WHERE’S THE BUFFALO BILLS EXCITEMENT?

DON’T GET ME STARTED on the Buffalo Bills as pre-season games are just around the corner.

Actually, you might refer to the team as the “NEW YORK JETS – WEST.”  After all, Rex Ryan imported coaches from the Jets; imported players cut by the Jet, what else can you call them.

What’s missing with the Bills is the lack of excitement of fans as these exhibition games begin.  Unlike the tremendous feeling Bills fans had during the early 90s, conversation isn’t so much about the Bills players as there is about how they will finish the season.  Many are predicting anywhere from 5-11 to 8-8.  Few, if any, predict playoffs.

One can even look at the media to find that there really isn’t the same enthusiasm as it was when daily columns on the practices featuring Kelly, Thomas, Reed, Bruce, Bennett, and Tasker were published.  Now, there are some background stories on rookies and draft choices.

The Bills may have had something to do with the lack of enthusiasm being expressed by fans.  Media so far this year have been limited due to policies put in place during the OTAs.  The one thing the players of those early 90s had was the accessibility of the media to practices and players when they were at Fredonia. Those were good days.

Now there are huge question marks around the current Bills.  All positions don’t bring out the cheers as a result of questions on how the team will do.  Let’s remember, they have a tough schedule; travel to the west coast 3 times and play half the home season in the dead of winter.  If I was a champion of conspiracies, the latter sentence would have served me well as the NFL consistently hits the attendance figures by scheduling so many December home games.  Let’s remember, the last game New England plays this season is in Miami.  It might seem that Belichick has more power with the NFL than Ryan.

It will be interesting to see what happens when the Bills go up against competition during the exhibition season.

At that time, Bills fans and everyone else will have a better idea as to how the Bills will fare this coming season.  It will also be a season where the fate of Rex Ryan and his imported coaches will be decided.  If they perform as they did a season ago, it will be a long season.  Last year, featured were disgruntled defensive players trying to make sense out of a system that took that defense from 4th in league in 2014 to 19th in the first year of Rex Ryan.

The time has come when the Bills players hit the turf and Bills fans hit the cranium and give out with their predictions on Don’t Get Me Started.

Filed under: Don't Get Me Started

Tagged with: Art Wander, Buffalo Bills