spidey Posted January 3, 2005 Share Posted January 3, 2005 this topic is a perfect example of how important this board and its members are. we have a guy who is posting, less than an hour after the end of the most important game of the season to share his thoughts with us. that means he had to fight 80,000+ fans, fight traffic get home to log on to his computer and post, all in less than an hour. it is like calling a best friend with good news as soon as you hear it. this board is so much more about the buffalo bills wins and losses. it is about a pretty tight knit community wanting to share opinions and experiences with others. sure you have to wade(ewwwww) through a bunch of garbage and nonsense, but in the end it is all good. everyone have a great off season and lets keep the fun alive. 188678[/snapback] Agree Pooj Mark always provides good insight. Keep it up with posts from intelligent fans that have insight to add not just the same thing every post. Great year Bills it was fun whil eit lasted and thanx for making a game in January mean something. My BIG B word is I didnt play golf today and just catch up to the game on TiVo since its almost 70 again in Raleigh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JCBoston Posted January 3, 2005 Share Posted January 3, 2005 How did the steeler fans get so many tickets? They seemed to be everywhere. I thought the crowd was pretty loud. You could tell that they had given up by the fourth quarter though. Its hard to see the team fall apart like that, and still cheer as loud. Anyone who thinks this loss has anything to do with the fans is an idiot. 189502[/snapback] Remember when the Bills were 3-6? And how this game looked to be meaningless? If you're a Steeler fan that can't get in to a home game -- or if you live only 45 minutes away in Erie -- it's a no brainer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spidey Posted January 3, 2005 Share Posted January 3, 2005 Remember when the Bills were 3-6? And how this game looked to be meaningless? If you're a Steeler fan that can't get in to a home game -- or if you live only 45 minutes away in Erie -- it's a no brainer. 189607[/snapback] I would bet that alot of the early sales in the season for this game went to Steelers fans. Also common practice is for these season ticket holders to buy a bunch of tickets for each game when presales occur and than end up selling on ebay and they could care less if its to a Bills fan of opposing team. This is happening alot in NFl that season ticket holders arent fans of a team just scalpers looking to make bucks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kasper13 Posted January 3, 2005 Share Posted January 3, 2005 The Steelers fans that were near me said that to get tickets to a game in Pittsburgh, someone has to die and will you their tickets or they have to pay at least $400 a ticket from a scalper. Bills individual game tickets went on sale in July and group sales were a month before that. Anyone from anywhere can buy them. Most of the people that I talked to said they got their tickets in June through group sales. For them, it was the only time this year (or any year) that they got to see a regular season Steelers game live. I didn't see any fights in the stands at all today either. Tickets in the 200's were going for $100 a seat before the game as well. The fans were not the problem. When the Steelers had the ball it was loud. When the Bills had the ball it was fairly quiet except when Bledsoe F-ed up. More boo's than Drew's from Bills fans. We don't realize how lucky we are to have the Bills in Buffalo and are able to go to whatever games we want to at a reasonable price. Now if we can just get a decent QB and a K we will be buying playoff tickets next year at this time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jester43 Posted January 3, 2005 Share Posted January 3, 2005 there wouldn't have been 25000 of them there if we hadn't spent the first 9 weeks of the season largely sucking. i'm sure most of those seats were purchased early on when we were trying to run donohoe out of town. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buftex Posted January 3, 2005 Share Posted January 3, 2005 I learned that the Bills are a good team that made significant strides during the 2004 season. Terrible day but rather than fingerpoint, which many here will do, I'll calmly offer my outlook on what the Bills need to improve/ take the next step. 1. Still need some beefing up on the OL. Bills probably need a new OT with Jennings leaving ( I believe he will ). Guard depth is needed. We were exposed today when Chris V. was out. L. Smith and Pussywillow aren't even good backups. 2. Kicker - Lindell just lacks consistency and seems to be a head case. Can't depend on him anymore, not even inside the 40. Whatever is left on his contract, eat it and find a new Kicker. This is a must. 3. Drew was terrible, even with time to throw. Held the ball far too long. Brain dead decisions. Had some rough stretches even during the winning streak. Not buying into him anymore. Still makes glaring mistakes that cost your team games. Will no longer listen to the apologists. If he can't take you deep into the playoffs, then what is the point ? 4. Coaching - Stress the discipline angle to cut down on the penalties. Make them pay in practice. Too much self destruction, costing us valuable field position and first downs. 9-7 is a good year, with a 1st year Head Coach. Today was technically week 1 of the playoffs for us and we could NOT win, at home, against a good team playing many 2nd/3rd stringers. How on Gods green earth were the Bills going to do anything on the Road in the real post-season ? That means winning 3 road games to reach the SB. That should be a sobering wakeup call to how much we need to improve. Conclusion : 1. ST's - Needs a Kicker, Strong everywhere else 2. Defense - More Depth due to aging - Good starting 11 for now 3. Offense - OL help needed, more depth, QB change To Losman 4. Coaching - Work on Discipline ( less penalties) This team is moving in the right direction, heading into 2005. Make some key improvements and you can win 1-2 more games, cementing a playoff position and actually being able to play with the Steelers, Pats and other elite teams. Certain key players came up small today and it's time to turn the page. The blame game doesn't mean a thing to me. We are a B+ team that can improve with certain key moves, listed above. 188616[/snapback] Great post Mark. I was as disappointed that we lost today as anyone, but the way some people here are reacting, you would think we had lost another Super Bowl. As you astutely point out, we are a much improved (finally!) team, that still has some work ahead of it. The Bills do not belong in the dregs of the leauge catagory any longer, but we are not quite in the Patriot zone yet either. Their is some encouraging signs that we might take another step forward next year. I am not sure that I am as ready to throw Bledsoe under the bus as you, but if a better option becomes available, it is certainly worth considering. IMO, going into next season with JP Losman as the starter would be a step back. The only attractive free agent vet out there would be Brees at this point, and he is not going to want to come to Buffalo with Losman in the backround, and TD is not likely to go after him for just that reason. Bledsoe is no worse than Kurt Warner at this point, and has shown himself to be a little bit of a distraction when he is not playing. IMO, Bledsoe and the Bills are the best fit, for both sides. Say what we want about Bledsoe, but he has shown himself to be a team first guy, and will step aside for Losman when he is ready...Warner would not! Another random observation on the game today: I am not trashing Mularkey, but what happened to the no-huddle offense? Bledsoe plays his best football in the no-hudddle, we have been moving the ball very well in the no-huddle the last six weeks, but today, other than at the end of the halfs, it was not a factor. This team, despite the 33 point average over the last 6 weeks still has some offensive deficencies. Bledsoe may be one of them. Why not call a game that doesn't allow his deficiencies to be exploited? It was very passive offensive play calling, in the first half in particular.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark VI Posted January 3, 2005 Author Share Posted January 3, 2005 GG made a good point. I'd like to see some run stuffing ability at DE. There is a measurable gap between the Bills and elite teams like the Pats and Steelers. I noticed both teams turned to young QB's to improve their fortunes. Both teams have excellent Kickers. Solid Line play on both sides of the ball. Seems some here don't wish to change anything and fear the next step up. Why ? If Bledsoe can't do the job, then someone elses fodder like Batch, Maddox etc. isn't the answer. It's a young guy with an actual upside. ( Losman). I would spend a 2nd,3rd rounder on Ohio St.'s Mike Nugent to be our Kicker. Making critical FG's is key. Keep a sharp eye for Line help in Free Agency. Another TE perhaps ? TD will not sit on his hands. It will be an interesting off-season. The Offensive side of the ball, including Kicker, needs the primary focus/upgrade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledInIllinois Posted January 3, 2005 Share Posted January 3, 2005 The Steelers fans that were near me said that to get tickets to a game in Pittsburgh, someone has to die and will you their tickets or they have to pay at least $400 a ticket from a scalper. Bills individual game tickets went on sale in July and group sales were a month before that. Anyone from anywhere can buy them. Most of the people that I talked to said they got their tickets in June through group sales. For them, it was the only time this year (or any year) that they got to see a regular season Steelers game live. I didn't see any fights in the stands at all today either. Tickets in the 200's were going for $100 a seat before the game as well. The fans were not the problem. When the Steelers had the ball it was loud. When the Bills had the ball it was fairly quiet except when Bledsoe F-ed up. More boo's than Drew's from Bills fans. We don't realize how lucky we are to have the Bills in Buffalo and are able to go to whatever games we want to at a reasonable price. Now if we can just get a decent QB and a K we will be buying playoff tickets next year at this time. 189913[/snapback] Exactly! A kid can grow up in a city like Chicago and never get a chance at enjoying a NFL game... Heck earlier generations can say the same. It is cities like Buffalo, that make going to the game a wonderful time FOR ALL WHO WANT TO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledInIllinois Posted January 3, 2005 Share Posted January 3, 2005 GG made a good point. I'd like to see some run stuffing ability at DE. There is a measurable gap between the Bills and elite teams like the Pats and Steelers. I noticed both teams turned to young QB's to improve their fortunes. Both teams have excellent Kickers. Solid Line play on both sides of the ball. Seems some here don't wish to change anything and fear the next step up. Why ? If Bledsoe can't do the job, then someone elses fodder like Batch, Maddox etc. isn't the answer. It's a young guy with an actual upside. ( Losman). I would spend a 2nd,3rd rounder on Ohio St.'s Mike Nugent to be our Kicker. Making critical FG's is key. Keep a sharp eye for Line help in Free Agency. Another TE perhaps ? TD will not sit on his hands. It will be an interesting off-season. The Offensive side of the ball, including Kicker, needs the primary focus/upgrade. 190082[/snapback] Who's the Michigan kicker? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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