Not Sure We Will Repeat as AFCE Champs

[bigK14094]

1 hour ago, Paul Costa said:

Anything can happen. Today the Bills have by far the best team in the AFC East by a fair amount. Buffalo is well coached and has a very good GM. Buffalo has a top 5 QB that counts a lot. 

They also have continuity of Coaches and Players. A system that doesn't have to be l earned new this year. That is not to be ignored.  Its was a Pats strength for decades, but now, A strength of the Bills.

[MJS]

27 minutes ago, Nextmanup said:

Best coaching staff?  That's in Foxboro, by a mile.

 

Best QB?  That's in Orchard Park. 

Well I think it is debatable about the coaching staff. The Patriots have Bill Belichick. He is obviously miles above everyone else just based on his history, but looking at full staff, and especially if you consider the front office in that, the Bills have one of the best in the league.

 

But yeah, as long as the Patriots have Belichick it is hard to compare to him as a coach. But let's see what he does the next few years without Brady. Year 1 without Brady was pretty forgettable.

[NoHuddleKelly12]

2 hours ago, hondo in seattle said:

I’m usually not a Negative Nancy but today let me be that guy.

 

The AFCE will be harder this year.  The Pats, Phins, and Jets all got better while the Bills got worse.

 

Pats.  They didn’t resolve the signal caller issue but Bill’s epic spending spree improved the rest of the roster.

 

Phins.  Tua – who Fitz seems to love – should be better his sophomore year.   To help, they went out and got Will Fuller.

 

Jets.  While they picked up a couple nice free agents defensive linemen, the best thing the Jets did this offseason was change out their entire coaching staff. 

 

The Bills were an interesting team last year.  Despite the 13-3 record and AFC Championship game appearance, our guys only excelled in two areas: special teams and passing the ball.   Unfortunately, our ST unit lost its two best players: Roberts & Bojorquez. 

 

While there were moments of excellence, no level of our D was consistently good.  And our offensive running attack was putrid.  None of those shortcomings have been addressed so far.

 

Beane did a nice job retaining our offensive linemen.  Sadly, though, they’re just not that good.  They don’t open holes in the running game.  And Daboll has to use TEs and RBs to help with pass pro.  Even with that help, we couldn’t protect Josh in KC. 

 

While the rest of the AFCE stepped up, we stood still at best and probably stepped back. 

 

Fingers crossed –free agency isn’t over and we still have the draft. 

"Pats.  They didn’t resolve the signal caller issue but Bill’s epic spending spree improved the rest of the roster." Lots of teams through the years have staked claim on the premise of lots of shiny pieces around a so-so to bad QB...how does that normally work out? Plenty of Bills teams in the drought era included. Unless Hoodie fixes that, it will still be premature to crown them as kings of the East yet again. 

 

"Phins.  Tua – who Fitz seems to love – should be better his sophomore year.   To help, they went out and got Will Fuller." This requires as much, if not more, faith as the statement that the Bills won't be back for a deep playoff run this year. 

 

"Jets.  While they picked up a couple nice free agents defensive linemen, the best thing the Jets did this offseason was change out their entire coaching staff." Even if the 2nd coming of Bill Walsh just arrived to lead our division foe, they are still trotting out damaged goods at QB (thus far), and how many new regimes have so successfully implemented their radically new systems overhaul that they immediately leapfrog to front of the line? Whichever example you may find, I'd bet some $$ that the Jets are not a similarly inviting foundation from which to build...

 

Guess I'm just approaching things from the whole glass half full perspective, but I also like how many of our own we've been able to re-sign, which speaks to continuity and continued growth within our own system. Also the addition of Sanders I think will turn out to be James Lofton 2.0. 

 

[Inigo Montoya]

1 hour ago, hondo in seattle said:

 

I love the way you guys overdramatize.  I never said we were doomed.  I did say I had concerns.  

 

The Bills had the 3rd best passing attack in the NFL last year.  It was a thing of beauty.

 

We had the 21st best running attack.  It was not a thing of beauty.  Our RBs were not effective.  

 

Our pass D finished the season ranked 13th - mediocre

 

Our run D finished 17th - mediocre.    

 

According to Gosselin's formula, our ST finished 8th - good.

 

I stand by what I said originally:  we were good passing the ball and on special teams.  Everything else was blah.  Without Bojo and Roberts, I'm afraid special teams becomes blah too. 

 

Which means the fate of the season rests on Josh's arm because our blah defense and blah running attack isn't going to produce a lot of Ws.   

 

Our cap situation being what it is, Beane had to scramble just to hold on to our own FAs and wasn't able to upgrade the blah areas.  

 

 

 

 

 

Hey Hondo,

 

I think your post above is a reasonable position.

 

Until I see the breaking news that Deshaun Watson has been traded to a team in the AFCE, I still think it's the Bills' division to lose.  We have avoided the curse of many teams after a very successful season... we have avoided a major exodus of talent.  Standing pat is not always a bad thing, and realistically, Beane had very little choice in the matter with COVID pulling the salary cap rug out from under his feet. 

 

I'm shocked he was able to do as much as he's done so far.  I expected two of our three big free agents to walk.  If I had posted on this site two weeks ago that the Bills were going to re-sign Daryl Williams, Matt Milano, Feliciano, McKenzie, and Levi Wallace...  AND ...upgrade the backup QB position and replace John Brown with a comparable or better option to be our WR3, people would have pilloried me.  

 

🍻

 

 

 

Edited March 23, 2021 by Inigo Montoya

[Dr.Sack]

As of right now the Bills are the reigning AFCE champs. I’m looking forward to the defending our title. Don’t discount Josh Allen’s maturation, growth in Daboll, Frazier & McD, and improvement in younger players. Year 5 of the McD-Beane regime looks promising. 

[TBBills]

How can we repeat when we weren't AFC east champs?

[Eastport bills]

2 hours ago, hondo in seattle said:

I’m usually not a Negative Nancy but today let me be that guy.

 

The AFCE will be harder this year.  The Pats, Phins, and Jets all got better while the Bills got worse.

 

Pats.  They didn’t resolve the signal caller issue but Bill’s epic spending spree improved the rest of the roster.

 

Phins.  Tua – who Fitz seems to love – should be better his sophomore year.   To help, they went out and got Will Fuller.

 

Jets.  While they picked up a couple nice free agents defensive linemen, the best thing the Jets did this offseason was change out their entire coaching staff. 

 

The Bills were an interesting team last year.  Despite the 13-3 record and AFC Championship game appearance, our guys only excelled in two areas: special teams and passing the ball.   Unfortunately, our ST unit lost its two best players: Roberts & Bojorquez. 

 

While there were moments of excellence, no level of our D was consistently good.  And our offensive running attack was putrid.  None of those shortcomings have been addressed so far.

 

Beane did a nice job retaining our offensive linemen.  Sadly, though, they’re just not that good.  They don’t open holes in the running game.  And Daboll has to use TEs and RBs to help with pass pro.  Even with that help, we couldn’t protect Josh in KC. 

 

While the rest of the AFCE stepped up, we stood still at best and probably stepped back. 

 

Fingers crossed –free agency isn’t over and we still have the draft. 

You seem pretty confident in your assessment of the Bills regression with the ascendant AFC east. Are you forgetting the diminished QB in NE, the turnover machine called Darnold and a QB that was protected from destroying his self-confidence by a journeyman QB that saved the day when he failed. When all new shiny pieces and coaching systems are introduced, if they work at all, it usually takes at least a season. As for the offensive line, did you appreciate why we were a great passing team statistically and lined up in empty formation most of the time. It was because we are good at pass protection and Josh was our best runner. Moss was productive in limited carries and Singletary took a step back. A solid back in the 3rd or 4th rd will improve the attack and a 1st rd edge rusher and or a good cover corner will put us in solid position to repeat. Skepticism is nice, but uncalled for.

[Buffalo_Stampede]

In college football they basically rank teams based on returning talent. In the NFL it's similar but rarely do you see teams return most of their starters. 

 

The Bills return 21/22 starters from A 1ST place AFCCG team. John Brown was replaced by Emmanuel Sanders. 

 

Bills are going to be the overwhelming favorite in the AFC East. I'm really interested to see how this plays out for the Bills. It's really unseen in the NFL. 

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

Have to agree regarding some aspects of coaching, I have yet to see McD break a phone...😁

[Nihilarian]

The 2020 Buffalo Bills didn't win the SB and to read some of the stuff posted... most fans think they did! The Bills were OWNED by the Chiefs! Not once, but twice. The vaunted Bills passing game fell on its face at times. No run game. The defense gave up too many big plays. 

 

 

What a lot of Bills fans don't get is that last season with Covid no preseason games and no time for defenses to get up to speed. So the offenses (Buffalo) took off in scoring at the start.

 

Plus, the league wanted exciting high scoring games, hence the non holding calls on offensive line players. 

 

The AFC East was a very weak division last year in 2020 and its why the Bills swept them. Even then, it took a fumble by Newton to lose the last Pats game for them.

 

The Patriots will be an improved team and the might just draft a QB to groom behind Newton. Lets not forget that the 2019 Pats were the #1 defense in the league! * players opted out last year and they are returning for 2021.

 

 The Jets will be better without crazy eyes as HC and so many draft picks. The Dolphins should be better with so many draft picks.

 

Winning the AFC East should be much more difficult in 2021. 

 

It's gonna be interesting to see if the Bills offensive line will be good enough this season...or if they can get that run game working. 

[Royale with Cheese]

1 hour ago, hondo in seattle said:

 

I love the way you guys overdramatize.  I never said we were doomed.  I did say I had concerns.  

 

The Bills had the 3rd best passing attack in the NFL last year.  It was a thing of beauty.

 

We had the 21st best running attack.  It was not a thing of beauty.  Our RBs were not effective.  

 

Our pass D finished the season ranked 13th - mediocre

 

Our run D finished 17th - mediocre.    

 

According to Gosselin's formula, our ST finished 8th - good.

 

I stand by what I said originally:  we were good passing the ball and on special teams.  Everything else was blah.  Without Bojo and Roberts, I'm afraid special teams becomes blah too. 

 

Which means the fate of the season rests on Josh's arm because our blah defense and blah running attack isn't going to produce a lot of Ws.   

 

Our cap situation being what it is, Beane had to scramble just to hold on to our own FAs and wasn't able to upgrade the blah areas.  

 

 

 

 

This roster got us to 13-3 with one of the hardest schedules in the NFL.

But this same roster all of a sudden has gotten worse?

 

If Bojo was so good that a team that loses him gets worse....why is he still a free agent?  
I’m sorry but a return man doesn’t make or break a team.

 

You’re basically saying that we can’t get better with the same players.  The coaching staff that got us to 13-3 will not be able to make adjustments or maybe the philosophy changes.

 

You’re also saying that there’s no way we can improve in the draft.

Not to mention that every free agent signed by our division foes are guaranteed to make them better.
How many times do the Jets and Dolphins spend a ton of money on free agents and went nowhere?  Why is this year different?

Edited March 23, 2021 by Royale with Cheese

[Bobby Hooks]

We had one of the harder schedules last year and went 13-3. This year the schedule seemed to soften up a tad. I think we’ll be fine. 

[Locomark]

Without a single decent QB in this division this is a bad take. Talk to me when someone signs a major QB. As a Bills fan you should know that it takes a QB to win. We didn’t have one and look what it got us for decades no matter how good the rest of the team was. 

[Eastport bills]

2 hours ago, Mat68 said:

Who has the best coaching staff and Qb...  thats your division winners.  Tua no shot.  Darnold no shot.  Cam no shot. 

Good take. Full agreement but if we're talking taking the next step, we'll need at least a better D-line pressure group and a back that takes some stress away from Josh.

 

 

 

[BuffaloBill]

There is always the element of luck in any season with injuries but I just don’t see the rest of the division gaining that much ground. 
 

it is a QB driven league and none of the other teams are in the same world with Josh. 
 

if the Bills add one solid starter and one solid contributor from this draft ten my only worries are will they have a healthy season. 

[mjd1001]

24 minutes ago, MJS said:

Well I think it is debatable about the coaching staff. The Patriots have Bill Belichick. He is obviously miles above everyone else just based on his history, but looking at full staff, and especially if you consider the front office in that, the Bills have one of the best in the league.

 

But yeah, as long as the Patriots have Belichick it is hard to compare to him as a coach. But let's see what he does the next few years without Brady. Year 1 without Brady was pretty forgettable.

Unless Belichick has Brady and/or is cheating, he isn't anything too special.  He doesn't have Brady, and hopefully he isn't cheating so I'm not worried. If anything, his 'attitude' seems to be driving players away from the Pats (without brady there, a lot of guys don't want to put up with that staff)

[Ethan in Cleveland]

It will be harder to win the AFC East. My guess is they can 5-1 in the division still. Miami takes a step back with Tua while the Pats battle for the last WC spot.

Bills have the neat QB in the division. They won't win 13 but they will win the division at 11-5 or 12-4. 

[ngbills]

33 minutes ago, dneveu said:

 

My thing is - Miami's defense vastly overperformed last year.  Their offense will get some boost - but I don't fear a defense that is so insanely turnover dependent.  It helped keep their tua offense afloat, but they got absolutely exposed in a must win week 17 game.  Tua will be better, but i think their defense will be worse.  The offenses they held under 20: Rams (their best game), 49ers (Jimmy G hurt mid-game), Jags, Patriots week 15, Bengals (no burrow), and NYJ twice.  15 turnovers across 7 games and they won all 7.  They were 3-6 with wins against LAC, LVR, ARI - with losses to bills x2, kc, seattle, NE, Denver.  

 

NE has added a lot of pieces, but i'm not sure that was necessarily to contend with and beat buffalo.  Their offense will be better with more weapons, and their defense added some front 7 talent.  But they didn't add major impact pieces either. 

 

The Jets were arguably the worst team in the league last year - they are probably starting over at QB.  I'm not considering them an option.

I agree for the most part. My bet would be we sweep the Jets but could potentially go 3-1/2-2 vs Pats and Fins. So that is either 5-1 or 4-2 vs the division and likely win the division at 11-5 to 13-3. I am not as easily ready to count out NE yet. We still dont know who is QB is and they have added a ton of pieces. People act like they went 2-14 last year when they were 7-9. They added some pieces so would not be shocked to see them go 10-6.  

[hondo in seattle]

52 minutes ago, wjag said:

Curious premise from OP.  I can't get behind this.  Top to bottom on the roster, the team is good to stacked.  They go into the draft for the first time in my memory looking for BPA.  My gut tells me something like DE/DT, RB, CB, C/G and LB/FS will be the picks.  They're bringing back all coaches, most players and front office.  Probably THE most stable franchise, at the moment, in the NFL.  These be crazy times.  Enjoy the ride.  

 

IMHO, we're not stacked.

 

Our D was ranked 14th in yards allowed, 16th in points allowed.  Hopefully Star's return helps.  But based on last years performance, I wouldn't say our D is stacked.

All our RBs put together produced  a mere 1301 yards.  Our RB room is not stacked.  

 

Our offensive line often gets TE and RB help - far more than the NFL average - to protect Josh.  This is despite the fact most of our linemen are better at pass pro than run blocking.  Our OL is not stacked.  

 

Knox is our best TE and he often drops balls and often whiffs on blocks.  Our TE room is not stacked.  

 

Our QB and WR rooms, on the other hand, are undeniably stacked.  

 

As Happy Days suggested, maybe I should have said we're not ready yet to compete with the Chiefs.  Until our opponents find QBs, we're still the best team in the AFCE - though it'll be tougher this year.  

 

 

[Buffalo_Stampede]

10 minutes ago, Nihilarian said:

The 2020 Buffalo Bills didn't win the SB and to read some of the stuff posted... most fans think they did! The Bills were OWNED by the Chiefs! Not once, but twice. The vaunted Bills passing game fell on its face at times. No run game. The defense gave up too many big plays. 

 

 

What a lot of Bills fans don't get is that last season with Covid no preseason games and no time for defenses to get up to speed. So the offenses (Buffalo) took off in scoring at the start.

 

Plus, the league wanted exciting high scoring games, hence the non holding calls on offensive line players. 

 

The AFC East was a very weak division last year in 2020 and its why the Bills swept them. Even then, it took a fumble by Newton to lose the last Pats game for them.

 

The Patriots will be an improved team and the might just draft a QB to groom behind Newton. Lets not forget that the 2019 Pats were the #1 defense in the league! * players opted out last year and they are returning for 2021.

 

 The Jets will be better without crazy eyes as HC and so many draft picks. The Dolphins should be better with so many draft picks.

 

Winning the AFC East should be much more difficult in 2021. 

 

It's gonna be interesting to see if the Bills offensive line will be good enough this season...or if they can get that run game working. 

It's going to be a tougher division. I Agee.

 

How do they improve? They need some of their younger players to to take a step forward. That still includes Allen. Allen can get better still. Edmunds, Oliver, Ford, Davis, Epenesa, and an incoming draft class is how the Bills improve. They must take steps forward. 

 

Can they beat the Chiefs? I don't know. It's not the same Chiefs team either. 

Edited March 23, 2021 by Buffalo_Stampede