Burned out?

[Logic]

Put simply:

The Buffalo Bills have been an emotionally exhausting team to follow ever since 13 seconds.

2020 and 2021 were FUN! In those seasons, we SAW how good this team could be. It felt like they were just getting started at what could be a potential dynasty or, at the very least, a championship winning football team.

2022 and 2023 were stressful. We saw the team make the easy things look difficult week after week. We saw them, for whatever reason, struggle to move the ball for long stretches, and struggle to live up to their sky high potential.

There's this feeling that the Bills are smack dab in the middle of a window of championship contention, and every year they don't at least get to the AFC Championship game feels like a waste. It very much feels like a "Super Bowl or bust" team the past couple seasons. Maybe it's the weight of Bills history, maybe it's the way the roster and its contracts are structured, maybe its irritation at seeing all the fawning over Mahomes being a generational talent when we know we have one of our own...whatever it is, it has just been a frustrating couple of seasons of feeling like our team is falling short of expectations.

There have probably only been a small handful of games this year that were actually FUN to watch because the team was playing as well as we know they can. In all the rest, I've been frustrated because they're playing below their potential.

I don't know if the solution is solely Joe Brady or if, as I have espoused on here in recent weeks, McDermott needs to go, too. I certainly lean toward the latter. All I know is, whatever it takes: MAKE BUFFALO BILLS FOOTBALL FUN AGAIN!!!

 

[GunnerBill]

If it stops being fun, stop doing it. If you are so emotionally dependent on sports results that it stops it being fun you need to take a break.

[Dillenger4]

7 AFC teams are starting a backup QB. Let that sink in.

 

To the OP - keep talking to friends/family/strangers/co-workers. Anybody. Just talk. Get it all out. It helps.

 

Buy a mountain bike and get out into the woods. It's the best sport around if you can hack it!

[Buffalo03]

2 hours ago, Lagoon Blues said:

Some people are a little more outgoing with emotions.  Some like to keep it bottled up.  Empathy, my friend.

We are all pissed about the team but the way some people talk here is just depressing. If you feel burnt out with the team then don't watch. It's as simple as that. We don't need to hear about it

[Sundo91]

The majority of my friends are Steelers fans, and I did joke with them that life was easier when the Bills sucked every year. lol False hope was easier than fringe (disappointing) contender yearly. 

[BADOLBILZ]

5 minutes ago, Logic said:

Put simply:

The Buffalo Bills have been an emotionally exhausting team to follow ever since 13 seconds.

2020 and 2021 were FUN! In those seasons, we SAW how good this team could be. It felt like they were just getting started at what could be a potential dynasty or, at the very least, a championship winning football team.

2022 and 2023 were stressful. We saw the team make the easy things look difficult week after week. We saw them, for whatever reason, struggle to move the ball for long stretches, and struggle to live up to their sky high potential.

There's this feeling that the Bills are smack dab in the middle of a window of championship contention, and every year they don't at least get to the AFC Championship game feels like a waste. It very much feels like a "Super Bowl or bust" team the past couple seasons. Maybe it's the weight of Bills history, maybe it's the way the roster and its contracts are structured, maybe its irritation at seeing all the fawning over Mahomes being a generational talent when we know we have one of our own...whatever it is, it has just been a frustrating couple of seasons of feeling like our team is falling short of expectations.

There have probably only been a small handful of games this year that were actually FUN to watch because the team was playing as well as we know they can. In all the rest, I've been frustrated because they're playing below their potential.

I don't know if the solution is solely Joe Brady or if, as I have espoused on here in recent weeks, McDermott needs to go, too. I certainly lean toward the latter. All I know is, whatever it takes: MAKE BUFFALO BILLS FOOTBALL FUN AGAIN!!!

 

 

 

2021 wasn't fun until the playoffs.   They labored and underachieved that season and even though they won out after the Tampa game they didn't even play well against teams like Carolina and Atlanta at home in the process.    We couldn't give away tickets to that Patriots wild card game but that game basically changed the entire outlook on the season for most fans.   A top 5 all-time feel good Bills win, IMO.

 

I am not inclined to pile on McDermott for everything like many here but I think his coaching style has lead to a mid-season malaise year after year and that consistent inconsistency combined with the playoff underachieving has gradually taken some of the joy out of it for fans.    As Chuck Pagano said recently you couldn't pull a needle out of McDermott's azz with a tractor and chain during games and that anxiety transfers to the players and the fans as well, IMO.   They are a tense watch.

[muppy]

my first reaction is this thread clearly resonates with a lot of people.

 

And as usual my chat amigo @Logic has hit the nail on its proverbial head with his commentary.

 

as an anecdotal story I'm out walking my dog in a Bills shirt the other day and a guy on a bike sees me and says 'Hey you from Buffalo"  I said yes, He says me too. . I said "so are you a Bills fan?"  He said yes. I said "Yeah it's been a  bit hard to watch this season" 

 

His reply was "yeah I don't follow them as closely as I used to" 

 

It got me to thinking Hmm Unplug from my Bills fandom? As invested as I am?  Hmmmmmmmmm Meh that's a tough one.I'm all about healthy choices in my life maybe I do Need to unplug at times. Burnout is real .

 

Here here to Making Bills football FUN Again.

 

For me it is officiating I'm really getting burned out on.  BAD officiating!

Edited December 7, 2023 by muppy

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

29 minutes ago, boater said:

The Bills and the Sabres have me feeling blue.

Really? 🤔

[BADOLBILZ]

9 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

If it stops being fun, stop doing it. If you are so emotionally dependent on sports results that it stops it being fun you need to take a break.

 

 

Yep,  gotta' remember it's all entertainment.

 

They are definitely a less fun team to watch than they SHOULD be though.   

[BuffaloBillies]

To me, Thanksgiving 2021 was the day. Tre blew out his knee.

He was the super fun kid out there always keeping things upbeat and positive.

Even Lil' Dirty added to the fun-loving bunch back then.

And the rest of the team seemed young and fresh and ready to take on the world.

 

Then 13 seconds.

Then all the terribleness that happened last year culminating in that playoff loss at home was just devastating.

Then London happened this year. Just terrible. Milano and Jones. No way.

 

Now things are WAY more serious out there. We're not throwing parties and smiling and hoping for wins,

we're p*ssed off at the BEGINNING of games and NEEDING wins... and ready to pounce on every ref call, McD decision, and bad plays by our guys.

 

Losing to the Jets, NE, and Denver in particular was extremely disheartening.

Makes you question why you're putting your whole heart and soul into this.

 

But, giving up is the easy thing to do.

We've been through WAY worse times.

The Bills are still the most exciting team to watch in all of football (I think).

Yes, it's a rollercoaster ride, but at least you feel something... both the highs and lows.

 

Bills fans don't give up. I'm not giving up.

I'm going into these games with a smile on my face, a positive attitude and am just going to enjoy the ride.

 

Go Bills.

 

[Straight Hucklebuck]

1 minute ago, muppy said:

my first reaction is this thread clearly resonates with a lot of people.

 

And as usual my chat amigo @Logic has hit the nail on its proverbial head with his commentary.

 

as an anecdotal story I'm out walking my dog in a Bills shirt the other day and a guy on a bike sees me and says 'Hey you from Buffalo"  I said yes, He says me too. . I said "so are you a Bills fan?"  He said yes. I said "Yeah it's been a  bit hard to watch this season" 

 

His reply was "yeah I don't follow them as closely as I used to" 

 

It got me to thinking Hmm Unplug from my Bills fandom? As invested as I am?  Hmmmmmmmmm Meh that's a tough one.I'm all about healthy choices in my life maybe I do Need to unplug at times. Burnout is real .

 

Here here to Making Bills football FUN Again.

The next logical step is to watch the league more like an analyst would and just break down the results of the games, and have opinions on how other teams are building their teams. 

 

I certainly look forward to, and watch, other games around the league. Follow the statistics closely, have a plan in my head for what other teams should do to improve. 

 

I have tuned out the National Media. I watch 0% of any pregame and have for years. There are plenty of avenues now to watch All-22 break downs and learn more about the game. 

 

With all that said, being born in WNY, it's hard for me to completely disconnect my emotional attachment to the Bills. In the end I don't feel happy for other teams that win. I don't want to see Cleveland become a champion before the Bills, I can't stand Cincinnati and their loudmouth fanbase, no way am I rooting for Herbert or Lawrence or Stroud. 

 

But the Bills have had decades to build a winner, the first time around they fired Bill Polian. This time around their QB doesn't give everything he's got in the offseason to improve, and they won't get enough offensive firepower in an offensive league to get them over the top. 

 

So it's an in between period of actively assessing and artificially modulating how much I care. 

 

Intrinsically I enjoy football, the numbers, the strategy, the feeling like it's the biggest hobby in America, it's the common language with many people, but the Bills for me do take the fun out of the game to some degree. The media and their endless who is the MVP debates, and best QB right now points get exhausting and that also takes away from my enjoyment. 

[ColoradoBills]

I'll just paraphrase Thomas Paine.

 

THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer "fan" and the sunshine "mafia" will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their "team"; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.

 

Buck up Bills fans!

[Logic]

20 minutes ago, BADOLBILZ said:

 

 

2021 wasn't fun until the playoffs.   They labored and underachieved that season and even though they won out after the Tampa game they didn't even play well against teams like Carolina and Atlanta at home in the process.    We couldn't give away tickets to that Patriots wild card game but that game basically changed the entire outlook on the season for most fans.   A top 5 all-time feel good Bills win, IMO.

 

Yeah, you're right.

My nostalgic recollection paints 2021 as more enjoyable than it actually was. As you say, catching fire in the playoffs colored things differently.

So in that case, it's been THREE straight years of stressful, anxious Bills football. No wonder everyone's exhausted.

Do you have a link for that Chuck Pagano quote, btw? It's a great one, and I hadn't heard it. If that's a real quote....yikes.

[SCBills]

People can say “don’t let your team affect your emotions” but that’s fandom .. for most, it does.

 

When it really hit me, just how much this team is burning me out mentally, was our last game.   And because of the fact that for many of us, sports are an escape..

 

That Bills/Eagles game was the first game my dad and I watched since he was diagnosed with cancer.   It’s very treatable, slow moving and hopefully nothing to worry about .. but it will require surgery and potentially some treatments with after effects he’ll have to deal with for some time.  
 

I wanted so badly for the Bills to get that win so we could celebrate, high five and he could have a fun moment to take his mind off things. 
 

Instead, we found a way to lose …. (Again).  And for the first time, he actually was more annoyed about a game than I was.  I’m usually the angry “I don’t want to talk about it” fan for a few hours.   I just laughed and said “of course …” but with everything going on in his life, he became the fan I usually am.  

I know he’s not alone.  A lot of people are struggling these days, whether mentally, sick, financially .. whatever the reason … and the Bills have the best fanbase in the league because we pour so much of ourselves into the team.  
 

And I know we don’t fairly compare ourselves to other teams across the league sometimes .. but no other team loses the way we do, consistently … I follow the league enough to know that.  Hopefully that changes, because continuously losing games in heartbreaking fashion is going to wear on a person and, eventually, the entire fanbase.   
 

There’s bad football and there’s a good teams who find ways to lose.  The latter is much tougher to deal with .. especially

when it’s been occurring for years. 
 

I’ve learned to be more apathetic and just focus on other stuff this year.  But the season is still frustrating.  For many - they just want one moment to feel happy or be distracted.   Let’s hope Buffalo finally starts doing that. 

[Bob Jones]

45 minutes ago, corta765 said:

But I also don't take football as seriously anymore, I enjoy it and I love the Bills even if sometimes they wreck Sunday lol but its a game and entertainment.

As I have gotten older, this has become my same feeling more and more every year. I also do enjoy watching the Bills, but like others have said, my expectations are really low now, so when they lose or look like crap, it doesn't really affect me. There are many, many more things in this life to worry about. For me personally, my & my wife's health are my #1 concern now.

 

Bottom line is that the only guarantees in this life are death and taxes, so you better live every day to the fullest! As somebody once said, "Don't sweat the small stuff."

[Scott7975]

You know what really irks me?  The Bills have tried so hard to get the 1 seed the last few years and just fell short.  This year the Bills could have easily done this had they just beat the teams they were supposed to beat.  Now Miami could easily walk away with the 1 seed.  I fuggin hate Miami fans with a passion.  I like Tua and I like their coach.  The rest of the team and their fans can take a piss though. 

 

This really irks me and I think the only way I am going to feel better is either we steal the division back which is unlikely now or we are the team that faces Miami in their first game and we knock the piss out of them.  

 

Probably a lot of people don't care about this but man it just really pisses me off for some reason.

4 minutes ago, SCBills said:

People can say “don’t let your team affect your emotions” but that’s fandom .. for most, it does.

 

When it really hit me, just how much this team is burning me out mentally, was our last game.   And because of the fact that for many of us, sports are an escape..

 

That Bills/Eagles game was the first game my dad and I watched since he was diagnosed with cancer.   It’s very treatable, slow moving and hopefully nothing to worry about .. but it will require surgery and potentially some treatments with after effects he’ll have to deal with for some time.  
 

I wanted so badly for the Bills to get that win so we could celebrate, high five and he could have a fun moment to take his mind off things. 
 

Instead, we found a way to lose …. (Again).  And for the first time, he actually was more annoyed about a game than I was.  I’m usually the angry “I don’t want to talk about it” fan for a few hours.   I just laughed and said “of course …” but with everything going on in his life, he became the fan I usually am.  

I know he’s not alone.  A lot of people are struggling these days, whether mentally, sick, financially .. whatever the reason … and the Bills have the best fanbase in the league because we pour so much of ourselves into the team.  
 

And I know we don’t fairly compare ourselves to other teams across the league sometimes .. but no other team loses the way we do, consistently … I follow the league enough to know that.  Hopefully that changes, because continuously losing games in heartbreaking fashion is going to wear on a person and, eventually, the entire fanbase.   
 

There’s bad football and there’s a good teams who find ways to lose.  The latter is much tougher to deal with .. especially

when it’s been occurring for years. 
 

I’ve learned to be more apathetic and just focus on other stuff this year.  But the season is still frustrating.  For many - they just want one moment to feel happy or be distracted.   Let’s hope Buffalo finally starts doing that. 

 

Prayers for your dad bud.  I hope all goes ok.  I hit 50 this year and recently took the colonguard test and it came back positive.  I gotta wait until April to get an actual colonoscopy.  I am trying not to let it worry me but its rough.  Anyhow, I really hope your dad beats it.  Cancer sucks.

[Shaw66]

9 hours ago, Buffalo03 said:

Why do people get so damn depressed about everything? Yeah, they aren't playing well. It happens but posts like this are just ridiculous 

Actually they aren't ridiculous. People are just in different stages of their life and their feelings about many things that go by, including the Buffalo Bills, change from time to time. I'm feeling somewhat the same as the OP.  It just happens.  

4 hours ago, RobbRiddick said:

When I'm depressed about the Bills I try to spend more time with my children. I talk to them, ask them how they're getting on in school, how old they are now, things like that. 

And when the Bills are playing good, you ignore your children!

[SF Bills Fan]

I'm not burned out, but I am not as enthusiastic as I have been in other years. Maybe my expectations were too high for the year? The sloppy play that has allowed teams to eek out wins against us and the the bad refereeing have got me a bit jaded. I didn't watch a few of the recent games and didn't miss it. Of course if they win this weekend and then beat Dallas and look good in those games I might be a bit more enthusiastic. 

[BADOLBILZ]

9 minutes ago, Logic said:

Yeah, you're right.

My nostalgic recollection paints 2021 as more enjoyable than it actually was. As you say, catching fire in the playoffs colored things differently.

So in that case, it's been THREE straight years of stressful, anxious Bills football. No wonder everyone's exhausted.

Do you have a link for that Chuck Pagano quote, btw? It's a great one, and I hadn't heard it. If that's a real quote....yikes.

 

 

I don't have a link but it's verbatim(give or take "butt" or "azz") from a segment on the Pat McAfee show when he was lamenting the lack of fun the Bills seemed to be having.   It was in the days after the Denver loss.   It wasn't said pointedly like a Rex Ryan shot but it was a criticism nonetheless.    And he's right.   Teams take on the identity of their coach and his brand is focused anxiety.         

[hondo in seattle]

I have a friend who roots for a bunch of different sports teams.  His disappointment at Bills losses is counterbalanced by wins delivered by some of his other favorite clubs.

 

Me, I just follow the Bills.  So, when I have a bad week, personally and/or professionally, and then the Bills lose, there is no consolation.  

 

I just try to be Stoic about it and accept reality as it's handed to me.