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Our Beloved Bills and the State of the AFC - Week Three


LeGOATski

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With another week in the books and another win for the Bills, let’s take a look at the conference as a whole.

 

AFC Standings
868835127_ScreenShot2019-09-24at12_27_00AM.thumb.png.46f47034c337997681c4b0aa4b7243d0.png

 

Wow, the Fish are monumentally terrible. The Titans, Chargers, and Raiders are all backsliding.

 

Playoff Contenders:
The top 6 teams. The cream of the crop.

 

AFCW: Chiefs
AFCE: Pats
AFCN: Ravens
AFCS: Texans

WC: Bills
WC: Colts

 

What is there to say about the Chiefs? These guys are surefire SB contenders. This offense looks like the new Greatest Show on Turf. Mahomes is on pace for 6,373 yards and 53 TDs. Former Bills LeSean McCoy and Sammy Watkins look great. Interestingly, the McCoy and Gore TD runs this week were very similar, if not the exact same play.

 

The Patriots sit next to the Chiefs on the AFC throne and no one expected the Jets to put up a fight against the reigning champions this week. Their defense is running on all cylinders, not giving up any offensive points to the Jets. Watching Brady freak out at the refs over the intentional grounding call was entertaining (see video below). Also, Stidham looked bad. I don’t think we have a Jimmy G situation there. Their OLine looked okay. The Bills will need to find ways to hit Brady and get into his throwing lanes on Sunday. Will we see Oliver lining up at DE?

 

The Ravens are in solid control of the AFC North while the rest of the division looks poor. With Jackson, OC Greg Roman can do the same stuff he did with Colin Kaepernick. They seem ready for a deep playoff run, but are definitely outclassed by KC and NE right now. A playoff matchup between the Bills and Ravens could be really exciting, but likely an old school, low scoring defensive battle. (Side note: It was a stupid call by Harbough to go for the 2 pt conversion when the PAT would’ve put them 10 pts behind KC. Was that an analytics call? Also...the drop kick attempt on the last kick-off was really odd.)

 

The Texans go as far as Bill O’Brien takes them. They have amazing talent on both sides of the ball and look ready for a deep playoff run, but their biggest weakness may be in the FO. After getting into a hole early against the Chargers this week, Watson put the team on his shoulders and made some amazing throws to seal the win. Early in the game, he made a TERRIBLE decision when he threw the ball backwards and into the turf, which the Chargers defense easily scooped up. Watson tried to argue that it was an incomplete pass. It was a really boneheaded mistake (one that BIlls fans would surely crucify Allen for). He also threw a bad Allen-esque INT late in the game, but I think he knew it was a free play as the ref had thrown the flag into the backfield before Watson passed it. The Bills would be competitive with this team, but I’d give the edge to the Texans right now for their offense.

 

Say what you will about the Bills’ inconsistency, but they are a really good team. The only AFC team that put together a solid 4 quarters this week was KC. The other teams all had some sloppy play, but the good teams stayed focused and won. The cream of the crop are KC and NE and then I think it’s a toss-up between the Texans, Ravens, and Bills. At least the Bills look like they have the best defense of the bunch. The Colts seem to be making the most out of the least talent. It’s nice that the Bills seemingly don’t have to worry about the Steelers this year. We’ll see if the Browns can get it together, but they’re certainly not meeting expectations.

 

The Bills are producing playmakers all over the place: Gore, Singletary, Brown, Beasley, Knox, McKenzie, and of course Allen. I hope we see Roberts and Foster get into the mix against the Pats this week. The OL is very solid, too. I appreciated the nice holes Gore was able to exploit throughout the game, even after Feliciano was out. Everyone is “doing their 1/11th” (McDermott’s version of “do your job.”) If Singletary is back healthy, I think they could put together a complete game against the Pats, which would be needed in order to get a win.

 

Allen’s calmness in the pocket was on full display against the Bungles. I got worried a few times about the hits he was taking while standing there. On the flip side, he seems to have a Brady-like knack for drawing penalties. The best throws I saw this week were from Allen, Mahomes, and Watson. Allen was playing Favre-esque backyard football in the first half and the plays he pulled out of his ass were crucial towards gaining the early lead. Jay Feely was giddy with laughter in the broadcast while watching Allen. Bills fans across the nation were laughing with him. What if the Bills pull off the upset over the Pats? It’s not a far-out fantasy this year. 

 

The Colts have bounced back from a week one overtime loss with two solid wins. People say QB Jacoby Brissett is overrated. However, I don’t see anyone praising him as a great QB, so I don't think the calling him "overrated" makes sense.  He just runs their offense really well and makes smart throws. He’s great at manipulating the defense with little pump fakes and false looks. The Colts are still AFC contenders with Brissett at the helm and they have a great coach in Frank Reich. Marlon Mack, the OLine, and the WRs have been impressive.

 

It’ll be interesting to see if the Browns and Jaguars can get it together and push for AFC contention. The Browns have a really tough slate over the next 4 weeks (Ravens, 49ers, Seahawks, Pats). I don’t have much confidence in them to bounce back from this slow start. The Jags have the Broncos, Panthers, Saints, Bengals, and Jets before facing the Texans, so the schedule looks better for them. Can they ride the Minshew wave for a string of wins? Some may think I’m overlooking the Chargers, but I don’t have much faith in them. Rivers seems to get worse as the game goes on. Similarly, I think the Titans are “pretenders” and just don’t look good.

 

Funniest moment of the week: Brady yelling at the refs for calling intentional grounding. The refs were 100% correct. The Pats were up 23-0. Shaddap! Yaw a frickin’ tool, Tom!

 

 

That’s all. Thanks for reading.

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I think you are right on the four likely division winners. I still think the Chargers have the talent to haul themselves back into contention for the wildcard but they are playing some really inconsistent football right now. The Jags are not out of it either because when that D turns up they are for real. The Colts and the Bills look the most complete of the wildcard contenders. The Colts could go close to winning the South but I think Deshaun Watson will be the difference. That kid is incredible and as much as Jacoby Brissett has played well so far he isn't on Watson's level talent wise. The Bills would compete to win either the South or the North but there remains the obvious road block in the East. The next test for Buffalo is to beat a potential playoff team. Their first chance is this Sunday, after that, depending on whether the Eagles continue to sink under the injuries, their next chance might be playing in Dallas on Thanksgiving. 

 

I do see the wildcard race already though as basically a contest between the Bills, Colts, Chargers and Jags. 

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11 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

I think you are right on the four likely division winners. I still think the Chargers have the talent to haul themselves back into contention for the wildcard but they are playing some really inconsistent football right now. The Jags are not out of it either because when that D turns up they are for real. The Colts and the Bills look the most complete of the wildcard contenders. The Colts could go close to winning the South but I think Deshaun Watson will be the difference. That kid is incredible and as much as Jacoby Brissett has played well so far he isn't on Watson's level talent wise. The Bills would compete to win either the South or the North but there remains the obvious road block in the East. The next test for Buffalo is to beat a potential playoff team. Their first chance is this Sunday, after that, depending on whether the Eagles continue to sink under the injuries, their next chance might be playing in Dallas on Thanksgiving. 

 

I do see the wildcard race already though as basically a contest between the Bills, Colts, Chargers and Jags. 

The Chargers just don't look like they have any grit. The Texans, Bills, Colts, and Jags all showed toughness while grinding out wins this week. I don't give the Chargers much of a chance without Gordon.

 

With the Jags, I'm anticipating the floor dropping out under Minshew. 

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19 minutes ago, LeGOATski said:

The Chargers just don't look like they have any grit. The Texans, Bills, Colts, and Jags all showed toughness while grinding out wins this week. I don't give the Chargers much of a chance without Gordon.

 

With the Jags, I'm anticipating the floor dropping out under Minshew. 

 

I think the Chargers have a lot more chance than the Browns put it that way. 

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Excellent work, the entire article. Nothing I would disagree with.

1 hour ago, LeGOATski said:

The Chargers just don't look like they have any grit. The Texans, Bills, Colts, and Jags all showed toughness while grinding out wins this week. I don't give the Chargers much of a chance without Gordon.

 

With the Jags, I'm anticipating the floor dropping out under Minshew. 

 

Don't the Chargers always seem to start slow? Rivers is gamer (much like our own JA, but without the athleticism).

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4 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

The Colts could go close to winning the South but I think Deshaun Watson will be the difference. That kid is incredible and as much as Jacoby Brissett has played well so far he isn't on Watson's level talent wise. 

 

 

I agree about Watson’s talent but Ill take the Colts in that division. Watson wont make it through the year given the punishment he takes weekly. Much of that is on the OL but a lot is also because of Watson’s play style. I don’t see a long career for the guy unless he and the Texans start protecting him better.

 

Thats true, to a lesser degree, of Josh Allen too. 

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10 minutes ago, MDH said:

 

 

I agree about Watson’s talent but Ill take the Colts in that division. Watson wont make it through the year given the punishment he takes weekly. Much of that is on the OL but a lot is also because of Watson’s play style. I don’t see a long career for the guy unless he and the Texans start protecting him better.

 

Thats true, to a lesser degree, of Josh Allen too. 

 

Maybe. But he hasn't missed a single game with a contact injury. Maybe it comes eventually but his resilience is amazing. The ACL was a freak slip in practice with nobody around him. 

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4 hours ago, CSBill said:

Excellent work, the entire article. Nothing I would disagree with.

 

Don't the Chargers always seem to start slow? Rivers is gamer (much like our own JA, but without the athleticism).

I'm under the opposite impression, actually. Rivers fades as the season goes on. ?‍♂️

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4 hours ago, Tatonka68 said:

868835127_ScreenShot2019-09-24at12_27_00AM.thumb.png.46f47034c337997681c4b0aa4b7243d0.png

The Bills just played the Bengals and the schedule still has 6 games against the bottom teams, Dolphins twice, Jets, Steelers, Broncos and Browns. Win all of these and the Bills are a nine win team, add the Redskins or Titans in and were at 10 wins.

 

people laughed at my saying 12 to 14 wins is achievable.  

 

Hot Messes 

Skins, Steelers, Dolphins (x2), Bronco's

 

Almost a Hot Mess

JETS # (less Darnold),

 

Tenny w/ inconsistency from Mariota. 

 

Iggles, Ravens, Browns :D :D and the cheating NE****** 

and Turkey day in Dallas 

Edited by SlimShady'sGhost
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