thurst44

I love it when we are defiant. I love it less when we absorb the criticism and become closer to self-loathing :). Hopefully Sunday brings back the full defiance!

Honest question: why is it that we put every negative prediction gets a topic on the main page, while this relatively positive prediction from the premier analytics site is tucked into the eleventh page of comments on a thread about a site picking us as the worst team in football?

I'd be more gloom and doom if there weren't a lot of national media convinced we were tanking last year. That said, this article makes good points about what needs to happen -- the third one may be the biggest key, as if they can generate a pass rush, the defense could be dominant to keep us in games enough even if NP is only slightly exceeding low expectations.

Actually, 538's did not -- they put us middle-of-the-pack at 8-8 with a 2% chance of winning the Super Bowl. Also, maybe it's just the turn of phrase (and this is an insane level of nitpicking, yet here i go...), but the QBs actually have a little over 1 full game collectively as Peterman played the first half of the San Diego debacle, stood tall in the snow game until the 3rd quarter, and did mop up duty in a couple games (although one was a playoff game). 5-11 is reasonable, but I feel at the low end. My head says 7-9, while my heart says 9-7.

Question: who would you have added? Also, during FA, we supposedly did not know Richie was gone (but he was 35, it should be on their mind)? Norwell was a pretty good player, but would be costly (maybe worth it though)? Anyone else you would have added? Do you know that you wouldn't be criticizing them? I played that Fanspeak GM game quite a few time, and I'm no expert, but my research showed most of the available guards and centers were not much better than Bodine level.

Well, we don't know truly what happened between Ngakoue and Incognito, but that could have been an early sign.

I dunno, seems like a chicken and egg thing there. He may have already been exhibit some odd behavior before they tried to re-negotiate his contract. While maybe that act set off his fragile psyche, but I have a feeling something would have done it.

9/19, 160 yds, 2 TD, 1 INT

Zay Jones - he's got the talent, just has to get/keep his head together. He looked good catching balls in traffic when he didn't have to think about it. However, I suspect he'll look better with Allen and his zip arm (whereas Benjamin looks as if he might fare better with Peterman). Shaq Lawson - he seemed to respond better with his job on the line in camp and pre-season. He may not get a lot of sacks, but he will be integral to containment and the run defense surprising most people here. Tremaine Edmunds - OK, he might not qualify, but I predict he will be in the ROTY conversation by the end of the year. My biggest limb - John Miller - other than his play in year two, I have little to back this up than a feeling, but if the o-line does somehow come together and does not suck, he is our best bet (other than Dawkins who will probably be solid). If not, then Wyatt Teller will step in at some point this year.

24-7 Bills -- Ravens come in overconfident, while Bills play with a chip on their shoulders. Offensive line somehow gets it together against all logic, because that happens sometimes in football. Your heart and head are only a touchdown apart. May your heart be the victor!

Hopefully the Ravens are feeling the same way and come in overconfident off of a meaningless pre-season sweep. They are not that great a team and are coming off choking in their last game. They deserve to be favored, but this is not an automatic blowout; it could wind up that way, but I suspect the Bills will surprise a lot of people tomorrow (as long as Peterman does not breakdown).

This was an ESPN ranking, not 538. Not all of sports reporting is based on metrics, and I doubt these rankings are. Based on past metrics, I don't think we would come out 32 for defense. These are mostly written for provocation and in any case I walked right into it. We'll see how the season goes.

Da Bears got destroyed in this game, which proves to me that 1985 team was one of the worst of all time!!!: https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/198512020mia.htm In fairness, I'm pretty sure they had clinched, but still feel that the last 6 games of the season are more indicative of who they were than the 3-game collapse.

I'll grant you the offense doesn't inspire much hope at this time. The WR corps could surprise (but even that could be hampered if Peterman struggles, and honestly, I have a rough time having confidence there). Benjamin shows flashes of greatness and has been around 1000 yards when healthy. Zay Jones has been a total mess so far in his pro career, but he has talent and sometimes the light just turns on; he looked very good when he didn't have to think about the pass, which makes me think it's the yips. Kerley is OK as a third receiver, but, yeah, pretty uninspiring. The line....I don't even know. Dawkins is good, and Maybe Teller gets in there, Miller wises up, but I've got very little positive there. I don't know if there's a good offensive line if you combined the AFC East units. Shady's 1000 yards until he's not. I have no problem with any publication (or even fan) saying we might have the 32nd offense. It's hard to argue, save to say that we don't truly know until we get on the field. My opinion: this season will be a bit of a slog, may start 2-6 even (but could see us going 6-2 or 7-1 on the back 8), the offense will be brutal but may show flashes, and the D will keep us in games. But we'll see. I do like the direction the team is going in. Fair enough. I still don't get trolling our own players as fandom, but that's your right and prerogative.

Look, I actually am on record as hating the Allen pick. I've liked a lot of what I've seen since, so I'm tentatively on board, and even a bit excited. However, what's the point as a fan of a team of trolling your future QB? Shouldn't we be supporting him and hoping he succeeds (even if you think it's highly unlikely). What's your endgame here? I despised Rob Johnson (and loved flutie since his bc days), but can't imagine I would have made my persona a picture of him with bust on his jersey.

Well, first off, the dead cap is part of the plan, and there's only 2 next year and it gives us almost 80 next year. I disagree heartily on TE and DL. We have a middle-of-the-pack tight end by almost every metric and there's nothing particularly wrong with his back-ups. Our defensive line mostly played well last year and let's see what they do in the season. I still like the Star move, but time will tell.

That the defense is going to be the worst is the premise of this post. You didn't say it, but ESPN did. Why not give them the benefit of the doubt? We're fans...why take an antagonistic approach? Maybe we should hope they do well (since other than cheering, we have very little influence) I'm also not buying the "bad football team"...we are what our record said we were and I still don't get how so few people give this team credit for pulling out of one of the worst three-game nosedives a team has ever had and instead of folding up, winning against every team that wasn't New England to make the playoffs. We were a "middling team" which may have become worse in the off-season (i still like the draft, a maturing Tre, and think the additions of Star and Murphy will still pay off, but, yes, we got killed on the o-line, and it's hard to buy Peterman will be better than Tyrod, but receivers a wash and Shady's potential decline could be balanced by better back-ups), but are on an upward trajectory.

Edmunds' instinct has actually improved every pre-season game -- and that's one of the few things that actually matter in the pre-season games. You're both insulting Preston Brown and calling him a big loss at the same time?!?! I'm not "sold" on Murphy or Star having an impact, but I'm not going to dismiss them before a single game that matters is played. It's actually a logical plan (get a big guy so the QB can't step up and take a chance on a rising pass rusher), but we haven't seen it truly work yet. But we also haven't seen them play a real game yet. Gaines was a role-player. I'll hold off on calling Davis old until the season starts. The offense could be brutal, but the defense the worst in the league just seems ridiculous.

See, I don't agree that we are bad in the trenches on both sides just b/c of pre-season, and even then we stopped the run in two of the three games which were not all backups. Let's let the games play, but calling a defense with Hyde, White, Poyer, Edmunds, Williams, and Hughes the worst in the league b/c of pre-season games seems a huge stretch.

Maybe, but most people said the same thing last year. Also, pre-season is decidedly not regular season, just ask the world champion 2008 Detroit Lions and 2018 Cleveland Browns. I just don't see this as the terrible team many people here and around the country do.

True. Lazy journalisming annoys me though, and the fact that it happens almost every year and yet they keep on doing it is tiresome. They're ESPN for crying out loud -- they're supposed to be the gold standard (key word: supposed).

It's this weird national hysteria that seems to happen every year where the national prognosticators seem to grab hold of the Bills as the worst team in football and play a bizarre game of who-can-top-this-&*(_ to say how awful this team will be. And we never are, but that doesn't stop them. This one baffles me though. Our defense was one of the top defenses save for that three game stretch. Is the loss of Preston Brown that serious? I'll contend that this defense will likely be one of the better in this league (although it might be obscured by being on the field a lot)

I agree there's no sign Glenn "wanted out." However, how is it an apologist for a "bad move." Dawkins has played well and his trade may have got us our franchise QB. It may well be a "bad move," but calling it that now is premature.

Except for the fact he IS. The Bills hardly "let Wood go." He retired b/c of a life-threatening injury. They didn't really "let" the tweeter up there go either -- seems more like he just lost his marbles. They traded Cordy (who accounted for 0% of those Pro Bowl appearances, btw) b/c Dawkins played well enough to take his LT spot and Cordy had trouble ever getting on the field.

On the plus side, if you have a Webb III, you don't have to change the "III" Funnily enough, I'm wearing a 14 jersey while typing this (but have been too lazy to change it from Watkins)...