Let's put how far we've come into perspective...

[warrior9]

This was my first post on this board (October 15,2018). We had just played the Texans, Josh got hurt (I believe) and Peterman came in and was atrocious. The board was going nuts with negativity (shocking, I know) and we were all trying to figure out what was wrong. 

 

Similar to today... we're looking at how we get better, what's wrong, where did we screw up, etc.

 

I thought it would be fun to stop, smell the roses, and see how far we've come in just 2 seasons. Below is my first post on this board from 2018.

 

"I sincerely don't get all of the negativity on here.... (this is the title of the old post)

When you look at our team/FO/ etc, etc... They came in with a pile of you know what as a team. They came off of  Rex/ Whaley regime that strapped this team against the cap and left it talentless. They took that team to the play-offs with none of us expecting it (while completely gutting it in 1 year).... while trying to fix the cap issues. 

 

Say what you want about Beane and McDermott but those that refuse to see the cap as an issue of talent acquisition are simply not seeing the big picture..... money = ability to acquire high end talent and/ or system role players. Where did they spend the available money? Defense... and that defense (which is essentially all Beane and McDermott acquired players) is absolutely balling out. 

 

I think this coming off-season and draft are going to define this regime. They absolutely have to address the offense in every aspect. I do believe Daboll has called some absolutely atrocious games this year, yet we are still competing. I sincerely hope that his inability to call an effective NFL game does not hinder the growth of Josh Allen.

 

Think about where we are as a team and the cornerstones we have....

 

Seemingly top 3 secondary (with a second year CB that is most likely a future All-Pro)

A 20 year old stud at MLB (and Milano growing into a nice player)

A young DT that has played well above where he was drafted and has been very impressive

A left tackle that is young and improving with every game

A young first round QB (and this regime believes it's their guy)

80+ Million in cap space next year

10(i believe) draft picks

 

 

We have many many important pieces in place for a promising future..... I think we need to be patient and look for the growth of this team and players throughout the rest of this year. 

 

Just my .02...."

Edited January 27, 2021 by warrior9

[warrior9]

5 minutes ago, NewEra said:

Just my 2 cents-  I don’t see much negativity at all.  I think you’re being too sensitive. You’re mistaking fans talking about what went wrong and what we have to fix with being negative.  

 

Saying that our coaches were terribly out coached isn’t negativity.  It’s the truth.  That doesn’t mean they can’t learn from their mistakes and come back better next year.

 

Saying  that our run game sucks isn’t being negative.  It’s stating the truth.  Now we hope they can fix it. 
 

Saying that our d got steamrolled by the best offense in the league isn’t negative. It’s the truth.  It’s something that isn’t like to change either.  The chiefs have a juggernaut offense. That’s not being negative about the bills. The chiefs are just that good. 
 

we need to improve.....now we talking about what has to be done in order to take the next step.  Discussing the offseason will include talking about our deficiencies

 

don’t let it get to you. 
 

95% of our fan base is extremely happy and grateful for the season that we had. 5% is always miserable 

LOL what?

 

That post is from 2018. This is a post for us to see how far we've come and the things we USED to have to talk about vs now.

 

Did you read the OP at all? I'm not being sensitive in the slightest....  did you read what I bolded?

 

The italicized and bolded is the title of my old post. 

Edited January 27, 2021 by warrior9

[Draconator]

1 minute ago, warrior9 said:

LOL what?

 

That post is from 2018. This is a post for us to see how far we've come and the things we USED to have to talk about vs now.

 

Did you read the OP at all?

What you said then still applies today. We are a ton better, but still a lot of work to be done if we want to bring home the Lombardi Trophy.

[NewEra]

1 minute ago, warrior9 said:

LOL what?

 

That post is from 2018. This is a post for us to see how far we've come and the things we USED to have to talk about vs now.

 

Did you read the OP at all?

Apparently not.  My eyes went right to the bolded and I started there.  

[Ethan in Cleveland]

11 minutes ago, warrior9 said:

This was my first post on this board (October 15,2018). We had just played the Texans, Josh got hurt (I believe) and Peterman came in and was atrocious. The board was going nuts with negativity (shocking, I know) and we were all trying to figure out what was wrong. 

 

Similar to today... we're looking at how we get better, what's wrong, where did we screw up, etc.

 

I thought it would be fun to stop, smell the roses, and see how far we've come in just 2 seasons. Below is my first post on this board from 2018.

 

"I sincerely don't get all of the negativity on here....

When you look at our team/FO/ etc, etc... They came in with a pile of you know what as a team. They came off of  Rex/ Whaley regime that strapped this team against the cap and left it talentless. They took that team to the play-offs with none of us expecting it (while completely gutting it in 1 year).... while trying to fix the cap issues. 

 

Say what you want about Beane and McDermott but those that refuse to see the cap as an issue of talent acquisition are simply not seeing the big picture..... money = ability to acquire high end talent and/ or system role players. Where did they spend the available money? Defense... and that defense (which is essentially all Beane and McDermott acquired players) is absolutely balling out. 

 

I think this coming off-season and draft are going to define this regime. They absolutely have to address the offense in every aspect. I do believe Daboll has called some absolutely atrocious games this year, yet we are still competing. I sincerely hope that his inability to call an effective NFL game does not hinder the growth of Josh Allen.

 

Think about where we are as a team and the cornerstones we have....

 

Seemingly top 3 secondary (with a second year CB that is most likely a future All-Pro)

A 20 year old stud at MLB (and Milano growing into a nice player)

A young DT that has played well above where he was drafted and has been very impressive

A left tackle that is young and improving with every game

A young first round QB (and this regime believes it's their guy)

80+ Million in cap space next year

10(i believe) draft picks

 

 

We have many many important pieces in place for a promising future..... I think we need to be patient and look for the growth of this team and players throughout the rest of this year. 

 

Just my .02...."

So the stud MLB is almost approaching bust status. He really is awful and I don't care he was named the ProBowl. 

I guess you are talking about H. Phillips. In 2018 he was pretty awful. He looked better at the start of 2019 and he was benched for Zimmer in 2020 after coming off the ACL. 

The cap space is mostly gone used up on the likes of Addison, Butler, Klein, Mantekevich, and Jefferson. The cap is still manageable.  They may have to choose between Williams or Milano unless they can get one to take a team friendly deal. 

 

But we have a star QB. That is all that mattered to figure out for 2020. 

[warrior9]

1 minute ago, Draconator said:

What you said then still applies today. We are a ton better, but still a lot of work to be done if we want to bring home the Lombardi Trophy.

Yeah, much different issues now.

 

It seems as though now we're looking for depth, speed, etc as opposed to cornerstones. We've come a LONG way.

Just now, Ethan in Portland said:

So the stud MLB is almost approaching bust status. He really is awful and I don't care he was named the ProBowl. 

I guess you are talking about H. Phillips. In 2018 he was pretty awful. He looked better at the start of 2019 and he was benched for Zimmer in 2020 after coming off the ACL. 

The cap space is mostly gone used up on the likes of Addison, Butler, Klein, Mantekevich, and Jefferson. The cap is still manageable.  They may have to choose between Williams or Milano unless they can get one to take a team friendly deal. 

 

But we have a star QB. That is all that mattered to figure out for 2020. 

I'd have to assume it was Phillips, yeah.

 

Yeah Edmunds... man he was good his rookie year and even into last year.

[machine gun kelly]

I see both sides.  We improved tremendously under excellent ownership, management, and coaching, but we still need to improve.  All is true!  You’re both right.

 

 

[warrior9]

1 minute ago, machine gun kelly said:

I see both sides.  We improved tremendously under excellent ownership, management, and coaching, but we still need to improve.  All is true!  You’re both right.

 

 

Yeah! It’s cool just to look back at thoughts on where we’ve improved and where we still need to go. 

[Hapless Bills Fan]

1 minute ago, Ethan in Portland said:

So the stud MLB is almost approaching bust status. He really is awful and I don't care he was named the ProBowl. 

I guess you are talking about H. Phillips. In 2018 he was pretty awful. He looked better at the start of 2019 and he was benched for Zimmer in 2020 after coming off the ACL. 

The cap space is mostly gone used up on the likes of Addison, Butler, Klein, Mantekevich, and Jefferson. The cap is still manageable.  They may have to choose between Williams or Milano unless they can get one to take a team friendly deal. 

 

But we have a star QB. That is all that mattered to figure out for 2020. 

 

This bolded statement as written does not compute, unless the point is to demonstrate that you're a stubborn thinker unlikely to have your viewpoint changed by facts or logical argument.  Which, sort of like the rattle on a rattlesnake, is helpful in advising those who don't wish to get bitten to keep their distance.

 

Harrison Phillips was not benched for Zimmer.  If you look at where they play when they're on the field, Zimmer is mostly a 3T DT.  Phillips was benched because he wasn't getting it done at 1TDT, his position, and the Bills brought up some new blood and shifted their rotation around to try to make something happen.   If you recall the KC game, the experiments didn't work all that well, but Zimmer showed enough that the Bills kept Zimmer on the active roster.

 

The Bills have been shifting people around on DL because they really don't have anyone (much less two) who have stepped up as a hold-the-fort 1TDT, but when I see him, he mostly seems to be playing 3TDT.  Phillips also moves around, but mostly plays 1TDT

 

 

[warrior9]

2 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

This bolded statement as written does not compute, unless the point is to demonstrate that you're a stubborn thinker unlikely to have your viewpoint changed by facts or logical argument.  Which, sort of like the rattle on a rattlesnake, is helpful in advising those who don't wish to get bitten to keep their distance.

 

Harrison Phillips was not benched for Zimmer.  If you look at where they play when they're on the field, Zimmer is mostly a 3T DT.  Phillips was benched because he wasn't getting it done at 1TDT, his position, and the Bills brought up some new blood and shifted their rotation around to try to make something happen.   If you recall the KC game, the experiments didn't work all that well, but Zimmer showed enough that the Bills kept Zimmer on the active roster.

 

The Bills have been shifting people around on DL because they really don't have anyone (much less two) who have stepped up as a hold-the-fort 1TDT, but when I see him, he mostly seems to be playing 3TDT.  Phillips also moves around, but mostly plays 1TDT

 

 

That and he did come off of ACL surgery which... does affect a DT quite a bit. I think we’ll know more about him next year. 

[Charles Romes]

That puts it into perspective. I left the sports bar in 2018 wondering how it came to be that Andre Holmes is getting significant playing time for us. That’s far worse than wondering how you played poorly in the AFC championship game. 

[BuffaloBillies]

Every playoff team except 1 ends the year on a loss. Think of March Madness... 65 teams (with play-in games) end the year on a loss.

Hurts more that Bills final game was not played well... but think what this board would be like if they lost in first round to Colts (which was quite close).

 

They won lots of big games this year (Balt, Ind, Sea, LAR, SF, Pit, NE x2).

It was a great year... just have to deal with a loss at the end like every other playoff team except 1.

[warrior9]

8 minutes ago, Charles Romes said:

That puts it into perspective. I left the sports bar in 2018 wondering how it came to be that Andre Holmes is getting significant playing time for us. That’s far worse than wondering how you played poorly in the AFC championship game. 

Exactly man. I’m ecstatic as to how far we’ve come. Especially Josh Allen. 

6 minutes ago, BuffaloBillies said:

Every playoff team except 1 ends the year on a loss. Think of March Madness... 65 teams (with play-in games) end the year on a loss.

Hurts more that Bills final game was not played well... but think what this board would be like if they lost in first round to Colts (which was quite close).

 

They won lots of big games this year (Balt, Ind, Sea, LAR, SF, Pit, NE x2).

It was a great year... just have to deal with a loss at the end like every other playoff team except 1.

Someone said this in another thread, “if someone says they expected more out of this year, then they’re lying” 

 

this team put an entire city on their shoulders and gave them something to look forward to every week. 
 

they gave us an expectation of winning. 

[Hapless Bills Fan]

3 minutes ago, warrior9 said:

That and he did come off of ACL surgery which... does affect a DT quite a bit. I think we’ll know more about him next year. 

 

That's basically where I am about Harrison Phillips. 

I saw flashes towards the end of the season, where I could see him eating up a double team and making a tackle - this would be starting about Week 13, vs SFO

The impact doesn't entirely show in statistics, but in the first half of the season he had 7 combined tackles, and just in the 3 playoff games he had 9.

 

[GunnerBill]

3 hours ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

That's basically where I am about Harrison Phillips. 

I saw flashes towards the end of the season, where I could see him eating up a double team and making a tackle - this would be starting about Week 13, vs SFO

The impact doesn't entirely show in statistics, but in the first half of the season he had 7 combined tackles, and just in the 3 playoff games he had 9.

 

 

He definitely played better at the very end of the year and in the post season. I still expect the Bills to take a defensive tackle who is more in that 1T mode somewhere in the first 5 rounds of the draft though. Phillips will have to beat someone out for his spot next year I feel (so long as Star is back). 

[TheCockSportif]

Like a number of folks (friends, family, etc) I'm still tied to in WNY, we're amped about the 2021 season.  Because this is THE year.  Or it's not, because I think that there is really no in between anymore.

 

I agree with the OP though that nothing used to work, and the team is far beyond that now.