Questions for those of us who endured the drought

[JujuFish]

12 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."  

Battered Buffalo Fan Syndrome

[gomper]

2017 I started to feel that this may have changed. Not just making the playoffs but the vibe that there was and finally cohesion across the board. D cheering the O on and O cheering the D. The care level was something not seen around here in almost 20 years.  McDermott is a huge reason, although his game management can be suspect at times but he's learning too. Like everyone else. 

 

As far as Allen goes,  I had a wait and see approach. The flashes were there but could he learn and grow?

The game in Miami last year was the turning point for me. He played magnificent and when it came time to grow up and lead the comeback,  he did just that. In style. 

 

These are heady times as a Bills fan.  The sky is truly the limit.  For those of us who suffered through many horrible years, years when you knew in August they had no chance, it makes the current situation so much sweeter.

[BillsFan619]

14 hours ago, MAJBobby said:

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. 

I bet it feels great. Keep fanning the flames, bro. It’s here!

[BillsFan619]

7 hours ago, Allen2Diggs said:

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.

So are you the fan that we need to blame for the drought since you started liking the team in 2000? 😜🤣

 

Totally teasing. Actually, I have respect for you because some of us at least had the late 80s and the 90s bills to hold onto during the drought.

 

I actually used to teasingly tell my wife that she was the curse because we got married in 2000, and before that, we were winning all the time (except the SB).

 

Welcome to winning, bro. Doesn’t it feel great?

[PromoTheRobot]

My boss the Pats season ticket holder was telling me today how he thinks the Bills are going to mop the league with Josh Allen. What a change going into a season knowing the Bills are one of the 2-3 Super Bowl favorites. Even in the early 90's Kelly Super Bowl teams the media never fawned over the Bills like they do now. I dare say we are entering the greatest era of the Bills. Not exaggerating. 

[Allen2D̶i̶g̶g̶s̶TBD]

36 minutes ago, BillsFan619 said:

So are you the fan that we need to blame for the drought since you started liking the team in 2000? 😜🤣

 

Totally teasing. Actually, I have respect for you because some of us at least had the late 80s and the 90s bills to hold onto during the drought.

 

I actually used to teasingly tell my wife that she was the curse because we got married in 2000, and before that, we were winning all the time (except the SB).

 

Welcome to winning, bro. Doesn’t it feel great?

I've lived in Buffalo all my life and I was just a toddler during the Superbowl years. I actually found a home movie from when I was 2 years old celebrating Bruce Smith's sack for a safety in Superbowl XXV. I remember the excitement of those years and believing that the Bills playing in the Superbowl was just a given. It wasn't until I was a teenager that I actually learned all of the positions and rules of football, just in time to fully understand the Bills' 17 years of futility 🤣

[BillsFan619]

30 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

My boss the Pats season ticket holder was telling me today how he thinks the Bills are going to mop the league with Josh Allen. What a change going into a season knowing the Bills are one of the 2-3 Super Bowl favorites. Even in the early 90's Kelly Super Bowl teams the media never fawned over the Bills like they do now. I dare say we are entering the greatest era of the Bills. Not exaggerating. 

Wow, that’s crazy coming from a Pats fan.

 

Serious question. Do you think the fawning you’re seeing has more to do with the fact that there’s just so much more coverage nowadays or do you believe that more people really do believe in this team more than the 90s bills?

[PromoTheRobot]

4 minutes ago, BillsFan619 said:

Wow, that’s crazy coming from a Pats fan.

 

Serious question. Do you think the fawning you’re seeing has more to do with the fact that there’s just so much more coverage nowadays or do you believe that more people really do believe in this team more than the 90s bills?

 

There's definitely like 10X more media covering the NFL these days, but the big guys are still the same. The SB era Bills were given their due but there was also some disrespect. Every year we got to the Super Bowl again there was a lot of "Oh no, not these guys again!"  I'd say there is more respect and consensus on the Bills being great now than back then.

Edited August 11, 2021 by PromoTheRobot

[May Day 10]

1991, the bills were regarded as the class of the nfl, probably going to their eventual showdown with the 49ers.  It was the greatest season in bills history, quite possibly.  That was the peak of those teams.  

 

 

Last season reminded me a lot of 1991, and there is a feeling that this team has not peaked.  

 

 

Also, mind you, the afc was measurably weaker than the nfc in the bills' glory years.  The nfc had dominated the superbowl for many years, and most weren't even competitive.  They basically just needed to outlast deeply flawed teams in Miami, Denver, and houston, and sometimes Pittsburgh and la

Edited August 11, 2021 by May Day 10

[Rock-A-Bye Beasley]

Last year when they stopped running the ball so much. Before that, McDermott literally said “we want to be able to pass when we have to”.
 

I thought they’d never be super bowl contenders with that mindset at coach, but then he took the leash off the passing game last year. I realized his maddening comments were just a way to protect some of his players from scrutiny as they developed. Josh mostly. 

[corta765]

So in my opinion the true worst part of the drought where my opinion and lack of faith in the team was at the max was 2005-2011. During that time the coaches were retreads that was nothing of brand due to Buffalo's unwillingness to pay or reputation, the players flamed out who were suppose to be the new core, and in general they became hyper irrelevant outside of a TO signing here or a Bill inducted in the HOF. They also had a string of absolutely brutal drought style losses ranging from the Dallas MNF game, the NE SNF blow out, the NE fumble loss, the CLE MNF loss the CLE 6-3, etc.. where in bigger stages we failed spectacularly. Mix in the lease expiring and uncertainty of the team in Buffalo it was a REALLY hard to time as a fan.

 

My opinion started to change in 2012 when they got Mario. He was not a burnt out old name FA like TO he was a legit top impact player and he choose Buffalo. I think nationally it was the first brick to the team starting its climb back up.  I've always laughed when people say he was a bust considering he never missed a game, had 43 sacks in 4 years, was a Pro Bowler in 13/14, 2nd All pro 13, and 1st All Pro 14, plus the teams record increased. Anyhoo that was the start of "ok maybe we are actually back in this thing and expectations should raise".

 

From there I think it was gradual for me as Marrone was viewed as a decent hire that wasn't a retread, the Pegula's buying the team in 2014 solidified the long term out look, and the Bills drafting improved as they did add Gilmore, Dareus, Woods, Watkins, and Wood while trading for McCoy and Hughes. That finally gave them a decent roster where for me you could realistically say they were not meeting expectations and they have playoff worthy talent as opposed to well maybe will get lucky. All that said it was still drought and yea PTSD came back hard at points where you threw you hands up and said "come on just one time let it go our way". I just did my 2016 Defining Moments thread and the Seattle and Miami games were both moments where faith was broken as they failed the big test.

 

But yea 2017 was the big year as they finally slayed the dragon. To be 100% honest I thought they were going to suck that season. Things changed with Atlanta as the team had a chance to be 3-1 and win a big road game against the defending NFC champs. In the prior 17 years they lost this game every time and every break went against them. But finally Taylor makes a big throw to Clay, Hyde's INT counts, and they close when it gets tight. At that point I at least bought the coaching staff had an idea what they were doing. The KC win after losing three straight to go 5-5 was equally as important as previous Bills squads faltered after hot starts and when the pressure came to bounce back they couldn't. Instead young guys like Tre's INT and Milano stepped up and they gutted it out. Making the playoffs changed my belief but it was " a process" with the coaching staff. After that I was confident they could make some legit headway, but even I probably didn't foresee how they developed Josh to this point or Diggs addition etc.. They really proved it and their success in 2017 made it easy to believe.

 

Nationally Dallas 2019 Thanksgiving full stop. Up until then the narrative was "well the Bills got lucky in 2017 and they have some talent and McD is decent but they haven't shown much". The way they beat Dallas and resiliency throughout spoke volumes and was the Bills kicking the door down that yea were back and good and notice is now served. Anything I've expected since that game they've surpassed and at this point I believe they will win the SB this decade so I am just sitting back and enjoying the ride and even if it gets bouncy I don't doubt with the leadership, coaching, and Josh they will be ok.

[BillsFan619]

1 hour ago, corta765 said:

So in my opinion the true worst part of the drought where my opinion and lack of faith in the team was at the max was 2005-2011. During that time the coaches were retreads that was nothing of brand due to Buffalo's unwillingness to pay or reputation, the players flamed out who were suppose to be the new core, and in general they became hyper irrelevant outside of a TO signing here or a Bill inducted in the HOF. They also had a string of absolutely brutal drought style losses ranging from the Dallas MNF game, the NE SNF blow out, the NE fumble loss, the CLE MNF loss the CLE 6-3, etc.. where in bigger stages we failed spectacularly. Mix in the lease expiring and uncertainty of the team in Buffalo it was a REALLY hard to time as a fan.

 

My opinion started to change in 2012 when they got Mario. He was not a burnt out old name FA like TO he was a legit top impact player and he choose Buffalo. I think nationally it was the first brick to the team starting its climb back up.  I've always laughed when people say he was a bust considering he never missed a game, had 43 sacks in 4 years, was a Pro Bowler in 13/14, 2nd All pro 13, and 1st All Pro 14, plus the teams record increased. Anyhoo that was the start of "ok maybe we are actually back in this thing and expectations should raise".

 

From there I think it was gradual for me as Marrone was viewed as a decent hire that wasn't a retread, the Pegula's buying the team in 2014 solidified the long term out look, and the Bills drafting improved as they did add Gilmore, Dareus, Woods, Watkins, and Wood while trading for McCoy and Hughes. That finally gave them a decent roster where for me you could realistically say they were not meeting expectations and they have playoff worthy talent as opposed to well maybe will get lucky. All that said it was still drought and yea PTSD came back hard at points where you threw you hands up and said "come on just one time let it go our way". I just did my 2016 Defining Moments thread and the Seattle and Miami games were both moments where faith was broken as they failed the big test.

 

But yea 2017 was the big year as they finally slayed the dragon. To be 100% honest I thought they were going to suck that season. Things changed with Atlanta as the team had a chance to be 3-1 and win a big road game against the defending NFC champs. In the prior 17 years they lost this game every time and every break went against them. But finally Taylor makes a big throw to Clay, Hyde's INT counts, and they close when it gets tight. At that point I at least bought the coaching staff had an idea what they were doing. The KC win after losing three straight to go 5-5 was equally as important as previous Bills squads faltered after hot starts and when the pressure came to bounce back they couldn't. Instead young guys like Tre's INT and Milano stepped up and they gutted it out. Making the playoffs changed my belief but it was " a process" with the coaching staff. After that I was confident they could make some legit headway, but even I probably didn't foresee how they developed Josh to this point or Diggs addition etc.. They really proved it and their success in 2017 made it easy to believe.

 

Nationally Dallas 2019 Thanksgiving full stop. Up until then the narrative was "well the Bills got lucky in 2017 and they have some talent and McD is decent but they haven't shown much". The way they beat Dallas and resiliency throughout spoke volumes and was the Bills kicking the door down that yea were back and good and notice is now served. Anything I've expected since that game they've surpassed and at this point I believe they will win the SB this decade so I am just sitting back and enjoying the ride and even if it gets bouncy I don't doubt with the leadership, coaching, and Josh they will be ok.

Great thoughts, thanks for sharing.

 

To your point about Mario, I’ve had similar thoughts before. He did a good job while he was here. Yes, he struggled the first several games and wasn’t electric out of the gate but many good players take time to adjust to other teams, cultures and schemes.

 

Go Bills!

[corta765]

22 minutes ago, BillsFan619 said:

Great thoughts, thanks for sharing.

 

To your point about Mario, I’ve had similar thoughts before. He did a good job while he was here. Yes, he struggled the first several games and wasn’t electric out of the gate but many good players take time to adjust to other teams, cultures and schemes.

 

Go Bills!

 

I've actually thought that had Mario been with McD he would've flourished.

[BillsFan619]

1 hour ago, corta765 said:

 

I've actually thought that had Mario been with McD he would've flourished.

Ohh, you’re probably right. Him with McD could’ve been a special pairing.

 

Anyone have a DeLorean?

[Patrick Duffy]

1 hour ago, corta765 said:

 

I've actually thought that had Mario been with McD he would've flourished.

I mean he did pretty much flourish anyway I would say. He was a monster until Rex got his hands in the mix. But I get what you're saying, 

[John from Riverside]

WHen McD and Beane paired up....it was like the League of Justice being formed.......

 

Then....our Superman was drafted

 

 

 

[corta765]

1 hour ago, Sheneneh Jenkins said:

I mean he did pretty much flourish anyway I would say. He was a monster until Rex got his hands in the mix. But I get what you're saying, 

 

Players are human and anyone whose plays sports knows its easy to buy into something that makes sense and when it doesn't its really hard not to ask what are we doing. Rex did a great job of taking his most talented players and creating that exact situation.

[BillsFan619]

2 hours ago, John from Riverside said:

WHen McD and Beane paired up....it was like the League of Justice being formed.......

 

Then....our Superman was drafted

 

 

 

YES!!! Woohoo!

[corta765]

23 hours ago, JujuFish said:

Battered Buffalo Fan Syndrome

Is it bad I thought it was Buffalo Bills F*cking Suck 

[Southern_Bills]

2017 breaking the drought was great but I knew we were not there yet. In Allen's rookie year you could tell he had the drive to win, so it's kinda been culminating since then. I always thought McD was a good fit but with the way things are I wasn't sure he would get the right people, but he has.