How many of us thought the Bills were gonna have a great season?

[Mahdi]

I for one thought the Bills would go 10-6 at the least with a playoff birth. Why?
Because I thought we would have the best D in the league, the best special teams in the league, a not great but better O-line then last year, Willis McGahee with a season under his belt ready to destroy the league, and a young mobile QB who would "manage" the offense ala Roethlisberger, not to mention, a great WR core, and a new tight end with speed, who probably would have made a difference had he been playing. I think most of us on this board thought the same thing. NOW, since none of that has really happened, we all want TD's head. But that is simply not realistic. How could anyone have foreseen this disaster of a defense especially. NO ONE.


Now some of you will say we should have re-signed PW, but letting him go was the right decision for the future of this team. A large cap hit for a guy on the wrong side of 30 is not the way to go.

And what about JJ. Also a good decision to let him go, he has been injured all season having played only 3 games. And not likely to come back.

Solutions: Gandy proved to be just as effective as JJ was, and TD picked him up off the street.

Ron Edwards: Who else was there in FA that would have been better than him. Not many. And when you consider he was playing next to Sam Adams he should be successful, and of course he's injured now.


All in all, TD is not to blame for the way this team is underachieving. He's made some good decisons some bad. Some great drafts some not so great. Either way not many of us predicted the season going like it has. No one has a crystal ball, not even TD.

Let's just hope this turns around against Carolina.

[OpIv37]

I thought we'd be 8-8 at best and just hoped we'd be in the playoff hunt in December

I disagree completely on TD. He has consistently neglected the O-line- not just this season but through his whole tenure. And I don't want to hear the damn Pats example- I'm not saying he has to go out and spend a fortune on someone like Jennings, but if he's gonna go cheap he's gotta do a better job of evaluating talent. Our line has not had depth in years (actually, they have a messed-up kind of depth: the starters are just as inept as the third stringers).

TD's emphasis on these "motor" DE's means they're all we have on the roster. The decision to not replace PW was terrible- I don't know how you can stand by it after seeing this season. These coaches should have had some idea that Edwards and Anderson weren't ready. And while I was a Sam Adams fan before this year, it's no big secret that he's fat, old and has an attitude problem.

and the playcalling has been horrendous this year. Who picks the coaches? That's right- none other than TD himself. With better playcalling, we beat the Patriots and the Saints, and keep it closer against the Raiders. TD was too busy picking Pit cronies and yes- men rather than looking for coaching experience.

Is TD completely to blame? No, he's not playing on the field, game planning or calling plays. But don't let him off the hook- he made all the decisions that set up this scenario. This team has been mismanaged in so many ways and it all starts at the top. Unfortunately, it appears as though Ralph doesn't look above the bottom line.

[Mahdi]

I can agree with you on his coaching choices....they have not been good. But Mularkey isnt dont yet, im still willing to give him a chance with an O-line if we ever get one. Just like a QB cant succeed without a decent O-line, neither can a coach. You spend too much time figuring out how yer gonna avoid sacks instead of focusing on putting up points. The defense however is not Mularkey's fault.

[Devin]

I honeslty thought wed be in the playoffs with a 10-6 record.

With our strong finish at the end of the season last season and the loss of only a few players I figured wed be in solid shape. Pat Williams was the only real key loss on D, and I figured if he made all the difference we didnt deserve the playoffs.

JP was my only wild card, and I like the coaches thought with everyone else playing solid he would do just enough to win.

Little did I know everyone would suck this season.

[BSXIII]

I'm surprised at how this team has fallen apart on defense, but I didn't expect to be a playoff team either. As everyone else has mentioned, the o-line has been horrible for years, and once again nothing was done to improve it. Also, the ****ty weather at the end of last season made our passing game look far worse than it actually was, and our defense far better than it actually was.

So the only thing I'm surprised about is that the defense completely fell apart. I expected a big drop off, but nothing like this. The offense taking a step back, and Bledsoe returning to Pro Bowl form in Dallas were two things that I predicted. However, the least suprising thing of all is that Tom Donahoe would once again be wrong in all of his assessments and screw the team up even more.

[Jan Reimers]

I thought that with a stout defense, a power running game and great special teams, we would be in the playoff hunt, even with an inexperienced QB.

Well, the special teams have been good. . .

[SpanishBill]

I truly thought also we would have a great season. I thought we would carry the momentum from last year great finish (except for that game against Pittsburgh) and that our D would make up for JPs growing pains. After all, Bledsoe didn't do much last year, it was mostly our great D...
I even think that the NFL thought that also, because they've shown on international TV more Bills games than ever. Last year I got to see only one game, and it was because they played the Pats (well, in fact 'got crushed' would be more realistic than 'played'), but this year they have already shown three games (vs. Jets, Raiders and Pats).
And those three games really put back into reality. I never expected the offense to be great with JP or Holcomb at the helm, but what I saw on defense was pathetic. People running all over us, like Curtis Martin (thanks to God the Jets have that QB trouble...) or Lamont Jordan (we really made him look like LT...), like it was a High School defense or some (it really reminded me of my HS days, when our team could not stop anybody when rushing the ball). What has happened to the D? Just people getting older? Our defensive schemes suck? I don't get it...
The sad part for me is that if the Bills do not end up with a winning record I won't get to see them at all next year, or maybe just one game... :teary:

[Meathead]

i predicted 9-7

losing spikes and edwards devestated the run defense

never imagined the ol could possibly be this bad

[bledslow]

i had them for 7 wins. its the same defense from last year that struggled against good teams and also faltered vs the pitt 2nd and 3rd stringers in the last game(and is also another year older). they also have a qb(jp) that has NO business being in this league and should be flipping burgers. and mcgahee was a running back last year that did not even average 4 ypc and is still pretty inconsistent. special teams is good though,but,that's not enough. i see this team hovering aroud the 7 or 8 win total for another 5 years, especially if jp isd qb'ing. and the defense is ageing. a new gm is the first thing that needs to happen,followed by a new qb.

[fushetti]

I had no idea how anyone could pick a team to go to the playoffs with a rookie QB and a "VAUNTED '85 BEARSESQUE" defense that never stiffened when needed. I was baffled all summer.

[BillsFever21]

I predicted us winning 7 games. We won't even reach that. We'll be lucky to win 6 games.

[Mahdi]

i had them for 7 wins. its the same defense from last year that struggled against good teams and also faltered vs the pitt 2nd and 3rd stringers in the last game(and is also another year older). they also have a qb(jp) that has NO business being in this league and should be flipping burgers. and mcgahee was a running back last year that did not even average 4 ypc and is still pretty inconsistent. special teams is good though,but,that's not enough. i see this team hovering aroud the 7 or 8 win total for another 5 years, especially if jp isd qb'ing. and the defense is ageing. a new gm is the first thing that needs to happen,followed by a new qb.
What are you possibly basing your assessement of JP on?....how is any QB expected to perform behind this OL. Add to that the fact that he's a first year starter. If you watch the game closely you'll find that when he has time he actually makes good throws. So I am atleast holding on my judgment of JP.

[Forward_Lateral]

I envision a playoff team before every season. Anything less is unacceptable in my mind.

[ScottLawrence]

I didn't think we would have a playoff season, but I also didn't think this defense would look so ****ty.


And expected better play out of our offensive line.

[Meathead]

as it turns out of ALL the years to take the division this was it

[kevinj22]

I honestly thought that we had a good shot at the playoffs, even with JP at the helm. Things just didn't go our way this year but I still think that the future is EXTREMELY bright with our younger players. JP, Willis, Roscoe, Evans, Everett, Magee, etc. are going to get this team to the Superbowl some day. Hopefully soon.

[bills_7]

i did... b/c im a fan and think positive every year... its entertainment

go JP!!

[bills_7]

its still possible to finish 10-6 and have the division so im still having fun watching the games... theres still hope dont give up so easy anything can happen

go bills!!