Indy Dave Posted October 2, 2008 Posted October 2, 2008 True, but if you lose touch with reality along the way, you lose credibility. You got to prognosticate realistically to be taken seriously. Anyway, we have a 4-0 start. We have shown much improvement on offense and defense. ST has consistently been elite. We have shown flashes of dominance on both sides of the ball. The team has good chemistry and good core leaders in vital positions. They have shown calmness in the face of adversity and a strong will to win. Things that championship teams do. But we have been inconsistent and have benefited from a weak schedule. Our line play has been spotty. We have played teams that were decimated with injuries. We have been relatively healthy but that could change in a second. I still feel very vulnerable if we lose a linebacker or Evans or Stroud or TE. It is just pie in the sky to be talking superbowl now. Lets enjoy watching this young team grow and savour each victory as it comes. Playoffs has been the goal. Anything else is lagniappe (Cajun for a little something extra) Don't disagree with anything you said, but would like to point out that if anyone said back in the middle of May (a quarter of the way through the season, just where we are now with the Bills) that the Rays would basically go wire-to-wire and win the best division in baseball, and go on to win the World Series, people would have tried to have that person committed. Like I said, in a realistic sense, you're points on dead on. But isn't the you-never-know aspect of sports what makes it all great?
John from Riverside Posted October 2, 2008 Posted October 2, 2008 Didn't the title read IF this team wins it all? Some here are reacting like it reads WHEN the Bills win it all. That's the great thing about being fans. We can look ahead, we can look past teams, we can predict wins, and we can post hypothetical questions with no ramifications for the team. GO BILLS!!! Right you are ricojes..... IF the team was to win it all it would be the great bills team of all time.....regardless of the great names that have come before.....move over Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas, Bruce Smith, Steve Tasker, Kent Hull, ........................... Man.....there are a lot of names....
BillsPride12 Posted October 2, 2008 Posted October 2, 2008 For me, even though I would LOVE to see a Bills Super Bowl champion, its gonna depend on a few things if this current team would truly replace those 90's era teams. First of all, it was a different era back then, everything seemed more pure, the atmosphere at the games was way better, the whole Kelly v.s. Marino years, the greatest comeback of all-time, back then our stadium was 80,000 deep, we tore down the goalposts a couple of times in that era. Not saying it wouldn't be crazy this time around as well, but there would have to be alot of things to truly take the 90's Bills #1 spot in my heart for me. Its not only that, but I look back at those years with fondness because it was a time when all of my family lived in this area and we were much closer and everybody was just happy. Maybe its because I look back at those days with pure nostalgia, but I think when its all said and done those days will always be the greatest years of Buffalo Bills football.
Jerry Jabber Posted October 2, 2008 Posted October 2, 2008 Right you are ricojes..... IF the team was to win it all it would be the great bills team of all time.....regardless of the great names that have come before.....move over Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas, Bruce Smith, Steve Tasker, Kent Hull, ........................... Man.....there are a lot of names.... Agreed.
BillZerk Posted October 2, 2008 Posted October 2, 2008 no sh-t....I have never mentioned SB once with this team. I am very excited about being 4-0, but I know there is a long way to go. I simply stated that by being a fan you can be unrealistic, who cares. Most posters here lost their credibility a long time ago anyway. Except for the home field advantage, fans have no affect on how a team performs. I don't agree with looking ahead, but that's your right as a fan. I guess it's just semantics, someone posts and IF question and some people overreact. ouch.... didn't think it was overeacting. I don't want to be a buzz kill on this hypothetical so... Yes, I would argue they would be the greatest team because they would actually own the World Champion Trophy. I guess I would rather own it once than be runner up four times in a row.
Saint Doug Posted October 2, 2008 Posted October 2, 2008 Right you are ricojes..... IF the team was to win it all it would be the great bills team of all time.....regardless of the great names that have come before.....move over Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas, Bruce Smith, Steve Tasker, Kent Hull, ........................... Man.....there are a lot of names.... Well, that's about all they were, big names. The players on those teams were unbelievably great, but unfortunately, so were their egos. When the going got tough though, they couldn't get it done. But as individuals, no one was better or more dominant as Bruce. However, our current team does not have the egos, at least not yet. And I think this is one of the reasons why were are winning the 4th quarter battles. This is why this team, maybe not this year, will likely go farther.
WellDressed Posted October 2, 2008 Posted October 2, 2008 Dont worry they are not going to win it all this year... RUSURE????
generaLee83 Posted October 2, 2008 Posted October 2, 2008 Do you mean this year? Because if you do, I've got a question for you. What happens if the sun rises in the west? Where would that rank on the list of weird stuff? A year or two down the road, maybe. But thinking about this now is simply too early. Agreed, I'm still hoping for a 9 win season at this point, nothing more.
OCinBuffalo Posted October 3, 2008 Posted October 3, 2008 I will say that this team clearly has something, not sure what to call it, so I will call it "inner core" that is different, and, I think better already than the 90's teams. It's difficult to explain, but I will try. What I mean is: the 90's teams would beat the Dolphins at home by two touchdowns, and then come home and lose to the 2-14 or 3-13 Jets/Pats*. It's like they didn't care, and they figured it wasn't worth playing them, because they knew they were going to the playoffs anyway. I don't see this new team taking anyone for granted, or being allowed to by this coaching staff. The key is Jauron already getting beat, at home, with a 13-3 team in the playoffs. DJ appears to be a guy that only has to learn things once, so I don't anticipate a repeat performance-->why do you think he's got his own QB playing this time around, instead of the GM's QB? And, the 90's team had already been to the playoffs in 1988 and 1989. They knew they were good, and what's more, Kelly had thrown BIG INTs to keep them from advancing to in both those years. Also, the Defense didn't show up in 88 or 89 in the playoffs. Hmmm. Two recurring themes...Defense not showing up or coming up anything other than mediocre, and Kelly throwing game ending/changing picks in the playoffs. Isn't this exactly what happened in the SBs? Hey you can B word at me all you want, but you can't objectively deny either of these things. The difference: I don't see INTs/fumbles phasing this team anywhere near as badly as the did(some of the time) with the 90's teams. This team doesn't play 100% on emotion, thanks to their coach, so they aren't as vulnerable to the swings(bad ref calls, mistakes = focusing on 5 minutes ago instead of focusing on NOW). Moreover, this defense isn't going anywhere, for the same reason. Overall, given where we were in 1988, compared to where we are now, I'd say this team is slightly better, more focused, and more talented across the board. This teams gives up a whole lot of talent in a few positions(DE, QB-->so far), but it more than makes up for it at many, many others. And that's the point. The Bills of the 90's relied on 5-7 players on each side of the ball to get them through. These Bills rely on all 11. I think that's a huge advantage for them going forward, because nobody will get a chance to "coast" and let the other guys carry them.
Max Fischer Posted October 3, 2008 Posted October 3, 2008 It won't rank high unless they three-peat and go undefeated one of those years.
Sen. John Blutarsky Posted October 3, 2008 Posted October 3, 2008 Simple question... If this team led by Trent Edwards is the one that finally brings a Super Bowl victory to Buffalo, where would it rank vs. the teams of the early 90's? I've been pondering this a great deal over the past couple of days and I must admit I'm not entirely sure. On one hand they would be the only Bills team to do it. In theory that should earn them the title of greatest Bills team ever. But on the other hand, there's a part of me that feels like no matter what this present or future Bills teams may accomplish, I'm always going to hold those early 90's teams in the highest regard. Or perhaps some of the more "mature" fans among us, hold the AFL Championship teams above the rest? Please discuss... what say you? Best... Team... Ever...
Cotton Fitzsimmons Posted October 3, 2008 Author Posted October 3, 2008 Come on man tap your breaks for a sec. I am the biggest Bills homer you will ever meet. Great this team is not. Nat yet at least. first they have to learn to win. they are starting to do that. To beat everyone they have to have an established identity on offense. Although I see flashes they need to do it with some consistancy. Defensively I think we are one dominant strongside backer and another marcus stroud type from being elite. They are pretty good right now however. We all know about special teams. That is MHO any way GO BILLS! will be there this weekend in Arizona! It was just a topic for discussion... something to talk about in the middle of the week. Not saying they WILL win it all, but I certainly am seeing signs of the pieces coming together to make another run at it.
eball Posted October 3, 2008 Posted October 3, 2008 I actually don't think this is as stupid a topic as my first reaction told me it was (if that makes any sense). I believe to compare this team to the 1990 team, you have to go back to that time and make yourself "forget" about what would happen in the future. Let's remember, the '90 squad had their asses handed to them in Miami in Week 2 and then had to pull off a couple of "miraculous" comebacks against Denver and the Raiders to finally find their groove. In Week 5 of 1990 we still didn't "really" know what we had in this team. The key differences between 1990 and now, obviously, are that the '90 squad had been to the playoffs the previous two years so they weren't exactly a surprise team. Anyway, I think it's an interesting question. That's all.
Repulsif Posted October 3, 2008 Posted October 3, 2008 It's a good question by the OP. If the Bills win the SuperBowl this year (or next / etc), by pure logic that 08' class should be the best team ever because no other class has made it to that level. But what about the 90's team ? Really ? I'm am french, and I would do the parralel with the french soccer team. They won the world cup in 1998, and made it to the "finale" (kind of Superbowl) in 2006 with about the same players. Most of us say the 1998 class was the best french team ever. (world cup takes place every 4 years) I think the year we won we were lucky if you see the games (but the finale that was a perfection) But I'm not sure, my heart say no. Because I remind of the 1982-86 class. The Platini era. That team had a lot of stars and made twice in a row to the semi finals. I clearly remind this 82 game against Germany. Score 1-1 by the end of regulation. Then in OT we score twice (in soccer in OT the winner is decided by the end of OT, no 'just the 1st to score win it'), and then the biggest no-no in world cup history, a blatent foul no called by the ref and a french player severely injured ; all the momentum went down and Germany put 2 scores in a small span of time, and won on the penalties. Next world cup, semi final against Germany again. I think that team(class) never recovered from the 1st loss and the way it had lost. That team was clearly designed to win it all. Like the 90's Bills I would add. That feeling is strange. Just my 2 cents.
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