Bills 2004 Forecast: Keys to the Bills’ Season

[The_Philster]

Last season the Bills’ issues stemmed almost entirely from their sad and depleted offense. A combination of injuries as well as offensive line issues led an anemic Bills attack. The Bills struggled to move the ball let alone punch it into opponents’ end zones. At present, the Bills have several similar and a few new issues that they need to iron out prior to the season home opener in only six days.

The defense played well although not exactly vs. a schedule that featured many well-balanced offenses, top rushing teams, or even top running backs. The single well-balanced offensive team that the Bills faced last season was Kansas City and the result there is a painfully remembered 38-5 trouncing with poor play on both sides of the ball. The defense was good enough however to have provided double digit wins had the offense not performed worse than it did under Rob Johnson...http://bills.theinsiders.com/2/291402.html

[The Spaz]

No thanks.

[natefan22]

lol that is the most discouraging scouting report ive ever heard, i cried after i red it

[The_Philster]

lol that is the most discouraging scouting report ive ever heard, i cried after i red it
just gotta consider the source...the most pessimistic Bills writer in the world :;

[HenryRules]

Just did a quick scan ... and only read a paragraph or two (the coaching section since I've read enough reports elsewhere about the rest of the stuff). The one comment I loved is: "Offensively, the Bills swapped out health stalwart Ruben Brown for last season injury puppy Chris Villarrial who played last season through a litany of minor injuries questioning his long term viability from a health perspective".

So, to re-word it, Chris Villarrial plays through bumps and bruises and thus he's likely to be an injury problem in the future, even though he almost always plays 15 or 16 games a season at a consistent level of performance. Makes sense to me.

That billsreport.com site really needs an editor. Any decent editor would cut out about 2/3 of the content, shorten half the sentences, and add a decent flow to the article. I could understand his poor writing when he's posting on a site (who re-reads a post after all), but to be willing to have your name associated with an article like that ... wow

[Jan Reimers]

just gotta consider the source...the most pessimistic Bills writer in the world :;
But an optimistic wing sauce salesman and a good guy.

[Jayhawk]

as a sports writer as I am, you would be surprised with the agendas editors have.

[The_Philster]

But an optimistic wing sauce salesman and a good guy.
Very true :up: Best wing sauce around and I'm looking forward to hanging with him in October

[Tatonka]

:puke:

toooooooooo longggggggggg

[The_Philster]

:puke:

toooooooooo longggggggggg
Did you expect anything less? :laughter:

[jbisset]

How do you ranking the Dolphins ahead of the jets and Bills. The dolphins had to trade away a very good DE to the bears for very little. There also have major issues at QB and RB. Below is my rankings....Fox sports ranking is a joke.



Pre Season 2004 rankings


1 Patriots - Wish this team was in the NFC...many high picks and now they have Corey Dillon. This will be a great team for the next 6 years unless they get a major injury to the QB.
2 Colts - How good is their defense?.
3 Seahawks - A solid team both on ofense and defense that added a coupe solid defense players.
4 Chiefs - No D...No superbowl...Do not look for Hall to have as many TDs.
5 Ravens - Great D...No passing game.
6 Eagles - Very good team. I am still not sold on Donovan’s accuracy. T.O will be great fit. Eagles have a great defensive coach; however, they have lost a lot of top defense plays over the last 3 years. Need to see how Jevon Kearse and secondary plays.
7 Vikings - As good as their defense. Rookie DE will make noise. Team will make the playoff this year.
8 Broncos - good defense addition made this year. Who will replace Clinton Portis? Denver usually can find another RB.
9 Panthers - O-line the issues....Offensive tackle Adam Meadows retires????Is this team as good as they were last year?
10 Saints - Great RB...year depends on how good the passing game is.
11 Jet - will be as good as Chad Pennington health. If QB is lost for season expect this team to drop to bottom 10. RB is getting old?
12 Packers - Now a running team with a great passing game. Team will miss the playoff this year.
13 Falcons - Michael Vick could be the #1 QB...however, he must stay health and learn system.
14 Titans - Team will go as far as their QB takes them.
15 Bengals - Not sure of their draft this year...Carson Palmer looks like he will be a good NFL QB...team going in the right direction.
16 Raiders - Defense will be a little better this year.
17 Rams - Too many defense players lose in off season. I am still not sold on QB.
18 Bills - Year will go the way the O-line plays . If team can put up points; look for then in top 10 by year end. (7 -9 wins this year)
19 Texans - Team will have a good offensive with David Carr, Andre Johnson and Domanick Davis. Team is get better but needs more players.
20 Redskins - Team now has a proven coach.
21 Buccaneers - Due for a down year because they lost so many big names....expect them to be in playoff hunt next year again.
22 Jaguars - Team on the way up....
23 Lions - Team on its way up....Need a few more skilled defensive player...going in the right direction.
24 Steelers - Team on its way down. Team does not have the talent they had in the late 90s. They did get its future QB in the draft.
25 Giants - Good running game - Yes, they have a QB for the future.
26 Cowboys - QB is now an issue...No offense
27 Dolphins - QB and RB issues...No Offense.... Two OK QBs to pick from
28 Browns - Gracia is having a problem learning the system/timing?
29 Bears – Team still rebuilding...Trying to find a QB and leader
30 Cardinals - Just a bad organization....Too many skilled WRs and nothing else
31 49ers - Only team that can give the chargers a run for their money for the first pick in next year's draft.
32 Chargers - Bills of the early 80s... They will again win next year first pick of the draft. Best bet...clean up front office and hope Gaints loses alot of games this season

[LifetimeBillsFan]

lol that is the most discouraging scouting report ive ever heard, i cried after i red it
just gotta consider the source...the most pessimistic Bills writer in the world :;<!-- / message -->
as a sports writer as I am, you would be surprised with the agendas editors have
All so very true! If you want to see the harshest and most critical analysis of the Bills, he's the guy to read. I'm surprised he wasn't harder on Bledsoe--he has been almost pathological in his criticisms of DB in previous articles.

But, I do have to agree with him on a couple of points he makes:

1.) The performance of the offensive line is the key to the Bills' season and they haven't gotten off to a great start in the preseason, although they played much better in the last game. I don't care how great the QB or the RB, if the protection and the holes aren't there, it doesn't matter--they will not consistently produce or score enough points. Ask Archie Manning about that.

2.) It is entirely likely that the Bills' defense will slip slightly in the defensive rankings this season because it is hard to continue to be at the top of the rankings from season to season and even the best defenses have had a tendency to slip back a few slots in the rankings after being at or close to the top, as the Bills were last season. So, that's almost to be expected. But, as he alluded to, rankings aren't as important as effectiveness: if the defense gives up more yards this season, but gives up fewer points and generates more turnovers, they will be even more effective, although less highly ranked. And, while he pointed to the preseason in assessing the offense, he pointedly ignored the fact that, based on the preseason, there is every reason to believe that the defense will generate a lot more turnovers this season.

While I firmly believe that the Bills' season will go as the offensive line goes, I disagree with a couple of his comments about it. First of all, he is wrong about there not being enough talent: the Bills have spent more high draft picks on their offensive line than the Pats in recent years, they have as many first day draft picks on the team now as the Pats, and they have more O-linemen that they drafted on their roster than the Pats--go look it up, I did. Yet the Pats have a better line because their O-linemen have developed into a unit while ours, working with their FOURTH line coach in 3 years haven't. So, don't tell me that we haven't drafted enough O-line talent or that coaching doesn't make a difference. Which leads me to my second point: living in NYC, I've had a chance to see McNally work with the Giants and, while I agree that he isn't a miracle worker, I've seen how his offensive lines have developed over the course of the last few seasons. If the Bills linemen buy into what he wants them to do and stay healthy, he has at least as much talent in the starting group, with Price, to do what he did in NY before last season--which is, turn them into a solid, above average O-line. His NYG lines started out slow--being able good at either run blocking or pass blocking, but not both--and improved considerably over the course of the season, becoming effective in all phases a third of the way into the season and hitting their stride in the second half, producing those Dec. playoff runs. If the Bills' O-linemen buy into his coaching that's what I would expect from them, too. The key, however, will be injuries. Weiler is right in saying that the Bills have little quality O-line depth. McNally's line in NY last season had a similar problem and fell apart when they had a couple of key season-ending injuries. Barring injuries, however, I expect this line to get better as the season progresses because, contrary to Weiler, I believe that coaching does make a difference and have seen what this coach can do when he has players who will buy into what he wants them to do.

Given his pessimism, I'm surprised that he thinks the Bills can win 7 games. My assessment originally was that they would win between 7-9 before the Dolphins had all their injuries. If they stay healthy and the O-line comes along as I expect, I think they will win between 8-10 games--with a few breaks, 10-12--and will contend for a playoff berth. The key will be if they can steal a couple of wins early in the season when their O-line is still coming together. Staying healthy will be essential--as it is for most NFL teams.