What in the hell has happened to this team?

[elltrain22]

It looked so promising. It felt just like the early 90s. Bledsoe was slingin', and the Bills were winning, convincingly. Now, the Bills don't just look like a mediocre team, but i am not sure if they can even win more than 2 games the rest of the year. 4 road games in a row, no offensive tds! What an embarrassing stat.

In the midst of all this, Drew Bledsoe has got all of us Bills fans scratching our heads as to whether or not he is the right guy for this team. I like Drew, and i think he will be remembered as a good QB, but i am starting to think that he is more of a liability than a guy we can count on.

One thing is for sure, GW, and Kevin Gilbride need to go. GW has just been a total putz, and Gilbride's playcalling is common and very unoriginal. I am tired of knowing that we will pass on first down, run on 2nd, and pass incomplete on 3rd and long.

I guess this fan, and this team will have to wait another year, but at least we got to live the good life for 2 wonderful weeks this year, but that is it.........

[Jan Reimers]

We were never as good as advertised, as it turns out. The first two games were abberations, one against a New England team in total turmoil, the other against the horrible, pre-Leftwich Jags.

We are a testament to reprehensible coaching and a lack of quality players at a few very important positions.

[Pride]

GW/KG - definately
DB/TD - maybe

nuff said.

[SABURZFAN]

Originally posted by elltrain22
GW has just been a total putz

i have a few other choice words that would violate the TOS.i agree.

[Historian]

Originally posted by elltrain22
It looked so promising. It felt just like the early 90s. Bledsoe was slingin', and the Bills were winning, convincingly.

This is the 64,000 Question!

What happened to this offense, which had a 1400 yard RB, and a 4000 yard passer last year? Other than Price leaving, the players are essentially the same. The Coaches are the same.

What changed????

I think we all felt that the O was very good, and with a shored up defense via FA, we would contend....but how do you go from a record setting offense to ABSOLUTELY NOTHING...no TDs on the road for 17 quarters????

I just don't get it.

[zone]

terrible pass blocking line + no larry centers + no perless price + no running game = eric moulds = 1 dementional = easy to defend = easy to blitz = no points = 4-5

[WG]

A good question 22. Much of that lies w/ the fans and media.

Go thru the box scores from last year and the schedule. What you'll notice is that we really only beat scrub teams or completely banged up units like Miami w/o their passing game and Lucas in, and then in one game w/ the assistance of a blizzard.

You'll also notice that it was the early season performances last year that generated all the fan excitement that the fans rode thru to the end of the season and on into this one in spite of the fact that the offense went largely flat from week 6 or 7 on last season. Everyone hooted and hollered when we dusted Minnesota and Chicago and Drew "slung" 7 TDs in those games. After that however, consider that he was only 17/15 in the other 14 games. Not great, not great at all.

BUT, the fans wanted it to be great. And understandably so, but as I always say, things need to be tempered w/ a dose of reality. I would rather not get all hyped up for a team that is gonna get dusted in the playoffs in the WC round. I'd rather have a team that is capable of "going all the way."

Anyway, what you'll see is that after a number of years of a "dry spell", fans' exuberance hyped up this team more in their minds than it actually was. Sure, we should have improved this offseaosn, and many including myself expected that even tho I didn't believe that we made the best moves for our team in the offseason or addressed the most "needy" areas. Nevertheless, the team should have improved.

On D it largely has, although the rush D really hasn't. That's b/c, and in spite of playing a solid game yesterday, Adams really was overrated coming here. We found no solution at DE. Schobel was an animal yesterday too on a side note.

Anyway, the reason we're not better on O is primarily coaching. But the types of things that Drew is doing have little to do with scheme/system as they do w/ execution. Let's get real, he should have tucked away that ball yesterday as the warnings of being surrounded couldn't have been more obvious, yet, he didn't. While many will argue to the contrary, his INTs have largely been his own. We've known for a decade that his red zone peformances have left quite a bit to be desired as fans look past that very important short-coming to his "strong arm" which IMO has faded in strength some.

As I always say, and this requires quite a bit of objectivity, but it's important for fans to hang up the "player PJs" and look at things as they really are and not as they wish them to be. Otherwise fandom serves as a mere anasthetic where when it wears off the pain is twice as bad as w/o it.

So until we, the fans, who drive the organization, begin to see the reality of the situation(s) and begin to respond accordingly, little will change. And TD's enough of a "free spirit" from a managing standpoint that in my mind he needs the fans' oversight.

As to Blew, it's becoming increasingly more difficult to overlook his play as something other than a very direct cause in our losses. Yesterday, we had two TOs. Without them, at least w/o the first one, we win. It's that simple. No other player made a TO. It was certainly Blew's fault if you watch the replay. There's no question he wasn't protecting the ball. In fact, on that one "arm moving forward" play, it was obvious he was pulling it back in. That could have been another fumble and he had plenty of time on all three plays. Plenty of time to get rid of the ball.

Does this mean his WRs were flawless? No. But it also doesn't dismiss his personal play. Last year we lost 7 of our 8 games where in most of them the only TOs we had were his, yet, most fans dismissed them as inconsequential. Well, OK, but we're not gonna improve as a team if everyone continually overlooks Blew's errors and poor play. Fortunately fans are starting to recognize that now.

Something else that most seem to fail to realize is that Blew hasn't had a decent season in years. '97 to be exact. Since then he's been average, but everyone only says he's better than average as if talk pays the bills. Well, I think we know better. Offensively, the issues are twofold, OL and QB. We have the talent elsewhere to succeed. And before you or anyone else jumps on any notion that w/ a good OL Blew would be fine, keep in mind that it was good last year when Blew had all those 18 TOs in 7 games, all losses.

On D, the D is strong, but it could have been much stronger had we addressed the DL. It was strong yesterday, but v. a weak Dallas O. We'll see how it is in the ensuing weeks. If it's anything like it was v. KC, then I think it won't be good either.

Anyway, we, as fans, need to hold the team's feet to the fire proverbially speaking. When that's done, improvements are made b/c they're required.

In the customer service business, a world-class CS adage is that the best thing that a company can have is demanding customers. That's when they deliver products/services to meet those demands and become the best at what they do. Having all their customers rave over mediocre service or product isn't going to motivate them to improve, make it better, and come up with ways to be the best.

Think about it.

[Philagape]

Losing Peerless is a factor IMO, but not in the way that was expected.
When we traded him and brought in Campbell and Gash, the idea, I thought, was to establish a power running game. I envisioned two-TE, two-RB sets and smashmouth football.
But what we've gotten instead is West Coast-like (whatever you want to call it): short, quick, frequent passes. Slants and outs in which any CB can stay with the receivers. This does not work in the NFL! (unless you've got Joe Montana or Brett Favre.) In this system, yes, Drew sucks. So is the answer to dump him and throw another poor QB in to get killed with no help from play-calling and no running game to fear? Or should we do what was advertised -- run the ball until their LBs and safeties think twice about blitzing and bite on the play action so Drew can do what he does best: throw deep.