Are the Bills really that much of a disappointment so far?

[Mr. Miyagi]

We have a 2-5 record. Who did we lose to that we realistically didn't expect to lose to?

New England twice? No.
Chicago? No.
Jets? Yes.
Detroit? Yes.

So we lost two games that we expected to win.

Yet we beat Miami on the road and Minnesota, both games we were actually expecting to lose at the beginning of the season. And we came through.

So are we that much of a disappointment thus far? I would say no. We're somewhat where we're expected to be.

Looking ahead, we are expected to beat Green Bay at home, Houston on the road, Miami at home, and Tennessee at home. If we beat all those teams and sneak in an upset or two among Indy (nah), Jacksonville (maybe), San Diego (not with our run D), Jets (possible), and Baltimore (hmmm), we could salvage the season and go .500, which would've been a step forward in most of Bills fans' books.

So give the rest of the season a chance.

[Patrick76777]

Re: Are the Bills really that much of a disappointment so far?

I think it is disappointing.


I was conned by the JP BF’s to buy into his development being the most important reason for this season.

Fine.

So in his wins, he was handcuffed in Miami and we score 16 points and won. And he plays well for a half against Minny and barely hold on for the win.

In his losses, he played well for a half in NE and had nice drives after being way down against the Jets and Lions. He also looked downright terrible against NE, Chicago and Detroit.

So, if the sole purpose of this season is the development of a QB, and that QB has regressed in weeks 5 through 7, it’s not a good thing.

Therefore, it feels like a wasted season. If JP was playing well and we were losing because we couldn’t stop the run, I’d be OK with it. Because we’d use the offseason to build up the D some more. But JP looks terrible, so now we need to find a QB and fix the D.

Bad season.

[Mr. Cynical]

Re: Are the Bills really that much of a disappointment so far?

All signs point to another losing era.

[Mr. Miyagi]

Re: Are the Bills really that much of a disappointment so far?

All signs point to another losing era.

You're Mr. Cynical. All signs always point to something bad.

[Mr. Cynical]

Re: Are the Bills really that much of a disappointment so far?

You're Mr. Cynical. All signs always point to something bad.

Not true. Signs to Cole's point to something great. Tasty wings!

[Jan Reimers]

Re: Are the Bills really that much of a disappointment so far?

I'm a little disappointed that JP - and a number of other players - haven't shown more improvement over the last three games. I think the TEAM has regressed a little after a promising four game start, but overall, I think many of us expected this kind of seven game record.

[OpIv37]

Re: Are the Bills really that much of a disappointment so far?

We have a 2-5 record. Who did we lose to that we realistically didn't expect to lose to?

New England twice? No.
Chicago? No.
Jets? Yes.
Detroit? Yes.

So we lost two games that we expected to win.

Yet we beat Miami on the road and Minnesota, both games we were actually expecting to lose at the beginning of the season. And we came through.

So are we that much of a disappointment thus far? I would say no. We're somewhat where we're expected to be.

Looking ahead, we are expected to beat Green Bay at home, Houston on the road, Miami at home, and Tennessee at home. If we beat all those teams and sneak in an upset or two among Indy (nah), Jacksonville (maybe), San Diego (not with our run D), Jets (possible), and Baltimore (hmmm), we could salvage the season and go .500, which would've been a step forward in most of Bills fans' books.

So give the rest of the season a chance.

Rebuilding means improving- no one expected us to win a lot of games (except a few homers). The scary thing: this team has gotten WORSE over the last 3 games compared to how we started. Look at the first game against NE- it was winnable aside from a few stupid mistakes. Compare that to the 28-6 debacle in the last game. It was the same team, at home instead of on the road, and they destroyed us.

What positions have gotten better? The DL has shown little if any improvement and can't generate a consistent pass rush. Clements is just as bad as he was last year, and now McGee sucks too. Spikes is hampered by injuries and age is catching up with Fletcher. Other than S, this D does not look any better than it did last year. There's some hope because of the youth on this squad, but not a whole lot of it.

On to the offense: JP has regressed over the last few games. Lee Evans looks good. Our big offseason signing on O- Royal- has had 1 big game and 1 decent game out of 7. The OL still sucks and in fact one of the guys brought in has already been benched. Price has had a few big plays but has been inconsistent- same for Josh Reed (although he does seem to have improved on the dropsies). Andre Davis is a waste of a roster spot.

ST: Not bad, but other than the kicker and punter, not nearly as dominant as last year. And they've only generated one big return in 7 games (and they've had a LOT of chances because of how teams have been scoring on us).

Conclusion: the season's half over and we've only noticibly improved at one position over last year. And it looks like we're going to have to spend the off season working on a few positions that we thought were fine (CB, for instance). Yes, this season has been a huge disappointment- not because of the record, but because of the lack of progress.

[OpIv37]

Re: Are the Bills really that much of a disappointment so far?

I'm a little disappointed that JP - and a number of other players - haven't shown more improvement over the last three games. I think the TEAM has regressed a little after a promising four game start, but overall, I think many of us expected this kind of seven game record.

that's exactly how I feel. I expected the record to be similar at this point (although I did expect a victory against the Lions), but the lack of improvement in a number of areas has me really disappointed.

Miyagi is oversimplifying by saying the season isn't disappointing based on record alone).

[Mr. Miyagi]

Re: Are the Bills really that much of a disappointment so far?

Progress is very subjective. Records speak for themselves.

By the same token, are the Bears really the best team in the league? Grossman is the next Brett Favre? Who knows, but they are 7-0 and no one can argue with that.

[OpIv37]

Re: Are the Bills really that much of a disappointment so far?

Progress is very subjective. Records speak for themselves.

By the same token, are the Bears really the best team in the league? Grossman is the next Brett Favre? Who knows, but they are 7-0 and no one can argue with that.

you are 100% wrong on this.

There are both subjective and objective measures of progress. By any objective measure and most subjective measures, JP has gotten worse, TKO has gotten worse, Terrance McGee has gotten worse, ST has gotten worse (FG's and punting excluded), etc.

You can't evaluate a rebuilidng season on record alone- even justa will agree with me on that one.

But, if you believe records speak for themselves, we were 3-4 after 7 games last year. It takes an EXTREMELY subjective measure to prove that 2-5 is better than 3-4.

[Mr. Miyagi]

Re: Are the Bills really that much of a disappointment so far?

The 3-4 last year consisted of beating an terrible Miami team (at that point of their season), a terrible Jets team, and a terrible Oakland team, after losing 4 straight mind you.

[OpIv37]

Re: Are the Bills really that much of a disappointment so far?

The 3-4 last year consisted of beating an terrible Miami team (at that point of their season), a terrible Jets team, and a terrible Oakland team, after losing 4 straight mind you.

check your stats- we LOST to that terrible Oakland team last year, just like we LOST to a terrible Detroit team this year. No progress.

And so far this year, we beat a mediocre Minnesota team and a terrible Miami team.

[Mr. Miyagi]

Re: Are the Bills really that much of a disappointment so far?

check your stats- we LOST to that terrible Oakland team last year, just like we LOST to a terrible Detroit team this year. No progress.

And so far this year, we beat a mediocre Minnesota team and a terrible Miami team.

Right. My bad. We beat that terrible Houston team instead of that terrible Oakland team.

[OpIv37]

Re: Are the Bills really that much of a disappointment so far?

Right. My bad. We beat that terrible Houston team instead of that terrible Oakland team.

it's earily similar to last year. In 05, we started off with a strong win against a Houston team that everyone expected to be good. Well, it turned out to be an illusion because Houston sucked, and we went on to get killed by a horrid Oakland team and have a bad season.

In 06, we started with two strong games- a close loss to the Pats and a road win over the Fish. Well, turns out the Fish suck and we went on to lose to a terrible Detroit team...

Anyway, this is off topic.

The point is that only one position has shown progress this year. As fans, we should be very disappointed in a season that will most likely end with double-digit loses all for the sole sake of getting better at S.

If we can continue to get better at one position a year, this team could be competitive in 12-15 seasons! WOO HOO!

[Mr. Miyagi]

Re: Are the Bills really that much of a disappointment so far?

I'm willing to take the lumps this season, to develop the young players, get a decent draft position and load up on offense like we did last draft on defense, and we'll be competitive for years to come.

I hope.