How long to close the competitive gap?

[Chris66]

2 minutes ago, reddogblitz said:

 

OK.  How about WC?  Is that a fair measure?

That might be harder than division. You figure chiefs chargers. Steelers Ravens and browns, texans colt.all vying for a wc spot

[LSHMEAB]

Just now, El Guapo said:

Enough wins for a WC. Tie breakers can be a B word to hold a coach accountable for. If we win 9 next year and we’re competitive in the other games, showing good progress, I can live with it. 

 

I want continuity and progress. 

 

Now, if BB and Brady retire after winning their 6th SB this year, then game on!

What if, as expected by oddsmakers, they lose this weekend to a first year starting quarterback and come back next year?

 

Again, why not us?

[Chris66]

1 minute ago, LSHMEAB said:

What if, as expected by oddsmakers, they lose this weekend to a first year starting quarterback and come back next year?

 

Again, why not us?

Pats had a bad reg season and went 11-5. One brain fart in miami cost them a first round bye.

 

There is no way Bills can fill all the holes to make up at least 5 games. To have achance to win the division. Thats expecting a lot.

[reddogblitz]

2 minutes ago, El Guapo said:

Enough wins for a WC. Tie breakers can be a B word to hold a coach accountable for. If we win 9 next year and we’re competitive in the other games, showing good progress, I can live with it.

 

My bottom line is still in the hunt for playoffs going into week 17.  I'd be good with that next year.  Hopefully we win if that's the case.  but it really needs to be at least that for me not to get out the pitch forks.

[El Guapo]

5 minutes ago, LSHMEAB said:

What if, as expected by oddsmakers, they lose this weekend to a first year starting quarterback and come back next year?

 

Again, why not us?

If they lose, I fully expect them back. However, I do not think Allen can make the jump Mahomes did for year 1 to year 2. Just my opinion. I think Allen will be at his prime in year 3. He could, but even if he does, don’t expect Brady to lose the AFCE. Betting odd would tell you that would be a losing proposition. 

[reddogblitz]

Just now, Chris66 said:

Pats had a bad reg season and went 11-5. One brain fart in miami cost them a first round bye.

 

There is no way Bills can fill all the holes to make up at least 5 games. To have achance to win the division. Thats expecting a lot.

 

I'm a season ticket holder. I give a lot and I expect a lot in return.

[Nextmanup]

36 minutes ago, LSHMEAB said:

They're underdogs this weekend against a first year starting QB.

 

 

Thank you! It's like saying the contractor who comes in and says he needs to tear everything down but requires several months in order to get the job done is ballsy. Nahh. The contractor who comes in and says he can do x,y, and z and have the project completed in a timely manner is ballsy. Time will tell if they know what they're doing, but they took the safe route IMO.

That could have and perhaps should have been a Buffalo Bill!

 

Some things never change.

 

 

[reddogblitz]

Just now, El Guapo said:

If they lose, I fully expect them back. However, I do not think Allen can make the jump Mahomes did for year 1 to year 2. Just my opinion. I think Allen will be at his prime in year 3. He could, but even if he does, don’t expect Brady to lose the AFCE. Betting odd would tell you that would be a losing proposition. 

 

Maybe our great D coach can figure out how to slow them down a little?

 

They only scored 26 on us on Monday Night and Derek Anderson gift wrapped them 7.  Rex held them to 23 once.  Wouldn't be too much onus on Wonder Boy if we could do that ...

[Ga boy]

5 hours ago, BADOLBILZ said:

 

 

You.

 

By incorrectly associating 17 years of missed playoffs with the need for a major change when three previous extensive teardowns did not work.

 

The Bills team that McD inherited from Anthony Lynn was 7th in the NFL in scoring offense thru 15 games with the fewest turnovers ever in the SB era...........when you tear that down and finish nearly dead last in that regard for the next two years........well that looks dumb.

 

And the talent level of the defense he inherited was excellent and the positions of need on D were fairly easy to replace(LB's and safeties).

 

And the long term cap outlook was excellent even then..........you can pay your good young players now because you got a bunch of vets that will be gone in a few seasons and no first round picks to extend from the 2013 or 2015 drafts etc..

 

There was no need for a major personnel or offensive scheme shakeup...........and the thought that there was one needed at the time of the coaching search was as foreign of a concept at the time as thinking that the Bills need to select a QB in round one this year would be now.      

 

I mean a team that couldn't win under a half-interested Rex Ryan was proof that major change was needed?   The narrative made little sense............and then to finally have the QB they've been searching for for decades fall into their lap on draft day at a time when they didn't even have their GM in place!  WTF    It was utter buffoonery.    

 

Now as Belichick has said..........you gotta' be making bad decisions all the time to stay bad in the NFL...........and certainly not everything the Bills have done under McBeane has been bad.........but it's hard to run with the big dogs when you are rationalizing why you need to stay on the porch.

 

The alternative to the sub-mediocrity that most of the McD regime has been are teams like the Chiefs, Rams, Texans and Colts.........all teams that hired the right people and picked the right players and made the jump to contenders pretty quickly and without all of the labor pains.

I wonder how many guys who were in the draft room in 2017 are still around?  Any second tier executives, scouts, etc??  If so, I bet some are walking around thinking "I told you so" about Mahomes.  I would be.  I get that there was a reluctance to roll the dice on a franchise QB with the changes coming.  However, I'm sure that anyone (still present or exited) who was a Mahomes man is feeling vindicated these days ...

 

[Chris66]

15 minutes ago, reddogblitz said:

 

I'm a season ticket holder. I give a lot and I expect a lot in return.

I think 9-7 would be a more reasonable expectation.

[Nextmanup]

40 minutes ago, BADOLBILZ said:

 

 

Exactly...........when The Pegs sent Whaley out to that PC to send the message that "7-9 wasn't good enough" with that roster he was basically saying the next coach needs to do A LOT better with that roster.

 

So by tearing it down.........it bought time for McD to play the "fake it til' you make it" game.

 

And he's been doing it ever since.

 

But at some point you gotta' be able to gather up all those experiences.........bad coaching hires at OC and OL and ST, dumb personnel decisions like going big and slow at WR, the Peterman fiasco(s), bad sideline work like time management and almost unbillievably bad use of challenges............to name a few............and turn them into wisdom.

 

Next year is when we find out what McD learned and how he can apply that knowledge gained at The Pegs(and Bills fans) expense. 

IMO next year is the make it happen year from Pegula's perspective. 

 

A lot of folks at this forum seem to think McD is comfortably our HC for several more years.  I disagree with that.

 

If next year is solidly disappointing, and we'll all know what that looks like if/when we see it...McD is gonna be gone.

 

Pegula has shown several times already that he isn't afraid to pull the termination trigger with big names if performance does not match expectations, even in situations where popular fan opinion stated that the name getting terminated was comfortably safe within the organization.

 

 

[Cripple Creek]

23 hours ago, Ga boy said:

I'm not that impressed with most of the playoff teams I watched the past 2 weeks.  The games were mostly hard to watch.  Pats, Rams, Chiefs, and Saints are the best this year;  however,  Pats and Saints will be falling off soon once the QBs exit.  We're not that far from being competitive with the other 27 teams.  I see us getting there with 4 key players:  2 OL, 1 WR, and a pass rusher.  Also, the playoffs validate once again that QB is key, and we've got ours now.  I look forward to being regular participants in the January games into the 20s.  Go Bills!!  

If not within the next 20 months we're in trouble so I'll say 20 months.

[BADOLBILZ]

10 minutes ago, Nextmanup said:

IMO next year is the make it happen year from Pegula's perspective. 

 

A lot of folks at this forum seem to think McD is comfortably our HC for several more years.  I disagree with that.

 

If next year is solidly disappointing, and we'll all know what that looks like if/when we see it...McD is gonna be gone.

 

Pegula has shown several times already that he isn't afraid to pull the termination trigger with big names if performance does not match expectations, even in situations where popular fan opinion stated that the name getting terminated was comfortably safe within the organization.

 

 

 

Well said.

 

It's not necessarily about record..........we will "know what it looks like if/when we see it."

 

And yes there is this "I know the Pegula's and they wouldn't do that" thing that goes around on this board and the idea that they have an identity that they won't break character from just doesn't really ring true.

 

Somehow in the matter of a few weeks in 2016-2017 they went from not knowing if they were going to fire Rex............to being surprisingly confronted and backed into a corner by Rex..........to not having a press conference to discuss the firing or Rex.........to trumpeting Whaley as their man and leader of the HC search.........to hiring McDermott with full intent to get rid of Whaley and then not hiring a replacement GM until AFTER the frickin' draft for some inexplicable reason(which some utterly moronic folks then tried to give The Pegs credit for as "trail blazers").

 

We love em' for saving the team.........but let's not pretend that things aren't PRETTY fluid wrt their decision making.............and fwiw.........in today's NFL that isn't necessarily a bad thing.    Places that show extreme loyalty to mediocre coaches tend to stay mediocre.   Fortune favors the bold in the new NFL.

[Mat68]

Add talent young and old to the offense.  If its the right mix, Buffalo could be a contender in 2019.  

[WideNine]

2 hours ago, reddogblitz said:

 

The whole time NE has been on a tear we've gone 9-7  3 times.  8-8 twice and losing records the rest of the years.  And in at least 3 of those years we split with them. So I don't think this has a whole lot to do with our lack of playoff experience.  Winning the division perhaps, but making the playoffs, I think not.

 

Losing to them twice a year (which is the norm) does affect our team's record and ability to get into the playoffs.

 

Granted we have had some pretty suck teams since the late Ralph showed Wade the door, but the Fish and the Jets have only managed to peak once each since the turn of the millennium too. We have been NE's friggin doormat for too long. And even if we back into the playoffs, if we can't get by NE in the playoffs what is the point? 

 

The Bills beat NE they will likely take the division and be in the playoffs and have a huge confidence edge, but we don't so we wont till that is fixed. We get ahead on offense and our defense folds like a cheap seat, we get stellar defensive play and then our offense can't find their a$$ with both hands and turns it over for a defensive score, or we play a good close game and Special Teams finds a way to sn*tch defeat from the jaws of victory, and we always get screwed by the officiating - that's a given.

 

They need to figure it out - and the only saving grace is that NE generally makes every other AFC team look pathetic in the playoffs so comparing the Bills to teams in other divisions that have gotten into AFC playoffs past by beating on weak divisional rivals like the Browns, Cincinnati, or the Raiders is just apples to oranges.

 

I know one thing - constantly blowing up your team is not going to get them past Belichick and Pegula knows this too. Although this off season is key, we should be able to clearly see a team that is making progress and moving in the right direction player-wise and personnel-wise and that does mean more wins and better performance against NE.

 

I am really curious about the Special Teams and positional coach vacancies - also who they promote to national scout to fill that void.

 

 

 

 

Edited January 15, 2019 by WideNine

[WideNine]

42 minutes ago, ScottLaw said:

I recall fans on here saying the new NFL is going towards hiring the HC first and then the GM.

 

All I could think is what the ***** are these guys talking about? ?

 

That's what happens when your owner doesn't know what he is doing or what he wants and is just randomly making it up as he goes along.  

So stop ***** blowing up your team.

 

If you do fire your HC/GM combo, make sure you bring in guys WILLING TO WORK WITH THE TALENT ON YOUR TEAM.... and not dump it/not resign it/trade it away in the name of process or culture or whatever other bull#### cliche you want to use.

 

I agree with this, but you can't have a team that has a lot of money tied to players who are not getting it done either, or the next guy just has to blow up the roster to get some compete back on the field. When I say not getting it done, I am not talking scheme but rather physically getting beat on the field.

 

That is why the handling of McCoy has me baffled... I like some of the moves by McBeane to clear cap and jettison big-salary under-performers, or guys that just cant stay healthy, but although I like McCoy I do believe his best days are in the rear view. Would have liked to keep Woods, but all indications were that he wanted out.

 

Would've liked to have kept Glenn, but the Bills also would not have been able to move up and take one of the better QB's I have seen in a long while .... wearing a Bills uniform that is. Hoping there is a lot less of that and more building and maintaining a good core.

 

I also don't believe in the scheme coaches who can't adapt... to be competitive year after year with FA, injuries, and roster turnover a good coach has to be able to find ways to get the most out of the players they have. 

 

That was one of the under-appreciated aspects of Wade Phillips time here as he crafted defenses that fit his players...I remember when injuries decimated our linebacker depth, Wade looked and saw we had more than enough healthy d-linemen and switched his base 3-4 to a 4-3 and still fielded a dominant group. He was praised at each of his other stops for molding the best scheme for the players he has.

 

“I don’t understand the people that say, ‘Hey, this is our scheme, and that guy can’t play in it. The guy can play, he’s a good player, but he can’t play in our scheme,' " Phillips said.

“Well, to me. There’s something wrong with your scheme.”

 

 

Edited January 15, 2019 by WideNine

[Cripple Creek]

3 hours ago, Nextmanup said:

 

If next year is solidly disappointing, and we'll all know what that looks like if/when we see it...McD is gonna be gone.

 

Strongly agree.

47 minutes ago, ScottLaw said:

I recall fans on here saying the new NFL is going towards hiring the HC first and then the GM.

 

All I could think is what the ***** are these guys talking about? ?

 

That's what happens when your owner doesn't know what he is doing or what he wants and is just randomly making it up as he goes along.  

 

He isn't a dumb guy and his instincts early on were correct. To paraphrase "I'm not a football guy so I want someone I can lean on within the organization." When/if Polian turned him down that thought apparently left his mind.  To this day he needs someone, not GM or coach, leading the organization as team president or whatever title it takes to get someone in there who can help turn this ship around.

Edited January 15, 2019 by Cripple Creek

[Lfod]

I don't think they have very long to close the competitive gap. This season was two steps back after taking one step forward in my view. I'm in the same boat with people that think next season is the deadline to look like a competent team.

Edited January 15, 2019 by Lfod

[Tcali]

9 hours ago, LSHMEAB said:

Story of my life. I was the ultimate optimist in my early 20's. I'd make these people look like harsh cynics. Not quite sure how fans 35+ years old remain all hopey changy.

Its a bitter pill to swallow. the cold and stark realization that the buffalo Bills will be mediocre until the end of time.

[mannc]

On 1/13/2019 at 5:34 PM, MAJBobby said:

 

But it that being said this staff needs to get back in the playoffs to keep their jobs IMO 

I hope this is correct.  No one in their right mind would sign off on a four-year plan to make the Bills contenders after going .500 under Wrex, and I’m damn sure McDermott never told the Pegulas any such thing.