Summing up the offseason so far

[MadBuffaloDisease]

I love the Bills, I truly do, I remember being 0-8 and arguing that they could run the table...But, to be completely honest, this team has far too many holes at this point, and I think they spent too much money on mediocre players. My enthusiasm is undeniably curbed going into the upcoming season when I look at their offensive and defensive line.

It's not a matter of money. The Bills still are well under the cap and have the means to create a LOT more (restructures of younger players) that they haven't even tried. It's a matter of guys slipping through their fingers. Although I have to say that this has been a particularly weak FA crop.

[BuffaloBilliever]

This tossing around of QB's has to end. It almost feels like they're trying not to "hurt anyone's feelings" by not just getting rid of Losman and picking up a veteran QB that they KNOW could lead the team. I'm sick of this "maybe" BS.

[Pyrite Gal]

If you think the Bills roster is that good, I'd love to see your comparison of how other AFC East teams stack up against ours.  You guys are in serious denial.  I've seen bad cases of denial here before, but never like this.  We are signing other teams Justin Bannan's and calling them an answer.  Bowen vs. Milloy, HUGE dropoff.  Triplett?  He won't be making anyone forget Pat Williams or Sam Adams, trust me.  You guys are in for a shock, really.

642154[/snapback]

 

Actually, I guess I was not clear in writing about my ruminations. I do not think that the Bills roster is that good at this incomplete point the original poster asked us to assess. I do not think my assessment is all that positive.

 

Yet, my assessment does try to take into account that this team ain't done yet in terms of major player moves (1. This a strong draft and we have four first day picks and the potential to get another. 2. June 1st was absolutely a critical date as recently as the Pats 1st SB run {perhaps a mere 4 seasons ago is ancient history for you youth of today, but even if this date has clearly diminished in import since then and may diminish in import more now with the salary cap rising, it is all still unclear because no beyond the signatories to the contracts know what bonuses are triggered on that date which was a significant one when current contracts were done as no one could predict whether there would be a new CBA or not. 3. The Bills prospects will be likely determined quite a bit by a decision which will likely occur post-draft and pre pre-season {a big reason I picked the June 1st date though I easily can be wrong +/- a month} about what happens with Moulds. I doubt he stays but if he does I think that alone will make this O a serious issue for opponents to deal with. Any prediction before the #2 WR situation gets settled is simply jaw {or photon} flapping as far as I can see. 4. I aggree with Marv that a lot of this game is about running and stopping the run. The OL sucks right now and it is hard for me (or you I would say) to figure out how to improve this. However, I did not see how NYG under JMac was going to get anything out of his OL that was critical to their SB run which was led by Porky Parker at the critical LT position and Dusty at the critical C position. Do you really know so much that you are dead lock certain to declare our OL situation dead? The DL situation is also very probelmatic as I noted. However, we need at least two good enough DTs and Triplett MAY in fact prove to be good enough and I am hopeful we will spend our 1st draft choice to get one {Ngota if those who looked him in the eye which you and I have not judge him good enough or my favorite trade down for an extra first day pick if they judge Bunkley good enough from looking him in the eye).

 

To me the key point here is that all these predictions of the future strike me as little more than guesses. They are good guesses if you take the way too much time that I take on my posts or they are good guess if as much time is taken on a quite ornate analysis I remember you presenting a few years back.

 

However, even my good as it gets for a fan guesses as some of my work and your work in past years were simply wrong, wrong, wrong.

 

The L in NFL stands for the National Football Lotto from what I can see. The outcomes are simply too influenced by how the oddly shaped ball bounces and outstaniding acts like Phil Luckett blowing the call on a coin flip in overtime.

 

I think anyone who pretends to judge their predictions as to their value whether they are right or wrong is simply fooling themselves. Analysis and intellect can tell one things about football, but the unpredictable occurence of injury and other random occurencences reduce the game to a Lotto like activity in terms of choosing an SB winner.

 

It is just this uncertainty which makes the game interesting to watch from my perspective. If this was all so straight-forward to figure out as you sometimes suggest, i certainly would not be interested in anything so boring.

 

It is actually its randomness around a framework which we can credily allege to understand which makes this interesting to me.

 

So my apologies for appearing to take a stand here because (as anyone who has read my generally on the one hand but on the other hand posts over the years can tell you) it was not my intent at all to assert this is a good team on paper on 3/24.

 

What I do assert is that it is still too early to draw a any real CONCLUSIONS about this team until training camp starts. Its not too early to be bummed over the occurences under Marv or to be psyched, but there are simply too many major episodes which will occur before a prediction should be called that instead of a guess.

 

I think most simpletons can figure right now that it does not look good for our team. Thus I am fairly unimpressed by predictions of DOOM, and I think most folks are unimpressed.

 

Right now, i think that the most appropriate expression of our doubts is pretty well summarized in if you don't play you can't win.

 

The good news is that in order to root for the Bills right now, it is even cheaper than a Lotto ticket to do this.

 

Guesses of doom are quite reasonable right now, but predictions of DOOM are little more than laughable.