DCOrange Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 This, IMO, is what made Bill Barnwell such an interesting writer when he was first breaking out with Grantland. The article is long enough that you might just want to jump around between sections and find the ones that you find interesting, but it's a really good read IMO and it goes in a lot of different directions. http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/25650911/bill-barnwell-2018-lessons-nfl-season-means-2019 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RalphWilson'sNewWar Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 (edited) The lesson: Be realistic about which elements of your team's play are likely to recur. During the offseason, fans often get hopeful about their team by counting on everything that went right to stay great while expecting everything that went wrong to improve. Great Lesson for Bills Fans from 2017/2018. When you go 9-7 to 6-10. 2017 so many fell in love with Defensive Turnovers and Haush Money. Both I would say were the primary reason the Bills were a 9 win team instead of where there actual play indicated they should be Round 5-6 wins. Now we saw in 2018 a more normal defensive output. Buffalo was still tops on Defense but without those turnovers the lack of Offense doomed the Bills. Plus the special teams kicking which swung several games in 2017 failed in 2018. So what is the lesson? Buffalo cannot average 16 points a game next season. It has to get over 20-21 points per game. Edited December 31, 2018 by RalphWilson'sNewWar 3 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Da webster guy Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 45 minutes ago, RalphWilson'sNewWar said: Quote Both I would say were the primary reason the Bills were a 9 win team instead of where there actual play indicated they should be Round 5-6 wins. This is so true. Unsustainable turnover numbers early, and two phenomenal kicking games stole us at least three wins last year, whereas this year poor kicking certainly cost us the recent Jets game (kickoffs and FG). Every year trends emerge in the NFL, I still think there hasn't been enough emphasis on finding top quality kicking around the world. Every year multiple teams entire seasons come down to the better kicking team winning. If the Browns had Justin Tucker on their side of the field yesterday, they run the ball three times from the 40, pickup 5 yards and he comes in and wins the game in his sleep with a 52 yard laser. Ravens season over. People laughed when Raiders took Janikowski in the 1st, I wonder what the analytics say about that now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyWhiteShows Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 Barnwell is a biased, overly sensitive moron. I don’t care for him. That’s my opinion, and I’m sticking to it. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay_Fixit Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 2 minutes ago, BillyWhiteShows said: Barnwell is a biased, overly sensitive moron. I don’t care for him. That’s my opinion, and I’m sticking to it. Barnwell thinks Tyrod Taylor led the Bills to the playoffs. He’s an idiot. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vorpma Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 5 minutes ago, Jay_Fixit said: Barnwell thinks Tyrod Taylor led the Bills to the playoffs. He’s an idiot. He did great with Browns!! Oh, wait a minute! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bleeding Bills Blue Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 1 hour ago, RalphWilson'sNewWar said: The lesson: Be realistic about which elements of your team's play are likely to recur. During the offseason, fans often get hopeful about their team by counting on everything that went right to stay great while expecting everything that went wrong to improve. Great Lesson for Bills Fans from 2017/2018. When you go 9-7 to 6-10. 2017 so many fell in love with Defensive Turnovers and Haush Money. Both I would say were the primary reason the Bills were a 9 win team instead of where there actual play indicated they should be Round 5-6 wins. Now we saw in 2018 a more normal defensive output. Buffalo was still tops on Defense but without those turnovers the lack of Offense doomed the Bills. Plus the special teams kicking which swung several games in 2017 failed in 2018. So what is the lesson? Buffalo cannot average 16 points a game next season. It has to get over 20-21 points per game. We had a pretty bad RZ defense. That and losing the turnover battle will kill you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
formerlyofCtown Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 55 minutes ago, Da webster guy said: This is so true. Unsustainable turnover numbers early, and two phenomenal kicking games stole us at least three wins last year, whereas this year poor kicking certainly cost us the recent Jets game (kickoffs and FG). Every year trends emerge in the NFL, I still think there hasn't been enough emphasis on finding top quality kicking around the world. Every year multiple teams entire seasons come down to the better kicking team winning. If the Browns had Justin Tucker on their side of the field yesterday, they run the ball three times from the 40, pickup 5 yards and he comes in and wins the game in his sleep with a 52 yard laser. Ravens season over. People laughed when Raiders took Janikowski in the 1st, I wonder what the analytics say about that now. Yup that cheap shot really hurt our #1 rated kicker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mannc Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 58 minutes ago, Da webster guy said: This is so true. Unsustainable turnover numbers early, and two phenomenal kicking games stole us at least three wins last year, whereas this year poor kicking certainly cost us the recent Jets game (kickoffs and FG). Every year trends emerge in the NFL, I still think there hasn't been enough emphasis on finding top quality kicking around the world. Every year multiple teams entire seasons come down to the better kicking team winning. If the Browns had Justin Tucker on their side of the field yesterday, they run the ball three times from the 40, pickup 5 yards and he comes in and wins the game in his sleep with a 52 yard laser. Ravens season over. People laughed when Raiders took Janikowski in the 1st, I wonder what the analytics say about that now. Great post. I would argue that a great kicker might well be worth more to a team--in terms of wins and losses over the course of a season--than a great defensive lineman or pretty much any position other than QB. It also amazes me how many outstanding college programs can't seem to find competent placekickers, when a missed FG or extra point can mean the difference between going to a $10 million bowl game and a $2 million game. I've heard that even at a lot of major college programs, the kickers are not on full rides... Makes no sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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