Between now and the end of August, TGS will offer up a quick snapshot of every NFL team heading into the 2015 regular season. Today, the Buffalo Bills.
2014 in a nutshell: Spurred by a defense that ranked near the top of the league in nearly every key category, the Bills post a winning record for only the second time this century but still fall short of the playoffs for the 15th consecutive year.
Why 2015 could be different: The defense will still be stout, but now they’ve added a celebrity head coach in Rex Ryan, a renowned offensive coordinator in Greg Roman, five former offensive Pro Bowlers in Percy Harvin, Matt Cassel, Richie Incognito, Jerome Felton and LeSean McCoy and a potential darkhorse starting quarterback in Tyrod Taylor.
Major additions: Harvin and McCoy are dynamic 20-something-year-old former Pro Bowlers with the ability to transform an offense. Considering that this unit wasn’t even that bad last year (ranking 18th in points per game), that’s encouraging. And Cassel and Taylor will fight for the chance to prove they have franchise quarterbacking ability in them.
Major losses: Ryan will bring some much-needed energy to town, but it was weird that they were forced to replace head coach Doug Marrone after Marrone opted out of his contract despite a 9-7 season. The reliable Brandon Spikes is also gone and promising young linebacker Kiko Alonso was shipped off to Philadelphia in exchange for McCoy.
Breakout watch: It doesn’t look as though Cassel is the answer so they desperately need either Taylor or 2013 first-round pick EJ Manuel to arrive on the scene under center. You can’t win these days without a solid quarterback, so Buffalo needs something to happen.
Position to watch: Aside from quarterback, wide receiver will be interesting. Second-year stud Sammy Watkins can team up with Harvin and 2013 second-rounder Robert Woods to make up one hell of a trio. That would also make life a lot easier on whoever is taking snaps.
Prediction: The Bills are due. They’re so strong on defense and have enough weapons on offense to survive and win 10 games. This isn’t a Super Bowl team thanks to the quarterback situation, but Buffalo is good enough to get back to the playoffs with a wild-card berth in the weakening AFC.
