metzelaars_lives

So can I pick and choose records from some of the teams we play next year and take out the good ones too? What is our SOS next year if you take out Cin, AZ and Sea? Look at my post above. Again, out of the 10 non-division opponents we played this year, 5 were .500 or better. Next year (based on their records this year), 4 were .500 or better. I am right. You are wrong. I can do this all day. So this year, we played 7 games against teams that ended up 7-9 or worse. Next year we have 8 games against teams that were 7-9 this year or worse (Mia 2x, Cle, Bal, Jax, Oak, LA and SF). But go on.

I agree with most of what you wrote. But what is the 2015 record of our opponents next year? Only 4 out of the 10 were even .500 this year (Pit, Cin, Sea and AZ). This year, 5 out of 10 were! (Hou, Ind, KC, Cin and Was). I just think the whole "this year our schedule was a cakewalk and next year it's murderer's row" thing is not only exaggerated, but I have just proven it as false.

THE BILLS' HAD THE 4TH HARDEST STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE IN THE AFC THIS SEASON. THEIR STRENGTH OF VICTORY WAS 5TH IN THE AFC THIS SEASON. THESE ARE FACTS. Link: http://espn.go.com/nfl/standings/_/view/playoff Please stop pretending we had this magically easy schedule and were really a 4-12 team masquerading as an 8-8 team. They were very 8-8. And again, yes, they would've been 9-7 if Taylor doesn't get hurt. Problem is Taylor will probably get hurt next year too.

4-12 is a completely and utterly ridiculous prediction. To be 4-12 you have to suck. The Bills do not suck. They didn't suck this year and they won't suck next year. If Taylor never gets hurt, they're 9-7. A 9-7 team doesn't go 4-12 because of a difference in schedule. You do realize we get the 49ers and Browns at home next year, right? So predicting they go 2-12 in the rest of their games is completely unreasonable, yes. We play 8 games next season against teams that, as we sit here, we are a better football team than right now (Mia 2x, Bal, Cle, SF, LA, Jax and Oak). A lot of people keep giving the benefit of the doubt to teams that aren't as good as us (like Jacksonville- you do realize they still suck, right?) and trying to tell everyone that the Bills are actually worse than they performed. The Bills had an inexplicably bad year on defense and sustained a lot of injuries. There's no reason to think they won't be better. Bottom line, I am worried about the Bills, not their schedule. If the Bills are good, they'll be just fine.

Then what did you say about 4-12? This year's team was 12th on offense and 19th on defense. We scored more points than we allowed and gained more yards than we allowed. They were not terrible. They were pretty much a classic 8-8 team.

Never saw your response, what did you say then?

Exactly. It's one of the dumber narratives being thrown around here as of late. A few weeks ago, a prominent poster said "this year's team would have went 4-12 with that schedule." So... they won four division games alone, meaning he basically thought they would've gone 0-10 against next year's "insanely brutal" schedule. And then of course, people start touting Oakland and Jacksonville as these upstart teams but as we sit here, they're still a step or two behind the Bills.

People need to stop saying this. 1. WE COULD BE VERY GOOD OURSELVES. 2. You never know how good the teams we face our going to be. Every year, my brother and I laugh because we think the schedule is going to be "easy" or "hard" and more often than not, it turns out to be the opposite. This year, our two additional games turned out to be very tough- Cincinnati and KC. Next year, it's Oakland and Jacksonville. 3. We play the Rams, the 49ers, the Browns, the Jaguars, the Raiders and the Dolphins and Jets twice. Who exactly are you scared of? Are you certain Baltimore has a bounce back year? Are you certain Cincinnati is as good as they were this year? I could totally see them taking a step backwards after that playoff implosion. Yes, Seattle, Arizona and Pittsburgh will be tough. But again if Rex gets the defense's act together, we could be pretty damn tough ourselves. 4. Bottom line, we play: -the same division we always play -the NFC West (two good teams, two whatever teams) -the AFC North (complete question mark outside of Pittsburgh and there's always like a 25% chance Roethlisberger will be hurt) -Oakland and Jacksonville The Bills need to worry about themselves. If they get their own s**t together, they'll be just fine.

And the fumbled punt in the Patriots game.

I went Watkins/Gilmore/Taylor. Watkins is easy. Dareus had a down year. Clearly our two best defensive players this season were Gilmore and Darby, who were pretty much neck and neck. Went with the veteran. Taylor is easy to get excited about as he is the first guy to give us real hope at the QB position in some time (unless you talk to like five posters on this website). His penchant for big plays makes him my favorite player at the moment. Watkins close second.

I'm sorry you went to the Giants game but are you aware that the Bills finished the season #1 in the NFL in total yards rushing AND yards per carry?

You can't respond to someone without telling them they said something that they didn't, can you? When in God's name did I insinuate that this season was not disappointing? OF COURSE IT WAS. As far as Watkins, the second he made his comments earlier in the year, I came right on here and said that of course he was right. Are you telling me that you have inside info that Roman was telling Taylor to keep throwing to Watkins even when he wasn't wide open earlier in the season and he refused to? None of my connections have given me that info so you must have a good contact within the organization. Conversely, I pin them not making sure to target their best player ten times a game on THE BILLS- Whaley, Ryan, Roman, Pegula- whoever you want to include in there. You can put it on Taylor, we can agree to disagree. Enjoy your Friday night.

I "browbeat" Cassel? What does that even mean? If you are alluding to when I would call out the unrealistic EJ supporters AKA EJ dreamers, yourself included, for constantly mocking Cassel while defending EJ by saying that I would be shocked if Manuel ever had the career that Cassel has/had, then yes, I did say that. I was right, as per usual. I wasn't lobbying for him to start or excited about him by any means. I think the one thing that every last person on this website could actually agree with is that they wanted someone other than Cassel to seize the job and develop into the unquestioned starter. A guy did this, exceeded all of our wildest expectations, led the Bills to the 13th ranked offense (12th in scoring), received all sorts of offseason accolades and yet a few people- shockingly, the aforementioned EJ people- have a problem with the guy. But yes, please tell us the bad QB's he beat and lost against and leave out the good ones. No one can see through that. What's lost in all this is that the other thing that everyone agreed on is that if the Bills could get anything on offense, with this defense, they were a playoff team. Again, the offense exceeded everyone's wildest expectations. If the defense was anywhere near the 2014 defense, we'd be playing this weekend, not even a question. But yeah, go on about Tyrod and how he cost us the Chiefs game.

Yeah I'm a Matt Cassel guy because I accurately reported that two games into the preseason, Cassel was Roman's guy. That makes me a "Cassel guy." Much the same way that when a news reporter reports about ISIS, that makes them an ISIS guy. I also told anyone who was willing to listen that Taylor was named the starter after the third preseason game, so I am also a Taylor guy. I am apparently very conflicted. So what then, did EJ Manuel show you through his first two seasons that led you to be optimistic about his chances going into this offseason? How is anyone supposed to take you seriously when you nitpick a half here and there from a player who played well to tell us he actually played poorly after you would cherry pick a half or two from a player who stunk to tell us we should be optimistic? What is the discussion here exactly? Here's how I see it: Everyone: Taylor had a pretty good season. Not ready to induct him into the hall of fame but not bad, not bad. Ryan L Billz: You guys are ridiculous saying he should be in the hall of fame. Everyone: Dude no one is saying that. Ryan L Billz: But he had a few bad halves. Everyone: But what about the rest of the halves where he played well? Ryan L Billz: Well looky what we got here- another fanboy... So what is your assertion here?

Nah I don't think that's his take. This was a harmless thread that was pretty much saying "Hey ya know what? Taylor had a pretty good season- especially for a guy who had never started before." He did. That is not up for debate. And then Ryan L Billz comes in and says "yeah sure, he's AMAZING. Let's put him in the hall of fame already," throws around the word "anoint" even though no one wants to anoint him anything other than PFF's breakout player of the year and then characterizes anyone defending him against his onslaught of negativity as a "fanboy." The only flaw in his game that Ryan has pointed out his relative lack of yards passing per game. But when you tell Ryan, "look he was 5th in the NFL in yards per attempt, he obviously wasn't asked to pass a ton and with his running ability, he throws the ball less than most QB's," he sends you a Whitney Houston video as a response.

I was obviously joking when I said I smoked salvia in the shoutbox. Honest question: is it possible to acknowledge a player had a pretty good season without being considered a fanboy? Am I a Ronald Darby fanboy for thinking he had a good rookie season?

Ha it's not like baseball. So when you are debating with your friends or in-laws or whoever back in Virginia and they paint you into a corner so much so that your argument looks outwardly foolish to everyone else, do you accuse them of being too emotional or question their drug intake too? Not a bad move. I like your style. "No Ryan, it was Lincoln who delivered the Emancipation Proclamation, you're wrong about this." "Hey try not to get too emotional buddy." "But Ryan, you just said it was Robert E. Lee. It was clearly Lincoln." "Hey have you been smoking that funny stuff again?"

Dude I had pretty much had check mate on you and this is your response? Calmer than you are dude. So if Tyrod Taylor had a horrible season in all other aforementioned categories but had a lot of passing yards per game, you would be defending him against all the naysayers? Cam Newton won the rookie of the year award as a rookie. This was Taylor's first season as a starter. If Taylor was considered a rookie this year, he wins the rookie of the year award going away.

No, more of a Ryan L Billz expose piece.

I think what we've determined from this thread is that wins-losses matters some; passer rating, QBR, TD:INT ratio, yards/attempt, completion percentage, pro bowls, offseason accolades, rushing yards, rushing TD's, etc. all mean nothing but yards passing per game is really the most important thing to consider.

Ehh they were still 8-8. What did he do to get us to the playoffs? Wow he was so amazing! Wake me up when he wins us a championship. Why don't we just annoint him the next Richard Sherman already. You guys are all just Darby fanboys. See how stupid it sounds when you say it about someone else?

5th in yards per attempt in the NFL. 14 career starts. So you are maintaining your stance that if EJ Manuel just had the season that Taylor had that you would be cherry picking stats to convince the rest of us to still be skeptical about him?

Few quiet halves huh? EJ had a few bad seasons and you were still optimistic about him. My issue with you is that you continually create this straw man who is "anointing" Taylor something or saying that he is "amazing." No one is saying that. He had a good season. I really haven't seen anyone be "over the top" about Taylor, much the same way I didn't see too many people who were "over the top" regarding Manuel. One of them is pretty good and the other one sucked. 95% of the people on here- and all Bills fans for that matter- are in both of those camps.

Of course Taylor was a guaranteed win against Jacksonville. Do you disagree with that? Jacksonville scored 34 points- we'll say 17 were gift-wrapped by you-know-who. So yes, I'm quite confident that Taylor could've scored 17 points in that game as we all know, he didn't turn the ball over this season. You are the first person I've ever encountered who has brought into question whether or not a healthy Taylor doesn't win the Jacksonville game. Jacksonville didn't even play well that day by their own standards. And as far as their offensive output, the Bills finished 12th in the league in scoring, averaging 24 points a game. But don't let that get in the way of a good story. And ya know what, EJ is totally relevant to this conversation. Very easy for you to tell me to stop bringing him up. But the fact of the matter is that you were a devoted, undying supporter of his even when it became kind of a fanatical viewpoint to have. Do you really expect the rest of us to believe that if EJ Manuel had the season that Taylor just had statistically, went 8-6, was named a Pro Bowl alternate, was named PFF's breakout player of the year and a bunch of Bills fans were on here saying, "hey EJ Manuel had a pretty good season," that you, Ryan L Billz, would be saying, "yeah you guys win, he's amazing. Wake me up when he does this or that?" Or do you think it's more likely that you would be saying, "see I told you so..." And also, yeah what did happen to Bills Fan 4 Life?

If you were a fan of the Knicks and someone was excited about Porzingis, would you say, "big deal, wake me up when he wins a championship?" What about the Sabres with O'Reilly? I could go on and on. Mike Trout? Wake me up when he wins the Angels a World Series. Point being, it takes a team. And our defense failed us this season. And as if, AS IF you'd be talking this way about EJ if he just had the season that Taylor had. Sure you would. That's what make you and your buddies' stance so amusing to the rest of us. So, not to beat a dead horse, but someone is a "Taylor homer" for saying, ya know what the guy had a pretty good season? What does that make you for prior to last season, making every excuse in the world for and still being unreasonably optimistic about a guy who hadn't even come close to having a pretty good season? Ya know, the vast majority of us are just objective football fans and base our judgments off of what we see on the field. You and a handful of other guys are the ones with an agenda when it comes to the QB position.