JoeF Posted August 2, 2006 Share Posted August 2, 2006 On the surface--new coach; new GM; losing Moulds; Adams; Milloy; Big Mike; Teague; Campbell; Benny from a 5-11 team looks like equal at best or at worst less wins...but then I look position by position and look at an experienced head coach that seems to have a plan and conviction to stick with that plan and I wonder... QB-JP improves nominally; Add Nall; Holcomb stays the same-we are improved I keep thinking that no matter who wins this battle its an improvement over last year... OL-A stable line with better athletes and a budding star at RT who got his feet wet last year and was a Street free agent TE 2 years ago--we are improved..if Reyes and Fowler > Teague and Benny...that is almost a certainty WR-Losing Moulds hurts --we don't have a guy you automatically have to double yet but we have a lot more speed with Roscoe for the whole year; Price; Davis and Evans--that's a track relay right there--at least its a threat-So I would say down in superstar talent but up in depth which fits the passing part of Fairchild's offense better-Slightly down RB-Willis is playing for Money and we have a better back up plan if we need it-but if we need it this year-its because Willis is tired not because the coaching staff goes brain dead on third downs...Improved FB-We have more depth--and face it--Shelton wasn't as devastating last year as he was in 04--Ricard is a good pick up...Improved as of today TE-This position has contributed very little in the last 5 years--Royal and Everett have to be an upgrade...Improved On ST's Even if we are slightly down--by adding Bowen, Watson, Ellison (Who I think will be a ST stud if he is active) to an already fantastic team we are certain to be a top 5er--so a push On D: DE-Same guys except for the 4th...Schobel is steady if not spectacular--his play against the run has really improved the last 2 years. I believe Denny and Kelsay improve on passing downs with the push from the middle taking more attention, but I call it a push. DT-This scares me the most on the team...we can get run over...or worse make huge holes as we take upfield risks at the tackle position--but to say we are much worse off than last year when Anderson and Bannan got most of the second half of the season snaps -- is not my opinion..we lose Fat Sam; Bannan and Edwards (Out all last year) and pick up Triplett and the two rookies--Push LB-Posey wasn't great in Jerry Gray's scheme--he would be absolutely lost in Perry Fewell's scheme-unless he sticks as a combo LB/DE he may be gone. Fletcher-Baker knows and thrived in this system. Crowell getting on the field and TKO coming back--adding Watson for depth and the continued development of Haggan, Stamer, Eziekel and adding a good athlete like Ellison -- this is improved DB-Losing Milloy in this scheme is a blessing--We have lots of depth here--at both CB and Safety...look at all the athletes -- McGee, Clements, Whitner (get your butt in camp); Simpson; Bowen; Youbooty; Vincent; Greer; Baker; Wire (okay maybe not); King--all can run; all can support--tough choices here--we are better We have arguably much better depth; got rid of some whiny vets; and have an experienced head coach who doesn't appear to have too large an ego or a penchant for the moronic..I am goofy to think we can squeeze three more wins out of this...or should I go back to my thinking that 5-11 is okay.. What am I missing???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dibs Posted August 2, 2006 Share Posted August 2, 2006 What am I missing???? 733385[/snapback] What you are missing is the "we're dooooomed" attitude. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CosmicBills Posted August 2, 2006 Share Posted August 2, 2006 On the surface--new coach; new GM; losing Moulds; Adams; Milloy; Big Mike; Teague; Campbell; Benny from a 5-11 team looks like equal at best or at worst less wins...but then I look position by position and look at an experienced head coach that seems to have a plan and conviction to stick with that plan and I wonder... QB-JP improves nominally; Add Nall; Holcomb stays the same-we are improved I keep thinking that no matter who wins this battle its an improvement over last year... OL-A stable line with better athletes and a budding star at RT who got his feet wet last year and was a Street free agent TE 2 years ago--we are improved..if Reyes and Fowler > Teague and Benny...that is almost a certainty WR-Losing Moulds hurts --we don't have a guy you automatically have to double yet but we have a lot more speed with Roscoe for the whole year; Price; Davis and Evans--that's a track relay right there--at least its a threat-So I would say down in superstar talent but up in depth which fits the passing part of Fairchild's offense better-Slightly down RB-Willis is playing for Money and we have a better back up plan if we need it-but if we need it this year-its because Willis is tired not because the coaching staff goes brain dead on third downs...Improved FB-We have more depth--and face it--Shelton wasn't as devastating last year as he was in 04--Ricard is a good pick up...Improved as of today TE-This position has contributed very little in the last 5 years--Royal and Everett have to be an upgrade...Improved On ST's Even if we are slightly down--by adding Bowen, Watson, Ellison (Who I think will be a ST stud if he is active) to an already fantastic team we are certain to be a top 5er--so a push On D: DE-Same guys except for the 4th...Schobel is steady if not spectacular--his play against the run has really improved the last 2 years. I believe Denny and Kelsay improve on passing downs with the push from the middle taking more attention, but I call it a push. DT-This scares me the most on the team...we can get run over...or worse make huge holes as we take upfield risks at the tackle position--but to say we are much worse off than last year when Anderson and Bannan got most of the second half of the season snaps -- is not my opinion..we lose Fat Sam; Bannan and Edwards (Out all last year) and pick up Triplett and the two rookies--Push LB-Posey wasn't great in Jerry Gray's scheme--he would be absolutely lost in Perry Fewell's scheme-unless he sticks as a combo LB/DE he may be gone. Fletcher-Baker knows and thrived in this system. Crowell getting on the field and TKO coming back--adding Watson for depth and the continued development of Haggan, Stamer, Eziekel and adding a good athlete like Ellison -- this is improved DB-Losing Milloy in this scheme is a blessing--We have lots of depth here--at both CB and Safety...look at all the athletes -- McGee, Clements, Whitner (get your butt in camp); Simpson; Bowen; Youbooty; Vincent; Greer; Baker; Wire (okay maybe not); King--all can run; all can support--tough choices here--we are better We have arguably much better depth; got rid of some whiny vets; and have an experienced head coach who doesn't appear to have too large an ego or a penchant for the moronic..I am goofy to think we can squeeze three more wins out of this...or should I go back to my thinking that 5-11 is okay.. What am I missing???? 733385[/snapback] Even with a Veteran coaching staff in place, the system is still new to the players. And the depth players we added (especially on Defense) are rookies or still a touch green. No one knows how the OL will be, or the DL. And no one knows if JP has put it all together yet (or how long it will take). Till those three questions are answered, we have no way of knowing if the Bills are better or not. That said, I'm going in with an open mind. As a fan, being 0-0 is the most exciting time of year. You never know what's going to happen. A couple bounces here and there, and the Bills are a surprise team. Who knows -- but in 10 days we'll get a bit of a better picture! Thank God football is back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikie2times Posted August 2, 2006 Share Posted August 2, 2006 I think we can expect a slow start regardless of the final result. I see little hope at NE, and Miami might be 0-1 heading into week 2 after opening in Pittsburgh. That means it could be a desperation game for both of us, and it's hard to not give them the nod at home. Hopefully as the season progresses the players remain focused and we can improve in the areas you talk about. Fortunately for us the schedule also softens up a bit later in the year. I think we can optimistically hope for a .500 year, but anything over that would be a serious reach. Either way it doesn't make the anticipation any easier to deal with this time of year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pyrite Gal Posted August 2, 2006 Share Posted August 2, 2006 On the surface--new coach; new GM; losing Moulds; Adams; Milloy; Big Mike; Teague; Campbell; Benny from a 5-11 team looks like equal at best or at worst less wins...but then I look position by position and look at an experienced head coach that seems to have a plan and conviction to stick with that plan and I wonder... 733385[/snapback] On the surface much of what you note looks like addition by subtraction. HC- Jauron was NFL Coach of the Year once but a losing record is a losing record. Nevertheless, even if he is middlin' this is an upgrade over having an HC that did not want to be here which is why he quit. Even if one goes back to happier days (its not harder to be happier than when house cleaning happened this off-season) by mod-season MM had clearly loss control of the situation as there were disputes with Ralph, RD, and TC that no one outside really knows how bad it was besides what is implied by the results. Hiring Jauron is almost certainly an upgrade even for a new HC. GM- Again TD oversaw building all this mess and even with a newbie GM it can easily seen that this may well be an upgrade. While Marv is making the ultimate decisions, one cannot forget that the major strength he showed as an HC was an ability to delegate. Having Modrak standing behind him means he actually has a professional that many thought would be off to be a GM elsewhere. Again does anyone here want to argue in favor TD so that though hiring a newbie GM is not adequate this may well be an upgrade over the gross inadequacy and failure to achieve results under TD. Moulds- I think this is a loss of hiseorically the most athletically gifted player on the team. However, Moulds meltdown which drew surprisingly little support from his peers came specifically when Evans became the go-top guy from JP against Miami and Moulds primary value was as a #2. I'm afraid as great as Moulds has been as a Bill he was on the backside of his career and would have been the #2 if he had come back. Losing Moulds is a downgrade, but this means that Price will need to somehow warp D with his speed to allow Evans to be better as the primary way Moulds was going to contribute to this team was to free up Evans by drawing attention based on his rep. Adams is a talented guy. but apparently he only wanted to play his game of shooting the gap with his incredibly quick first step when the Bills desperately needed him to do the heavy slogging work of staying at home with his big body to stuff the run. He would do this when necessary for his buddy Pat Williams next to him but once Pat left he was playing for himself and not his team and this was definitely addition by subtactio. Dongrade in talent but likely upgrade in productivity. Milloy is also a high character great guy to have on the team. However, it is clear what used to be nicks he could play through are now injuries which knock him out of the lineup or limit his productivity. Moving to the cover 2 and away from the zone blitz actually moves away from the strengths of his game. A downgrade if Wire is your alternative but likely an upgrader if Whitner ever signs. Big Mike- An upgrade to lose this bust. Teague- I like his athleticism which I think would make him and adequate tackle, but center was always a struggle for him and a switch here is a likely upgrade as well. Bennie- Please/ Its mot surprising to me that your individual overview was quite charitable to the Bills in the end, It is hard for me to qestion any of these moves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuffOrange Posted August 2, 2006 Share Posted August 2, 2006 It's hard to disagree with much of that. The problem IMO is that most of those upgrades are incredibly marginal and are not especially likely to make a tangible difference between L's and W's unless unless a bunch of diamonds in the rough emerge. Take the TE & FB positions for example: are Royal and Ricard really going to help us win games we otherwise would've lost? OL - if you've been following this team for a while I think you have to be suspicious of the "addition by subtraction" theory. Maybe Reyes & Fowler are solid upgrades but for the most part it's just wishful thinking based on nothing other than "these other guys sucked". I mean c'mon we were all saying the same thing about Bennie & Gandy 12 months ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ricojes Posted August 2, 2006 Share Posted August 2, 2006 What you are missing is the "we're dooooomed" attitude. 733386[/snapback] Agreed way too optimistic... The post above is a more appropriate for this site... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuffOrange Posted August 2, 2006 Share Posted August 2, 2006 Agreed way too optimistic... The post above is a more appropriate for this site... 733473[/snapback] Great point! 14-2! Rah rah go team! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bills_fan_in_raleigh Posted August 2, 2006 Share Posted August 2, 2006 On the surface--new coach; new GM; losing Moulds; Adams; Milloy; Big Mike; Teague; Campbell; Benny from a 5-11 team looks like equal at best or at worst less wins...but then I look position by position and look at an experienced head coach that seems to have a plan and conviction to stick with that plan and I wonder... QB-JP improves nominally; Add Nall; Holcomb stays the same-we are improved I keep thinking that no matter who wins this battle its an improvement over last year... OL-A stable line with better athletes and a budding star at RT who got his feet wet last year and was a Street free agent TE 2 years ago--we are improved..if Reyes and Fowler > Teague and Benny...that is almost a certainty WR-Losing Moulds hurts --we don't have a guy you automatically have to double yet but we have a lot more speed with Roscoe for the whole year; Price; Davis and Evans--that's a track relay right there--at least its a threat-So I would say down in superstar talent but up in depth which fits the passing part of Fairchild's offense better-Slightly down RB-Willis is playing for Money and we have a better back up plan if we need it-but if we need it this year-its because Willis is tired not because the coaching staff goes brain dead on third downs...Improved FB-We have more depth--and face it--Shelton wasn't as devastating last year as he was in 04--Ricard is a good pick up...Improved as of today TE-This position has contributed very little in the last 5 years--Royal and Everett have to be an upgrade...Improved On ST's Even if we are slightly down--by adding Bowen, Watson, Ellison (Who I think will be a ST stud if he is active) to an already fantastic team we are certain to be a top 5er--so a push On D: DE-Same guys except for the 4th...Schobel is steady if not spectacular--his play against the run has really improved the last 2 years. I believe Denny and Kelsay improve on passing downs with the push from the middle taking more attention, but I call it a push. DT-This scares me the most on the team...we can get run over...or worse make huge holes as we take upfield risks at the tackle position--but to say we are much worse off than last year when Anderson and Bannan got most of the second half of the season snaps -- is not my opinion..we lose Fat Sam; Bannan and Edwards (Out all last year) and pick up Triplett and the two rookies--Push LB-Posey wasn't great in Jerry Gray's scheme--he would be absolutely lost in Perry Fewell's scheme-unless he sticks as a combo LB/DE he may be gone. Fletcher-Baker knows and thrived in this system. Crowell getting on the field and TKO coming back--adding Watson for depth and the continued development of Haggan, Stamer, Eziekel and adding a good athlete like Ellison -- this is improved DB-Losing Milloy in this scheme is a blessing--We have lots of depth here--at both CB and Safety...look at all the athletes -- McGee, Clements, Whitner (get your butt in camp); Simpson; Bowen; Youbooty; Vincent; Greer; Baker; Wire (okay maybe not); King--all can run; all can support--tough choices here--we are better We have arguably much better depth; got rid of some whiny vets; and have an experienced head coach who doesn't appear to have too large an ego or a penchant for the moronic..I am goofy to think we can squeeze three more wins out of this...or should I go back to my thinking that 5-11 is okay.. What am I missing???? 733385[/snapback] I am with you Joe I think this team is better than last year, we will see as training camp rolls out with preseason games and a tough opening game at NE. I was debating a friend the other night that we made upgrades on defense and that the OL is better than last year but all based upon assumptions versus proof. I think the big question mark is how well can the OL perform and can the coaches create game schemes that allow JP to flourish. Last year seemed like when the initial game was scripted and focused on first plays JP was relaxed and poised. His getting down on himself in camp might be his way of boosting himself up hopefully the coaching staff is doing the proper coaching and mentoring of thsi kid and developing a long term solution at QB. Unless injuries catch us early and the safties are a bust I really think we are at least a 7 - 9 team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluenews Posted August 2, 2006 Share Posted August 2, 2006 WR-Losing Moulds hurts --we don't have a guy you automatically have to double yet but we have a lot more speed with Roscoe for the whole year; Price; Davis and Evans--that's a track relay right there--at least its a threat-So I would say down in superstar talent but up in depth which fits the passing part of Fairchild's offense better-Slightly down 733385[/snapback] I believe you are not giving our WR corp enough credit. Lee Evans was ready to take over last year. When given the opportunity last year....he stepped up!!!Eric "Baby" Moulds wouldn't allow that to happen. He couldn't accept the #2 role and attempted to undermine the prior "coaching" staff and "so-called" management as a result. I've never been a big Moulds fan and felt he has held the entire group hostage for his own benefit. I'm glad he is gone and hope he enjoys catching David Carr's passes. I'm also very impressed with the current coaching staff and the "teaching" they are doing. Each unit need to learn their new role and responsibility to the unit. I expect at least 8 wins and a late season playoff push. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. K Posted August 2, 2006 Share Posted August 2, 2006 One other factor to mention--the Bills lost some close games last year, in particular the Jets and Miami games, the Carolina game, and even one of the New England games. Given the disarray on last year's team, it might not take much--some better teamwork, some better coaching decisions, some marginally better play at crucial moments--for the Bills to win such games. In other words, I agree that they may not be as far away as we fear. But then I am such a diehard fan that I can't stand going into the season expecting them to fail. Like Charlie Brown, I always hope Lucy won't jerk the football away this time, no matter how many times she has in the past. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marck Posted August 2, 2006 Share Posted August 2, 2006 The team is improved and although we may get off to an 0-2 start, we have a schedule that still allows for 10 wins. We can win 4 games in the division at a minimum, have the NFC North and will go 3-1 there with the loss at Chicago. We also play the AFC South and I expect to beat Jacksonville and Tennessee at home and split with the Texans and Colts, going 3-1 their also. The other two out of division games are home with San Diego (loss) and at Baltimore (last game of season, so who knows). If we split the pair of division games on the road, I'm thinking 11 wins. Call me crazy but I think we are much better then projected and the Patriots and Dolphins are not going to be as good. Thoughts and feedback always appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prince Far I Posted August 3, 2006 Share Posted August 3, 2006 The point was made that the Bills lost a number of close games last year... But that only means that they lost those games. I have never seen a correlation between losing by 4 points one year and winning by 4 points the next. The team is on the right track, but Donahoe really messed up this team. Let's hope that Marv and Ralph live long enough to see the progress. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.Biscuit97 Posted August 3, 2006 Share Posted August 3, 2006 I believe you are not giving our WR corp enough credit. Lee Evans was ready to take over last year. When giving the opportunity last year....he stepped up!!!Eric "Baby" Moulds wouldn't allow that to happen. He couldn't accept the #2 role and undermined the prior "coaching" staff and management as a result. I've never been a big Moulds fan and felt he has held the entire group hostage for his own benefit. I'm glad he is gone and hope he enjoys catches David Carr's passes. I'm also very impressed with the current coaching staff and the "teaching" they are doing. Each unit need to learn their new role and responsibility to the unit. I expect at least 8 wins and a late season playoff push. 733484[/snapback] Word. I was very worried about losing Moulds. Not so much because he was dominant anymore (he is definitely is on the decline) but because I thought you need a big physical wr. But this is a different NFL. DBs aren't allowed to mug wrs off the line anymore. Look at some of the best wrs in the league - Steve Smith, Hines Ward, Torry Holt, Marvin Harrison, Deion Branch. This are all average to small players but they run good routes and can get open. I'm very confident in our receiving core. The real question is whther we have the players to block for and the QB to deliver it. Time will tell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbonehawaii Posted August 3, 2006 Share Posted August 3, 2006 In a word "no" you are not underestimating them, The word you are looking for is "over." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stinky finger Posted August 3, 2006 Share Posted August 3, 2006 A couple bounces here and there, and the Bills are a surprise team. 733387[/snapback] Those "bounces" had better be frequent and Alpinian in nature. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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