Worse than last year?

I agree with absolutely everything you said. Great post, thorough and well reasoned. IF we can avoid injuries this year (which is also be aided by our new staff) then I don’t see how we can finish below .500. We were only 2 games below that last year with so many issues it was almost mind boggling. Again, great post and rec’d!

Answer is no. Question is does it really matter at this point. Everyone’s question should be are we really worse than the Patriots, Dolphins and Jets. IMO the answer is the same, NO.

I understand the reference but we need to focus on divisional opponents, not next offseason’s draft order. A common theme here.

I agree with the vast majority of your post. On the negative side, I am very concerned with the OLB position and with the subtraction of Schobel and the conversion to the 3-4 I have to say at this point we have regressed in the outside pass rush. But on the positive side, I believe we will have vastly improved on the interior defense against the run. Our inability to stop the run kept our defense on the field far too long and they eventually caved in the 4th quarter. This was the major focus of our draft and free agent signings but gets very little attention in the national media. That improvement alone will keep us more competitive than last year. On paper we have a brutal away schedule which will make it tough to improve upon last year’s record but that’s on paper. I truly believe that Chan is bringing a tough hard-nosed attitude to this team which was really lacking previously. This was a long winded response to say no we really aren’t at the bottom of the barrel in this league. I remain cautiously optimistic and look forward to proving all of the talking heads wrong. Good post and rec’d

Allot of your points are covered by the summary of stating they are status quo or improved. Safe analysis because we haven’t played as a team yet, but I agree with the coaching here. We have all mentioned at one time or another that we have been dormant in this offseason compared to past seasons. The key to our offseason is the hire of Chan Gailey and his back ground in the NFL. He is our big splash in 2010 whether it creates waves with in our division may take a couple years but we know where the splash occurred.

He also knows the teams and personnel in our division very well. This can not be ignored. The question is can he mold our players into the roles they will be required to play in 2010. Is our talent on the roster good enough for him to make the transition and is his staff capable of following his lead. Strength on defense goes to the coaching IMO and the talent is there it’s just a matter of learning new roles and assignments, then the execution.

This is a no brain-er. All these young guys, one year longer is one year stronger at this point, but this also the biggest area of improvement needed. You can slice it any way you want but actually our running offense was just as sad as our passing offense last season. The o-line was never really any good at any one thing last season. They were better in some areas over other areas but still never very good at one single aspect. A 1,000 yard rusher over a sixteen game season should be a given at this level, with backs like we have we should have two of them with a 1,000 yards. It’s gotta start up front.

Most critical need. Are we looking for a franchise QB or a God? How has Tiger survived the Travis Henry syndrome…….Protection. Manning and Brady survived because of protection along with their elite intangibles. Rodgers and Schaub are very gifted as well but need to run for their life more than the other two due to lack of protection, similar to Travis Henry. We need an upgrade here at QB, but it will be much easier to find, teach and grow that QB when some of our other ducks are in a row.

I see where your coming from and Rec’d. Very valid points in that we haven’t really lost much this year from last year (minus a very lazy t.o. And an aging Aaron schobel). I’m not really worried about our offense at all being worse than last year’s. Gailey knows talent when he sees it and can put that talent in position to make plays.

I wanted to use stats from Gailey’s playoff years to show what he can do with a talented but misguided team. In 1997 the Cowboys were coming off a 6-10 season in which they finished at the bottom of the NFC East. Their offense was ranked 22nd in the league, and their -4 turnover differential was good for 22nd as well. Gailey came in and took them to 10-6 and a wildcard berth. The next season, his team went 8-8, prompting Jerry Jones to fire him (which, as I said, he still regrets doing). Gailey went to Miami to be the OC, as they already had a HC, and in one year he made mediocre Jay Fiedler into a top-tier quarterback.

Special teams won’t be a factor in the adjustment period, as shown in a recent article on buffalobills.com (http://www.buffalobills.com/news/article-3/13—-Will-special-teams-have-a-different-approach/d6a809d9-3e9e-44cb-8498-6a6a347539a5). Although I agree that there will be an adjustment period, I think it will only lie with the defense, as the offense, imo, will be immediately adequate by recent Bills standards. Also, we’ve had a fairly tough schedule the past few years anyways, so I don’t see this tough schedule as some “new” obstacle.

I agree that the Bills won’t be at the bottom of the barrel this year. I think they’re too veteran and mediocre at QB and have too solid of a defense to be a real candidate for the first overall pick. Here’s a fun fact, the Oakland Raiders are the only team to end up with the first overall pick that didn’t finish in the bottom three in points given up per game in the last decade. And that was the 2006 season where they struggled to run the ball and Aaron Brooks, Andrew Walter and Marques Tuiasosopo combined to throw 7 TDs, 24 INTs and were sacked 72 times. Buffalo won’t be the worst team in the league this year.

Where I disagree is that the team can’t be worse than last year. Everybody loves to blame the scheme and the coaches for the lack of run defense, but nobody ever gives that same scheme and those same coaches credit for the great pass defenses. If switching to the 3-4 were some magic cure for run defense, why wouldn’t every single team in the NFL run it? The Bills have been using an extremely pass D friendly scheme under Jauron. Does anybody really think that the Bills will hold opposing QBs to the 2nd lowest completion percentage in the league? Or intercept the 2nd most passes? The Bills were easily the 2nd best statistical pass D in the league last year. And if people think that McGee, Florence, Corner, Wilson, Whtiner and Byrd were the entire reason why and think they will do it again this year, then I think those people are nuts. The Bills are in line for a massive regression in pass defense.

I’m also not sure how losing Schobel is maintaining the status quo in pass rush. He was our pass rush last year. He had 10 sacks, twice as many as Chris Kelsay, our 2nd leading pass rusher and more than 30% of the team’s sacks. I’m not sure how to describe the Bills’ group of pass rushers (WIlliams, Carrington, Maybin, Kelsay, Mitchell, Torbor and the backup OLBs) as anything other than one of the worst groups of pass rushers in the league. That’s not status quo, that’s considerably worse than last year.

The last thing to consider is that while the Bills improved this offseason, that’s the exact same argument that all the other bad teams and their fans are trying to use to justify how they will improve this year. The Bills went 6-10, but got lucky with the timing of the schedule with the Colts win. The Bills really should have been a 5-11 team. Looking at teams who did worse than that, won’t Washington be a better team than Buffalo with a revamped OL and Donovan McNabb? I think the Raiders are a better team with Campbell at QB and a bunch of key defensive additions (McClain, Wimbley, John Henderson, Lamar Houston). I see more teams poised to pass the Bills in the standings than there are teams that finished ahead of Buffalo who might finish behind them this year.

and see my comments above in response to your comment here

Talent-wise these guys have got it all. Just look at what they were able to do last season with a front seven generating very little pressure. That’s flat out good cover skills and coaching. We will be relying on this unit again this season to produce and put up numbers even when there’s a lack of pass rush.

It would be a major upset if Buffalo isn’t drafting in the top 5 this year. I honestly think they’ll be battling Tampa Bay for the number one pick come December based on Buffalo’s roster.