LabattBlue Posted October 3, 2016 Share Posted October 3, 2016 Yes every team has highs and lows(see Pittsburgh this week vs last week), but I look at a couple things... 1 - Have to win your home games. Having 2 losses or less at home, IMO is a must. I hope losing the home opener against a mediocre team doesn't come back to haunt them. 2 - When the season is on the line, find a way to win. Remember losing to Pittsburgh's 3rd stringers a few years back? 3 - Have to have above average QB play all season long. Will TT give them that? 4 - Must win against teams that are likely not going to be playoff teams(see next 3 games). I don't care if the Rams are 3-1, I'd be shocked if they are in the playoffs with that QB and offense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nanker Posted October 3, 2016 Share Posted October 3, 2016 I'll take, "Many more wins than losses for $300" Alex. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobobonators Posted October 3, 2016 Share Posted October 3, 2016 Good coaching; limited penalties; a dash of good fortune. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CardinalScotts Posted October 3, 2016 Share Posted October 3, 2016 flat out the biggest factor and it's not even close SCHEDULE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ricojes Posted October 3, 2016 Share Posted October 3, 2016 Yes every team has highs and lows(see Pittsburgh this week vs last week), but I look at a couple things... 1 - Have to win your home games. Having 2 losses or less at home, IMO is a must. I hope losing the home opener against a mediocre team doesn't come back to haunt them. I don't like the Jets, but they are a little better than "mediocre". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luxy312 Posted October 3, 2016 Share Posted October 3, 2016 Stats-wise, the single biggest determinant to football games is turnovers. Historically, teams that are -1 in games lose about 90% of the time. -2 raises that figure to 95% and -3 raises it to over 97%. If you go back and actually run correlations of teams with a significantly positive turnover margin, they're in the playoffs almost all of the time. All of the top-10 teams in turnovers last year were in the playoffs. The other 6 teams ranked 10th (3 teams tied), 14th, 15th, and 19th. There's always exceptions to the rule (Denver was 19th last year), but this mostly does hold true. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrDawkinstein Posted October 3, 2016 Share Posted October 3, 2016 Being in the AFC South instead of the AFC East. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GG Posted October 3, 2016 Share Posted October 3, 2016 Yes every team has highs and lows(see Pittsburgh this week vs last week), but I look at a couple things... 1 - Have to win your home games. Having 2 losses or less at home, IMO is a must. I hope losing the home opener against a mediocre team doesn't come back to haunt them. I will continue to beat on this. Jets aren't mediocre and they played a perfectly executed game, Fitz played out of his mind and his WRs bailed him out, when needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boatdrinks Posted October 3, 2016 Share Posted October 3, 2016 Being able to consistently move the ball and score points on offense, consistency playing solid D. The Bills have not won back to back games very often during this drought . Playoff teams string together wins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CardinalScotts Posted October 3, 2016 Share Posted October 3, 2016 find a playoff team that had more than 9 wins and played a good schedule.....you beat the bad teams and lose to the good ones most years you are in the playoffs. See Andy Reid, Marvin Lewis, Mike McCarthy, newest guy is Bill O'Brien. There sysytem beats bad teams consistently but rarely beat a good team. 10 11 wins Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatsFanNH Posted October 3, 2016 Share Posted October 3, 2016 IMO what separates a Playoff from a non playoff team. Don't get to high on a win, and don't get to low from a loss. Aka the ability move on to the next opponent with complete focus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick the Greek Posted October 3, 2016 Share Posted October 3, 2016 Stability with coaching. Look at Pats, Bungles, Steelers, Packers as prime examples. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeHateMe Posted October 3, 2016 Share Posted October 3, 2016 Stability with coaching. Look at Pats, Bungles, Steelers, Packers as prime examples. Or hall of fame quarterbacks? Minus the Bungles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perry Turtle Posted October 3, 2016 Share Posted October 3, 2016 Stability with coaching. Look at Pats, Bungles, Steelers, Packers as prime examples. Or the Broncos... There's no one way to win in the NFL. There are multiple paths to success. Having decision-makers smart enough to pick the right path is the key to success. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoSaint Posted October 3, 2016 Share Posted October 3, 2016 (edited) 1 - Have to win your home games. Having 2 losses or less at home, IMO is a must. I hope losing the home opener against a mediocre team doesn't come back to haunt them. 2 - When the season is on the line, find a way to win. Remember losing to Pittsburgh's 3rd stringers a few years back? 3 - Have to have above average QB play all season long. Will TT give them that? 4 - Must win against teams that are likely not going to be playoff teams(see next 3 games). I don't care if the Rams are 3-1, I'd be shocked if they are in the playoffs with that QB and offense. 1) winning 6 (7 or 8) of your home games sure does help. suddenly 2-6 or 3-5 in the other 8 games is your bench mark to get in. If you win 75% or more at home, odds are you are a good enough team to beat some teams on the road (especially the bad ones, see point 4) 2) winning the win and you are in games does seem like an obvious demarcation between the teams that are in and out 3) above average qb sure does help 4) yup - losing to bad teams means you have to beat good teams to get in. that is more challenging. Edited October 3, 2016 by NoSaint Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jr1 Posted October 3, 2016 Share Posted October 3, 2016 QB and special teams Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuffaloHokie13 Posted October 3, 2016 Share Posted October 3, 2016 1) winning 6 (7 or 8) of your home games sure does help. suddenly 2-6 or 3-5 in the other 8 games is your bench mark to get in. If you win 75% or more at home, odds are you are a good enough team to beat some teams on the road (especially the bad ones, see point 4) 2) winning the win and you are in games does seem like an obvious demarcation between the teams that are in and out 3) above average qb sure does help 4) yup - losing to bad teams means you have to beat good teams to get in. that is more challenging. To your first point, winning 5 of your 6 division games puts you in a decent spot usually as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reddogblitz Posted October 3, 2016 Share Posted October 3, 2016 Win more games than the non playoff teams. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoSaint Posted October 3, 2016 Share Posted October 3, 2016 To your first point, winning 5 of your 6 division games puts you in a decent spot usually as well. yes. starting with a 2 game lead (and tie breakers) in the division with 10 games to play is normally a good start to success. especially in a race with teams you beat and may be better than. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cugalabanza Posted October 3, 2016 Share Posted October 3, 2016 1. The fans have to be sufficiently fired up about every little detail including always calling for the heads of several players and coaches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrDawkinstein Posted October 3, 2016 Share Posted October 3, 2016 My default answer is QB play... But Philip Rivers is on pace for 4,404 yards, 32TD, 4INT and the Chargers are on pace to go 4-12 (again), so there's that... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsFan130 Posted October 3, 2016 Share Posted October 3, 2016 A few plays in every game really. Alot of games are within a touchdown, and the team who wins, generally makes 3-5 more kep plays than the other team. That can be the difference between 8 and 8 and 10 and 6, if you just make those key clutch plays Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ricojes Posted October 3, 2016 Share Posted October 3, 2016 (edited) My default answer is QB play... But Philip Rivers is on pace for 4,404 yards, 32TD, 4INT and the Chargers are on pace to go 4-12 (again), so there's that... Yes, but SD did just lose to an NFC team, so their chances of making the playoffs went up significantly! Edited October 3, 2016 by ricojes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrDawkinstein Posted October 3, 2016 Share Posted October 3, 2016 Yes, but SD did just lose to an NFC team, so their chances of making the playoffs went up significantly! Always one of my favorite threads every season Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmur66 Posted October 3, 2016 Share Posted October 3, 2016 As good as yesterday's win was, and it was good. To go anywhere in December I think at least one and probably two of those field goals would need to be a touchdown. I don't think there will be too many 3rd string qb's in the playoffs and good teams will score points on a good defense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eball Posted October 3, 2016 Share Posted October 3, 2016 W-L record? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Best Player Available Posted October 3, 2016 Share Posted October 3, 2016 This is a softball topic. Having Fitz on your team guarantees no playoffs. That is the correct answer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John from Riverside Posted October 3, 2016 Share Posted October 3, 2016 Injuries Luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Formerly Allan in MD Posted October 3, 2016 Share Posted October 3, 2016 Winning Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GunnerBill Posted October 3, 2016 Share Posted October 3, 2016 My default answer is QB play... But Philip Rivers is on pace for 4,404 yards, 32TD, 4INT and the Chargers are on pace to go 4-12 (again), so there's that... Takes more than just good QB play but having good QB play is almost a pre-requesite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KD in CA Posted October 4, 2016 Share Posted October 4, 2016 A few plays in every game really. Alot of games are within a touchdown, and the team who wins, generally makes 3-5 more kep plays than the other team. That can be the difference between 8 and 8 and 10 and 6, if you just make those key clutch plays Exactly. Unless you are one of the few teams that is NE-level good or Cleveland-level bad, you are in the middle where a small handful of plays can make the difference between 7-9 and 10-6. 2014 is the best recent example; the Bills had squeaker wins against all those NFC Central teams and game changing plays that cost them against KC and Houston. That season could easily have been a game or two better or worse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthBuffaloKid Posted October 4, 2016 Share Posted October 4, 2016 IMO what separates a Playoff from a non playoff team. Don't get to high on a win, and don't get to low from a loss. Aka the ability move on to the next opponent with complete focus. This. ^^^ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marty McFly Posted October 4, 2016 Share Posted October 4, 2016 Being in the AFC South instead of the AFC East. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. WEO Posted October 4, 2016 Share Posted October 4, 2016 Takes more than just good QB play but having good QB play is almost a pre-requesite. Almost.... Broncos, Texans, Vikings, Redskins..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsFan130 Posted October 4, 2016 Share Posted October 4, 2016 Exactly. Unless you are one of the few teams that is NE-level good or Cleveland-level bad, you are in the middle where a small handful of plays can make the difference between 7-9 and 10-6. 2014 is the best recent example; the Bills had squeaker wins against all those NFC Central teams and game changing plays that cost them against KC and Houston. That season could easily have been a game or two better or worse. Yes sir. A team that always makes the playoffs cause they seem to make those key plays more than often are the chiefs. It's not because the Chiefs are way better than the bills. It is because they seem to win those close games where the game can go either way Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Webster Guy Posted October 4, 2016 Share Posted October 4, 2016 Qb, schedule, defensive front 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ICanSleepWhenI'mDead Posted October 4, 2016 Share Posted October 4, 2016 Air pressure in the football? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hapless Bills Fan Posted October 4, 2016 Share Posted October 4, 2016 (edited) Good coaching; limited penalties; a dash of good fortune. This, but as a basis, team has to be at least average in all 3 phases of the game (O, D, ST) and top-10 on either O or D Almost.... Broncos, Texans, Vikings, Redskins..... Thinking you could add Chiefs to that (Smith played well for them but they went to the playoffs with Meh Cassel) Edited October 4, 2016 by Hapless Bills Fan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ganesh Posted October 4, 2016 Share Posted October 4, 2016 Close out games in the 4th quarter. Successful teams know how to move the chains and kill the clock. This team is yet to learn that, but there was a start at Foxboro on Sunday Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragonborn10 Posted October 4, 2016 Share Posted October 4, 2016 Win division and conference games. 2-2 with losses to Baltimore and the Jets is abour equal to 1.5 wins. Head to head matchups and conference records matter. I would trade a home loss to Arizona for a road win over Baltimore any day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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