Roster is set, pre-season over, how are you feeling?

[Virgil]

It's interesting to me to think about the perceptive ups and downs of the offseason.  If you told me at the end of last season that our options at starting QB the following season would be Peterman and Josh Allen, while losing Woods and Incognito without gaining a real replacement, I probably would have thrown up.

 

Now that the season is starting, I'm not sure how I feel about our chances.  I do know this; teams don't show anything in the preseason.  I remember when Spurrier was lighting teams up in preseason only to get crushed in the regular season and we have countless recent Super Bowl winners who go 0-4 in the preseason.  Teams practice rotations and fundamentals, not strategy nor playbook schemes. 

 

With that being said, I'm feelings cautiously optimistic going into the season, but fully prepared for a letdown.  Overall, here's what I'm thinking:

 

• Peterman should start, but he's on a short leash.  He was clearly the best QB and made the offensive line look good with his quick release on short reads.  However, he looked good in the preseason last year because teams weren't blitzing him.  That changed against the Chargers and we all know how that went.  If Peterman has learned from that and can keep getting the ball out quick, then I think it's good for Allen to watch.  Once the season is over mathematically, it's Allen's turn as he is our future. 
• Our offensive line scares the crap out of me and that hasn't changed.   Our biggest weapon is Shady and I expect teams to stack the box until we provide a passing game.  We all know what we saw in the preseason and I'm hoping that was because we were trying out new things, but getting pushed back off the line like we did was a joke and I don't see that changing.  This, plus the Chargers game, has me the most worried.
• Wide receiver is not a concern for me as much anymore.  If I learned one thing this preseason, it's that Benjamin is more than capable of being a #1.  After that, we have decent enough guys that can spread the field and be serviceable enough.  Zay is the wild card, but the other guys seem serviceable enough.
• Defense is where I'm the most concerned as I saw more of the same from last year.  While I'm excited to see Edmunds grow as a rookie, he showed a lot of hesitation and will take some time.  We didn't see our new front 4 together, but I'm hoping we get our money's worth with Murphy and Star.  Our pass rush and run stop last year was weak at best in certain games.  What's a bigger concern is how we cover the middle of the field.  We gave up a quite a few plays as we did last season.  I know we employ a bend but don't break, but with how we drafted and spent or FA money, I'd hope to see some better pressure and negative plays. 

 

Overall, I think we will be competitive, but I worry about us against strong teams.  It really comes down to our offensive scheme to compensate for our lack of talent and if our FA defensive players can make an impact. 

 

Right now, I have us at 7-9.  I still think we are the 2nd best team in our division and we are disciplined enough with McDermott to win those close games that we normally shoot ourselves in the foot with. 

 

Thoughts?

[RPbillsfan]

4 minutes ago, Virgil said:

It's interesting to me to think about the perceptive ups and downs of the offseason.  If you told me at the end of last season that our options at starting QB the following season would be Peterman and Josh Allen, while losing Woods and Incognito without gaining a real replacement, I probably would have thrown up.

 

Now that the season is starting, I'm not sure how I feel about our chances.  I do know this; teams don't show anything in the preseason.  I remember when Spurrier was lighting teams up in preseason only to get crushed in the regular season and we have countless recent Super Bowl winners who go 0-4 in the preseason.  Teams practice rotations and fundamentals, not strategy nor playbook schemes. 

 

With that being said, I'm feelings cautiously optimistic going into the season, but fully prepared for a letdown.  Overall, here's what I'm thinking:

 

• Peterman should start, but he's on a short leash.  He was clearly the best QB and made the offensive line look good with his quick release on short reads.  However, he looked good in the preseason last year because teams weren't blitzing him.  That changed against the Chargers and we all know how that went.  If Peterman has learned from that and can keep getting the ball out quick, then I think it's good for Allen to watch.  Once the season is over mathematically, it's Allen's turn as he is our future. 
• Our offensive line scares the crap out of me and that hasn't changed.   Our biggest weapon is Shady and I expect teams to stack the box until we provide a passing game.  We all know what we saw in the preseason and I'm hoping that was because we were trying out new things, but getting pushed back off the line like we did was a joke and I don't see that changing.  This, plus the Chargers game, has me the most worried.
• Wide receiver is not a concern for me as much anymore.  If I learned one thing this preseason, it's that Benjamin is more than capable of being a #1.  After that, we have decent enough guys that can spread the field and be serviceable enough.  Zay is the wild card, but the other guys seem serviceable enough.
• Defense is where I'm the most concerned as I saw more of the same from last year.  While I'm excited to see Edmunds grow as a rookie, he showed a lot of hesitation and will take some time.  We didn't see our new front 4 together, but I'm hoping we get our money's worth with Murphy and Star.  Our pass rush and run stop last year was weak at best in certain games.  What's a bigger concern is how we cover the middle of the field.  We gave up a quite a few plays as we did last season.  I know we employ a bend but don't break, but with how we drafted and spent or FA money, I'd hope to see some better pressure and negative plays. 

 

Overall, I think we will be competitive, but I worry about us against strong teams.  It really comes down to our offensive scheme to compensate for our lack of talent and if our FA defensive players can make an impact. 

 

Right now, I have us at 7-9.  I still think we are the 2nd best team in our division and we are disciplined enough with McDermott to win those close games that we normally shoot ourselves in the foot with. 

 

Thoughts?

I think Peterman will do reasonably well if he is game planned to his strengths and if the offensive line can open holes for the running game.  However it's my beliefs weakness across the interior will doom this team to a 5 to 6 win season.

 

LB is a major area of concern for me as Edmunds, although talented is also young and tends to misread plays and I still don't know if we can generate a pass rush.

 

We will have superb special teams and great coaching but the 1st 8 games are tough with maybe 3 wins at best, 2 is more probable.  2nd half of the schedule is more manageable with 4 wins.

 

So, honestly I see 6-10

[Jamie Nails]

I’m as pessimistic about this season as I have been for years. Building year; lots of lumps and bumps. Probably 6-10 at best

[Rc2catch]

I don’t have high hopes. I expect the entire season rests on McCoy’s shoulders. 

Our only shot of any kind of real success is running the ball effectively and controlling the clock. Keeping the defense fresh as possible and in attack mode. As one of both of the quarterbacks progresses and gets better. Truly a bipolar season coming in my opinion. We can be as good as 11-5 with a healthy roster and the above mentioned formula. Or as bad as 3-13 with injuries and not following that formula above. I can’t believe this coach/roster is just gonna sh*t the bed and give up and be the worst team in the league. But I can see and agree for those who see this as maybe a losing season 

[mjd1001]

I think the team will be pretty bad, but I'm O.K. with it (its what I expected).  I think Peterman is probably a better QB than a lot of people think, but he won't look that good on this offense.  I think the team could be pretty bad (3-13 or 4-12 wouldn't surprise me) but if things fall into place, I could also see as good of a record as 8-8.  If I had to pick a record, I'd say 5-11.  I see ZERO chance of having any kind of winning record though.

 

With so many changes over the past year or so..I have no idea exactly what to expect. But even if they are bad, at least the beginning of the season will hold my interest because it will be only way I can see just what they are.

Edited September 2, 2018 by mjd1001

[1st Ammendment NoMas]

The lack of being able to execute basic fundamental football in the pre-season is worrisome.  The O-Line will have to be maulers run blocking and we will need a 3 headed monster of Shady, Ivory and Murphy wearing teams down. If we can establish this with a mix of screens, quick passes over the middle and the occasional deep ball to keep teams honest then putting up 20 points per game is not out of the question, though I think we will avg. 17

 

Defense is where we need to dominate to win. From what I've seen we are soft in the middle and have no pass rush. If we can run enough blitzes without getting picked apart and can win the turnover battle, then there's a chance to hold teams under 20. 

Field position and special teams will have to be rock solid. With a few big plays and solid kicking, it may win us a game or 2. 

This is the difference between a 5-6 win team and a 8-9 win team. I don't see us going higher or lower with the early tough road schedule and talent-lacking roster.

 

Prediction 7-9

 

Edited September 2, 2018 by BillsRdue

[Boatdrinks]

It was nice to break the drought last year, because with this teardown/ rebuild we may have been flirting with twenty. This years team is in a sort of football purgatory ( no just QB purgatory lol  . It’s a roster without a lot of high end talent. The offense is going to be among the worst in the league and the running game will take a big step back. 

[Scott7975]

I am feeling kind of meh right now.  I think this season is going to be like what people expected last season.  5 to 6 wins.  I don't have a lot of faith in Peterman.  I have zero faith in our oline.  Our receivers are pretty mediocre across the board.  My saving hope was the defense which looks to be worse than last season too =(.

 

Hope I am wrong about all of it.

[DrDawkinstein]

6-10 sounds about right to me as well.

[skibum]

I hope they are at least fun to watch and put up a good fight, but they don't seem to have a whole lot of talent, depth, or experience - on offense in particular. Losing Wood and Incognito unexpectedly is a lot to overcome. 

 

I'm sure Josh Allen will have a chance at some point; I'd be pumped just to see him improve noticeably and maybe break a few big plays that show off the talent, even if they're losing by 20. Peterman could turn out to be good, too, which would be a nice bonus. 

 

Not anticipating a lot of victories, not on the scoreboard at least. 

 

What will be will be, Go Bills. 

Edited September 2, 2018 by skibum

[Jay_Fixit]

13-3

[White Linen]

I think we go 8-6 with 2 games being cancelled because of weather and won't get made up.  

[BuffaloBillyG]

I gotta be honest, I'm seeing 9-7.

 

In the NFL it's important not only who you play, but when you play them. The rough first half of the year, more on the road than home looks insurmountable. But, if we hit a couple teams at the right time...who knows.

[wppete]

[Aussie Joe]

I think there is reason to be optimistic about Allen after the preseason...

 

He mightn’t be the Week 1 starter ( although he might be), but should have the job by Week 5 or 6 at the latest...

 

If he can show something than the team record to me will be of secondary  importance.. ( they aren’t making the playoffs anyway with that OL)..

.

 

[4th&long]

Another rebuilding year. Again. 4 win team.

[oldmanfan]

Somewhere from 6-8 wins.   Worried about the interior of the O line, but I'm not sure they're done tweaking there.  The D will be OK.  

[McNubbins]

9-7, but missing the playoffs this year sadly

[MAJBobby]

I want to see what the next 6-8 moves are. This isnt the 53 going into week one

[MiltonWaddams]

In recent years, my fantasy team has had names like Use the Schwartz, Billievin in Rex and In Tyrod We Trust. This year, it's Buffa-low Expectations. Nuff said