How do you feel about the Bills making the playoffs?

[Mace]

I voted disagree, I don't think they're going to make it. They're riding the Ryan rollercoaster which brings nothing to the table but ups and downs, where I expected them to more formidably ride the initial wave of his charisma. That they haven't, to me means the players didn't need charisma from their HC as much as the fans did. I don't think they're consistent enough game to game, even in a conference that's struggling this year, which is a terribly wasted opportunity to me if it pans out.

I hope I'm wrong, but I think they'll lose more, stupidly than win, convincingly as it goes.

[BuffaloRedleg]

It's nice to talk about game flow, and everyone knows that certain decisions are made wrt time, field position, and score.

The negative things that the staff of TEN and NYJ by not taking more or less easy fgs ultimately decided the game results. Yes - something else could have happened. However, both TEN and NYJ executed long drives, both came up empty. NYJ, having been cute early on, not having those 3 points in their pocket, then tries another 4th and goal - that woeful pass behind the LOS.

But I mean it's more likely that the Pats just roll over us than they execute some last minute winning drive. The comparison doesn't really work in sports, as much as people like the simple narrative. The games are totally different. We need to play the Pats entirely differently than the Jets, who were different from the Dolphins etc.

It's like listening to Rich Gannon during the game. His only comment ever is "you can't let x do y." Well, you can't let Fitz score 100 points and you also can't let Tom Brady score 100 points. It's very surface level analysis.

[YardRat]

Game flow is one thing...trend is another. This offense, regardless of who is on the field and healthy (and also regardless of any 'game flow' in any specific contest), has struggled for the most part against every team they've played except for Miami. An offensive squad can't consistently go completely dormant for greater parts of games except for the occasional big play or, apparently even rarer this season, long drive that ends up with six points, and expect 'game flow' to help them consistently come away with victories.

[Mr. Cynical]

50/50

I don't think they're beating either New England nor Dallas. So that leaves 5 other games where they have to win at least 4 of them. They're lucking out that the AFC is weak after New England, Cincy and Denver. So 9-7 might be good enough to get in as long as another team doesn't go on a run.

Agree with this, although I think they will beat Dallas. The key is simple - they have to stay healthy from top to bottom. Any gaps and their chances go waaaaay down.

[Oaf]

Will Romo be back for the Dal game?

[bdutton]

If we manage to find a way to beat the Patriots next week... yes. We need 5 wins. Patriots will need to be one of them. So I voted Disagree.

[Night Train]

The health of our key skill players has been an issue all year and cost us the Jags game.

I certainly don't expect a win next Sunday but a 5-5 team after that with good health and the schedule in front of them has a chance to snag that last wild card slot. But if Taylor, Watkins, McCoy, Karlos Williams go down again for significant time, we know our fate.

[BuffaloRedleg]

Game flow is one thing...trend is another. This offense, regardless of who is on the field and healthy (and also regardless of any 'game flow' in any specific contest), has struggled for the most part against every team they've played except for Miami. An offensive squad can't consistently go completely dormant for greater parts of games except for the occasional big play or, apparently even rarer this season, long drive that ends up with six points, and expect 'game flow' to help them consistently come away with victories.

The game flow doesn't cause the victories, it is a product of the situation in the game.

As to your other comment, the statistics tell a different story.

The Bills are 11th in total yards, 8th in PPG and 1st in rushing yards. Now I don't think you win the Superbowl by being 25th in passing yards in the league, but that is by design at least. They are 5th in the league in giveaway/takeaway ration (and would be second if it wasn't for that disastrous Manuel game)

What is this trend you are talking about? This team has always been a defense first, don't turn the ball over, run the ball hard team. The stats (and their losses when the key players in that design got injured) show that they have been able to do that.

I'm someone who is neither agree nor disagree so I think we're on the same page on that, but I just don't agree with your analysis. This is a team that when healthy does exactly what they want to do, but just hasn't done it against what I would consider a good team. I also think the design is innately flawed because I have a hard time believing you can win a SB with this type of offensive philosophy, unless magically this defense becomes better than Denver.

Until they do that, they are just the average garbage pile in the NFL, although maybe they are good enough to be a smelly diaper that sits on the top rather than one wedged deep in the middle. We have that going for us.

[Skooby]

Based on us staying healthy, the Bills make the playoffs. If EJ / Johnson has to play, there's no chance at all of us making it. I strongly agree that if the Bills stay with the same guys, they make it.

[Mike]

Heart of the Problem:

The Bills are actually worst than many of us expected - we expects top 5 defense & average offense. As a result, it's very hard to count on them to win versus even the bad teams, there is little consistency -outside of getting penalties- and wins/loses 'happen' because of lucky bounce here, bad call there, etc.

What makes things interesting is how poor everyone else is. There are a handful of good teams, a bunch of bad teams, and then pure mediocrity. You can take that last playoff spot and put any number of teams like the Bills and it would make perfect sense.

As a result, I have ranked top AFC teams based on Play and adjusted for things like injury:
1. Pats
2. Cats (Cinci)
3. Broncos
4. Steelers
---- Teams Below the Line are Interchangeable ---------
5. Raiders - best case 9-10 wins
6. Colts - will win div
7. Bills - best case 9-10 wins
8. Jets - best case 9-10 wins

* Real World Tie Braker goes to Team with Best QB: Raiders.
Bills barely miss playoffs as Raiders get the Last Spot!

[WagonCircler]

I think "that kind of play in that game you won isn't going to fly against x" is one of the most overrated cliches sports fans utter in search to find things to keep them from being too excited about their team.

We don't need that in Buffalo. A decade and a half without playoffs eliminates the need for artificial pessimism. We have the genuine article.

[LarryBoy]

to me its just way too early to tell....I voted neither though I feel more hopeful this year then in the past...

[BuffaloRedleg]

We don't need that in Buffalo. A decade and a half without playoffs eliminates the need for artificial pessimism. We have the genuine article.

That's why I usually find it unhelpful.

So far we've rolled over teams or gotten rolled over. If it's been close its only because we either let them back in or they let us back in.

My biggest problem is that the team hasn't really played in an overly competitive game yet. This might be a little unfair but when I see us go toe to toe with a good team, then we can talk playoffs.

I don't need us to beat the Patriots as they are seemingly playing on a different level right now, but if we can play a competitive game I'll feel pretty good about our playoff situation.

I just can't handle getting embarrassed on MNF. We have so few of them, and man do I hear about it from my out of state friends.

[MikeInRoch]

Strongly disagree. Will be happy if I'm wrong.

[WagonCircler]

What I can't handle is perpetuating the status quo due to incremental improvement.

Much is made every year over how improved the roster is. Especially this year. Our Defense was supposed to be the 1985 Bears. Our Offense was supposed to be loaded with nuclear weapons.

But every year, it's the same old result. Finishing a game or two out of the playoffs, then drafting anywhere from the 8th to the 12th slot.

I think Doug Whaley has built a dumb football team. I have zero confidence that the Bills are capable of greatness. They're playing checkers while the true contenders are playing chess.

It's the same movie. That's why I'm enjoying the Sabres so much right now. I truly believe that they're on the road to being a great team. Nothing about the Bills says greatness. Their ceiling is okayness.

[swiper]

The roster lacks a QB.

[IlluminatusUIUC]

Wildcard slots are like the old joke:

Two guys are walking through the woods when they stumble across an angry bear. Before they start running, one guy stops to tie his shoes. The other guy says "What the hell does that matter? You'll never outrun the bear."

"I don't have to outrun the bear, I only have to outrun you."


People are hung up on how we played against the Bengals and Patriots. They are the class of the conference, and the fact that they beat on us shows that we aren't title contenders. However, someone's got to win those wild card slots, and we are well in the thick of that competition.

The Ravens, Browns, Chargers, and anyone in the AFC south other than the winner are all but eliminated from the WC. The Pats and Bengals have all but locked up their divisions.

That leaves the Steelers, Raiders, Chiefs, Broncos, Jets, Dolphins, and us fighting for two slots. We've already beaten two of those teams and have two more games among that group to get tiebreakers. The Steelers look good and will probably take the #5 seed unless their injuries finally catch up with them. One of the Raiders/Chiefs/Broncos three (likely Denver) will win the West and not be in competition with us.

So its likely Raiders, Chiefs, Jets, and Bills for the #6 seed. I think that's a winnable group.

[WagonCircler]

The roster lacks a QB.

That's the truly scary thing. Whaley will point to statistics and say that we're just fine at QB. I bet he doesn't even draft a QB.

[ICRockets]

The roster lacks a QB.

Yeah, we need a #2 in case Tyrod goes down again.

[BLeonard]

To all of those saying "Too many road games"... The Bills are 3-1 on the road and 2-3 at home.

I think 9-7 gets a team in in the AFC. That means, even if you are chalking up the Pats game as a loss (which I'm not), that means they need 4 wins out of KC, HOU, PHI, WSH, DAL and NYJ. The only team with a winning record out of those is the Jets, who the Bills just beat on the road.

At this point, the Bills control their own destiny and have a pretty favorable schedule... That's not a bad spot to be in a week before Thanksgiving.

-Bill