Roll Call - Who would have preferred to lose?

[nucci]

I am curious and wondering how you guys who prefer the Bills to lose watch games? Do you root for the other team, root against the Bills, wear the other teams colors, boo when the Bills score and cheer when the opponent score? What do you do?

[BuffaloBaumer]

I give me that right!

 

I referred to "true and rational fans". There may be some who call themselves true fans and root for the Bills to lose. I would argue they are not rational.

 

I guess what I don't understand is why people care what other people think about wins or losses in this strange season. I'll be the first to admit I was leaning towards losses a few weeks ago and I loved the win today....

[Pirate Angel]

We Will have a good draft selection no matter how many more we win, I doubt we see anymore than 2 more wins. IMO we need to be sold on getting a kick ass player and not be so hell bent on a QB. We need to obtain a player who will be one of the best in the NFL. A Bruce Smith, Reggie white, Jerry Rice, Ray Lewis, Derrick Brooks, lawrence tayler, Walter Jones, etc.. I franchise QB would be great but a great player would be great too.

[Slack_in_MA]

I am curious and wondering how you guys who prefer the Bills to lose watch games? Do you root for the other team, root against the Bills, wear the other teams colors, boo when the Bills score and cheer when the opponent score? What do you do?

 

I'm guessing they will say they don't watch with any emotion either way. Then when they start winning, they will jump on the bandwagon. The very definition of a fair-weather fan.

[cåblelady]

I always thought those who wanted them to lose in order to get a high draft choice were crazy. And anyone who did not enjoy every second of that comeback is not a true Bills fan.

Fixed it for ya!

[disco]

This is an interesting thread because I understand people wanting to flame anyone saying they'd prefer a loss. However, I'm also a little tired of picking 9/10/11th every year.

 

At the beginning of the year I believed the bills would have 6 wins; maybe 5 if things went really poorly. When it got to 0-8 losing 2x in OT and close to Chicago..it seemed pretty clear that was going to be tough to do. But - I really thought it was the best possible scenario. The team was hanging with top teams in Bal and KC. They were gaining something despite the loss. As nice as the win might have been, I was pretty glad they lost specifically for the draft pick. I mean really, what does beating Baltimore in overtime really do for us? We were able to gain the benefit of some confidence in a loss! What a perfect scenario.

 

However, at some point I think you need a few Ws to help keep a team together. 0-16 is going to have some significant negative impact. Looking down the schedule, we've got a pretty tough road ahead. Pitt, Minn, Cle, Mia, NE, NYJ. That's a tough schedule for any team. We might not win any. We'd be lucky to win maybe one or two. So I think the win today was a good one.

 

We're actually in a pretty great position. At this point, we get killed down the stretch and get that top 5 or top 3 pick. If somehow we end up with 6 wins - well hell that means something great happened and there will be more excitement around the team than that draft pick would provide.

 

What I'm more concerned about is Fitz showing in the next 6 weeks exactly who he is. It's been mentioned here that Fitz has proven QB isn't the biggest problem right now on the team. That's a step in the right direction. However, he hasn't shown us whether we need another QB or not. Even today he gave fans and detractors reasons why he definitely is/isn't the guy. It would be nice if he didn't throw 3 horrendous INTs AND 4 fantastic TDs in the same GAME. Come on. Give us some real insight!

 

If you believe the first pick of the draft generally goes to the worst team the prior year...don't count on us having it. We're certainly not the worst.

[Bills(70)]

How many times has the 1st overall pick been traded recently? You get depth by drafting 7 players and signing UFA. They will still have a top 5 pick this year so try to enjoy the football games. This is what we wait all off season for. We have been losing for 10 straight years.

Who ever said I didn't enjoy the games?

Just because they've had a non playoff team in Buffalo for a decade doesn't mean I don't enjoy watching the games.

We went through this before here in Buffalo, back in the 80's and I remember it well.

 

I don't disagree with you that drafting and signing UFA's gets you depth. I am looking at the time parameters for a rebuild.

Once again, I remember the rebuild time in the 80's, roughly 5 seasons of losing with 5 seasons of rebuilding. Here we have 10 seasons of losing, I'd like the rebuild to be accelerated a bit more than roughly 4 or 5 seasons. Trading down from a high end 1st round pick has more than the potential to do just that in my opinion.

 

I think of things in simple terms, wins are useless for this team this season. Tank it, get as high a pick as you can and trade down in order to pick up more quality draft picks. Skeptics say it can't be done, I say it can and should be done.

 

Also, having gone through a complete rebuild once before, next season isn't going to bring anything of promise either. Its going to take a few seasons to be competitive on a serious scale again.

[truth on hold]

This is an interesting thread because I understand people wanting to flame anyone saying they'd prefer a loss. However, I'm also a little tired of picking 9/10/11th every year.

 

At the beginning of the year I believed the bills would have 6 wins; maybe 5 if things went really poorly. When it got to 0-8 losing 2x in OT and close to Chicago..it seemed pretty clear that was going to be tough to do. But - I really thought it was the best possible scenario. The team was hanging with top teams in Bal and KC. They were gaining something despite the loss. As nice as the win might have been, I was pretty glad they lost specifically for the draft pick. I mean really, what does beating Baltimore in overtime really do for us? We were able to gain the benefit of some confidence in a loss! What a perfect scenario.

 

However, at some point I think you need a few Ws to help keep a team together. 0-16 is going to have some significant negative impact. Looking down the schedule, we've got a pretty tough road ahead. Pitt, Minn, Cle, Mia, NE, NYJ. That's a tough schedule for any team. We might not win any. We'd be lucky to win maybe one or two. So I think the win today was a good one.

 

We're actually in a pretty great position. At this point, we get killed down the stretch and get that top 5 or top 3 pick. If somehow we end up with 6 wins - well hell that means something great happened and there will be more excitement around the team than that draft pick would provide.

 

What I'm more concerned about is Fitz showing in the next 6 weeks exactly who he is. It's been mentioned here that Fitz has proven QB isn't the biggest problem right now on the team. That's a step in the right direction. However, he hasn't shown us whether we need another QB or not. Even today he gave fans and detractors reasons why he definitely is/isn't the guy. It would be nice if he didn't throw 3 horrendous INTs AND 4 fantastic TDs in the same GAME. Come on. Give us some real insight!

 

If you believe the first pick of the draft generally goes to the worst team the prior year...don't count on us having it. We're certainly not the worst.

Pitt we'll lose to.

Minn dialed it in after today's loss to Packers ... I have a hunch we win.

Cleveland for all the hype still only has 3 wins ... we still probably lose but we have a chance.

Miami is on the brink after their QB debacle. They looked horrible against Bears. Id say odds at least 1 in 3 we win,

NE we'll lose to.

Jets could have everything locked up by then, which means they will play their backups and we'd likely win.

 

All things considered, anywhere from 3 to 5 win season is possible, which drops us back to anywhere from 5 to 9 in the draft order.

[JohnC]

Now's your chance to explain, once again, why The Bills (and their fans) should have preferred a loss today.

 

Anyone? Anyone at all? Fall in and sound off...

 

The Bills are 2-8 and you are doing a jig. Let's calm down a bit and acknowledge that a team lacking overall talent is playing very hard. When it gets to the point that a currently 2-8 team capable of winning in the 4 game range has a faction of the fanbase in a state of delirium then that in itself is a commentary on its low expectations.

 

I certainly don't root for the Bills to lose. But I know what they are and where they are. They have a long way to go to get to the point of being a serious playoff contender.

[The Dean]

I think of things in simple terms, wins are useless for this team this season. Tank it, get as high a pick as you can and trade down in order to pick up more quality draft picks. Skeptics say it can't be done, I say it can and should be done.

 

 

 

This might be worse than wanting the team to lose. The vast majority of next year's players will also be next year's players, even if the Bills have the busiest off season ever and every draft pick starts (which won't happen). Can you imagine the difficulty a HC will have trying to motivate players who were asked to tank games the previous season, or those who suspect the coaches purposefully tanked games with their calls and substitutions?

 

The lengths some of you go to to defend rooting for losses is absurd.

[Orton's Arm]

In other words, the odds of a draft pick panning out are about 1 in 4. So just remeasure your seventh round pick until he regresses to a 1 in 4 chance of being successful.

 

Still being a !@#$ing moron, I see.

Yes, you are still being a moron. What else is new?

[sweatpantsjoe]

The Bills only have two things going for them, one owning the greatest comeback in NFL history, and the other being their win streak over the Bengals. Hell yes I wanted them to win.

[The Dean]

Yes, you are still being a moron. What else is new?

 

 

You actually resorted to "I know you are, but what am I?"

 

As usual, you are in over your head here.

[Kurt Warner]

\\

 

It is the result of watching a decade of mostly bad football. Some Bills fans are married to the idea that you can only win in the off-season...hats off to Chan Gailey...I was not a huge fan of his hire, but he has put his stamp on this team, offensively, anyhow, and transformed them from being truly awful, to truly entertaining...and it was done with mostly the same cast of players we have been watching the last 3-4 years...great win...anyone who wants their team to lose, no matter the circumstances, has really lost sight of the game...

 

Exactly right. The great news is we don't need a franchise qb now. We have an offense that is good enough to win with. Why can't Fitzpatrick be one of the qbs who figure it out a little later than others? Reminds me of Rich Gannon. He's smart and is a good cold weather qb who is great in the locker room and he's learning how to win. Just work on the d and we will be right in the mix. The only qb I'd want to draft high is Luck and he isn't coming out so forget about it and go win. This also shows we may have the right head coach. All good news!

[DCBongo]

In am a fan and always want to see them win, and given the remaining schedule I am not considered about them winning too many more.

[Slack_in_MA]

You actually resorted to "I know you are, but what am I?"

 

As usual, you are in over your head here.

 

Damn, you beat me to it.

[Bills(70)]

This might be worse than wanting the team to lose. The vast majority of next year's players will also be next year's players, even if the Bills have the busiest off season ever and every draft pick starts (which won't happen). Can you imagine the difficulty a HC will have trying to motivate players who were asked to tank games the previous season, or those who suspect the coaches purposefully tanked games with their calls and substitutions?

 

The lengths some of you go to to defend rooting for losses is absurd.

This is your opinion, I respect that.

The lengths some of you go to attempt to take a statement made by a fan out of context in an effort to support your view is absurd.

 

Who is talking about the Head Coach telling his players to tank? I am rooting for it as a fan knowing full well the time frame we are looking at if we continue to hover in the middle of the pack.

Reality is what it is. We had back to back 2 and 14 seasons in the run up to the 4 Super Bowl appearances. To attempt to pretend that didn't happen is what is absurd.

[Not the real Gale Gilbert]

Bills are "behind" the Bengals, Lions, and Panthers in the standings.

 

The only team that would be in the market for a qb would be the Bengals, but Palmer was a #1 overall pick and they may not be ready to cut the cord on him so soon. He was only drafted in 2003, I think. I don't think they would pick a qb with their first pick.

 

And of the teams directly "ahead" of us - the Browns, Cardinals, Vikings, Cowboys, and maybe the Broncos- the Cardinals and Vikings could stand an upgrade at qb. As it is, I don't think the Bills will pass both of them, but they could win at the Vikings, who seem to have quit. I also think they will sneak in a division win as well.

 

I'm happy with the wins, and I hope to see more. What will be will be, but I think when it's all over the Bills will be in a position to draft one of the top qb's.

[thebug]

If this game was the Superbowl, it would matter.

[Ramius]

This is your opinion, I respect that.

The lengths some of you go to attempt to take a statement made by a fan out of context in an effort to support your view is absurd.

 

Who is talking about the Head Coach telling his players to tank? I am rooting for it as a fan knowing full well the time frame we are looking at if we continue to hover in the middle of the pack.

Reality is what it is. We had back to back 2 and 14 seasons in the run up to the 4 Super Bowl appearances. To attempt to pretend that didn't happen is what is absurd.

 

So you are saying thayt we should expect the Lions to have about a 10-12 year run where they are in every super bowl? Given the amount of high picks they've had, that must be the future outcome for them (given your lahjik)

Edited November 22, 2010 by Ramius