Groundhog Day

[Jan Reimers]

After last Sunday's crushing loss, it seems to me like Groundhog Day - for the 14th straight year. Deja vu all over again, and again, and again. . . SSDD turned inexorably into SSDS, Same S**t, Different Season.

High hopes, hideous losses. Too many to count or clearly remember. Just a kind of blur of sickening, dispiriting games where we almost get there, only to find new and creative ways to lose. In the last few seconds. These gut wrenching defeats are scattered among horrid shellackings, punctuated with just enough feel-good wins to keep me interested.

Despite our pathetic history, I'm still optimistic about this season - as I am each year - although I know that every bit of hope will eventually be squeezed out of me by another game featuring an inexplicable transformation of glorious victory into morbid defeat.

So, let's get a win against the Panthers. I will then be able to continue fooling myself into believing that somehow, some way, things will get better for a team that is not just snake-bitten, but frozen in a time warp of repetitive and repulsive self-immolation.

[Bill Cody]

Re: Groundhog Day

Stay strong Jan. This team isn't very good. The best you can hope for is they play hard, the QB develops over the year and the coach looks like a keeper. In my book excruciating losses are better than getting blown out. I'm not in the "lose for a better draft position camp" because I think this QB has a chance to be good in a few years. But he's raw, the coach is raw, lot of young players, still some big holes. You just gotta roll with the good and the bad and look for signs of progress. But that progress is not going to be linear.

[better days]

Re: Groundhog Day

Stay strong Jan. This team isn't very good. The best you can hope for is they play hard, the QB develops over the year and the coach looks like a keeper. In my book excruciating losses are better than getting blown out. I'm not in the "lose for a better draft position camp" because I think this QB has a chance to be good in a few years. But he's raw, the coach is raw, lot of young players, still some big holes. You just gotta roll with the good and the bad and look for signs of progress. But that progress is not going to be linear.

I am with you. At least we didn't hear any BS from Marrone like "It's hard to win in the NFL".

I think he has this team expecting to win & not accepting losses like they have in the past.

[Fletch]

Re: Groundhog Day

... in a time warp of repetitive and repulsive self-immolation.

Let's just hope that there's something left to immolate after Wilson kicks.

[TacklingDummy]

Re: Groundhog Day

Not even Dick Jauron would throw the challenge flag on New England recovering their own fumble.

I know how you feel Jan. It's hard to get excited anymore after losing every year and horrendous draft picks. That's why I go into the season thinking they are going to suck that way I'm never disappointed. If they ever do win again it will make it that much more exciting.

[Fletch]

Re: Groundhog Day

I am with you. At least we didn't hear any BS from Marrone like "It's hard to win in the NFL".

I think he has this team expecting to win & not accepting losses like they have in the past.

I don't think that the team expecting to win has been an issue.

Remember, in 2011 we started 3-0 and many thought that we were headed for the playoffs. There was no shortage of confidence that we could win, it was expected after that point. We even went 5-2 before dropping 7 straight.

What bothers me is that with the NE defense focused on stopping Spiller on Sunday, any casual football fans knows that you begin to air things out deeper, but we didn't do that. Why not? What does that say about the coaching, which is the real concern.

I'm not sure that Marrone is as good as many thought.

[Fletch]

Re: Groundhog Day

Not even Dick Jauron would throw the challenge flag on New England recovering their own fumble.

I know how you feel Jan. It's hard to get excited anymore after losing every year and horrendous draft picks. That's why I go into the season thinking they are going to suck that way I'm never disappointed. If they ever do win again it will make it that much more exciting.

It would have been different losing to the NE of yore. But losing to NE featuring the novice players that they had is tougher to swallow.

[better days]

Re: Groundhog Day

I don't think that the team expecting to win has been an issue.

Remember, in 2011 we started 3-0 and many thought that we were headed for the playoffs. There was no shortage of confidence that we could win, it was expected after that point. We even went 5-2 before dropping 7 straight.

What bothers me is that with the NE defense focused on stopping Spiller on Sunday, any casual football fans knows that you begin to air things out deeper, but we didn't do that. Why not? What does that say about the coaching, which is the real concern.

I'm not sure that Marrone is as good as many thought.

I agree, the Bills should have thrown downfield more, but I think that is on Hackett more than Marrone.

[trapezeus]

Re: Groundhog Day

as a fan, it's really hard to keep watching blame shifted around. at some point all 31 teams have put together one season that was worthy of the playoffs. a couple even put in seasons not worthy of the playoffs and still got in. and in very few cases one or two teams went in with their tail between their legs and won the superbowl.

Something is seriously wrong if we can't even get to that level.

There is a lot of football left to play, but the panthers game can not have:

1. poor challenges
2. timid playcalling early, aggressive play calling late with a lead when running the clock will do.
3. signature players dropping the easy stuff.
4.The defense can come out looking better against the run, better on 3rd downs, and look capable of covering a real NFL quality receiving corp

If the bills look better on any one of these three categories, then i'm a little more bullish that marrone has the ability to learn quickly. if they lose and the top 4 issues still present themselves, nothing has changed at OBD

[TacklingDummy]

Re: Groundhog Day

How's SU doing without Marrone?
Think he knew it was now or never for an NFL job?

[stuckincincy]

Re: Groundhog Day

Heh - good analogy!

[Generalissimus Gibby]

Re: Groundhog Day

After last Sunday's crushing loss, it seems to me like Groundhog Day - for the 14th straight year. Deja vu all over again, and again, and again. . . SSDD turned inexorably into SSDS, Same S**t, Different Season.

High hopes, hideous losses. Too many to count or clearly remember. Just a kind of blur of sickening, dispiriting games where we almost get there, only to find new and creative ways to lose. In the last few seconds. These gut wrenching defeats are scattered among horrid shellackings, punctuated with just enough feel-good wins to keep me interested.

Despite our pathetic history, I'm still optimistic about this season - as I am each year - although I know that every bit of hope will eventually be squeezed out of me by another game featuring an inexplicable transformation of glorious victory into morbid defeat.

So, let's get a win against the Panthers. I will then be able to continue fooling myself into believing that somehow, some way, things will get better for a team that is not just snake-bitten, but frozen in a time warp of repetitive and repulsive self-immolation.

I am not yet ready to write this team off, lets give them to week eight okay. By then we should know what we have as it will be one of the following:

The most preferable:

The surprising and overachieving Buffalo Bills who have have won 5 or 6 of their first 8 games, have a qb who can make big plays, have a defense that holds on to leads, a coaching staff that is making a difference, and a tandem of running backs who can make big plays. They don't make mistakes, they hold their own and even their losses to the Pats and Saints were very near runs that were due more to to inexperience than systematic faults.

The least preferable: The Bills are 0-8, EJ is the second coming of JP Losman and is a veritable turnover machine who can neither hold on to the ball or inspire his teammates to win. Marrone has looked clueless for most of the season and if the Bills lose to KC next week they are out of the season

The most probable: The Bills are 4-4, they've shown flashes of brilliance, but are will need a 14th or 15th season in their rebuilding and youth program to turn the corner

[Meathead]

Re: Groundhog Day

Despite our pathetic history, I'm still optimistic about this season - as I am each year - although I know that every bit of hope will eventually be squeezed out of me by another game featuring an inexplicable transformation of glorious victory into morbid defeat.

lol. you know rooting for a crappy team really is like a mental disease. you take a look at the all-new everything, the baby qb, and the third youngest roster in the league and honestly it looks like this is about a five win team

and yet just today while driving around listening to wgr i caught myself thinking that a convincing win against carolina might mean this team has something special going on and a drive to the playoffs is just around the corner. then when i realized what i was thinking i was kind of embarrassed even tho i was the only one in the car. i avoided my own gaze in the rear view mirror lol

as if ANY result sunday could possibly tell me anything about their fortunes this season. of course it cant. and this already paper thin roster is going to get either younger or badder or both once the inevitable injuries start taking out (more) starters

i honestly feel sort of beaten down as a bills fan. it feels like you said, just thoroughly snake-bitten. i dont think anything is going to cure me now. well except for a playoff game of course

[Generalissimus Gibby]

Re: Groundhog Day

as a fan, it's really hard to keep watching blame shifted around. at some point all 31 teams have put together one season that was worthy of the playoffs. a couple even put in seasons not worthy of the playoffs and still got in. and in very few cases one or two teams went in with their tail between their legs and won the superbowl.

Something is seriously wrong if we can't even get to that level.

There is a lot of football left to play, but the panthers game can not have:

1. poor challenges
2. timid playcalling early, aggressive play calling late with a lead when running the clock will do.
3. signature players dropping the easy stuff.
4.The defense can come out looking better against the run, better on 3rd downs, and look capable of covering a real NFL quality receiving corp

If the bills look better on any one of these three categories, then i'm a little more bullish that marrone has the ability to learn quickly. if they lose and the top 4 issues still present themselves, nothing has changed at OBD

I agree, as I tried to say in the moral victory thread, a moral victory is only good if a team learns from its mistakes, improves everything (including what it did well in the loss), and minimizes what its mistakes were. We lost to the pats because of poor clock management, poor challenges, horrid penalties, and a lack of in game adjustments. Also, Stevie needs to seriously learn to hold on to the damn ball. He had lots of drops during the Fitz era (yes Fitz stank, but you can't blame him for your drops when he is no longer here) and is still dropping the ball.