Sixteen and Counting: an M17 presentation by BigJdotcom01

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2016 SEASON - QUARTER 4

The Bills finished the 2016 season off on a high note, running over their final four opponents, to finish the 2016 season at (7-9). It seems like the same old story in Orchard Park, losing early, then winning late when they are eliminated from playoff contention to hurt their draft position. The Bills fell all the way to 12th position in the upcoming draft, but more on that later.

Week Fourteen saw the Bills return home to open a three game home stand. They hosted the AFC North leading Pittsburgh Steelers, and gave the Steelers a dose of their own medicine, pounding out 456 offensive yards to win going away, 31-17.

The Bills then pounded the helpless Cleveland Browns in Week Fifteen, 42-22 at New Era Field. It was the Brown's 10th consecutive loss. The Bills ran for over 200 yards for the second straight week as they improved to (5-9)

Bitter rival Miami came to New Era Field for a Christmas Eve matchup and the Bills continued their winning ways, finishing off their final game at New Era Field with a 47-16 pounding of Miami. The Bills rushed for 381 yards in the victory.

Buffalo capped off the 2016 regular season by routing the Jets at Met Life Stadium to prevent them from making the playoffs for a second straight season, and avoiding the basement in the AFC East in the process. The Bills ran for 311 yards against the Jets, running for 1112 yards over the final four games of 2016, all wins. Both teams finished 2016 at (7-9) with the Bills getting the tiebreaker to finish third by virtue of defeating the Jets twice.

The Bills finished the 2016 season at (7-9) winning 5 of their final seven games. They finished 8th in offense (4th rush, 19th pass) and 20th in defense (29th rush, 13th pass). They gained 6204 yards (2254 on the ground, 3950 through the air). They allowed 5949 yards (2020 on the ground, 3929 through the air). The Bills finished 6th in scoring, averaging 28.6 points per game. They were 31st in scoring defense, allowing 506 points. They were last in turnover differential at -28 with 49 giveaways (28 INT, 21 FUM), and 21 takeaways (15 INT, 6 FUM)

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2016 POSTSEASON

Wildcard Weekend:
Houston Texans 21, Cincinnati Bengals 10
Green Bay Packers 37, Atlanta Falcons 31
Pittsburgh Steelers 33, Denver Broncos 27 (OT)
Minnesota Vikings 31, Philadelphia Eagles 20

Divisional Playoffs:
New England Patriots 42, Pittsburgh Steelers 31
Green Bay Packers 52, Detroit Lions 24
San Diego Chargers 33 Houston Texans 14
Seattle Seahawks 28, Minnesota Vikings 25

Conference Championships:
Seattle Seahawks 42, Green Bay Packers 26
New England Patriots 47, San Diego Chargers 35

Super Bowl LI (Houston):
New England Patriots 55, Seattle Seahawks 27 (MVP: Tom Brady)

We are now caught up and I will begin a more in depth write up of this franchise.

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As the 2016 NFL league calendar draws to a close, we look at some of the notable retirements. Tom Brady has retired from the Patriots after setting the passing yardage record in 2016 of 5,696 yards to go along with 47 TDs, a league MVP and Super Bowl MVP.

Other Notable Retirements:
Demarcus Ware (Denver Broncos)
Antonio Gates (San Diego Chargers)
Julius Peppers (Green Bay Packers)
Steve Smith (Baltimore Ravens)
Vince Wolfork (Houston Texans)
Andre Johnson (Free Agent)
Anquan Boldin (Free Agent)
Elvis Dumervil (Baltimore Ravens)

There were some coaching moves this offseason too. John Harbaugh left the Ravens to take over the Los Angeles Rams. The Ravens hired relative unknown Arthur Bey as Harbaugh's replacement. The Cowboys said goodbye to Jason Garrett and brought in Chuck Pagano. The Chiefs have hired Demetrius Turner to replace Andy Reid. Indianapolis hired Matt Hendrick to replace the fired Chuck Pagano. Tennessee hired Norman Gaitan as their new head coach.

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BILLS PRE-FA ROSTER

Here is the 2017 Buffalo Bills roster as we head into free agency and the draft. We have some needs at running back, wide receiver and along the defensive line. While we could resign a couple of our free agents from last season, particularly running back Mike Gillislee, we will likely try to build this team through the draft as opposed to throwing money at free agents. The Bills have $39M in cap space.

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The NFL Free Agency period opened and the Buffalo Bills made a couple of moves prior to the 2017 NFL Draft. They resigned WR Marquis Goodwin to a three-year deal worth $9.15M. They also brought back a familiar face in HB Karlos Williams. He was cut in the preseason in 2016 after some off the field incidents. He was signed to a two-year deal worth $7.14M.

Around the league, the Patriots signed Nick Foles to a 3-year deal worth $15.2M to replace the retire Tom Brady. Jimmy Garopollo went to the Bears, signing a three-year, $18M deal. Cleveland signed Ryan Fitzpatrick away from the Jets to a one-year deal worth $9.24M. The Jets replaced Fitz with Case Keenam, signing him to a three-year deal worth $17.2M.

WR Kamar Aiken left the Ravens and heads to Philly on a three-year deal worth $16.5M.
LOLB Barkevious Mingo heads to Cleveland, signing a three-year 16.7M deal.
HB Theo Riddick leaves the Lions, signing with the Giants for three-years and 15.3M.
CB Jeremy Lane signs with Detroit for three-years and $15M.
RG Kevin Zeitler left the Bengals for in-state rival Cleveland, signing a four-year $34.9M deal.
RG Chance Warmack signed a three-year $25.2M deal with Miami.
FC Tony Jefferson left Arizona for Washington, signing a four-year $32.9M deal.
TW Luke Wilson leaves Seattle for the Bay Area as he signes a four-year $20.2M to play in Oakland.
ROLB Jelani Jenkins hit pay dirt, re-signing a five-year, $49.4M deal stay in Miami.
ROLB John Simon signed a five-year, $30.6M deal with Indy.
ROLB Junior Galette moves to Arizona from Washington, signing a three-year, $19.7M deal.
ROLB Akeem Ayers signed with Chicago for four-years and $26.9M, leaving the Colts.
ROLB Jarvis Jones leaves Pittsburgh for Kansas City, signing a four-year $26.9M deal.
DT Akeem Spence leaves Tampa, heading south to Miami, signing a four-year, $25.2M deal.
K Blair Walsh leaves Minnesota and heads to Cleveland, signing a five-year deal worth $18.8M.

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The Patriots got draft day going by trading away C David Andrews and a 5th round pick in both 2017 and 2018 to Minnesota for QB Sam Bradford.

Atlanta traded a 3rd rounder in 2017 and a 7th rounder in 2018 to Houston for TE C.J. Fiedorowicz.

Buffalo trades 2nd round pick (44) to Cincinnati for 2017 2nd round pick (55) and 2017 4th round pick (119).
Seattle trades 2nd round pick (63) to Cincinnati for 2017 3rd round pick (87) and 2017 and 2018 6th round pick (183).
Indianapolis trades their 3rd (71) and 7th (199) round picks in 2017 to Chicago for the Bears 3rd round pick (66) in 2017
Cleveland trades their 3rd round pick (68) in 2017 to Carolina for the Panthers 3rd (81) and 4th (113) round picks in 2017.
Cleveland trades their 3rd round pick (81) in 2017 to Seattle for the Seahawks 3rd (87) and 7th (209) round picks in 2017.
Seattle trades their 3rd round pick (95) in 2017 to Chicago for the Bears 4th (98) and 7th (198) round picks in 2017.
Buffalo trades their 4th round pick (119) in 2017 to Dallas for the Cowboys 3rd (88) and 7th (216) round picks in 2018.

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The Bills had a very good 2017 NFL Draft. Filling a starting role at defensive end in first round selection LeVeon Chavous out of Auburn. They drafted for depth at guard, cornerback, outside linebacker, wide receiver and halfback.

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The NFL released the 2017 schedule and the Bills will open up where they ended the 2017 season, at Met Life Stadium, facing division rival, the New York Jets. They have one prime time game, on December 21st as they host AFC West Champion San Diego. They close the season in Foxboro as they face the Super Bowl Champion Patriots on New Years Eve.