Early September, the most optimistic time of the year for Buffalo Bills fans. Right..? Alright fine we all hate the Bills and think they will suck. But that's because we were fifteen fuckin years younger the last time the Bills were good. But what does the national media think about the Bills for the upcoming season? Lets see:
Bill Barnwell (Grantland):
"For all the excitement they created in trading up for Watkins, the season already seems lost, with 2014 devoted to finding the moments when the team gives up on Manuel and when the franchise is sold by the estate of deceased owner Ralph Wilson. It can feel that way when you’re two years away from even drafting your next quarterback of the future. The Bills are somehow simultaneously rebuilding and hopeless, a franchise both in transition and going nowhere."
Best-Case Scenario: Orton takes over for Manuel after learning the playbook and plays like a perfectly average starting quarterback, while Watkins and C.J. Spiller form a pair of devastating big-play specialists. Schwartz gets enough out of the pass rush for Buffalo to go 9-7 and produce its first winning season since 2004.
Worst-Case Scenario: The defense collapses after losing two stars, and the Bills spend the entire season going back and forth between a disappointing Manuel and an uninterested Orton while Watkins struggles through a series of nagging injuries. Buffalo eventually hands Cleveland the first overall pick in the 2015 draft.
Yikes, needed a bucket of water? You just got served by Mr Barnwell
The Buffalo News Record Predictions:
Mark Gaughan 8-8
Jay Skurski 6-10
Tim Graham 7-9
Jerry Sullivan 5-11
The geniuses at TBN came up with an aggregate 6.5 wins for the Bills "ironically" the same line Vegas has currently.
ESPN Predictions:
4 out of 64 contributors had the Bills making the playoffs (all as a wild card): "Four of our voters -- ESPN Insider KC Joyner, ESPN St. Louis Rams reporter Nick Wagoner, Neil Payne of FiveThirtyEight, and Calvin Watkins of ESPN Dallas -- picked the Bills to earn an AFC wild-card berth."
The MMQB
In this 4,557 word NFL preview the word Bills or Buffalo only came up a total of 3 times. With no writer predicting the Bills would make the playoffs.
One section, "The non-quarterback who, if lost to injury, would derail his team the most":
" Emily Kaplan: Sammy Watkins. Maybe it’s odd to choose a rookie, but E.J. Manuel and the Bills’ offense would be pedestrian without this wideout. Consider this: with Watkins out nursing an injury against the Buccaneers last week, Manuel went 9-for-18 for 67 yards, a fumble and an interception against Tampa’s first-team defense. Watkins isn’t Buffalo’s saving grace, but he at least makes the passing game dynamic—and watchable."
The only other section mentioning Buffalo The coach whose seat will be hottest by the season’s midpoint
"Peter King: Doug Marrone. The warning signs are there. He feuded with some players in camp, his quarterback opens the season in a big slump, and the Bills already have injury issues."
Basically Watkins is injury prone and Marrone is on the hot seat.
Las Vegas predictions:
Over/under wins 6.5
Doug Marrone the 4th most likely head coach to be fired this season at +800
Sammy Watkins 2nd most likely Offensive Rookie of the Year +750
Bills 4th best odds to be the worst team in the league +1000
CJ Spiller 14th most likely to rush for the most yards this season +4000
EJ Manuel tied for 14th most likely to pass for most yards this season +10,000
Bills -600 they WONT make the playoffs (+425 to make the playoffs)
Lets not for get my boys Bill Simmons and Cousin Sal who said "with this schedule 0-6 is a real possibility" here is their AFC East preview http://youtu.be/niRgMBxQJbo
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