I've been a fan of the Buffalo Bills for as long as I can remember, but only old enough, and intelligent enough to realize what I'm watching for the last ten, or so, years. In that time, I've watched my team fail to reach the playoffs each and every season. Maybe one of those teams in the last decade came close to achieving a Wild Card berth, but for the most part, the Buffalo Bills have been a failure for as long as I have been following the team. It would be one thing if the team hit a rough spot for the last ten years, but it gets much worse than that. The Buffalo Bills have failed the reach the playoffs for the last 14 seasons. Yes, that is currently the longest streak in the National Football League. After watching the Houston Texans defeat the New York Jets this Monday night, I find myself asking the question, "Why can't we do that?".
Why can't the Buffalo Bills find undrafted players like Arian Foster, whom in the last five years has led the NFL in all rushing categories, except rushing yards, in which he is in second place behind Maurice Jones-Drew of the Jacksonville Jaguars. Why can't the Buffalo Bills draft like the Houston Texans? A team that lost their marquee defensive player in the off-season (to the Buffalo Bills no less), and yet they haven't missed a beat. Their first round draft pick from a year ago (J.J Watt from Wisconsin) has filled that hole quite admirably. You wouldn't even know that the Houston Texans lost their best defensive player to free agency, as they trumped the Jets to boost their record to 5-0, one of only two undefeated teams this year in the NFL.
Does the Buffalo Bills front office actually WANT to put a quality product on the field, or are they O.K. with achieving a high bottom-line in their finance book? Buffalo has some of the most loyal fans in all of professional football, yet year after year they are rewarded with a sub-par product on the football field. They signed an average, run of the mill quarterback to a 50 million dollar contract a season ago, and for what reason? I doubt any other NFL team would have offered Ryan Fitzpatrick a blockbuster deal like the Bills did, so why wouldn't they sign him to a modest contract for two or three years and see how things pan out? Why? Because that would just make sense, and if one thing is certain, it is that the Buffalo Bills' ownership has made a number of decisions over the last twenty years that simply haven't made sense. Bad draft after bad draft, hiring a coach who led the Buffalo Bills to three consecutive 7-9 seasons, and then extending that coach's contract for another three seasons. Apart from this season, not doing ANYTHING during the offseason to help make the team better, when holes are presented from years of bad drafting.
I know I sound like a hypocrite, because I'll be there every Sunday with my #99 Marcel Dareus jersey on (one of the few quality draft picks us Bills fans can hang our hat on), cheering my team on like any other loyal fan would, but at some point, something has to get better. This team has got to show myself, and other Buffalo Bills fans around the country that the team is heading in the right direction, and that the last two decades of heartbreak are close to an end. To put it bluntly, I have yet to see that this team is headed in the right direction, and that this franchise is committed to winning.
Showing posts with label NFL. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NFL. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Buffalo Bills Sign Mario Williams
Hello to the extremely small viewing audience, if any audience at all, that I have accrued while starting my very first blog ever. It has been a while since my last entry, as I've had a lot of changes recently in my life. However, I'm sure this blog is boring enough as is, so I won't worsen it by discussing my life's details. I've chosen to focus this particular entry on my favorite NFL football team, the Buffalo Bills, and one of their most recent activities during this off-season; the signing of the top free agent available, and arguably one of the best players in the National Football League, Mario Williams.
If you follow the NFL, then you needn't any explanation in regards to Mario Williams, however, I'm going to assume that there will be at least one person who visits this blog that doesn't know about the NFL, or sports in general, so I'll tailor this explanation for those individuals. In today's NFL, rushing the quarterback has become one of the most important facets of a team's defense. Being able to get to, and sack the opposing team's quarterback is essential to disrupting the opposition's offense. The more you can disrupt the timing of their offensive unit, the more it rattles the quarterback, which ultimately leads to less time that the other team possesses the football, and less points that they score. Obviously, football is a team sport, so no single player can do it by themselves, but the most important position when it comes to rushing the passer is Defensive End. A defensive end (or DE) is responsible for stopping the run at times, but more importantly to get past the offensive tackle that is trying to block him, and sack the quarterback. Naturally, if rushing the quarterback is a cornerstone to creating a successful defense, and the most important position relating to this goal is defensive end, then obviously DE's are highly sought after, and stand to make a great deal of money.
Mario Williams was the #1 overall draft pick in the 2006 NFL Draft, selected by the Houston Texans. Through six season with the Texans, Williams racked up 241 tackles, and 53 sacks. He became a force to be reckoned with on the defensive line, and blossomed into one of the, if not the best DE in the National Football League. After his sixth season with the Texans, his contract was up, and he decided to test the waters of free agency. Williams' first stop was Buffalo, and the Bills front office apparently did such an amazing job of recruiting him, that he never left, and signed a 6-year, $100 million dollar contract with the Bills. Now let's focus on why this is such a huge deal for the Bills.
First and foremost, the Buffalo Bills added a premiere pass rusher to their defensive unit. A unit that had a great deal of trouble sacking the quarterback in their previous year, proving to be one of the worst in the league in regards to number of sacks. However, the immediate talent that Williams brings to the table is only one of the many great things that his signing will add to the Bills for years to come. In a small-market city like Buffalo, it has been extremely difficult for the Bills to sign big-name free agents like Mario Williams, because for one the team has stunk for the last decade, and for two Buffalo doesn't exactly scream popularity like the cities of Miami or San Diego might. For those two reasons, the Bills haven't signed a big-name free agent in several years. However, now that one of the best players in the NFL has signed with Buffalo, it provides incentive for other players to follow suit. If Williams will sign with Buffalo, why not other players as well? Believe it or not, with a huge signing like Mario Williams, it has a huge impact on other players around the league. This is immediately supported by the second big signing of the Buffalo Bills this off-season, which was Mark Anderson, another DE, who played with the New England Patriots last season and racked up 10 sacks (definitely above average numbers).
In summation, the Buffalo Bills definitely hit a home-run this off-season by signing Mario Williams, among other key free agents. His impact will be felt immediately with his talents on the football field, as well as long-term with his signing providing influence for other free agents to come to Buffalo as well. Naturally, with better talent, you would imagine that the Bills will put together a winning team, and with big-name players already on the Bills, and if the team starts winning and making the playoffs year in and year out, this will provide leverage for the team to sign more free agents, and lead to a winning frame-of-mind, and satisfaction for this long suffering Bills fan.
If you follow the NFL, then you needn't any explanation in regards to Mario Williams, however, I'm going to assume that there will be at least one person who visits this blog that doesn't know about the NFL, or sports in general, so I'll tailor this explanation for those individuals. In today's NFL, rushing the quarterback has become one of the most important facets of a team's defense. Being able to get to, and sack the opposing team's quarterback is essential to disrupting the opposition's offense. The more you can disrupt the timing of their offensive unit, the more it rattles the quarterback, which ultimately leads to less time that the other team possesses the football, and less points that they score. Obviously, football is a team sport, so no single player can do it by themselves, but the most important position when it comes to rushing the passer is Defensive End. A defensive end (or DE) is responsible for stopping the run at times, but more importantly to get past the offensive tackle that is trying to block him, and sack the quarterback. Naturally, if rushing the quarterback is a cornerstone to creating a successful defense, and the most important position relating to this goal is defensive end, then obviously DE's are highly sought after, and stand to make a great deal of money.
Mario Williams was the #1 overall draft pick in the 2006 NFL Draft, selected by the Houston Texans. Through six season with the Texans, Williams racked up 241 tackles, and 53 sacks. He became a force to be reckoned with on the defensive line, and blossomed into one of the, if not the best DE in the National Football League. After his sixth season with the Texans, his contract was up, and he decided to test the waters of free agency. Williams' first stop was Buffalo, and the Bills front office apparently did such an amazing job of recruiting him, that he never left, and signed a 6-year, $100 million dollar contract with the Bills. Now let's focus on why this is such a huge deal for the Bills.
First and foremost, the Buffalo Bills added a premiere pass rusher to their defensive unit. A unit that had a great deal of trouble sacking the quarterback in their previous year, proving to be one of the worst in the league in regards to number of sacks. However, the immediate talent that Williams brings to the table is only one of the many great things that his signing will add to the Bills for years to come. In a small-market city like Buffalo, it has been extremely difficult for the Bills to sign big-name free agents like Mario Williams, because for one the team has stunk for the last decade, and for two Buffalo doesn't exactly scream popularity like the cities of Miami or San Diego might. For those two reasons, the Bills haven't signed a big-name free agent in several years. However, now that one of the best players in the NFL has signed with Buffalo, it provides incentive for other players to follow suit. If Williams will sign with Buffalo, why not other players as well? Believe it or not, with a huge signing like Mario Williams, it has a huge impact on other players around the league. This is immediately supported by the second big signing of the Buffalo Bills this off-season, which was Mark Anderson, another DE, who played with the New England Patriots last season and racked up 10 sacks (definitely above average numbers).
In summation, the Buffalo Bills definitely hit a home-run this off-season by signing Mario Williams, among other key free agents. His impact will be felt immediately with his talents on the football field, as well as long-term with his signing providing influence for other free agents to come to Buffalo as well. Naturally, with better talent, you would imagine that the Bills will put together a winning team, and with big-name players already on the Bills, and if the team starts winning and making the playoffs year in and year out, this will provide leverage for the team to sign more free agents, and lead to a winning frame-of-mind, and satisfaction for this long suffering Bills fan.
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