Sal's "State of the Bills" podcast from today is a good listen

[Logic]

https://www.radio.com/wgr550/podcasts/salsportsand-stuff-20273/02-08-state-of-the-bills-offensive-line-356502268

I highly recommend giving a listen to at least the first 10 minutes of this 30 minute podcast.

What is ostensibly just the latest installment of Sal's "state of the Bills" roster examination podcast begins with a plea to Bills fans to step back from the ledge a bit. Essentially, Sal is irritated by all the "Bills are so far away from the Bucs and Chiefs" talk, all the Leslie Frazier slander, etc.

He is quick to remind us that the Bills won 13 games, that they were a very good team, and that having one bad game (and bad defensive gameplan) against the Chiefs does not suddenly mean they're super far away from legitimate Super Bowl contention.

Not all Bills fans are in the "our team is so far away" camp, of course, but many are. I found this episode to be a pretty good listen and a good reminder that we have a damned good team. It needs tweaks and improvements, sure, but the Bills had a very good year, they ARE very good, and will likely CONTINUE to be very good.

[Long Suffering Fan]

I agree with that sentiment.  We are good enough to have "a ticket to the dance" on likely a yearly basis.  That is all we need.  By that, I don't mean ticket to make the playoffs, but ticket to be an actual contender.  Once we get to the dance, you never know what can happen.  

 

The way the offense sputtered does not worry me.  The defensive game plan in the last game does a little, but this staff has shown the ability to improve.

[Seasons1992]

WAAAAY-too-early prognostication for 2022:

 

Bills-Browns AFC Championship game. 

[RoyBatty is alive]

1 minute ago, Seasons1992 said:

WAAAAY-too-early prognostication for 2022:

 

Bills-Browns AFC Championship game. 

 

 

Thanks, for the painfully obvious observation.  Typical response to anyone having the "courage"  making a prediction here.

 

The podcast is there for a reason, entertainment and to attract listeners.  Would you prefer he just had a banal, bland non-committal podcast?

[SCBills]

I'll give it a listen, but I do think people have a right to be very pessimistic about the defensive product we saw out there. 

 

For the investment, draft capital and money spent on this defense, it was incredibly underwhelming all year.  Culminating in a completely useless performance in the AFCCG in which they looked absolutely powerless to do anything.  This after already playing KC earlier this year.  

 

If we loaded up on offense, at the detriment of our defense, that's one thing, but the investment on that side of the ball... for the product we got on the field... needs to change.  

 

 

[H2o]

I mean, we are a really good team. We beat some good teams this year during the regular season. We beat a couple of really good teams in the playoffs. We still need to work on both lines and LB is going to be a need on defense when Milano chases the $$$. We also need a dynamic RB who is a homerun threat. This team is not without flaws, but we are closer, much closer, to reaching our goal than we are far from it. 

Edited February 8, 2021 by H2o

[BuffaloRebound]

I’m not saying we stink, but we are gonna take a step back if OBD shares this guy’s sentiments.  I can agree that our offense is good enough to win a Super Bowl with some tweaks.  The defense needs a major overhaul.  

[White Linen]

6 minutes ago, H2o said:

I mean, we are a really good team. We beat some good teams this year during the regular season. We beat a couple of really good teams in the playoffs. We still need to work on both lines and LB is going to be a need on defense when Milano chases the $$$. We also need a dynamic RB who is a homerun threat. This team is not without flaws, but we are closer much closer to reaching our goal than we are far from it. 

 

I think this is exactly right.  We're really good but we have issues and they're at minimum more significant than one bad game plan. 

[dwight in philly]

As the saying goes "any given Sunday" applies to the Bills regarding their Super Bowl aspirations.. i think the offense is sound.. sure improve the running game obviously.. but the O is there .. the D , cant complain too much.. they were very good defending in the red zone a great deal of the time.. maybe a more aggressive overall approach.. but im content and feel they will be there , and after the long drought . feel good .. 

[Seasons1992]

57 minutes ago, RoyBatty is alive said:

 

 

Thanks, for the painfully obvious observation.  Typical response to anyone having the "courage"  making a prediction here.

 

The podcast is there for a reason, entertainment and to attract listeners.  Would you prefer he just had a banal, bland non-committal podcast?

 

I do apologize for offending anyone on this thread; I didn't listen to the podcast. I simply typed words into the page with my beliefs. 

 

I'll see myself out, thanks.

[starrymessenger]

The Bills are a good and competitive team but there is certainly room for improvement.

[atomicpwrd]

Mainly due to the salary cap situation, I don't see us even maintaining the status quo, much less improving.  I hope I am wrong.

[Straight Hucklebuck]

The key question I have is, does Sal say anything I don't already know? 

 

 

[zonabb]

What's the over/under no the percent of time he spend talking about his wife, kid, or interjecting himself into everything instead of *checks notes* being unlistenable. Guy is the worst, I can't even stomach when he shows up for 5 minutes on someone's show if I am in the car. Last week on just a drive to the store he was talking about not making his wife his person of the day or whatever. Guy's a giant flag football playing, jock sniffing tool. I miss Joe B, who is what a real report is. Research, analyze, report and keep it impersonal. Between fantasy sports, gambling, and this dweeb, WGR55 is tough to swallow when you just want 5-10 of listening on the way to the store or office. 

[Straight Hucklebuck]

19 minutes ago, zonabb said:

What's the over/under no the percent of time he spend talking about his wife, kid, or interjecting himself into everything instead of *checks notes* being unlistenable. Guy is the worst, I can't even stomach when he shows up for 5 minutes on someone's show if I am in the car. Last week on just a drive to the store he was talking about not making his wife his person of the day or whatever. Guy's a giant flag football playing, jock sniffing tool. I miss Joe B, who is what a real report is. Research, analyze, report and keep it impersonal. Between fantasy sports, gambling, and this dweeb, WGR55 is tough to swallow when you just want 5-10 of listening on the way to the store or office. 

I don't disagree with some of this. Sal is not my favorite listen either. 

 

I think the thing with Sal is, he thinks he is important. And so when he shows up on a show, he wants you to acknowledge his presence, remember what he told you last week on the show. Sal loves the phrase "and I will tell you".  

 

Like Schopp, he can't handle when a caller disagrees with him. 

 

You're right about him bringing up his family. I think he works in the fact he lived in Florida frequently. 

 

But he does care about Buffalo, the City, the team, the Sabres. He has passion for the sports here. Sal gives more effort in preparation for the show than Bulldog, who acts like a martyr everyday for staying in his attic and broadcasting remote for almost a year now. Howard Simon is another guy at WGR 550 that seems like he rolls out of bed in the morning and does the show in sweatpants with no preparation or studying. Even Jeremy White now can only repeat offense must score 30-points every show. 

[LabattBlue]

I am of the opinion that Sal is(and has been) angling for a position with the Bills ala Chris Brown.  Therefore, he is always on the "glass is half full" side.

[John from Riverside]

My feeling on Morse vs Jon F. at center is this.

 

If you are going to use Morse CORRECTLY.....which means pulling your center on plays because Morse is actually good at it......then keep him.

 

If your not......cut Morse and sign Mongo for Center and use that money to keep D. WIlliams at RT because Morse is getting overpowered in the middle of that line.

 

I swear to god I think Ryan Bates can play that Center position as well as all of them

[billsfan89]

The state of the Bills is strong, young franchise QB in place with two years remaining on a rookie deal (including the 5th year option), a very good head coach with his full staff intact, a lot of talent around the young QB on offense and a solid defense and really good special teams unit. The team also played 3 playoff games winning two of them. That's a big boost to all the players on the team who now know what they have to do to win. The state isn't perfect as the Bills for once are having to retain a lot of talent and are going to be up against the cap and depending on where that cap is set the Bills will have to let some key players walk. For once the Bills are in a legit place to contend and hopefully Watson isn't traded within the division (would love to see him go to the NFC or to the Raiders where he and Mahomes can meet up twice a year.) 

[NewEra]

2 hours ago, SCBills said:

I'll give it a listen, but I do think people have a right to be very pessimistic about the defensive product we saw out there. 

 

For the investment, draft capital and money spent on this defense, it was incredibly underwhelming all year.  Culminating in a completely useless performance in the AFCCG in which they looked absolutely powerless to do anything.  This after already playing KC earlier this year.  

 

If we loaded up on offense, at the detriment of our defense, that's one thing, but the investment on that side of the ball... for the product we got on the field... needs to change.  

 

 

Can’t argue with that. Our D was pathetic in 2 of our 3 playoff games.  Both of our defensive showings vs Reid and Mahomes were borderline tragic and I don’t think that’s exaggerating.  The AFCCG was Frazier and McDs worst effort imo.  

[Warcodered]