In Game Rant

[jmb1099]

1) Our pass defense is atrocious
2) Our oline is horrendous
3) Those who call Fitzpatrick Fitzmagic must have seen some awful magicians growing up

That's all for now

[cpearl]

You do know this is preseason, right? Parrish is out, Merriman is out. Vanilla play calling. Settle down.

[BidsJr]

1) Our pass defense is atrocious
2) Our oline is horrendous
3) Those who call Fitzpatrick Fitzmagic must have seen some awful magicians growing up

That's all for now

Until we lose our 8th game, we are going to the Super Bowl. :refuse:

[jmb1099]

You do know this is preseason, right? Parrish is out, Merriman is out. Vanilla play calling. Settle down.
Yup. And all I see is more of the same.

[jmb1099]

And we let Willis Maghee score two touchdowns.

[Thurmal]

The year the Bills played the Skins in the Super Bowl, when they were, by far, the two best teams in the league, they went 0-9 combined in preseason.

The year Detroit went 0-16? They were undefeated in preseason.

[jmb1099]

Yup, its only preseason, just like the last 11 seasons. I'm not trying to be a wet blanket, but if you're happy with what you've seen in this game than I don't know what to tell you.

[Oaf]

I don't care whether we win or lose. Our offensive line sucks, our WRs suck (although no fault of theirs), and Fitz has been anything but consistent.

[Novacane]

You do know this is preseason, right? Parrish is out, Merriman is out. Vanilla play calling. Settle down.



Vanilla play calling has nothing to do with Fitz not being able to hit the broad side of a barn. When he's bad he's really bad.

[AB4now]

The year the Bills played the Skins in the Super Bowl, when they were, by far, the two best teams in the league, they went 0-9 combined in preseason.

The year Detroit went 0-16? They were undefeated in preseason.


very true but there are some things to take away from this
1. bell couldn't stop an old man in a hoover-round.
2. losing evans to trade has affected the pass game
3. starting defense lost its umph after the first series(granted without merriman)
4. our corners don't look like t6hey can cover much either
5. the first sign of fight out of the offense came after a bad hit to nelson
JMO tonights starting performance=:poop:

[Thurmal]

Yup, its only preseason, just like the last 11 seasons. I'm not trying to be a wet blanket, but if you're happy with what you've seen in this game than I don't know what to tell you.

I hear ya. Just playing a little devil's advocate. I have little doubt we'll be terrible, but you gotta admit that they're not running any plays that they will in the regular season, especially since we play Denver this year.

[Novacane]

Worse OT's in the league

[jmb1099]

I hear ya. Just playing a little devil's advocate. I have little doubt we'll be terrible, but you gotta admit that they're not running any plays that they will in the regular season, especially since we play Denver this year.
Agreed. But we have to execute on the plays we are running and we're not. We're in for another long year I'm afraid.

[Mr. Pink]

The year the Bills played the Skins in the Super Bowl, when they were, by far, the two best teams in the league, they went 0-9 combined in preseason.

The year Detroit went 0-16? They were undefeated in preseason.


Every year someone posts this. Every year what we see in preseason mirrors what we see in the regular season. Eventually we'll stop seeing this when people wake up and realize that this team ***** blows.

[TigerJ]

I'm listening on the radio, and it's been a tough game to listen to. I know I miss a lot of what's going on with audio only, but it sounds as if Fitz has been very inaccurate, except for the interception, when he was on the money and Easley let it bounce off his hands.

I get the argument that it's preseason and there are players missing and the play calling is bland etc. etc. ad nauseum. But the other side of the equation is Denver is executing. Both Orton and Quinn have been on target, and the running backs are exposing weakness in the Bills pass defense and finding all kinds of room underneath.

I'm hoping against hope that Tyler Thigpen figures out how to throw the ball in the thin atmosphere in the second half.

[CoolBreeze]

Torbor has been horrible. Gave up a 25 yd catch to TE, and didn't get out in time for McGahee TD. The OL playing well is Wood.

[Oaf]

Torbor is a deep reserve on most teams.

[jmb1099]

It's been hard to watch. Not giving him an excuse, but Fitz has been pummeled on nearly every play. But Quinn under pressure is completing passes. Fitz is all over the place.

[Crisis]

You do know this is preseason, right? Parrish is out, Merriman is out. Vanilla play calling. Settle down.

Yeah, Roscoe should definitely fix all this.

[Dr. Pepper]

You do know this is preseason, right? Parrish is out, Merriman is out. Vanilla play calling. Settle down.

wait...

youre using parrish being out as a reason for us not looking good?

:laughing:

[Novacane]

I forgot Parrish was out. :phew: We've got nothing to worry about.

[jmb1099]

Injuries starting to pile up and a general lack of toughness.

[Demon]

You do know this is preseason, right? Parrish is out, Merriman is out. Vanilla play calling. Settle down.

Yea... thats's it... :laughing:

[Johnny Bugmenot]

Fitzpatrick never looks good in preseason. Last year he could barely beat Brohm for the #2 spot, of all people. So it's not hopeless.

That being said, that doesn't mean we should be all Pollyanna about the situation. The line, as always it seems, stinks. I could probably just as easily walk onto the field and play better OT play than them right now.

Realism is needed here, folks.

[TrEd FTW]

"It's only preseason" doesn't fly for a team that hasn't made the playoffs since Bill Clinton was president. Sorry.

[TacklingDummy]

Parrish is a below average WR on a bad team.
He won't last the year.

[The Compromise]

The year the Bills played the Skins in the Super Bowl, when they were, by far, the two best teams in the league, they went 0-9 combined in preseason.

The year Detroit went 0-16? They were undefeated in preseason.

Yeah, but they didn't leave the entire stadium reeking like a Johnny Blue when they were finished.

[BertSquirtgum]

You do know this is preseason, right? Parrish is out, Merriman is out. Vanilla play calling. Settle down.
they still should not look like a weekend flag football team that was just thrown together. they look like absolute dog ****. andrew luck here we come. **** me

[Meathead]

pretty brutal bad tonite

thank god history shows us every year like clockwork that the only thing that matters in preseason games is injuries

funny how we learn that lesson every year yet dont ever remember it until after real game two or three lol but true

[mysticsoto]

1st series the Oline and Offense looked pretty decent. There was good blocking. Then, Denver must've gotten yelled at b'cse they became ALOT more physical and showed us up. Buffalo (on both sides) needs to get more physical. I think the defense has the ability to do so right now. Offense??? I'm not too sure...

[Extremebillsfan247]

1) Our pass defense is atrocious
2) Our oline is horrendous
3) Those who call Fitzpatrick Fitzmagic must have seen some awful magicians growing up

That's all for now 4) Receiving core is a joke. There is nothing there but slow mediocre talent. Easley couldn't catch a flu. Roosevelt can catch but is turtle slow. Donald Jones gets easily blanketed by defenders because he isn't a very skilled route runner. Parish is always getting injured so he's a non factor. What happened to David Nelson? lol another non factor but worse because he's actually getting playing time. Stevie Johnson is the only receiver on this team that is leagues above the rest of them. He looks like Megatron compared to the rest of this group. Did I miss anybody? it's because the rest of them seem to be that much more insignificant. Just saying. That's my rant.
And, you know what? I feel better.. I'll take this all back tomorrow. :laughing: Go Bills.

[Beebe's Kid]

Although it's been said multiple times, it bears repeating...it's only the preseason.

I know that it's been a rough stretch. It has been for all of us, but if they Bills looked amazing tonight, how many of the people bemoaning their play would be crying that it means nothing because it was the preseason?

Relax, you'll have plenty of time to tell everybody here what moves you would/wouldn't have made; all of which are free of the consequences of having to be accountable due to incredible hindsight. You will be able to tell everybody what you would/wouldn't have done all season long, when the games really count.

Unless I missed something in the new CBA, I don't think the preseason games count towards the record. So, save your energy, you have a long season of telling everybody how amazing of a GM/Coach/QB/WR/OL/LB/CB you would be...if only the world would hurry up and discover your gift.

XOXO,

BBK

[Syderick]

Most of the WR's can't catch (Parrish can at least catch a bit). It looks like trading Evans has hurt the team.

[BertSquirtgum]

great ****ing job trading lee evans buddy. that was absolutely brilliant. what a **** head.

[Philagape]

Although it's been said multiple times, it bears repeating...it's only the preseason.

I know that it's been a rough stretch. It has been for all of us, but if they Bills looked amazing tonight, how many of the people bemoaning their play would be crying that it means nothing because it was the preseason?

Relax, you'll have plenty of time to tell everybody here what moves you would/wouldn't have made; all of which are free of the consequences of having to be accountable due to incredible hindsight. You will be able to tell everybody what you would/wouldn't have done all season long, when the games really count.

Unless I missed something in the new CBA, I don't think the preseason games count towards the record. So, save your energy, you have a long season of telling everybody how amazing of a GM/Coach/QB/WR/OL/LB/CB you would be...if only the world would hurry up and discover your gift.

XOXO,

BBK

There's a sucker born every minute.

[sam5767]

Although it's been said multiple times, it bears repeating...it's only the preseason.

I know that it's been a rough stretch. It has been for all of us, but if they Bills looked amazing tonight, how many of the people bemoaning their play would be crying that it means nothing because it was the preseason?

Relax, you'll have plenty of time to tell everybody here what moves you would/wouldn't have made; all of which are free of the consequences of having to be accountable due to incredible hindsight. You will be able to tell everybody what you would/wouldn't have done all season long, when the games really count.

Unless I missed something in the new CBA, I don't think the preseason games count towards the record. So, save your energy, you have a long season of telling everybody how amazing of a GM/Coach/QB/WR/OL/LB/CB you would be...if only the world would hurry up and discover your gift.

XOXO,

BBK


I agree. I mean, look at last year....Edwards and Spiller both looked lights out in the pre-season...then didn't in the regular season. I don't think there is much game planning going on by Gailey...I think he is focusing more on getting a look at bubble guys to figure out who he is going to cut this week.

Yes, it appears that the O line needs help and depth....and we do need a WR that can stretch the field, but I'm not gonna get too worked up over these first 2 pre season games...

[k-oneputt]

BUT,BUT,BUT,BUT Bell and McKelvin are "diamonds in the rough".
Our scouting dept. found theses guys.
For the first time i'm starting to wonder about McKelvin. Is he another of our wasted 1st rd, picks ?
Bell is a NFL backup and on this team is the best ot.
And Fitz is nothing more then a NFL backup.

BUt, but, but, we don't need to start developing a qb. Thigpen and Brown suck too.

[Night Train]

The QB position is without quality. LT Bell looked completely lost last night. OL gets killed on the wide rush and any blitz. Better get a FB in there.

The odds of Pryor being selected Monday just increased dramatically, even though he needs tons of work. Then draft another QB and 2 OT's with your first 3 picks next April.

No Merriman = No pass rush and the pass D leaves far too many open spaces 10 yards down the field.

Lots of good young players but this team still has a way to go and without a quality QB, they'll struggle to compete against quality opponenets.

[Night Train]

Most of the WR's can't catch (Parrish can at least catch a bit). It looks like trading Evans has hurt the team.
Aiken looks good to me, after Steve Johnosn & David Nelson. Not worried about WR at all. The cuts will flush out the pretenders.

[sam5767]

The QB position is without quality. LT Bell looked completely lost last night. OL gets killed on the wide rush and any blitz. Better get a FB in there.

The odds of Pryor being selected Monday just increased dramatically, even though he needs tons of work. Then draft another QB and 2 OT's with your first 3 picks next April.

No Merriman = No pass rush and the pass D leaves far too many open spaces 10 yards down the field.

Lots of good young players but this team still has a way to go and without a quality QB, they'll struggle to compete against quality opponenets.

I wouldn't say it is without quality....maybe without star quality, but Fitzy is decent, at least he was last year. I think when Buddy and Gailey came here last year they kinda knew this was gonna take some time....yes, they took a shot with Spiller and maybe it pays off...but they added a couple of pieces of D last year with Troup and Carrington and used this years draft to address the D. I'm thinking (hoping) that the same mindset happens next year...we use the draft to address the O-line. I don't know if a franchise QB falls to us or not, but you can't expect 10 years of mismanagement to be fixed in 2 years....unless Fitzy morphs into Brady.

It doesn't bode well for people expecting a championship team this year, but the team played hard last year and Gailey showed that he can get something out of practically nothing with the offense...I mean, we make 4 or 5 more plays last year and we are 8-8....and that's with a supposedly ave QB, ave-below ave Oline and awful defense. That to me is not that far off...and I'm hoping that we take another step in the right direction...I guess we'll see.

[Figster]

Until someone steps up, my hope is Marcus Easley, opposing defenses are going to tighten the screws on Stevie Johnson and its going to become real hard throwing the Football for Ryan Fitzpatrick. My solution is a heavy dose of Fred Jackson whom at this point is a much better runner then CJ Spiller and in my opinion one of the best RB's in the League. If its not broke don't fix it,


The Bills chance of success on Offense this season rides heavily on the shoulders of veteran RB Fred Jackson...

[ChristopherWalken]

Just complete and poor execution by the entire football team with the exception of the OL which is just either poorly coached or talentless...or both.

Fitz nearly got all of his receivers laid out on a stretcher and when the pass was on target the receivers just failed to catch it.

On another note, did anyone see the interview with Gailey before the half. he was pissed!

I think the Bills need to go after Stinchcomb if he hasnt signed anywhere yet.

[jmb1099]

More rant:
Coaching. No there wasn't any game planning. One could argue that there hasn't been for the past 11 years during regular season either. But that isn't my main gripe here. My irritation is that our whole team seems lackluster and the coaching staff seems to like it that way. Case in point: the spiller run where his helmet was ripped off... He was fired up, the whole team was. What does our brilliant coaching staff do? Pull spiller off the field and run an unsuccessful pass play. What they should have done is called spillers number again and let him and the oline have a chance to set the tone for the game and maybe the season. Instead, like we always seem to do, we tucked tail. I can excuse a lot of things, but a lack of mental and physical toughness on a football team is inexcusable

[Figster]

Just complete and poor execution by the entire football team with the exception of the OL which is just either poorly coached or talentless...or both.

Fitz nearly got all of his receivers laid out on a stretcher and when the pass was on target the receivers just failed to catch it.

On another note, did anyone see the interview with Gailey before the half. he was pissed!

I think the Bills need to go after Stinchcomb if he hasnt signed anywhere yet.
Gailey takes it personally when you go after his men, something I really love about the guy. Its the type of leadership from a HC that doesn't go unnoticed by the players.

While Fitz and the starters didn't have a great outing I'm actually more confident in the Offense as a whole because of how well Thigpen and the backups rebounded from last week,

Kid can play...

[Ingtar33]

I wouldn't say it is without quality....maybe without star quality, but Fitzy is decent, at least he was last year. I think when Buddy and Gailey came here last year they kinda knew this was gonna take some time....yes, they took a shot with Spiller and maybe it pays off...but they added a couple of pieces of D last year with Troup and Carrington and used this years draft to address the D. I'm thinking (hoping) that the same mindset happens next year...we use the draft to address the O-line. I don't know if a franchise QB falls to us or not, but you can't expect 10 years of mismanagement to be fixed in 2 years....unless Fitzy morphs into Brady.

It doesn't bode well for people expecting a championship team this year, but the team played hard last year and Gailey showed that he can get something out of practically nothing with the offense...I mean, we make 4 or 5 more plays last year and we are 8-8....and that's with a supposedly ave QB, ave-below ave Oline and awful defense. That to me is not that far off...and I'm hoping that we take another step in the right direction...I guess we'll see.

delusional.

sorry i hate to say this... but EVEN the 0-16 lions could say that. The difference between a competitive team and an also ran is usually MUCH bigger then the scoreboard. Most NFL teams stop running up the score when you get to the 4th quarter... or play not to lose. this allows all sorts of scores to get closer. The Ravens nearly lost to us because they didn't even bother to gameplan for us (no kidding. do you think the Raven's allow the Steelers to do what we did to them on their home turf? I don't think so either), the Steelers almost lost to us because they really never got off the plane (they still beat us sleepwalking btw)... so on and so forth.

i can get having hope in the future but this is what we've got.

OL
No starting quality NFL OTs.
1 (possibly) starting Quality guard
1 starting quality center, 1 bellow average starting center
=3 starting quality players on the OL, split unevenly between 2 of the 5 line positions on the whole roster

WR/TE
1 starting quality WR with just 1 season of erratic starter level play to his resume
No starting quality or probably even practice squad quality TEs
=1 starting quality player

RB
1 middle of the road starting NFL running back
1 bellow average scat back
=1 starting quality player

QB
1 NFL backup
Zero NFL quality starting QBs
=0 starting quality players

DL
1 Probowler
1 Probable NFL Quality to Very Good rookie DE
=2 starting quality players

LB
1 starting OLB (possibly probowl level)
=1 starting players

DB
1 starting nfl tampa 2 CB
2 NFL Starting quality tampa 2 Safeties
=3 starting players, all playing the wrong system

k/p
2 nfl starting quality to elite kicker/punters


Overall out of 22 starting positions on the field we are sporting 10 NFL starters, more then half of which are either playing out of position (in the wrong scheme) or are unproven on decline or erratic. This team's overall talent isn't getting better with Nix/Gailey, if anything it's getting worse.

[sam5767]

delusional.

sorry i hate to say this... but EVEN the 0-16 lions could say that. The difference between a competitive team and an also ran is usually MUCH bigger then the scoreboard. Most NFL teams stop running up the score when you get to the 4th quarter... or play not to lose. this allows all sorts of scores to get closer. The Ravens nearly lost to us because they didn't even bother to gameplan for us (no kidding. do you think the Raven's allow the Steelers to do what we did to them on their home turf? I don't think so either), the Steelers almost lost to us because they really never got off the plane (they still beat us sleepwalking btw)... so on and so forth.

i can get having hope in the future but this is what we've got.

OL
No starting quality NFL OTs.
1 (possibly) starting Quality guard
1 starting quality center, 1 bellow average starting center
=3 starting quality players on the OL, split unevenly between 2 of the 5 line positions on the whole roster

WR/TE
1 starting quality WR with just 1 season of erratic starter level play to his resume
No starting quality or probably even practice squad quality TEs
=1 starting quality player

RB
1 middle of the road starting NFL running back
1 bellow average scat back
=1 starting quality player

QB
1 NFL backup
Zero NFL quality starting QBs
=0 starting quality players

DL
1 Probowler
1 Probable NFL Quality to Very Good rookie DE
=2 starting quality players

LB
1 starting OLB (possibly probowl level)
=1 starting players

DB
1 starting nfl tampa 2 CB
2 NFL Starting quality tampa 2 Safeties
=3 starting players, all playing the wrong system

k/p
2 nfl starting quality to elite kicker/punters


Overall out of 22 starting positions on the field we are sporting 10 NFL starters, more then half of which are either playing out of position (in the wrong scheme) or are unproven on decline or erratic. This team's overall talent isn't getting better with Nix/Gailey, if anything it's getting worse.

Delusional? I said we were several plays from 8-8...how is that delusional? We came back on the road against Ravens....the Ravens nearly lost to us because we hung in there and got the momentum in the 4th quarter....at the end of that game, we had 2 opportunities (one at end of reg, one in ot) to win that game...are you saying the Ravens let us catch up and get back in the game? I don't recall that being the case...

The Chiefs were also a playoff team...and that too was on the road...and we were 1 play from winning that....the 1st pats game, we hung with them the entire game....the Steelers game too....and the Bears....none of these games were the other team getting ahuge lead and us making it appear close at the end. These were games thatc were tight beggining to end, against playoff teams. Why is it when we actually do something decent, the nay sayers always dismiss it as luck or the other team wasn't trying....?

I agree with your assesment of the OL, but the rest seems kinda pessimistic. The WR is tough to guage because many of the pieces are unknown...how do we know if they are or are not staring quality? At this time last year, did you think Stevie was going to be a 1000k 10 td WR? And you say Fitzy is a backup, but he threw 23 TD's in 13 games...behind a subpar O line...the defense reamins to be seen, but if Dareus and Merriman live up to expectations they will help make the rest of the unit better. Do you think the D will be better or worse this year? I'm thinking it will be better...

Like I said...we still have areas that need upgrading...if you want to call me an optomist, fine. But I don't think anything I said was delusional...

[Figster]

delusional.

sorry i hate to say this... but EVEN the 0-16 lions could say that. The difference between a competitive team and an also ran is usually MUCH bigger then the scoreboard. Most NFL teams stop running up the score when you get to the 4th quarter... or play not to lose. this allows all sorts of scores to get closer. The Ravens nearly lost to us because they didn't even bother to gameplan for us (no kidding. do you think the Raven's allow the Steelers to do what we did to them on their home turf? I don't think so either), the Steelers almost lost to us because they really never got off the plane (they still beat us sleepwalking btw)... so on and so forth.

i can get having hope in the future but this is what we've got.

OL
No starting quality NFL OTs.
1 (possibly) starting Quality guard
1 starting quality center, 1 bellow average starting center
=3 starting quality players on the OL, split unevenly between 2 of the 5 line positions on the whole roster

WR/TE
1 starting quality WR with just 1 season of erratic starter level play to his resume
No starting quality or probably even practice squad quality TEs
=1 starting quality player

RB
1 middle of the road starting NFL running back
1 bellow average scat back
=1 starting quality player

QB
1 NFL backup
Zero NFL quality starting QBs
=0 starting quality players

DL
1 Probowler
1 Probable NFL Quality to Very Good rookie DE
=2 starting quality players

LB
1 starting OLB (possibly probowl level)
=1 starting players

DB
1 starting nfl tampa 2 CB
2 NFL Starting quality tampa 2 Safeties
=3 starting players, all playing the wrong system

k/p
2 nfl starting quality to elite kicker/punters


Overall out of 22 starting positions on the field we are sporting 10 NFL starters, more then half of which are either playing out of position (in the wrong scheme) or are unproven on decline or erratic. This team's overall talent isn't getting better with Nix/Gailey, if anything it's getting worse.


The reality is this Buffalo Bills football team is a work in progress,no doubt about it, and a lot of unknown, unproven players will have to step it up for the Bills to have any chance at all of reaching the playoffs.

Thats right, I said it, playoffs :air:

[Ingtar33]

The Chiefs were also a playoff team...

they were as much a playoff team as the Seahawks were, or the Bengals the year before. A mediocre to poor team that got a very nice schedule and some lucky breaks due to injuries in it's division (or in the chiefs/seahawks case, just a crappy division, someone had to win it), and some VERY lucky breaks in a few key games.

as to the rest of your point. I'm not being pessimistic about the talent level on this squad. Barnett, is a solid no.2 guy if you hide him behind a no.1 ilb, he's not the guy you want "anchoring" the heart of your defense. Torbor is a mess, Kelsey has no business on the field, and i'll be kind and assume the Merriman we got vs Chicago is "lights out" returned to form and say, yes. we have exactly 1 starting quality LBer on this team, and 1 journeyman ILB, the rest probably wouldn't make a roster of a solid football team. Furthermore, these last two preseason games have convinced me we'll REALLY miss Whitner, i know he's a safety, but his support vs the run covered up a lot of the problems our LB corps had.

The DL is improved just by adding Darius, because it means Williams isn't the only lineman on the field who deserves to be on the field. That unit will probably be improved; the only position on the field offense or defense i feel confident enough to say this about btw.

The DBs look worse then they did last year. i'm not going type 1000 pages to detail why... but the short of it is we're asking tampa 2 zone DBs to play a lot of physical man coverage or vanilla zone without underneath lber help (because the lbers aren't good enough to play even a basic zone and help out) or a consistent passrush and it's not working.

The WRs are junk after Johnson. i know you have "hope" but they're poor rout runners, slow, or have poor hands. and for your information i liked Johnson when he was drafted, and never really got down on his potential.

I'm not underestimating Fitzpatrick... though a lot of people on this board clearly are overestimating him. He has a lot you like in a starting QB, except accuracy. He's a journeyman backup QB on most other teams. Because we lack even that much at the QB position he's starting.

[Dozerdog]

Here we come, Andrew Luck!

[Syderick]

Here we come, Andrew Luck!

We'd have no OL to protect him.