This was the Jets

[Fletch]

Look, we needed this game given the snow. The D played lights out ball, at least the front 7 since neither Vick nor Smith was ever much of a threat downfield. Offensively we were due and lit things up. It was fantastic to see Ford Field heavy with Bills fans that could make the trip.

But this was the Jets, it's hardly a benchmark game. The real test is the rest of the season.

Right now there's so much overreaction to a win over a pathetic team that's probably going to be drafting 3rd only because they don't play Jax and are clearly one of the worst teams in the league that will likely see a new owner and head coach after the season.

We have four very difficult games left against teams the likes of which we've been unable to beat this season so far, right now all four of which are slated to make the playoffs.

Let's save the "our defense is great" comments for those games and if our defense is really great then it will prove out that way. I'm sorry, I just can't buy into this notion that our D is great simply because we stomped on one of the most offensively challenged teams in the league.

Have we sunk so low as fans that we need to embellish a win over a team like the Jets, amidst our inability to beat any teams with above average offenses otherwise?

What happened to the days of us not being satisfied unless we could beat the best teams out there, defensively handle the best offenses out there, and dominate the best defenses out there? We suck this season at doing that and unless we do it coming up against those kinds of teams, I'm simply not impressed.

This overreaction is half sickening.

[trapezeus]

this post is entirely sickening.

[Fletch]

I can't believe how low our standards and expectations as fans have sunken in 20 years.

We can't do **** against any above average offenses. Offensively this is one of the worst teams in years. Oh sure, we can hang 40 points on the Jets but trying to crack that 20-point barrier in any other game is the challenge of the ages.

[Joe Fo Sho]

I can't believe how low our standards and expectations as fans have sunken in 20 years.

We can't do **** against any above average offenses. Offensively this is one of the worst teams in years. Oh sure, we can hang 40 points on the Jets but trying to crack that 20-point barrier in any other game is the challenge of the ages.

There's a middle ground though, right? You don't have to be on one end of the spectrum or the other. It's doesn't have to be all doom and gloom, and it doesn't have to be all rainbows and ice cream. People can be satisfied with a solid win, and they can be critical when we underperform. This team has been sub-par for the last 15 years, what's wrong with being happy and excited when our team just played the most dominant game in recent memory?

[Night Train]

The D is good. The lost opportunities against Houston and KC were the lack of an O.

I know why our record isn't better. It's the playcalling and execution (lack of) of the O.

The D has been excellent most of the time.

[OpIv37]

We played a bad team.

We beat them soundly, which is what is supposed to happen against bad teams. What more do you want?

Yes, eventually we need to be able to beat the good teams but a) we can only play the team on the schedule in any given week and b) we are not going to beat the good teams until we can consistently trounce the bad teams.

[kelly2reed4six]

Put your *****ish ways aside for a day and enjoy a great win.

[Novacane]

This is why no one likes you Fletch! You make things up to fit your narrative! Who is over reacting? You take people being happy about the win and turn it into we all think the Bills are going to the Super Bowl.

[Ginger Vitis]

As of last Tuesday... Fletchies favourite website.. Football Outsiders had the Bills defense rated 5th in the NFL.. And after last nights performance the metric numbers FO uses will improve the Bills defensive stats

[kscdogbillsfan1221]

92 yards rushing allowed on the 5th ranked run offense in the league.. just saying

[BillsOwnAll]

Who's overreacting??? Do you love trolling for comments? There was maybe 2 threads started after the game the whole night. Sorry you hate when the bills win.

[Fletch]

There's a middle ground though, right? You don't have to be on one end of the spectrum or the other. It's doesn't have to be all doom and gloom, and it doesn't have to be all rainbows and ice cream. People can be satisfied with a solid win, and they can be critical when we underperform. This team has been sub-par for the last 15 years, what's wrong with being happy and excited when our team just played the most dominant game in recent memory?

That's a good question Joe, about the middle ground!

I guess that depends upon your expectations Joe. For 20 years now I've been desiring a team that is actually capable of competing with the best like our '90s Bills were. To date since then we've not had anything even close to that.

What we have had is opinionated fluff that often pumps this team up to levels that it does not deserve

what's wrong with being happy and excited when our team just played the most dominant game in recent memory?

There's nothing wrong with it. I was happy and excited last night.

But then using that game, the most dominant game in recent memory, really since just about a month ago when we pummeled the exact same team in similar fashion, to then develop a baseline or something akin to that, much less ranting about how our D is great when we were manhandled by Miami a couple of weeks ago, were absolutely decimated by the Pats, and haven't had, by sheer chance, had to play any of the top-15 offenses in the league to date, makes no sense whatsoever.

This was one of two very winnable games left on our schedule and one that had we lost would have been an embarassment, even under the circumstances in Detroit, more so had it been at home. But at the same time, clearly there was an emotional edge to help overcome the week in Buffalo due to all the pent up energy that I think ultimately worked in our favor, presumably you would agree.

So again, using that game as anything other than what it was, a huge win over a terribly poor team that's amongst the worst few in the league would be remiss. Especially since I've pointed out that against the Jets, a now 2-9 team that's beaten the Raiders as one of their two wins, we've averaged 40.5 ppg, whereas elsewhere we've averaged 17.4 ppg.

All this nonsense about our D being great hasn't been proven. Why, because we just held the hapless Jets to 3 points? When we were once again embarrassed by the Pats, worse than we were last season? I'm not seeing it. When we play the Pats and teams like them better I might start to get somewhat excited. We're going to find out what happens then and I'll bet you anything that this forum turns on this D and team during that stretch for that very reason.

I don't think that this D is anywhere near as good as we are hearing here. We'll find out though, very soon. If our D is really that great then we should have no trouble at all holding the Packers, Pats, and Broncos to less than their season averages. If that does not happen I think that it's high time for some realizations to start kicking in here. Wouldn't you agree? Or getting back to that perspective thing, would you be satisfied to just have our D be "great" against below average offenses while being below average against above average offenses? Because that won't cut it for me.

[Fletch]

Sorry you hate when the bills win.

Not at all. I thoroughly enjoyed the game last night. I did go to bed when we hit 31 since after that it was like watching the fight scene in Cool Hand Luke.

But I'm sorry if I don't share the notion here that our D is great or tops simply because we beat the Jets and had a great defensive night amidst almost unanimous agreement here that the Jets, who on top of not playing for anything, showed up completely unprepared.

I think the bigger question becomes why people such as yourself put so much credence into such a game when we still can't beat any teams slated to make the playoffs and when we haven't beaten a single above average offensive team so far this season. Granted, we've only played one, but shouldn't that be a clue as to why our offense might be in danger of being overrated?

[notacon]

this post is entirely sickening.

And 100% correct.

[The King]

We swept a division rival too. Pretty fun game to watch. God forbid we enjoy anything.

[Joe Fo Sho]

That's a good question Joe, about the middle ground!

I guess that depends upon your expectations Joe. For 20 years now I've been desiring a team that is actually capable of competing with the best like our '90s Bills were. To date since then we've not had anything even close to that.

What we have had is opinionated fluff that often pumps this team up to levels that it does not deserve





There's nothing wrong with it. I was happy and excited last night.

But then using that game, the most dominant game in recent memory, really since just about a month ago when we pummeled the exact same team in similar fashion, to then develop a baseline or something akin to that, much less ranting about how our D is great when we were manhandled by Miami a couple of weeks ago, were absolutely decimated by the Pats, and haven't had, by sheer chance, had to play any of the top-15 offenses in the league to date, makes no sense whatsoever.

This was one of two very winnable games left on our schedule and one that had we lost would have been an embarassment, even under the circumstances in Detroit, more so had it been at home. But at the same time, clearly there was an emotional edge to help overcome the week in Buffalo due to all the pent up energy that I think ultimately worked in our favor, presumably you would agree.

So again, using that game as anything other than what it was, a huge win over a terribly poor team that's amongst the worst few in the league would be remiss. Especially since I've pointed out that against the Jets, a now 2-9 team that's beaten the Raiders as one of their two wins, we've averaged 40.5 ppg, whereas elsewhere we've averaged 17.4 ppg.

All this nonsense about our D being great hasn't been proven. Why, because we just held the hapless Jets to 3 points? When we were once again embarrassed by the Pats, worse than we were last season? I'm not seeing it. When we play the Pats and teams like them better I might start to get somewhat excited. We're going to find out what happens then and I'll bet you anything that this forum turns on this D and team during that stretch for that very reason.

I don't think that this D is anywhere near as good as we are hearing here. We'll find out though, very soon. If our D is really that great then we should have no trouble at all holding the Packers, Pats, and Broncos to less than their season averages. If that does not happen I think that it's high time for some realizations to start kicking in here. Wouldn't you agree? Or getting back to that perspective thing, would you be satisfied to just have our D be "great" against below average offenses while being below average against above average offenses? Because that won't cut it for me.

Of course everyone wants this team to be great and dominant like it was in the early 90's. The problem is that teams like that are very few and far between. Setting the bar at 'dominant defense and offense against the best teams in the NFL' is an unrealistic goal. Have there ever been teams that do that? I don't have the stats, but I'm sure if you look at the top offenses and defenses in the NFL this year, there will be games where they have been below average. That's just how the NFL is now.

Everybody on this board understands that we won't be successful unless we can compete with the best the NFL has to offer, and that ultimately starts with the Patriots and winning our division. No, we haven't been close to that in a long time. Unfortunately, we probably won't have a chance at that until Brady retires or Belichick gets caught cheating again. It's disgusting to have to say that, but the same thing can be said for 90% of the NFL.

I think some people confuse optimism for the future with satisfaction with the present. I am willing to bet that the vast majority of this board are not satisfied with anything less than the playoffs. However, some people see optimism for the future and are willing to express that, while others see the same old Bills that show a bit of improvement one season only to regress back the following year. This is what makes talking about the Bills interesting. It's actually why message boards like this exist.

Until we're a top team in the NFL, there are always going to be people critical of every move this team does and people that like every move. Reasonably discussing these moves is the only things us fans can do. Me getting angry about every move I don't agree with doesn't help this team get to the playoffs.

[Fletch]

As of last Tuesday... Fletchies favourite website.. Football Outsiders had the Bills defense rated 5th in the NFL.. And after last nights performance the metric numbers FO uses will improve the Bills defensive stats

Yeah, I can't imagine why. Since apparently you missed it in one of my other high profile posts, here's some info. I'm curious if you don't think that this might impact a stat like that?

Here are the present rankings of the offenses that we've faced so far this season:

Yardage: 7th (L), 16th (W), 17th (sp lit - Miami), 18th (L), 20th (L), 21st (W), 23 rd (L) , 29th ( 2 W's - Jets), 30th (W)

Scoring: 1st (L), 10th (split - Miam i), 13th (L), 15th (L), 16th (L), 20th (W), 27th (W), 28th (W), 30th (2 L's - Jets)

Let me ask, do you really think that that's irrelevant in that ranking? If you do, then we should have no trouble at all stopping GB, Denver, and NE.

Otherwise, we held Chicago to within a point of their season scoring average, SD to their season average, Houston to over their season average, Detroit to 4 points below their season average with all but one of their offensive skill position starters out, who oh by the way posted a career day and the best day of his career, allowed NE 5 points over their season average, and held Minnesota to 2 points below their season average, in Buffalo. The only teams we've held to significantly below their season average are the Jets once, the Fins twice, and the Chiefs with three of those four being home games yesterday's strange but ultimately favorable circumstances aside.

Is that really as impressive as everyone is saying? Most people will ignore that, but it's to their own detriment. That's very relevant information to incorporate into this discussion.

[Fletch]

We swept a division rival too. Pretty fun game to watch. God forbid we enjoy anything.

I don't believe that I was referring to enjoying the game which I did myself. I specifically, I thought obviously, was referring to this ridiculous overemphasis on our D being great.

[Fletch]

Put your *****ish ways aside for a day and enjoy a great win.

I enjoyed the game. I'm not going to make a mountain over a win against a team against which it would have been utterly embarrassing to have lost to and a loss that had it occurred would have given cause for the AMA to send a team of doctors over to the forum to begin the intravenous administration of psychotropic anti-depressant drugs.

[Novacane]

Yeah, I can't imagine why. Since apparently you missed it in one of my other high profile posts, here's some info.

High profile post. That's classic

- - - Updated - - -

I enjoyed the game. I'm not going to make a mountain over a win against a team against which it would have been utterly embarrassing to have lost to and a loss that had it occurred would have given cause for the AMA to send a team of doctors over to the forum to begin the intravenous administration of psychotropic anti-depressant drugs.

No one else is either. That's why this thread is stupid!