Koufax

Sure, but losing to PIT wouldn't have changed it much other than needing another win to get to 11. Obviously our win increases our chances of getting to the playoffs, but the larger point is we continue to have room for error, and should continue to take a deep breath. This is a really good team with a really good path and has earned itself some ongoing room for error in the playoff push, and some ongoing grace from the mafia even when we aren't perfect. Playing like we played in Houston, Atlanta, or Miami on any Sunday will really be disappointing, but playing like that in January is what would be horrible, and #17 is the best of the bunch on a good day and I look forward to when Vegas makes us underdogs (@NE and road playoff games). And for all the Bo/Drake/Daniel stuff, don't sleep on the very plausible (but unlikely) possibility of KC visiting Orchard Park again for the AFC Championship game as QB1 is still the most important position in sports, and only #15 losing or #17 losing really stands in the way of that showdown (4-1 or better Chiefs, 3-2 or better Bills with a couple other outcomes that aren't upsets, and obviously 2-0 each to start the playoffs).

We absolutely continue to have room for error (although beating the Bengals #31 rush defense at home is probably a good idea anyway). Even if we lose our next two games to fall to 8-6 we are very much alive, and don't need many upsets, and you have to get pretty creative to keep the 11-6 Bills OUT of the playoffs (and even some plausible scenarios for the 10-7 Bills). So go ahead and put the 11-6 Bills (losing 2 then winning 3 is the most dire scenario with 0-2 over the next 18 days being pretty heavy in the "room for error" category) into the ESPN Playoff Machine and click buttons for a while and show me which scenario has the Bills out. Get as creative as you want, and let me know if it is easy or hard.

You know what would be really cool, go 1-0 Sunday against the Bengals while playing good football and getting healthier. And after doing that for a few more weeks, if we play a Wild Card game, go ahead and try to win that. Higher seeds and home games are nice, but playing good football and being as healthy as possible. A lot can always happen as when our 5-5 team beat the Fish to win the division, but almost every scenario is best if we go 1-0 on Sunday and enjoy that process.

the good news is you are both wrong. We are making the playoffs because we are a really good team already in good position and with a favorable remaining schedule. Played poorly a few times, which hurts less in November than January. Have some injuries but that is the ebb and flow of the NFL. Saying a 7-4 #17 is going to participate in 0.5 postseasons this year is never a lock but is the easiest over to take in a long time. Go Bills

RVD is a really good football player and can buy some time for Spencer to get better, but this it’s still a really big loss of a grant changing star so I hope we can get Brown back for the playoffs.

We need to go 1-0 today. Everyone is getting the November jitters, when the only thing that matters is being healthy and playing great in January. The last time we didn't make the final 8 and play in the divisional round was in Jan 2020 when we lost in the WC in Houston. Since then five straight opportunities to play the best of the best and hope to go 3-0 while 7 of the top 8 teams end in disappointment. Home is better than the road, but beating three of the best teams in a row with at least one game Neutral is the opportunity we should all be focused on. Today I'm channeling 2006 in Houston when we took a 14-0 first quarter lead on two 83 yard TDs Losman to Evans. Then after going punt, punt, punt, int, punt, punt, punt, punt on eight straight quick possessions, had a final two minute drive ending in a 15 yard TD to Peerless Price for the win with nine seconds left. Go Bills.

Going 1-0 on a given day before Christmas or going 0-1 on a given day before Christmas is part of the adventure and our highs shouldn't be too high or our lows too low. Playing really bad football is a problem, and should no be sugar coated, because this is the type of football that doesn't fly when it is win or go home in January. And happening today when we also could have played a great game instead is really worrying.

We have earned the right to not get over stressed about October games and October standings. We should try to go 1-0 this week but if we do we aren't a Super Bowl lock, and if we don't we aren't a bust. 6-2 is better than 5-3, but both are on track to play a really important game in January somewhere that we can worry more about the narrative and impact of the outcome. Go Bills.

Very excited for Sunday, but there is no game in 2025 that really actually matters. Our job is to get to January healthy, peaking, and ideally with as high a seed as possible. They will need to hype this game for ratings, but we aren't on top of the world if we win it, and we aren't ruined if we don't. We are good enough to focus on going 1-0 each week, and playing good football and not worrying about the details beyond that. Good prep game to see what our defense can do and not always hope Josh can 38-35 these guys, but everybody get ready for way more reaction/over-reaction to whichever outcome happens than this game deserves.

What an awesome we-fixed-it drive to start and then the facepalm three and out sequence where Johnson, Davis, Sack is the way we try to get 10 yards.

If you don't love how Kincaid plays football, rewatch that TD and get back to me...

The Chris Farley Show

Two things I noticed on pre-snap stuff yesterday unlike past years: 1) He didn't just alert for a single change, they had revert when he saw something else to un-alert. 2) Gotta get a better call than "Zero" when they are going to Coleman. I know he probably was talking about cover zero, but every zero call was a pass and every one but one I believe he actually targeted Coleman. Probably not accurate at all, but it was fun to hear "Zero" right before he locked on Coleman a few times. I didn't hear any "Five" before going to Palmer or "Eighty-Six" before going to Kincaid.

We will be a different variation of a relatively stable great team with an elite QB next year. Whether that makes us top-4, top-2 or top-1 depends on more than a few things. If you think there is a narrative and a past predicts the future, you certainly would not have understood the 2003 to 2004 Red Sox. Or you wouldn't understand how Peyton Manning would be a two time MVP with nine NFL seasons and no Super Bowls before becoming a two Lombardi QB. Or you wouldn't understand John Elway playing 14 years and not only never winning a super bowl but losing three times in four years, before becoming a two Lombardi QB. This year was awesome until it wasn't, and as has happened before we were one or two plays away from getting over the hump. This organization is excellent and committed to doing it again. We will still run into some 50/50 toss up games at the season (or 60/40 or 40/60), and the odds of going 2-0 in a pair of those are only 25%. Do we get enough ahead of the Ravens and Chiefs to have that substantially better than 25%? I sure hope so. But even if not, taking another crack at it will sure be fun. I'm not sure if it is next February, but I will be at the parade, and I will enjoy it a lot. Go Bills.

Not sure if I missed it in the previous pages, but I think Kincaid getting the 1st down on the screen was more obvious than Allen getting it on the sneak. Shakir didn't get a good block or it would have been bigger gain, but I was surprised that play wasn't looked at.