Questions for those of us who endured the drought

[BillsFan619]

10 hours ago, FilthyBeast said:

The NFL (and pro sports in general) is all about cycles. And every team goes through it no matter how big/small the market, or previous playoff/championship success.

 

The issues with the Bills is that it was longer than normal in a parity driven league and at least peronally what was so frustrating is getting very close a few times (specifically the 2004 season losing to the steelers 3rd stringers) and never being able to seal the deal with Bills 90's teams.

 

But if Allen is truly an elite franchise QB and can take this team where kelly couldn't than not many folks are going to worry or remember the previous 20 years similar to Pats fans pre Bledsoe/Brady.

Man, it would be great to have a run last so long that it totally changed the team’s identity. A run so great that makes the past seem like a distant memory.

 

Go Bills!

[TwistofFate]

I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop....sorry, 30+ years of Bills fandom has made me this way. 

 

Here's to a new season and possibly a Lombardi! 🍻

[billsfan89]

I knew things were going to change (in the sense that the team would compete better and likely make the playoffs with some regularity) when the Pegula's bought the team. The money was finally there to actually compete in the modern NFL. I don't want to ***** talk Ralph too much because without him the NFL/AFL merger wouldn't exist and neither would the Bills but he was an old school owner who ran the team not like a billionaire vanity project.

 

And as the drought wore on the Bills who already play in a small market were more handicapped by the "cash to cap" philsophy of the team and the poor infrastructure (low paid coaches, bad facilities and generally speaking among the lower spenders in the league on non-player expenses during the drought) and it just seemed vastly insurmountable that the Bills could make the playoffs and even if they did it would be as a 9 win 6 seed in a down year for the conference. 

 

But once the Pegula's arrived I was really feeling hopeful. The spending spree in 2015 was something that I hadn't seen before. The closest came in 2012 when they signed Mario to his mega deal and brought in Mark Andrews on a decent deal along with resigning Stevie. But the 2015 spending spree was right out the box and building on top of a team that had just won 9 games. It was aggressive and something Ralph simply wouldn't have done. 

 

Now of course the two year Rex experiment didn't work for so many reasons but the Bills were operating like a modern team and the word of the investments being made outside the team was encouraging. Then came the hiring of McD. I liked the philsophy of the signing. Go for an up and coming coordinator and build the team more patiently. The Pegula's learned that the "quick fix" wasn't the right way to go. And the rest is history after that. 

 

But the Bills finally operating like a more modern NFL team under the Pegulas really made me feel hopeful things could actually change. 

[letsgoteam]

I've always stayed pretty positive. Im 33, but since 2000 I have always been able to convince myself and tell others how the Bills would be good each season. 

 

Seeing the team being successful is pretty nice, I just want one Super Bowl win!

[eball]

7 hours ago, BillsFan619 said:

Man, it would be great to have a run last so long that it totally changed the team’s identity. A run so great that makes the past seem like a distant memory.

 

Go Bills!

 

The future is now.

[Philly McButterpants]

I've been a member of this board since 2007 and I've never once seen or heard of "BBFS."  

[May Day 10]

2 seasons ago.  That's when I lost bbfs.

 

They clearly were a competent team, well prepared, well managed, and had the athletes to execute.  I lost my perpetual fear that they were going to self inflict losing from the jaws of victory.  

 

I really want that home playoff game in front of a sellout crowd.  That is the one thing I fantasized about throughout the drought years

[BigDingus]

Oh I still struggle with it. Anytime there's a close game or we're up against a good team, I can't help but wait for the other shoe to drop in some way. 

 

But even before the drought, Bills fans still expected some kind of collapse or self-inflicted-harm to screw us over. During the Kelly era, those Super Bowl losses had a way of messing with the fan psyche, then moving onto the Flutie/Johnson era you had 2 stupid collapses in the playoffs (with the notorious Music City Miracle being one). 

 

From there the drought starts, but we didn't know what it'd become at that time. We got Bledsoe, fail to make the post season, but then go on a winning streak to enter week 17 at 9-6 with a win-and-in scenario against Pittsburgh. On top of that, Pitt had already announced nearly every starter & most of the 2nd string would be resting, so we were up against a mix of 2nd & 3rd stringers.

 

What happened? We laid an egg & missed the playoffs again. So yeah, the Murphy's Law mentality many fans had existed pre-drought, just cemented itself further as the years went on. Hell, back in the 90's my mom used to call them the heart-attack-team, as they always cut it close, scraped by with a win at the end, or choked in the last minute.

 

I really feel bad for those 20-25ish years old & ONLY saw the drought until now. I can't imagine how it'd feel if you didn't at least have memories of when we were actually a winning team.

[BigDingus]

5 hours ago, letsgoteam said:

I've always stayed pretty positive. Im 33, but since 2000 I have always been able to convince myself and tell others how the Bills would be good each season. 

 

Seeing the team being successful is pretty nice, I just want one Super Bowl win!

 

I always loved reading the people who stayed positive, but I grew to despise those who were just throwing out "UNDEFEATED + SB WIN!" every year, or would constantly ignore all reality & act like we were annual SB contenders after each draft (as if no other teams were ever improving). I mean c'mon, Dick Jauron, Chan Gailey, Rex Ryan, Mike Mularkey, Doug Marrone... And those QB's man...stop getting mad at people who aren't being homers claiming "SUPER BOWL!" after each game 🤣

 

I know, it's ok to be excited or stay positive, but I grew overly annoyed when those people would get mad at anyone having realistic expectations for not being supportive or "real fans." It's like I get it, you think Tyrod would be as good as Brady if only X, Y & Z fell into place, but I think he's mediocre! 

 

Whew, I think I just had some residual, pent up frustration I had to vent really quick. My bad, you were not the target good sir! Carry on lol

[MAJBobby]

On 8/6/2021 at 5:47 PM, 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!

So to be honest the drought beat me down. Still watching the game was never invested in the game. Near the end of the drought Bills Games on TV became more White Noise. 
 

the Last couple years have started to rebuild that fan fire. I am back to looking forward to games. Planning my days around the games. Reignited my love for Buffalo Bills football. Brought something back to me that I thought was beaten out of me. Oooo AND FELLS FING GREAT. 

[wakingfane]

Honestly Josh Allen cured me of BBFS. McDermott got me help managing the symptoms but Josh cured it. The last time I felt myself slipping into the hole was the Packers game in 2018. Josh had looked brilliant, although unconventional against Minnesota and I was feeling hopeful... I couldn't fully Billieve though, until the quarterback curse was broken. As a BBFS survivor, I'd seen plenty of promising performances followed by slow decline, collapse and failure. That Packers game was brutal. Josh looked completely clueless and hopeless and I could have almost thrown up thinking about what it would mean if that was really the way things were headed. We already saw what a good McDermott team with a poor quarterback could do in Jacksonville. But by the end of the 2018 season I had seen enough of Josh to be convinced he really was different. Before training camp in 2019 I placed a max bet at the casino on the Bills making the playoffs and made out quite well, thanks to the Wrong Josh 😆

[wakingfane]

58 minutes ago, BigDingus said:

 

I always loved reading the people who stayed positive, but I grew to despise those who were just throwing out "UNDEFEATED + SB WIN!" every year, or would constantly ignore all reality & act like we were annual SB contenders after each draft (as if no other teams were ever improving). I mean c'mon, Dick Jauron, Chan Gailey, Rex Ryan, Mike Mularkey, Doug Marrone... And those QB's man...stop getting mad at people who aren't being homers claiming "SUPER BOWL!" after each game 🤣

 

I know, it's ok to be excited or stay positive, but I grew overly annoyed when those people would get mad at anyone having realistic expectations for not being supportive or "real fans." It's like I get it, you think Tyrod would be as good as Brady if only X, Y & Z fell into place, but I think he's mediocre! 

 

Whew, I think I just had some residual, pent up frustration I had to vent really quick. My bad, you were not the target good sir! Carry on lol

This is great, I think this is a group therapy session actually, lol. So I wasn't one of the positivity posters but I usually agreed with them. I got really annoyed at the harsh reality posters that said there was something fundamentally wrong with the Bills organization which would not allow them to succeed. I couldn't allow that to be possible because I needed the possibility that any season could be a turnaround. And besides, the organization had been successful in the nineties under Ralph, so why would things have become so drastically irredeemable in just 5 years or so? But it was true... You guys were right... The players really weren't good enough, the composition of the teams was either slapdash or misinformed. The wrong people were in charge over and over again and any improvement was only incremental, not revolutionary... So sad that it truly took Ralph's death for things to begin to truly change.

Edited August 10, 2021 by wakingfane

[letsgoteam]

1 hour ago, BigDingus said:

 

I always loved reading the people who stayed positive, but I grew to despise those who were just throwing out "UNDEFEATED + SB WIN!" every year, or would constantly ignore all reality & act like we were annual SB contenders after each draft (as if no other teams were ever improving). I mean c'mon, Dick Jauron, Chan Gailey, Rex Ryan, Mike Mularkey, Doug Marrone... And those QB's man...stop getting mad at people who aren't being homers claiming "SUPER BOWL!" after each game 🤣

 

I know, it's ok to be excited or stay positive, but I grew overly annoyed when those people would get mad at anyone having realistic expectations for not being supportive or "real fans." It's like I get it, you think Tyrod would be as good as Brady if only X, Y & Z fell into place, but I think he's mediocre! 

 

Whew, I think I just had some residual, pent up frustration I had to vent really quick. My bad, you were not the target good sir! Carry on lol

Lol, its all good. I did not take it that way! 

 

My positive was more like at the beginning of the season I could come up with a scenario of how they could make the playoffs each year (wild card). 

[May Day 10]

4 hours ago, BigDingus said:

 

I always loved reading the people who stayed positive, but I grew to despise those who were just throwing out "UNDEFEATED + SB WIN!" every year, or would constantly ignore all reality & act like we were annual SB contenders after each draft (as if no other teams were ever improving). I mean c'mon, Dick Jauron, Chan Gailey, Rex Ryan, Mike Mularkey, Doug Marrone... And those QB's man...stop getting mad at people who aren't being homers claiming "SUPER BOWL!" after each game 🤣

 

I know, it's ok to be excited or stay positive, but I grew overly annoyed when those people would get mad at anyone having realistic expectations for not being supportive or "real fans." It's like I get it, you think Tyrod would be as good as Brady if only X, Y & Z fell into place, but I think he's mediocre! 

 

Whew, I think I just had some residual, pent up frustration I had to vent really quick. My bad, you were not the target good sir! Carry on lol

 

Yeah.  Because some showed frustration that a snake like Russ Brandon was perpetually the proxy GM.... we got: "shut up man, youre not a real fan.  they can win the super bowl and you would still find something to complain about!"

[Mat68]

White was the differance.  Buffalo drafted developed Gilmore.  Let him walk than drafted White.  The Bills for the draught wouldnt pay market value and would let great players walk. 

[Big Turk]

When they stopped snatching defeat from the jaws of victory at the end of games, which seemed to happen so many times during the drought years.

 

Then I noticed I started expecting them to win in those situations instead of lose...and it kind of snowballed from there.

 

 

[Jauronimo]

It wasn't truly over for me until last year when it was clear that we had found a real QB.  2019 was fun but we won ugly games that were often too close for comfort and did so based on the strength of the defense.  2020 proved we could play with any team in the league (except for KC).  How many games did it look like we were headed for a soul crushing let down during those 3rd quarter ruts only to watch spectacular play when it mattered most?  I now expect them to win rather than just hope they do.

[Allen2D̶i̶g̶g̶s̶TBD]

I only started following and understanding football in 2000. I became so accustomed to consistent failure and disappointment that last season didn't even feel real to me.

[Patrick Duffy]

On 8/6/2021 at 5:47 PM, BillsFan619 said:

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, the 1st almost 10 yrs or so ( I believe) I always had hope and tricked myself into expectations that deep inside knew time after time would once again be disappointment.

 

After that 10th consecutive losing season, I only expected more failure. At least until ( hate to admit this) Rex was hired. Unfortunately I got some of that hope back due to that hire, however only hoped to make the playoffs. I mean I knew it definitely was not or going to be a Champion Ship team. 

 

Then after much of the same, I was at my peek and didn't spend a penny on any Bills merch or anything at all for 3 years, might have been 4. Trust me when I say that is a big deal for me as I have always spent a lot of $ and would spend it very often on this team. More than I ever should have for sure.

 

But then....hope and excitement once again, after so many years came back the 2019 season. The 1st couple of games I knew there was something there watching Josh finally get some WR help and improve. I felt more confident than ever (since Kelly) that we may have finally found a franchise QB.

Edited August 10, 2021 by Sheneneh Jenkins

[Rico]

11 hours ago, Philly McButterpants said:

I've been a member of this board since 2007 and I've never once seen or heard of "BBFS."  

You may have had 26CB on ignore, which would have been a very smart move.