Buffalo Barbarian Posted January 26, 2011 Posted January 26, 2011 Williams should be on there they are just bias !! not biased, he was fourth in probowl votes so out of 32 teams only 3 were thought to be better.
JohnC Posted January 26, 2011 Posted January 26, 2011 No excuses. Just the truth. The truth is a 4-12 record. Not your imaginary "what if" record.
Albany,n.y. Posted January 26, 2011 Author Posted January 26, 2011 They had enough talent to win 8 games this year (the 4 they won, plus the first Miami game, the Ravens, Steelers, and Chiefs games), if not for hiccups by players who had the talent to make those plays that they screwed up (Johnson's dropped TD pass, Lindell's missed FG, Nelson's strip). They were also leading the Bears in the 4th quarter. Do they need more talent? Of course. But what they need is for the talent they have to consistently show it. Here's what I posted in October. I stand by the analysis that you can say the same things you're saying about the 1984-5 teams that went 2-14 in back to back seasons and didn't have much talent other than a handful of players. Bad teams get close to winning half their games no matter how bad they are: The 1984 & 1985 teams were the worst in the NFL each of those 2 seasons. Yet no matter how bad they were, there were weeks they were competitive or better. So, lets not get overenthusiastic because we were close to the Patriots yesterday, in the same place where the Bills almost won last year with Trent Edwards at QB. Here are some games that gave us reason for optimism in 1984 & 1985 even though both teams went 2-14. (Thanks to the Bills media guides for 1985 & 1986 for some of the info) 1984: Week 1 NE 21@ Bills 17-Bills fall behind 21-3 early then come back to only lose by 4. Dominate time of possession 34:08 to 25:52 Outgain NE 326 yds to 315 Week 3 Miami 21 @ Bills 17-Once again trailing 21-3, the Bills fought back to get within 4 late. Week 4 Jets 28@ Bills 26 -Bills open up a 10-0 lead, then fall behind 21-10. Bills rally back & get in the game. If department-Bills within 2 when Ferguson gets hurt, Kofler ineffective last 2 series. Week 7 Bills 28 at Seattle 31-Once again Bills fall behind early 17-0, then battle back to gain a 28-24 lead in the 4th quarter, before losing 31-28. Bills dominate time of possession 35:13 ti 24:47, Bills D performs well with Seattle held to 41 rushing yds, 238 total yds, 3 sacks & 2 ints. Week 10 Cleveland 13 @ Bills 10-Bills led 10-6 going into the 4th quarter. Bills lost when Ernest Byner recovered a teammate's fumble and ran 55 yards for the winning TD. Week 12 Dallas 3 @ Bills 14 -Victory! Greg Bell runs for 85 yards on the opening play & the Bills stun the Coyboys for their 1st win of the season. Week 14 Indianapolis 15 @ Bills 21-Victory #2. Bills go up 21-0 in the 1st quarter and never score again, but Indy Art Schlichter can't get closer than 6 points as Indy can only get 5 FGs & no TDs. Week 15 Bills 17 @ Jets 21. The Bills were ahead 17-7 at halftime before getting shutout in the 2nd half and losing when the Jets scored TDs in the 3rd & 4th quarters. So, even though the team was 2-14, they were competitive or won in half the games they played. 1985: Week 1 San Diego 14 @ Bills 9 - Bills comfortably win time of possession 33:43 to 26:17, outgain the Chargers 455 yds to 308 yds, Ferragamo passes for 377 yards. Nobody scores in 2nd half as halftime score ends up as final score. Week 3 New England 17 @ Bills 14 -Game turns on a NE punt return for a TD after a Bills penalty makes the Bills rekick the punt. Bills get close in the end with a Ferragamo to Reed TD in the 4th quarter. Week 4 Minnesota 27 @ Bills 20-The Bills go down 20-3 in the 1st half the score 17 unanswered points to tie the game 20-20 in the 4th quarter. Bills lose when Minnesota gets a TD with less than 3 minutes left on a trick play. Kay Stephenson gets fired. Week 7-Indianapolis 9 @ Bills 21 Victory! Hank Bullough wins his 1st game as a head coach. The "Doctor of Defense" sees his D hold the Colts to 191 total yards. Week 8 Bills 17 @ Philadelphia 21. In a game I went to with high hopes, the Bills jump out to a 17-0 lead on the road. The bad news was that with the Bills leading 17-0 going into the 4th, Philly was deep in Buffalo territory as the 4th quarter started. The things I remember were there were 5-6 Bills fans behind me in the stands, when Philadelphia went ahead 21-17 5 of them pulled out bags with each letter of BILLS and put them over their heads, then after the game Marion Campbell was saying how the Eagles beat a good Buffalo team in the postgame PC. Week 9 Cincinnati 23 @ Bills 17 -For the 4th straight week, the Bills led at halftime, this time 10-6. Bills lose in 3rd & 4th quarters as Vince Ferragamo is permanently benched. Week 10-Houston 0 @ Bills 20-Mathison's 1st start is a success, the Doctor's D shuts out the Oilers & Warren Moon. The Bills last win of the year. Week 15 Bills 24 @ Pittsburgh 30- The Bills jumped out to a 21-0 lead in the 2nd quarter befor the Bills folded and the Steelers came back with 3rd string QB Scott Campbell leading the comeback. With 9 minutes lefty the Bills led 24-20. Once again the Bills were competitive or won in half their games. In fact, the Bills led at halftime in 7 of their 16 games. Bad teams can stay in games, but eventually they lose most of them.
Doc Posted January 26, 2011 Posted January 26, 2011 The truth is a 4-12 record. Not your imaginary "what if" record. "What if?" Like "what if" Ralph hadn't fired Polian? Or "what if" the Bills had another owner?
JohnC Posted January 26, 2011 Posted January 26, 2011 "What if?" Like "what if" Ralph hadn't fired Polian? Or "what if" the Bills had another owner? The reality is that we are stuck with what we got. Wishful thinking is not going to change the fact that the Bills went 4-12 this year. Going through a decade of futility should have sobered you up. It hasn't.
Doc Posted January 26, 2011 Posted January 26, 2011 The reality is that we are stuck with what we got. Wishful thinking is not going to change the fact that the Bills went 4-12 this year. Going through a decade of futility should have sobered you up. It hasn't. Yep, we're stuck with what we got. So why B word and moan about it? You can't do a damned thing about it. Except stop watching. If something makes you miserable and you have no real ties to it, you should leave it. Yet you continue to allow yourself to be made miserable. Hmmmmm.
JohnC Posted January 26, 2011 Posted January 26, 2011 Yep, we're stuck with what we got. So why B word and moan about it? You can't do a damned thing about it. Except stop watching. If something makes you miserable and you have no real ties to it, you should leave it. Yet you continue to allow yourself to be made miserable. Hmmmmm. I'm not miserable. I am a happy person. What I'm not going to do is glady accept a generation of mediocrity and act as if it has to always be that way. While you believe the team is destined to be mediocre due to luck or regional handicaps, I attribute the team's bottom feeding ranking to an astounding level of organizational stupidity.
Geno Smith's Arm Posted January 26, 2011 Posted January 26, 2011 In this week's Pro Football Weekly they have an article listing the top 50 players of 2010 and then give honorable mention to another 25. There is not 1 Bills player among the 75 players! Don't blame PFW, blame the guys who have drafted and signed our current roster. I think the Bills are lacking in talent. I also think that peoples perceptions of a players' talent is greatly affected by the record of the team. For many seasons (in fact I can't remember the last time I didn't hear this going into the season), we had heard that "the Dallas Cowboys are the most talented team in the NFC". I never believed it, I figured they tell all those "Americas Team" fans this stuff to get them to buy magazines, watch sports news, and buy merchandise! The Bills don't have that kind of cache, they don't have a good record, and they haven't drafted any high-profile type college players that people remember.
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