The Red King

A lot going against the Pats, but on the AFC side they are the only team with a metric crap ton of postseason experience. And they have Belli and Brady. I think they are vulnerable, especially this Saturday in what really was, to them, a surprise game sprung on them. But as much as I would like to, I cannot and will not write the Pats off. The Pats are not done until the very moment the game is over and the Pats are on the wrong side of the final score.

Tone and wording. OP is basically saying the Bills going 10-6 and nabbing a wild card isn't that big a deal. That it isn't something we should be proud of, not an accomplishment, because of how we got there. And that's a suggestion that offends and upsets some.

The Pats dropped from second to third as a result of a tiebreaker. Specifically, they lost to the Chiefs earlier in the season! They got nobody to blame but themselves.

I told my daughter that Cleveland has gone from dumpster fire to hellfire spewing fissure to hell. Other posters have it right. No culture, no accountability. Look at Allen's response after the first NE game. He owned it, and worked on it. This...dude...you just lost to the team drafting first, with a roster that had so-called analysts annointing you champions in the preseason. You deserve to be mocked for it. Suck it up Buttercup, take some responsibility. Take tyour team by the stones and turn that ship around.

Brady and the Pats thinking they might be able to rest starters after jumping to a big enough lead against Miami, then be able to rest during the bye week...all of a sudden facing the prospect of a playoff game against the Titans on a short week? Excuse me while I giggle.

Pats are already worn down. Playing again on Saturday would be brutal for them. ...which is why there is no chance the NFL would do it to them, of course. Pats will get the Sunday game, we'll get the Saturday.

Another perspective...not counting the throwaway game today, Buffalo had five losses. Four of those five came at the hands of teams that went on to win their divisions. ?

Five of Buffalo's six losses have been by seven points or less, including three against NE and Baltimore. They've proven they can run with the big dogs. Next step is beating them. Let's see if they can do it. You think Houston's not worried about Buffalo?

Biggest key is, the Pats didn't get a chance to rest anyone this week, and just lost their bye. With the Bills up their butt and jockying for position the Pats had to give full effort every game and now have to host a wild card game with no rest. I hope the NFL gives them a Sat. game, but we all know that ain't happening.

I assume nothing and wrote my initial post carefully. It's got to be one game at a time. That being said, it doesn't hurt to think about what lays beyond should the Bills win. Things look a little more viable now. NE didn't get a chance to rest this week and lost their bye week. They're going to be worn, something they're not used to in the playoffs.

KC jumping NE might have opened a slightly easier playoff road for us. We start at Houston and cannot meet NE until the Championship game. The Titans, should they make it, match well with NE. Should they topple NE a Bills win then sends them to KC instead of Baltimore, an (imho) far more winable game. Hell, a Bills win and a Titans upset over Baltimore and the Bills could even host the Championship game. Unlikely, of course, but any way you slice it I think our path to the Super Bowl looks a lot nicer then it did before KC leapfrogged NE.

How are you guessing home for Pitt and away for Colts/Titans? The other fourteen games are locked in, I know. But those two, drawn from the second place teams of the AFC divisions we're not playing don't follow the same pattern of alternating home/away.

Power rankings are designed to stir the pot, whip people up. Topics like this prove it works, week after week.

You know, it is possible to say the refs were quite biased *and* say the Bills could have done more to win. They're not mutually exclusive. ?

We have Beane, the McGuyver of GMs. He'll find a way to package that pick with a third rounder, a cheeto and a q-tip to move into the top 15. ?

Who else should have gone? I love the Bills, but they are a collection of very good players with very little star power. What other Bills player earned a spot that wasn't outplayed by 2-3 other AFC guys at their position?

While unlikely, the AFCE is still in play, so yes they have something to play for. As for this, the goal is *this* Super Bowl. NE doesn't care what the punishment is, so long as it's next season.

Not true. If both wild cards win twice, the Bills would host the other wild card in the AFC Championship game.

This post is not about the x and os. It's not about the draft. It's about culture, attitude, perception, and a team winning in situations they used to find ways to lose. Say what you will about how they are executing, and opinions vary, but you cannot deny a drastic improvement in culture.

Would Indy somehow squeek in if they got into a three way tie, perhaps? ?

Has to feel so strange to NE...going into week 16, and they still haven't won the division.

We can complain, and we can critisize...but at the start, if you were told the Bills would be 10-4, a game behind the Pats, and already clinched a wild card, we'd not just be happy. We'd be thrilled! Congrats, boys. Now go make a statement in NE.

Glad to see we took a shot to the end zone...oh, wait...

Getting a sick feeling here. Too many mistakes.

Apparently we forgot to tackle at halftime. That was pathetic.