Just another mediocre Bills team....

[OpIv37]

if you remember last year, one of the Bills' problems was that they couldn't beat teams with winning records. 5 of our 7 wins game against 3 teams that combined for 11 wins (Jets, Dolphins, Ravens), and we only beat one team with a winning record/playoff team (Redskins, and it took the trauma of a player's death the week before to barely skate by). We thrived against the bottom half of the NFL and struggled heavily against the top half.

But this year's team is better, right? Not exactly.

So far, we've lost to every team we've played with a .500 or better record (Arizona, Jets, Dolphins). The 3 teams that beat us have a combined 14-10 record, which isn't anything spectacular. The 5 teams we've beaten have a combined 12-28 record, which is terrible.

Just as in past years, the Bills are thriving against the dregs of the league and struggling against any team that''s average or better. The only thing going in the Bills favor is the schedule. We play a lot more losing teams this year than we did last year. Yet, the mediocrity is still frustrating.

[raphael120]

I said it before and I'll say it again...same ol' Bills...and we keep getting tricked into caring every year and being optimistic every year. It's like being with a chic, she cheats on you, then you get back together with her after she says she'd never do it again, then things seem cool, then she cheats on you AGAIN...and youre stupid enough to take her back yet again...

I feel like every year is a barrage of kicks in the junk.

[trapezeus]

i think if this team cleans up the turnovers, we're back to being a decent team.

You have to remember that we are a mediocre team losing when we turn over the ball. when we don't we win games.

I agree, we aren't exactly waxing the worst teams, so the confidence is lower, but i believe we are at the beginning of a stabilization for the team. i'm not making excuses, i want to see them win, but this isn't a situation where we need to overhaul everything. we clean up the turnovers and i think we'll see some different results.

[patmoran2006]

i think if this team cleans up the turnovers, we're back to being a decent team.

You have to remember that we are a mediocre team losing when we turn over the ball. when we don't we win games.

I agree, we aren't exactly waxing the worst teams, so the confidence is lower, but i believe we are at the beginning of a stabilization for the team. i'm not making excuses, i want to see them win, but this isn't a situation where we need to overhaul everything. we clean up the turnovers and i think we'll see some different results.
If we cleaned up our turnovers, we'd probably be 7-1 right now. Thats the only thing that stopped us from winning against Miami and the Jets, IMO.

Even if we get smacked at NE by 40 points, we're far from out of it. At 5-4 we still have a slew of games we'll be favored in. This season is far from over. We may be a mediocre team, but we'll be a mediocre team that makes the playoffs if we dont collapse.

[Nighthawk]

This team is not going to make any substantial leaps forward until Jauron is gone. In Chicago he left and they became a better team. The talent was there, but the coaching wasn't and Lovie Smith was able to move the team to the next level. Jauron will always keep the team around 8-8, but he just doesn't seem to have "it" when it comes to motivating these guys to achieve higher standards.

[Ebenezer]

The league is mediocre.

[raphael120]

The league is mediocre.

While I'd like to agree with you, I just can't. I think we're the worst 5-3 team out there. Look at all the "mediocrity" in the NFC East. They're some powerhouse teams in that division that have to play some tough opponents every week. We all have to realize that while the rest of our schedule after NE looks like a cakewalk, everyone else in our division has a similarly cakewalk type of schedule...I honestly believe we lose this game, our season is done. We can't just keep losing until we play a crap team and then start to win, we need to do a lot more than knock off horrible teams. To get to the playoffs you have to beat the playoff calibre teams, and we've been losing to them (Jets, AZ, Miami..)

[Oaf]

I still hold wins at Jags and home at SD as quality wins, sorry. I would also say that both Miami and NJ were coin toss games. If we did those again, we'd win either or both.

[Borosai]

Losing these past two games has been tough, especially since it brings to mind the fact that this organization has settled for mediocrity for so many years. But that's not my biggest concern. 5-3 isn't bad at this point, and losing the first two divisional games isn't a season-ending streak.

However, not improving -- at all -- since the start of the season is what concerns me. It's as if the level-headed, not-too-high-not-too-low approach trickles down through the team, and just staying in the same place is good enough. Maybe that works emotionally, but it doesn't work on the field.

I'm not too familiar with how Jauron is with his players, but does he hold them accountable at all, or is he a "player's coach"?

[TacklingDummy]

The league is mediocre.

The AFC is.

[psubills62]

If we cleaned up our turnovers, we'd probably be 7-1 right now. Thats the only thing that stopped us from winning against Miami and the Jets, IMO.

Even if we get smacked at NE by 40 points, we're far from out of it. At 5-4 we still have a slew of games we'll be favored in. This season is far from over. We may be a mediocre team, but we'll be a mediocre team that makes the playoffs if we dont collapse.

Bingo. This is nowhere near the same old Bills. If the Bills of last year had played the way they did the last two games, they would have gotten crushed by WAY more than 9 points. I'm impressed with how well the offense ended up doing against the Jets, especially with only 30 yards rushing. When was the last time our team went 61% on third downs, and without a running game much less?

[OpIv37]

The league is mediocre.

if the league is so mediocre, explain why the Bills can't beat anyone with a winning record.