Another year, another Bills losing season.
I gotta say, during the 7-game losing streak, I was about as defeated as a Bills fan as you can get. The losses mounted and the old swan songs of past storylines (Ralph Wilson, 12 years of no playoffs, and hating life as a Bills fan) reared its ugly head. Finally, the season has ended.
Like every year, fans are probably at their breaking point by January. The Bills go home and you watch 12 other teams battle in the playoffs. It’s like being at a wedding and you are the 40-year old single girl who is envious of anyone that has someone. However, and this is like clockwise, you will start getting excited around free agency time…and then the draft…and then training camp. You get yourself in a place where you kind of forget about what happened the year before.
You take a look at the roster and try looking for silver linings in order to get to a place where you feel confident that this could be the year the Bills end the 12-year losing streak. It’s like being drunk at the bar and your eyeing a girl out and even though they have a few holes, you try and figure out ways to give that person a makeover in order to bring home to mom. Alright, enough of the stupid comparisons. If we can plug in this or that hole, we could do damage.
This post is dedicated to the bright spots for this past season. Your guide for those sleepless nights where you want to kill your wife because she’s happy her hometown team is going to the playoffs or some douchey Pats fan at your work thinks they own us.
This will be your form to pull out when other fans talk junk about the Bills 6-10 record. Did you know that we allowed the least amount of sacks? Did you know that the season started going downhill when all the injuries happened? Or that Fred Jackson was a MVP candidate? Hey, that 2011 Draft class played a few downs and actually did something. So, without further ado, here are five reasons to feel good about the Bills season.
5) 2011 Draft class: Alright, I mentioned it in my predictions review piece that I’m not a big fan of sucking up to draft classes after one season. When it comes to the kids for both teams (Sabres and Bills), fans are so desperate for new blood. Its like being at the town bar for 365 days and 12 straight years and you are looking at the same girls, but when a new girl comes in, it don’t matter what she looks like because she’s different. The 2011 class was different, but are they any good?
Marcell Dareus was probably our best 1st round pick since Lee Evans in 2004. He wasn’t a game-breaker like some had hoped, but when you compare what he did as a rookie, you have to be impressed. When comparing him to Von Miller’s impact, keep in mind that Denver’s defense has more parts than we have. Dareus’ 5.5 sacks were the most by a Bills rookie since Aaron Schobel in 2001. Can you imagine what he will do with Kyle Williams back and a possible outside rusher? Damage.
As for the other rookies, Aaron Williams was probably our most consistent cornerback when he actually got on the field. Yes, he got burned, but he also made some nice pass break ups. Kelvin Sheppard was definitely an upgrade over Andra Davis and if the Bills go to a 4-3 with Dareus and Williams inside, you can bet a number of holes/gaps will open up for him to make tackles and plays. Chris Hairston to be me was probably the most underrated of the group. I mean, the guy started at Right tackle against the furious pass rush of the Giants, Redskins and Eagles and more than held his own. I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, in order for the Bills to make the playoffs, they HAVE to hit on their draft picks. This is not a “Throw money at free agents” type of team.
4) Injuries: I’m not a fan of coaches/GMs who come out and say the following statement: “I don’t wanna make excuses, but we lost this number of players to injuries.” Um, dude, you just made the excuse. However, since this a apologist guide, let’s run with it. When you consider that the Bills lost their best offensive player (Fred Jackson), best defensive player (Kyle Williams), best offensive lineman (Eric Wood) best pass rusher (Shawne Merriman) and a bunch of other guys, it may not be that shocking that the team went in the tank with a 7-game losing streak.
The Bills played their best football up until the Giants game. At that point, besides Kyle Williams, everyone else was healthy. Once everyone started to get hurt, the teams fortunes turned upside down. By last count, the Bills had 17 players on IR. The only players who started every game this year were Marcell Dareus, Nick Barnett, Andy Levitre, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Brian Moorman and Jairus Byrd. For crap’s sake, they were down to their third place kicker?! What if all these players remained healthy? Look at what happened with Chicago and Jay Cutler? Something tells me the 7-game skid wouldn’t have happened.
3) The offense got better: To echo Mark Gaughan’s column, holy cow, the Bills didn’t finish in the bottom third in scoring! Ryan Fitzpatrick’s 3,822 yards passing was the 3rd most in Bills history for a season (Drew Bledsoe 2002 and Jim Kelly 1991 are ranked 1 and 2). David Nelson and Stevie Johnson combined for a 137 catches, which is the most for a receiving duo for the Bills since 2002. They had more catches combined than T.O. and Lee Evans in 2009 and James Lofton and Andre Reed in 1991. Before Jackson got hurt, he was on pace to best OJ’s mark in total yardage and was a possible MVP candidate.
Once he got hurt, CJ Spiller was the water bug that Chan Gailey had envisioned with being a dual threat in the running and passing game (110 yards a game in total offense). Hell, Jackson and Spiller combined for 58 catches this year, which is only three off of Thurman’s best receiving year. Scott Chandler’s 38 catches were the 5th most in a Bills season by a tight end. If you take out Fred Jackson, everyone on this offense is under the age of 30, which can only mean that the offense will get better with more experience (Hey, apologist over here!).
2) Offensive line: Since I hit puberty, the Bills offensive line has been an issue. BTW, I’m 32. I’ve been watching Bills football for awhile and the gold standard for the Bills offensive line was from 1990-1993. The unit consisted of four pro bowlers (Jim Ritcher-Howard Ballard-Will Wolford-Kent Hull). When the no-huddle offense of the 90’s started to slow down it seemed to coincide withtheir pro bowl tackles leaving via free agency (Ballard and Wolford).
Here was the sack total given up for those years: 27, 35, 29 and 31. Great, right? How about rushing yards per attempt? 4.3, 4.7, 4.4 and 3.5. Decent, right? Well, guess what? The Bills 2011 team did better in those categories. The team only allowed 23 sacks (Best in the NFL) and averaged 4.9 yards a carry (Tied for 4th best in the NFL). Obviously, I think the biggest difference is that the Bills line of today is more about the scheme than the individual talent of the Super Bowl teams.
It has been discussed about 300 different times as to why. Gailey’s offense is all about quick passes which puts less pressure on the line to hold up in pass protection. To me, even though Eric Wood went down with an injury, I don’t think the line lost all that much by comparison. I know Buddy Nix and some experts have mentioned about getting O-line help, but I don’t see why you would want to. The stats say they don’t. Sure, find a guy in the 4th round or so to add depth, but to draft one within the first two rounds? Eh.
1) It has to end, right? How long can the average football fan go without playoffs or a 10-win season? This league is suppose to be the weakest ever because of the cap and expansion. We are on year 12 of not making the playoffs, which is now the longest stretch in the NFL. The football law of evolution has to swing in our favor soon, right? Parity is everywhere in the league. Are the Bills that far away from teams like the Bengals, Broncos and Texans? I think they are close to them. Every dog has his day sooner or later. Maybe Ralph Wilson is right, you need a lot of luck to win in this league.
Quick reasons:
—The Bills beat four teams with a .500 or better record.
—The Bills are building a team via the draft.
—If Ryan Fitzpatrick doesn’t under throw Stevie Johnson against the Giants, or if Stevie doesn’t drop a pass against the Jets, or if the stupid tuck rule didn’t exist against the Bengals, the Bills could have finished with a 9-7 record.
—Buddy Nix and Ralph Wilson have been saying the right things over the last month.
—Nick Barnett was the best Bills free agent signing since Takeo Spikes in 2003 (Hey, we haven’t exactly hit on those free agent visits).
—George Wilson has 5 more career interceptions than Donte Whitner.
—Injuries!!
—11 times a Dave Wannstedt team was ranked in the top 12 in defense, and never less than 20th overall.
—If Chan Gailey can get this most out of a Bills offense that has only two first round picks on it, can you imagine what he can do with a 1st round talent?
—Maybe Shawne Merrinan will finally…Oh, forget it!
—We beat the Pats!?
—The Bills intercepted Tom Brady and Mike Vick four times each.
Editor’s note: I’ll have a pessimism point of view piece within the next few days.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
