Dorkington Posted September 27, 2011 Posted September 27, 2011 That's a cop out. And not even clever, so you don't need that smug emoticon. How about a wager then? Apply your football knowledge and decide if it's worthwhile. Again, anyone can say, "we'll see". I'm claiming that my football insight tells me they are better, and I'm confident they will prove it. I'm not celebrating anything. Woah there hoss. Just because I'm not in the business of predicting the future without a significant amount of data, doesn't make me smug. I'm not betting anything. I *feel* like this team is going in the right direction, but I'm not going to claim, factually, that this team *is* better than the 2008 team until we *prove* it.
Defend Greece Posted September 27, 2011 Posted September 27, 2011 I just don't see how anybody who watches football and knows football can honestly compare the two, it's like comparing rupaul and Olivia Wilde
EldaBillsFan Posted September 27, 2011 Posted September 27, 2011 if nothing else....The Confidence at every position is different....
Ozymandius Posted September 27, 2011 Posted September 27, 2011 San Diego was only a .500 team and all the other opponents sucked. Jauron could never beat a good team. New England and probably Oakland are better than any team we beat that year.
Chandemonium Posted September 27, 2011 Posted September 27, 2011 The Bills got half a seasons worth of breaks Sunday. INT TD off Dareus' helmet? Are you kidding? You won't see that the rest of your life. Fitz drive killer stupid INT pass so badly thrown PI is called 10 yards behind the ball- in the end zone to boot. Come on. Won't see that the rest of the year in the end zone. anywhere. There's two TDs right there that never should have happened. Freddy amazingly down at the 1 so the Bills can run the clock out. I have never, ever seen that before that way. Unbelievable. I'll take it all day, but still unbelievably fortunate. I can't stand them, but Brady, Welker and Gronk. carved the Bills up. From Scrimmage the Pats won. Bills win the turnover / breaks battle hands down and barely squeak it out. One of these weeks, the breaks/injury/turnover battle is going to go the other way and we will get pounded. Just like it did week 5 in Arizona in 2008. CAn we just sit back, let 8 games play out and see where we are then? Please? You must not watch very much football if you've never seen a ball tipped at the line get intercepted, and never expect to see it again. The PI was a poorly thrown ball, but Nelson could have made a play on it if he wasn't interfered with, and the call was correct. I don't see how either of these should never have happened.
DanInUticaTampa Posted September 27, 2011 Posted September 27, 2011 biggest difference is beating a divional opponent. that is waaaaay different than 2008
samothyev Posted September 27, 2011 Posted September 27, 2011 The one thing I have noticed this year as opposed to say the last 8 is that we have a team that apparently plays better in the 2nd half of the game with coaches that know how to make adjustments! Oh yeah and a competent QB in Fitz!
HeHateMe Posted September 27, 2011 Posted September 27, 2011 Fitz >>>>> Trent , Gailey >>>>> Dick J This team has heart and playmakers. They already have more divisional wins than that team had the entire year. That said, anything can happen and it is still early but what we have seen thus far is really promising. PS. Jauron was so bad. I can't believe we had to watch him for years.
Cookiemonster Posted September 27, 2011 Posted September 27, 2011 The Bills got half a seasons worth of breaks Sunday. INT TD off Dareus' helmet? Are you kidding? You won't see that the rest of your life. Fitz drive killer stupid INT pass so badly thrown PI is called 10 yards behind the ball- in the end zone to boot. Come on. Won't see that the rest of the year in the end zone. anywhere. There's two TDs right there that never should have happened. Freddy amazingly down at the 1 so the Bills can run the clock out. I have never, ever seen that before that way. Unbelievable. I'll take it all day, but still unbelievably fortunate. I can't stand them, but Brady, Welker and Gronk. carved the Bills up. From Scrimmage the Pats won. Bills win the turnover / breaks battle hands down and barely squeak it out. One of these weeks, the breaks/injury/turnover battle is going to go the other way and we will get pounded. Just like it did week 5 in Arizona in 2008. CAn we just sit back, let 8 games play out and see where we are then? Please? Man, you are just the type of poster that everybody on this board complains about, you need to take your I'll BILLive when I see it attitude, and go haunt some other board. I am not naive enough to think that we go 19-0, but you are going to have to find another screen name, and soon. All of the stuff you list above as never seen that before type plays, is just plain BS. We had some breaks, but so did NE, Byrd's tackle, intentional grounding on Brady not called, Kelso and Merriman getting held all day, Welker catching a pass and barely breaking the end zone on a 4 and 6, if that is not somewhat fortuitous, then I don't know what is. You are quite welcome to wait until week 8 to "see where we are then", and you are entitled to your opinion,just don't try to jam into evetyone else's collective throats, beacuse we might just regurgitate it on you! Have a nice day!
The Big Cat Posted September 27, 2011 Posted September 27, 2011 The Bills got half a seasons worth of breaks Sunday. INT TD off Dareus' helmet? Are you kidding? You won't see that the rest of your life. Fitz drive killer stupid INT pass so badly thrown PI is called 10 yards behind the ball- in the end zone to boot. Come on. Won't see that the rest of the year in the end zone. anywhere. There's two TDs right there that never should have happened. Freddy amazingly down at the 1 so the Bills can run the clock out. I have never, ever seen that before that way. Unbelievable. I'll take it all day, but still unbelievably fortunate. I can't stand them, but Brady, Welker and Gronk. carved the Bills up. From Scrimmage the Pats won. Bills win the turnover / breaks battle hands down and barely squeak it out. One of these weeks, the breaks/injury/turnover battle is going to go the other way and we will get pounded. Just like it did week 5 in Arizona in 2008. CAn we just sit back, let 8 games play out and see where we are then? Please? And each year we finished 7-9, we had three or four games that were a drop, kick and a bootsie away from going in our favor. And every time somebody (probably me) pointed that out, I'm sure you kept quiet, never once stood up and said, "yeah, but they didn't. winners win, winners make their own breaks."
Defend Greece Posted September 27, 2011 Posted September 27, 2011 Man, you are just the type of poster that everybody on this board complains about, you need to take your I'll BILLive when I see it attitude, and go haunt some other board. I am not naive enough to think that we go 19-0, but you are going to have to find another screen name, and soon. All of the stuff you list above as never seen that before type plays, is just plain BS. We had some breaks, but so did NE, Byrd's tackle, intentional grounding on Brady not called, Kelso and Merriman getting held all day, Welker catching a pass and barely breaking the end zone on a 4 and 6, if that is not somewhat fortuitous, then I don't know what is. You are quite welcome to wait until week 8 to "see where we are then", and you are entitled to your opinion,just don't try to jam into evetyone else's collective throats, beacuse we might just regurgitate it on you! Have a nice day! Yes! Brady has gotten the calls for 10 years, we got them for one game if you want to say that, I wouldn't The pi on Nelson in the endzone that people are calling questionable, was not questionable to me, it was blatant. When you have a guy that long with those arms coming back to the ball, anything could happen- pi fo sho
bbb Posted September 27, 2011 Posted September 27, 2011 You people who were big critics of a 4-0 and 5-1 team in 2008 are a very cynical bunch.
Jauronimo Posted September 27, 2011 Posted September 27, 2011 As Bills Nation bathes in the jubilation of ending the 8 year old losing streak to the Patriots, an intriguing statistic becomes relevant to Buffalo. The stat: NFL teams have a 76% to be playoff bound after going 3-0 (with significant increases with each win thereafter). With this in mind, we are both statistically in an excellent position to make the playoffs and gravely reminded that in 2008, we were a part of the 24%. Since 2008 is far too recent for any us to forget, the natural question that refuses to go away for most (non-bandwagon) fans is, what’s the difference between this 3-0 2011 team compared to our 4-0 and 5-1 2008 squad? Other than the record, what are the similarities between this team and 2008? I can't think of a single one. Personnel, coaching, GM, schemes, even the uniforms and field have been replaced. On what grounds do you make the comparison between the two seasons?
1billsfan Posted September 27, 2011 Posted September 27, 2011 (edited) I just don't see how anybody who watches football and knows football can honestly compare the two, it's like comparing rupaul and Olivia Wilde It's the same reason why I had hundreds of conversations with fans this past year regarding Fiztpatrick arguing why they thought for sure he'd never be a "franchise" guy. As much as we like to say Bills fans are a really smart bunch, unfortunately there are way too many Bills fans and local media people who are "late" on the curve ball. The 2008 team couldn't hold these guys jock straps. This team is 180 degrees different from that very shaky group of posers. In three games, Fitzpatrick has thrown 4 more TDs than Edwards did in his first six games of 2008!...LOL I'm with you. I understand people being cautious, but let's not insult our team. These guys have the look of teams like the Rams and Saints when they got real good, real quick. Edited September 27, 2011 by 1billsfan
BuffaloBill Posted September 27, 2011 Posted September 27, 2011 Two key differences: Dick Jauron never established himself as a coach capable of winning in the NFL with his "victories are hard to come by" crap. Gailey has put in place schemes, players, coaches and an attitude of "we expect to win." I know he needs to prove it over a period of time but already Gailey has far outcoached Jauron. Let's not waste any time on Trent Edwards .. Suffice it to say - we should all be happy the bearded one is here... correction very happy ... even in ecstasy .. should I say thrilled... how about gleeful....(yes - I was one who last year thopught the bearded one was only going to be a career backup at best).
thewildrabbit Posted September 27, 2011 Posted September 27, 2011 Yeah, I think we all know that a QB can get injured and it can ruin a team's season. It really doesn't need to be discussed, it's a given. But TE was never ANYWHERE NEAR what Fitz is doing. He never threw the !@#$ing ball more than ten yards deep. A criticism of the defense I could understand, but TE is not comparable to Fitz. If you can't see the difference in the performances of the 2 teams and the 2 QB's you're !@#$ing blind. Did my post make any comparison at all between Fitz and Edwards? No it didn't, so you must be the one who is !@#&ing blind! Or perhaps just struggle with reading comprehension... The ONLY correlation I made between the two teams was the offensive lines! MY POST Not to pee in anyone's Cheerios. But! If Fitz gets a severe concussion in game 4 or beyond, and then continues to play and suffers another or more....the same thing that happened in 08 could very well happen again. I've been harping about the O line for 10 years, wanting to see the Bills build an O line like the Raiders or Jets now have. The Bills almost had a great line in 08 with Peters-Dockery-(Preston-Fowler) Butler-Walker. The problem was the center position that was never properly upgraded and consequently they never stabilized into a top unit. I still don't trust half that current O line and I hope Fitz doesn't get F'd up like Edwards because of that line. Since you brought it up tho, look at the difference between coaching staffs. You want to compare Turk Schonert to Chan Gailey? Schonert is the one who was calling plays back in 08, setting up the offense and game plans. Where is that fool now? Not even in the NFL in any capacity, that's where! Nobody stated that Edwards was as good as Fitz, all I did was merely pointing out that Fitz could very well turn into another Trent Edwards because just like all the coaching staffs in the past, this one failed to upgrade that line.What you saw at the end of Edwards career in Buffalo was the result of all those hits and concussions, which is exactly something that could happen to Fitz! But I suppose you missed the entire point ! BTW, It wasn't just one concussion or one injury, it was the cumulative effect of all the hits and concussions. Those same type of hits also ended Joe Montana's-Troy Aikman's -Steve Young's and so many others careers
Swift Sylvan Posted September 27, 2011 Posted September 27, 2011 Differences: Different Coach Different QB, RB, WR's, TE, OL, DL, LB, CB, S Different Opponents Pretty much everything is different. Now, just because the 2011 team is completely different than the 2008 team doesn't mean a whole lot. This team could go 8-8 this year and it would still be different. Does this team look better compared to the 2008 team? Yes. Did the 2008 team look impressive after it beat playoff teams from the prior season, yes. We all can speculate whatever we want, in the NFL no game is a guarantee and these Bills are going to prove they are different WHEN they win those games. Last time I checked 3-0 wasn't a sure bid to the playoffs though it is quite encouraging.
berndogg Posted September 27, 2011 Posted September 27, 2011 I would say the 2008 Seahawks and 2011 Chiefs were pretty similar opening day opponents. Champions from weak divisions the prior year that looked respectable, but didn't exactly scare anybody (I've seen a lot of people here mention that the 'hawks won a playoff game in '07, but it was at home against the redskins, no one was touting that as a sign of future greatness). But after the '08 seahawks game I remember thinking, hey, a win's a win, but that was just a terribly played football game by both teams. After this year's home opener I was thinking, wow, I can't remember the last time I saw the Bills play that well in every facet of the game, and on the road no less.
Defend Greece Posted September 27, 2011 Posted September 27, 2011 Here is the main thing, 2008 0-2 against new England, 2011 1-0
reddogblitz Posted September 27, 2011 Posted September 27, 2011 But after the '08 seahawks game I remember thinking, hey, a win's a win, but that was just a terribly played football game by both teams. Give me a break. I was at that game and the Bills played well and looked AWESOME. We roughed 'em on all 3 phases of the game. Offense/Defense/Kicking Teams. The thing that really impressed me in that game was after we recovered fumbled KO on 30, Trent comes in and on first play throws a strike to I think it was Roscoe in the EZ. Go for the jugular. Make 'em pay. Defense was also really good in that game with a lot of aggressiveness and blitzing. We all know how 2008 ended up, but there is really no reason to put down the good things that team did early in the season.
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