How long will it take for the Bills to become a serious

[Chef Jim]

I voted not in my lifetime which sucks.

[reddogblitz]

I expect us to contend for the playoff this year. I'll consider it true if we have a meaningful game after St. Nicholas Day ( not Christmas ).

[KD in CA]

Forever and a day.

[WordByrd]

3 if Brohm is the answer or we draft a QB next year. For every year we keep the **** we have at QB and keep failing to address it, then that is another year we keep putting off getting back into contention.

 

STFU WITH THE QUARTERBACK TALK! you are the worst broken record of all time! seriously, STFU!

[mc kid]

What do you guys think?

This year! every year a team comes out and suprises __its are time! we sufferd to long

[Dr. Fong]

If it's going to happen it'll be at least three years.

[Green Lightning]

STFU WITH THE QUARTERBACK TALK! you are the worst broken record of all time! seriously, STFU!

 

 

Ease up Byrd - Darthy is a broken record and lives to hate on TE. But there's no need to F'bomb him. Think how much fun it'll be reading his posts if TE starts to excel.

[BillsFanInLV]

3-5, and I am being kind. They need an OTs, a QB, and someone willing to draft them. Besides, they are pretty much void of talent.

 

I hope your near 15,000 posts are not as negative as this one. When the Bills win 'at least' 7 this year, you'll be wrong AGAIN.

[CarolinaBill]

if they arent a contender this year, they will be next yr, we arent that far from being at the top

[milehiLou]

2010 training camp.

[WordByrd]

Ease up Byrd - Darthy is a broken record and lives to hate on TE. But there's no need to F'bomb him. Think how much fun it'll be reading his posts if TE starts to excel.

 

I know, I shouldn't F bomb him. I apologize for that, but DARTH has to be the worst poster on this board. He contributes the same comment to every single thread. Even if Trent miraculously becomes the next Peyton Manning, he'll say he sucks. Hey DARTH, if you see me at training camp (dark hair, about 5'9", poz jersey) come up to me so that I can B word slap you. A B word slap for a B word. JK... kind of.

 

Much love to the rest of TBD!

[thewildrabbit]

I voted not in my lifetime which sucks.

I voted the same...

 

Three years and ya know what, if nothing changes with ownership in the next three years it will be another overhaul and rebuilding. Another new head coach, new GM, same old crapola.

[mpl6876]

Your opinion is a common one here and not to be an a-hole, but it's wrong.

 

It's a logical assumption that a team which is vulnerable against the run may give up fewer passing yards because teams will exploit the run weakness. And in fact the Bills did give up the 2nd least amount of passing yards last season.

So I understand the basis of your assumption. But an inability to stop the run will also make a defense MORE vulnerable against the pass because they are forced to OVERPLAY the run. Relatively speaking, because they couldn't stop the run, very seldom did the Bills force other teams into obvious passing situations.

 

Yet the Bills defense was outstanding against the pass in spite of having to overplay the run, AND in spite of a mediocre pass rush.

 

The Bills ranked:

 

1st in the NFL by a very wide margin in opponents passer rating (which has nothing to do with how often their opponents passed the ball)

2nd in the NFL in interceptions (in spite of the fact that they faced FEWER passes than 19 other teams)

2nd in the NFL in average gain per pass play (which has nothing to do with how often their opponents passed the ball)

3rd in the NFL in opponents completion percentage (which has nothing to do with how often their opponents passed the ball)

 

The only other team which approached the Bills in pass defense was Darrelle Revis and the New York Jets who were outstanding against the run and thus were able to force opponents into obvious passing situations. In fact the Jets were the top ranked defense in the NFL last year in yards allowed.

 

Back to my main point, the Bills were outstanding against the pass and it had little or more likely, nothing to do with their weakness against the run.

 

I don't think his opinion is incorrect. You even say his thinking is logical. I think his point is very valid.

 

I think your point is valid as well. The truth lies somewhere in the middle. I watched every game last season and I didn't see much of what your talking about. We didn't appear to "OVERPLAY" the run as you put it.

 

I do think you were incorrect to point out the he was wrong. His point has as much validity as yours.

[Thurman#1]

I voted 3 to 5 years. I am suprised at some of the other votes. Our front 7 needs work, if we can build a run stuffing defense we would be strong contenders from that point on. The secondary is tight and young, we need some better d lineman. We need some beef in the middle. With our running game we could then control the ball and win ugly. Pick up the right free agent QB in the next 2 years and concentrate on building the O line to bolster our running attack of Jackson and Spiller. 3 or 4 years from now I may be exited about an upcoming season, this year looks hopeless

 

 

Three to five sounds about right. I can see us maybe winning a playoff game in 2012, but not much more than that.

 

All this requires Buddy Nix to be as good a drafter as we all hope, Whaley to be as good a pro player coordinator as we hope, and Gailey to be as good a coach as we hope. Assuming that all falls together, I could see it as soon as 2013.

 

Otherwise, it could be years and years and years.

[Buffalonian-at-Heart]

3 if Brohm is the answer or we draft a QB next year. For every year we keep the **** we have at QB and keep failing to address it, then that is another year we keep putting off getting back into contention.

 

If it's contention for the super bowl you're absolutely right. If it's contention in our division we may still need that QB that's not on the team. If it's contending every week, with a viable football team, I'd say that's coming sooner than later.

[DrFishfinder]

Even if Gailey cranks up some serious mojo, the AFC East is stacked. Not only do the Bills need to improve in their own right, they need to jump past the likes of the Jets, Pats and yes....Dolphins. Honestly, that's a lot to ask with not much more than CJ Spiller, a coaching change and a rather daunting switch to a 3-4. Can it happen? Sure. How likely is it to happen? EhhhhhIdunno.

 

If the armchair experts who've said, "It was the coaching, stupid" are right, with any luck Gailey will be able to get the most out of the players who were simply, badly coached. And the switch to the 3-4 will be as natural as blinking. I think that's part of the equation, not the whole equation. The rest of the AFC East has to at least stand pat or slip and all the pieces to the Bills puzzle have to fall exactly into place. 2 years. 2 very, very lucky years.

 

If the Bills really are suffering from a lack of talent at critical spots (however numerous those spots may be), then it's going to be a process of trading, drafting and building cohesive O & D units, with the O being more the priority than the D. If we make the assumption that this year's offense is not going to pass muster, we all know the most critical positions that need to be addressed. 3 - 5 sounds about right if the correct pieces of the puzzle can be plugged in. The good news is that next year should be a very good year for the prime piece of the puzzle.

[Endless Ike]

It took 30 years, from the 60's to the 90's for the Bills to be serious contenders once...I figure it'll be even longer the second time around as the NFL has become far more of a polished business, and therefore more highly competitive, in the interim. Bills have been left behind.

 

Despite the saying, it really is quite hard for a blind squirrel to find a nut.

[thewildrabbit]

It took 30 years, from the 60's to the 90's for the Bills to be serious contenders once...I figure it'll be even longer the second time around as the NFL has become far more of a polished business, and therefore more highly competitive, in the interim. Bills have been left behind.

 

Despite the saying, it really is quite hard for a blind squirrel to find a nut.

 

On the Contrary, all it took was back to back 2-14 seasons in 84-85 to spur some change, and the GM having a heart attack, then Bill Polian in 1986 to supplant that GM to start the Bills to a rather speedy recovery.

 

HC Chuck Knox left after 1982 a strike season 4-5, and the Bills Hired Kay Stephenson in 1983, and they went 8-8 with mostly players from Knox's regime.

 

In 1983 the Bills did manage to draft TE Tony Hunter #1(12) along with Jim Kelly #1(14) who bailed to the USFL and then Darryl Tally with a #2, the rest of the draft was a bunch of nobody's. The squirrel found two nuts in this years draft in Jim Kelly and Darryl Tally.

 

In 1984 the Bills had Kay Stephenson as head coach, that years draft included #1 RB Greg Bell-#2 WR Eric Richardson, 3-3rd round picks in DB Rodney Bellinger-DE Sean McNanie-RB Speedy Neal and a bunch of nobody's.

 

In 1985 the Bills got the first overall pick and selected DE Bruce Smith, then in round 4 picked WR Andre Reed.

 

In 1986 the Bills fired HC Kay Stephenson and hired Hank Bullough who started off the year at 2-7 and was fired, the Bills hired Marv levy who went 2-5. The Bills finished that season 4-12.

 

In 1987 the #1 was Shane Conlan #2 Nate Odomes, the Bills only went 7-8 but you could clearly see the turnaround in the team. The team made a "blockbuster" trade deal around Halloween to acquire Cornelius Bennett from the Colts. Marv Levy's statement, "we want to get as good as we can, as fast as we can"

 

So, the Bills got extremely lucky in finding Bill Polian to rebuild the Bills 1986 4-12 to 1988 and 12-4, two years. They also pretty much hit rock bottom the prior two years to propel the team to a #1 overall draft choice to find Bruce Smith.

 

 

I suspect that the Bills will look horrid this season and pretty much hit rock bottom, lets hope they get that #1 overall and select Jake Locker