9 wins will get Bills to playoffs if....

[BigDingus]

Given our history, I'd be SHOCKED if we win 9, let alone 10, including sweeping the Dolphins. 

The Dolphins have been just good enough to get by teams in weird ways, and we all know the Bills find plenty of weird ways to lose. 

The Chargers also aren't as bad as their record looks. Given the Bills have lost both games this season they were unanimously picked to win (Bengals & Jets, 2 teams with losing records), it's very likely they could lose against them as well. We tend to lose the "gimmie" games, the ones fans look ahead on the schedule at and circle a it as a win well in advance, and good teams easily win. The Colts might be so bad that even the Bills walk over them though.

So I can see a win vs Colts, a split with the Dolphins, and 50/50 on the Chargers. But even if we beat the Chargers, that's only 3 wins, so 8-8. However, that at least shows some progress over last season, along with hope for the future when factoring in all our draft picks, a new number 1 WR for the future, an improved defense and solid special teams. If we can improve the O-line & D-line, add some depth in the secondary, and draft a true QB prospect, 2018 will look really good going into the season.

[Ned Flanders]

Earlier in the season, Philly fans turned the 27k seat StubHub Center in LA into a home game and stomped the Chargers.  I expect nothing less from West Coast Bills fans, who should fill 26k of the 27k seats.  If it becomes Orchard Park West, the Bills should have little trouble from a Charger team that could be 3-6 by the time we play them.

[Sig1Hunter]

1 hour ago, thenorthremembers said:

They screwed the pooch losing to the Bengals and Jets.   I think 9 gets them there this year but beware of a late year surge by the Ravens, I know it sounds crazy but I imagine they will be the toughest competition for the 6th spot.

 

Anyone thinking we will split with the Patriots, please stop.  Bottom line is you have to beat the Colts, Chargers and Dolphins twice.  Thats the most feasible way to get it done.

Why? Is it annoying that we are one game out of first?  I can choose to believe what I want to believe.  I'm a fan of the Buffalo Bills, so I will choose to believe that it is entirely possible that we beat the Patriots. 

 

[Dr. K]

4 hours ago, BigPappy said:

 

 I agree CBF. The last 17 years have just blurred into one long bi*c* fest and I can't remember what it feels like to have our team sniffing the playoffs realistically. I know we were "close the year we played the Steelers in the finally, but that team wasn't as good as this team is and knew then when we were playing their backups we were going to suck it up and lose. 

On the contrary, that 2004 team was the hottest team in the league down the stretch. They lost their first four games of the season and then went 9-2 through their next 11, winning games by huge margins (their previous six games going into the Steelers game the Bills won 37-17, 38-9, 42-32, 37-7, 33-17, and 41-7). Then they crapped out in that final Steelers game, ended up 9-7, and missed the playoffs. That team would have wiped out the current Bills team. 

Edited November 7, 2017 by Dr. K

[SlimShady'sSpaceForce]

1 hour ago, JM2009 said:

Dareus wasn't on the field much.

Define much.  

 

Less than 15%?

Less than 25%

 

The #'s I heard were in the area of  59-percent of the snaps. So, I'd say you are incorrect,  Dareus was on the field more than not. 

[TheFunPolice]

luckily NE is going to take the Broncos, Raiders, and Dolphins out back and put them down for the season.

 

If not, all the better for us because it means NE racking up the losses and brings the division into play.

I feel better about splitting with NE than I do beating the Chargers.

 

Sounds crazy but we've played NE tough plenty of times, and one bounce or NOT FUMBLING A KICKOFF would have got it done.

Edited November 7, 2017 by TheFunPolice

[thenorthremembers]

1 hour ago, Sig1Hunter said:

Why? Is it annoying that we are one game out of first?  I can choose to believe what I want to believe.  I'm a fan of the Buffalo Bills, so I will choose to believe that it is entirely possible that we beat the Patriots. 

 

 

You can believe anything you want my friend.  I understand wanting to believe they can beat the Pats, that somehow this year is different and the Pats are vulnerable but fact remains Brady is 25-3 against the Bills thats a 89% win pct.  If you want to put your belief in an 11% chance be my guest but dont get your feelings hurt when it doesnt happen.  Beat the Colts, Chargers and Dolphins.

Edited November 7, 2017 by thenorthremembers

[ganesh]

6 hours ago, ShadyBillsFan said:

A for effort but man a lot of things have to go right.   

 

Lets strive for 10 .  

 

To get to 10, they need to go 5-3 in the 2nd half.   The Bills are 4-0 at home and have 4 more home games. If they can win those 4, then they really need one at Miami, KC or San Diego 

[HumbleAndHungry]

I think KC is a more winnable game than people think 

[Sig1Hunter]

24 minutes ago, thenorthremembers said:

 

You can believe anything you want my friend.  I understand wanting to believe they can beat the Pats, that somehow this year is different and the Pats are vulnerable but fact remains Brady is 25-3 against the Bills thats a 89% win pct.  If you want to put your belief in an 11% chance be my guest but dont get your feelings hurt when it doesnt happen.  Beat the Colts, Chargers and Dolphins.

Dang. First I should stop believing the Bills can beat the Pats, now I'm not allowed to be upset if they don't?  You sure like telling people how to think,  feel,  and act. If the Bills lose to the Pats, I'll be upset. You get to choose how you deal with it if the Bills win or lose. That's how this whole thing works.

[Iron Maiden]

I think we lose both games to NE and the one vs KC....I could see us at 10-6....just need to avoid stinkers like Thursday and we'll be OK.....

4 hours ago, TheFunPolice said:

luckily NE is going to take the Broncos, Raiders, and Dolphins out back and put them down for the season.

 

If not, all the better for us because it means NE racking up the losses and brings the division into play.

I feel better about splitting with NE than I do beating the Chargers.

 

Sounds crazy but we've played NE tough plenty of times, and one bounce or NOT FUMBLING A KICKOFF would have got it done.

 

It's the time of the year where NE starts their annual run....I wouldn't be shocked they don't lose another game.....but 13-3 is the more likely scenario...as you said earlier it could help the Bills.....

Edited November 8, 2017 by Iron Maiden

[brianb386]

8 hours ago, Sig1Hunter said:

Why? Is it annoying that we are one game out of first?  I can choose to believe what I want to believe.  I'm a fan of the Buffalo Bills, so I will choose to believe that it is entirely possible that we beat the Patriots. 

 

I think we match up best against teams with weak defenses. For that reason, I think the Home NE game is a better bet than this week's game against NO and at the Chiefs.

[Big Turk]

14 hours ago, Shaw66 said:

Nine wins almost always means you're relying on tie-breakers.   It also means only 4 or sometimes 5 teams win 10.   It means a lot of teams have to go 8-8 and 7-9.   It happens, but I think the history has been 9 wins isn't a very good way to make the playoffs or, more importantly, to win in the playoffs.  

Not this year.  And if we win the games we need to we have the tiebreakers to boot

[Fadingpain]

17 hours ago, BringBackFergy said:

We all realize the Chargers game is a MUST WIN...but do the Buffalo Bills? Hate to say it but our ability to win clutch games on the West Coast is suspect.

 

[dma0034]

I'd definitely watch out for the Ravens. At this point as long as Mariota doesn't get hurt Tennessee will get in. Jags will probably have a first round bye (crazy? Look at their schedule and show me the losses). Ravens will own a Tie-Breaker over the Bills probably (5 same games.... Bills are 1-1 versus Ravens 3-0. Bills play the Dolphins twice, Bengals play the Bengals again and both play the Colts. Bills need to sweep the Dolphins and beat the Colts and the Ravens need to lose both games in order for the Bills to have a tie-breaker) 

[thenorthremembers]

13 hours ago, Sig1Hunter said:

Dang. First I should stop believing the Bills can beat the Pats, now I'm not allowed to be upset if they don't?  You sure like telling people how to think,  feel,  and act. If the Bills lose to the Pats, I'll be upset. You get to choose how you deal with it if the Bills win or lose. That's how this whole thing works.

 

Not at all my intent.  Was purely trying to say out of all the games left we should focus on the ones which are winnable.  

[Chandler#81]

19 hours ago, Shaw66 said:

Nine wins almost always means you're relying on tie-breakers.   It also means only 4 or sometimes 5 teams win 10.   It means a lot of teams have to go 8-8 and 7-9.   It happens, but I think the history has been 9 wins isn't a very good way to make the playoffs or, more importantly, to win in the playoffs.  

 

Yep.

Jets had 9 wins a couple years ago and still needed one more Conference win in the finale (against Us) to qualify.

Nope.

[The Wiz]

16 hours ago, ShadyBillsFan said:

Define much.  

 

Less than 15%?

Less than 25%

 

The #'s I heard were in the area of  59-percent of the snaps. So, I'd say you are incorrect,  Dareus was on the field more than not. 

Barely over 25%.

 

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/buf/2017-snap-counts.htm

[Happy]

9 wins will get us into the playoffs if we have 9 wins four weeks from now.

[row_33]

14 hours ago, Iron Maiden said:

I think we lose both games to NE and the one vs KC....I could see us at 10-6....just need to avoid stinkers like Thursday and we'll be OK.....

 

It's the time of the year where NE starts their annual run....I wouldn't be shocked they don't lose another game.....but 13-3 is the more likely scenario...as you said earlier it could help the Bills.....

 

Pats looking forward to the Bills twice.

 

 

Maybe looking right past them with little risk....

[BuffaloBaumer]

The playoff landscape is going to look a lot different after this week in the AFC. Everything broke our way (other than the Bills loss) and it looks like it could be just the opposite for this week's match-ups.

[SoTier]

On 11/7/2017 at 1:30 PM, BigDingus said:

Given our history, I'd be SHOCKED if we win 9, let alone 10, including sweeping the Dolphins. 

The Dolphins have been just good enough to get by teams in weird ways, and we all know the Bills find plenty of weird ways to lose. 

The Chargers also aren't as bad as their record looks. Given the Bills have lost both games this season they were unanimously picked to win (Bengals & Jets, 2 teams with losing records), it's very likely they could lose against them as well. We tend to lose the "gimmie" games, the ones fans look ahead on the schedule at and circle a it as a win well in advance, and good teams easily win. The Colts might be so bad that even the Bills walk over them though.

So I can see a win vs Colts, a split with the Dolphins, and 50/50 on the Chargers. But even if we beat the Chargers, that's only 3 wins, so 8-8. However, that at least shows some progress over last season, along with hope for the future when factoring in all our draft picks, a new number 1 WR for the future, an improved defense and solid special teams. If we can improve the O-line & D-line, add some depth in the secondary, and draft a true QB prospect, 2018 will look really good going into the season.

 

The Chargers have a worse history of being unclutch than the Bills since they've only won 1 more playoff game than the Bills since 2006 when Phillip Rivers became their starting QB.  When they had all kinds of talent because of the Eli Manning trade and shrewd drafting by Butler and then Smith, they only won 1 playoff game.  As their talent level declined, they couldn't win  the games they needed to even make the playoffs.   This year they've found new ways to lose games and dim their hopes for the playoffs. 

 

How much Rivers has contributed to the Chargers' poor record in important games, I don't know.  It just seems that he often fails to play like the great QB some believe him to be when the Chargers have games that count or even when less important games are on the line.  To me, he's not all that dissimilar to Jay Cutler with untimely interceptions or sloppy play.

 

On 11/7/2017 at 1:39 PM, Ned Flanders said:

Earlier in the season, Philly fans turned the 27k seat StubHub Center in LA into a home game and stomped the Chargers.  I expect nothing less from West Coast Bills fans, who should fill 26k of the 27k seats.  If it becomes Orchard Park West, the Bills should have little trouble from a Charger team that could be 3-6 by the time we play them.

 

This.  The announcers couldn't get over it because the Eagles fans were cheering so loudly.

[Punching Bag]

On 11/7/2017 at 9:16 AM, row_33 said:

don't bother with any of this until December....

 

 

 

Don't bother reading posts to December.

[Doc Brown]

Does anybody here just want to make the playoffs so we won't have the terrible designation of the team with the longest playoff drought?  At this point I'd be fine if we went 8-8 and snuck into the playoffs even if we got crushed in the WC game.

Edited November 9, 2017 by Doc Brown

[thenorthremembers]

16 minutes ago, Doc Brown said:

Does anybody here just want to make the playoffs so we won't have the terrible designation of the team with the longest playoff drought?  At this point I'd be fine if we went 8-8 and snuck into the playoffs even if we got crushed in the WC game.

 

Yes to this 100%.  Jusr get there worry the about the rest afterwards

[Doc Brown]

10 hours ago, row_33 said:

 

Pats looking forward to the Bills twice.

 

 

Maybe looking right past them with little risk....

If we can get our offense clicking with Clay and Benjamin in the lineup we could become a very tough team to beat at home.  The Patriots defense is more vulnerable than usual so I wouldn't count that game as a loss quite yet. 

[CuddyDark]

On ‎11‎/‎7‎/‎2017 at 1:19 PM, JM2009 said:

Dareus wasn't on the field much.

He was only on the field for run downs. They'd sit him and play 4 ends on rush downs.

On ‎11‎/‎7‎/‎2017 at 10:13 AM, BillsEnthusiast said:

Yeah Dareus and his 30% of the snaps. Whatever will we do?

Give up 300 yards rushing.

[SlimShady'sSpaceForce]

On 11/8/2017 at 8:46 PM, Doc Brown said:

Does anybody here just want to make the playoffs so we won't have the terrible designation of the team with the longest playoff drought?  At this point I'd be fine if we went 8-8 and snuck into the playoffs even if we got crushed in the WC game.

end the drought and get blown out 

[Foreigner]

Where have you been the past two weeks? China, South America or just pulling a Rip Van Winkle.

[leonbus23]