1billsfan Posted May 16, 2011 Share Posted May 16, 2011 They drafted 3rd base on their past record. Why does 28 and 31 sound wrong? Speculating on our draft is not proof of anything. What have they done to show otherwise? You need only remember what they did after last year's bye week.... Eight quality games… Ravens, Chiefs, Bears, Lions, Bengals, Steelers, Browns, Dolphins Two bad games… Vikings, Patriots and one glorified exhibition game… Jets This is a team with veterans at key positions who won't have to relearn a new system, who have a QB who won't be coming in cold off the bench but will have an entire training camp with the first team and to be ready week 1 against the Chiefs. Also, with the addition of Wannstedt as a defensive coach and Dareus who will help greatly at stopping the run, this team is poised to be one of the "surprise" teams in 2011. I think they've got a real NFL team brewing here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BUFFALOTONE Posted May 16, 2011 Share Posted May 16, 2011 That's fine. Every time I see these polls I think of the geniuses that ranked the Saints 22nd and 26th respectively. They then went on to win the Super Bowl. In the same sentence what have we done to deserve any "respect"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cynical Posted May 16, 2011 Share Posted May 16, 2011 http://fanrankings.nfl.com/results Experts have us at 28, fans at 31. It does get annoying when you truly know your team will be better than that, especially since we probably got at least 2 or 3 legitimate impact players from our draft. I'd put us somewhere between 24-20, not playoffs yet, but getting there. I distinctly remember a thread started by a "TSW expert" last year who was pissed off by the "media experts" predicting the Bills would be terrible. The thread was their way of holding those "media experts" accountable for how wrong they were going to be. I am going to assume to you know who was right and who was wrong when the season ended. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bangarang Posted May 16, 2011 Share Posted May 16, 2011 4-12 doesn't get much respect around the League, and since the offense got no love in the draft again this year I suspect the team won't improve very much. A good defense makes for a better offense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gumby Posted May 16, 2011 Share Posted May 16, 2011 The Bills have been irrelevant for over a decade. They don't deserve the benefit of the doubt from the national media, NFL fans, or even their own fans. Hopefully things are turning around but they have to prove it first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CodeMonkey Posted May 16, 2011 Share Posted May 16, 2011 This thread is similar to others this time last year. Many scoffed, but the "experts" were proven correct. They saw (or at least heard about, I can't imagine many national writers bothered to watch much of Buffalo's play) a 4-12 team last year that was pretty pathetic. With no FA and only the draft to base things on, they see improvement in the defensive line, maybe improvement in linebacking if they believe Merriman is healthy and can get back to his level while he was juicing. Everything else, including the entire offense, basically the same. They have no reason to think the Bills will be vastly improved like some here Billieve they will be. Remains to be seen again who is correct this season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuffaloBill Posted May 16, 2011 Share Posted May 16, 2011 Unless the NFL decided to start awarding playoff spots based on poll rankings, what's the difference? Respect from other fans and sportswriters comes with W's, not post-draft grades from Mel Kiper. This ... nothing more to add Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alphadawg7 Posted May 16, 2011 Share Posted May 16, 2011 (edited) http://fanrankings.nfl.com/results Experts have us at 28, fans at 31. It does get annoying when you truly know your team will be better than that, especially since we probably got at least 2 or 3 legitimate impact players from our draft. I'd put us somewhere between 24-20, not playoffs yet, but getting there. Really? Because this board was in an uproar last year when we got "no love" in the rankings and then went out and lived up to those rankings. What is with this board and Bills fans since of entitlement of respect this team has not remotely earned? We had the #3 pick in the draft...teams that draft that high are not going to all of a sudden be top 15 in the polls because they drafted a DL. Not to mention, just about everyone outside of Bills fans knows the Bills need a better QB and we have yet to get one. Our offense was in the bottom third of the league last year and our defense was one of the worst. So who cares about us being ranked that low, because we earned that ranking thus far and deserve to be there until we earn the right to be ranked higher. I believe we will be better, but I don't expect others to think otherwise based on what we have shown thus far. Edited May 16, 2011 by Alphadawg7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alphadawg7 Posted May 16, 2011 Share Posted May 16, 2011 (edited) You need only remember what they did after last year's bye week.... Eight quality games… Ravens, Chiefs, Bears, Lions, Bengals, Steelers, Browns, Dolphins Two bad games… Vikings, Patriots and one glorified exhibition game… Jets This is a team with veterans at key positions who won't have to relearn a new system, who have a QB who won't be coming in cold off the bench but will have an entire training camp with the first team and to be ready week 1 against the Chiefs. Also, with the addition of Wannstedt as a defensive coach and Dareus who will help greatly at stopping the run, this team is poised to be one of the "surprise" teams in 2011. I think they've got a real NFL team brewing here. Hmmmm...after our bye week...ok, lets look at that. Fitz started 9 games (Brohm started one of the final 10 games) after our bye week completing 55% of his passes, 70 QB rating with 12 TD's and 16 Turnovers. Our D and O was also one of the worst over that period. We had a losing record over those final 10 games. This is what you think we deserve more respect for? This isn't horse shoes...you dont get points for almost. And your "quality" games is quite the exaggeration. We played bad in most of those games and were fortunate those teams did too. Take the KC game for instance...one of Fitz's worst games of the season and one of our D's worst games of the season. However, KC dropped 3 gimme INT's (2 of which should have been pick sixes) and their offense kept shooting themselves in the foot with chances to score after pushing our D around all day. KC allowed us to even have a chance in that game...our offense, defense, and ST were all far from quality that game. But you and others like to look at the stat sheet or scoreboard and say this or that...people need to watch the games again because we were not very good and earned the rankings we are getting right now. I believe we will be better, but its pretty silly to think anyone else will outside of Bills fans. Edited May 16, 2011 by Alphadawg7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattsox Posted May 16, 2011 Share Posted May 16, 2011 http://fanrankings.nfl.com/results Experts have us at 28, fans at 31. It does get annoying when you truly know your team will be better than that, especially since we probably got at least 2 or 3 legitimate impact players from our draft. I'd put us somewhere between 24-20, not playoffs yet, but getting there. The Bills were 4-12 last season. How much love can you give a 4 win team? Yeesh! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewildrabbit Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 A good defense makes for a better offense. the Bills have a good defense now? No players starting from last years draft yet...who knows how many will start this year besides the obvious #1 pick Darius replaces an aging Marcus Stroud, but he is still a rookie and has to prove himself... one defensive player isn't going to turn a horribly bad defense into a good one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billsfan89 Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 Let the experts think what they want (Its hard to be angry being ranked 28 instead of 24 they are both bad rankings) let the Bills prove them wrong on the field. This ain't college your ranking doesn't matter at all. the Bills have a good defense now? No players starting from last years draft yet...who knows how many will start this year besides the obvious #1 pick Darius replaces an aging Marcus Stroud, but he is still a rookie and has to prove himself... one defensive player isn't going to turn a horribly bad defense into a good one Defense still very much a work in progress. BUT lets hope that there is progress. Dareus and Williams on the D-line should help. Hopefully Sheppard and Williams help out the D as well. Than you would think the D would get better by being in the second year of the system AND hopefully Troup, Moats, and Carrington progress. Also Merriman is a crap shoot who might workout even for a little while. Its not a perfect D you can't fill all needs at once BUT it will be better (How can't it be) how much better who knows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zulu Cthulhu Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 Instead of whining and expressing outrage over meaningless polls of sportswriters and fans of other teams, some of you should sit in a quiet room and evaluate what kind of fan you really are. Because if you need constant validation that your team is worth rooting for because other people (95% of whom are clueless and couldn't name two players on the Bills) think they've improved or "turned the corner" or whatever, then you aren't really a fan. You're a sheep, and should just root for the front-runners every year like Cowherd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1billsfan Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 Hmmmm...after our bye week...ok, lets look at that. Fitz started 9 games (Brohm started one of the final 10 games) after our bye week completing 55% of his passes, 70 QB rating with 12 TD's and 16 Turnovers. Our D and O was also one of the worst over that period. We had a losing record over those final 10 games. This is what you think we deserve more respect for? This isn't horse shoes...you dont get points for almost. And your "quality" games is quite the exaggeration. We played bad in most of those games and were fortunate those teams did too. Take the KC game for instance...one of Fitz's worst games of the season and one of our D's worst games of the season. However, KC dropped 3 gimme INT's (2 of which should have been pick sixes) and their offense kept shooting themselves in the foot with chances to score after pushing our D around all day. KC allowed us to even have a chance in that game...our offense, defense, and ST were all far from quality that game. But you and others like to look at the stat sheet or scoreboard and say this or that...people need to watch the games again because we were not very good and earned the rankings we are getting right now. I believe we will be better, but its pretty silly to think anyone else will outside of Bills fans. Hmmmmm....can you please get your facts straight before you post? ...or maybe math isn't your strong point, which if that's the case then I'd suggest that you get out of the stats business that you love to selectively wallow in. He started 10 games after the bye week, not 9. He had a 80 QB rating in those 10 games after the bye week, not 70. He had 16 TDs after the bye, not 12. Ok, lets talk about the Kansas City game... …a game where Fitzpatrick led the offense to 23 first downs …a game where our defense got run on on to the tune of 274 yards …a game where Fitzpatrick was asked to throw the ball 48 times …a game where Fitzpatrick rushed for 43 yards …a game where Fitzpatrick led the Bills' offense to a game tying TD pass drive, on the road, in one of the hardest places to play in the NFL What, you're angry that Fitzpatrick wasn't Superman that day? To rip Fitzpatrick's performance that day, which you continue to do over and over again, is to tell everyone that you know nothing about football. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billsfreak Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 (edited) http://fanrankings.nfl.com/results Experts have us at 28, fans at 31. It does get annoying when you truly know your team will be better than that, especially since we probably got at least 2 or 3 legitimate impact players from our draft. I'd put us somewhere between 24-20, not playoffs yet, but getting there. Until they show it on the field, there is nothing to base raising the rankings for the Bills. They won 4 games, may have had a good draft, may not have, only time will tell. All Bills fans are hoping that we got a couple impact players, we hoped that last year too, but how did that turn out. Besides, there can't be fans of too many teams that aren't hoping the same thing. You are going to raise them over a third of the league based on a draft? We still have the same backup quarterback starting for us (with nobody even signed to back him up should he get mauled by a defense running through our weak O-Line), a starting running back who is getting long in the tooth and a second year running back that so far has been a bust. Offensive tackles who would be right at the bottom of the league if one were to rank tackles. Let them prove it on the field, and then people around the country might belive what us Bills fans are hoping for. Edited May 17, 2011 by billsfreak Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max997 Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 http://fanrankings.nfl.com/results Experts have us at 28, fans at 31. It does get annoying when you truly know your team will be better than that, especially since we probably got at least 2 or 3 legitimate impact players from our draft. I'd put us somewhere between 24-20, not playoffs yet, but getting there. power rankings in May really annoy you? is there really a difference between 24 and 28? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoretalk Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 Another foolish poll with no connection to reality ... Fans vote on prior records and usually with little insight into the improvements teams have made through the draft or coaching changes (I think Dave W's hire alone will improve us even without knowing what our rookies can do.). Media types are not any smarter (if the GR guys were polled they don't even know about their home teams since they are so busy cresting lists that they don't do their sports homework). If Stevie makes the catch bs Pittsburgh and a couple if bounces go our way we would have been #20 or so last year. So, worrying about this poll I May is as stupid as evaluating team drafts before players drafted play at least two seasons. So GO Bills!!! Would love to make fools out of those polled but we won't have any idea about this team until we have played dome real games but as a fan I want the Bills to win them all ... but I will be happy with each win! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrDawkinstein Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 I keep it as posi as I can around here, but there is no reason to expect the Bills to be ranked any higher than 29 at this point. If the teams wants respect, they have to earn it. They have not earned it in over 10 years. I believe this will start to change, but it hasnt happened yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yungmack Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 You need only remember what they did after last year's bye week.... Eight quality games… Ravens, Chiefs, Bears, Lions, Bengals, Steelers, Browns, Dolphins Two bad games… Vikings, Patriots and one glorified exhibition game… Jets This is a team with veterans at key positions who won't have to relearn a new system, who have a QB who won't be coming in cold off the bench but will have an entire training camp with the first team and to be ready week 1 against the Chiefs. Also, with the addition of Wannstedt as a defensive coach and Dareus who will help greatly at stopping the run, this team is poised to be one of the "surprise" teams in 2011. I think they've got a real NFL team brewing here. You're on the money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob in STL Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 (edited) You need only remember what they did after last year's bye week.... Eight quality games… Ravens, Chiefs, Bears, Lions, Bengals, Steelers, Browns, Dolphins Two bad games… Vikings, Patriots and one glorified exhibition game… Jets This is a team with veterans at key positions who won't have to relearn a new system, who have a QB who won't be coming in cold off the bench but will have an entire training camp with the first team and to be ready week 1 against the Chiefs. Also, with the addition of Wannstedt as a defensive coach and Dareus who will help greatly at stopping the run, this team is poised to be one of the "surprise" teams in 2011. I think they've got a real NFL team brewing here. Some good points but I do not see veterans at key positions. Look at the vets by position: QB - Fitz is a vet and the undisputed starter now. I think he had a good season last year and can get better but still not convinced he is the man to win the close games that you called "quality games". We have no reliable backup should Fitz go down. WR - Parrish is the only vet, he had his best season last year but is not a big difference maker. OL - Hangartner is a vet and he may not even start next season. The rest of the line has little experience but Wood and Levitre look like a great foundation to build on. Both tackle positions remain marginal. RB - good veteran experience with Freddy. Spiller needs to conbtribute something. TE - we have nothing here to speak of. DL - Stroud cut, other vets such as Edwards and johnson are not impact players at all. Kelsey is average at DE and poor at LB. Kyle Williams is the the only true veteran star on the team. LB - very weak unit last year. They added some interesting talent in the draft but more questions remain with Merriman and Poz and their string of injuries. DB - veterans Florence and Whitner could both be gone. Veteran McKelvin is not impressing anyone. Veteran McGee looks to be slowing down. Veterans Wilson and Scott are good as back ups. No wonder we drafted 3 DBs? I am not seeing any reason to increase the rankings based on an overall poor cast of veteran talent on this team. I think the biggest area you will see improvement from is the stability in the coaching staff and the improved game planning from Chan and hopefully from Wannestadt. Still, until they win the "quality games" they are not going to move up in the rankings. BTW - I don't put any stock into these rankings. As Buddy and Chan say, you are what your record says you are. Edited May 17, 2011 by Bob in STL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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