TPS Posted April 7, 2018 Share Posted April 7, 2018 5 minutes ago, billsfan11 said: 1. Great turnover differential 2. Luck 3. Amazing secondary The secondary gets my vote. What was the record when Gaines started? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrDawkinstein Posted April 7, 2018 Share Posted April 7, 2018 2 minutes ago, matter2003 said: And they believed in their coach. Don't discount the role that played. Arguable after the Peterman/Chargers debacle, and I dont think this team believed in McD anymore than the 2012 team believed in Gailey (for example). Good buy-in certainly helped. But it was mostly the math working out for us finally. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Wagon Posted April 7, 2018 Share Posted April 7, 2018 The real underrated reason: 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K-9 Posted April 7, 2018 Share Posted April 7, 2018 A series of fortunate events. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jahnyc Posted April 7, 2018 Share Posted April 7, 2018 Overall better coaching and team cohesiveness. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsFan130 Posted April 7, 2018 Share Posted April 7, 2018 20 minutes ago, TPS said: The secondary gets my vote. What was the record when Gaines started? I can’t specifically remember but it was night and day when he was in vs. out. Was a very valuable player to that defense Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
napmaster Posted April 7, 2018 Share Posted April 7, 2018 Shocking win at Atlanta. Shocking win at KC after clearly being the worst team in football for the prior 3 games. Indy getting jobbed on their 2-pt conversion in the snow game. That's 9-7 instead of 6-10. And even with that you need the Dalton miracle. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IDBillzFan Posted April 7, 2018 Share Posted April 7, 2018 (edited) 30 minutes ago, matter2003 said: And they believed in their coach. Don't discount the role that played. I think this plays every bit as big a role as the Dalton throw. McDermott needed a players' champion -- someone in the huddles that genuinely carried his message to the players -- and he found that in Kyle Williams. By the time they beat the Broncos and Falcons, the team was in for McDermott. 26 minutes ago, DrDawkinstein said: Arguable after the Peterman/Chargers debacle, and I dont think this team believed in McD anymore than the 2012 team believed in Gailey (for example). See, I think you could easily argue it was AFTER the Peterman/Chargers debacle that McDermott solidified his leadership. He didn't blink twice to admit his error, fully take responsibility, get Tyrod back in the rotation, and come away with a huge road win IN Kansas City, no small task on a good day. Edited April 7, 2018 by LABillzFan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldTimeAFLGuy Posted April 7, 2018 Share Posted April 7, 2018 ...we actually made the playoffs on a "wing and a prayer" quite frankly.....doesn't happen without Dalton's "Immaculate Misconception".......Bflo has been on the "back door cusp" before with 37 different ways the chips needed to fall, with the closest being Moo's 2004 club needing to beat Steelers 3rd stringers to get to 10-6 only to flop.....despite limping in, the schneid was broken......need to get to the point where we definitively enter the playoffs solidly, hitting on all cylinders.....making it is good but going deep in FAR better....stay tuned......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YoloinOhio Posted April 7, 2018 Share Posted April 7, 2018 (edited) 28 minutes ago, Chuck Wagon said: The real underrated reason: True but recent history suggests they would have found some other inane way to lose those games. The offensive coaching this past season was, while not as bad as mike McCoy era, irritatingly conservative. Edited April 7, 2018 by YoloinOhio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TPS Posted April 7, 2018 Share Posted April 7, 2018 (edited) 13 minutes ago, billsfan11 said: I can’t specifically remember but it was night and day when he was in vs. out. Was a very valuable player to that defense Ok, you forced me to look. They were 8-3 when he started. Of the 5 games he didn't start, and the 4 losses, he would've made a difference in the Cincinnati loss, mayyyybeeee against the Jets, but certainly not NE or NO. Had he started all 16, or if they had a competent backup, I think you could argue they would've at least won 10. Btw, that's why I think it's really important they draft a CB in R2 or 3. Edited April 7, 2018 by TPS 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Wagon Posted April 7, 2018 Share Posted April 7, 2018 13 minutes ago, YoloinOhio said: True but recent history suggests they would have found some other inane way to lose those games. The offensive coaching this past season was, while not as bad as mike McCoy era, irritatingly conservative. I get your point, but he missed walk off kicks in both week 1 and week 2. They were 9-3 after the 0-4 start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YoloinOhio Posted April 7, 2018 Share Posted April 7, 2018 (edited) 8 minutes ago, TPS said: Ok, you forced me to look. They were 8-3 when he started. Of the 5 games he didn't start, and the 4 losses, he would've made a difference in the Cincinnati loss, mayyyybeeee against the Jets, but certainly not NE or NO. Had he started all 16, or if they had a competent backup, I think you could argue they would've at least won 10. Btw, that's why I think it's really important they draft a CB in R2 or 3. Nothing against Gaines, who I think played well within our scheme when he was out there. But the difference to me was more the drop off in depth behind him with Shareece Wright than it was him being a great influence on the Bills winning. Imo Vontae is better than Gaines and while I advocate drafting a CB every year, I don’t think they need to take one very high. 5 minutes ago, Chuck Wagon said: I get your point, but he missed walk off kicks in both week 1 and week 2. They were 9-3 after the 0-4 start. Having watched way too much Chargers Football, they would probably miss those kicks anyway regardless of who attempted them. Really a ridiculous team. Like just cue the Benny Hill music most weeks. Edited April 7, 2018 by YoloinOhio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Punching Bag Posted April 7, 2018 Share Posted April 7, 2018 18 minutes ago, napmaster said: Shocking win at Atlanta. Shocking win at KC after clearly being the worst team in football for the prior 3 games. Indy getting jobbed on their 2-pt conversion in the snow game. That's 9-7 instead of 6-10. And even with that you need the Dalton miracle. So sorry it ruined your hope of Bills tanking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stank_Nasty Posted April 7, 2018 Share Posted April 7, 2018 (edited) Protected the ball Took the ball away weak afc i personally think we take a slight step back this year just based on the fact I don’t think you can bank on those types of turnovers year in and year out and the AFC can’t possibly be that lame again this year. That being said I can’t stand it when people give “the miracle” all the credit. Bottom line is the bills did what they needed to over 16 games and the ravens didn’t. People usually only use that lame excuse to support a lame narrative about how the old qb was awful, the team still sucks, or that we should have tanked. Edited April 7, 2018 by Stank_Nasty 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TPS Posted April 7, 2018 Share Posted April 7, 2018 (edited) 3 minutes ago, YoloinOhio said: Nothing against Gaines, who I think played well within our scheme when he was out there. But the difference to me was more the drop off in depth behind him with Shareece Wright than it was him being a great influence on the Bills winning. Imo Vontae is better than Gaines and while I advocate drafting a CB every year, I don’t think they need to take one very high. I don't disagree with most of this, and I posted somewhere recently that I don't think they currently have anyone on the roster who could beat out Wright, which is an indictment of how bad the CB depth is currently. So, I really think they need to find someone, and not wait for the final 4 rounds--especially since I believe it was the secondary that was the key to them making the playoffs. Edited April 7, 2018 by TPS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thurst44 Posted April 7, 2018 Share Posted April 7, 2018 2 hours ago, Mickey said: When I was on the crew team in high school, I once drew four aces at four card burn during a bus trip to Poughkeepsie. So it happens. Except the Bills beat Atlanta in Atlanta, KC in KC when both teams were coming off similar slides, they even overcame a snowstorm that equalized a home game that should not have been close. They came back after pulling out of a nosedive to beat every team not named the Patriots, and that takes some focus.Yes, there was luck to get into the playoffs at 9-7, and yes, they played better than their stats would suggest, but to say they got "lucky" to get to 9-7 is unfair. Maybe it was coaching, perhaps it's that their downright disastrous three-game slide made them (and their point differential) look much worse than they were. Also, it may be that Tyrod played better than we give him credit for. Yes, he was inconsistent, but he was also very dynamic at the top of his game, was one of the best in the league at evading sacks, and not throwing interceptions helps win games more than many of us think. He also completely disappeared in many games, so I'm fine with rolling the dice on trying to get one of the best of a strong stock of rookie QBs, but Tyrod was probably a bit better than many here think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stank_Nasty Posted April 7, 2018 Share Posted April 7, 2018 20 minutes ago, napmaster said: Shocking win at Atlanta. Shocking win at KC after clearly being the worst team in football for the prior 3 games. Indy getting jobbed on their 2-pt conversion in the snow game. That's 9-7 instead of 6-10. And even with that you need the Dalton miracle. This is so lame. You can literally look at almost any teams schedule and do this for or against them. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thurst44 Posted April 7, 2018 Share Posted April 7, 2018 23 minutes ago, jahnyc said: Overall better coaching and team cohesiveness. This. We should be excited that our team overperformed in a coach's first year, even moreso that they did it by going 4-2 at the end of the season after flirting with falling apart. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YoloinOhio Posted April 7, 2018 Share Posted April 7, 2018 1 minute ago, TPS said: I don't disagree with most of this, and I posted somewhere recently that I don't think they currently have anyone on the roster who could beat out Wright, which is an indictment of how bad the CB depth is currently. So, I really think they need to find someone, and not wait for the final 4 rounds--especially since I believe it was the secondary that was the key to them making the playoffs. I think they agree given their continued focus on the CB position in FA and draft visits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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