Dispelling the The Bills don't have good enough players argument

[Jerry Jabber]

That's why it completely stupid to jsut discontinue that the Bilsl will be terrible this year. It's so much a reflection on the Bills but rather the league in general. There are so few great teams and the league is mostly filled with average. The Jets very easily should have been a 7-9 or 8-8 team if the Colts and Bengals played their starters yet the almost go to the SB with some of the worst QB play ever.

 

Obviously as Bills fans, we have to expect the worst. But if the Bills did sneak into the playoffs (not holding my breath), it really won't be that surprising. This division is very overrated.

 

[Gabe Northern]

You are perpetuating a myth. Stop it. The Bills only appeared to be competitive because Dick Jauron played not to lose.

 

He fielded a fast, undersized defense that would not give up the big play and keep the team in the game through a bend but don't break zone philosophy.

 

This is why the games were close and generally resulted in a 4th quarter breakout for our opponents as our tired, undersized defense finally broke.

 

"Jauron ball" is all about losing gracefully,

 

I am sick of people going negative on Jauron and all he stands for, but then turning around and using the fact that games were close to make the case that our team ain't so bad.

[RayFinkle]

I was reading this article and came across the following:

 

Granted, the Bills offense line and quarterbacks did not play well last year, but the Bills were tied or led in the 4th quarter 14 games out of 16. That’s not to say the Bills could have been 14-2 last season, but what that says it that there is talent on the Bills roster.

 

When you take into consideration the revolving door that was our OL and the number of players we had on IR this is an absolutely INSANE statistic. If you need an argument for a rapid turn around look no further. This article is definitely worth a read http://www.realfootball365.com/articles/bills/14881

When you take into consideration that this article is posting fiction as fact, it makes the Bills sound better. They were in NO way, shape or form, leading or tied in 14 of 16 games in the 4th.

[LGB]

Seems to me that going into the 4th tied or ahead that many times and winding up doing as poorly as they did points to conditioning (physical AND mental) as much as anything. Maybe the new regime will toughen these guys up. From what has been reported, things look to be going in that direction.

 

If nothing else, considering the similarity in roster from last year to this year, we'll get a better indication of how much coaching plays a role in a team's success!

Not having DJ is worth at least two wins if the new staff plays to win and not to lose. Getting a team to always play at their full potential and not to the level of their opponent should be the goal of every coaching staff and is what has been lacking for the Buffalo Bills for the last decade.

[shoretalk]

That's why you draft CJ Spiller. Additionally, McKelvin is a gamebreaker so his return should help as well.

 

The Bills still need more help. But as bad as you think the Bills are, they are lot closer to the middle of the pack. And once you're in the middle, who knows what can happen.

With a new offensive philosophy and willingness to throw the ball downfield ... Evans is a gamebreaker and we might have another one in Easley ... plus Jackson and Nelson give us both an RB and TE who will get us positive yards.

 

Throw a coach who is willing to be responsible for the offense while instilling a toughness to his team physically and mentally and a training staff that might actually get players in shape so we don't rank #1 in IR placements ... we could very well win the squeakers ... and I don't think those perceived 'game breakers' mean all that much when you consider the revolving playoff door each season ... if the specific 'gamebreakers' were so essential then you would have the same Super Bowl winner season after season ...

 

GO BILLS!

[Kelly the Dog]

Gailey apparently told the team, "You don't find a way to win, you make a way to win." Pretty refreshing, huh? I like this old southern coot.

[Geno Smith's Arm]

One "special" player in the front seven that can cause some havoc would make the players around him alot better. Two could could make this a top defense (of course finding them is easier said than done).

 

On offense they need a a top flight QB and an above average LT and they would be pretty good. The LT should be alot easier to find than the QB though. And a good QB can stay around for a decade and keep the team competitve (and at least somewhat enjoyable to watch).

 

There are many teams in the same boat.

[shoretalk]

When you take into consideration that this article is posting fiction as fact, it makes the Bills sound better. They were in NO way, shape or form, leading or tied in 14 of 16 games in the 4th.

 

Ok, I had to look this one up ... at the end of the THIRD QUARTER in the 2009 season the Bills were trailing in only 5 of the games they eventually lost and one they won. They were winning or tied in the other 10 games.

 

Here's the break out of END OF THIRD QUARTER SCORES and final scores from last season

1. New England -> Bills 13 - Patriots 10 * FINAL Patriots 25 - Bills 24 L

2. Tampa Bay -> Bills 20 - Buc's 14 * FINAL Bills 33 - Tampa 20 W

3. New Orleans -> Bills 7 - Saints 10 * FINAL New Orleans 27 - Bills 7 L

4. Miami -> Bills 3 - Fish 31 * FINAL Miami 38 - Bills 10 L

5. Cleveland -> Bills 3- Cleveland 3 * FINAL Cleveland 6 - Bills 3 L

6. NY Jets -> Bills 13- Jets 13 * FINAL Bills 16 - Jets 13 W

7. Carolina -> Bills 7 - Carolina 2 * FINAL Bills 20 - Carolina 9 W

8. Houston -> Bills 10 - Houston 9 * FINAL Houston 31 - Bills 10 L

9. Tennesee -> Bills 17 - Titans 17 * FINAL Tennesee 41 - Bills 17 L

10. Jacksonville -> Bills 15 - Jax 10 * FINAL Jacksonville 18 - Bills 15 L

11. Miami -> Bills 7 - Dolphins 14 * FINAL Bills 31 - FISH 14 W * Behind at end of 3rd quarter but come back to win.

12. NY Jets -> Bills 10 - Jets 16 * FINAL NY Jets 19 - Bills 13 L

13. Kansas City -> Bills 13 - Chiefs 10 * FINAL Bills 16 - KC 10 W

14. New England -> Bills 3 - Pats 17 * FINAL NE 17 - Bills 10 L

15. Atlanta -> Bills 3 - Falcons 24 * FINAL Atlanta 31 - Bills 3 L

16. Indianapolis -> Bills 30 - Colts 7 * FINAL Bills 30 - Colts 7 W

 

So do you think maybe conditioning or coaching (trying not to lose rather than putting games away) might have been a reason for those 5 losses where they were winning or tied going into the fourth quarter? They scored 84 points in the 4th quarter over 16 games or 5 1/4 point per game.

 

So for the naysayers who think we are so far away ... I just think with a coaching staff dedicated to winning and a strength and traning team who know what they are doing ... the Bills just might have the endurance to play four quarters and the attitude to win and score points from the start to finish ... I think the Bills are going to go for the juglar whenever they can.

 

It might not be 14 of the games but to be ahead or tied in half the games they lost tells me that they were a better team than many on the board want to give them credit for.

 

http://www.nfl.com/teams/schedule?team=BUF...;seasonType=REG

[Kelly the Dog]

Ok, I had to look this one up ... at the end of the THIRD QUARTER in the 2009 season the Bills were trailing in only 5 of the games they eventually lost and one they won. They were winning in the other 10 games.

 

Here's the break out of END OF THIRD QUARTER SCORES and final scores from last season

1. New England -> Bills 13 - Patriots 10 * FINAL Patriots 25 - Bills 24 L

2. Tampa Bay -> Bills 20 - Buc's 14 * FINAL Bills 33 - Tampa 20 W

3. New Orleans -> Bills 7 - Saints 10 * FINAL New Orleans 27 - Bills 7 L

4. Miami -> Bills 3 - Fish 31 * FINAL Miami 38 - Bills 10 L

5. Cleveland -> Bills 3- Cleveland 3 * FINAL Cleveland 6 - Bills 3 L

6. NY Jets -> Bills 13- Jets 13 * FINAL Bills 16 - Jets 13 W

7. Carolina -> Bills 7 - Carolina 2 * FINAL Bills 20 - Carolina 9 W

8. Houston -> Bills 10 - Houston 9 * FINAL Houston 31 - Bills 10 L

9. Tennesee -> Bills 17 - Titans 17 * FINAL Tennesee 41 - Bills 17 L

10. Jacksonville -> Bills 15 - Jax 10 * FINAL Jacksonville 18 - Bills 15 L

11. Miami -> Bills 7 - Dolphins 14 * FINAL Bills 31 - FISH 14 W * Behind at end of 3rd quarter but come back to win.

12. NY Jets -> Bills 10 - Jets 16 * FINAL NY Jets 19 - Bills 13 L

13. Kansas City -> Bills 13 - Chiefs 10 * FINAL Bills 16 - KC 10 W

14. New England -> Bills 3 - Pats 17 * FINAL NE 17 - Bills 10 L

15. Atlanta -> Bills 3 - Falcons 24 * FINAL Atlanta 31 - Bills 3 L

16. Indianapolis -> Bills 30 - Colts 7 * FINAL Bills 30 - Colts 7 W

 

So do you think maybe conditioning or coaching (trying not to lose rather than putting games away) might have been a reason for those 5 losses where they were winning or tied going into the fourth quarter? They scored 84 points in the 4th quarter over 16 games or 5 1/4 point per game.

 

So for the naysayers who think we are so far away ... I just think with a coaching staff dedicated to winning and a strength and traning team who know what they are doing ... the Bills just might have the endurance to play four quarters and the attitude to win and score points from the start to finish ... I think the Bills are going to go for the juglar whenever they can.

 

It might not be 14 of the games but to be ahead or tied in half the games they lost tells me that they were a better team than many on the board want to give them credit for.

 

http://www.nfl.com/teams/schedule?team=BUF...;seasonType=REG

You would have to look and see if in 2-3 of the games they were trailing going into the 4th whether they tied it up or went ahead sometime in the fourth before ultimately losing. It's possible, therefore, for them to be either tied or ahead in the 4th in 14 of the 16.

[BillsVet]

Not having DJ is worth at least two wins if the new staff plays to win and not to lose. Getting a team to always play at their full potential and not to the level of their opponent should be the goal of every coaching staff and is what has been lacking for the Buffalo Bills for the last decade.

 

It's not hard to look good when Dick Jauron is your predecessor at HC. Of course Gailey appears competent, he's being compared to one of the most mediocre coaches in recent NFL history. This is a HC who hasn't had much NFL success in about a decade.

 

Playing to potential sounds really nice, but this team is loaded with youth. When you rely on rookies and 2nd year players, there's a learning curve and growing pains. By my count, 6 positions on offense and 4 on offense feature rooks or sophomores who'll start or be counted to contribute. Gailey can't coach all those guys up in one off-season no matter how many fans here want to re-write his resume.

[Bill from NYC]

It's not hard to look good when Dick Jauron is your predecessor at HC. Of course Gailey appears competent, he's being compared to one of the most mediocre coaches in recent NFL history.

 

Full of compliments today?

[BillsVet]

Full of compliments today?

 

I am. Did you know that before Bill Belichick had Tom Brady, his career coaching record was remarkably similar to Dick Jauron's after his last 5 NFL seasons in? If only Buffalo could have given bad luck Dick better players. Oh, I forgot DJ got to pick the players too! And to think, Ralph Wilson felt the need to re-sign DJ.

[Wizard]

Thanks for the stat. If the Bills led or were tied in 14/16 games, then there are a few obvious reasons why the Bills couldn't hold-on or close out games.

 

#1. Lack of Conditioning (cardio and weight room strength tells you a lot about a team's staff and the players on the roster according to performance in the fourth quarter

 

#2. Jauron's "Play Not to Lose" Philosophy (this is honestly why Buffalo lost so many in the 4th quarter. Hopefully Gailey believes in calculated gambling also known as "play to win."

 

#3. No Finishers- This is a combination of players and coaches that don't have the talent to "close" a game. In basketball, Michael Jordan knew how and Kobe Bryant knows how to finish. In football, Joe Montana and John Elway knew how to finish. Buffalo failed because there isn't a go-to-finisher. Hopefully Gailey's new style will get Spiller that 80 yard touchdown in the 4th quarter and get the defense to make 3 and out stops in the 4th quarter.

 

#4. Execution/Adjustments-Once a team learns "how you're playing" great teams know how to still execute despite the opposing team knowing what is going on or make 2nd half adjustments. This speaks to a lack of coaching skill and player ability to adapt to in-game situations.

 

John Wooden was a master at these traits. And, these were the traits that got the Saints the Super Bowl last year (execution/adjustments, having finishers (Brees), play to win (onside kick), and conditioning (cardio and weight room training must be at least above average).

 

This is why The Bills were tied or led in the 4th quarter 14 games out of 16 and only were able to pull off six (6) wins.

[mpl6876]

The Bills are still not going to be good. Our D is completely overhauled from last year and they are the ones who kept us in those games. Our front 7 was bad in 09, but we are going to be relying on a lot of later round rookies and out-of-position veterans when we are playing the 34. Our O has to improve simply because they cant get worse, and same could be said about the coaching and Run D, but that doesn tmean they will be good.

 

With the improvements our division has made I still dont see us sniffing 3rd place in the AFC East. The Jets are like a stacked fantasy team, the Dolphins added 2 PB caliber guys on O and D, and the Pats have had our number for 8+ years now. The Jets/Phish we hindered by young QBs, so they should mprove with those young guys.

 

I could see 1 or 2 wins in our division, which would leave us in last place.

 

 

Great post. I am tired of hearing all you fans saying that we are going to be good this year and maybe make the playoffs or be 9-7. All I have to say to you guys is "STOP LEAVING IN FANTASYLAND." This team is lucky to win 5 games this year.

[thewildrabbit]

I was reading this article and came across the following:

 

Granted, the Bills offense line and quarterbacks did not play well last year, but the Bills were tied or led in the 4th quarter 14 games out of 16. That's not to say the Bills could have been 14-2 last season, but what that says it that there is talent on the Bills roster.

 

When you take into consideration the revolving door that was our OL and the number of players we had on IR this is an absolutely INSANE statistic. If you need an argument for a rapid turn around look no further. This article is definitely worth a read http://www.realfootball365.com/articles/bills/14881

Like Michael Lombardi of the NFL network has stated, "the Bills are tough to play and easy to beat" Jaurons Teams were out coached, out game planned and faced better schemes and players for the most part. Look at the teams the Bills beat, Buc's-Jets-Panthers-Dolphins-Chiefs-Colts.

 

Two of those teams were clearly worse then the Bills in many areas Buc's-Chiefs. The Jets, Dolphins and Panthers allowed their QB's to throw countless INT's while their running game was owning Buffalo. Miami had Chad Henne starting as Pennington was injured, he threw 3 picks while Rickey W threw another. Sanchez learned about the horrid weather conditions in NY and threw 5 ints, Jake D played like an Idiot and the Panthers let him continue to turn the ball over.

 

The Colts game was a gimmie as they pulled Payton Manning at 1/2 time.

 

I'd like to point out that the Bills players did play much better once Jauron was fired and Perry Fewell replaced him. Heck,even the run defense even got better under Fewell.

 

 

In 09 Buffalo's O line looked about as bad as I've ever seen a Bills line play and the new GM / coaching regime only replaced the RT with a vet scrub from Oakland. The new coaching staff is filled with a bunch of inexperienced college coaches and assistants, very few veteran experienced NFL coaches.

 

Brand new offensive and defensive schemes being taught by coaches that themselves are learning on the job doesn't give me much hope that this team can turn it around in one or two years.

[Thurman#1]

It might not be 14 of the games but to be ahead or tied in half the games they lost tells me that they were a better team than many on the board want to give them credit for.

 

 

 

It tells me they were a bunch of losers.

 

And being ahead or tied at some time in ten games in the fourth quarter is probably about average for teams as bad as ours. Bad teams find a way to lose. Good teams find a way to win.

 

Were conditioning and coaching maybe a part of this problem? Sure. The whole system was broken and you can lay part of the blame almost everywhere.

 

But does this argument in some way disprove that the Bills don't have good enough players? Um, no. Not even close.

[Thurman#1]

This is why The Bills were tied or led in the 4th quarter 14 games out of 16 and only were able to pull off six (6) wins.

 

 

 

Again, that abomination of an article was completely wrong about that stat. Completely wrong.

[Bill from NYC]

IMO, that particular statistic speaks more to Jauron's dedication to playing not to lose. Playing the Bills has often been like fighting an opponent who refuses to engage. Defensively they hoped to make the opponent execute long drives in hope that they would turn the ball over while offensively they played not to make the big mistake. Objective was to have results like they achieved versus the Jets and Panthers last year. Most teams weren't as accomondating. In the end though, somebody has to throw some punches and that's why teams were ususally content to wait until late to be aggressive and take charge of games.

 

On the whole though, the roster strength is depth. They haven't been able to translate early draft picks into franchise players, but the sheer number of high picks and the ample opportunity provided by all of the meaningless games and poor conditioning program(injuries) opened doors for a lot of players like Bryan Scott and George Wilson, who are now good enough to start on a lot of teams but will likely be backups in Buffalo. The Bills may have the most second string quality players in the NFL, unfortunately quite a few of them will be starters.

 

In addition, in great part due to a failure to develop and keep a lot of young veteran players in recent seasons, the roster is heavily shifted toward young players so t's entirely possible that a half dozen or more players could break out this year. If so the same roster is going to look a whole lot better in December than it does now.

 

I agree 100%. There is not one point to argue in this post.

[bmur66]

I heard it said that you could not tell whether the Bills won or lost in the locker room after a game last year. That speaks volumes to me.

[dave mcbride]

IMO, that particular statistic speaks more to Jauron's dedication to playing not to lose. Playing the Bills has often been like fighting an opponent who refuses to engage. Defensively they hoped to make the opponent execute long drives in hope that they would turn the ball over while offensively they played not to make the big mistake. Objective was to have results like they achieved versus the Jets and Panthers last year. Most teams weren't as accomondating. In the end though, somebody has to throw some punches and that's why teams were ususally content to wait until late to be aggressive and take charge of games.

 

On the whole though, the roster strength is depth. They haven't been able to translate early draft picks into franchise players, but the sheer number of high picks and the ample opportunity provided by all of the meaningless games and poor conditioning program(injuries) opened doors for a lot of players like Bryan Scott and George Wilson, who are now good enough to start on a lot of teams but will likely be backups in Buffalo. The Bills may have the most second string quality players in the NFL, unfortunately quite a few of them will be starters.

 

In addition, in great part due to a failure to develop and keep a lot of young veteran players in recent seasons, the roster is heavily shifted toward young players so t's entirely possible that a half dozen or more players could break out this year. If so the same roster is going to look a whole lot better in December than it does now.

Spot on.