Kelly the Dog Calls the Question: Yay or Nay Sayer

[Hapless Bills Fan]

Sorry, sorry but he did such a good job summarizing the arguments pro and con that I thought it deserved a shout out

https://buffalonews.com/sports/bills/voice-of-the-fan-are-you-a-yay-or-naysayer/article_e59e8214-52e0-11ec-b920-1ff39e30734e.html

 

Quote

Naysayers, whom yaysayers call "doomsdayers," think that the Bills are more pretender than contender, inconsistency will forever haunt them, they cannot stop anyone when they really need to – and Josh Allen and the offense just aren't right – even though both are putting up the same numbers they did last year.

 

There is just as much evidence to support that viewpoint.

 

Yaysayers, who call themselves "optimists," say the Patsies are lucky, haven’t played anyone at full strength, and are coming to Buffalo to be stomped by an angry Bills team ready to show the world they are more than ready for prime time as evidenced last week.

 

Naysayers, who call themselves "realists," say the town and team is in for a rude awakening and about to get embarrassed on national TV by their most hated daddies.

 

Yaysayers say Patriots rookie quarterback and divider, Matt Jones, is way overrated, cannot press the ball downfield, is slow, and about to face a complex defense he is ill-prepared for; about to come crashing back to Earth after being football-washed by the national media for the last two months.

 

Naysayers say the Patriots stumbled upon the second coming like they did the first, and the Bills are likely destined for another couple of decades of being Nor’easter whipping boys.

 

That's about it.  Good summary, @Kelly the Dog

[Mr. WEO]

circle back Monday before midnight...

[chongli]

We need a poll for this thread!

[2020 Our Year For Sure]

Shrug. We'll see what happens?

It's just one game anyway

[Sammy Watkins' Rib]

Well I would say the truth lies in between the yaysayers and nayssayer. I can't imagine either team embarrassing the other on Monday night. More than likely the series is split this year. I actually think each team gets a road W in the series. Both games are are one score games. 

As for being the Patriots whipping boys again should Mac Jones actually turn out to be a franchise QB, lets not forget that the Bills also have a franchise QB for the first time in 25 years. At worst we are looking at a true back and forth rivalry. 

[Casey D]

Great article by Kelly.  Captures this board to a tee.

[jethro_tull]

As far as it relates to this year it could be possible that the patriots sweep us.  they have an excellent defense headed by possibly the best defensive football coach who ever lived.  they have offensive schemes that a college QB could win with- their receivers are open by a mile most of the time.  this is where the bills will have an edge imho.  

as far as the bills offense i believe that josh still has a lot of growing up to do to be the calm, confident, leader he will eventually become.  when josh does become that poised, confident journeyman field general, look out rest of the league.  the patriots will be a moot point by then.  

whether this is the bills year is a toss up.  monday's game will tell a lot.  but the future is still bright for this team regardless of what happens this season.  

[NewEra]

@Kelly the Dog

👍🏻 
 

always making us fans look good, you do. 
 

I think I’m right in the middle of yay and nay.      Our OL has me worried.  Our D has me confident.  It’ll be BB vs McD.  I think whoever wins that matchup, will win the game.  McD is certainly capable.  Just do it

[D. L. Hot-Flamethrower]

1 hour ago, 2020 Our Year For Sure said:

Shrug. We'll see what happens?

It's just one game anyway

There is a lot of truth to this. If we win in NE in 3 weeks and perhaps pull it off in TB next weekend, and of course win the 4 games we should win it won't make any difference. On the other hand, if we win this weekend, it certainly hurts NE more.

[MJS]

Pessimists do always call themselves realists. They don't like to admit that they are actually pessimists.

[cwater10]

Indeed a great summary of the extremes of Bills Mafia.  And yeah... this board can be a magnet for the extremes.  And no doubt, we've all witnessed these extremes, never more so than this season when the glass of cold water in the face came our way on opening day. After a euphoric 2020, that was a sobering wakeup call.  That game presented that all too familiar and all too abrupt arrival at a crossroads  where Bills fans of all ages have often found themselves, the Bills crisis of faith if you will.  Do we pretend it wasn't real, an aberration... or do we decide it portends end times of our football pleasure days? 

 

Which brings me to what I think the author has left out of an otherwise great insight, and what I think and hope describes a significant share of Bills Mafia.  Its easy to see only two roads to go down at this intersection and the author summed them up perfectly.  But there is another road, hopefully not less traveled that I would consider a viable choice for a significant percentage of Bills Mafia.  This group, a familiar bunch is not just underrepresented, but it seems they are ignored entirely by the writer, is those who are loving this particular team, root for them passionately, hope and almost always expect good outcomes, but have lost the Pollyanna approach to their fandom.  Acknowledging the vulnerabilities of the team we root for and the strengths of our opponents is rarely a reflection of a doomsday mentality that also exists.  I don't like to lump them together.  There is ample room for balance and objectivity between fantasy and paranoid delusion.  

 

I can, and do, absolutely despise New England, but I also understand that they are playing some good football right now and merit being taken seriously.  I can, and do love the Bills, spend a disproportionate amount of my newfound retirement free time, digesting every nugget written and opined about them, and still understand that they have some "things to clean up" as they like to say.  Call me a rabid moderate.  Can that be a thing?  I think so...  And I love all the naysayers and yaysayers too.  Go Bills!

Edited December 4, 2021 by cwater10

[Long Suffering Fan]

cwater10 - Nailed it.

 

It was a well written article to be sure, but I live in that middle ground.

 

Naysayers call me an optimist and yaysayers call me a pessimist.

 

There is also the long road to consider.  The Bills might not win it all this year or even this Monday, but they are built for sustained long term viability.  For the foreseeable future, every year the Bills will have another lottery ticket to the Big Dance in a way that could not be said of this team pre-McBean.  

[Mango]

What if you’re a guy who thinks that this team is incredibly inconsistent who can beat or lose to anybody on any given Sunday. Their a talented finesse team that struggles with teams who have punch you in the mouth style. 
 

What if you think the Pats are good and have benefited from luck and their rookie QB has been good enough but not great, and the pats are one of the most complete teams in the league, with a stout defense and largely wins the field position battle. 
 

The Pats are a very good team who is capable of being embarrassed by the right Bills team if they show up. 
 

 

 

[Nextmanup]

45 minutes ago, Mango said:

What if you’re a guy who thinks that this team is incredibly inconsistent who can beat or lose to anybody on any given Sunday. Their a talented finesse team that struggles with teams who have punch you in the mouth style. 
 

What if you think the Pats are good and have benefited from luck and their rookie QB has been good enough but not great, and the pats are one of the most complete teams in the league, with a stout defense and largely wins the field position battle. 
 

The Pats are a very good team who is capable of being embarrassed by the right Bills team if they show up. 
 

 

 

Sorry, I thought I'd mark up your grammatical/diction errors; I'm bored.

 

 

[HOUSE]

I am shocked by this

 

Shocked 

[Mango]

21 minutes ago, Nextmanup said:

Sorry, I thought I'd mark up your grammatical/diction errors; I'm bored.

 

 

You are good. It drives me nuts when I mess it up. More often than not it’s when I am posting on my mobile not on my computer. 

Edited December 4, 2021 by Mango

[Generic_Bills_Fan]

2 hours ago, Sammy Watkins' Rib said:

Well I would say the truth lies in between the yaysayers and nayssayer. I can't imagine either team embarrassing the other on Monday night. More than likely the series is split this year. I actually think each team gets a road W in the series. Both games are are one score games. 

As for being the Patriots whipping boys again should Mac Jones actually turn out to be a franchise QB, lets not forget that the Bills also have a franchise QB for the first time in 25 years. At worst we are looking at a true back and forth rivalry. 

I’m not sure mac could ever really rise to the level josh is at even in ideal circumstances based on physical limitations. As long as josh is not retired I don’t see this being worse than a 50/50 game for us. He is doing an admirable job hiding horrifying deficiencies on the offensive line this season and I expect a pretty strong finish with some of our injured/Covid guys back. I wouldn’t really be surprised by anything Monday night including us absolutely walloping the pats. I think their win streak is being a bit overblown…it’s more down to favorable scheduling during that stretch and every big afc game they’ve had during the streak their opponent has been missing all their key offensive weapons. They’re certainly capable of beating us even with star,edmunds,brown,and Feliciano playing but I think it’s closer to a 60/40 game in our favor than a 50/50 game 

[Freddie's Dead]

Yay.

[Generic_Bills_Fan]

2 hours ago, D. L. Hot-Flamethrower said:

There is a lot of truth to this. If we win in NE in 3 weeks and perhaps pull it off in TB next weekend, and of course win the 4 games we should win it won't make any difference. On the other hand, if we win this weekend, it certainly hurts NE more.

That loss to Miami that they have is massive and frankly I could see Miami beating them again. Miami is one of the best rosters they’ve seen all season I still think we’re severely underrating our performance against them this year.  The pats have had a bunch of layup games in a row granted winning them all is still pretty impressive.   Wish we could’ve seen the titans without aj brown Julio jones and Derrick Henry and the browns without hunt and Chubb and a couple olinemen and baker with a torn labrum instead of two of our tough afc matchups lol seems like years of losing has caused us to develop a general pessimism about our team that other fanbases don’t have…when we destroy a team we think it’s because the other team is bad. When another team gets a blowout win their fans think it’s because their team is good

Edited December 4, 2021 by Generic_Bills_Fan

[Kelly the Dog]

Thanks a lot for the shoutout and link, Hap. Been crazy busy and lurking but haven't posted much lately.

 

Appreciate the comments and I do think there is a middle crowded between yay and nay. The team, however, is the one that has been on the extremes. They have either played well or awful for two months. There has been little in between for them. 

 

I think we stomp the Patsies on Monday. I do think they are good. Fine defense and running game. I just think we can befuddle McCorkle and he can't just dink all night. 

 

I wouldnt bet on it though.