The Bills did not "luck" into the playoffs

[Mark Vader]

 

[The_Dude]

....really? What? An improbable Andy Dalton TD in OT and that ain’t luck?

[Just Joshin']

I find these false arguements.  The fact is the Bills met the criteria to make the play-offs.

 

To say they lucked in requires every game, every play to be evaluated.  Which one is the lucky one, just the last one?  Do you need to talley all the positive and negative plays to see the score?

[GunnerBill]

54 minutes ago, KD in CA said:

 

They made a great play.  Bills wouldn't convert that long pass in the snow against Indy again in a milion years either, but you can't take away that they did it the one time it mattered.

 

Now if you want to talk about Franco Harris and the Imaculate Reception, I'll agree that was dumb luck.

 

Saying something is lucky and trying to take it away are not the same thing. I am not trying to take anything away from the Giants but it was luck. They were lucky. That is different actually from the 4th and 12 play Cincy made where the receiver ran a great route, Dalton made the right read and a pin point throw. 

[HOUSE]

Its a lucky thing Andy Dalton didn't fumble ?

[Marv's Neighbor]

Whenever you (the BILLS) have to look to another team's 3 cushion  bank shot, to get us in, that's LUCK! 

[Koko78]

6 hours ago, The Red King said:

Alright, this has been eating at me for awhile, and it's time I get it off my chest.  I want to scream every time I see someone claiming that the only reason the Bills made the playoffs last season was luck.  Like last season's Bills were some 6-10, 7-9 team that was visited by the playoff fairy and granted a playoff birth.  It's a discredit to the team and what they accomplished.  The Bills earned that playoff birth.

 

What a load of crap. When a team gets into the playoffs on a 3rd/4th/5th tiebreaker, that's luck. Dalton throwing a TD pass on 4th down to win the game for the Bungles, putting the Bills into the playoffs, was most assuredly not part of the process.

 

However, feel free to convince yourself otherwise so that you can sleep at night.

[formerlyofCtown]

4 hours ago, JPP said:

fail

No you just need to get a sense of humor.

13 minutes ago, Koko78 said:

 

What a load of crap. When a team gets into the playoffs on a 3rd/4th/5th tiebreaker, that's luck. Dalton throwing a TD pass on 4th down to win the game for the Bungles, putting the Bills into the playoffs, was most assuredly not part of the process.

 

However, feel free to convince yourself otherwise so that you can sleep at night.

yup all it takes to win 9 games in the NFL is "Luck".  You are a very wise and knowledgeable Fan.

[Koko78]

3 minutes ago, formerlyofCtown said:

yup all it takes to win 9 games in the NFL is "Luck".  You are a very wise and knowledgeable Fan.

 

9 wins and how many tiebreakers? Oh, forgot about those already?

[Elite Poster]

That is absolutely what they did. Not "lucking" into the playoffs involves clinching by your own actions, not watching what other teams are doing in the locker room after your regular season is over.

 

On a 4th and 13 the Bengals scored an insane touchdown which was, by the way, on a drive kept alive by a ticky tacky flag on an INT.

 

Not lucky at all!

Edited May 25, 2018 by Elite Poster

[Golden Goat]

They could have lucked into the playoffs any of the previous 17 years -- but didn't.

[WhoTom]

1 hour ago, Mark Vader said:

 

 

 

So you're saying the Bills Forced their way into the playoffs.

 

[Another Fan]

Were a solid 9-7 middle of the road team.  Law of averages- I mean losing to Pittsburgh's backups in 2004 and the end zone fumble in the Chiefs game in 14'.  Were bound and deserved to catch a break one of these years. 

[stuvian]

we didn't luck in any more than the Colts Lucked out (insert rimshot emoji here) 

[cba fan]

53 minutes ago, Elite Poster said:

That is absolutely what they did. Not "lucking" into the playoffs involves clinching by your own actions, not watching what other teams are doing in the locker room after your regular season is over.

 

On a 4th and 13 the Bengals scored an insane touchdown which was, by the way, on a drive kept alive by a ticky tacky flag on an INT.

 

Not lucky at all!

ticky tack??? WTH, he wrestled him to the ground. !!

 

Not one complaint from Ravens on that call.

Edited May 25, 2018 by cba fan

[Elite Poster]

15 minutes ago, cba fan said:

ticky tack??? WTH, he wrestled him to the ground. !!

 

Not one complaint from Ravens on that call.

 

Lafell initiated the contact and tripped over the Ravens DB feet. Yes, the broadcast said he was tackled but my eyes said otherwise.

 

I totally forgot the kick was almost muffed as well. So lucky. 

[cba fan]

13 minutes ago, Elite Poster said:

 

Lafell initiated the contact and tripped over the Ravens DB feet. Yes, the broadcast said he was tackled but my eyes said otherwise.

 

I totally forgot the kick was almost muffed as well. So lucky. 

Nope do not agree. Not even close. Just looked at it again. Defender pulled him down by the shoulder and had other arm wrapped on mid section. Lafell did not initiate the contact either. He was trying to run away from the defender. Defender put his leg in and in front of WR leg. 6:23 starts the play.

 

I am not always right but I got this one.

 

Edited May 25, 2018 by cba fan

[BullBuchanan]

wouldn't have been any more luck than if we caught a lucky break and won week 1. Then the playoffs would be all buttoned up before week 17 even started. It doesn't matter how you get there.

[reddogblitz]

7 hours ago, row_33 said:

 

it's the most rinky-dink NFL thing to accomplish, getting wiped out bad on the road in the AFC WC weekend.

 

 

going 17 years without playoffs is rinky dinkyier.

 

What is the criteria for a playoff run to not be "rinky dink"?

7 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

think most people acknowledge that as the flukiest play in NFL history.

 

The "Immaculate Reception" was way flukier.

[Robert James]

Let's say the Bengals/Ravens game went exactly as it did, but was played in week five.  It would have had precisely the same effect on our getting into the playoffs, but many people would have believed our path to the playoffs was somehow more legitimate.  When it comes down to the last teams vying for the final wildcard spot, the ultimate winner is always decided by numerous plays in numerous games throughout the year that they had no control over.  The fact that one of those crucial plays takes place near the end of the last game of the season for one of the teams, certainly adds drama.  But it doesn't make the team that gets in any more or less deserving, IMO. 

[formerlyofCtown]

8 hours ago, Koko78 said:

 

9 wins and how many tiebreakers? Oh, forgot about those already?

Your missing the point.  We got in because we won 9 games, that was the first tiebreaker.  Now if there was a bad call and the the communication system didn't work so the call couldn't get over turned and we won because of that.  That would be luck. We won 9 games with the more difficult schedule that isn't luck.  We didn't draw straws or win a coin toss.  We won football games.

 

It's pretty sad to see fans tear down their own teams accomplishment with weak and illegitimate arguments.  We sure are lucky the rest of the league didn't go 16-0.

Edited May 25, 2018 by formerlyofCtown

[oldmanfan]

They put themselves in position pending the outcome of the Ravens game.  They earned their spot 

[Koko78]

8 hours ago, formerlyofCtown said:

Your missing the point.  We got in because we won 9 games, that was the first tiebreaker.  Now if there was a bad call and the the communication system didn't work so the call couldn't get over turned and we won because of that.  That would be luck. We won 9 games with the more difficult schedule that isn't luck.  We didn't draw straws or win a coin toss.  We won football games.

 

It's pretty sad to see fans tear down their own teams accomplishment with weak and illegitimate arguments.  We sure are lucky the rest of the league didn't go 16-0.

 

Acknowledging what occurred in reality - you know, that the Bills did NOT control their own destiny and had to rely on a lucky TD pass on a 4th down being played ~1,000 miles away to get in on a third or fourth tiebreaker - is not "tearing down" anything. The bottom line is that the Bills won 9 games, which is great. However they got in the playoffs due to pure luck. Winning 9 games by itself was not enough to get into the playoffs. They needed help, got help, and the help was pure happenstance.

 

Why do you believe that understanding what actually happened is somehow belittling the team? How insecure are you in your fanhood that you refuse to accept the reality that the Bills got lucky?

 

[Drunken Pygmy Goat]

23 hours ago, The Red King said:

Alright, this has been eating at me for awhile, and it's time I get it off my chest.  I want to scream every time I see someone claiming that the only reason the Bills made the playoffs last season was luck. 

 

I stopped reading here.

 

Are there people that say luck was the only reason? If so, it's probably only a few, and it would be wise to simply ignore those people, for obvious reasons. 

 

Of course the Bills got lucky. Without that TD by Boyd (among other plays in that game), the Bills would have been golfing the following weekend. You can say the same about the blown call at the end of the Colts game. How many times over the last several years have we said that 3-4 plays throughout the year was the difference between 7 wins and 9? 

 

But anyone with even a little common sense knows that the Bills had done enough throughout the season to put themselves in that position in the first place. 

Edited May 25, 2018 by Drunken Pygmy Goat

[NoSaint]

Luck doesn’t have to be a dirty word. I know the American dream is purely merit based but we all get good and bad breaks and this team worked hard and caught a few breaks. That’s not an insult to them. They got a little lucky- no shame in that.

[Rock-A-Bye Beasley]

Don't have time to read all the replies but yeah it was "lucky" that they made the playoffs in many ways. Unless you want to argue semantics of what luck actually means, but that doesn't sound like fun.

 

Haha we only lost by 7 points in the playoffs! Why don't you say we managed only a field goal? What a loser mentality you have.

 

This team was not fun to watch and not very good, they got "lucky" by the AFC having a bad record against the NFC, the Texans' slew of injuries, the pass interference agains the colts, von miller penalty, matt ryan fumble, Andy Dalton .

 

 

[Royale with Cheese]

We got breaks like every team gets.  Over a course of a 16 game season, you have to rely a lot more on production than luck.  We produced enough win 9 games and get into the playoffs.

[formerlyofCtown]

58 minutes ago, Koko78 said:

 

Acknowledging what occurred in reality - you know, that the Bills did NOT control their own destiny and had to rely on a lucky TD pass on a 4th down being played ~1,000 miles away to get in on a third or fourth tiebreaker - is not "tearing down" anything. The bottom line is that the Bills won 9 games, which is great. However they got in the playoffs due to pure luck. Winning 9 games by itself was not enough to get into the playoffs. They needed help, got help, and the help was pure happenstance.

 

Why do you believe that understanding what actually happened is somehow belittling the team? How insecure are you in your fanhood that you refuse to accept the reality that the Bills got lucky?

 

Nevermind.  I say that the other teams got lucky they won more than 9 games, makes about as much sense.

[Koko78]

2 hours ago, formerlyofCtown said:

Nevermind.  I say that the other teams got lucky they won more than 9 games, makes about as much sense.

 

That's fine, your insecurities are noted.

[Royale with Cheese]

19 hours ago, Another Fan said:

Were a solid 9-7 middle of the road team.  Law of averages- I mean losing to Pittsburgh's backups in 2004 and the end zone fumble in the Chiefs game in 14'.  Were bound and deserved to catch a break one of these years. 

 

You could create a thread of all the bad breaks we had over the draught and it would be 100 pages long.

[OldTimeAFLGuy]

2 hours ago, Royale with Cheese said:

We got breaks like every team gets.  Over a course of a 16 game season, you have to rely a lot more on production than luck.  We produced enough win 9 games and get into the playoffs.

 

...and in terms of playoff implications, "finally" comes to mind......when was Ravens meltdown and Dalton wearing the "Lady Luck" mask scenario happening in the last 17 years prior?....closest was Moo's 2004 club at 9-6 going to Steelersville to play their 3rd stringers.....win and we're in at 10-6......lose and we're........um the schneid lived on at 9-7....

[SlimShady'sSpaceForce]

Nearly 1/3 of Taylor’s games were very bad.   

 

I have said that stats didn’t matter when people stated T2s high QB ratings in losses and then commented on his very bad QB ratings in losses.  

 

Doing so I was called out for mentioning those stats, but 4 games with QB ratings  under 45 has to be mentioned.    

 

Said good and bad stats both happened with the “poor” receivers on the roster. 

 

With that many bad games it can be said we lucked out.   Just look at the output in the playoff game as proof.  

 

 

 

[BigDingus]

I think the luck aspect comes from the fact they had the worst chance of any of the AFC teams to make it going into that weekend.

I believe it was a 10% chance, and after our win, only bumped up a little bit.

Considering the odds, they were "lucky" to have made it, but they didn't just "luck into" the playoffs.

[The Red King]

1 hour ago, BigDingus said:

Considering the odds, they were "lucky" to have made it, but they didn't just "luck into" the playoffs.

 

I think that's a fair assessment.  Sometimes it takes a lucky bounce here or there.  My issue is with people that attribute their playoff appearance mostly or entirely to luck, usually in the context that they didn't deserve/earn it.  That team busted their asses to get to 9-7, even pulling themselves out of a three-game losing streak that would have been a death spiral other seasons in the past.  What I object to are people that think last season's team was terrible and didn't deserve to make it.  As if the playoff fairy descended from above and blessed a 4-12 team with a playoff birth, and Buffalo didn't do a thing to actually earn it.  And yes, some people here feel that way and have said as much.

[SlimShady'sSpaceForce]

If you want an example of luck see the last Caps game.  

 

Tampa had a ton of opportunities but luck wasn’t on their side.   

 

 

[Teddy KGB]

On 5/24/2018 at 3:00 PM, Logic said:

Disagree. I've watched Andy Dalton's game winning touchdown throw about a billion times now. That play was NOT luck. It was perfect execution by both Dalton and Boyd. 

 

4th and 14    

 

 

They should have executed more and made the playoffs themselves 

[TigerJ]

Unless you happen to be a completely dominant team, there is always an extent to which you will depend on what other teams are  doing.  That was a little more obvious in Buffalo's case with the dependence on Cincinnati's last second win.  Buffalo still had to have its share of clutch performances.  I see no shame in benefitting from something that happens elsewhere in the league.

[Thurman#1]

On 5/25/2018 at 2:25 AM, The Red King said:

The Bills did not luck into the playoffs

 

 

Of course they did. 

 

How many playoff teams this year got in without winning 10 games? One out of twelve. Us.

 

The year before? Two out of twelve, one of which won their division with a 9-7. The year before that? Two out of twelve, both by winning their division, the 9-7 Washington and Texas teams. The year before that, 2014? One out of twelve, the 7-8 Panthers who won a horrible division.

 

I could keep going but in the last four years, two teams have managed to get a wild-card birth without winning ten games.

 

Of course we were lucky, wildly lucky, actually, to be in a weak AFC. And further lucky to have a really really easy schedule and luckier still that when we were scheduled against good teams we ran up against them when they were having losing streaks.

 

We weren't a little lucky, we were very lucky.

[The Red King]

48 minutes ago, Thurman#1 said:

 

 

Of course they did. 

 

How many playoff teams this year got in without winning 10 games? One out of twelve. Us.

 

The year before? Two out of twelve, one of which won their division with a 9-7. The year before that? Two out of twelve, both by winning their division, the 9-7 Washington and Texas teams. The year before that, 2014? One out of twelve, the 7-8 Panthers who won a horrible division.

 

I could keep going but in the last four years, two teams have managed to get a wild-card birth without winning ten games.

 

Of course we were lucky, wildly lucky, actually, to be in a weak AFC. And further lucky to have a really really easy schedule and luckier still that when we were scheduled against good teams we ran up against them when they were having losing streaks.

 

We weren't a little lucky, we were very lucky.

 

The Titans were also 9-7 last season.  I don't hear anyone saying they were lucky.  9-7 is frequently good enough for a Wild Card.  And again, it was a weak schedule that cost Baltimore a spot, we beat them out through strength of victory.  Did you even read my OP?

[SoCal Deek]

Nobody should read this the wrong way, but the drought would’ve been a whole lot shorter if the Bills didn’t have to play the Patriots twice a year. I’m not whining but the NE run over the past decade plus has been unprecedented and while I know you have to beat who they put on your schedule, I think you’d get the same reaction from Jets and Dolphin fans.