2013 revisited - how little had to happen to change 6-10 to 10-6

[thewildrabbit]

Bills really only played two stinkers all year; at Pitt and at Tampa. 6-8 in the others, with chances to win several of the 8 losses and also chances to lose several of the 6 wins.

 

Young teams do this. Everyone is hoping for that big jump from Y1 to Y2 in the system.

I'd call that first Jets game the stinker of the year.

 

The Bills gave up 8 sacks, and LG Colin Brown, and replacement guard Sam Young both showed how bad they really were. Urbik was hurt, and Snow came in and promptly gave up a sack. Then CB Justin Rodgers single handedly gave the game away as 70% of the Jets passes went his way. All three players were off the team after week six or so.

 

 

Then like you pointed out that both the (3-6) Steelers, and (4-9) Bucs dominated the line of scrimmage, and dominated the Bills O line.

 

That Bucs game with their lame duck HC, and rookie QB beat the bills 27-6 it was embarrassing to be a Bills fan. EJ threw 4 INT's, and was sacked 7 times. The Bills had 22 rushes for 67 yards. The game was over in the first half.

 

The Steelers controlled the entire game, and only allowed the Bills a FG until late in the fourth quarter EJ threw a TD with 5 seconds left on the clock.

 

Kinda scary how badly the Bills O line played against some teams with bad records. They didn't grade well against the Patriots either.

 

 

 

Now that said, things should be much better this year with some solid additions to that O line

[Webster Guy]

 

 

Indeed. Every team has multiple close games in a year. Good teams win those games. Bad teams lose those games.

 

Every year we have posts "we could have been...."

 

Actually there are many times that bad teams end up winning the close games.

 

Stevie was a multiple 1000 yards receiver who cost us several games with critical drops. That doesnt make us a bad team, he was a good NFL player.

 

The Patriots with brady went 6 years without a playoff win, losing mostly close games. Does that mean they're a bad team?

[Dorkington]

Actually there are many times that bad teams end up winning the close games.

 

Stevie was a multiple 1000 yards receiver who cost us several games with critical drops. That doesnt make us a bad team, he was a good NFL player.

 

The Patriots with brady went 6 years without a playoff win, losing mostly close games. Does that mean they're a bad team?

 

Losing a close game once per year in the playoffs is much different than the Bills losing 5+ close games a year due to "bad luck".

[GG]

I would take away the Cincy game. They dominated the living crap out of the Bills. I would introduce the Chiefs game where the Bills dominated the first half and on one Tuel mistake, the Chiefs turned the game around. Had Fred been able to punch in the Touchdown on first two running plays, Bills would have won that game.

 

If there's a simple correlation between historically good Bills teams and the mediocre ones, it's that the good Bills teams were almost automatic in picking up short yardage plays.

[Coach55]

Good post! I would add the Kansas City game. One of the flukiest losses in the NFL last year. No team can sustain getting outgained 490-200 and win. It takes a lot of ridiculously crazy plays to defeat that. Also, I thought the first Jets game we played poorly and were lucky to be in it.

 

KC was lost on one play. The Tuel pick 6 was a 14 point swing. They score there, they go up 17-3, instead are tied at 10. They lose the game by 10.

[BigBuff423]

Bills would have won the Browns game had EJ not got hurt. I can see losing the New England game, team was not ready to step up, but the Browns loss really hurt.

 

IMO, the BILLS would have won several additional games had EJ not gotten hurt....that Cleveland game was a turning point for EJ, up to the point of his injury. EJ looked like a bona fide 1st Round QB, not perfect but showing real progress from his first game to the Cleveland game. I remember thinking that EJ was progressing nicely...and then his knee. After that, EJ looked up and down once he did make it back, and again just didn't look like he was 100%...but, this year, is all about EJ. How he does, if he can stay healthy, does he show the progress the BILLS expect??? All valid and important questions to answer long before this time next year, as in...two weeks after the season is over and all game tape can be evaluated.

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

Well, you know, if a certain referee doesn't call a very debatable pass interference penalty on Luke Kuechly, there goes one of the wins.

 

I agree close games always are at risk of going either way.

 

That call was not to debatable by rule. Stevie was grabbed and pulled down as he was coming open deep over the middle. It could be argued it's not always called, but it sure violates rules.

 

We back and looked again. The way he was yanked around he couldn't jump and make a play on the ball.

Edited May 12, 2014 by over 20 years of fanhood

[Jamie Nails]

This cuts both ways. We were a play or two away from losing games that we won. Carolina. Balt int in end zone. the first Miami game (Mario sack while they were driving to win). Williams punching out ball at the goal line in jags game.

 

Good teams find a way to win; bad ones find a way to lose.

[BillnutinHouston]

I take exception to the OP's description of the Atlanta game. No mention of the venue - come on! Everyone knows the real reason the Bills lost was because we were playing in Canada.

[Rubes]

I agree close games always are at risk of going either way.

 

That call was not to debatable by rule. Stevie was grabbed and pulled down as he was coming open deep over the middle. It could be argued it's not always called, but it sure violates rules.

 

We back and looked again. The way he was yanked around he couldn't jump and make a play on the ball.

 

I went back and looked at it again as well. I still think it's debatable, in that Stevie was not "pulled down," but rather had his arm hooked, and in my opinion the contact wasn't tremendous. The ball might also have been deemed uncatchable.

 

Mind you, I think it was a good call, but I do think it's debatable. I've seen much worse not called, and much less called. A different ref could have called it very differently. The point here is not that Stevie was not interfered with, but rather there is no clear standard for the call, and different refs call things differently. That's where the debate is.

[Just in Atlanta]

Great recap. The Atlanta game hurt. I seem to recall Game 3 vs. the Jets as horrible.

 

Big picture: Conservative playcalling on O. This was a super boring offense last year, sans FJ and CJ. That, and an inexperienced /oft-injured QB. I would add a distant second to be bad special teams.

 

We gave up a boring, predictable defense with Wanny and got the same on O, albeit fast-paced, with Hackett.

 

I hope we open this mother out come September.

[Kellyto83TD]

Great post Jay and spot on. 2nd year in the systems as well as the new talent and Addition by Subtraction (SJ) I cant' see a reason why 10-6 isnt' very doable this year

[Jauronimo]

How many plays were we away from 2-14? Four?

[GG]

How many plays were we away from 2-14? Four?

 

Three for certain

 

1 - Keuchly PI

2 - Alonso doesn't get the last pick in Balt game

3 - Miami doesn't brainfart on its last series making Tanneyhill pass with a lead

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

 

 

I went back and looked at it again as well. I still think it's debatable, in that Stevie was not "pulled down," but rather had his arm hooked, and in my opinion the contact wasn't tremendous. The ball might also have been deemed uncatchable.

 

Mind you, I think it was a good call, but I do think it's debatable. I've seen much worse not called, and much less called. A different ref could have called it very differently. The point here is not that Stevie was not interfered with, but rather there is no clear standard for the call, and different refs call things differently. That's where the debate is.

 

Fair enough let's put it this way, a Probowl linnacker was worried enough about a catch being made that he disrupted the wide receiver.

 

We'll never know the could've....

 

But for me the positive point the thread does hit on is the bills only got their tails kicked 2 or 3 times. They were competitive for all the rest of the games. That seems to be better than it used to be where they seemed so overmatched it was a blessing they were close, and a given decent teams were just going to destroy them.

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

 

 

KC was lost on one play. The Tuel pick 6 was a 14 point swing. They score there, they go up 17-3, instead are tied at 10. They lose the game by 10.

 

I think the graham fumble was just as bad. Even after the pick, we are tied. Graham is tapped ever so slightly and fumbles on our own 10, returned for a TD. That was the game.

[1B4IDie]

How do you not have the 99 yard pick 6 against KC? If Tuel just falls on the ground instead of passing it to 3 KC defenders the Bills easily beat the Chiefs.

[JESSEFEFFER]

It also points out that EJ's play wasn't really what cost them the close games. EJ played poorly when the rest of the team was getting handled (this is true for most all QBs) and he was rarely the guy that made the critical mistake that prevented the team from winning the close games. It was often some critical drops/fumbles, poor special teams coverage or defensive collapse that ultimately did them in. It might be a good sign that with all that was lacking in EJ's game, the games were not ultimately lost due to his gaffes.

[bladiebla]

Bottomline is you're playing with rookies so you are going to loose a couple of games due to rookie mistakes. Rookie WR's, 3 rookie QBs, rookie OC, rookie HC, yet another new defensive scheme, terrible track record ST coach. With that in mind we didn't do too bad in my humble opinion. We were competitive throughout most of the year and the product was fun to watch. In any given season you'll win a couple of games that could have gone either way and you'll loose some. My main worry is what will happen this year, because let's face it; we'll still be fielding a rookie QB with rookie/2nd yr WR's, 2nd yr HC, 2nd yr OC, yet another defensive scheme and the same terrible ST coach we had last year. We've got the schedule going for us though.

Edited May 12, 2014 by bladiebla

[Doug Flutie Band]

didnt read thread but basically every team with a losing record could say this