Every year at least one team GETS it.

[The Wiz]

Can there only be one?

If your talking about NFL teams, my guess is no. If your talking about immortals cutting off each others heads, yes. There can be only one.

[Mr. WEO]

There are some big differences between then and now. This time our HC is an offensive mind and not a defensive mind. Additionally, Gailey HAS made it to the playoffs as the HC of an NFL club. I trust Gailey's track record in developing average QB's and the fact that he is a genuine offensive mind who truly will utilize his talent effectively and not just say that he will.

Yeah, he went to the playoffs with the Cowboys. OK.

 

How did he do as OC in Pitt and Miami? His passing game was poor. He has no better talent to work with now. Maybe this will be his breakout year--we all hope so.

[Sisyphean Bills]

The Bills are in too big of a hole to climb out of and to fly straight to the top of the mountain all in one jump. While there are encouraging signs, not every issue will be solved with a snap of the fingers. This year will be about getting the new systems installed and evaluating which players fit them, and some won't. Next off-season (or maybe the next if there is a lockout), more gaps will hopefully be filled without the self-imposed backsliding of recent years.

[BillsVet]

There are some big differences between then and now. This time our HC is an offensive mind and not a defensive mind. Additionally, Gailey HAS made it to the playoffs as the HC of an NFL club. Greggo had not. Our new GM understands the physical attributes players must have and doesn't reach for a Parrish (and I really do hope Roscoe has a great year this year, but just sayin'). There ARE concerns with this team -- the QB position, the OL, but I trust Gailey's track record in developing average QB's and the fact that he is a genuine offensive mind who truly will utilize his talent effectively and not just say that he will. Truth is that NONE of us KNOWS what will happen this year. Just gotta play the games and find out.

 

Gregg Williams was a defensive minded coach who had just coordinated a top defense in Tennessee. Gailey hasn't coordinated a top offense since Miami in 2000-01. He was so adept that he wasn't pursued for another HC job and went into the college ranks where he was the DJ of the ACC. And this concept of Gailey getting a team into the playoffs, well, he was coaching a fading Dallas dynasty. Nothing he did there was dynamic or particularly noteworthy. For goodness sakes, they made the playoffs in 1999 with an 8-8 record.

 

The concerns are more than what you've listed. In addition to QB play and the OL, Buffalo doesn't know where it's going to get a pass rush from, and will likely feature a rookie NT. IMO, QB, LT, NT, and OLB in a 3-4 are the major positions on a football team. The Bills have major issues or question marks at all of them. That's not how to get into the playoffs.

 

For Buffalo to break even it'll take a lot of players producing unexpected results, which is extremely unlikely in a tough AFCE.

[Meathead]

if vince lombardi was the new coach installing all new systems i would predict six wins

 

so, four wins

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

Go back to 2001 & there were tons of posts similar to your's saying how bad things were under Wade & that Gregg was instilling discipline. This team is strikingly similar to that 2001 team: New GM , new coach. There's a new D system which will take time to develop, a lot of the team has been gutted in the move to youth & rebuilding, the QB position is the same as 2001: Edwards is the same as Johnson-an injury prone guy who has shown flashes, but loses more often than he wins and is odds on to finish the season & his Bills career on IR; Fitzpatrick is the same as Van Pelt-at best a career back up with some smarts who has survived, but hardly thrived when thrust into the starting job; Brohm is the same as Brown-a guy rejected by another team who the Bills picked up because they think he can be developed. The slight differences between Brohm & Brown are that Brown went to a different practice squad than the team that cut him and was picked up in August after signing with his own team's 53 man roster the prior November, and Brohm was originally picked higher. Tim Hasselbeck & David Dinkins filled the Levi Brown spot in 2001, with Hasselbeck cut before camp & Dinkins ending up on the practice squad, resulting in the signing of Travis Brown.

The following year the Bills made the big splash for Bledsoe, knowing they had nothing at QB, next year the Bills will draft a QB in the 1st round, knowing they have nothing at QB.

 

I guess you can find posts like this every year where folks look for positive signs things will be better, also many look for reasons things will be worse. I am not saying the Bills are superbowl bound, just that I think we are going to see a better team on the field this year with mostly the same cast of characters, which combined with player sentiment from my first post exposes how poor the past crew was.

 

If that is being too hopeful then what is the point of being a fan?

[PromoTheRobot]

The Bills are in too big of a hole to climb out of and to fly straight to the top of the mountain all in one jump. While there are encouraging signs, not every issue will be solved with a snap of the fingers. This year will be about getting the new systems installed and evaluating which players fit them, and some won't. Next off-season (or maybe the next if there is a lockout), more gaps will hopefully be filled without the self-imposed backsliding of recent years.

If we have been 0-16 the last 3 seasons I'd agree. Somehow I can't accept 7-9, 7-9, and 6-10 as Armageddon.

 

PTR

[eball]

As long as RW keeps winning, luck will always be the factor this team needs. The owner said it at the Nix hiring PC.

 

There are surprises each season, but depending on luck is not how team's are built or maintained. A lot of woulda, coulda shoulda's will have to bounce Buffalo's way for them to even sniff 6-8 wins. It's looking more like 2-4.

PLEASE accept a bet with me on your "2-4" win total prediction. That's completely absurd.

[Albany,n.y.]

I guess you can find posts like this every year where folks look for positive signs things will be better, also many look for reasons things will be worse. I am not saying the Bills are superbowl bound, just that I think we are going to see a better team on the field this year with mostly the same cast of characters, which combined with player sentiment from my first post exposes how poor the past crew was.

 

If that is being too hopeful then what is the point of being a fan?

 

Wanting to see my team win a Super Bowl is the best reason I can come up with. If you give me a choice of 2-14 this year, 6-10 next year and a Super Bowl championship in the 2012 season versus 8-8 this year, then 10-6 the next 2 years with an early exit in the playoffs each time, I'll gladly suffer 2-14 this year and miss the playoffs next year. The difference is I'd rather have the big reward later than a handful of small rewards now.

This is not the same group as last year. We are missing key veteran contributors such as Owens & Reed in the receiving corps, Schobel (if he retires), our best ST player in Wendling, Denney gone & Kelsay changing positions. Yes we have virtually the same offensive line & dreadful group of QBs, but that is hardly something to form an optimistic view of.

[theranter]

The poster is ABSOLUTELY correct, no ifs, ands, buts or stiplations. The Rams were forecast to come in last they won their

S.B. Same as the Pats winning their first.

Those 2 teams proved all bets are off when it comes to the superbowl...

 

GO BILLS!

[DrFishfinder]

You're about 2 years off. The most likely scenario: Edwards gets hurt and Brohm comes in and pulls a Gary Marangi, which demoralizes our D which gets us 13 losses.

However there is a silver lining to this cloud, the Bills get their franchise QB in the 2011 draft, he struggles a bit, just like Peyton Manning did as a rookie, then in 2012 when nobody is expecting it, our franchise QB pulls a Peyton Manning and our D (led by 15 picks from Byrd) gets us 13 wins. We go on to win the Feb 2013 Super Bowl & then repeat against some dome team in the cold Meadowlands Super Bowl in 2014. After his 3rd season, they're already talking HOF for our QB. Meanwhile back in the out of the NFL world Edwards is selling real estate and considering a run for congress and Brohm is coaching his high school football team.

You should sell the movie rights to this. Good stuff!

[San Jose Somron]

The poster is ABSOLUTELY correct, no ifs, ands, buts or stiplations. The Rams were forecast to come in last they won their

S.B. Same as the Pats winning their first.

Those 2 teams proved all bets are off when it comes to the superbowl...

 

GO BILLS!

 

The Bills will be fine. A QB will emerge..heck we have a one in four chance. Takes time for a QB to GET IT !!

 

The OL will be fine. At some point, young guys learn and take it to the next level. Bell will develop, Levitre and Wood are solide. Conditioning, strength, technic..................I for one can't wait for the season. Go Bills.

[Sisyphean Bills]

If we have been 0-16 the last 3 seasons I'd agree. Somehow I can't accept 7-9, 7-9, and 6-10 as Armageddon.

Melodramatic much? Armageddon ...

 

The fact is that the Bills are going in a totally new direction in all phases. What the records under Jauron were doesn't portend a damn thing about the new direction and the results it will yield ultimately.

 

To dumb it down to but one example: there is no reason whatsoever to assume Chris Kelsay is going to be a great OLB in the 3-4 in the NFL. Yet, there it is.

[stuckincincy]

Not what you want to hear but I think Detroit has the best chance to be that team.

 

Not a bad pick IMO.

[sllib olaffub]

It's a characteristic of human nature to - or, at least it is ingrained in us culturally - that we are what we were yesterday. To some extent that is true, yet, to a large extent it is our own idea of our limitations that create our limitations. The belief that the Bills will be bad this year because we've been so bad - jokingly so of late - is quite a bit like that. I don't care if I'm proven wrong by the Bills losing a lot this year - I expect them to be good, and this is why: We lost a lot of close games, point wise, last year, and in a sense were close to making the playoffs as a wildcard. We were terrible as a team, though, and I wouldn't have wanted us to make the playoffs because we just didn't have what it took to win - our team didn't believe they could. A lot of guys had fight in them, it just seemed like they knew they were fighting against all odds to win, rather than believing they should win. With a new coach, a bunch of new young players, new schemes - a new culture and mentality, coupled with good game planning and good teaching/coaching, and our team is good enough to compete. I think if our O-line can hold up in the passing game then we have enough speed on offense to light some teams up, not unlike the surprising Rams of a decade ago. I really think if our O-line holds up our QB (T. Edwards) will play and can play good enough to beat a lot of teams.

[thewildrabbit]

Who would have predicted the Rams would win the Super Bowl the year when Kurt Warner came out of the woodwork?

 

Who would have thought that the Jets would reach the AFC championship last year?

 

Who expected the Seahawks to go the superbowl a few years back?

 

 

Ok. I know that we look like a team that is doomed, but EVERY year a team or two just for some reason shoots out of the gate(broncos last year), and does something special. Name one single year where a team does not come out of nowhere and I'll be impressed.

 

It must be our year.

It's simply our turn.

 

The most likely scenerio:

Edwards gets hurt week one when he breaks a nail and Brohm comes in and pulls a Joe Flacco, and our D(led by 15 pics from Byrd) get's us 13 wins.

ya know your right, that year I watched the 1999 Rams in pre-season before Kurt Warner and the team looked horrid once Trent Green went down. I had them winning 2 games all year and then Warner steps in and...wow!

 

Usually it takes a few years to build up a team so most know when it will happen.

 

 

By pulling a Joe Flacco, do you mean like the AFC Wildcard game last year where he went 4 of 10 for 34 yards and no TD's and Ray Rice and a strong defense won the game for the Ravens?

[thewildrabbit]

Go back to 2001 & there were tons of posts similar to your's saying how bad things were under Wade & that Gregg was instilling discipline. This team is strikingly similar to that 2001 team: New GM , new coach. There's a new D system which will take time to develop, a lot of the team has been gutted in the move to youth & rebuilding, the QB position is the same as 2001: Edwards is the same as Johnson-an injury prone guy who has shown flashes, but loses more often than he wins and is odds on to finish the season & his Bills career on IR; Fitzpatrick is the same as Van Pelt-at best a career back up with some smarts who has survived, but hardly thrived when thrust into the starting job; Brohm is the same as Brown-a guy rejected by another team who the Bills picked up because they think he can be developed. The slight differences between Brohm & Brown are that Brown went to a different practice squad than the team that cut him and was picked up in August after signing with his own team's 53 man roster the prior November, and Brohm was originally picked higher. Tim Hasselbeck & David Dinkins filled the Levi Brown spot in 2001, with Hasselbeck cut before camp & Dinkins ending up on the practice squad, resulting in the signing of Travis Brown.

The following year the Bills made the big splash for Bledsoe, knowing they had nothing at QB, next year the Bills will draft a QB in the 1st round, knowing they have nothing at QB.

The Bills in 1999 were a playoff team and only the cheat by Tenn and the so called "music city miricle" kept them from another SB. At the end of the 99 season the Bill released Thurman Thomas-Bruce Smith-Andre Reed.

 

John Butler was fired in December 1999 and In 2000 the team went to brain-fart syndrome and drafted Eric Flowers with the #1 pick, the entire draft that year amazingly bad. Wade Phillips still had a pretty decent team Pat Williams-Ted Washington- Phil Hansen- the reason they went 8-8 is beacuse Phillips was determined to have Rob Johnson play over Doug Flutie.

 

Interesting read about how Butler was fired by Ralph Wilson and why. Anyway, whoever was responsible for that 2000 draft should have been hung up by his nads

 

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/inside_ga...s_insider_1220/

[mpl6876]

Same old crap I have been hearing for 10 years and counting. Wait til next year... You guys are pathetic and so is the Bills organization.

 

Broken hearted Bills fan

[Mickey]

Who would have predicted the Rams would win the Super Bowl the year when Kurt Warner came out of the woodwork?

 

Who would have thought that the Jets would reach the AFC championship last year?

 

Who expected the Seahawks to go the superbowl a few years back?

 

 

Ok. I know that we look like a team that is doomed, but EVERY year a team or two just for some reason shoots out of the gate(broncos last year), and does something special. Name one single year where a team does not come out of nowhere and I'll be impressed.

 

It must be our year.

It's simply our turn.

 

The most likely scenerio:

Edwards gets hurt week one when he breaks a nail and Brohm comes in and pulls a Joe Flacco, and our D(led by 15 pics from Byrd) get's us 13 wins.

 

The swan song of the truly desperate.

[Orton's Arm]

You're about 2 years off. The most likely scenario: Edwards gets hurt and Brohm comes in and pulls a Gary Marangi, which demoralizes our D which gets us 13 losses.

However there is a silver lining to this cloud, the Bills get their franchise QB in the 2011 draft, he struggles a bit, just like Peyton Manning did as a rookie, then in 2012 when nobody is expecting it, our franchise QB pulls a Peyton Manning and our D (led by 15 picks from Byrd) gets us 13 wins. We go on to win the Feb 2013 Super Bowl & then repeat against some dome team in the cold Meadowlands Super Bowl in 2014. After his 3rd season, they're already talking HOF for our QB. Meanwhile back in the out of the NFL world Edwards is selling real estate and considering a run for congress and Brohm is coaching his high school football team.

I agree with your overall thought process. This team has too many holes to be rebuilt in a single year. Also, and as you pointed out, the Bills will almost certainly need to draft a QB in the first round of 2011. If losing a few extra games in 2010 means the difference between good draft position/getting the right guy and less good draft position/a lesser QB, then I'll willingly pay that price in a heartbeat.

 

A GM should always have the approach of, "What do I need to do to build my team into a Super Bowl winner?" Right now the Bills are a number of steps away from having that kind of Super Bowl winning team. But if they can find an elite QB in the 2011 draft, and follow that up with a very solid LT, they'll be a lot closer to being that Super Bowl team than they are now.