Can Bills end playoff drought after ugly off-season?

The start of another Buffalo Bills season brings the same old question.

Is this finally the year the Bills find a way to end their long-lasting playoff drought?

Football fans haven’t seen postseason pigskin in their city since 1999 when the heartbreak of the Music City Miracle occurred. Sixteen seasons of mediocre to poor football will make any fan feel sour. They haven’t even been able to get to 10 wins once and their drought is the longest in all of pro sports, not just football.   

So, is there any optimism for this club at all? Do they have a shining light that Bills fans can have faith in? Well, they just might, and it happens to be at the most important position in the game.

Quarterback Tyrod Taylor had a very impressive season in 2015, his first as full-time starter after spending the four years of his career as Joe Flacco’s backup in Baltimore. The 27-year-old threw for 3035 yards with 20 touchdowns and six interceptions over 14 games and was even named to the Pro Bowl after a handful of pivots dropped out.

Taylor led the Bills to eight wins and they lost the two he missed because of injury, including one to the lowly Jacksonville Jaguars in London. 

It’s safe to say Taylor is one of the better quarterbacks the Bills have had in some time. The Bills must think so as they signed him to a six-year contract extension in August.  

Whether he’s good enough to get Buffalo into the NFL’s second season is another question.  A one year sample size might be too small for some, so 2016 will definitely be an important year for the Virginia Tech product.

Taylor isn’t the only player that needs to step up for the Bills. Wide receiver Sammy Watkins, who’s working his way back from April foot surgery, will be the No. 1 target this season once again after putting up great numbers (1047 yards and nine TDs over 13 games) in his sophomore campaign.

Keeping the Taylor/Watkins combination healthy and productive will be integral for the Bills’ success this season as they don’t have a lot of depth in the receiver position. Robert Woods can be helpful, but losing Chris Hogan to the New England Patriots this off-season stings.

Buffalo is hoping they get a similar output from their running game as they did in 2015. The Bills averaged 152 rushing yards per game, good enough for first in the NFL. LeSean McCoy was productive over 12 games in his first season in Buffalo and Karlos Williams put up solid numbers a rookie, but was cut after showing up to training camp severely out of shape. General manager Doug Whaley signed veteran back Reggie Bush this summer following an injury plagued 2015 season.

On the other side of the ball, the defence better improve if they want to contend. After having one of the best units in 2014, the Bills took a major step back last year under head coach Rex Ryan’s new scheme. They allowed the 14th most yards per game and recorded just 21 sacks after leading the NFL with 54 the year before.

To make matters worse, they did little to improve it. Not only did they lose four-time Pro Bowl defensive end Mario Williams, longtime Bills cornerback Leodis McKelvin and linebacker Nigel Bradham, but their highly touted draft picks are already hurt. First-round pick Shaq Lawson is expected to miss at least the first month (if not more) as the outside linebacker had shoulder surgery in May while second-round linebacker Reggie Ragland is out for the year with a torn ACL. Both were expected to be starters in Week 1. Linebacker IK Enemkpali is also done for the season after tearing his ACL in the first preseason game and Manny Lawson’s (pectoral) status is up in the air for Week 1.  They signed veteran linebackers Brandon Spikes and David Hawthorne hoping to fill the void.

But wait, there’s more.

The Bills will be without their best defensive player for the first month as two-time Pro Bowler Marcell Dareus was suspended four games for violation of the NFL’s substance abuse policy. The 26-year-old nose tackle missed the opener last year following his first offence and will enter rehab this time around.

"I'm excited about this team," Ryan said in mid-June at Bills minicamp. "Obviously a lot of things have to happen, and we're a month or so away, but I told our players today to 'win July.' We won the offseason. I would challenge any team. I think we've won the offseason."

That statement might be hard to accept for most fans.

The Bills will lean on talented cornerback Stephon Gilmore as well as veteran linemen Kyle Williams and Dareus (when he returns) to lead the defensive unit in 2016. Ryan’s brother, Rob, and former NFLer Ed Reed were brought in as defensive coaches.  If it doesn’t get better, the Bills will undoubtedly extend their streak to a 17th season.

One thing Buffalo has going for them is the fact they won’t have to face their arch-nemesis Tom Brady in their Week 4 clash against the Patriots at Gillette Stadium. Brady is gone for the first four due to his “Deflategate” suspension. If they can’t take advantage of Jimmy Garoppolo, it might be hard to convince fans that they are a playoff team.

Winning the contest on Oct. 2 would be extra helpful as it’s just one of six games against playoff teams from last year (Pats X 2, Cardinals, Seahawks, Bengals and Steelers). However, two games against the New York Jets (10-6 last year) won’t be an easy task. Buffalo has the 10th highest strength of schedule for 2016.

Despite having a promising quarterback and a game against the Pats without Mr. Brady, it seems the Bills will have a tough time making the playoffs unless their wounded defence improves immensely. All things considered, a 6-10 campaign seems more likely in a tough AFC East as the drought should continue for Rex and his boys.