The Bills Give A Ted Talk
Goddamnit I just did a comic about the Bills last week, and now I hear Anquan Boldin retired.
I guess the Jets have legitimate competition now. Both teams have decided to just not even bother trying to knock off the Pats and instead went for the long term tank rebuild, maybe hoping that by the time they fix this shit Brady will have retired. The Dolphins continue to fight the good fight. Bless you, Dolphins.
I like that Anquan Boldin signed up, the Bills had the week from hell of trades and straight up admitting that “getting wins in 2017 is not a priority”, and then Boldin went “naw I’m out” and quit. Good ol’ reliable Anquan. One of the best #2 WRs out there. He will always be in consideration for the #1 #2WR in football history. He even won a championship on the Ravens! Good for him. He has a good career. Best not soil it in this trainwreck for your last season Andre Johnson style.
I wonder what it’s like to be on a team like this. What sort of mentality you have to have to even show up for work when your team is clearly not trying. Professional sports is a profession run on alpha male competitors and these long term “processes” seem like a great way to kill any momentum at all. How frustrated must LeSean McCoy be right now? Dude is a star, nearing the end of his prime, and now he’s settling in for a multi-year rebuild where the team straight up said it isn’t trying to win soon. Poor Joe Thomas on the Browns has to feel similar feelings of waste. Hell, what about Tyrod? Dude gets lowballed so he can keep a job on a team that doesn’t even expect anything from him and probably would be happier if he sucked so they can cut him for cheap and draft higher.
It’s not the worst idea in the long run, I suppose. The Bills before the trades and such were probably a 9 win team at maximum with no obvious pathway to the top nearby. Now they are probably about a 5-6 win team but planning to compete down the road. Maybe the long game is smart, but it sort of makes you wonder why you should even watch the team this year as a Bills fan. If the team doesn’t want to win, why show up? Maybe for the off-chance of parking lot sex?
Tg\his is why I’d rather have a team that tries to win than one that just wants a high draft pick. Being on a loser team is demoralizing and creates an atmosphere of uncompetitiveness. How are you ever going to improve if all your players have given up?
I’m really curious to see where Tyrod ends up. Startable quarterbacks are a valuable commodity, and say what you want about the guy, he’s definitely a QB you can win games with. If the Bills really are ready to move on from him under center, I can’t imagine they wouldn’t try to trade him to a team in need under center. Jacksonville is the obvious answer, but if Luck or Flacco are out any significant time in the regular season, maybe he ends up as a Colt or a Raven. (How would that be for irony if he ended up back in Baltimore?) You know there’s going to be at least one team that looks great but loses their starter by week nine or something, too.
Well I guess Buffalo trusts the Process; how soon until Sam Hinkie becomes an NFL GM.
The “Tank for Darnold” is now the only thing interesting in the AFC East. The rosters for the Jets and the Bills are embarassing. I would never advocate that when the going gets tough quit, like Boldin did this year, but I agree, this time I agree. They aren’t even going to be competitive.
The Jets will still get last
Someone tried to trade me Anquan Boldin in fantasy and everytime I told him that he was retired, the person would just respond with “but he is good”. It was probably the dumbest exchange I’ve ever been a part of.
Sean McDermott should have stayed with the Panthers.
I would have feel bad for the Bills fans if they still haven’t been whining about SB 25 being a “fluke” because of a missed field goal. Or that they shown themselves to know jack shit about the sports history when they claimed they won AFL titles before the Giants existed.
I’m pretty sure the Jets aren’t actively tanking though; they’re just being the Jets
Yeah…it sucked to hear “We’re about building a team, not amassing talent”. I mean, we knew what the trades meant, but it was another thing to hear it like that.
Ugh. I’m also interested to see what happens to Tyrod next year. Ideally you’d want to break in whoever they draft next year. They have to be drafting someone. You don’t trade for extra picks in rounds 1-3 if you aren’t making a run at someone. Sadly, the Jets and Niners are going to be much, much worse and need a QB Even more. Tyrod is decent enough to win games, and with a revamped D and McCoy I doubt they go 4-12.
Spinning wheels. Christ.
Hey, even if Tyrod leaves, why not see if Peterman’s the guy? 😀
Also, we also could use a successor to Shady, more safeties, and even linemen on both sides of the field, depending on what happens this year
I heard it was because Boldin didn’t want to line up… wide right. YEEEAAAH!!!
the germans have a neat word; a relative to “schadenfreud”: fremdtschamen. it means “embarrassment by proximity”.
as a pats fan, this is geting embarrassing. i sincerely want there to be relegation, or realignment or something. put the pats in the afc north. let the browns play the jets and bills 2x a year. let the phuckin phins win the division.
btw, dave. good comic. good new idea. you keep finding new ways to talk about/take-the-piss-out-of football. i can draw, and want to do a guest strip or two, but i don’t have your inventiveness. keep up the good work.
Y’know, after a few days of processing everything that happened to the Bills, I don’t think it will be all that bad. The defense has actually looked really good this preseason **knocks on wood** though the offense is still trying to adjust after losing Sammy, Boldin, and now apparently Rod Streater as well to injury. If the Bills went 6-10 with EJ Manuel and a decent defense back in 2013, I’m pretty sure they can still do better than that with Tyrod and Shady running the offense. I’d say they could probably still get to 8 wins, maybe even sneak into the playoffs unless T-mobile and Shady both go down or stink this season
Can’t wait to see Bills v Jets highlights.
The problem with the Bills rebuild is that they could still be competitive. Tyrod is a decent quarterback, McCoy is still great, and they’ve got vets like Kyle Williams that are still at the top of their game. I’m not saying they’ll be good, but they’ll go 6-10, they’ll keep games close, and they’ll win a couple games they shouldn’t. This isn’t a completely abysmal team like the Jets. They’re just spinning their tires in the mud.
I know. That is my fear. They have enough talent to not be awful. Hell, maybe enough to be legitimately good in 2018 with Taylor, aggressive free agency and a loaf of picks. But man, they look like they are fishing for a franchise qb
nfl logo redesign: the “ahh fuck it” edition (post-2001 pats need not apply)
i’d buy that shirt
This is great from 5 years later.
This is a great comment section from 5 years later.