Bare with me as I attempt to be as positive as possible. The Buffalo Bills changed Head Coach, General Manager, Quarterback and yes, their owner is still 150 years old. Change has come in Buffalo but the question remains whether or not they will ever return to notoriety never mind a winning record. What I can tell you is that I’m optimistic because it’s really the only way I can feel. I didn’t like Chan Gailey, couldn’t stand Ryan Fitzpatrick.
I could dig deep into every position on the team but I just don’t have the energy. With that in mind I present to you the positives and negatives that will impact this team this year:
Can EJ turn this franchise around.
Positives:
New coach, new general manager and new quarterback. Now I know that the coach and quarterback were picked by the old GM, but whatever, he’s gone now. And, yes I know that the new GM was hand picked by the old GM, but whatever, he’s gone now. No Chan Gailey, No Ryan Fitzpatrick and definitely no Buddy Nix.
New defensive coordinator. Mike Pettine is a Rex Ryan guy so we’ll see something new on defense. The Bills should be aggressive this year on defense which is nice since they’ve been about as aggressive as my 85 year old grandmother. And since it’s not Dave Wannstedt it’s an instant upgrade.
Can CJ Spiller stay health and produce?
Strength of schedule. Though it doesn’t mean much, they have have the 26th strongest schedule in the NFL. That should make for some optimism, right?
CJ Spiller, EJ Manuel and the hope of an offense that can move the ball without turning it over constantly in the second half. This is the reason I’m going to watch. To see these two guys along with Stevie Johnson, Fred Jackson and the young core of wide receivers score some points. My hope is that it’s exciting to watch and that we can stay in some games with our offense because…
The negatives:
Jairus Byrd doesn’t want to be in Buffalo and isn’t playing. This should have been taken care of in the off-season. They should have signed Byrd to an extension instead of slapping the franchise tag on him and then ignoring him all off season. He came to camp late, had plantar fasciitis and wants to be traded. Real good way to start the season with your best defensive player.
Stephon Gilmore is out half the season with a broken wrist. That means that the two best players in our secondary won’t see the field for a while. The Bills are going to have to rely a lot on rookies to get the job done and that’s not a good thing.
The offensive line is a bunch of question marks. While there are a few returning starters, there’s a bunch of guys we are relying on to protect our rookie QB. Not something I’m excited about but at this point, we’re kind of locked in.
They’re still owned by a 150 year old man who doesn’t seem to have any idea what’s going on. The Bills would be better served with ownership that actually wanted to team to be successful and doesn’t have trouble going to the bathroom everyday. There are people that want to see the Bills succeed and for them to stay in Buffalo long-term they need ownership committed to keeping them there and making them competitive again. Right now, that’s not the case. They’re hanging on by the skin of their teeth starting anew again, just a few years after Chan Gailey came to turn things around.
It’s very tough to see this team turning thing around any time soon. While hope springs eternal in Buffalo every time there’s a new coach, more and more people are losing faith in this organization. A win today vs. New England would turn heads and get people interested again, but long-term success and winning is what needs to happen for this organization to survive.
The Buffalo Bills are 2-18 against the Patriots in the last 10 years. The first win was why I’m optimistic today. The Bills opened the season in Buffalo against the Patriots. The Pats had recently released Lawyer Milloy and the Bills scooped him up prior to the start of the season. The Bills blew the Patriots out 31-0 and I had bragging rights for about 3 weeks. This year, the Pats come in after a tumultuous off-season, new and inexperienced players on the offensive side of the ball and a defense that is typically with its question marks. They still have Tom Brady but the Bills have optimism. I’ll miss the first half of the game but if the Bills can stick around they might have a puncher’s chance in this one.
Bills season expectations: 7-9 (3-3 in the AFC East) Wins against the Patriots, Browns, Dolphins, Jets, Jaguars, Chiefs and the Jets again. No playoffs, but a renewed hope in this team. Let’s Go Buffalo!