no where this year and frankly never will under McD. He lacks leadership. There is no passion on this team. No one is ever held accountable. How many times are they going to “watch the tape, learn from this, winning is hard, give the other team credit, we have to player better and stay in our gaps, every one has to do their 1/11th, we have to work harder. I could go on but these are the answers every time they don’t show and play horrible and it’s never going to change. I think Josh is the only one with enough clout to stand up and say something to change it but he never will. He just echoes McD’s coach speak generalities and doesn’t want to make any waves. Nice guys finish last. Brady Rogers, Peyton Manning, Drew Bledsoe, they demanded excellence from their teammates and held them accountable.

Josh sits in the sidelines in isolation and pouts. I’ve never seen anyone talk to him or try to rally the troops to get them playing. It looks like it all pays the same the who cares if they win or not? It’s just a game and they are making a killing. Never going to win a championship with out some sacrifice and and out effort. This team is soft and it starts and ends with McD.