Will we be in Super Bowl contention this year?

[Ethan in Cleveland]

I thought they were until they traded Diggs.  

 

Poyer and Hyde were not difference makers last year. I have no concerns moving on from them.  Milano will be back. Getting DQ to return and perhaps a resurgent Miller should be enough on defense.  Rousseau is in a contract year so he is going to ball out.  Douglas was playing at a level even better than White before his ACL.  He is a steal and I still have hopes for Elam.

 

My concern is the offense. Yeah Diggs play fell off quite a bit but he still caught over a 100 balls.  They have no one that can get deep now.  Teams can sit on short zones with a single high safety and there will be little place to go with the ball.  Unless you play a team like Dallas that can't stop the run they will really struggle.  Kincaid needs to continue to develop but I don't see him in year 2 being Kelce and being able to carry the offense. 

 

All that can change in ten days.  I don't believe a word Beane says.  He lies and twists the truth at every PC.  There is no way he thinks they can win with this group of WR.  If he really does then we are truly screwed.  But I believe he will draft not one but two WR.  No way he doesn't get Allen more weapons.  

 

As always our rate limiting step will be coaching....

[Blackbeard]

Does howdy doody have wooden balls? 

[Logic]

Yes.

The Bills will be better than last year.

I know that may sound crazy, and many will likely call me a homer with rose-colored glasses on. That's fine. I DO tend towards optimism.

That said, I'm sticking with my statement. The Bills will be better than last year. Fresh start, fresh energy, Josh fully taking the reins. They won't need a miracle stretch to end the season in order to make the playoffs. They'll comfortably be a playoff team, and once they're in the tournament, as we all know, anything can happen.

As long as Josh Allen is the quarterback of the Buffalo Bills, they will contend every year. The window is wide open. Josh Allen IS the window. 

[stuvian]

Yes, we will, if only to wipe that influencer, three peat smile off Travis Kelce's face

[Ga boy]

1 hour ago, Kirby Jackson said:

So we are prioritizing a rotational DL above a #1 (and #2 for that matter) WR? The Bills still have about 200 targets unaccounted for and no boundary WRs (except Hollins & Shorter). Sorry, I don’t see it. As far as needs right now, I see it as:

 

WR1

 

 

WR2

 

 

everything else 

I know that is the consensus here but Mahomey hopes our D stays same or gets worse.  Their D is approaching elite and ours scares nobody.  We need Verse, Latu or Chop.  One of these will make Mahomey throw a pick or two.  At 28, we don’t get an elite WR, and I don’t see us selling the ranch to get one.

[Kirby Jackson]

34 minutes ago, Ga boy said:

I know that is the consensus here but Mahomey hopes our D stays same or gets worse.  Their D is approaching elite and ours scares nobody.  We need Verse, Latu or Chop.  One of these will make Mahomey throw a pick or two.  At 28, we don’t get an elite WR, and I don’t see us selling the ranch to get one.

Fair enough

 

I guess, any of those guys (along with Newton) would be playing no more than 40-50% of the snaps. On the edge Von, Rousseau and Epenesa will play a lot. Jonathan and Toohill will play some too. On the interior, Ed O, Daquan, Austin Johnson and Deshawn Williams will all play. Obviously, a 1st will play quite a bit but the point being, they’ll be fine either way. Could they be better? Sure.
 

On the boundary, they are lacking 2 starters and 200 targets. Those guys are going to play, at minimum, 80% of the snaps. They’re going to have the ball thrown to them, A LOT. When Allen is the reason that you win or lose, you need to support him so that he doesn’t have to keep doing it all by himself. 

[GunnerBill]

I think we have a chance while we have #17 but I'd be surprised. We'd need a lot to go our way in 2024 to make the Superbowl IMO. It is a very thin margin for error. Our roster will be less strong and less experienced. I do think the younger guys will take another step but I see this as more a 1 and done playoff roster.

[OldTimer1960]

4 hours ago, Rubes said:

I agree with OP that defense is the big question mark for me this year. Will we be able to generate a pass rush? Will the secondary make up for the losses? Will Milano stay healthy for a full season?

 

I expect we'll be okay on offense, but I can't see us going very far if the defense is a notch or two worse than last year.

 

I know this opinion is unpopular and for sure I could be wrong, but I think pass rush will be a big problem.  I don’t expect much from Von Miller - he could prove this wrong but he didn’t look like a pass rush threat last year and he is what 35?  I like Epenesa and he has shown some promise the past 2 years, but he seems best as a rotational player.  

 

The top (only?) backup at CB is Kaiir Elam whom the coaches have shown no confidence in.  There really isn’t any depth at S, either and we’ll have to see what the starters look like.  Finally, they need a 3T to backup Oliver.

I just see a lot of needs on D, that’s the main reason that I am not in favor of trading next year’s picks in a big move up for a WR this year.

 

Maybe they will be competitive, but I think there are going to be some struggles this year.  But I think next year with a full complement of picks plus an extra 2nd and at least modest cap room, I think they are primed to be in good shape for 25.

 

[Ga boy]

30 minutes ago, Kirby Jackson said:

Fair enough

 

I guess, any of those guys (along with Newton) would be playing no more than 40-50% of the snaps. On the edge Von, Rousseau and Epenesa will play a lot. Jonathan and Toohill will play some too. On the interior, Ed O, Daquan, Austin Johnson and Deshawn Williams will all play. Obviously, a 1st will play quite a bit but the point being, they’ll be fine either way. Could they be better? Sure.
 

On the boundary, they are lacking 2 starters and 200 targets. Those guys are going to play, at minimum, 80% of the snaps. They’re going to have the ball thrown to them, A LOT. When Allen is the reason that you win or lose, you need to support him so that he doesn’t have to keep doing it all by himself. 

Good points but I don’t see us getting an elite WR at 28, but we have a better chance of getting Verse, Latu or Chops.  I would take one of them if the top 3 WRs are gone.  Anyone available at 28 wouldn’t be the difference maker we need.  It depends how the draft falls.  Should be interesting.  

[Chaos]

AFC East is awful, except for Josh Allen.  The Bills should be considered favorites to win the division because of Allen. From there, making the super bowl is of course a possibility.  But at this time their is no evidence the Bills have addressed the core problems they have faced in the playoffs the last several years. 

Edited April 20 by Chaos

[MJS]

Absolutely. I believe the Athletic did a ranking of each NFL roster before the draft and the Bills were 4th.

 

Anyone who thinks this team is going to be a lot worse this year is just being pessimistic. We still have a top 5 team in the NFL and will make the playoffs.

 

The Dolphins and Jets have good rosters too, though, so we'll see what they can do. The division is no cake walk, but the Bills should be the favorites, still, in my opinion.

Edited April 20 by MJS

[SoTier]

41 minutes ago, Kirby Jackson said:

Fair enough

 

I guess, any of those guys (along with Newton) would be playing no more than 40-50% of the snaps. On the edge Von, Rousseau and Epenesa will play a lot. Jonathan and Toohill will play some too. On the interior, Ed O, Daquan, Austin Johnson and Deshawn Williams will all play. Obviously, a 1st will play quite a bit but the point being, they’ll be fine either way. Could they be better? Sure.
 

On the boundary, they are lacking 2 starters and 200 targets. Those guys are going to play, at minimum, 80% of the snaps. They’re going to have the ball thrown to them, A LOT. When Allen is the reason that you win or lose, you need to support him so that he doesn’t have to keep doing it all by himself. 

 

I pretty much agree.   I'm not a great follower of draft prospects and prognosticators (I've only started paying attention to all the draft talk in the last two weeks or so), but I think most of the draft analysts don't see this draft as particularly good one for defensive players, particularly edge rushers.  This draft is loaded with WR prospects, both in quality and quantity.   It's seems much more likely that the Bills find a top WR in this draft on Day 1 than they find a top pass rusher in the first round.

[BullBuchanan]

We'll be fortunate to be in playoff contention as the roster currently stands, imo. We would need a series of miracles to get into the super bowl conversation that involves season ending injuries to Mahomes and Burrow, drafting OROY and DROYs like Houston did, staying healthy and having all of our top players play great, and then having probably 2 current players on the roster take monumental leaps up to all-pro status (Kincaid, Epenesa?)

At the end of all that, would it be enough to top the best of the NFC?

 

Doubt it.

[bigduke6]

as long as we have JA17,  the window is still wide open.  

[BarleyNY]

6 hours ago, bills6969 said:

I have concerns on the defensive side of the ball.  Specifically, with replacing Poyer/Hyde. Replacing their production/leadership will not be easy. Need some leaders to step up on D.

 

As long as we have JA17, a Super Bowl should always be the goal.  There are alot of shoes to fill going into this season.  I do like that we aren’t really coming up in conversation for Super Bowl contenders.  I think we get a bit overlooked this year, which I think will be good for this team.

 

There are not many difference makers on defense and we have real questions at pass rusher and in the secondary. If Milano isn’t healthy or doesn’t come back right then we have a deficiency there too. I am sure the defense will be sound, but I don’t see the talent to play with the better offenses. 

 

The offense will have to get us our Ws. We need production from a rookie WR and quality play from the shuffled interior OL, but that’s feasible. It’ll be a tough road, but I’d rather have to rely on our offense than our defense. 

[Mike in Horseheads]

oh what the hell, yes

[eball]

Yes.

 

Next?

 

[GoBills808]

Define contention

[Aussie Joe]

53 minutes ago, BullBuchanan said:

We'll be fortunate to be in playoff contention as the roster currently stands, imo. We would need a series of miracles to get into the super bowl conversation that involves season ending injuries to Mahomes and Burrow, drafting OROY and DROYs like Houston did, staying healthy and having all of our top players play great, and then having probably 2 current players on the roster take monumental leaps up to all-pro status (Kincaid, Epenesa?)

At the end of all that, would it be enough to top the best of the NFC?

 

Doubt it.

It’s unlike you to have a pessimistic outlook …

 

I don’t think it requires a “ series of miracles “… find 2 receivers ..and an edge … before Week 1…

[JohnNord]

8 hours ago, bills6969 said:

I have concerns on the defensive side of the ball.  Specifically, with replacing Poyer/Hyde. Replacing their production/leadership will not be easy. Need some leaders to step up on D.

 

As long as we have JA17, a Super Bowl should always be the goal.  There are alot of shoes to fill going into this season.  I do like that we aren’t really coming up in conversation for Super Bowl contenders.  I think we get a bit overlooked this year, which I think will be good for this team.

I don’t think Poyer and Hyde will be that difficult to replace based on their performance last season.   Poyer looked to be a step a slower at safety, until they moved him down into the box after the Milano injury.  Hyde played smart and was decent but played the entire season without making any big plays that he made in the past.  

 

Together, both Hyde and Poyer accounted for just 4 turnovers in 19 games.   They had 11 in 2021.  
 

I feel they will be missed more from leadership standpoint than they will be in the field.  

 

Both Rapp and Edwards are capable of filling in, though I wouldn’t hate if they threw an athletic rookie S into the mix.  

1 hour ago, BullBuchanan said:

We'll be fortunate to be in playoff contention as the roster currently stands, imo. We would need a series of miracles to get into the super bowl conversation that involves season ending injuries to Mahomes and Burrow, drafting OROY and DROYs like Houston did, staying healthy and having all of our top players play great, and then having probably 2 current players on the roster take monumental leaps up to all-pro status (Kincaid, Epenesa?)

At the end of all that, would it be enough to top the best of the NFC?

 

Doubt it.

I’m old enough to remember when the Bills needed a series of miracles to beat the Cowboys, Chiefs, Chargers, and Dolphins