Convince me that the FO didn't intentionally tank this season.....

[trapezeus]

no one said it was a career threatener. the point is that the bills missed it and he was supposed to fill an immediate need where Mario mailed it in. our d took a huge step with a guy at 50%. his replacement wont be there. to me it seems like 2016 isn't going to well and its largely self inflicted

[Skooby]

no one said it was a career threatener. the point is that the bills missed it and he was supposed to fill an immediate need where Mario mailed it in. our d took a huge step with a guy at 50%. his replacement wont be there. to me it seems like 2016 isn't going to well and its largely self inflicted

Mario was long gone in camp last season, he was nothing but a distraction and it bled over into the season. He was completely useless and it hurt us, then add in the loss of Kyle / few other things and it was a total disaster. I'm assuming that based on health, we will be better out of the gate & should improve year 2 into the system while adding talent.

[feldspar]

Mario was long gone in camp last season, he was nothing but a distraction and it bled over into the season. He was completely useless and it hurt us, then add in the loss of Kyle / few other things and it was a total disaster. I'm assuming that based on health, we will be better out of the gate & should improve year 2 into the system while adding talent.

Yeah, Kyle Williams AND Aaron Williams were gone for most of the year, and that's huge. Mario definitely mailed it in. Jerry Hughes played with a chipped bone in his left wrist ever since week two.

People should remember how lucky the Bills were with injuries in 2014.

Plus, Rex was pussy-footing around with truly installing his defense last year...understandable at first considering the previous year's success, but that turned out to be a mistake.

Now we have Ragland, Washington, and Lawson at some point. Also some dark horses. We'll see what those guys do this year. But I'm optimistic that the defense will improve significantly this year, and I don't feel the need to again explain why to all the circling humps out there. I can't believe how many negative *****es of Bills fans want to go off the deep in on these forums this offseason.

[YardRat]

Saying the defense is going to improve over '15 isn't really a bold contention, it's kind of like saying the '15 offense is going to be better than the '14...it really can't get much worse, and the only place to go is up.

[Mace]

Saying the defense is going to improve over '15 isn't really a bold contention, it's kind of like saying the '15 offense is going to be better than the '14...it really can't get much worse, and the only place to go is up.

Tough call, while Rex was taking the Bills to new depths in sack totals, Rob was plunging the Saints pretty low in about everything. It really can get worse.

[Night Train]

Tanks don't work well with 3 game winning streaks and San Fran coming up next..

Maybe seasons aren't decided...in MAY !

[OpIv37]

Tanks don't work well with 3 game winning streaks and San Fran coming up next..

Maybe seasons aren't decided...in MAY !

Seasons aren't decided in October either. I made a list in another thread of all the times we stated 2-2 or better only to choke in the long run. There were like 12 since 2003.

At this point, it looks like I may have underestimated the talent level on this team (of course, that could still change).

I will say this, though, and it's the reason I think this team will never win under Rex: we still make too many mistakes. Dumb personal fouls, missed extra points, drops, missing wide open WRs, not hitting WR's in stride, 12 men on the field, using timeouts early in the 2nd half....we got away with that crap against LA. We won't get away with it against teams like NE, Seattle, Pittsburgh, Cincy etc.

[PromoTheRobot]

Ok, maybe "intentionally tank" is harsh and "completely dismiss" is more accurate.... but....

During last season's spending, they put us dangerously close to the cap knowing two OL starters would be FA's. They basically knew we would be EXTREMELY limited in what we could do in FA because of the cap situation, and if they didn't, they should all be fired for cause because the Internet is loaded with amateur "capologists" who knew this would happen.

On top of that, they take a draft pick with a known injury who will miss half the season. Even if he does play, he won't be effective because a) he will be coming in as a rookie mid-season with limited conditioning and b) the Bills will be out of contention before he sets foot on the field. Don't get me wrong- I didn't know much about him before the draft, but every single thing I've read about him has been positive and the overwhelming majority of the sports media has taken a time out from their usual "pick-on-the-easy-target" mentality to compliment the pick. I think he will be a contributor that justifies the pick in time.

That being said, the FO put us in a position where we could not improve via FA because of the salary cap. That means our next best chance to improve was our first round draft pick, and they take a guy with a known injury issue despite not being able to improve in FA. And we were 8-8 last year so clearly, improvement is needed.

Meanwhile, this team is going to have an incredible amount of cap space available next off-season. Give me an argument as to how the FO did not completely write off the 2016 season, because I see nothing to suggest they are actually trying to win this year.

Still taking responses?

[ublinkwescore]

Brandon Spikes is back with the bills...

[OpIv37]

Still taking responses?

Don't talk smack prematurely

2002- 5-3 start, 8-8 finish
2003- 2-0 start, 6-10 finish
2005- Started 0-2, got to 3-3, finished 5-11
2006- Started 2-2, 5-11 finish
2008- Started 4-0, got to 5-1, finished 7-9
2011- Started 3-0, got to 4-1, finished 6-10
2013- Started 2-2, finished 6-10
2014- Started 2-2, finished with a winning record of 9-7 but still didn't make the playoffs.
2015- Started 3-2, finished 8-8
(oh, and the years I omitted weren't omitted because they were good. They were omitted because they were dumpster fires from week 1).

[swiper]

Seasons aren't decided in October either. I made a list in another thread of all the times we stated 2-2 or better only to choke in the long run. There were like 12 since 2003.

At this point, it looks like I may have underestimated the talent level on this team (of course, that could still change).

I will say this, though, and it's the reason I think this team will never win under Rex: we still make too many mistakes. Dumb personal fouls, missed extra points, drops, missing wide open WRs, not hitting WR's in stride, 12 men on the field, using timeouts early in the 2nd half....we got away with that crap against LA. We won't get away with it against teams like NE, Seattle, Pittsburgh, Cincy etc.

You can call tank on the Sabres after 40 games played, but you cannot call it on an NFL team after just 4 games. I think that was the point of some of the other posters.

[swiper]

Don't talk smack prematurely

2002- 5-3 start, 8-8 finish
2003- 2-0 start, 6-10 finish
2005- Started 0-2, got to 3-3, finished 5-11
2006- Started 2-2, 5-11 finish
2008- Started 4-0, got to 5-1, finished 7-9
2011- Started 3-0, got to 4-1, finished 6-10
2013- Started 2-2, finished 6-10
2014- Started 2-2, finished with a winning record of 9-7 but still didn't make the playoffs.
2015- Started 3-2, finished 8-8
(oh, and the years I omitted weren't omitted because they were good. They were omitted because they were dumpster fires from week 1).

None of those years qualifies as a tank. A tank is zero to 2 wins (or so). A tank is intentional losing with the intention of securing the top (or one of the top) draft picks(s) next year.

[DesertFox24]

Why is it impossible to just be happy we are 3-2. This is the result of blogs and message boards everyone wants to be right instead of just enjoying the present for once.

Let's all just hope they can keep it up and be 5-2 when we play NE again. I will feel this team is a playoff team if we are 6-3 after our Monday night game.

[justasportsfan]

Don't talk smack prematurely

but you created this thread prematurely?????


but I agree as far as saying it's too early...to go both ways. This team is neither here nor there.

[Generalissimus Gibby]

but you created this thread prematurely?????


but I agree as far as saying it's too early...to go both ways. This team is neither here nor there.

Exactly. However, I think we will know a bit better regarding whether or not this team is just another joke by our tenth game. If we can go at least 3-2 in our next five I think wins v. Miami, Cleveland, New Jersey, and Jacksonville are very possible. Oh well, one week at a time. These next two teams are teams we should beat. Let's hope they don't slump or get gnawed by the injury bug because we could just as easily go 1-4 or 0-5. So yeah wins over Frisco, Miami, and at least one of three of that nasty New England, Seattle, Cincy stretch would put us in decent shape to make a run at the playoffs. Oh well time will tell.

[justasportsfan]

Exactly. However, I think we will know a bit better regarding whether or not this team is just another joke by our tenth game. If we can go at least 3-2 in our next five I think wins v. Miami, Cleveland, New Jersey, and Jacksonville are very possible. Oh well, one week at a time. These next two teams are teams we should beat. Let's hope they don't slump or get gnawed by the injury bug because we could just as easily go 1-4 or 0-5. So yeah wins over Frisco, Miami, and at least one of three of that nasty New England, Seattle, Cincy stretch would put us in decent shape to make a run at the playoffs. Oh well time will tell.

As time goes on , it's starting to look like we should've beaten the ravens and jets but lost to. Then again, the Brady less Pats and Keenum led Rams are also teams we should've beaten and did . The Cards are the "?" as to whether they were a team we weren't supposed to beat but did beat.

So this team is neither here nor there.

The next few teams ahead that you mentioned are teams we should beat.

[OpIv37]

but you created this thread prematurely?????


but I agree as far as saying it's too early...to go both ways. This team is neither here nor there.

I created this thread to show the FO made 2016 a carbon copy of 2015. So far, the limited moves they were able to make looked like absolute crap the first 2 games but have paid off the last 3.