Will we be in Super Bowl contention this year?

[colin]

in 2021 we lost at kc in the 13 second game.  tre was out and our d couldn't stop a thing, and it still took a comedy of errors for us to lose that freaking game.

 

in 2022 we lost 3 games all season (by a total of 8 points!!) but the team was mentally shot and damar got hurt and the performances after that (even the wins over the pats to end the year and hosting miami) were cheeks.  we were the odds on fav to win the superbowl through most of that season yet we lost our only pass rusher (von) tre came back and was worthless (an analyst said throw to whoever tre is covering, because that person is open) and we brought beez and brown out of flipping retirement (with shakir not getting burn, obv he shoulda) as meaningful contributors to the O.  got spanked by cincy as a demoralized team could not run or stop the run for long enough to get into a 14 point hole, saffold barely even bothering to lick the stamp on his mailed in performance.  diggs had his annual disappearing act in the second half and zero in the post season

 

in 2023 we were cheeks at what, 6-5?  milano down, daquan down, tre white (who didn't suck as much at first) down, knox was banged up, miller was out to start and a literal zero after that.  we fired the clueless OC, 911 gate came out and then we went on a miracle win streak.  in the second half of the season, diggs went to trash and was a total zero in the post season, but we won games w our new rookie oc and running and spreading the ball around.  vs kc at home, we had two too hurt to play well corners, old slow and broken safeties, a barely jag lb in dodson and a literal zero off the couch aj klien.  d got shredded.  williams came in late as a rookie (see a pattern?) and we had our first and only stop of the entire night, but we missed a couple plays and a FG late to lose by 3.

 

the pattern of this team is pretty clear.  we have a bunch of guys either hurt, or just so old or slow they are a huge target for the other team on D, or just don't produce at all on O.  our WR room looks worse today than it did last year for sure, but diggs and davis (altho davis was magic vs kc in 2021) were zeroes in the playoffs, davis was out last year and diggs was hot trash.  to win a super bowl we need our d to be able to make like 4 or 5 stops in a playoff game, and our o not to just stink.  given how bad the "star" guys have been on O and D the past 3 playoffs, we aren't losing much just replacing them w JAGs, and any WR who can show up and play above average in the playoffs is an upgrade to davis and diggs over the past two seasons.  

 

i think we are as close as we have been, we need luck and health, but blowing out underperforming losers isn't going to hurt the team.

 

[damj]

On 4/20/2024 at 9:19 AM, DJB said:

No the season is over. Come back after next year

Thanks for letting me know. Anyone want my tickets?

[SoTier]

6 hours ago, BullBuchanan said:

Obvious? My man, we were NOT EVEN CLOSE to being anywhere near a Super Bowl contender last year. Those top 4 teams were playing a different sport than the Bills.

 

I'm not sure what criteria you use to determine whether a team is a Super Bowl contender, but whatever it is, I doubt that it's based on anything except emotion.  The Bills won the AFCE with a 5 game win streak at the end of the season that included wins over the Chiefs, the Cowboys and the Dolphins.   In fact, the Bills swept their main AFCE rival, the Fins.  They earned the #2 seed in the AFC.  They manhandled the Stillers in the wild card round.   FTR, the Bills whom you claim were "NOT EVEN CLOSE to being anywhere near a Super Bowl contender" was the only AFC team to play the Chiefs tough down to the closing minutes in the playoffs -- and that with the defense being decimated with injuries so badly that they only started 4 LBs against KC and were missing key DBs as well.  

 

 

 

[BullBuchanan]

1 hour ago, SoTier said:

 

I'm not sure what criteria you use to determine whether a team is a Super Bowl contender, but whatever it is, I doubt that it's based on anything except emotion.  The Bills won the AFCE with a 5 game win streak at the end of the season that included wins over the Chiefs, the Cowboys and the Dolphins.   In fact, the Bills swept their main AFCE rival, the Fins.  They earned the #2 seed in the AFC.  They manhandled the Stillers in the wild card round.   FTR, the Bills whom you claim were "NOT EVEN CLOSE to being anywhere near a Super Bowl contender" was the only AFC team to play the Chiefs tough down to the closing minutes in the playoffs -- and that with the defense being decimated with injuries so badly that they only started 4 LBs against KC and were missing key DBs as well.  

 

 

 

Never emotion, sadly. That would make life a lot easier. Just talent and coaching.

[SaulGoodman]

 

On 4/22/2024 at 9:30 AM, SoTier said:

 

Did you watch the Bills last season -- I mean really watch them by paying attention to what was going in the game not just kibbutzing with pals, especially in the last half of the season when they made their big run?   They were playing championship caliber defense with an injury depleted unit.  Matt Milano and Tre White were out for the season in the fifth game of the season, and they looked doomed but they regained their momentum and played tough the rest of the way.  At the very end of the season and in the playoff win against Pittsburgh, they had more injuries to the DBs and the LBs.   They only started 4 LBs -- including AJ Klein who came out of retirement to play --  against the Chiefs and were missing at least one DB and had another playing limited snaps IIRC, too.  It wasn't the defense that let them down against KC, it was the offense that missed a couple of plays that would have won the game.

 

Poyer and Hyde were shadows of their previous selves last season.  Injuries did in Hyde, and both had slowed down.  White was showing signs of coming back but then he suffered another devastating injury and missed the last 12 games.  Miller did next to nothing last season when he did come back, so if he gets back to even a shadow of himself in 2024, it will be a plus.  Milano broke his leg rather than suffering a ligament injury so it's likely that he can come back strong this season.  The Bills will miss Leonard Floyd on the DL but they're bringing back Ed Oliver who blossomed last season and AJ Epenesa who showed real progress.  Tyrel Dodson at LB is gone but Terrel Bernard was outstanding as a 2nd year pro and should be better this year, especially paired with Milano.   The 3 starting CBs from last season, Douglas, Benford, and Johnson are all coming back.   Edwards and Rapp are the new safeties, which is somewhat worrisome but remember that Poyer and Hyde were largely unknowns when they were signed in 2017.  

 

The Bills defense is a work in progress but there's still the draft and post-June 1 FA signings (when they get some extra cap space).  They definitely need a pass rusher and probably another safety, and their depth on defense is shaky.   McDermott runs a defense that seems to enable the Bills to plug-in players fairly easily as needed.  IMO, the Bills D will likely be about as good as last season.  If they can avoid devastating injuries to their best players, they have a chance to be better than last season.

 

I’m not sure how you can put more blame  on the offense than the defense in the KC game. The offense moved the ball pretty consistently against arguably the best defense in the league. Missed FG away from 27 pts. 
 

Meanwhile, the defense forced one punt and was a goal line fumble away from allowing 34 pts in a low possession game. The defense was not successful at all. That was by far the weakest KC offense in the Mahomes era but they looked like one of the best that day. 

[SoTier]

2 hours ago, SaulGoodman said:

 

 

I’m not sure how you can put more blame  on the offense than the defense in the KC game. The offense moved the ball pretty consistently against arguably the best defense in the league. Missed FG away from 27 pts. 
 

Meanwhile, the defense forced one punt and was a goal line fumble away from allowing 34 pts in a low possession game. The defense was not successful at all. That was by far the weakest KC offense in the Mahomes era but they looked like one of the best that day. 

 

My point was that despite being crippled by late season injuries to key players, the Bills defense managed to keep the game close while the offense, which was far healthier, had opportunities they missed.  I don't really "blame" offense or defense for the KC loss; they rolled snake eyes again against the Chiefs as in 2021.