When was the single point the wheels fell off this season??

[Skooby]

I'll go with the Fitz's under throw, what's yours?

[Mr. Pink]

Re: When was the single point the wheels fell off this season??

I'll go with the Fitz's under throw, what's yours?

Same play...I'll go with the playcall portion of it.

It's been a microcosm of the problem with the offense on the year, we simply do not run the football enough.

[DesertFox24]

Re: When was the single point the wheels fell off this season??

Look we are still tied for second in the afc east and one game behind the leader.

I am not saying we are making the playoffs because we are not, but this is a long season and it is clear we have a bunch of holes.

We need OLBs, and WR that can stretch the field.

[Ginger Vitis]

Re: When was the single point the wheels fell off this season??

Last week in the 3rd quarter on 4th and inches when they didn't qb sneak it and got stopped short of getting the 1st down

[YardRat]

Re: When was the single point the wheels fell off this season??

Retaining George Edwards as DC.

[Michael82]

Re: When was the single point the wheels fell off this season??

When the Bills chose to give Ryan Fitzpatrick a crazy new contract before seeing how he can do with a full season as starter.

[Mahdi]

Re: When was the single point the wheels fell off this season??

Injuries to Bell and Merriman.

People don't realize the experience Merriman brought to our defense and he was coming on as a pass rusher again before getting injured.

Bell forced Levitre outside which weakened two spots, which is even worse for a spread offense that relies on 5 man protections.

Another big injury was the injury to Aaron Williams and Kyle Williams which was devastating to our DL.

This team was not good enough to overcome all that.

[BillsFever21]

Re: When was the single point the wheels fell off this season??

Injuries to Bell and Merriman.

People don't realize the experience Merriman brought to our defense and he was coming on as a pass rusher again before getting injured.

Bell forced Levitre outside which weakened two spots, which is even worse for a spread offense that relies on 5 man protections.

Another big injury was the injury to Aaron Williams and Kyle Williams which was devastating to our DL.

This team was not good enough to overcome all that.

Every team has injuries throughout the season to their starters. That is a losers team excuse for not winning.

In a perfect league no starters on any team would get injured but that's not the case. Every team goes through them at some point. You have to overcome them and plan for them by having depth that can step in and not implode the progress.

I think just about every season there are people who say if this guy or that guy didn't get hurt we may have won more games or made the playoffs. It's the NFL and it happens. Good teams with good coaching overcome them.

[ServoBillieves]

Re: When was the single point the wheels fell off this season??

Losing K. Williams, A. Williams, Hairston, Bell, Merriman, Parrish, and Kelsay to injuries.

McGee is decent, McFumbles is awful this year, Florence is a ghost, Byrd and Wilson are great, and that's why no one is throwing their way.

Our NT is out, our best DE had to move inside, we're moving ex-DE's to OLB, and we have no corners. It honestly looked like we had 7 players dressed for defense today. Pathetic.

[djjimkelly]

Re: When was the single point the wheels fell off this season??

the play chris hairston got hurt

[BillsFever21]

Re: When was the single point the wheels fell off this season??

I don't believe there was any single point where the wheels starting falling off. You can't just look at one play of a game and say that was the turning point for the rest of the season.

We played a KC team who clearly wasn't ready to play week one and anybody probably would've beat them that week. The following two weeks we played an extraordinary 2nd half in each game and had a couple miracle comeback wins but it wasn't sustainable.

The team started to show it's colors after that. We blew a 14 point lead to the Bengals and we didn't look the same on offense. After that the Eagles fumbled and turned the ball over so much partly because of their own fault and even after getting out to a 21 point lead it took another fumble late in the game just to hold on to the win.

After that we played a tough game against the Giants but couldn't make the plays to pull out a win like we did the other wins which resulted in a loss. You could see the team reverting back to themselves as an average team after that span.

Then we beat up on a Redskin team that was in the dumps and still is. After that we played a real team who was playing good in the Jets and it's been totally downhill since then.

Although we were winning early it was taking an extreme amount of turnovers which wasn't sustainable, we were not turning the ball over ourselves and a great RZ efficiently which also wasn't sustainable to win the games. It was only a matter of time before the laws of averages evened out and we became the team we are. That's why it's a 16 game season and not a 5 week season. The good teams separate themselves after the first month and a half give or take.

We are an average team that when we are playing great football and getting some breaks we can beat anybody. When we are playing a normal game we will be in the game and it's a toss up whether we will win or lose. When we are playing bad we get totally blown out.

A good team will win most of their games when they are playing at their normal level. A good team can also still find ways to win games when they aren't playing their best football. We get blown out when that's the case. The reason is because we are an average team at best.

It was only a matter of time before this came about. When all your wins were coming from the other team turning the ball over multiple times a game and yourself playing your best football on offense possible and in the RZ and yet you still are squeaking out the victories that should have been the first sign for many people.

Too many people thought this team was for real because the stars were aligned right early in the season without looking at how we were winning and realizing that it wasn't sustainable and once the games go back to normal our team was most likely going to become normal again too.

Any team can have a good stretch to the season. Ours just happened at the beginning of the year again like in 2008. The good teams sustain the momentum and win consistently through an entire season and pretenders don't.

[PTI]

Re: When was the single point the wheels fell off this season??

The day they gave Fitz a new contract.

Before that, it really was the 6-7 times the Bills went 3 and out against the Bengals, you can see that the QB we have is just not capable of beating a decent team on the road.

[BillsFever21]

Re: When was the single point the wheels fell off this season??

Losing K. Williams, A. Williams, Hairston, Bell, Merriman, Parrish, and Kelsay to injuries.

McGee is decent, McFumbles is awful this year, Florence is a ghost, Byrd and Wilson are great, and that's why no one is throwing their way.

Our NT is out, our best DE had to move inside, we're moving ex-DE's to OLB, and we have no corners. It honestly looked like we had 7 players dressed for defense today. Pathetic.

I'll give you the injuries to Kyle Williams and Kelsay and maybe Bell but that's it. The only one elite out of that group was Williams.

As far as A. Williams and Hairston goes they were rookies and if that is what your team is based off of as far as having a winning season goes then you are not very good to begin with.

Then with Parrish and Merriman neither of them have been able to stay healthy for years so that shouldn't have been any huge surprise. They were players you couldn't depend on and if they did last the season then that's a plus. Parrish was never here from the start so you can't even count him. His injury played a zero role into our success early or lack of success since.

Like I said earlier every team loses starters. Losing teams blame their problems on injuries and good teams overcome them.

Part of being a good team is still being able to overcome injuries to your starters and still find ways to win games. That comes from coaching and having decent depth. In a perfect world only 22 players would play every week. Part of being a good team is also having depth to fill in.

The Steelers have lost Woodley, offensive linemen and other starters to injuries so far this season and they are still 7-3. The Patriots for many years would lose starters and still win. Even one year they lost Brady for the season and still won 11 games.

Now when the playoffs get here the impact of injuries especially to big time players can play a large role on who goes deep in the playoffs or to the SB. As far as the regular season goes good teams still find ways to overcome them and still win and make the playoffs.

Sure there are times when teams can lose multiple big time players which seriously affect their record but losing one Pro-Bowl type player, a couple average starters at best, a couple rookies and a couple players who you couldn't count on staying healthy to begin with is a lame excuse. A good team would overcome them and wouldn't be in the tailspin we're in and getting blown out as bad as we are.

Do you really think if Kyle Williams, Kelsay, Aaron Wiiliams and Hairston wasn't injured it would've made a big difference in these last two blowouts? Give me a break.

Kyle Williams and Kelsay have been here for years and we have been a losing team each year. Sure it doesn't help but to try and say their losses would've changed these last two blowouts into wins are silly and just excuses for a bad team.

[don137]

Re: When was the single point the wheels fell off this season??

Fitzpatrick has looked awful since his new contract leading the offense to 2 TDs total since new contract.

[Mahdi]

Re: When was the single point the wheels fell off this season??

Every team has injuries throughout the season to their starters. That is a losers team excuse for not winning.

In a perfect league no starters on any team would get injured but that's not the case. Every team goes through them at some point. You have to overcome them and plan for them by having depth that can step in and not implode the progress.

I think just about every season there are people who say if this guy or that guy didn't get hurt we may have won more games or made the playoffs. It's the NFL and it happens. Good teams with good coaching overcome them.

Which is why I said THIS team cannot overcome those injuries. Not enough talent or depth.

Many teams would struggle with those losses. Few would be able to overcome it and succeed.

If Dallas lost Ware, Ratliff, Scandrick, Robinson, Free and their backup OT they would also struggle.