ComradeKayAdams

I've outlined this in another thread, but the summary is that we really don't need to worry about 5 of those teams. If you were to tell me that the following happen: 1. Bills win last 5 2. Colts lose 3 of last 5 (at Houston, home vs Dallas, at Tenny) 3. Ravens lose 3 of last 5 (at Atlanta, at KC, at LA Chargers) Then I would be willing to bet serious money (how about $5000?) that the Bills make the playoffs as the 6th seed.

No, the real issue is the Colts. These guys have won 5 straight, have a franchise QB, and have a very easy remaining schedule. Someone please tell me where their minimum 3 losses are coming? At Jax, at Titans, at Texans, home against Cowboys, home against Giants. Maybe they lose to the Texans, but I don't seem them losing 2 additional games. Here's where the playoffs stand: assume the 6 playoff teams as the Patriots, Steelers, Texans, Chiefs, Chargers, and 9-7 Bills. The Pats aren't finishing 1-4 unless Brady gets injured. So all we have left is the final wildcard post. The 7 teams in the way of the Bills for that final wildcard spot: 1. Colts: biggest problem, as explained above. Must lose 3 more games. 2. Ravens: second biggest problem. Must lose 3 more games, but very possible. At KC, at LA Chargers, and then 1 more loss among 3 games of: at Atlanta, TB, Cleveland. 3. Bengals: must lose 2 more games. I'd say this is likely. How about losses at Pittsburgh and at LA Chargers? 4. Broncos: need any single additional loss to an AFC opponent. How about a loss to the LA Chargers at home? Their other 4 games are very easy, so hopefully they don't get hot. 5. Browns: any single loss will suffice. Very likely. Probably as early as this weekend vs Texans. Their final 3 games are teams on this list, so they are more like our allies than our foes at the moment. 6. Titans: we only need them to lose 1 more time, assuming they go on to lose to Texans tonight. Their next 4 games are very easy, but this is also not a good enough of a team to think they will not slip up at least once more. Their final game is against the Colts, but we most likely will need them to win that one. 7. Dolphins: no need to scoreboard watch with these guys, so long as we finish 9-7 and therefore sweep them. So to summarize: if the Bills win Sunday while the Ravens lose in Atlanta and the Colts lose in Jacksonville....then it is fair to start taking the playoffs seriously.

For what it's worth, Kyle Williams is 1 sack away from posting his second-highest season sack total in his 13-season career. And he has 5 games left to do it.

Hey, what were the odds that the Sabres would pull off the past 6 wins, against very tough teams and mostly on the road? At least the next 6 games for the Bills are mostly at home and mostly against weak opponents.

I recommend regular use of sunscreen plus some sort of Vitamin E moisturizer for his pasty white skin. Yes, even for his bald pate.

Not only that, but he's actually been the 4th most productive TE in Bills history in terms of receptions. 5th most in terms of yardage. And he'll easily be 2nd in both categories behind Metzelaars if he stays next year. The bottom line is that he's a decent player worth keeping when healthy. Key words, of course, are "when healthy." We would save $4.5 million by cutting him.

Walt Corey defenses were not "top." Very good at times, and featuring the greatest DE in NFL history, but never elite like some of the ones you'd see in the NFC East. Hence the 4 Super Bowl losses...

Maybe? Probably? But find me another Tre White and another Jerry Hughes to start on this defense, and I don't think that would be the case. I'm looking forward to seeing what Beane and McDermott can do this off-season to make that happen. And of course, no one is doubting the importance of building an offense that is much better than the worst in modern NFL history. We will need to score more than 10 points a game in order to win games.

Sorry, but the K-gun offense was not this franchise's most important contribution to the history of the NFL. The mid-60's AFL champions deserve that honor for helping to establish credibility to the AFL and the modern game. And how did they go about doing that? By using a dominant defense and a run-oriented offense to counter all of the flashy, "gimmicky" AFL offenses. Every once in a while, it's fun to have a game like last night. Just like every once in a while, it's fun to have a game like last year's Snow Bowl against the Colts. But as a regular thing? Nah. The Greatest Show on Turf was exciting. But so were the 1985 Bears. The league does appear to be intent on diminishing the importance of defense, special teams, the running game, and the overall violent nature of the sport. What we will soon have is a glorified flag football league with only one way to achieve success: find a franchise QB and keep him healthy.

It certainly wasn't part of the plan. But the incompetence from the past two seasons allowed us to draft Mitts and Dahlin. So in the end, maybe it will work out? The Penguins and Blackhawks dynasties, for example, happened because those teams were awful before drafting their superstars. Yes, for me a single Stanley Cup will definitely make the awfulness of the past 7 years worth it. If you polled every Sabres fan on the planet, I'm willing to bet that 99% of them will agree with me. If anything, the past 7 years will have made a future Stanley Cup even more delicious. Ideally, an NHL team wouldn't have to tank and suck for a while in order to build a Cup-contending roster. But the nature of drafting talent in the NHL (drafting 18-years olds vs 22-year olds in the NFL) makes it a lot more difficult to do it the "noble" way. If you look back at the history of the Buffalo Sabres, they have never really bottomed out for any real length of time before now.

A rebuild's success will ultimately be measured in championships won, not the speed from which the team went from terrible to competitive. Also, who gives a flying ***** about the Rangers!? Take that ***** to a NJ Jets or NJ Giants message board. ***** downstaters.....

No, dropped to #2 because Baltimore had a great game. Our remaining schedule is very favorable, however, for reclaiming the title.

So he's obviously not going to become a Buffalo Bill. But just for fun...imagine what you could do schematically on defense with Ramsey and White as your two shut-down corners? We would probably end up making one of those "greatest defenses of all time" rankings.

Currently a 5-way tie at 5-5 for the final wildcard spot....Dolphins, Titans, Colts, Bengals, Ravens. For the scoreboard watchers in a Buffalo Bills 9-7 scenario: 1. Ravens can't finish better than 3-3 (most likely losses: at Atlanta, at KC, at LAC) 2. Bengals can't finish better than 3-3 (most likely losses: at LAC, at Cleveland, at Pitt) 3. Colts can't finish better than 3-3 (most likely losses: at Jax, at Houston, Dallas) 4. Titans can't finish better than 4-2 (most likely losses: at Houston, Indy) 5. Browns need to lose 1 more. 6. Broncos need to lose 1 more AFC game....possibly in another hour. All of these scenarios should happen, with the notable exception of the Colts. They are on a hot streak right now, have an elite QB, and have a very easy schedule.

Interesting take. I remember him as an overachieving 7th round draft pick in a Buffalo Bills era where high-round draft busts were the routine. I remember him as a three-straight 1k yard receiver who developed great chemistry with Fitz in Gailey's offense and often got the best of Revis Island. I remember him as a guy who loved his teammates, the city of Buffalo, the fans, and the game of football despite the NO FUN LEAGUE's best efforts to quash his on-field enthusiasm. I'm glad he was a part of this franchise's history.

I believe it will. The NY Times playoff simulator gives the Bills a 55% chance straight-up of making the playoffs if they finish 9-7. The easiest road to the playoffs assumes the Pats, Steelers, Texans, Chiefs, and Chargers make the playoffs. The Raiders are already behind us. We don't need to worry about the Jets or Dolphins if we win out. The Browns only need to lose 1 more game. The Broncos only need to lose 1 of their 6 remaining AFC games. The Jags only need to lose one more non-Bills game, just to be safe in terms of more complex tiebreaker scenarios. So now looking more closely at the 4 teams that will essentially determine our 9-7 playoff fate: 1. Titans finish no better than 4-3: L at Colts, L at Texans, L Redskins 2. Colts finish no better than 4-3: L at Texans, L Cowboys, L at Titans 3. Ravens finish no better than 4-3: L at Falcons, L at Chiefs, L at Chargers 4. Bengals finish no better than 3-4: L at Ravens, L at Chargers, L at Browns, L at Steelers EDIT: I've been analyzing these playoff scenarios since the very beginning of The Great Drought in 2000. Every. Single. Effing. Time. The games outside our control have played out in our favor. The problem has always been that the Bills haven't done their part of winning out in December.

If you're wanting a miracle playoff run, you should be rooting for none of the following teams to go on a hot streak: the Colts, Titans, Ravens, and Bengals. By hot streak, I mean not winning 5+ of their remaining 7 games. Even 4 wins might be pushing it for the Titans and Bengals, depending on the tiebreaker scenarios for the teams finishing 9-7. Looking at their schedules, I personally think all 4 teams I mentioned WILL fall short and that the Bills WILL make the playoffs if they were to somehow magically finish 9-7.

No, actually 8-6 is out of the question. But I like your optimism. Though I'm not sure how the Ravens, Bengals, Colts, and Titans will shake out. We have no margin of error with any of these 4 getting hot. And we've already lost to the Ravens and Colts.

13-7, actually. I don't think we'd clinch a first-round bye.

Just to clarify my post: if the Dolphins lose in another hour to GB, next week the Ravens beat the Bengals at home, and next week the Colts beat the Titans at home, then there will be a 5-team tie at 5-5 for the final wildcard spot by the start of week 12. So to answer the original question of whether 9-7 gets the Bills into the playoffs: probably a coin toss of a chance, since our 7-5 AFC record is competitive, wins over the Dolphins and Titans would help, but losses to the Ravens and Colts doesn't.

The 2nd wild card spot could easily be at 5-5 (Bengals, Dolphins, and Titans; maybe also Ravens and Colts) when we begin play vs the Jags in 2 weeks. Of course, I don't understand how we are going to beat NE in week 16. Someone explain that one to me.

Paging Harvey Johnson...

1987: strike year....Kelly and then 3 scrubs starting 1 game each at QB due to the strike. 1960, 1961: first two years of the AFL...completely different expectations in terms of how to secure quality QB's on the market as well as how the position was played/scouted etc... 1968: longstanding franchise QB suddenly goes down in practice, 2 weeks before the season begins...3 more QB's (Flores, Darragh, and Stephenson) get injured....4 in total. 2018: epic mismanagement of the QB situation beyond the injuries to Allen and Anderson. Getting rid of Taylor without a suitable replacement, trading McCarron, forcing Allen into a starting role a full year before he's ready, throwing Anderson and Barkely onto the field days after picking them off the streets....all of these bad decisions stem from the singular fact that McDermott completely overestimated Peterman's abilities as an NFL QB. My speculation is that there was some favoritism going on because they both believe in the same invisible space God.

My best summary of Nate Peterman is that he has the arm of Chad Pennington and the self-confidence of Brett Favre. This combination leads to a lot of turnovers and bad decisions with the ball.

This is the 5th time in franchise history that 4 or more players started the season at QB: 1960 and 1961 before they found Kemp, 1968 when Kemp was injured in preseason and out for the year, 1987 during the strike year, and now 2018. The other four seasons had better excuses. This one is just sad and is due to McDermott's hard-on for fellow Jesus freak, Nate Peterman.