Five reasons why the Bills will make the 2018 NFL playoffs

[HOUSE]

Five reasons why the Bills will make the 2018 NFL playoffs

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• By Marc Sessler
• Around the NFL Writer
• Published: July 17, 2018 at 09:47 a.m.
• Updated: July 17, 2018 at 10:05 a.m.

 

 

 

Wondering if and how your NFL team can make the playoffs in the coming season? Adam Rank and Marc Sessler have you covered in this ongoing series, as they provide five reasons why each of the league's 32 teams will make an appearance in the 2018 postseason. Today, Sessler examines the Buffalo Bills.

1) Sean McDermott

 

Some assignments are tougher than others. While it's simple to whistle Dixie about Green Bay's chances of a postseason berth, arguing for the Bills is a stretch. Let's be real about that out of the gate.

One aspect of the team I believe in: Sean McDermott.

The second-year head coach tugged Buffalo to the playoffs a year ago with a roster few believed in. Many of the pieces on defense remain, but McDermott will be challenged to pull off another postseason berth this season with one of the league's shakiest offensive lineups.

 

 

 

Making matters uglier, there's uncertainty about the status of veteran running back LeSean McCoy. The Bills must prepare for the possibility that he could be placed on the Reserve/Commissioner Exempt List until more information surrounding an alleged domestic violence incident comes to light. That would force Buffalo to start Chris Ivory, a hard-nosed runner who struggles to stay healthy. If McCoy is out of the picture, Buffalo looms as a potential landing spot for Adrian Peterson, but would he sign up?

There's also a sliding-doors reality where Josh Allen blows people away in camp and carries the team on his shoulders, but it's more likely the rookie passer doesn't see the field until much later in the year. Why throw him to the wolves with so little offensive talent around him?

What I do trust is McDermott's ability to maximize his players on defense. If the Bills plan to stun the world, they need everyone on this side of the ball to play lights out from wire to wire and hope the combination of AJ McCarron, Nathan Peterman and Allen can do enough to win low-scoring, white-knuckle slugfests.

The road ahead is rugged, but the Bills finally have a coaching staff and front office that can work together. There's a future here.

2) Power up front on defense

 

Jerry Hughes notched just four sacks last season, but played well against the run and managed to succeed against a rash of double teams. He's part of a 4-3 front that added former Redskins pass rusher Trent Murphy and behemoth Star Lotulelei in hopes of upping last year's low-level 27 sacks. Terrence Fede and Owa Odighizuwa add depth, while 35-year-old Kyle Williams can still play. The key here is third-year pass rusher Shaq Lawson breaking out after two down campaigns. He's seen as potential trade bait by beat writers, but the best-case scenario would see the former first-rounder -- who shed weight this offseason -- finally live up to his pedigree.

3) Talent in the secondary

 

McDermott's specialty in Carolina was milking the most out of his corners and safeties. Those Panthers teams habitually brought in low-cost veterans to play the role, and McDermott made it sing.

 

 

 

The Bills will need takeaways to make up for their potentially anemic offense, something this secondary pulled off last season. Led by phenomenal rookie corner Tre'Davious White, Buffalo reeled in 18 picks, more than all but five other teams. Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer return as a productive safety duo, while veteran cornerback Vontae Davis is slated to start across from White -- a young star who believes the Bills can regularly cause havoc in 2018.

"We want to have 20 picks between us," White told The Athletic. "If each of us can get five, they're not going to be able to hold us back. If we get 20 picks on the back end, we've got those dogs up front and those linebackers, we can easily get 30 takeaways. If you get 30 takeaways in this league, you have a chance of winning a lot of games."

4) Winnable games inside a lukewarm AFC East

 

The picture-perfect Patriots remain, but Buffalo can steal games from the Dolphins and Jets. Miami houses an underrated roster, but Buffalo swept the 'Fins a year ago. The Jets are a team-in-the-making, with a solid quarterback room and a roster dotted with talent. With a rookie quarterback of their own in Sam Darnold, the hope in Florham Park -- Buffalo and Miami, too -- is that New England's two-decade run of terror is nearing its end.

The schedule, though, is a brutal one, with Buffalo pitted against the Patriots twice along with tilts with the Vikings, Packers, Jaguars, Titans and Texans.

There's a reason why most have written them off, yet plenty of August predictions crumble due to ...

more

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000940532/article/five-reasons-why-the-bills-will-make-the-2018-nfl-playoffs

Edited July 17, 2018 by THE SLAMMER

[Virgil]

I agree with all of those reasons. 

 

However, we won’t be able to compensate for our complete lack of offense.  

[iccrewman112]

The title of this article is 5 reasons and I'm only seeing 4?

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

Just now, iccrewman112 said:

The title of this article is 5 reasons and I'm only seeing 4?

 

You'llhave to clink the link for that last nugget

[SoCal Deek]

Well if defense wins championships we’re apparently about to find out...because there’s no mention of the Bills even having an offense at all. 

[nedboy7]

we Got the frencheyes.  No more excuses.  

[JPP]

How about our O-line and we need talented WR's very badly...

[Fadingpain]

So they've provided 5 reasons why every team in the league will make the playoffs.

 

I suppose this is the long way of saying "No one knows what will happen but anything is possible at this time of year."

 

1) Sean McDermott: consistently made critical/tactical mistakes in calling games last year; don't look to him to make a winning difference in a close game. 

 

2) Power up front on D: D Line personnel a lot different and not what it used to be; Kyle Williams now too old

 

3) Talent in the secondary: agreed; it's the strong point of the team

 

4) Winnable games inside AFC East: not likely; we may be the 4th strongest team in the division; also suffer from 2 automatic losses to NE.

 

5) Mysterious Golden Nugget:  Didn't click the article to find out what that is. 

[aristocrat]

We just have no idea what the offense is gonna do. If the offense is average we are a playoff contender. 

[BillsFan130]

15 minutes ago, aristocrat said:

We just have no idea what the offense is gonna do. If the offense is average we are a playoff contender. 

Agreed but I can't see the offence being close to average.

 

Realistically, they will probably be in the 25-32 range

[SoTier]

8 minutes ago, aristocrat said:

We just have no idea what the offense is gonna do. If the offense is average we are a playoff contender. 

 

"If the offense is average ...." ???  In what alternative universe do you reside? 

 

The Bills don't have a starting QB, and one of their QB is a career backup, another one sucked monkey balls in his limited stints as a rookie, and the third is a rookie who is not considered particularly pro ready.  They have a top notch RB who's under a cloud and may miss part or all of the year.  They have a decent starting TE, 1 NFL caliber LT, and 1 NFL caliber WR.  The supposed "battle" for starting center is between a journeyman starter and a career backup.  They have a highly touted sophomore WR who had a horrendous rookie season.  The rest of the offense is manned by players who would only see the field as backups and/or STers on most teams in the NFL.

 

The Bills will be lucky to make it into the Red Zone more than once a game ... in other words, the Bills offense will be lucky if it's not the worst O in the league by a significant margin. 

 

 

[corta765]

42 minutes ago, SoCal Deek said:

Well if defense wins championships we’re apparently about to find out...because there’s no mention of the Bills even having an offense at all. 

 

Because we don't have an offense lol

[teef]

43 minutes ago, nedboy7 said:

we Got the frencheyes.  No more excuses.  

god i hate you.

4 minutes ago, SoTier said:

 

"If the offense is average ...." ???  In what alternative universe do you reside? 

 

The Bills don't have a starting QB, and one of their QB is a career backup, another one sucked monkey balls in his limited stints as a rookie, and the third is a rookie who is not considered particularly pro ready.  They have a top notch RB who's under a cloud and may miss part or all of the year.  They have a decent starting TE, 1 NFL caliber LT, and 1 NFL caliber WR.  The supposed "battle" for starting center is between a journeyman starter and a career backup.  They have a highly touted sophomore WR who had a horrendous rookie season.  The rest of the offense is manned by players who would only see the field as backups and/or STers on most teams in the NFL.

 

The Bills will be lucky to make it into the Red Zone more than once a game ... in other words, the Bills offense will be lucky if it's not the worst O in the league by a significant margin. 

 

 

and what did you predict about the team last year?  don't get me wrong...i don't expect much, but some just want to be negative.

[corta765]

19 minutes ago, billsfan11 said:

Agreed but I can't see the offence being close to average.

 

Realistically, they will probably be in the 25-32 range

 

I just see this season at the 2013 year all over. Talent isn't there on offense at this point, but the defense is piecing to be a really strong unit. I see alot of close games where afterwards fans are frustrated because they couldn't score enough and take advantage.

[Best Player Available]

Aren't the 2018 playoffs already over? 

[aristocrat]

2 minutes ago, SoTier said:

 

"If the offense is average ...." ???  In what alternative universe do you reside? 

 

The Bills don't have a starting QB, and one of their QB is a career backup, another one sucked monkey balls in his limited stints as a rookie, and the third is a rookie who is not considered particularly pro ready.  They have a top notch RB who's under a cloud and may miss part or all of the year.  They have a decent starting TE, 1 NFL caliber LT, and 1 NFL caliber WR.  The supposed "battle" for starting center is between a journeyman starter and a career backup.  They have a highly touted sophomore WR who had a horrendous rookie season.  The rest of the offense is manned by players who would only see the field as backups and/or STers on most teams in the NFL.

 

The Bills will be lucky to make it into the Red Zone more than once a game ... in other words, the Bills offense will be lucky if it's not the worst O in the league by a significant margin. 

 

 

 

that's why i said we have no idea what it's going to do.  i don't think our line got that much worse as i was never an eric wood guy.  mccarron could turn out to have a decent year.  i don't think it's too far out to think he could throw for 3200 yards with about 20 tds and 10-12 picks.  if he does that we're ok. but who knows?  i hope daboll can coach one of these qbs up enough to move the ball.  benjamin could have 1000 yards, clay 7-800 yards,  after that who knows?  i think the most we're gonna get is an offense around 16 in the league but i don't think we're gonna be the worst in the league.  3200 yards passing, 2000 yards rushing(1200 shady, 550 ivory, 250 others).  with that were around 5200 yards which is 16th last year.  

[Rigotz]

The only way we make the playoffs is if Josh Allen has a huge year.

And he's going to have to do a lot considering the O-Line and WR group we've got this year. 

 

Our defense is decent, but you need a top 3 group to compensate for the garbage we're going to show on Offense.

[Seasons1992]

16 minutes ago, SoTier said:

 

"If the offense is average ...." ???  In what alternative universe do you reside? 

 

The Bills don't have a starting QB, and one of their QB is a career backup, another one sucked monkey balls in his limited stints as a rookie, and the third is a rookie who is not considered particularly pro ready.  They have a top notch RB who's under a cloud and may miss part or all of the year.  They have a decent starting TE, 1 NFL caliber LT, and 1 NFL caliber WR.  The supposed "battle" for starting center is between a journeyman starter and a career backup.  They have a highly touted sophomore WR who had a horrendous rookie season.  The rest of the offense is manned by players who would only see the field as backups and/or STers on most teams in the NFL.

 

The Bills will be lucky to make it into the Red Zone more than once a game ... in other words, the Bills offense will be lucky if it's not the worst O in the league by a significant margin. 

 

 

 

[BillsFan130]

15 minutes ago, corta765 said:

 

I just see this season at the 2013 year all over. Talent isn't there on offense at this point, but the defense is piecing to be a really strong unit. I see alot of close games where afterwards fans are frustrated because they couldn't score enough and take advantage.

Ya I can definitely see that. Almost like last year as well to a certain degree. Although I don’t think they win 9 games this year

[Rocky Landing]

Still, there's one big reason we won't make the playoffs: our offense.

I woke up in a super negative mood this morning, for completely personal, non-football related reasons. That being said, I feel like a more accurate thread would be titled: "Five reasons the Bills will make it into the Red Zone once in a while."

 

Off the top of my head, I can think of about three.

Edited July 17, 2018 by Rocky Landing

[transient]

Based on last season, I don't think we'll have a true idea of the team we're going to field until the season starts, and even then it may change after a few games.  For all we know Shaq could be out the door for an OL or WR after the first preseason game.  Unlike FOs past, I feel like at the very least the current regime has a cohesive vision and is realistic about what they have in place and what holes they still need to fill.

[SoTier]

21 minutes ago, teef said:

god i hate you.

and what did you predict about the team last year?  don't get me wrong...i don't expect much, but some just want to be negative.

 

I was actually far more optimistic last season than I'd been in a while.  I thought they'd win at least 7 games, and if the D stepped up, 8 or 9.  I didn't think they were good enough to win 10 games, which is what I believed it would take to make the playoffs but I didn't count on Miami losing Tannehill for the season or Denver going down the toilet or Baltimore giving a remarkable imitation of the Bills under Rex Ryan in the last game of the season.

 

The offense last season was barely functional, and it wasn't all Tyrod Taylor's fault.  McDermott's hiring of Dennison forced Taylor into a system that simply didn't fit him, and Castillo's shift to a new blocking scheme handicapped the OL for most of the season.  McDermott and Beane also stripped Taylor of all his viable targets except for Charles Clay.  Even the greatest QBs can't shine when they're running for their lives and have no reliable receivers to bail them out.

 

Aside from signing Bodine, there's been nothing added to the Bills offense in 2018.  Maybe Zay Jones will prove he's not a bust.  Maybe AJ McCarron will prove he's not a career backup.  Maybe Vlad Ducasse will have an epiphany in his ninth or ten year in the league and play like a competent RG, something he's never been able to do (that's despite the glowing ratings from the statboys).

 

I didn't mention Josh Allen because I think the best thing that could happen to him is that he doesn't play this year unless it's parts of games late in the season.  He doesn't need to get mangled, mauled, and then raked over the coals for poor performances playing with the hot mess that's the Bills offense.

5 minutes ago, transient said:

Based on last season, I don't think we'll have a true idea of the team we're going to field until the season starts, and even then it may change after a few games.  For all we know Shaq could be out the door for an OL or WR after the first preseason game.  Unlike FOs past, I feel like at the very least the current regime has a cohesive vision and is realistic about what they have in place and what holes they still need to fill.

 

Dream on.

[aristocrat]

18 minutes ago, Rocky Landing said:

Still, there's one big reason we won't make the playoffs: our offense.

I woke up in a super negative mood this morning, for completely personal, non-football related reasons. That being said, I feel like a more accurate thread would be titled: "Five reasons the Bills will make it into the Red Zone once in a while."

 

Off the top of my head, I can think of about three.

 

Our offense was bad last year. Near bottom of the league bad. 

[Minotaur]

I didn't care for the article at all.  It read as a "fans everywhere but Buffalo will hate me for saying the Bills will make the playoffs, but we are writing that for every team and I got stuck with Buffalo" (my words, not his) piece.

 

Really?  Sports' unpredictability is one of your reasons?

[Luxy312]

We simply do not know what we have in terms of the offense.  Overall, the offense was 29th in the NFL last year, and that was made better by the fact that they had the 6th best rushing attack.  They mustered a whopping 176.6 YPG passing, which was 2nd worst only to the Bears.  I can't fathom being worse than that.

[row_33]

sure whatever

 

praying the other teams suck worse is not really a good thing

 

this is supposed to be football, not baseball....

 

you TAKE what you want

 

[aristocrat]

6 minutes ago, Luxy312 said:

We simply do not know what we have in terms of the offense.  Overall, the offense was 29th in the NFL last year, and that was made better by the fact that they had the 6th best rushing attack.  They mustered a whopping 176.6 YPG passing, which was 2nd worst only to the Bears.  I can't fathom being worse than that.

 

New oc as well 

[RoyBatty is alive]

1 hour ago, JPP said:

How about our O-line and we need talented WR's very badly...

plus we have an old RB that might get suspended and has had injury issues, no proven QB, our starting TE has spaghetti for he knees but beyond that offense is solid.

[Green Lightning]

This front office chose not to make any significant investments in the offense, this year. And I think we'll pay the price for it now. They focused entirely on defense except for moving up for a quarterback, who if works out - a big if,  won't play for a while. Yes Wood, Incognito and possibly Shady were things they didn't expect, but that's what a good front office plans for - the unexpected. So this is the offense that the FO decided was suitable and we're just going to have to live with it. There's still time to make a few tweaks, but I'm not optimistic.

[JPP]

Just now, RoyBatty is alive said:

plus we have an old RB that might get suspended and has had injury issues, no proven QB, our starting TE has spaghetti for he knees but beyond that offense is solid.

yeah  maybe with some left over luck from last season maybe we can make the post season 2 years in a row

[Paul Costa]

1 hour ago, Fadingpain said:

So they've provided 5 reasons why every team in the league will make the playoffs.

 

I suppose this is the long way of saying "No one knows what will happen but anything is possible at this time of year."

 

1) Sean McDermott: consistently made critical/tactical mistakes in calling games last year; don't look to him to make a winning difference in a close game. 

 

2) Power up front on ? D Line personnel a lot different and not what it used to be; Kyle Williams now too old

 

3) Talent in the secondary: agreed; it's the strong point of the team

 

4) Winnable games inside AFC East: not likely; we may be the 4th strongest team in the division; also suffer from 2 automatic losses to NE.

 

5) Mysterious Golden Nugget:  Didn't click the article to find out what that is. 

Somebody get this guy a baby kitten to torture. What a miserable bastard ?

[RoyBatty is alive]

2 minutes ago, JPP said:

yeah  maybe with some left over luck from last season maybe we can make the post season 2 years in a row

I dont think anyone can realistically look at this offense, each and every position and say there is one, just one position which we dont have to worry about and is  is "solid" and at least to the NFL average.  Maybe Dawkins?

[transient]

5 minutes ago, Luxy312 said:

We simply do not know what we have in terms of the offense.  Overall, the offense was 29th in the NFL last year, and that was made better by the fact that they had the 6th best rushing attack.  They mustered a whopping 176.6 YPG passing, which was 2nd worst only to the Bears.  I can't fathom being worse than that.

 

The 6th best rushing attack minus Wood, Incognito, and Taylor with a question mark next to McCoy's availability, three question marks at QB, and no real improvements in the WR corp from 2017... it's really not too hard to fathom a worse year in a worst case scenario.

[row_33]

1 hour ago, Best Player Available said:

Aren't the 2018 playoffs already over? 

 

no, football calls a year based on the the fall that the games were played in.

 

NFL playoffs have extended into the next calendar year since the 1965 season.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[transplantbillsfan]

I've been saying for weeks now that we're going to make the playoffs with double digit wins this year.

 

The article lays out the 2 biggest reasons I think it happens: Sean McDermott & the Defense.

 

This is year 2 under McDermott. The culture is established, now they can build on it and develop it. 

 

We really don't have any big losses of note in terms of players, so I think talent level on the team as a whole improved.

 

I understand the uncertainty at QB (and now with Shady, but I really don't think that Shady misses a game, unless for injury) and that uncertainty is, I believe, the popular reason that so many think we'll take a step back this year. But I'm pretty excited actually about Dabol's creativity and think it's hard to get much worse at OC than Dennison.

 

My way too early prediction is 11-5 and the #5 seed in the playoffs 

Edited July 17, 2018 by transplantbillsfan

[Luxy312]

11 minutes ago, transient said:

 

The 6th best rushing attack minus Wood, Incognito, and Taylor with a question mark next to McCoy's availability, three question marks at QB, and no real improvements in the WR corp from 2017... it's really not too hard to fathom a worse year in a worst case scenario.

$100 says I'm right.

[JP's Voice]

25 minutes ago, Luxy312 said:

We simply do not know what we have in terms of the offense.  Overall, the offense was 29th in the NFL last year, and that was made better by the fact that they had the 6th best rushing attack.  They mustered a whopping 176.6 YPG passing, which was 2nd worst only to the Bears.  I can't fathom being worse than that.

 

Great point. At 29th overall last year, we cannot get much worse.

 

Our WRs will be better this year because they simply cannot be any worse than they were last year. Zay Jones won't be worse than he was last year and we added some speed with the rookies. I think the FO is pretty happy with what they have at WR going into camp.

 

The big question now is how much our running game will drop with the loss of Incognito and no viable RG replacement. The loss of E. Wood does nothing to hurt our O-Line as he may be the most overrated Bill of all time. I firmly believe that the passing game will be better this year than last, with a slight drop-off in the running game due to the Incognito departure. How much of an improvement/drop-off will we see? I think it will land us somewhere in the top 25 of total offense. Is that average enough to win 9-10 games? I sure hope so

[HOUSE]

The chances are 67.36 the Bills make the playoffs.

 

Took me all morning with my calculations....

 

Edited July 17, 2018 by THE SLAMMER

[NewEra]

2 hours ago, Virgil said:

I agree with all of those reasons. 

 

However, we won’t be able to compensate for our complete lack of offense.  

While I don’t gave confidence we have no idea how good or bad our offense will be.  Dennison is gone. Daboll is in.  Tyrod is out.  Allen, Peterman or Mccarron is in.  Dennison was bad.  Tyrod wasn’t good.  If Daboll is very good and the QB doesn’t suck, we can be better than last year. The OL is a huge unknown and incognito may be the only OL missed.  Dawkins will be a year experienced and should be better.  Wood was just ok.  Groy was ok when he played.  The WRs suck. For sure.  But they sucked last year.  For sure. 

 

Our defense should be much improved a year after it carried us to he playofffs.  If shady can avoid a suspension (or anything more than 2 games), I think we have a chance to make the playoffs.  I also think that McCoy will avoid suspension this season.  Might be too close to the season to get the facts and suspend him.  And if he does, a lengthy appeal may take place. Possibly serving the suspension the following year.  

 

Things need to go our way, but our offense may be just as good as last year.  Not saying much, but with an improved D, playoffs are a possibility for sure. .  Daboll being the key imo

[Luxy312]

3 minutes ago, NewEra said:

While I don’t gave confidence we have no idea how good or bad our offense will be.  Dennison is gone. Daboll is in.  Tyrod is out.  Allen, Peterman or Mccarron is in.  Dennison was bad.  Tyrod wasn’t good.  If Daboll is very good and the QB doesn’t suck, we can be better than last year. The OL is a huge unknown and incognito may be the only OL missed.  Dawkins will be a year experienced and should be better.  Wood was just ok.  Groy was ok when he played.  The WRs suck. For sure.  But they sucked last year.  For sure. 

 

Our defense should be much improved a year after it carried us to he playofffs.  If shady can avoid a suspension (or anything more than 2 games), I think we have a chance to make the playoffs.  I also think that McCoy will avoid suspension this season.  Might be too close to the season to get the facts and suspend him.  And if he does, a lengthy appeal may take place. Possibly serving the suspension the following year.  

 

Things need to go our way, but our offense may be just as good as last year.  Not saying much, but with an improved D, playoffs are a possibility for sure. .  Daboll being the key imo

 

I'll give you a like for that NewEra and would concur.  Dennison was a proverbial dumpster fire.  Tyrod Terrible hasn't been willing to try to throw a receiver open in 3 years.  I think unlike most preseasons, that we're going to know a little bit from seeing preseason games.  The Bills will be working on some of the basics of the offense.  I'm hopeful none the less that it's not run/screen pass; run/screen pass; pass and punt.  There was far too much of that last season.