Buffalo Bills legetimate contenders or pretenders Getting Too Much Off-season hype?

One of the most intriguing storylines heading into the 2012 NFL season is what exactly are the Buffalo Bills. The Bills holds the league’s longest playoff drought. The Bills stunned everyone this off-season when they handed Mario Williams a record-breaking contract for a defensive player. Clearly the Bills want to win now and know their fans are getting impatient. Williams is one of the league’s best defensive players when healthy, and the Bills were one of the league’s worst pass rushing team, but the Bills probably still over-paid for his services.

Last season the Bills started the season hot, but when they came up against the New York Giants near the middle of the season, they lost and went into a tail-spin. Part of the major problem for the Buffalo Bills were injuries to Fred Jackson among others. The Bills have some legetimate big time starting talent in players like guard Andy Levitre, C Eric Wood, S George Wilson, RB Fred Jackson, DT Marcell Dareus and Kyle Williams, but the problem with the Buffalo Bills in the 2011 NFL Season was their lack of depth, their lack of deep play threat after the trade of Lee Evans, and their utter lack of pass rush.

The Bills went to work in the off-season. They signed Williams, and DE Mark Anderson, a pass rush specialist who played well in the division last year. The Bills also believe that Shawne Merriman is ready to “breakout” after a few injury plagued seasons. The Bills drafted T.J. Graham in the third round, after failing to agree to terms with former Saint, and now Charger Robert Meachem.

The Bills also believe they have solved their problem at LT with the drafting of Cordy Glenn.

The Bills also appear to enter the season with a schedule. They open the season with Washington, meaning they are getting RGIII in his first ever N.F.L. start, which is a big advantage. They then get the Minnesota Vikings, who are expected to be one of the league’s worst teams. A week 3 game against the Steelers is not a great game. But the Bills also have games with the Jaguars, Colts, Rams (and the rest of the NFC West) and the Cleveland Browns.

The team looks poised for a big season, but the biggest road is the play of their QB. Fitzpatrick is simply an average N.F.L. quarterback. He is too prone to mistakes in critical moments, and has never shown much of an ability to win (though he has been on some awful teams). If the Bills don’t make the playoffs, the likelihood is that the biggest reason will be Fitzpatrick, and the Bills might be looking to select one of the many potential exciting quarterback prospects in 2013.

Are the Bills contenders or pretenders?