Now that the Buffalo Bills made their final cuts down to 53 players I feel like the football season is ready to go. We are just one week away but I wonder one week away from what? Two months ago I predicted we’d win only 3 games. Every major publication, blogger, website and newspaper is picking us to finish dead last in our division. In fact, many are picking us to be one of the worst teams in the entire league!
In reality I can’t disagree. We aren’t a playoff team. There are just too many holes and a lack of quality at many positions. If you forget about the last 10 years of futility and look at this team right now with a brand new coach and a new General Manager, we shouldn’t expect much. It’s year one of this rebuilding project and I’d say they are on the right track with C.J. Spiller, Terrell Troup and some of the other young guys. It’s hard to take because we’ve stunk for so long and rebuilt so many times in the last decade while other teams haven’t had to go through the same process, let alone numerous times.
Watching the team in preseason I was actually quite impressed with many things. Trent Edwards looked like an NFL starting quarterback. Roscoe Parrish looked like a dangerous weapon again. Aaron Maybin looked like he might get on the field this year and there was cohesion on offense I haven’t seen in some time. I credit the new coach, Chan Gailey, who despite not being what most of us fans wanted, has a great offensive pedigree and is probably the first offensive based head coach we’ve had in a very long time (I won’t count that stiff Mike Mularkey).
Unlike the recent batch of seasons where the team went out and signed some big name to get the fans excited even though it was smoke and mirrors, this year the team brought in a ton of young guys and gave the boot to many veterans who had been helping to lead the Bills nowhere better than mediocrity city. So when the summer hit I could sense the ambivalence about the team this year. No big names, no high hopes and no anticipation. Everyone knew they’d be terrible and like I mentioned I was no exception. I wrote a blog a few weeks back about how I don’t care about the team as much this year. I wouldn’t say I’ve changed my mind but I am a little more optimistic about the team now that we are a week away and I’ve seen some good things during the preseason games. Maybe it’s my nature to find the bright side, or perhaps it’s that I think we will at least be more exciting to watch this year in spite of probably losing most of our games.
If I didn’t know any better, watching the team the past 3 weeks makes me want to think they’ll be a lot better than a 3-win team, but if the 10 year drought of doom has taught me anything it’s to remain skeptical. I’m pulling for them, I’m hoping we do well but my expectations are very low. I won’t get fooled again.
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