Good perspective on how good we were last year

[Thurman#1]

2 hours ago, Sammy Watkins' Rib said:

The conference is too heavy with the Bills, Chiefs and Bengals. I still think we match up just fine with the Chiefs. Bengals is another story obviously. We sure looked like we were on our way to being 0-2 against them this past season.

 

other problem is the conference and division especially is getting tougher. That is obvious since the Bills went 2-2 against the Jets and Dolphins and with all three games against the Dolphins being nail biters.

 

The Bills are still a really good team. Top three in the conference. But teams 4-6 in the conference are now nipping at our heals whereas before their was more separation.

 

 

I disagree that the first Bengals game looked like a loss. IMO it looked like the beginning of a shootout.

 

In the playoff game, our first two offensive series were three-and-outs. In the regular season game, our only offensive series involved moving from our own 25 to the Bengals 7, and kicking a field goal on third down and three. The Bengals probably has somewhere around a 55 - 60% chance of winning that game. It was very very early.

 

Fair enough on the last two paragraphs.

[Thurman#1]

2 hours ago, PBF81 said:

 

 

I'm hoping for a Super Bowl win & championship this season just as I was last season and will every season.  Once in the playoffs, the regular season record doesn't matter a hill of beans or a cup of ranch dressing otherwise.  

 

 

 

 

Um, it absolutely does matter, and a hell of a lot more than a hill of beans. Ever heard of seeding? Heard the #1 seed gets a week to sit? Heard of home field advantage?

 

If you haven't, you ought to go look them up. You'd be amazed.

 

And you're deliberately misunderstanding what he said about what would be best. We all understand that a championship would be best. It's you who doesn't appear to understand that we're saying that the regular season matters, to the Bills and to nearly all of the fans. If it doesn't matter to you, don't watch the regular season. See you in January.

 

 

Edited April 8, 2023 by Thurman#1

[90sBills]

58 minutes ago, PBF81 said:

 

Again, to me it depends upon the circumstances.  If we have the easiest schedule in the league and dust most teams, hit the playoffs and get dusted, then I don't derive as much enjoyment from it.  

 

I've always been the type to claim that I prefer doing well and winning the division in a tough division, not like the Pats did it for 20 years putting a proverbial asterisk next to their overall record.  

 

I like good, effective, and competent play.  If that means a loss to a playoff team, I'm good with that.  To me, if you can't win your division if it's tough, then you don't deserve to.  If you can't make the playoffs except by beating a soft schedule, similar to what we had last year, or even going 13-3 largely against non-playoff competition, but then stink the joint up in the playoffs, like we did barely beating Skylar Thompson and then losing to the Chiefs, then it doesn't do much for me. 

 

I'll put it another way, if someone "had a crystal ball" and told me ahead of time that we would go 14-3 on the merits of a soft schedule, win the division against three non-playoff (or simply eke-in wild-card teams), then lose in the D-round or even WC round, then yes, it would dampen my enjoyment of the season and I would as eagerly see to it to watch all the games.  If I had something better to do on Sundays I'd do that when it was convenient.  

 

But if some with the same crystal ball told me that the season would be a struggle, that we'd have a relatively or even one of the toughest schedules, go 10-7 or 9-8, get a Wild Card, then win four playoff games and win the championship, you can bet that I'd catch every game that I could and would even try to get to one or two games, home or away.  I'd be far more jacked under that scenario.  

 

Make sense?  

 

And BTW, you cannot possibly convince me that most people aren't numbed from how the season finished and that it hasn't dampened their expectations and hopes for this year.  I think feeds into this discussion as well.  

 

 

 

Well ya if we know in advance they’d win all their playoff games and get a championship then it doesn’t matter how the regular season ends as long as they make the playoffs. But the unknown is the beauty of sports. It makes winning that much more exhilarating and losing that much more devastating.

 

I see where you’re coming from. All Bills fans want a championship and it’s frustrating when it doesn’t happen. No matter what I’ll always make time on game days to watch. 👍

 

[Thurman#1]

2 hours ago, Figster said:

If you asked me If the Buffalo Bills played as well as they are capable of playing vs Cinci /playoffs, my answer is absolutely not. Josh Allen had a bad day which is not normal for him in big games. 

 

Ultimately though regardless of the circumstances someone needs to take responsibility for the poor play so I'll start at the top with Bills HC McD. Both Dorsey and Frazier were also out coached. Dorsey as a 1st year OC in the league has a reasonable excuse. Frazier, not so much and hes gone now. 

 

 

 

 

Everybody had a crap day. Nobody on the team or coaching staff said it wasn't their fault.

 

They were explaining. Telling what happened. 

 

You didn't hear one of them say anything like, "so it's not my fault," or "that's why we don't need to worry about it." There is no issue here with avoiding responsibility.

[PBF81]

15 minutes ago, Thurman#1 said:

 

 

Um, it absolutely does matter, and a hell of a lot more than a hill of beans. Ever heard of seeding? Heard the #1 seed gets a week to sit? Heard of home field advantage?

 

If you haven't, you ought to go look them up. You'd be amazed.

 

And you're deliberately misunderstanding what he said about what would be best. We all understand that a championship would be best. It's you who doesn't appear to understand that we're saying that the regular season matters, to the Bills and to nearly all of the fans. If it doesn't matter to you, don't watch the regular season. See you in January.

 

OK.  

 

I'm pretty much finished discussing anything with you.  All you do is argue seemingly because you enjoy it or because yours is the only relevant opinion with no room for anyone else's.  

 

So sure, whatever you say.   

 

 

[Thurman#1]

14 minutes ago, PBF81 said:

 

OK.  

 

I'm pretty much finished discussing anything with you.  All you do is argue seemingly because you enjoy it or because yours is the only relevant opinion with no room for anyone else's.  

 

So sure, whatever you say.   

 

 

 

 

Oh, I see. I argue.

 

Whereas you never argue, you're far above that. You find it objectionable when people argue because you never do it.

 

Yeah, right.

 

Anyway, I do understand why you're bowing out, as I'm sure any reader here does. Your argument has holes, significant, serious ones. I mean, you argue that the regular season means nothing once you reach the playoffs. And then when someone points out the wildly obvious, that it means a hell of a lot in terms of home field, playoff opponents, the week off for the one seed, etc., then suddenly you're angry because I argued.

 

Right.

 

Anyway, one more point, you keep talking about this mysterious 9-8 team that then wins the SB. Thing is that sort of thing happens spectacularly rarely, for just the reasons above. 

 

How many teams have won SBs with 8 or more losses in the last 25 years? Went back and checked it for the hell of it. Zero, as I'd thought. 

 

Now how many teams have won SBs with 9 or more wins in the last 25 years. I thought it was one, the Giants, and I was kinda psyched to be just on target.

 

It's spectacularly rare. The regular season matters a ton.

[Figster]

1 hour ago, Thurman#1 said:

 

 

Everybody had a crap day. Nobody on the team or coaching staff said it wasn't their fault.

 

They were explaining. Telling what happened. 

 

You didn't hear one of them say anything like, "so it's not my fault," or "that's why we don't need to worry about it." There is no issue here with avoiding responsibility.

 McD not only took responsibility, HC McD made a big change taking a more hands on approach coaching the Bills Defense.

 

Issues?

 

None here..

[BananaB]

27 minutes ago, Figster said:

 McD not only took responsibility, HC McD made a big change taking a more hands on approach coaching the Bills Defense.

 

Issues?

 

None here..

They  not taking care of business come playoff time is an issue. Glad McD is taking over the D because at this point I think if it happens next year you gotta start thinking about an offensive minded HC. Every time they get put out the D is a major factor to why. 

[Figster]

10 minutes ago, BananaB said:

They  not taking care of business come playoff time is an issue. Glad McD is taking over the D because at this point I think if it happens next year you gotta start thinking about an offensive minded HC. Every time they get put out the D is a major factor to why. 

How about an innovative Offensive minded OC instead of a QB and QB coach as a substitute?  

[BananaB]

25 minutes ago, Figster said:

How about an innovative Offensive minded OC instead of a QB and QB coach as a substitute?  

We had Daboll and the outcome was the same. Blew a huge lead against the Texans, gave up almost 40 against KC the first time then over 40 the second time. Against the Bengals our O played bad but our D was pitiful again.  We’re wasting all our high picks on D, they shouldn’t be folding come playoff time.  

[Playoffs?]

Good.  Then let’s build on it. Go all in. Load up on talent and win the d@mn Super Bowl this year!!

[JerseyBills]

Nearly 16-0

We beat ourselves in those 3 losses in regular season 

Unfortunately the last memory is Buf getting beat up , so out of 18 games , 17 in which we won or were a play away, ppl just remember our 1 awful game because it's the last. 

SB window is still WIDE open 

[What a Tuel]

On 4/7/2023 at 3:57 PM, Figster said:

Do you remember the 1st time Buffalo made the playoffs with the McBeane regime after almost 2 decades?

 

Getting to the playoffs doesn't necessarily mean you have a good team. 

 

Not sure how that is relevant here. Yes, bad teams sneak into the playoffs, but bad teams do not consistently make the playoffs.

[Aussie Joe]

1 hour ago, JerseyBills said:

Nearly 16-0

We beat ourselves in those 3 losses in regular season 

Unfortunately the last memory is Buf getting beat up , so out of 18 games , 17 in which we won or were a play away, ppl just remember our 1 awful game because it's the last. 

SB window is still WIDE open 

Imagine if they had of gone 16-0 and then got blown out like that in the playoffs at home…

 

 

[ganesh]

On 4/7/2023 at 9:38 PM, Success said:

We were a great team, who circumstances caught up w/ and derailed.

 

We were just blowing teams away in the 1st couple of months, and clicking on all cylinders.  But man, so much happened over the course of the season. Every team has adversity, but it hit a limit.

 

And we just had a flat day against Cincy.  I think largely because of the things that had happened later in the season, but I get that opinions vary on that.  I don't buy the narrative that we're just some regular season team.  We have had very mixed results in the playoffs, but it's not like they haven't shown up for other playoff games.

 

We have to acknowledge that the Bills barely beat a Dolphins team starting their 3rd string QB in the WC round of the playoffs at HOME and then got their snouts kicked by the Bengals.  The Bills in the playoffs, were NOT the same team that went 13-3 and it was not due to a flat day in the Divisional round. 

[Success]

33 minutes ago, ganesh said:

We have to acknowledge that the Bills barely beat a Dolphins team starting their 3rd string QB in the WC round of the playoffs at HOME and then got their snouts kicked by the Bengals.  The Bills in the playoffs, were NOT the same team that went 13-3 and it was not due to a flat day in the Divisional round. 

 

I'd agree. But that Miami game was kind of an oddball. We did go up 17-0 and were rolling, but it's a game were we were almost undone by fairly uncharacteristic turnovers.

 

Those are part of the game - but I hardly felt like Miami matched us in effort or overall play. They got some good breaks & took advantage of them.

 

[JerseyBills]

5 hours ago, Aussie Joe said:

Imagine if they had of gone 16-0 and then got blown out like that in the playoffs at home…

 

 

I mean the Damar situation will always be brought up. It had to be emotionally draining 

 

But if we had the 1 seed and KC beats Cincy in the Divisional,  I think we beat KC

[longtimebillsfan]

On 4/7/2023 at 8:13 AM, BillsFan619 said:

“Even with Josh Allen throwing more INTs than he should’ve, even though they didn’t have the running game they should’ve, even though they lost Von Miller to injury, they still went THIRTEEN and THREE!”

 

This doesn’t even include all the other significant injuries we had on top of all the adversity that we faced and dealt with. All this and still 13-3.
 

Click on the link to watch the video. It’s only over a minute long. It’s good. Here’s to 2023. Go Bills!

 

https://www.espn.com/video/clip/_/id/36091817

 

While it still ended in a way none of us wanted it to, I wonder if it came down to running out of gas or having a bad day than the Bengals being SOO much better of a team. While we were watching the game, my wife even said that she didn’t recognize the team that was out there, and before that game, we lost THREE games by a total of EIGHT points! Heck, we even beat KC (the SB Champs) in their house last year.

 

@Success - supports your point of how some let one game define who we were

 

@Aussie Joe and @Dukestreetking, the link is now working. Thanks for the heads up!

I Agee with you 100%.

 

Despite your well-presented facts, a significant percentage of the folks on this board will still be complaining that McDermott and/or Beane should be fired and be replaced.

 

The fact is that the Mcdermott/Beane era is one of the most successful in the history of the Bills franchise.

 

It amazes me how quickly people forget the mire that was the 21st century before the arrival of our current brain trust.

 

Our beloved Bills experienced a historically difficult season with unimaginable challenges.

 

Thank you for this uplifting post.

 

Go Bills! (Oh, and Happy Easter)