Coming off a 2009 season in which the Bills went 6-10 with a -68 point differential, Vegas has set the 2010 Regular season win total for the Bills at 5.5. The Bills were 30th in offense and 19th in defense. Pinnacle has the under at -140 and Bodog has the under at -150 so the early bettors are shorting the Bills hard. Will the coaching change from Dick Jauron to Chan Gailey breathe new life into the franchise or will the lack of firepower on offense doom them? The Bookbeater likes the under.
There is a long list of things the Bills offense needs to be concerned about starting with the QB situation. Trent Edwards, Ryan Fitzpatrick and Brian Brohm will fight for the starting job with Edwards likely to emerge. None of these QBs has had any significant success. If the rest of the offense had game-breakers an argument could be made to how they could have success but that isn’t the case. WR Terell Owens has signed with the Cincinnati Bengals and while TO isn’t what he used to be he did have 6 plays over 40+ yards. Smallish and inconsistent WR Lee Evans is the most explosive player on the offense but that isn’t saying much. The Bills did draft a big time talent in C.J. Spiller out of Clemson but they added to the one area of strength on the offensive side of the ball so the net won’t be much of an upgrade. As bad as this seems, the offensive line might be the worst in football. A bad QB combined with non-impact WRs and a horrible offensive line will keep the Bills in the bottom of the NFL in offense.
The rest of the 2010 draft was non-eventful by most accounts and wont effect the Bills NFL odds. 2nd round pick Torell Troup, 3rd round pick Alex Carrington and 4th round pick Marcus Easley aren’t likely to help much. The Bills did sign LB Andre Davis and DT Dwan Edwards which is something but not enough to change the overall look-out. The biggest change from the 2009 season is the coach. While Dick Jauron may never be a winning coach he had a knack for keeping games close. At times it seemed like he’d rather play it safe by grinding the clock even when down in the 4th quarter to make sure he didn’t lose big. While that may not win super bowls it does get you a cheap win now and again when the team you’re playing against has a late turnover. Jauron’s departure might cost the Bills 2 or 3 games because Gailey might go for more early which could keep them out of games late.
Another problematic issue for the Bills is the schedule. Playing in a division with the stacked Jets, always dangerous Patriots and improved Dolphins it’s hard to see how this team can win more than 2 games and it’s possible they could go defeated. The 2010 schedule breaks down like this: MIA L, @GB L, @NE L, NYJ L, JAX W, @BAL L, @KC L, CHI W, DET W, @CIN L, PIT L, @MIN L, CLE W, @MIA L, NE L, @NYJ L.
2010 NFL predictions for the Bills 4-12. $$ out of $$$$ rating.
