Will we win the division next year?

[Success]

3 hours ago, uticaclub said:

We are a wildcard team at best next year. We’ve hit out the ceiling with this regime and the rest of the division/conference knows how to beat us. The only thing the Bills have going for them is that Josh Allen is better than everyone and will find ways to win

 

I think it's possible we only get the WC - but I wouldn't say it's likely, and certainly wouldn't say that's the ceiling. Even though the Jets & Phins both beat the Bills this year, neither was ready to take the division from us, and we were a few plays from being undefeated.

 

My concern comes more from our limitations this offseason. If the other 3 teams play their cards right, they can improve more than we can.  But all 3 still have questions surrounding their starting QB's, and have flaws that might be difficult to overcome. The Bills should still be favored for the division title.

 

[Billz4ever]

On 1/26/2023 at 6:10 PM, Success said:

Patriots - their D was better than ours this year, and one of the top D's in the NFL. If we had that D last week, we'd be playing this coming Sunday.  Now, they have an ACTUAL OC coming in, to coach a QB who will never be elite, but isn't as bad as we always say.

 

Jets - I thought they should have made the playoffs this year. And that was with bad QB play for most of the year.  They are going for a vet - Rodgers, Jimmy G., who knows.  Their D is already one of the top units in the league, and they have some great young players.  I think Saleh is the real deal.

 

Dolphins - obviously, the greatest threat.  If Tua was healthy all year, things might have played out very differently over the past few weeks. They are a very good team, on both sides of the ball.

 

I think the AFC East could be historically good as a division.  It will be such a fight - I'd still pick us to come out on top, but there will be a few close games that will likely decide it in the end.

 

Thoughts?

 

We scored 10 points and had no answers for Cincy's pass rush.  Not sure how the defense playing better changes that outcome.  Not to mention, Burrow threw for 375 against that defense in December.  

[Success]

1 minute ago, Billz4ever said:

We scored 10 points and had no answers for Cincy's pass rush.  Not sure how the defense playing better changes that outcome.  Not to mention, Burrow threw for 375 against that defense in December.  

 

TOP.  The Bengals had long drives, and both kept Allen off the field, and limited our # of possessions.

 

[LabattBlue]

All depends on who is at QB for MIA and NYJ.   The Patriots could also be a challenger if they bring in some weapons at WR and hire an actual OC. 

Edited February 1, 2023 by LabattBlue

[eball]

I'm gonna say yes.

 

[Billz4ever]

40 minutes ago, Success said:

 

TOP.  The Bengals had long drives, and both kept Allen off the field, and limited our # of possessions.

 

Cincy had 442 yards of offense and held the ball for 36:48 against that defense in December.

 

Cincy had a worse TOP against our defense than they did against NE. They held the ball 3 minutes longer against NE than against us.

Edited February 1, 2023 by Billz4ever

[BritBill]

As it stands, yeah. 

[Gregg]

24 minutes ago, Billz4ever said:

Cincy had 442 yards of offense and held the ball for 36:48 against that defense in December.

 

Cincy had a worse TOP against our defense than they did against NE. They held the ball 3 minutes longer against NE than against us.

 

But Bill made adjustments and they were able to shut down the Bengals offense in the 2nd half. Cincinnati jumped out to a big lead and looked like they were going to blow them out. But the Pats were able to come back and if not for a fumble inside the Bengals 5 late in the game they might have won.

[Billz4ever]

16 minutes ago, Gregg said:

 

But Bill made adjustments and they were able to shut down the Bengals offense in the 2nd half. Cincinnati jumped out to a big lead and looked like they were going to blow them out. But the Pats were able to come back and if not for a fumble inside the Bengals 5 late in the game they might have won.

So that was a breakdown of Cincy's D then.

 

Still not seeing how that's a ringing endorsement of NE's D when they gave up almost 450 yards, 22 points, and allowed Cincy to hold the ball for almost 37 minutes.

 

Again, we scored 10 points and Cincy held the ball less time against our D, so it wasn't a matter of TOP.  It was a matter of us not doing anything with the ball when we had it.

 

Cincy ran more plays (78 to 71), had more yards (442 to 412) and had a greater TOP (36:48 to 33:54) against NE's D than against ours, so the claim that we somehow win that game (with the reason being TOP) if we had NEs defense against Cincy rather than our own is just not supported by anything.

Edited February 1, 2023 by Billz4ever

[corta765]

25 minutes ago, Billz4ever said:

Again, we scored 10 points and Cincy held the ball less time against our D, so it wasn't a matter of TOP.  It was a matter of us not doing anything with the ball when we had it.

 

Bingo. It was a collective failure by the offense across the board and in a sense the culmination of an offense that felt off identity-less the back half of the season. From the Packers 2nd half on the only two games I thought the offense looked good with a plan was the Pats night game (run the ball and strike with passing when needed) and 2nd Phins game (burn their secondary and Josh was super Josh). Other then that it felt so often like you didn't know if a drive was going 3 and out, 14 play TD, stall midfield etc.. because they were never consistent enough with anything other then getting the ball to Diggs. When you can eat a teams offensive line with 3 - 4 rushers top any QB is going to have a problem and Dorsey never adjusted enough to stunt any of this. I actually thought Josh was fine for the most part, wasn't obviously his best day but he was one of the few guys who did anything.

 

More then anything on offense this offseason even more then adding a WR/OL I really would like to see Dorsey create a true identity and stick with it while also mixing some creativity from window dressing on player movement to jet sweeps etc.. to diversify things. We can add Mike Evans and Quintin Nelson, but without a better scheme that is more consistent it won't matter.

[Billz4ever]

2 minutes ago, corta765 said:

 

Bingo. It was a collective failure by the offense across the board and in a sense the culmination of an offense that felt off identity-less the back half of the season. From the Packers 2nd half on the only two games I thought the offense looked good with a plan was the Pats night game (run the ball and strike with passing when needed) and 2nd Phins game (burn their secondary and Josh was super Josh). Other then that it felt so often like you didn't know if a drive was going 3 and out, 14 play TD, stall midfield etc.. because they were never consistent enough with anything other then getting the ball to Diggs. When you can eat a teams offensive line with 3 - 4 rushers top any QB is going to have a problem and Dorsey never adjusted enough to stunt any of this. I actually thought Josh was fine for the most part, wasn't obviously his best day but he was one of the few guys who did anything.

 

More then anything on offense this offseason even more then adding a WR/OL I really would like to see Dorsey create a true identity and stick with it while also mixing some creativity from window dressing on player movement to jet sweeps etc.. to diversify things. We can add Mike Evans and Quintin Nelson, but without a better scheme that is more consistent it won't matter.

Most people (including me) were fine with Dorsey taking over after Dabs left because we all thought he was a Dabs clone and they wouldn't skip a beat.  What we thought and what we actually got were two completely different things. Hope he can figure it out soon.

[corta765]

18 minutes ago, Billz4ever said:

Most people (including me) were fine with Dorsey taking over after Dabs left because we all thought he was a Dabs clone and they wouldn't skip a beat.  What we thought and what we actually got were two completely different things. Hope he can figure it out soon.

 

Agreed I was one who thought it would've been lock step progression without issue. Unfortunately at times he looked like a 1st year coordinator which was not ideal and in the playoffs it all seem to come to a head. I had expected some hiccups but figured he would've grown out of them as the season progressed and that never happened. Daboll in 2018 really didn't have much other then Josh talent wise, but I could appreciate scheme wise what he was trying. Even in 2021 when he had some off games it was in part for trying to almost be too exotic not too predictable. I need Dorsey to take a step and realize having talent in places does not over rule good scheme design and sometimes your best friend is a simple 4-5 yard slant or out route. I loved in the AFC title it was 3rd and 2 and Cincy did a designed QB draw for Burrow who ended up going 10-12 yards for the first. Nothing wild, no 40 yard deep throws, just get the first and bite on the fact their line isn't expecting it. I do think he will improve and with some talent infused at WR/OL it will allow some growth, the key is how much. I will say this Crowder's injury hurt more then people realized. The plan was for him to get the majority of snaps at WR3 with McKenzie mixed in. His numbers coming in were identical to Beasley in prior years and he was a really steady dependable pass catcher in years prior. We never got to see how that would've shaken out.

[Billz4ever]

5 minutes ago, corta765 said:

 

Agreed I was one who thought it would've been lock step progression without issue. Unfortunately at times he looked like a 1st year coordinator which was not ideal and in the playoffs it all seem to come to a head. I had expected some hiccups but figured he would've grown out of them as the season progressed and that never happened. Daboll in 2018 really didn't have much other then Josh talent wise, but I could appreciate scheme wise what he was trying. Even in 2021 when he had some off games it was in part for trying to almost be too exotic not too predictable. I need Dorsey to take a step and realize having talent in places does not over rule good scheme design and sometimes your best friend is a simple 4-5 yard slant or out route. I loved in the AFC title it was 3rd and 2 and Cincy did a designed QB draw for Burrow who ended up going 10-12 yards for the first. Nothing wild, no 40 yard deep throws, just get the first and bite on the fact their line isn't expecting it. I do think he will improve and with some talent infused at WR/OL it will allow some growth, the key is how much. I will say this Crowder's injury hurt more then people realized. The plan was for him to get the majority of snaps at WR3 with McKenzie mixed in. His numbers coming in were identical to Beasley in prior years and he was a really steady dependable pass catcher in years prior. We never got to see how that would've shaken out.

The lack of use of the slot/shorter to mid routes like what we came to know for so long with the Josh to Beasley connection is probably what surprised me the most this season.  We became almost a feast or famine offense in that regard since that aspect of the offense all but vanished.

Edited February 1, 2023 by Billz4ever

[Nextmanup]

34 minutes ago, Billz4ever said:

Most people (including me) were fine with Dorsey taking over after Dabs left because we all thought he was a Dabs clone and they wouldn't skip a beat.  What we thought and what we actually got were two completely different things. Hope he can figure it out soon.

Not sure why fans are so willing to be patient with a 7 figure salary earner at this level.

 

If he can't do it NOW, get him the hell out of there and find someone who can.

 

 

[Billz4ever]

33 minutes ago, Nextmanup said:

Not sure why fans are so willing to be patient with a 7 figure salary earner at this level.

 

If he can't do it NOW, get him the hell out of there and find someone who can.

 

 

A lot of fans aren't willing to be patient.  The FO and HC are.  Their opinions are really the only ones that matter here.

[PauleeeWalnuts]

Going to be tough if the Jets land Rodgers and Miami continues to ascend. We lost to Zach Wilson and barely beat Skylar Thompson this season, it’s going to be a tough road. 

Edited February 1, 2023 by PaulieYayo

[Georgia Bill]

Win the East?  Sure.   Win the 1 seed?  I don't see that happening with our schedule.

[Buffalo_Stampede]

If the Dolphins, Jets, and Patriots don’t win it there’s a chance the Bills do.

[rockpile]

I cheer for the Bills to win every week, at the same time having zero expectations. I have had my hopes stomped too many years (60+) to expect anything. 

[Success]

2 minutes ago, rockpile said:

I cheer for the Bills to win every week, at the same time having zero expectations. I have had my hopes stomped too many years (60+) to expect anything. 

 

It's actually the best attitude to have.  Most of being a sports fan is pain, heartbreak or disappointment.  Even fans of great dynasties like the Yankees, Lakers and Patriots end up losing the vast majority of years that they watch games. Of course, it's a bit easier if you have a few titles under your belt - but those fanbases still go through it.