It's time again for long Sunday afternoons with Pax and Kylie drinking beer and eating chips, trying not to wake up the kids when an exciting play happens, and declaring in anguish that every ill-conceived run ought to have been a pass play and every ill-conceived pass play ought to have been a run. It's Buffalo Bills football time! And after my stunningly accurate predictions about how last season would go, I'm almost hesitant to publish my thoughts on the coming year. This blog will sound have the reputation of the Delphic oracle. So, without further ado, here's what will happen:
QB: Tyrod Taylor is the week one starter, but he will not start all 16 games. Either an injury (from all his exciting scrambling) or a stretch of bad play will make way for Matt Cassel. EJ will still be on the roster throughout the year and at some point there will be impassioned speeches made on WGR by someone who remembers the Carolina game from his rookie year wondering why we don't give the kid another chance.
HB: LeSean McCoy will put up 1500+ yards of total offense, but doesn't hit 1000 in rushing or receiving. He will be an endless frustration in any losing effort because of key drops in the passing game or negative-yardage runs. Fred Jackson will be among the top 5 receivers on the team, but will not have a particularly noticeable running role.
WR: Sammy Watkins party. He will comfortably lead the team in receptions, and Robert Woods will have a nice year as well. Percy Harvin will have maybe two or three exciting plays, but at the end of the season people will ask, "Why didn't we just have Marquise Goodwin do that?" Charles Clay doesn't make 50 receptions on the year, and the big contract gets criticized. He misses at least one key block that ends up getting somebody injured.
OL: Richie Incognito struggles as a run blocker and mostly stays out of trouble, but ends up in the headlines when he says something stupid that has been blown out of context. Cordy Glenn gets shuffled at some point, either to RT or inside to one of the guard spots. Greg Roman calls at least one play trying to get a touchdown pass to a lineman. Once camp cuts are made final, the Patriots will claim one of the Bills' blocking tight ends on waivers.
DL: Jerry Hughes will lead the team in penalties, and the team doesn't manage to field all of main four linemen for more than 12 games. At the final Jets game, IK Enemkpali gets a sack on Geno Smith. Mario Williams leads the team in sacks this year.
LB: At some point a notable veteran is signed, probably someone who used to play on the Jets. Preston Brown doesn't get selected to the Pro Bowl, but multiple Sportsyaks describe this as a "major snub"
CB: Stephon Gilmore is the most noticeably improved player on the defense. Nickell Robey has at least 3 sacks, and at some point Darby supplants McKelvin in the starting lineup permanently.
S: Aaron Williams gets ejected from at least one game, and Rex Ryan defends him. Corey Graham is hardly noticeable on defense, but looks like a superstar on special teams.
Special Teams: Maybe this is the year we won't need a kickoff specialist.
Overall Outlook: Win the AFC East at 10-6.
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