Statement Game

[Don't Panic]

We are a 3 point dog going on the road to play a 1 win team. The metrics speak to how we might be in trouble this week. A loss here puts us at 4-4 going into the bye, thinking about an opportunity squandered, and squarely on the outside looking in for the playoff picture.

A win though, a decisive win at that, could really be the difference in setting us up for a second half run. This team needs another dominant win, a la the Miami game, although without the Kelly and Pegula news/home opener wind at our back and on the road.

This isn't a must win game. We're still a ways from that kind of talk. But it is an opportunity. A chance to kick this Jets team squarely in the nuts and build the kind of confidence we're going to need to keep the pace with the rest of the conference.

I hope the boys are beyond amped this Sunday. I hope they're throwing haymakers all day and showing no mercy. I want to see us win by 20. It may be just 1 of 16, but to me it presents a huge chance to make the kind of statement we need to make.

[justasportsfan]

Re: Statement Game

This isn't a must win game. We're still a ways from that kind of talk.

for a team that hasn't made playoffs in 14 years, this is a must win. Maybe not mathematically but historically.

[Fletch]

Re: Statement Game

We are a 3 point dog going on the road to play a 1 win team. The metrics speak to how we might be in trouble this week. A loss here puts us at 4-4 going into the bye, thinking about an opportunity squandered, and squarely on the outside looking in for the playoff picture.

A win though, a decisive win at that, could really be the difference in setting us up for a second half run. This team needs another dominant win, a la the Miami game, although without the Kelly and Pegula news/home opener wind at our back and on the road.

This isn't a must win game. We're still a ways from that kind of talk. But it is an opportunity. A chance to kick this Jets team squarely in the nuts and build the kind of confidence we're going to need to keep the pace with the rest of the conference.

I hope the boys are beyond amped this Sunday. I hope they're throwing haymakers all day and showing no mercy. I want to see us win by 20. It may be just 1 of 16, but to me it presents a huge chance to make the kind of statement we need to make.

I'll disagree that we need a dominant win. This is a division game and anything can happen. A 1-point win is fine as long as we play competently as I see it.

What is critical, IMO, is for the offense to put up some points for a change. We made this change to Orton which so far has only resulted in the diminishment of the running game, with FredEx and Spiller, more passing yards, but not more points.

Our passing D isn't very good apart from logging sacks and INTs again. Our rushing D plays well against inferior RBs but otherwise not so much.

I also disagree that this is not a must-win game if we expect to go 8-8 or better. We may not win a single game in December and our schedule features no team that we can afford to look past given last week's play. Of the four easiest games we have left three are divisional, twice against the Jets and one in Miami, two of the three being road games.

We're not going to beat NE, Denver, or GB, all cold weather teams, in December. Three of our December games are on the road.

Going into our bye week, which is positioned perfectly this season, at 4-4 is a recipe to finish 6-10 again.

This is a must-win game.

[THATHURMANATOR]

Re: Statement Game

WIN THE ****ING GAME PLEASE. THE JETS HAVE 1 WIN FOR CHRISTS SAKE

[casdhf]

Re: Statement Game

Our passing D isn't very good apart from logging sacks and INTs again. Our rushing D plays well against inferior RBs but otherwise not so much.

Uh, pretty sure that is good for a Pass Defense.

[better days]

Re: Statement Game

for a team that hasn't made playoffs in 14 years, this is a must win. Maybe not mathematically but historically.

I said this in a different thread, a win against the Jets & the Bills will have a winning record at the half way point of the season.

When is the last time that happened?

A win Sunday would be historical.

[Historian]

Re: Statement Game

It's a game they can and should win, but it usually ends up being a comedy of errors when we go to Jersey:

Multiple turnovers by both teams.
Special teams disasters.
Missed kicks.

And so on and so forth.

If the Bills win, Jet management is going to be kicking themselves for giving Coach Foot Fetish an extension.

I think it's a must win for them, which worries me a bit.

[better days]

Re: Statement Game

Uh, pretty sure that is good for a Pass Defense.

And the Bills Defense is damn good at stopping the other teams Offense from putting points on the board.

At the start of the season, people not only said the Bears would beat the Bills, but the Bears would blow out the Bills.

That kind of talk continued for a few more games, but now nobody is saying the Bills are going to get blown out of a game.

[better days]

Re: Statement Game

It's a game they can and should win, but it usually ends up being a comedy of errors when we go to Jersey:

Multiple turnovers by both teams.
Special teams disasters.
Missed kicks.

And so on and so forth.

If the Bills win, Jet management is going to be kicking themselves for giving Coach Foot Fetish an extension.

I think it's a must win for them, which worries me a bit.

Rex did not get a long extension & the talk is he is coaching for his football life in NY.

I like Rex myself, & would be happy to have him as the HC of my team as long as he had a GOOD OC.

[feldspar]

Re: Statement Game

The Jets are better than their record IMO, and they are desperate for a win at this point. "Win one for Rex" at home or whatever. Coming off a Thursday Night game (which they should have won), the Jets have a few more days to prepare than the Bills. They have a good defense; in fact, I think that this game has all the earmarks of a defensive battle. The over/under in this game is lower than any other game in week 8.

I see it as a must-win game. There should be no talk about the playoffs for quite a while if we lose this game, with a lot of ground to make up...probably too much. A divisional game is HUGE, especially in the spot the Bills are in. They are 1-3 in the conference, so that doesn't bode well for any tiebreakers in Wildcard scenarios, much less winning the division. Personally, I'd like to entertain those thoughts for a longer period of time. Whatever happens is going to linger for two weeks, through the bye.

Looking at it, I think the difference may be turnovers and penalties if it turns out to be the defensive battle it seems to be on paper. At any rate, I think those two things will be key. Protect the football and don't make stupid mistakes. The refs are sure to piss me off, but that's nothing new. It'll be interesting to see how our new running game looks, and they do have a challenge against this Jets defense in that regard. The Bills need to protect Orton so he can exploit that vulnerable Jets secondary...running the ball well would obviously help that.

Scoring first would be big.

[BuffaloRedleg]

Re: Statement Game

The Pats game was a statement game and we didn't show up, so that ship has sailed.

This is just a game where we must win to hang on to our slim playoff hopes. If they lose, seeya it ain't happening.

That's not just being negative, that's just a plain ole' unfortunate reality.

[Forward_Lateral]

Re: Statement Game

Like Historian said, it's more of a must win for the Jets than it is the Bills. Rex and company are desperate for a win. I think the Bills are gonna be in tough this week. Anyone expecting a blowout has expectations that are way to high.

Find a way to win. A road divisional win would be huge.

A loss would not cripple the season, regardless of what some will tell you. 4-4 after the bye is still a very good spot to be in, Wild Card wise.

[feldspar]

Re: Statement Game

A loss would not cripple the season, regardless of what some will tell you. 4-4 after the bye is still a very good spot to be in, Wild Card wise.

Maybe sometimes, but with a loss, the Bills would be 1-2 in the division and 1-4 in the conference. That's not good for a Wildcard tiebreaker scenario, like I said.

And a late push will be difficult, to say the least. The December schedule is brutal. Three of the four final games are on the road. We have to play AT Denver and AT New England. We also have to play Green Bay.

It's very important that the Bills make 5-3. Anything can happen later, but this team isn't good enough to climb out of any hole IMO. They need to make a run in the next five-game stretch, feeling good going into the bye. After the bye, the Bills have 3 out of the next 4 games at home, all games winnable IMO. We need to take advantage of these "winnable" games while we can.

Losing to the Jets this week would be extremely deflating.

[HAMMER]

Re: Statement Game

Rex did not get a long extension & the talk is he is coaching for his football life in NY.

I like Rex myself, & would be happy to have him as the HC of my team as long as he had a GOOD OC.

Wow! Don't know what to say about this statement. Who in their right mind would want that clown of a coach, total blowhard, creates distractions, likes to lick toes. No thank you

[Fletch]

Re: Statement Game

WIN THE ****ING GAME PLEASE. THE JETS HAVE 1 WIN FOR CHRISTS SAKE

They've also played Denver and GB. I think that they're much better than that record.

Maybe they'd be 3-4 if they'd played Minnesota and Houston instead of GB and Denver, two games that we're likely to lose as well. They definitely gave NE a hell of a lot better game than we did.

Just sayin'.