Justice Posted September 1, 2008 Share Posted September 1, 2008 Now that I've had a chance to see the Bills play in the pre-season I'd have to say that the Bills are even harder now to gauge after having seen them play. Trent Edwards hasn't played in a live game since week two in the pre-season and I fear that he will be a little rusty. On the positive side, at least his performance in that game he did play in was phenomenal. I still have some questions about Trent that haven't been answered yet thus far in the off-season. Is his arm strength improved over last year? Is he ready to lead? Our offensive line is in a state of flux thanks to Jason Peters' nasty hold-out. I fear that Langston Walker will need help, especially against speed rushers, and that will hinder Lynch's ability to help on the offensive side of the ball instead of pass blocking. That in turn will have a negative impact on the whole offense. The defense is in much better shape than they were last year. Stroud, Mitchell and Pos will help stop the run and the pass defense looks like they are in good hands. Whitner looks like he's ready for the next level. My one concern is the pass rush. I haven't seen anything from our pass rushers this pre-season to believe they have the makings of a formidable pass rush. Will Lynch have room to run? Can Hardy make an impact? How rusty is Ko Simpson? Can Youboty play this well in the regular season? I have a ton of questions, but I will try to make a prediction anyways. DAY DATE OPPONENT TV TIME/RECAP Sun. 9/7 SEATTLE SEAHAWKS The Bills will win this one and cover the spread (whatever it is) while doing it. 1-0 Sun. 9/14 @ Jacksonville Jaguars Tough one here. The Bills go down swinging. 1-1 Sun. 9/21 OAKLAND RAIDERS Bills win a close one. 2-1 Sun. 9/28 @ St. Louis Rams Bills win this one too. 3-1 Sun. 10/5 @ Arizona Cardinals Buffalo can win this one but I have a feeling they don't. 3-2 BYE 10/12 BYE BYE Sun. 10/19 SAN DIEGO CHARGERS Bills lose two in a row. Chargers are too good. 3-3 Sun. 10/26 @ Miami Dolphins Just the opponent you need when you're on a two game losing streak. 4-3 Sun. 11/2 NEW YORK JETS Bills always win at least against once and Favre struggles in Buffalo. 5-3 Sun. 11/9 @ New England Patriots Some things never change. 5-4 Mon. 11/17 CLEVELAND BROWNS ESPN 8:30 PM Primetime at the Ralph? Bills win this one. 6-4 Sun. 11/23 @ Kansas City Chiefs Bills win easy. Chiefs are one of the worst teams in the league. 7-4 Sun. 11/30 SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS Bills are in a zone. We win this one just barely. 8-4 Sun. 12/7 MIAMI DOLPHINS (Toronto) This one makes 4 wins in a row. 9-4 Sun. 12/14 @ New York Jets Bills lose this one. Thank You for unretiring, Favre. 9-5 Sun. 12/21 @ Denver Broncos Bills don't play well at Denver. 9-6 Sun. 12/28 NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS Bills end their skid with a win against the Pats. NE will rest their guys for this one. 10-6 There you have it. Buffalo finish the season 10 & 6. I hope this record will be good enough to get us in the playoffs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eball Posted September 1, 2008 Share Posted September 1, 2008 <snip> Sun. 12/21 @ Denver Broncos Bills don't play well at Denver. 9-6 Sun. 12/28 NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS Bills end their skid with a win against the Pats. NE will rest their guys for this one. 9-7 There you have it. Buffalo finish the season 9 & 7. I hope this record will be good enough to get us in the playoffs. Your math's a little off. A win vs. NE* makes your prediction 10-6. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrFishfinder Posted September 1, 2008 Share Posted September 1, 2008 Now that I've had a chance to see the Bills play in the pre-season I'd have to say that the Bills are even harder now to gauge after having seen them play..... There you have it. Buffalo finish the season 9 & 7. I hope this record will be good enough to get us in the playoffs. The Bills have adopted a bad habit of losing games they should, and are, winning (Dallas). And they continue a bad trend of committing game-killing penalties, as if the blatant conspiriacy of zebras throwing bogus flags that even leave announcers speechless wasn't enough. Buffalo has to adopt a "Take No Prisoners" approach and start finding ways to WIN games instead of finding ways to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. They need to return to the "Relentless" attitude of the 90's, when JK, FR and company absolutely, flat out refused to lose (Houston). Unless the attitude changes, the results most likely won't, either. The Bills are better on paper, but that doesn't mean much. Dr. Fishfinder's programming axiom is, "All programs work on paper". 8-8 or 9-7 is a realistic scenario. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justice Posted September 1, 2008 Author Share Posted September 1, 2008 Your math's a little off. A win vs. NE* makes your prediction 10-6. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
In-A-Gadda-Levitre Posted September 1, 2008 Share Posted September 1, 2008 My one concern is the pass rush. I haven't seen anything from our pass rushers this pre-season to believe they have the makings of a formidable pass rush. I agree with most of this, but you can't really judge their pass rush, or lack thereof, on the preseason games. Combined with lack of game planning, teams rarely show their blitzing schemes before September. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ieatcrayonz Posted September 1, 2008 Share Posted September 1, 2008 The professionals handled this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canbuffan34 Posted September 1, 2008 Share Posted September 1, 2008 The professionals handled this. 10-6 I believe is our record, I predict a wildcard berth but unfortunately I see an early exit from the playoffs as we are not in the class of pats*, colts or chargers just yet. Next year, look out world here we come! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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