All Activity

And they can still count for something by being guaranteed a playoff game. Just not a home game. Last year, the Vikings went 14-3 and were second in their Division to the Lions going 15-2. They had to travel to play the 10-7 Rams. They had a better record by 4 games but because they were in a Division with a team that won 15 games, they had to travel. The current system rewards lesser teams for winning weaker Divisions. It's simple. Win your Division, get in the playoffs (so it still means something) but the home game goes to the team with the better record

Interesting stuff. I was curious what our time of possession has been per half and whether that is potentially helping keep the defense off the field. We are #1 in the league in the 2nd half by a wide margin, middle of the pack on the 1st half. In fact, we have the 2nd highest TOP in the 2nd half over the last 20 years, behind only the 2019 Baltimore Ravens. Ours has been more skewed to the 3rd quarter whereas the Ravens were more skewed to the 4th quarter, although we both lead/led the league in TOP in both quarters. We also lead the league in TOP for the full game, 2nd to the 2019 Ravens in the past 15 years. What I think this confirms is that we’re running a very heavy and successful ball control offense, wearing teams down in the trenches, keeping the defense off the field, and then when the defense is on the field in the 2nd half, making the proper adjustments. This is helping to overcome the significant injuries we’ve faced on the defensive side of the ball, along with the lack of talent at the WR position. As the weather stays bad and *fingers crossed* the defense can get healthier, I think this team is as well positioned as ever to get back to the Super Bowl. Being a Wild Card team and needing to go on the road seems like our biggest obstacle, if we can’t pull out the division.

You'd have a hard time convincing anyone that the AFC North and NFC South are playing in more difficult divisions when the truth is that both divisions are simply butt cheeks. In reality, it's rewarding mediocrity.

I live in Colorado and have watched most of the Broncos games this year and probably all of the more competive ones. For most of the season I've felt that one thing the Broncos are really good at is generating consistent pressure with a four man pass rush. IIRC, Bill Wash was quoted as saying that the key to winning in the NFL is 4th quarter pass rush and the Broncos have had that all season. The offense on the other hand has been a do the bare minimum with a game manager quarterback operation. However, as Nick Wright fairly observed on First Things First today, Bo Nix's three best games as a pro have been his last three games. He was pretty darn good in the second of yesterday's game. Consequently the prospect of the Bills having to go to Denver for a playoff games worries me considerably more than it did a month ago; however, I'd rather that than a road game in Houston against that savage defense, especially with an improving CJ Stroud at QB.

Doing seeding by record makes more sense. There is no logical reason why a 14-3 team with a 15-2 Division winner should have to travel to play a 9-8 Division winner. So, one team with a record 5 games better gets punished simply because of being in a better Division and the 9-8 Division winner gets rewarded for being in a garbage Division? In what world is that fair or make sense? It doesn't matter who it benefits. But in the Bills case, let's say a hypothetical. The Steelers or Ravens win the North. The Bills win out, go 13-4 but finish second and are the 5th seed. They would have to travel to play the Ravens or Steelers. Both teams they would have a better record than and both of which they have head to head tie breakers over. That makes no sense at all

People only like this idea because we would benefit from it. Personally, it adds some drama to the season. And that’s just what the NFL wants.

Houston is getting hot at the right time. They look dangerous right now.

I've heard talk on a Browns YouTube channel that Deshaun Watson should play on Sunday. As a Bills fan, I'd much rather they play Sanders. Watson would probably play terribly but it would be a very Bills thing for him to have an astonishing return to form at the worst possible time for the Bills. Anyone else share this concern?

So Brady should be fired then, right?

I rank the risk of them higher than anybody outside of Houston. They're the most complete AFC team.

I agree and have been saying this for years but I get hated on for it. It just makes more sense. A Division winner would be guaranteed a spot but not a home game. The people that say "just win your Division and you won't have that problem" don't understand that there is always one bad Division in each conference. What it takes to win one Division, may be much harder in another Division. If one team goes 13-4 but are behind a 14-3 team in there Division, why should they be visiting a 9-8 Division winner in the playoffs? So, the 9-8 team gets rewarded a home game because their Division was garbage? What's the point of putting everything you have into 13 wins just to basically have it not matter when it comes to seeding? This is blatant common sense but no matter how much sense you make, very few people will agree with you

I posted recently about the PPG disparity and was hoping to drill down a bit more and it's even crazier than I thought. Below is since week 8, randomly selected as the halfway point. First column is EPA defense for the whole game. Bills rank 17th. Second column is 1st half defensive EPA. Bills rank 26th. Third column is 2nd half defensive EPA. Bills rank 1st. Last column is the largest variance between first and second half defense. The higher the number, the worse the variance is in the 2nd half compared to the first half. The lower the number, the better. Buffalo is double the next closest one in Arizona, with Arizona only being that low because they're usually are out of the game by then. Hard to understand information like this. On one hand we show the ability to be among the leagues best in the 2nd half and on another we can't get off the field in the 1st.

That’s what I saw too. I do remember seeing him in the game after that, though. He was actually lined up in the backfield on one play, and I remember thinking, “Oh, I guess the thing that looked like an injury wasn’t that bad.” But maybe he was just gutting it out until after the game.

The Dolphins historically play the Patriots tough, even when Brady was there. Never say never.

Yeah, don't change it. I get the discrepancy, but I like the way it is based on what was stated. Teams gear up to take on their division.

Houston

Waiting on confirmation but I think Grape Davis against his own will, ended up at the DMV and is still stuck in line.

I concur. There are three teams that don't lead their AFC divisions that mathematically could surpass Buffalo's record. They are Houston, Indianapolis and LA Chargers. There are three Wild Card berths in the AFC. The Chargers have the same record as Buffalo, but are one spot ahead of the Bills in the current seeding. They must have a tie breaker over Buffalo. Houston's record at the moment is 9-5. If Buffalo wins 2 more games and Houston wins out, Houston would be seeded higher because they own the first tiebreaker over Buffalo (head to head). Obviously, if Buffalo wins out, Houston can't catch them. Indianapolis is 8-6 at the moment. If Buffalo beats Cleveland, they have 11 wins. If Indianapolis loses, the best they can finish is 10-7. They would likely be out of the playoffs. The wild card teams would likely be the Chargers, Buffalo and Houston. Houston would probably have to collapse for Indianapolis to have a chance to make the playoffs. By the way, Baltimore has not been mathematically eliminated, but they can't bump Buffalo out. They are 7-7. The best they can do is tie Buffalo's record if Buffalo loses out, but Buffalo owns the first tiebreaker (head to head). For Buffalo to get the top wild card spot, they need the Chargers to lose at least one of their remaining games. Buffalo will want to win out to insure that as the would face the fourth best division winner. That will be Pittsburgh whom Buffalo crushed just a couple weeks ago.

It won't. And fwiw.......the Patriots got the majority of officiating breaks.

Gross on Trump's part, he should have kept his yap shut.

Really poor look for head coach of a team. Sore loser and embarrassed choked a 21-0 lead at home coming off bye. Interesting enough my phone was blowing up multiple times throughout the game by non bills fans how badly the officiating was going against bills. Really really bad look coach 🤡

He is the recipient of "Dumbass!" He traded away our exceptionally high draft picks who led those teams to Stanley Cups wins. And he got us all of these peanuts in return!

I want to believe you, but I don't trust Flipper to play January football anywhere, let alone at Gilette. Especially when it's 25 out and they've got DMs full of OnlyFans girls and tickets to Bora Bora.

.