(I will have two reviews for the season. This will be the death knell version while a happy version is on docket for later this week)
Where were you?
Where were you when the Bills last made the playoffs? I was working at my parent's pizza place during the "Music City Miracle" and I'll always remember how the phone didn't ring once during the 2nd half. My assumption was because people normally get their food prior to halftime, so, I was able to sit there and watch my Super Bowl dream get torn to pieces for the final time.
After the "Music City Miracle" happened, I got up and punched the alarm box of the pizzeria, which of course set the whole thing off like it was in a 5-alarm fire. Cops called and I recited the password and just told them that I got angry after the Bills got jobbed by the Titans. The operator said something along the lines of "There's always next year!". Yeah..always next year. 14 years later, the alarm is still sounding for the Bills.
14 years of back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back years without playoffs. It has been almost 10 years since the Bills finished with a .500 record. They have finished dead last in their division for 6 straight years. They have the 3rd most losses since 2010 in the NFL. Over that same timeframe, they have beaten just two teams above .500 and have just 6 road wins in their last 32 roadies. Forget the 14 years without playoffs stat. The damn team is only 2 years away from celebrating their 20th anniversary of their last playoff win and division title!
This year, they lost to three teams that had a combined 12-36 record. They lost to two teams that fired their coaches. But hey, at least they beat Carolina! Oh, do you want to find the nearest toilet and barf up the Shout song? Not yet. I got five more reasons to beg for this team to move to Toronto. Welcome..you just made it through year 14 of no playoffs. How on Earth did we get to this point?
5) Is the defense overrated?– I've always used the example that when you are a Buffalo fan, it probably isn't in the best interest to compare what the previous regimes or players had accomplished because the bar by them was set sooooooooo low. The Dave Wannstedt, George Edwards and Dick Jauron/Perry Fewell defenses were awful. There was nothing to really grab onto besides some decent years from Byrd and Kyle Williams. By comparison, when you look at the Bills sacks and forced turnovers this year, you'd think they were the "Steel Curtain" in comparison to those terrible units. However, when you dive in further, as much as the defense made strides, there are still a lot of unbecoming numbers.
—The Bills allowed 14 passing plays of 40-yards or more (5th most in the league).
—They gave up the 5th most rushing yards this season, while allowing a bunch of obscure running backs to add to the total.
—They allowed 19 runs of 20 yards or more (Tops in the league).
—They allowed the 13th most points in the league.
—They allowed the 13th most TD passes this season.
—The Bills went 0-5 against offenses that ranked in the top 15. They allowed 30 points per game in those losses and gave up an average of 421 yards in total offense.
For crap sakes, the Jets had almost 500 yards in total offense in week 3!? Yes, I'm still bitter because I spent 80 bucks for those tickets and had to see Jets fans celebrate. In other words, the Bills defense made a lot of big plays, but they also gave up a ton of big plays. What do they say, you live and die by blitz? Guess so.
4) Offensive line regression- Look, I'm not a football scholar. I have no clue what makes the offensive line work. Coaching, QB, running game, scheme or fatter lineman. Pick your damn argument and there's always a counter to it. The bottom line is that the Bills offensive line regressed in comparison to the last 3 seasons under Gailey. The Bills gave up 48 sacks this season, the most they have given up since Drew Bledsoe was getting killed back in 2003. Keep in mind the Bills only attempted an average of 32 throws a game, which ranked 24th in the league. If you do the math, Bills' QBs were sacked once every 10 throws. Not good.
According to NFL.com, the Bills gave up the 12th most negative rushing plays on the right side, the 10th most negative rushing plays to the inside, and the 3rd most negative rushing plays on the left side…which gives you a grand total of…50 negative rushing plays. Last year, that number was at 37. Well, at least they weren't dead last. You can blame Spiller on running to the outside all you want, but seriously, a running back of his caliber doesn't average less than 3 yards a carry in six games this season without a little help from the crappy run blocking.
Oh, and there's Andy Levitre's replacement of Colin Brown (Bagging groceries at Wegmans presently) and Doug Legursky. As the usual, the Bills decide to play Moneyball and let their guys walk and replace them with a street free agent who blows.
Lastly, and this is from PFF, Eric Wood – who I happen to think is vastly overrated, but because he's quotable and looks like the kid in "Bad Santa" gets a pass in this town- is ranked as the 28th best center in the NFL. At least Kraig Urbik makes the top 20 for guards. Yeah..Chan Gailey and Andy Levitre are laughing somewhere.
3) The Offseason may suck ass- It isn't a good thing when your pro bowl safety decides to send hugs and kisses to his teammates and fans via Twitter. If the Bills decide to franchise Byrd, I can totally see the guy not reporting until at least week 6 or whatever the limit is. I just have a bad feeling it isn't going to go smoothly with him expecting another franchise tag or if the Bills would be willing to give him that franchise tag rate. On top of the Byrd mystery, we are also at a defcon 4 with Stevie Johnson. Johnson's cap hit next year is at 8.5 million and although cutting him won't save much on the cap, I don't know if the Bills would be willing to pay almost 7 million to him. I'd keep him and add another guy, but we know the Bills have always been a business and Stevie is coming off a disappointing season.
Then you have CJ Spiller. His contract is up after next year and I'm not exactly down with giving any running back a 2nd contract to begin with. The top 8 paid running backs in this league make between 7.5 and 13 million bucks. Darren McFadden made 10-million bucks this year for crap sakes. Sorry, but I'm not giving CJ or any running back that kind of money. So, will the Bills trade him? Will the Bills decide to give him an extension at some point? It could get dicey.
Brace yourself, but three fan favorites could be gone next year.
2) The Passing game was whack- Yes or no answer and with a gun to my head… "Do I think the Bills have a franchise QB?" The answer is no. Of course, I still believe that QBs are an investment and you can't cash them in after their rookie year. You gotta wait at least 2 seasons. But there's no denying, the Bills passing game was pretty meh this season.
—The Bills didn't have a 300-yard passer for the first time since 2009.
—The Bills were 30th in TD passes with 16.
—The Bills were 28th in passing yards.
—The Bills were 22nd in passing plays of 20+ yards.
—The Bills were 28th in QB rating.
—The Bills leading receiver (Scott Chandler) was 62nd and 60th in the league in catches and receiving yards.
Outside of the 2nd half of the Carolina game, the 2nd Jets game, and quarters 2-4 against the Jags, the passing game was pretty bleak for the most part. As for EJ Manuel, I think he was average for a rookie QB, but when it came to NFL QB standards, it was pretty bad.
PFF had EJ ranked as the 40th best QB in the league this season. He was ranked 31st in deep ball accuracy and 22nd in throwing under pressure. This isn't rocket science when it comes to football, but if you want to make the playoffs and do damage, you gotta know how to throw the football. Until the Bills figure this out, they won't be taken seriously in the NFL.
1) AGAIN!?- Just once I'd wish to come home for the Holidays and watch meaningful football games and not have to argue about losing out for a high pick or other silly platitudes. On Sunday night, I was having dinner at some retaliative's house when we were debating whether we should watch the Sabres or Bills game. About 10 different times the phrase "Who cares!? Both teams are out of it!" came up. I'm sick of that. I'm sick of young kids thinking that the only reason to go venture to a Bills games is because they can get demolished by funneling Jack out of Pinto Kenny's Bowling ball. That's not what I grew up with. My older sister and her friends didn't get wasted during tailgates so they can forget how Jim Kelly threw 6TDs against Pittsburgh.
I loved the Bills because they were winning and they had so many good players in the 90s.
Yet, I've been a master when it comes to writing about how great the 90s were. Last year I wrote a poetic sonnet about my first Bills' game. It received pretty decent reviews from a number of readers. It was stoic. A days of Yore type of piece where it seemed the football world was perfect. It was a time when fans were kind and their was just a sense of unity. Hope was high and there was no such thing as #becauseitsbuffalo or fighting over EJ Manuel not playing in a meaningless game.
It was more than a piece talking about how I wanted you to relive what I went through as a kid. It was about going to that happy place where I think great things are going to happen based on a fun past. I've retold those Kelly years like I'm a father retelling the tales of hitting a game-winning homerun in Little League to show that he had an athletic prime when he now weighs in at 300lbs.
The 90s gives you hope of being able to recapture your youth. It is the element of hope. The element of billiving in which we can point to a time worth living as a Bills fan.
Then it all went wrong. Again. The season opener happened. Adversity hits and then you start pretending it will eventually get better and the old "Circling the wagons" Bills are right by my side.
Yet, I know it's only in my mind and I'm just living a dream. For crap sakes, we were trying to talk ourselves into playoffs when the team was 4-7. What sick, sad football world do we live in?
14 years. 14 years of no playoffs. 14 years of replaying what yester years were like in order to push me through with believing that the darkness would subside. I don't know about you, but it sucks when your hope is ripped apart and your football dream is torn to pieces.
It becomes impossible to just close your eyes and picture going to games with your dad or sister and thinking we will get there again. It becomes fake. A stupid dream that resembles a sports movie that always ends on a high note. Sadly, Bills football doesn't intimidate the arts.
When the season is over. The hope is gone. The football team is just a football team. The stadium is just a stadium. Orchard Park is just a town that no one will probably go to unless they live there. The fans you high-five with during games in the 90s are nothing more than strangers or drunks.
I love the Bills, but all these years going by have turned me into a pessimistic asshole, in which the only way I can shake it is by going back to being a kid and reliving the good times. It feels like being in a bad marriage in which your wife/husband treated you well at the start of it, but the last 20 years have been hell, but you keep going back to the hopeless romantic, shivery tale you lived through at the start.
Well, I'm kind of over that. I'm sick of living in the past. I'm sick of talking about how the old days used to be. The Bills were mediocre in 2013. They were terrible last year and the year before and so forth.
Sometimes, you may have to come to the realization that the Bills will never be good. Ever. The times, the history, the facts tell you it is the case. The Bills 14 years of terror have turned my Bills dream into a nightmare. A nightmare that I'm starting to wake up from. Now..You can go and barf the shout song into the nearest toilet.
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