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These football preview magazines make me laugh. They pick the teams that were good last year every year to repeat their success. However, them picking us 4th in our division was laughable. I feel we will be a wild card team with a 10-6 record.

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These football preview magazines make me laugh. They pick the teams that were good last year every year to repeat their success. However, them picking us 4th in our division was laughable. I feel we will be a wild card team with a 10-6 record.

 

 

It's good to laugh, righ? :thumbsup:

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These football preview magazines make me laugh. They pick the teams that were good last year every year to repeat their success. However, them picking us 4th in our division was laughable. I feel we will be a wild card team with a 10-6 record.

 

 

The Bills have had one (1) winning season in the last nine years, 9-7 in 2004, and they are going to win 10 games

this year with D.J. at the helm? Have you seen the schedule?

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Well it's pretty simple really. Our more informed but also more biased and optimistic viewpoint versus their less informed but more objective viewpoint.

 

Put another way, most of us know more about the Bills than the writers at these football rags but we're also a bit less objective. You say 10-6. They say 6-10 (or whatever they predicted). Most likely the eventual outcome will fall somewhere in between. Who will be more accurate in their prediction? We'll see in five months.

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The Bills have had one (1) winning season in the last nine years, 9-7 in 2004, and they are going to win 10 games

this year with D.J. at the helm? Have you seen the schedule?

 

Have you seen the schedule thing is BS. Last year every Bills fan had the two Fins games penciled in as wins. Even the most pessimistic fans had a split at worst. Its the NFL, its the most Topsy turby league out there. The Bills are just penciled in as a mid level team. They fall in line with about 75% of the league in they are 8-8 teams whose notion of going above or below that mark is predicated on three things

 

1- Injuries- Its the great equalizer, and if you stay healthy it gives you an extra win or two because your starters are better than their backups duh.

2- In Game Luck- A bad call, a lucky bounce, a fluky circumstance all these things add up to two wins and or losses a year. If you end up on the better side of those things than you can once again add a win or two to your tally.

3- Luck with players having better production than expected- If you are a team and a few guys on that team have huge spikes in production for one year (ex: if Langston Walker were to be a pretty good LT) than that extra unexpected production could add a win to your schedule. Basically if you get a few one hit wonders in one year.

 

Number one and Number two have a bigger impact than Number three obviously. But if you really want to see if the Bills can make the playoffs just hope they don't sustain any major injuries and than hope they get a little lucky I mean don't you think we are due? You can also hope that we get some production out of a place we don't expect.

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Have you seen the schedule thing is BS. Last year every Bills fan had the two Fins games penciled in as wins. Even the most pessimistic fans had a split at worst. Its the NFL, its the most Topsy turby league out there. The Bills are just penciled in as a mid level team. They fall in line with about 75% of the league in they are 8-8 teams whose notion of going above or below that mark is predicated on three things

 

1- Injuries- Its the great equalizer, and if you stay healthy it gives you an extra win or two because your starters are better than their backups duh.

2- In Game Luck- A bad call, a lucky bounce, a fluky circumstance all these things add up to two wins and or losses a year. If you end up on the better side of those things than you can once again add a win or two to your tally.

3- Luck with players having better production than expected- If you are a team and a few guys on that team have huge spikes in production for one year (ex: if Langston Walker were to be a pretty good LT) than that extra unexpected production could add a win to your schedule. Basically if you get a few one hit wonders in one year.

 

Number one and Number two have a bigger impact than Number three obviously. But if you really want to see if the Bills can make the playoffs just hope they don't sustain any major injuries and than hope they get a little lucky I mean don't you think we are due? You can also hope that we get some production out of a place we don't expect.

 

Well, then the Bills have a track record of being more "turvy" than "topsy".

 

The Bills had very few injuries last year and won't be playing the worst division in football, the NFC West.

 

Regarding luck, chance does not seem to favor the Bills very often.

 

D.J. has the effect of William Macy in "The Cooler". Any luck there was to be had is sucked into space by Jauron putting the team in bad situations.

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We were a JP Lostman fumble and some cowardly coaching v. Cleveland away from being 9-7. With all the injuries, Schobel missing most of the year (we were 3-9 without him), and Peters playing like a d-bag....this team ain't far from winning the division.

 

It all depends on Edwards and if he has enough time to do what he needs to do.

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Well it's pretty simple really. Our more informed but also more biased and optimistic viewpoint versus their less informed but more objective viewpoint.

 

Put another way, most of us know more about the Bills than the writers at these football rags but we're also a bit less objective. You say 10-6. They say 6-10 (or whatever they predicted). Most likely the eventual outcome will fall somewhere in between. Who will be more accurate in their prediction? We'll see in five months.

 

It isn't that simple. Guys like Tim Graham cover four teams, attend enough practices and follow those teams closely enough to have a solid take on their strengths and weaknesses. It's a hallmark of this board to marginalize writers whenever they aren't as optimistic as some on this board. I'll take Graham's, John Wawrow's, and Chuck Pollock's opinion more seriously than a vast majority of those on this board. They wouldn't have their positions if they didn't know something about this team and league.

 

The Bills have questions marks on the OL, rushing the passer, and most importantly, their entire coaching staff (not to mention a front office minus proven talent evaluators). Just because many Bills fans are optimistic doesn't mean this extends to the media.

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Well it's pretty simple really. Our more informed but also more biased and optimistic viewpoint versus their less informed but more objective viewpoint.

 

Put another way, most of us know more about the Bills than the writers at these football rags but we're also a bit less objective. You say 10-6. They say 6-10 (or whatever they predicted). Most likely the eventual outcome will fall somewhere in between. Who will be more accurate in their prediction? We'll see in five months.

It isn't that simple. Guys like Tim Graham cover four teams, attend enough practices and follow those teams closely enough to have a solid take on their strengths and weaknesses. It's a hallmark of this board to marginalize writers whenever they aren't as optimistic as some on this board. I'll take Graham's, John Wawrow's, and Chuck Pollock's opinion more seriously than a vast majority of those on this board. They wouldn't have their positions if they didn't know something about this team and league.

 

The Bills have questions marks on the OL, rushing the passer, and most importantly, their entire coaching staff (not to mention a front office minus proven talent evaluators). Just because many Bills fans are optimistic doesn't mean this extends to the media.

BillsVet, when I say football rags I'm referring to the original thread title which specifically cites Beckett's Pro Football Preview. I was not talking about a team's regular beat writers or writers from national media such as ESPN or Yahoo. Who here can tell me a single soul who writes for Becketts? Are they even as good as Athlon's or Street and Smith's? I've not heard of them before although I don't really hang around newstands much anymore.

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While I wouldn't say that the Bills making a run toward the 1st or 2nd spots in the division is out of the question, what makes that hard to predict is that, other than adding Terrell Owens, the Bills haven't really made one other move this off-season that you can point to as a definite upgrade from what they had last season. An awful lot has to go right this season, for them to make a big step up in the standings.

 

Assuming Tom Brady returns to the Patriots, and plays competently, there would be little reason for anyone to objectively think they shouldn't be favored to win the division again. Miami may have been a little bit of fools gold last season, but, in some ways, accomplishing as much as they did, with as marginal talent as they seem to have, just illustrates that they are ahead of the Bills in the coaching/management area...and the Jets? I think they underperformed last season, and now, they have made some pretty significant upgrades on their defense. Like the Bills, though, they still have some pretty big question marks.

 

In the AFC East, there may not be a huge disparity in the records (again) of the 2nd, 3rd and 4th place teams. So, to get bent out of shape because one guy thinks the team may finish 7-9 in 4th place (that is their history after all) instead of 8-8, or 9-7 is just kind of silly. Unless, of course, you are completely convinced that adding Terrell Owens answers all of the teams questions. When these national guys make their predictions, they are keeping their credibility in mind, and are likely not as concerned with their standings amongst Bills fans.

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The Bills have questions marks on the OL, rushing the passer, and most importantly, their entire coaching staff (not to mention a front office minus proven talent evaluators). Just because many Bills fans are optimistic doesn't mean this extends to the media.

 

When do we get to dispel that myth? It's too early to tell for sure, but post Marv, last year's draft and this years draft class look pretty damn promising to me.

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well, the schedule is pretty tough this year on paper, and I expect it will play out as a much harder schedule than last year's overall, but keep in mind that every year there are 3 or 4 teams that were good last year that are not good this year, and 3 or 4 teams that sucked last year that are good this year...perhaps Buffalo will finally be one of the latter...

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When do we get to dispel that myth? It's too early to tell for sure, but post Marv, last year's draft and this years draft class look pretty damn promising to me.

 

 

Probably at least another season...the 2006 draft looked promising going into last season too...and one season later (or 3 seasons later if you must) it looks like a disastrous draft...

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Probably at least another season...the 2006 draft looked promising going into last season too...and one season later (or 3 seasons later if you must) it looks like a disastrous draft...

 

Actually, 2006 still doesn't look too bad.

 

2006

1 - Donte Whitner DB Ohio State Not buying into the piling on going on around here. This guys a good starter.

1 - John McCargo DT North Carolina State I fully expect the new DL coach to get the best out of him. Still hasn't done it though.

3 - Ashton Youboty DB Ohio State Solid - when healthy.

4 - Ko Simpson DB South Carolina Not so good after injury.

5 - Kyle Williams DT Louisiana State Good rotational guy.

5 - Brad Butler T Virginia Starting OL.

6 - Keith Ellison LB Oregon State Not a good starter, but good guy to have coming off the bench.

7 - Terrance Pennington T New Mexico Whiff.

7 - Aaron Merz G California Whiff.

 

6 out of 9 from that class still making contributions. Sure, maybe they reached a little on Donte, and McCargo wasn't worthy of a 1st rounder. Still, I wouldn't call it disastrous. And I do think 2008 and 2009 draft classes look much more promising.

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Actually, 2006 still doesn't look too bad.

 

2006

1 - Donte Whitner DB Ohio State Not buying into the piling on going on around here. This guys a good starter.

1 - John McCargo DT North Carolina State I fully expect the new DL coach to get the best out of him. Still hasn't done it though.

3 - Ashton Youboty DB Ohio State Solid - when healthy.

4 - Ko Simpson DB South Carolina Not so good after injury.

5 - Kyle Williams DT Louisiana State Good rotational guy.

5 - Brad Butler T Virginia Starting OL.

6 - Keith Ellison LB Oregon State Not a good starter, but good guy to have coming off the bench.

7 - Terrance Pennington T New Mexico Whiff.

7 - Aaron Merz G California Whiff.

 

6 out of 9 from that class still making contributions. Sure, maybe they reached a little on Donte, and McCargo wasn't worthy of a 1st rounder. Still, I wouldn't call it disastrous. And I do think 2008 and 2009 draft classes look much more promising.

 

Maybe "disastrerous" was a little strong but some are making contributions, but not great contributions... Whitner and Butler may be the most valuable of the group, though neither has been spectacular. Ironically, Youboty might still be out the best of the bunch, despite how little he has played...but the rest, are pretty much roster depth, or guys that could be released as easily as they could be starting...we shall see, but nobody is really standing out all that much, from that draft...

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Have you seen the schedule thing is BS. Last year every Bills fan had the two Fins games penciled in as wins. Even the most pessimistic fans had a split at worst. Its the NFL, its the most Topsy turby league out there. The Bills are just penciled in as a mid level team. They fall in line with about 75% of the league in they are 8-8 teams whose notion of going above or below that mark is predicated on three things

 

1- Injuries- Its the great equalizer, and if you stay healthy it gives you an extra win or two because your starters are better than their backups duh.

2- In Game Luck- A bad call, a lucky bounce, a fluky circumstance all these things add up to two wins and or losses a year. If you end up on the better side of those things than you can once again add a win or two to your tally.

3- Luck with players having better production than expected- If you are a team and a few guys on that team have huge spikes in production for one year (ex: if Langston Walker were to be a pretty good LT) than that extra unexpected production could add a win to your schedule. Basically if you get a few one hit wonders in one year.

 

Number one and Number two have a bigger impact than Number three obviously. But if you really want to see if the Bills can make the playoffs just hope they don't sustain any major injuries and than hope they get a little lucky I mean don't you think we are due? You can also hope that we get some production out of a place we don't expect.

 

 

I happen to subscribe to this theory!

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You're way off base to take issue with the prediction that we will finish fourth. Let's see, last year we were 0 for 6 against the division and the only thing that has changed since then is an entirely new offensive line(including 2 rookies) and T.O......

 

You will have a tough time convincing me, or anyone that isn't clouded by being a fan, we belong anywhere but 3rd or 4th.

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It isn't that simple. Guys like Tim Graham cover four teams, attend enough practices and follow those teams closely enough to have a solid take on their strengths and weaknesses. It's a hallmark of this board to marginalize writers whenever they aren't as optimistic as some on this board. I'll take Graham's, John Wawrow's, and Chuck Pollock's opinion more seriously than a vast majority of those on this board. They wouldn't have their positions if they didn't know something about this team and league.

 

The Bills have questions marks on the OL, rushing the passer, and most importantly, their entire coaching staff (not to mention a front office minus proven talent evaluators). Just because many Bills fans are optimistic doesn't mean this extends to the media.

Vet:

since you kinda asked, and i was just reading through Tim's "mailbag" Thread, i agree with Tim to a large extent in that this team needs to show something before anyone can start taking it seriously. last year proved to be a big tease after the 5-1 start, especially when few envisioned they'd go 0-6 against the East. it didn't help that some (many, including myself) thought this team was ready for a breakout year after two 7-9 seasons and coming back with a relatively intact group of starters.

 

as a result, count me skeptical going in. 4th in the East might be low (though remember this is June 30th). i'd currently say they have a shot at 8-8 -- and a lot has to go right for that to happen -- but i'll reserve my best prediction for Sept. 13, when i have a full training camp, preseason slate of games and, just as important, a depth chart and injury report to go by.

 

jw

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Prediction of 3rd or 4th place is very reasonable if you take a step back and be objective about it. Three 7-9 seasons and all the obvious other reasons that people have mentioned certainly point to 3rd or 4th being a reasonable prediction. But predictions are the fabric of a lot of the BS that fills columns and web pages in the offseason. They are good conversation pieces but not much more than that. My view is that there is a decent chance (less than 50% but greater than zero) that we will exceed expectations this year. And with TO, Maybin, Freddy, Schoebel, etc., they should at least be fun to watch!

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