Questions for those of us who endured the drought

[Nelius]

Completely agree with the incremental opinion, but will add that my frustration just about peaked with pretty much everything concerning Peterman in 2018. I was definitely questioning McDermott, wondering if this was kicking off another decade of futility, etc.

 

Started to turn around once we started trusting Josh more and saw obvious improvement. The final Dolphins game his rookie season was a big turning point, that game was pure fun for the first time in a long time as a Bills fan. Settled into low level hope the following year which resulted in playoffs, and haven't looked back since. Completely unaffected by it now, this team will contend for years.

[BillsFan619]

3 hours ago, Beerball said:

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

Never said the futility started with the drought.

[BillsFan619]

16 minutes ago, Nelius said:

Completely agree with the incremental opinion, but will add that my frustration just about peaked with pretty much everything concerning Peterman in 2018. I was definitely questioning McDermott, wondering if this was kicking off another decade of futility, etc.

 

Started to turn around once we started trusting Josh more and saw obvious improvement. The final Dolphins game his rookie season was a big turning point, that game was pure fun for the first time in a long time as a Bills fan. Settled into low level hope the following year which resulted in playoffs, and haven't looked back since. Completely unaffected by it now, this team will contend for years.

Great thoughts, Nelius!

 

Love your thought about being unaffected now and that they’ll contend for years.

 

While I t’s been very discouraging at times, I’m a pretty optimistic bills fan. That said, so many times during the drought it was more from a hopeful angle than a confidence angle.

 

If feels great to have the confidence again going into the season and into games.

 

Go Bills!

[Saxum]

25 minutes ago, BillsFan619 said:

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.

 

Things happen.  Players get arrested, suspended or injured. Coaches too.   

[BillsFan619]

3 minutes ago, Limeaid said:

 

Things happen.  Players get arrested, suspended or injured. Coaches too.   

Definitely agree that unforeseen things happen. Let’s just hope that it’s KC and not us.

[LeGOATski]

I guess I still have BBFS. The Josh extension made me nervous.

[BillsFan619]

4 hours ago, Rocky Landing said:

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...

Hey now. I had sarcasm as one of the options. 🤣

 

Glad it was sarcasm, bro.

Edited August 7, 2021 by BillsFan619

[BillsFan619]

49 minutes ago, LeGOATski said:

I guess I still have BBFS. The Josh extension made me nervous.

The first step in healing is admitting the problem. I kid, I kid.

 

BBFS can be strong.

[eball]

“The moment” for me was the game at Atlanta in W3 or W4 of 2017. I knew then that McD was special. Then, seeing Josh in his rookie season, I didn’t care about the stats and could see the superstar waiting to emerge. I am loving this ride. 

[BillsFan619]

58 minutes ago, eball said:

“The moment” for me was the game at Atlanta in W3 or W4 of 2017. I knew then that McD was special. Then, seeing Josh in his rookie season, I didn’t care about the stats and could see the superstar waiting to emerge. I am loving this ride. 

Me too, I’m enjoying it also.

 

Thanks for sharing, eball. Your take on when your moment was, was cool to hear. It was pretty early on for you.

[Utah John]

9 hours 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.

During his last few years, Ralph wasn't a very energetic presence for the team, but his budget guy, whose name I have mercifully forgotten, was still very active, and he was behind many terrible personnel and coaching moves. So it wasn't so much Ralph being out the picture, it was THAT guy.

[JMF2006]

6 hours ago, Bferra13 said:

Was Dick Jauron not humble and sincere though? 

 

Skeletor was in over his head.

 

Sure he was a nice guy but he wasn't exactly a winner with a 35-45 record in 5 seasons with the Bears.

 

6-10 then 5-11 then a huge anomaly to 13-3 then a return to 4-12 then the very familiar 7-9 then a 1-4 as interim coach of the Lions.

 

Then he had 3 x 7-9 seasons with the Bills before getting gassed with a 3-6 record.

 

Where do you think 7-9 Forever got his user name?  

 

 

[GunnerBill]

So there are a couple of points I'd highlight. The first was beating the Bears on opening day 2014 the week the Pegulas takeover was announced. It genuinely felt like a new beginning and from that point to today we are well above .500 as an organisation. 

 

The second was the hiring of Sean McDermott. I had talked about him on here a year before (I'd have fired Rex after 1 season) and I was overjoyed when we secured him. I thought he was the best young Head Coach in waiting in the NFL and the way he has changed the organisation has been much remarked upon. I always used to say when people talked about hiring a football tzar that we didn't need a tzar... we just needed to hire the right person to grab this organisation by the scruff of its neck and reshape it. In McDermott we found him. 

[Gugny]

I was a homer throughout much of the drought.

 

When the Pegulas bought the team and hired Ryan as HC, I was optimistic.  That lasted about two weeks into the regular season, as it only took that long for me to realize I was wrong about Ryan and I hated the Tyrod Taylor acquisition from the day we got him.

 

That began a 3-year stretch during which I really didn't enjoy watching the Bills play (I never stopped watching, though).  Even the wins weren't enjoyable to me and the end of the drought was just a fluke, as far as I was concerned.  The playoff loss was nothing short of pathetic.

 

I did like McDermott from the get go, but I wasn't going to be able to enjoy the games until Tyrod was gone.

 

The day that bum was traded to Cleveland was one of the happiest moments of my Bills fandom.  

 

That was my turning point.  

 

Then, when we drafted Josh Allen, I was immediately sold on him and I was back to being excited and optimistic.  Obviously, I still am.

 

In summary, I think the ownership change, HC change (McD) and QB change (Josh) are the events that made me feel a lot better about this team.

[GunnerBill]

4 minutes ago, Gugny said:

I was a homer throughout much of the drought.

 

When the Pegulas bought the team and hired Ryan as HC, I was optimistic.  That lasted about two weeks into the regular season, as it only took that long for me to realize I was wrong about Ryan and I hated the Tyrod Taylor acquisition from the day we got him.

 

That began a 3-year stretch during which I really didn't enjoy watching the Bills play (I never stopped watching, though).  Even the wins weren't enjoyable to me and the end of the drought was just a fluke, as far as I was concerned.  The playoff loss was nothing short of pathetic.

 

I did like McDermott from the get go, but I wasn't going to be able to enjoy the games until Tyrod was gone.

 

The day that bum was traded to Cleveland was one of the happiest moments of my Bills fandom.  

 

That was my turning point.  

 

Then, when we drafted Josh Allen, I was immediately sold on him and I was back to being excited and optimistic.  Obviously, I still am.

 

In summary, I think the ownership change, HC change (McD) and QB change (Josh) are the events that made me feel a lot better about this team.

 

I wasn't a big Tyrod guy either. I knew what he was and I didn't object to him so much as the cultish devotion he garnered from a section of the fanbase. 

 

However, the period I didn't enjoy watching the Bills was the Ryan era. Really disliking your team's Head Coach is not pleasant. Every time I hear or saw him speak I felt embarrassed that he was our coach. Closest I have come to giving up on the Bills. He drove me to places Jauron and Chan never managed. 

[Gugny]

13 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

 

I wasn't a big Tyrod guy either. I knew what he was and I didn't object to him so much as the cultish devotion he garnered from a section of the fanbase. 

 

However, the period I didn't enjoy watching the Bills was the Ryan era. Really disliking your team's Head Coach is not pleasant. Every time I hear or saw him speak I felt embarrassed that he was our coach. Closest I have come to giving up on the Bills. He drove me to places Jauron and Chan never managed. 

 

I felt the same exact way.

[Steptide]

For me I think it was McDermott's first season. I was unsure about him when they hired him. Seemed conservative and like a younger jauron. After he started Peterman, and then rallied the team to stay together and get to the playoffs (with a little help of course) I knew he was different from previous coaches. Admittedly, drafting Allen had me concerned, but we're all past that and we've all seen what happened since. 

 

On a side note, during those drought years, I think I actually got to a point where I thought we'd never make the playoffs again. It's crazy what us bills fans endured for almost 2 decades 

[Dr. K]

13 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. 

Me too. I hated hated hated the Rex hire form day one. 

[JMF2006]

11 minutes ago, Dr. K said:

Me too. I hated hated hated the Rex hire form day one. 

 

Yet they set a record at the time for season ticket sales and my ticket rep was pleading with me not to throw my seniority away by cancelling mine .

 

[SoCal Deek]

1 hour ago, GunnerBill said:

 

I wasn't a big Tyrod guy either. I knew what he was and I didn't object to him so much as the cultish devotion he garnered from a section of the fanbase. 

 

However, the period I didn't enjoy watching the Bills was the Ryan era. Really disliking your team's Head Coach is not pleasant. Every time I hear or saw him speak I felt embarrassed that he was our coach. Closest I have come to giving up on the Bills. He drove me to places Jauron and Chan never managed. 

Couldn’t agree more! Rex was a clown. Taking an easy paycheck while mailing it in with ‘my’ team. I still can’t believe they let him talk on TV. His tenure as the Bills HC was nothing short of unprofessional.