Anybody remember 2008?

[Cleve]

Sports writers were calling the Bills "the real deal" 4 weeks into the season then.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/64905-bills-look-for-first-5-0-start-since-glory-days-of-1991

And we all remember how the rest of that season went.

I'm cautiously optimistic about this year, but the specter of 2008 kind of haunts me.

Anyone have ideas or thoughts on why we may do better this year than 2008? JAURON being long gone, along with Deadwards and Loseman are the big differences for me, and keeps me hopeful 2011 won't degenerate into a repeat of 2008. Anything else?

[better days]

Re: Anybody remember 2008?

Sports writers were calling the Bills "the real deal" 4 weeks into the season then.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/64905-bills-look-for-first-5-0-start-since-glory-days-of-1991

And we all remember how the rest of that season went.

I'm cautiously optimistic about this year, but the specter of 2008 kind of haunts me.

Anyone have ideas or thoughts on why we may do better this year than 2008? JAURON being long gone, along with Deadwards and Loseman are the big differences for me, and keeps me hopeful 2011 won't degenerate into a repeat of 2008. Anything else?

No More Jauron with his play not to lose mentality is all I need to get over that. This is a much different Bills team with a different mentality. I think that is what makes this year different than 2008.

[BAM]

Re: Anybody remember 2008?

Let's just hope Ryan Fitzpatrick doesn't take a shot to the head and suffer a concussion.

[trapezeus]

Re: Anybody remember 2008?

"We were prepared for that play call"

that quote is said the most by the bills in the last 5 games. Chan has them in a position to win. Regardless of who is there, they seem to be a team that knows the importance of practice and study.

The other teams beat up on bad teams and they hung on to survive after fast starts.

These teams have played better for the most part in the second half vs the first half. which mean the coach is doing his thing.

This game is huge vs the giants. if they can get to 5-1 with a bye, i think that will really help them come out of the gates for teh next 3 games that are pretty much the tell of the tape on if they are going to go to the playoffs and if so, what kind of team they'll be.

[Mr. Miyagi]

Re: Anybody remember 2008?

Wins losses aside, this team is playing with heart, and a take no prisioner mentality. We know how to blow out a team, we know how to come back from way behind and not lie down, and we have shown we know how to hold off a comeback.

Jauron's team was all about holding your breath and hoping to squeeze out a win by a field goal.

[Joe Fo Sho]

Re: Anybody remember 2008?

This team would destroy the 2008 Buffalo Bills.

[better days]

Re: Anybody remember 2008?

"We were prepared for that play call"

that quote is said the most by the bills in the last 5 games. Chan has them in a position to win. Regardless of who is there, they seem to be a team that knows the importance of practice and study.

The other teams beat up on bad teams and they hung on to survive after fast starts.

These teams have played better for the most part in the second half vs the first half. which mean the coach is doing his thing.

This game is huge vs the giants. if they can get to 5-1 with a bye, i think that will really help them come out of the gates for teh next 3 games that are pretty much the tell of the tape on if they are going to go to the playoffs and if so, what kind of team they'll be.

Much of the talk in the Philly media after the last game was how the Bills were prepared to take advantage of the Eagles weaknesses.

[OpIv37]

Re: Anybody remember 2008?

To me, the 2008 Bills had a ton of flaws and managed to squeak by some bad teams. The start of that season just had this aura of waiting for when the other shoe was going to drop.

The 2011 Bills definitely have flaws, but it seems like they are compensating for them and working to overcome them. It's an aura of winning.

As a longtime Bills fan, I'm very jaded and it wouldn't surprise me to see this team collapse. It's happened before:
2002- started 5-3, finished 8-8 and out of the playoffs
2003- started 2-0, finished 5-11
2004- great late season run only to choke against Pitt's back-ups and end up one game out of the playoffs.
2008- Started 5-1, finished 6-10

So, nothing would surprise me at this point. But, it does seem like things are different and going in the right direction for once.

[Dujek]

Re: Anybody remember 2008?

The simple fact is that the Bills have beaten two teams already (Raiders, Patriots) who are legitimate playoff contenders, and another team that was meant to be one of the best teams in the league before the season started.

The only better than **** team that the Bills beat at the start of 2008 was the Chargers.

[Johnny Bugmenot]

Re: Anybody remember 2008?

Sports writers were calling the Bills "the real deal" 4 weeks into the season then.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/64905-bills-look-for-first-5-0-start-since-glory-days-of-1991

And we all remember how the rest of that season went.

I'm cautiously optimistic about this year, but the specter of 2008 kind of haunts me.

Anyone have ideas or thoughts on why we may do better this year than 2008? JAURON being long gone, along with Deadwards and Loseman are the big differences for me, and keeps me hopeful 2011 won't degenerate into a repeat of 2008. Anything else?

Quality of opponents.

Who did they beat in 08 to start 4-0 and 5-1? Seattle, Jacksonville, the Raiders, the Rams and San Diego, with a loss to Arizona. They started their season with a West Coast junket, filled with the worst teams in the NFL at the time. Then, of course, Trent had that concussion and he's never been the same. They hit a stretch of division opponents and it was all downhill from there.

Who did they beat in 11? Kansas City (bad team), Oakland (which is much improved, probably middle-of-the-pack fringe playoff contender in that division), New England (biggie), and Philadelphia (overrated). This year's interconference division is the NFC East, and while it's overrated, it's still better than anything the West Coast conjures up.

Defeating New England, as I said, was the biggie: it's the Pats' only loss this year so far. That, I believe, is the key difference between this year and years past. Only time will tell if it will hold up. So let's just hope Fitzpatrick stays healthy.

[better days]

Re: Anybody remember 2008?

Quality of opponents.

Who did they beat in 08 to start 4-0 and 5-1? Seattle, Jacksonville, the Raiders, the Rams and San Diego, with a loss to Arizona. They started their season with a West Coast junket, filled with the worst teams in the NFL at the time. Then, of course, Trent had that concussion and he's never been the same. They hit a stretch of division opponents and it was all downhill from there.

Who did they beat in 11? Kansas City (bad team), Oakland (which is much improved, probably middle-of-the-pack fringe playoff contender in that division), New England (biggie), and Philadelphia (overrated). This year's interconference division is the NFC East, and while it's overrated, it's still better than anything the West Coast conjures up.

Defeating New England, as I said, was the biggie: it's the Pats' only loss this year so far. That, I believe, is the key difference between this year and years past. Only time will tell if it will hold up. So let's just hope Fitzpatrick stays healthy.

Well, the Eagles may be overrated, but does anyone think the 2008 Bills would have beaten that team after losing to the Bengals the week before?

[imbondz]

Re: Anybody remember 2008?

Well, the Eagles may be overrated, but does anyone think the 2008 Bills would have beaten that team after losing to the Bengals the week before?

yes cuz we lost to the Cardinals then beat the Chargers back then.

[Stewie]

Re: Anybody remember 2008?

Sports writers were calling the Bills "the real deal" 4 weeks into the season then.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/64905-bills-look-for-first-5-0-start-since-glory-days-of-1991

And we all remember how the rest of that season went.

I'm cautiously optimistic about this year, but the specter of 2008 kind of haunts me.

Anyone have ideas or thoughts on why we may do better this year than 2008? JAURON being long gone, along with Deadwards and Loseman are the big differences for me, and keeps me hopeful 2011 won't degenerate into a repeat of 2008. Anything else?

Completely different team, different scheme, players, they've beaten better teams.

I don't expect us to win 13 games, but I do think we'll win 10. And I hope it's good enough to get in the playoffs.

[Oaf]

Re: Anybody remember 2008?

yes cuz we lost to the Cardinals then beat the Chargers back then.

Haha

[trapezeus]

Re: Anybody remember 2008?

bills beat a charger team that was starting the season slow and there was the power outage on the field. it was kind of just a zany game. essentially jauron's brilliant audible-less offense was finally matched by the chargers because they couldn't get their booth to call in plays. I think if they played that game without the power outage, they would have crushed the bills. they ran down the field without issue, and the bills responded in kind. which at the time was totally uncharacteristic.

I think this eagles game was a little bit more challenging. but like i said elsewhere, the bills are beating teams by being ahead of them in their game plan. if someone just comes out and does something the bills aren't prepared for, maybe they'll beat them because i don't think the bills have the overall talent to handle that defensively. Offensively, i think the bills just keep finding the matchups they want and its credited to wood for getting the protections called and fitz for seeing the right matchups.