RuntheDamnBall Posted September 19, 2014 Share Posted September 19, 2014 If anyone wants to check out the latest The Grantland NFL Podcast, Mays and Barnwell spent a good chunk after the first ten minutes or so talking about the Bills in their "adopt a team" segment. Summary in case'n you can't listen: They actually spent a lot of time lauding the defense and admitting it looks better than they thought at first. They believed like many of us that there might be a drop-off with the loss of Pettine and Byrd. They loved Corey Graham and think he might be one of the best overlooked FA signings. Didn't really mention that he might have, IMO, an extra comfort zone being back home. They also love Kyle Williams and Aaron Williams and think that the D-line will look great all season. They don't think Spikes will be back after this season based on the play of Brown & Bradham, and Alonso's return. On the offense, predictably they're excited about Watkins and think CJ is even better than he has looked, because the run blocking hasn't been great. Aside from QB, they think the rest of the tools on offense are there, but the line play needs to improve. They are not high on EJ at all, and they think his ceiling is not high enough for the Bills to make the playoffs. That said, these guys thought the Bills were the worst team in the league coming into the season, so they've been wrong early on and admitted as much. Worth listening to even if you disagree (though Barnwell gets outed in his confusion about Kyle Williams' position in the 3-4). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dean Posted September 19, 2014 Share Posted September 19, 2014 If anyone wants to check out the latest The Grantland NFL Podcast, Mays and Barnwell spent a good chunk after the first ten minutes or so talking about the Bills in their "adopt a team" segment. Summary in case'n you can't listen: They actually spent a lot of time lauding the defense and admitting it looks better than they thought at first. They believed like many of us that there might be a drop-off with the loss of Pettine and Byrd. They loved Corey Graham and think he might be one of the best overlooked FA signings. Didn't really mention that he might have, IMO, an extra comfort zone being back home. They also love Kyle Williams and Aaron Williams and think that the D-line will look great all season. They don't think Spikes will be back after this season based on the play of Brown & Bradham, and Alonso's return. On the offense, predictably they're excited about Watkins and think CJ is even better than he has looked, because the run blocking hasn't been great. Aside from QB, they think the rest of the tools on offense are there, but the line play needs to improve. They are not high on EJ at all, and they think his ceiling is not high enough for the Bills to make the playoffs. That said, these guys thought the Bills were the worst team in the league coming into the season, so they've been wrong early on and admitted as much. Worth listening to even if you disagree (though Barnwell gets outed in his confusion about Kyle Williams' position in the 3-4). Really? They thought the Bills were the very worst team in the entire league? Worse than the Raiders? The Jags? Tampa Bay? It's nice to know they have admitted their mistake, but the mere fact they even thought that destroys their credibility as football analysts, IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
section122 Posted September 19, 2014 Share Posted September 19, 2014 Really? They thought the Bills were the very worst team in the entire league? Worse than the Raiders? The Jags? Tampa Bay? It's nice to know they have admitted their mistake, but the mere fact they even thought that destroys their credibility as football analysts, IMO. SVP and Rusillo did a segment on who would you rather be, the topic was OAK or BUF. SVP (who I love listening to) destroyed BUF about how bad they were and the team may be leaving blah blah blah. I thought we might not be great but we have to have it better than OAK. It kind of jaded me on him a bit as it just seemed really lazy. If you get paid to cover sports know what you are talking about! Or just do like most other shows and ignore them altogether! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dean Posted September 19, 2014 Share Posted September 19, 2014 (edited) SVP and Rusillo did a segment on who would you rather be, the topic was OAK or BUF. SVP (who I love listening to) destroyed BUF about how bad they were and the team may be leaving blah blah blah. I thought we might not be great but we have to have it better than OAK. It kind of jaded me on him a bit as it just seemed really lazy. If you get paid to cover sports know what you are talking about! Or just do like most other shows and ignore them altogether! Lazy indeed. Any reporter, who did 15 minutes worth of research, would have understood the probability of the Bills leaving Buffalo was extremely low. Not just when we knew Pegula was likely to bid, but before that. That kind of thought process is at the level of a low-level Internet forum poster. I understand really analyzing 32 teams can be a major task. A lot of work for a layperson or some part-time analyst. But if you aren't going to do the work on a particular team, spare us the analysis and don't make a fool out of yourself. As you said, ignore the teams you didn't spend any time researching. Edited September 19, 2014 by The Dean Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QCity Posted September 19, 2014 Share Posted September 19, 2014 The segment on the Bills begins just before the 16 min mark. They didn't predict us to be the worst team at the beginning of the year, but one of the worst with 5 or 6 wins. They go on to say they based that prediction on the loss of Byrd/Pettine/Alonso. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PromoTheRobot Posted September 19, 2014 Share Posted September 19, 2014 Which pretty much shows no one really knows anything. Please keep that in mind in the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dean Posted September 19, 2014 Share Posted September 19, 2014 The segment on the Bills begins just before the 16 min mark. They didn't predict us to be the worst team at the beginning of the year, but one of the worst with 5 or 6 wins. They go on to say they based that prediction on the loss of Byrd/Pettine/Alonso. That makes far more sense, IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuntheDamnBall Posted September 19, 2014 Author Share Posted September 19, 2014 I should have been clearer. They said the Bills "could be" one of the worst teams. I still think some of that analysis was either lazy or too heavily based on preseason results. But it is good to hear some conversation about the Bills from outside observers that is football-based and nuanced if not wholly praise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Big Cat Posted September 19, 2014 Share Posted September 19, 2014 The Around the League--turned Around the NFL--podcast guys have changed their tune also. Projected this team as one of the bottom three in the NFL made no sense whatsoever. Projecting less than five wins was equally preposterous considering the last time we hit THAT mark, we started the season with an abysmal 0-8, a low mark that wasn't likely to repeat itself with how and where the roster has been since upgraded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly the Dog Posted September 19, 2014 Share Posted September 19, 2014 It's understandable when you don't watch the games, except for the highlights, and don't follow the team at all, and consider the talent based on analysis from years old Todd McShay evaluations, and then the team loses a coach that becomes a head coach and a pro bowl player you know nothing about, and a rookie phenom you know nothing about, who were replaced by players you know nothing about, that you wouldn't have exactly a firm grasp on the potential or lack there of concerning the 2014 Bills. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
section122 Posted September 19, 2014 Share Posted September 19, 2014 (edited) Projected this team as one of the bottom three in the NFL made no sense whatsoever. Projecting less than five wins was equally preposterous considering the last time we hit THAT mark, we started the season with an abysmal 0-8, a low mark that wasn't likely to repeat itself with how and where the roster has been since upgraded. This is exactly what blows my mind. The Bills are rarely out and out terrible. It is pretty safe to mark them to draft between 9 and 11. Yet every preseason we see that they are rated in the bottom 3-5 teams. It makes no sense to me. I don't expect people to predict super bowl for the Bills but 4 or 5 wins? I think one of the safest bets is 6 or 7 wins for the Bills (7 of the last 8 years). I'm hoping for better this year and after this start I am expecting it but seriously it is a tradition that the Bills are expected to be in the top 5 for the draft (see all of the talk post-draft about the trade). Edited September 19, 2014 by section122 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Big Cat Posted September 19, 2014 Share Posted September 19, 2014 This is exactly what blows my mind. The Bills are rarely out and out terrible. It is pretty safe to mark them to draft between 9 and 11. Yet every preseason we see that they are rated in the bottom 3-5 teams. It makes no sense to me. I don't expect people to predict super bowl for the Bills but 4 or 5 wins? I think one of the safest bets is 6 or 7 wins for the Bills (7 of the last 8 years). I'm hoping for better this year and after this start I am expecting it but seriously it is a tradition that the Bills are expected to be in the top 5 for the draft (see all of the talk post-draft about the trade). And obviously, we're a bit bias here, but it's clear that they just don't do their homework. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
section122 Posted September 19, 2014 Share Posted September 19, 2014 And obviously, we're a bit bias here, but it's clear that they just don't do their homework. For sure but like I said predict 6 or 7 wins and be done with the Bills lol. They would be batting .875 over the last 8 years if they did that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuntheDamnBall Posted September 19, 2014 Author Share Posted September 19, 2014 And obviously, we're a bit bias here, but it's clear that they just don't do their homework. I thought that often when I read Barnwell's offseason stuff. He was so blindly critical of the Bills that it was clear that he hadn't really investigated them that much and seemed to be going off of the stat sheet. Barnwell is also a true believer in Eli Manning, who looks like El Garbago this season, thus far. That said, I did appreciate that they really paid attention to this game and knew players that your average fan doesn't focus on - like Searcy. And I do think Mays is a little better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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