ESPN Ultimate NFL rankings

[Buffalonian-at-Heart]

Totally unprofessional post.

 

Yes you're right, I lack the couth you've shown to everyone.

[mpl6876]

"Finally, some common sense thinking! Great post."

 

 

 

Where is the thank you in your post?

 

It is "implied."

[mpl6876]

Yes you're right, I lack the couth you've shown to everyone.

 

Did you listen to the NFL network link I post regarding the Bills and Jamie Dukes and Charles Daivs?

 

What did they say that is so out of line that you would totlally disregard what Dukes says?

 

Still waiting for a legitimate reply instead of "slinging insults."

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

Every draft by every team is questionable. The whole point of a new beginning is the opportunity it brings. The fact that you're already feeling like the new regime is just in another long list of failures, is not only stupid, but irresponsible. I'm not sure why guys like you follow the team. You have over 25,000 posts and rank 3rd most, but yet you hate where this team is headed. What is the point? It's like you're your own problem.

 

I want the team to win. I want them to succeed, but the facts are this:

 

1) We don't have a QB. If you can honestly say that Edwards/Fitz/Brohm are worthy NFL starters, then I would say that you have an issue that's unresolvable.

 

2) Chan Gailey hasn't done anything worthwhile as a HC. Yes, he's been an excellent OC. I'm hoping he can work a miracle and get the talentless offense to do something, but really, a coach can only do what his talent allows and, well, the offense still is lacking in talent.

 

3) The two factors that determine team success in the NFL are QB and coaching. We know the QBs are putrid, and the coaching is mediocre. Ergo, it stands to reason this season will be a struggle at best. Let's just hope it's bad enough to FINALLY address the QB position.

[disco]

The source I'm about to use is going to be flamed as an idiot, and I can't argue with that, but citing a bad source doesn't mean the point is wrong. It just means I didn't think of it myself.

 

I often eat lunch in my car, spending the hour flipping between Jim Rome and Colin Cowherd to fill the silence. Cowherd frequently rants about the idea that national sports analysts only have to follow the teams that are popularly covered on national broadcasts. In baseball they need to know the Yankees, Red Sox, and a few more teams. In basketball its the Lakers, Celtics, Cavaliers, etc. In the NFL, its the Cowboys, Giants, Patriots, Colts, etc. They prepare to talk about these teams for 75% of their total sports coverage. They don't equally prepare to talk about the rest of the teams that don't produce national headline stories.

 

I don't personally know every analyst that was polled for this ranking, but I'd be surprised if they all defied this theory.

 

There are regional sportswriters and analysts who cover the rest of the teams in more detail, but it is not the norm for an analyst to spends an equal amount of time looking at all 32 NFL teams. If they did, it would be very tough to have a better grasp of a low-media team than a well-studied fan of that team. There's only so much time in the day.

 

I can attest that this is absolutely the case. I worked with espn for years (they were a client) on a few of their most popular shows. It was pretty common for folks to ask talent 'hey what do you think of X team?' and the response was generally 'there's no way I know as much about that team as you do'

 

There really is no way for the national guys to cover 32 teams. Or anyone really. There's no way anyone on this board does. I also think there's an element of gaming the rankings to create debate...there is a goal of driving clicks and conversation.

[Grimace]

This already is an epically bad Bills team. You really can't see how they ranked us this low? I mean just check the message board. We have a large percentage of people claiming Ryan Fitzpatrick is our best QB. That alone is more than enough evidence of our epic badness.

 

Just face it. The Bills are BAD. I'm optimistic about Gailey and where the team could go under his direction, but this year we suffer. To think otherwise is naive and really just prelude to crushing disappointment. Again.

 

Reasons for our epic badness include, but are not limited to:

1. Fitzpatrick and Brohm are actually in legitimate discussion about whom is the Bills best QB (epic ouch).

2. Lee Evans is our best wide out (epic ouch).

3. One of our other receivers is our 2nd best wide out (OMFG ouch).

4. Our offensive line is among the worst in the league, with very little reason to believe that it will get better.

5. Our defensive line that was barely adequate in the tampa2 will now be asked to anchor the 3-4.

6. Our linebacking corps utterly lack the kind of depth, size, strength and talent required to play in a 3-4. We had a LB corp that was MEDIOCRE AT BEST in a tampa2, and now our defense is going to be focused around that unit? (Yikes)

7. New staff, new system, new stuff to forget and screw up repeatedly.

8. The weather in Buffalo is January is completely miserable (hooray for living in the deep south - pretty much the only thing I like about it).

 

Well if you are still having trouble understanding why anyone would believe we are going to be *that* bad, I would like to know what makes you think otherwise. I would love to be pleasantly surprised. But I mean really are you going to sit here and pretend that we are somehow going to overcome all of the above and finish better than 10 other teams in the league? There is only one way I can describe that: hopelessly delusional.

 

Just to be clear, I didn't say how I thought the team would perform.

 

I wanted to point out other teams that have earned the honor of 31st or 32nd in the last few years, in order to guide the conversation toward a new topic - compare the team to the listed bad teams of the last few years. Instead, the thread turned into page after page of pissing contest.