Mike Lombardi predicts Buffalo in the playoffs

[Ickybaluky]

The Bills bandwagon is taking on new people, and Lombardi chimes in on SI.com:

The Bills are a team I love. They have a talented core of young players. They have a very good defensive line with DE Aaron Schobel and offseason acquisition Marcus Stroud at DT. They have a bright young quarterback in Trent Edwards, who is surrounded by some of the best skills players in the NFL with wide receivers Roscoe Parrish and Lee Evans and running back Marshawn Lynch. This is a potentially dynamic offense -- as they learn how to play the game, they will improve and become very tough to slow down. They should score points in bunches.

Their special team units, covering and returning kicks, are in the top five in the NFL. Very few teams can match their talent in the kicking game and they can control field position with these units. Parrish is dynamic with the ball in his hands on punt returns and Terrence McGee as the kickoff returner assures the Bills great field position every time he touches the ball.

They do have a favorable schedule, playing the AFC West and the NFC West this year. Last year, the Bills were 7-6 heading into the final three weeks of the season, but could not close out with any wins. They also had two home games clearly within reach that they let slip away -- the opener against the Broncos and then against the Cowboys. Add those two wins and they would have been 9-4 with three weeks to play. So, with a few breaks -- or maybe a few less breaks than a year ago (the Bills led the league in IR players last year) -- expect the Bills to be a very tough team this season.

[The Answer]

Re: Mike Lombardi predicts Buffalo in the playoffs

I must admit that I'm truly amazed at the level of hype this team this offseason. There are very few 'experts' out there that think we are going to be a sub .500 team again.

All this media attention also magnifies the impact that Trent has had since arriving in Buffalo - is it september yet?



~The Answer

[Mitchy moo]

Re: Mike Lombardi predicts Buffalo in the playoffs

[hydro]

Re: Mike Lombardi predicts Buffalo in the playoffs

I guess all these people giving us praise nullifies the comments from FTP saying that only Bills fans believe they are a good team.

[PECKERWOOD]

Re: Mike Lombardi predicts Buffalo in the playoffs

I really like Mike Lombardi, everytime I hear the guy talk he says good things about the Bills, he has been on the bandwagon for awhile now.

[justasportsfan]

Re: Mike Lombardi predicts Buffalo in the playoffs

This is a potentially dynamic offense --

here's to hoping the potential becomes a reality.

[OpIv37]

Re: Mike Lombardi predicts Buffalo in the playoffs

Right off the bat, he overrates Schobel and Parrish. Parrish is a great skills player but his size limits the team's ability to put the ball in his hand and Schobel- well, I think that's been discussed ad nauseum on this board.

Then, he overrates the effects of the injuries. NONE of the key injuries last year were on the offensive side of the ball, and the only addition to the #30 offense in the NFL is a rookie WR. He even admits that the offense has a lot of "potential", which is just a fancy way of saying they haven't done anything yet. And he fails to discuss that player improvement was supposed to fix the D last year and it got us a #31 overall ranking.

All of these national media types predicting the playoffs for the Bills are giving the offense way too much credit.

And finally, he failed to mention that Jauron is still our head coach. Jauron is similar to God- he does great things for six days then takes Sunday off.

On a related note, every time a national media outlet says something negative about the Bills, there are a million posts about how the national media doesn't pay enough attention to the team and doesn't know what they're talking about. But every time someone in the national media says something good about the Bills, suddenly it's credible. We can't have it both ways.

[Mitchy moo]

Re: Mike Lombardi predicts Buffalo in the playoffs

Right off the bat, he overrates Schobel and Parrish. Parrish is a great skills player but his size limits the team's ability to put the ball in his hand and Schobel- well, I think that's been discussed ad nauseum on this board.

Then, he overrates the effects of the injuries. NONE of the key injuries last year were on the offensive side of the ball, and the only addition to the #30 offense in the NFL is a rookie WR. He even admits that the offense has a lot of "potential", which is just a fancy way of saying they haven't done anything yet. And he fails to discuss that player improvement was supposed to fix the D last year and it got us a #31 overall ranking.

All of these national media types predicting the playoffs for the Bills are giving the offense way too much credit.

And finally, he failed to mention that Jauron is still our head coach. Jauron is similar to God- he does great things for six days then takes Sunday off.

On a related note, every time a national media outlet says something negative about the Bills, there are a million posts about how the national media doesn't pay enough attention to the team and doesn't know what they're talking about. But every time someone in the national media says something good about the Bills, suddenly it's credible. We can't have it both ways.

There is only one way I want, the Bills winning alot of games and being respectable in the one's they lose. I don't mind losing some, I just don't like losing ugly.

[justasportsfan]

Re: Mike Lombardi predicts Buffalo in the playoffs

On a related note, every time a national media outlet says something negative about the Bills, there are a million posts about how the national media doesn't pay enough attention to the team and doesn't know what they're talking about. But every time someone in the national media says something good about the Bills, suddenly it's credible. We can't have it both ways.

like the way you are so quick to dump on anything positive?

[OpIv37]

Re: Mike Lombardi predicts Buffalo in the playoffs

like the way you are so quick to dump on anything positive?

correction- I'm dumping on something that's unrealistic.

This guy just conveniently didn't mention a whole bunch of things that don't support his assertion that the Bills will be good. It almost seems like he started with the conclusion and worked backwards to find things that would support it rather than looking at all the available information and then coming to a conclusion.

[justasportsfan]

Re: Mike Lombardi predicts Buffalo in the playoffs

correction- I'm dumping on something that's unrealistic.

This guy just conveniently didn't mention a whole bunch of things that don't support his assertion that the Bills will be good. It almost seems like he started with the conclusion and worked backwards to find things that would support it rather than looking at all the available information and then coming to a conclusion.

I agree. Every fan loves to hear something positive about the team. You're the only one who gets pissed about it. Well wys was another and Gr8slayer is cathcing up to you.

Unrealistic, not everything is unrealistic. When people said the D would be better afterplaying 1 year together , you posts pages blasting it. In the end, the D was better and would've been even better if it weren't for the injuries.

[OpIv37]

Re: Mike Lombardi predicts Buffalo in the playoffs

I agree. Every fan loves to hear something positive about the team. You're the only one who gets pissed about it. Well wys was another and Gr8slayer is cathcing up to you.

Unrealistic, not everything is unrealistic. When people said the D would be better afterplaying 1 year together , you posts pages blasting it. In the end, the D was better and would've been even better if it weren't for the injuries.

I strongly believe that the negatives outweigh the positives for this team, and when someone states the positives while ignoring the negatives, all it does is create false hope and unrealistic expectations.

I disagree with this guy, and I'm simply stating my disagreement.

If I truly felt that the positives outweighed the negatives for this team and someone wrote an article ignoring all the positives, I'd do the same thing.

And btw, the D was better in some ways and worse in others- we gave up more overall yards and more passing yards in 07 than in 06, but less running yards. So, people are overrating that "1 year of playing together" stuff.

[justasportsfan]

Re: Mike Lombardi predicts Buffalo in the playoffs

I strongly believe that the negatives outweigh the positives for this team, and when someone states the positives while ignoring the negatives, all it does is create false hope and unrealistic expectations.

I disagree with this guy, and I'm simply stating my disagreement.

If I truly felt that the positives outweighed the negatives for this team and someone wrote an article ignoring all the positives, I'd do the same thing.

And btw, the D was better in some ways and worse in others- we gave up more overall yards and more passing yards in 07 than in 06, but less running yards. So, people are overrating that "1 year of playing together" stuff.

I like the potential this team brings forth but PArrish was not what I had in mind. Maybe in the punt return.

[OpIv37]

Re: Mike Lombardi predicts Buffalo in the playoffs

I like the potential this team brings forth but PArrish was not what I had in mind. Maybe in the punt return.

I definitely agree with that. Parrish is fast and shifty as hell but he can't break tackles and his size makes it difficult to put the ball in his hands. He's a nice change of pace but doesn't work as an every-down receiver.

[patmoran2006]

Re: Mike Lombardi predicts Buffalo in the playoffs

lol.
OP the downer.