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Good homework. I can't get too worked up thinking of permutations. Still have to win our games. Would be nice to have a desirable slot locked up Week 18 so as to rest people vs Jets. Let's start with beating Bengals this Sunday and extinguishing any hope they have. It won't be easy. They have 8 losses and unbelievably still have outside shot at Division. AFC North is weird and if Bengals somehow run the table, it's not inconceivable that Ravens and Steelers, who each have 6 losses, play each other twice. Pittsburgh remaining opponents- Ravens 2x, Dolphins, at Detroit, at Cleveland (never an easy game for them). Not inconceivable they lose 3 more games. Baltimore opponents- Steelers 2x, Bengals, Pats, at Green Bay. That's a rough schedule. They can lose 3. I'd rather go to Pittsburgh or even Baltimore over Cincinnati. Go beat Joe Burrow Sunday.

Sounds like the 80s when the Browns couldn't get past the Broncos but I bet if you'd ask Browns fans would they rather be in that situation compared to where they at now most would choose the first.

Interesting point regarding roster building philosophies. I went back and did a quick dig on the Raven's post season record in the Lamar Jackson Era, along with the number of Ravens selected to go All Pro and/or Pro Bowl 2018-Lost in the Wildcard to the Chargers, 3 All Pro, 4 Pro Bowl selections. 2019-Lost in the Divisional round to the Titans, Lamar's first MVP year. 6 All Pro, 13 Pro Bowl selections. 2020-Lost to us in the Divisional round, 2 All Pro, 7 Pro Bowl selections. 2021-Missed the playoffs. 3 All Pro, 5 Pro Bowl selections. 2022-Lost to Cinci in the Wildcard, 3 All Pro, 7 Pro Bowl selections. 2023-Lost to the Chiefs in the AFCG, Lamar's second MVP year, 6 All Pro, 8 Pro Bowl selections. 2024-Lost to us in the Divisional round, 6 All Pro, 11 Pro Bowl selections. In the Lamar Jackson era, the Ravens have missed the playoffs once, been one-and-done'd twice, and made it to 1 AFCG. With a roster that usually has more than it's fair share of Very Good to Elite players. So long as you have an MVP level franchise QB, "Solid and Deep" seems to beat "Stars and JAGs" in consistency over time. At least in a Bills/Ravens comparison.

Burrow wouldn’t have made it through our Houston game. He’d be on IR right now.

Sounds like you’re on the right track. Damn genetics and getting old! lol

The perfect game was awesome, especially that Hyde interception when he came out of no where to get that ball. The AFC championship against the Raiders was just wow. I only saw the ending of the greatest come back since it was blacked out here in Buffalo. The most memorable game in person was a Monday night game against the Denver Broncos with those horrible throwback red helmets and white standing Buffalo. Thurman had a great run to turn that game around. I also remember attending a game against the Colts with OJ on the game day program just before the events that made him infamous. Good/Bad and indifferent memories of tailgating, waiting to use the trough bathrooms, freezing feet and slapping hands with complete strangers just because they happened to have seats next or in front/behind me. Until it's not and Flutie gets sacked by Trace Armstrong and literally drops the ball 🥲 sorry I never was and never will buy the hype train that was #7

Fun fact - The Republicans Against Trump twitter account is based in Austria.

His defensive scheme only works in the regular season up by two scores. All the close games with worse teams have been due to not being able to stop the run and get off the field on 3rd down. And then you have all the shoot outs where they can't make a play to change the game. It's a mediocre defense buoyed by the best offensive player of our generation.

The game where Bruce Smith hit Boomer Esaison with a devasting hit.

Bills win over Dolphins to end the streak.

I hate NE with the passion of McDemott calling defensive time outs. I hate watched them for last last 5 years when they sucked because I love watching them lose. They have the biggest bandwagon fan base in sports. I’ve said numerous times there has been ZERO talk of the Pats* in NE the last 4-5 years. Pure Bandwagon. That being said, it looks like Maye is the real deal right now and I hate it. He’s taken a huge leap under Vrabel (hate him) and McDaniels. I’m going to hold on to my hope that once he starts playing a harder schedule and teams have a full year of tape under him and McDaniels that he’s going to come back to Earth. That’s mainly because I don’t want to admit NE is going to be a problem for the next decade and I’m hoping he regresses like Stroud, Daniels, Purdy, and other QBs who looked phenomenal for a year then regressed to the mean. He’s playing great, has a very good HC/OC combo, and an easy schedule. I don’t think we will know until next year if it’s sustainable but right now he’s got all the potential.

Burrow with our offense and coached by McDermott and Brady… how would that go?

Mine is a seemingly meaningless game against the Dolphins. The one where Hyde took the onside kick for the TD. It was the first game I took my son to. Being able to share that right of passage with him was a top 5 moment in my entire life

Republicans against Trump? The might as well call themselves "Chronic losers that are content with finishing in 2nd place in a 2 horse race". While I like Rand Paul he's too much of an idealist. And in my experience idealists don't get much done.

Well though out and presented. However, the one area I split with you, like many, is that Baltimore in Baltimore is far from a dream scenario. In fact, I would place that under more of a nightmare scenario. Worst possible outcome type thing. That team playing at home plays on another level. It really doesn't matter that Buffalo has beaten Baltimore twice in the playoffs. Those teams are not this team. In fact, I would put the Bills getting the 6 seed as a better spot. Likely playing either Jacksonville or Indy. Then with a win, we would likely head to whoever the 1 seed is (Denver or Patriots).

Avoid playing the Ravens in their building in the first round , if Henry is healthy then I don't like our chances. I like our chances against everyone but the Ravens at Baltimore because we have no had much luck stopping Henry before

The dominance of our O -line was mind blowing. This was done against a very talented defensive line and active LBs. If we can gracefully transition from Dion and give Brown a chance to get totally healthy, these O-linemen can make Cook’s explosion a regular occurrence. With Cook running wild giving our receivers single coverage, we can dominate time of possession and provide the framework for Josh to find a way against any AFC opponent. To me dominance of the O-line and the way we played the run with the emergence of Shaq Thompson is the key. Now I don’t expect our secondary to hold up against Burrow and those receivers but they won’t stop us either. I haven’t felt as confident all season as I do now. I don’t see any of our 5 remaining opponents, including NE, being favored over us.

So have we.

Bolded is where IMO where the difference in opinion on McDermott stems from. For me, I want to see a Super Bowl championship. If that means mortgaging some of the future and using multiple void years like the Eagles are so be it. If that also comes with going back to the drought years that's fine. We won a Super Bowl. The difference is those that don't want change is they like knowing they are a playoff team every season. They want to win a Super Bowl but they don't want to mortgage the future for it. They believe that one of these years everything will go their way and they will win.

Not nonsense. Those three games are significant. - Bills get AFC champion Chiefs. Patriots get Raiders, arguably the worst team in the league. - Bills get Texans, best defense in NFL. Patriots get Titans, only team probably worse than above. - Bills get Super Bowl champion Eagles. Patriots get 2-win Giants with rookie QB and interim HC. Also: - Bills got the Ravens at full strength. Patriots will get version with Lamar Jackson on one-leg. - Bills get Bengals at full strength. Patriots got them without Joe Burrow or Jamar Chase. The Patriots best win of the season was against us... probably the most lopsided penalty fest in the NFL this year. And they barely escaped with a 3-point victory. We will see about the rematch. It may be a longshot for us to come back and win the division. But if we win that game, the margin will be pretty close. Yes, the Bills blew a cake schedule this season. No excuses. But the Patriots have a HISTORICALLY weak slate of opponents. If the AFC East comes down to Week 18 or a tiebreaker, nobody can say these differences didn't play a factor.

I think he wanted to be an alchemist as a child, and this is part of is grand plan. And an admirable plan it is, I must say! But I’ll let you ups try it first.

I wonder how Burrow would do the Bills receivers and line. Not very well, I'd guess.

Those are a pretty big 3 games in difference, though, and with anyone other than Hochuli reffing we very probably win that first matchup even with the turnovers

Agreed. They look like they're starting to round into form. Especially Thompson and Milano, having solid LB play as Bishop and Hairston get more experience might make the difference. Remember why the Eagles were able to stomp all over KC in the superbowl, their defensive secondary gave their DL time to get home to mahomes and that was ultimately the story.