jonramz Posted July 23, 2009 Posted July 23, 2009 Just taking a look at some old stats about that team... http://footballoutsiders.com/stats/teameff2004 Football outsiders had them as the 3rd best team in the league w/ 11.8 estimated wins. http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/buf/2004.htm 7th in the league in scoring, 8th in the league in scoring defense, 6th in point differential, +10 turnover ratio and 4 losses of 5 points or less... Probably our best team since the 1999 team, so it seems like every 5 years we have a good team... which leads us to 2009
jax bill backer Posted July 23, 2009 Posted July 23, 2009 this is actualy a great observation...thanks
RuffMuff Posted July 23, 2009 Posted July 23, 2009 Mularkey screwed us, he wasnt even around long enough to feel the wrath of a true Bills fans... See Skeletor comments....or ask G. Williams. Good points though - they did lose some close ones and any year sweeping the Fish is a +. Malarkey was a spinless weasel. Long live Skeletor!
GOBILLS78 Posted July 23, 2009 Posted July 23, 2009 Almost felt like the old days in the second half of that season when they were really rolling. Loved beating the piss out of the Seahawks. And Jason Peters' touchdown on the punt block in Cincinnati. Sacking Cleveland seven times and holding them to 29 yards on the ground. That was one of the worst offensive performances I have ever seen first-hand. Good stuff.
Phlegm Alley Posted July 23, 2009 Posted July 23, 2009 Knock the ball down, Nate! Jimmy Smith. 4th and long. Under 2 minutes remaining. Home opener.
VJ91 Posted July 23, 2009 Posted July 23, 2009 Jimmy Smith. 4th and long. Under 2 minutes remaining. Home opener. Get over that hail mary by Leftwich in week one already. When it really counted, late in the season, the Bills came home off a 6 game winning streak. Six straight wins leading up to week 17....(poor DJ would probably have a heart attack if his Buffalo Bills could end a season like that) Last home game of the season, against the Steelers who had everything sewn up and were only playing a choice few starters. We had no way of knowing until late that night, but with a win over that less then full strength Steelers team would have put the Bills in the playoffs....even though Nate didn't knock the ball down in week one. What happened? Of course Bledsoe played like a frieghtened rookie, the defense could not stop third string Wille Parker running behind 2nd and 3rd string blockers, and the Bills lost the damn game that Cowher was trying to hand them. The fact that Parker ending up being a premier running back the next couple years did not make me feel any better. He was the 3rd stringer for that game, and the Bills "great" defense sucked when it needed to be at it's best. Sorry, but I had to remind the 2004 fans that the season was worse then they think. And the way they fell apart in 2005, dumping Bledsoe and starting Lost-man finishing 5-11-0, was a more fitting season then the "fake" success of '04.
Turn Down For Watkins Posted July 23, 2009 Posted July 23, 2009 Just taking a look at some old stats about that team... http://footballoutsiders.com/stats/teameff2004 Football outsiders had them as the 3rd best team in the league w/ 11.8 estimated wins. http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/buf/2004.htm 7th in the league in scoring, 8th in the league in scoring defense, 6th in point differential, +10 turnover ratio and 4 losses of 5 points or less... Probably our best team since the 1999 team, so it seems like every 5 years we have a good team... which leads us to 2009 I was comparing that team to our team this year and their are alot of similarities. Here's the breakdown. QB's- Even RB- Were better this year Wr's- Very similar 2 WR tandem this year compared to 2004, Even Offense- Potential to be better Defense- Potential to be even, That's unlikely though Coaching- Mularky isn't great but Jaruon isn't either, I'll say Even. I'd certainly take a 9-7 record with our schedule this year
The Big Cat Posted July 23, 2009 Posted July 23, 2009 Well, there wasn't much in the ways of prestige for the NFC West in 2004, just like it cushioned 3 wins for us in 2008.
San Jose Bills Fan Posted July 23, 2009 Posted July 23, 2009 Week 17 against Pittsburgh. They had clinched a playoff spot and played many reserves. We were in a "win and in" situation. The score was closer than the actual game. We got our butts kicked.
C.Biscuit97 Posted July 23, 2009 Posted July 23, 2009 Mike Mularkey is a lot better coach than a lot of people gave he credit for. Losman killed him here, as he killed Jauron's first 2 seasons.
ganesh Posted July 23, 2009 Posted July 23, 2009 Get over that hail mary by Leftwich in week one already. When it really counted, late in the season, the Bills came home off a 6 game winning streak. Six straight wins leading up to week 17....(poor DJ would probably have a heart attack if his Buffalo Bills could end a season like that) Last home game of the season, against the Steelers who had everything sewn up and were only playing a choice few starters. We had no way of knowing until late that night, but with a win over that less then full strength Steelers team would have put the Bills in the playoffs....even though Nate didn't knock the ball down in week one. What happened? Of course Bledsoe played like a frieghtened rookie, the defense could not stop third string Wille Parker running behind 2nd and 3rd string blockers, and the Bills lost the damn game that Cowher was trying to hand them. The fact that Parker ending up being a premier running back the next couple years did not make me feel any better. He was the 3rd stringer for that game, and the Bills "great" defense sucked when it needed to be at it's best. Sorry, but I had to remind the 2004 fans that the season was worse then they think. And the way they fell apart in 2005, dumping Bledsoe and starting Lost-man finishing 5-11-0, was a more fitting season then the "fake" success of '04. Lot of revisonist history here..... Cowher wanted desparately to beat the Bills and show that he was better than TD. The Steelers used their 1st string OL for the first 3 qtrs of the season. Willie Parker and James Harrison were awesome gems in the dirt that showed their flashes of brilliance when given the chance. It is not a surprise that the two players have gone on to have an exteremely good careers in the 4 seasons. Willie was too fast for Takeo Spikes....spikes and bledsoe just could not get the intensity up...The D could not stop a 4th and 3 call late in the 4th qtr when the Bills were sitll within reach of the steelers...Sad day
Buftex Posted July 23, 2009 Posted July 23, 2009 Mike Mularkey is a lot better coach than a lot of people gave he credit for. Losman killed him here, as he killed Jauron's first 2 seasons. I can't say that I blame Mularkey for leaving (the front office was in a complete mess), but I would have liked to see him stick around another season. He had his problems (name me a post-Levy coach who hasn't), but I think he was a pretty good coach too. I can tell you, he was very liked by his players, and there were many tears shed in the Bills offices when he quit. I think he and Marv would have worked well together. Given what he has done with the Falcons offense, I won't be shocked to see him get another chance somewhere down the road. btw- if you ever got Mularkey to talk about his tumultuous final season in Buffalo, he would tell you he was not in favor of dumping Bledsoe, without another experienced, starting NFL QB to take his place... he knew JP wasn't ready to start...
Chandler#81 Posted July 23, 2009 Posted July 23, 2009 Well, there wasn't much in the ways of prestige for the NFC West in 2004, just like it cushioned 3 wins for us in 2008. 2, actually. StL, Sea= W's, Ari, SF= L's. More to the point of the OP, IMO, just 2 wins vs the Division last year would likely have gotten us in playoffs. For sure, if Lindell makes the kick vs. Cleveland. We're close.
Buftex Posted July 23, 2009 Posted July 23, 2009 Get over that hail mary by Leftwich in week one already. When it really counted, late in the season, the Bills came home off a 6 game winning streak. Six straight wins leading up to week 17....(poor DJ would probably have a heart attack if his Buffalo Bills could end a season like that) Last home game of the season, against the Steelers who had everything sewn up and were only playing a choice few starters. We had no way of knowing until late that night, but with a win over that less then full strength Steelers team would have put the Bills in the playoffs....even though Nate didn't knock the ball down in week one. What happened? Of course Bledsoe played like a frieghtened rookie, the defense could not stop third string Wille Parker running behind 2nd and 3rd string blockers, and the Bills lost the damn game that Cowher was trying to hand them. The fact that Parker ending up being a premier running back the next couple years did not make me feel any better. He was the 3rd stringer for that game, and the Bills "great" defense sucked when it needed to be at it's best. Sorry, but I had to remind the 2004 fans that the season was worse then they think. And the way they fell apart in 2005, dumping Bledsoe and starting Lost-man finishing 5-11-0, was a more fitting season then the "fake" success of '04. Call it "fake" if you like, but the Bills, that year, did something they haven't been able to do most of the last decade, which is beat bad football teams on a regular basis. If they could do that every year, they wouldn't have such a piss poor record over the last 10 years.
Chandler#81 Posted July 23, 2009 Posted July 23, 2009 Call it "fake" if you like, but the Bills, that year, did something they haven't been able to do most of the last decade, which is beat bad football teams on a regular basis. If they could do that every year, they wouldn't have such a piss poor record over the last 10 years. 'Zactly!
Bad Lieutenant Posted July 23, 2009 Posted July 23, 2009 Week 17 against Pittsburgh. They had clinched a playoff spot and played many reserves. We were in a "win and in" situation. The score was closer than the actual game. We got our butts kicked. That game was maddening. In retrospect it's not quite as bad now considering the careers that Willie Parker and James Harrison have enjoyed but Brian St Pierre? Seriously?
Bufcomments Posted July 23, 2009 Posted July 23, 2009 Mike Mularkey is a lot better coach than a lot of people gave he credit for. Losman killed him here, as he killed Jauron's first 2 seasons. Did anyone find out the REAL reason he just up and quit?? I thought he did a decent job with the talent he had. The Seattle game that year was well called. The Steelers game Bledsoe didnt not get the job done, and the Bills were right in getting rid of him. But the Defense sucked that game, although we know know that Willie Parker was the real deal and he happened to have his breakout game against us.
Bad Lieutenant Posted July 23, 2009 Posted July 23, 2009 Did anyone find out the REAL reason he just up and quit?? Completely unverified rumor that I have no idea where I heard it from- his kids were taking alot of crap at school.
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