Not really sure you have. At least the players don't seem to think so, or Bowles for that matter.
Bowles never shared the belief that the realistic goal should be eight or nine wins. He told The News on the eve of training camp that “8-8 would not be satisfactory for me” because “my job is to go try to win a championship for this team and this city. And that’s what I’m going to do.”
“It’s going to be very hard to not make the playoffs and say it was a success,” quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick told The News.
“It would hurt,” Skrine said of missing the playoffs with a double-digit win season. “That’s a good winning season and a great way to start off the new era, but we want to make it to the playoffs. So I would say we didn’t meet our expectations (if we miss the playoffs).”
“It would be a weird feeling,” safety Calvin Pryor told The News about missing the postseason with 10 or 11 wins. “At the end of the day, if you don’t make the playoffs, you’re missing out on the big goal. We’re here for one goal and one goal only: And that’s to go to the Super Bowl and win.”
“It would be a weird feeling,” safety Calvin Pryor told The News about missing the postseason with 10 or 11 wins. “At the end of the day, if you don’t make the playoffs, you’re missing out on the big goal. We’re here for one goal and one goal only: And that’s to go to the Super Bowl and win.”
“If I’m home on January 4th, in my eyes, it’s just not successful,” Decker said.
But you play the game to get into that postseason and have a chance at a championship. That’s my true measure of success.”
Personally I'm glad the players realize the goal is to make the play offs and not just win 10 games. Give hope for the future
What if they had gone 9-7, snuck into a wild card, and got bounced by a Cinci by two scores first round? Is that really better than 10-6?