Questions for those of us who endured the drought

[ghostwriter]

Honestly, it was so bad I prefer not to think about it.

[RaoulDuke79]

26 minutes ago, Rico said:

All started when Ralph was out of the picture. After Pegs got the team, it did take a couple years for him to wake up. I wasn’t sold on McD when he was hired, but I was more than willing to give him a chance. The day after the 2017 draft when Whaley was fired, I felt very good that things were finally going to turn around. Making the playoffs and breaking the drought cinched it, and the firing of Russ Brandon the following spring was the icing on the cake.

 

God bless Pegs, McD, Beane, and especially today God bless Josh Allen. Thank you so much.

Agree with this. Also, not to be a stick in the mud, but I remember when the term "McBean" was thrown around in a snarky manner only a few years ago. In hindsight, and with no disrespect to Polian and Levy this is probably the best GM/Coach  combo we've ever had.

[BillsFan619]

44 minutes ago, Rocky Landing said:

Now that Josh has signed his contract, it's going to be just like when Fitzpatrick got his money, and then crapped the bed. Allen's going to phone it in from here on out. And the arm arrogance is going to kill us. Dang.

This is either sarcasm or bad “BBFS”.

 

JA is definitely different situation than Fitzpatrick (even though I liked/still like Fitzy).

 

Go Bills!

[BillsFan619]

1 hour ago, Victory Formation said:

Honestly, it was so bad I prefer not to think about it.

🤣🤣🤣

 

I get ya. I hear what you’re saying.

 

That said, sometimes when you remember where you’ve been, it makes the good times so much more special.

[BillsFan619]

2 hours ago, MJS said:

So most of my fandom has been during the drought. I'm only 32 years old, so the last time the Bills won a playoff game I was just too young to really remember it. I do have fond memories of Eric Moulds, Doug Flutie, even Drew Bledsoe.

 

But most of my years of really caring about the Bills was just abysmal. Not usually horrible enough to get a top draft pick, and when we were close we had no confidence that we would pick a difference maker anyways.

 

But the biggest thing? Every coach we hired just seemed like a buffoon. I just never had confidence in them. It was obvious we were scraping the bottom of the barrel for these coaches. I always had to convince myself that they might be ok.

 

McDermott, though? I was legitimately impressed with him and thought he could be different. Beane, too, was impressive to me. McDermott breaking the drought really shows me he was different as well. It's only been uphill from there.

 

Josh Allen showed a lot to me his rookie year. He had no talent on offense to help him. He put the offense on his back every game. He had some lows and some highs, but he was a fighter. That Minnesota game and the well 17 Miami game really shows me he had potential to be good.

You, sir, have my respect. I at least had the late 80s and the 90s Bills.

[Shaw66]

3 hours ago, BillsFan619 said:

As most of us know, the drought from 2000 to 2016 was brutal. That’s why we even say things like PTSD when something bad happens. Heck, it became so much a part of us that we came up with our own bills way to say it, “BBFS”.

 

Obviously though, it’s been different lately. We have been in the playoffs the last three out of four years, won some playoff games, went to the AFC championship game, just signed our franchise guy through 2028. Heck, even the national narrative is starting to change.

 

So, here’s my questions. Because the BBFS was so strong, when did your perspective of the team and your BBFS start to change? Also, do you still struggle with BBFS or has the recent success changed that overall?

 

For me, it started with the Cowboys game in 2019. It was like, “Oh, wow, we were on the road on the national stage and beat a decent/good team.” It was cemented last season with our eight game winning streak.

 

It feels great to once again be heading into a season, barring major injuries, that we’re a force to be reckoned with. It feels great going into games (most games) feeling like we will win instead of hoping that we will.

 

Would love to hear your thoughts as well, Bills Mafia. Let’s go Buffalo!

Here's what I said on Memorial Day, 2019:

 

Quote

I think the golden age of the Buffalo Bills is upon us.  I think we are about to witness the greatest run of excellence in the history of the franchise, and one of the greatest of all time in the NFL.

 

Maybe it’s just because I’ve lived a long life and been fortunate to have had a lot of good things happen around me.   About the only good thing that hasn’t happened is true greatness for my football team.  I was there for the AFL championships and the Super Bowls.  Now it’s time to go all the way.

 

Whatever the reason, I can’t talk myself out of believing the Bills are about to take off.  It’s not that I expect the 2019 Bills to be great – someplace in the 9-7 to 7-9 range once again this year; what I expect is that the 2020 Bills will be a solid playoff team and a regular preseason Super Bowl contender after that.  It could come a year earlier or a year later, but it’s coming.

 

[Buffalo Boy]

   I started a thread the day they traded Sammy “ Do you trust McBeane “ or something like that.

   I was absolutely on board at that point already. They got rid of a malingering D lineman, an over priced WR who wasn’t all that ( never liked Sammy from the word go). 
    Darby going surprised me but I trusted them.

    They were doing it the right way. They had a plan and a type of player they wanted. 
    Thank the football gods for McBeane !!!

 

[Beerball]

4 hours ago, BillsFan619 said:

As most of us know, the drought from 2000 to 2016 was brutal. That’s why we even say things like PTSD when something bad happens. Heck, it became so much a part of us that we came up with our own bills way to say it, “BBFS”.

 

Obviously though, it’s been different lately. We have been in the playoffs the last three out of four years, won some playoff games, went to the AFC championship game, just signed our franchise guy through 2028. Heck, even the national narrative is starting to change.

 

So, here’s my questions. Because the BBFS was so strong, when did your perspective of the team and your BBFS start to change? Also, do you still struggle with BBFS or has the recent success changed that overall?

 

For me, it started with the Cowboys game in 2019. It was like, “Oh, wow, we were on the road on the national stage and beat a decent/good team.” It was cemented last season with our eight game winning streak.

 

It feels great to once again be heading into a season, barring major injuries, that we’re a force to be reckoned with. It feels great going into games (most games) feeling like we will win instead of hoping that we will.

 

Would love to hear your thoughts as well, Bills Mafia. Let’s go Buffalo!

GTFO. This franchise's futility didn't begin in 2000.  Call me when you start shaving.

[Rocky Landing]

1 hour ago, BillsFan619 said:

This is either sarcasm or bad “BBFS”.

 

JA is definitely different situation than Fitzpatrick (even though I liked/still like Fitzy).

 

Go Bills!

Jesus H. Christ, of course it's sarcasm! I thought the "arm arrogance" would have given it away, but I guess that's a little obscure...

[QB Bills]

I'm permanently scarred. I still think the bottom is going to fall out of this whole thing with no reasoning behind it other than that's what the Bills do. Even if they win the super bowl, for a few days I'll be dreading am announcement of how the game needs to be replayed because of a technicality.

[Sammy Watkins' Rib]

The thing that I have noticed is that the better we have become the more pressure I feel. For example, the season opener has always been fun win or lose. But now it feels like it would be devastating to lose the opener for the simple reason that the bar has been raised and simply making the playoffs is no longer the goal. The goal is to be a #1 or #2 seed and make a deep playoff run every year. 

[BigAl2526]

Having been a fan for the last 52 years, I've experienced extended periods of mediocrity as well as the "golden age" of four straight Super Bowl appearances.  I know that "what goes around comes around."  I tend to be a little wary about making prognostications about future success, having been burned more than a few times over the past 5 decades.  I was impressed early on by McDermott and Beane.  I was intrigued by Josh Allen's physical traits before he was drafted, and more so after he was drafted, but I still saw it as a risk.  Had Allen not turned out to be a success, I thought there was still a good chance that Beane and McDermott would get fired and we'd be looking at yet another rebuild.  Making the playoffs started to make me think the team might be on the right path.

[Sammy Watkins' Rib]

4 hours ago, BillsFan130 said:

I wish I had that confidence. If I remember correctly, I believe I was calling for his head after the blow out loss to the chargers in 2017 lol. Shows how much I know.

 

I had similar feelings as well. It was also part of the reason I was very down on Josh when we drafted him and early in his rookie season. Full me once, shame on you. Full me twice shame on me. McDermott and Beane were essentially fooled twice into thinking Peterman could legitimately start an NFL game or even hold down a roster spot. The fact that they were wrong so badly not once but twice had me scratching my head on how they could possibly be right on Allen when all the analytics said different. 

[Bferra13]

5 hours ago, JMF2006 said:

 

The hire I hated was Wrex...I knew he would mess this team up.

 

When they gassed him less than 2 years into his 5yr deal I was ecstatic

 

I could just tell by his presser this guy(McD) was the real deal,he was humble and sincere. 

Was Dick Jauron not humble and sincere though? 

[Billznut]

47 minutes ago, Sammy Watkins' Rib said:

 

I had similar feelings as well. It was also part of the reason I was very down on Josh when we drafted him and early in his rookie season. Full me once, shame on you. Full me twice shame on me. McDermott and Beane were essentially fooled twice into thinking Peterman could legitimately start an NFL game or even hold down a roster spot. The fact that they were wrong so badly not once but twice had me scratching my head on how they could possibly be right on Allen when all the analytics said different. 

I love that full me twice feeling every Thanksgiving. 

[Straight Hucklebuck]

6 hours ago, BillsFan619 said:

For me, it started with the Cowboys game in 2019. It was like, “Oh, wow, we were on the road on the national stage and beat a decent/good team.” It was cemented last season with our eight game winning streak.

I think this is a good time stamp, I agree that was a time where the Bills just kicked the teeth in of the media darlings, where Allen just stood there and rifled that pass down the middle.

 

I think finally looking OUTSIDE the organization for a GM was huge. Flushing years of Marv, Russ Brandon, Nix and clueless Whaley and ending the “Promote from Within” cheapo culture the Bills had embodied forever. 

 

 

[Sammy Watkins' Rib]

16 minutes ago, Billznut said:

I love that full me twice feeling every Thanksgiving. 

Haha. I am a fool!

[Saxum]

2 hours ago, Beerball said:

GTFO. This franchise's futility didn't begin in 2000.  Call me when you start shaving.

 

Shaving does not mean much.  I went to my first game at the Rockpile alone paying for game with bottles I collected.  I did not need to shave until after I moved from Buffalo to Northern Virginia after college for work, was married and bought a car before I needed to share.

 

Having Cro-Magnon blood is not reason to be uppity.   

[BillsFan619]

3 hours ago, Shaw66 said:

Here's what I said on Memorial Day, 2019:

 

 

Wow, great thoughts, Shaw!

[BillsFan619]

1 hour ago, Sammy Watkins' Rib said:

The thing that I have noticed is that the better we have become the more pressure I feel. For example, the season opener has always been fun win or lose. But now it feels like it would be devastating to lose the opener for the simple reason that the bar has been raised and simply making the playoffs is no longer the goal. The goal is to be a #1 or #2 seed and make a deep playoff run every year. 

Yup, I see what you’re saying. Games definitely mean more. We lose more than a few games (I think we have a chance to win most of our games again this year), the #1 seed is most likely out of reach with a team like KC.