Ingtar33
09-01-2011, 08:01 PM
It’s about that time of the year again, the new football season is about to start and for 30 or so teams the season is filled with promise and opportunity. Unfortunately our Buffalo Bills are not one of those teams. To the long suffering Buffalo Bills fans we have little to look forward to this season.
the above was from my 2010 preview (which you can read here (http://www.billszone.com/fanzone/showthread.php?t=195278)) and unfortunately all of that remains as true today as it was 12 months ago. Because I'm uninspired by the team, and last years post can sum up most of my feelings about this team today i'm going to plagiarize heavily from myself in this post (all in italics is plagiarized word for word from the 2010 preview).
Like previous years (I’ve probably done one of these threads every year the board has been up) I'll give you a brief breakdown of the season as we can probably expect it to unfold.
Since the ultimate goal of every football team is winning the superbowl we should expect the Bills to at least get to the playoffs or compete for them every season. Unfortunately it's been a long time since the Bills seriously made a run at the playoffs, and even longer since they were legit superbowl threats. Unfortunately this year will not break the trend, and the lone question us Bills fans should consider is how low in next year's draft will we be. We're in for a long season fellow fans, and all I can say to make it better is we might see a ray of light by the end of it.
So what do I see when I see this year's Bills team? I see a team with an alright running game, and an average at best passing game; both of which will be strangled to death by an atrocious offensive line. I see a team that has the makings of a strong defensive line, and terrible to mediocre linebackers (with the exception of Merriman), who will at times struggle generating a passrush, and a confused and disjointed secondary. This is a team which will finish probably in the bottom 10 for defense (both yards and points, assuming of course the line doesn't carry this defense) and probably in the bottom 10 for offense as well (both yards and points).
On the bright side, Dareus and Williams give us hope that the best possition for the team won't be punter again this year.
now onto the season prediction... my methodology for my season predictions have resulted in choosing a final record within 1 win of the final season record in 16 of the last 18 years (the two exceptions being 2001 and 2010). For 3 of the last 6 years my tallies have been exactly correct. (9 out of the 18 years I've picked the final record) I only pick wins based upon a confident belief we should win. Home and away are tie breakers when I'm tepid. (note I won Shelby's 2008 Bills zone season record prediction contest, and would have won her 2009 contest had the Colts not thrown the last game of the season...)
W1 @ KC - L - 0-1
W2 vs OAK - W - 1-1
W3 vs NE - L - 0-2
W4 @ CIN - W - 2-2
W5 vs PHI - L - 2-3
W6 @ NYG - L - 2-4
W7 BYE
W8 vs WAS - L - 2-5
W9 vs NYJ - L - 2-6
W10 @ DAL - L - 2-7
W11 @ MIA - W - 3-7
W12 @ NYJ - L - 3-8
W13 vs TEN - L - 3-9
W14 @ SD - L - 3-10
W15 vs MIA - W - 4-10
W16 vs DEN - W - 5-10
W17 @ NE - L - 5-11
5-11
We'll do better this year just because the schedule is filled with too many beatable teams, and we're not "Cincinnati Bengals" bad; the turning point will be the week 8 game against the Redskins. we win that game and we might threaten 7 wins. we lose it and we'll probably be scrapping 3-5 wins out of this mess... but this will be yet another lost season, in which we'll be drafting around 8th...
the above was from my 2010 preview (which you can read here (http://www.billszone.com/fanzone/showthread.php?t=195278)) and unfortunately all of that remains as true today as it was 12 months ago. Because I'm uninspired by the team, and last years post can sum up most of my feelings about this team today i'm going to plagiarize heavily from myself in this post (all in italics is plagiarized word for word from the 2010 preview).
Like previous years (I’ve probably done one of these threads every year the board has been up) I'll give you a brief breakdown of the season as we can probably expect it to unfold.
Since the ultimate goal of every football team is winning the superbowl we should expect the Bills to at least get to the playoffs or compete for them every season. Unfortunately it's been a long time since the Bills seriously made a run at the playoffs, and even longer since they were legit superbowl threats. Unfortunately this year will not break the trend, and the lone question us Bills fans should consider is how low in next year's draft will we be. We're in for a long season fellow fans, and all I can say to make it better is we might see a ray of light by the end of it.
So what do I see when I see this year's Bills team? I see a team with an alright running game, and an average at best passing game; both of which will be strangled to death by an atrocious offensive line. I see a team that has the makings of a strong defensive line, and terrible to mediocre linebackers (with the exception of Merriman), who will at times struggle generating a passrush, and a confused and disjointed secondary. This is a team which will finish probably in the bottom 10 for defense (both yards and points, assuming of course the line doesn't carry this defense) and probably in the bottom 10 for offense as well (both yards and points).
On the bright side, Dareus and Williams give us hope that the best possition for the team won't be punter again this year.
now onto the season prediction... my methodology for my season predictions have resulted in choosing a final record within 1 win of the final season record in 16 of the last 18 years (the two exceptions being 2001 and 2010). For 3 of the last 6 years my tallies have been exactly correct. (9 out of the 18 years I've picked the final record) I only pick wins based upon a confident belief we should win. Home and away are tie breakers when I'm tepid. (note I won Shelby's 2008 Bills zone season record prediction contest, and would have won her 2009 contest had the Colts not thrown the last game of the season...)
W1 @ KC - L - 0-1
W2 vs OAK - W - 1-1
W3 vs NE - L - 0-2
W4 @ CIN - W - 2-2
W5 vs PHI - L - 2-3
W6 @ NYG - L - 2-4
W7 BYE
W8 vs WAS - L - 2-5
W9 vs NYJ - L - 2-6
W10 @ DAL - L - 2-7
W11 @ MIA - W - 3-7
W12 @ NYJ - L - 3-8
W13 vs TEN - L - 3-9
W14 @ SD - L - 3-10
W15 vs MIA - W - 4-10
W16 vs DEN - W - 5-10
W17 @ NE - L - 5-11
5-11
We'll do better this year just because the schedule is filled with too many beatable teams, and we're not "Cincinnati Bengals" bad; the turning point will be the week 8 game against the Redskins. we win that game and we might threaten 7 wins. we lose it and we'll probably be scrapping 3-5 wins out of this mess... but this will be yet another lost season, in which we'll be drafting around 8th...