FanPost

Comparison of 2003 Bills and 2012 Bills


I saw somewhere someone brought up this idea of how similar 2003 and 2012 .... so I looked into some of it and there really are a lot of similarities .... I just hope the 2012 version can find a way to succeed with the higher expectations unlike the 2003 Bills who after a strong 2-0 start blowing out both NE and Jacksonville finished the season a disappointing 6-10 and out of the playoffs yet again

2003

The year prior in 2002 we finished the season 8-8 …. the offense was very effective ranking 11th in both yards and points while the defense struggled ranking 15th and 27th … Bledsoe had a very good season throwing for 4359 yards with 24 touchdowns and 15 ints .... both Moulds and Henry had over 1,000 yard seasons .... and all three went to the pro bowl …. we also had what looked to be some nice bookend OT's with Jonas Jennings and Mike Williams .... we did lose a few guys that offseason in Peerless, Larry Centers and Reimersma …. There were questions about whether the #2 WR shoes could be filled by a young Josh Reed but overall there was a lot of excitement and high expectations with our offense .... and then defensively we made some significant additions …. We added Sam Adams to go with Pat Williams and Aaron Schobel ... grabbed Takeo Spikes to go with London Fletcher and brought over Lawyer Milloy to join a secondary that already had Winfield, Clements, and a young McGee .... That’s 3 pro bowl caliber players added to the defense …. In all honesty I would say there was actually more to be excited about that year when you look back at it …

2012

Fast forward to today… we are coming off a 6-10 year … offensively we looked to be much improved finishing 14th in both yards and points while defensively we were awful overall finishing 30th in both points and yards ….. Fitzpatrick is coming off a season where he threw for 3800 yards with 24 touchdowns and 23 ints and looked really good for half of the year ..... you have a very talented WR in Stevie coming off back to back 1,000 yard seasons …. and we a good backfield with Freddie and CJ who combined for about 1500 yards rushing and 700 yards receiving and 12 touchdowns ….. the Oline looks to be solid anchored by Wood and Levitre inside .... Again though there is a significant question about who will be the #2 WR .... On the defensive side we made some significant moves as well ….. we have added Mario Williams and Mark Anderson to join Marcel Dareus and Kyle Williams .... we also added Stephon Gilmore to join a good safety duo with Byrd and Wilson .... and there's alot of excitement around Wannstedt and the new 4-3 defense
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In 2003 the defense lived up to its billing going from 27 and 15 in yards and points to 5th and 2nd overall the following year…. Its the offense that let us down and specifically Bledsoe and the passing attack .... Henry actually rushed for over 1300 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2003 ...... but Bledsoe finished with a measly 2800 yards with 11 touchdowns and 12 ints as the offense fell all the way to 30th overall in points and yards

Telltale sign of just how important Fitz’s play will be this year .... If he plays like he did the second half of last year it won't matter how good our defense is we will end up in the same spot we have for the last decade .... on the outside of the playoffs looking in

Just another great fan opinion shared on the pages of BuffaloRumblings.com.