AFC Standings, schedules, & Rooting Interests FINAL 1/7/24 BILLS 2 Seed!

[Jauronimo]

 Miami hasn't beaten a winning football team since Buffalo lost half their team to dehydration last September.

[chongli]

Bad news for Miami:

 

 

[Logic]

Wild Card: Win out. Likely enter as the 7th or maybe even the 6th seed in that case.
AFC East title: Win out. Phins lose to either the Cowboys or Ravens and lose to us. 

It's that simple. Win out and the Bills are extremely likely to make the playoffs. Lose one game the rest of the way and they'll need a lot of help.

Good news is that the next two games are against Easton Stick and Bailey Zappe. So long as the Cowboys or Ravens can notch a win against the Phins, week 18 is hopefully for the AFC East title, and then we don't have to worry about Wild Card scenarios. 

Edited December 18, 2023 by Logic

[DBilz2500]

9 minutes ago, Logic said:

Wild Card: Win out. Likely enter as the 7th or maybe even the 6th seed in that case.
AFC East title: Win out. Phins lose to either the Cowboys or Ravens and lose to us. 

It's that simple. Win out and the Bills are extremely likely to make the playoffs. Lose one game the rest of the way and they'll need a lot of help.

Good news is that the next two games are against Easton Stick and Bailey Zappe. So long as the Cowboys or Ravens can notch a win against the Phins, week 18 is hopefully for the AFC East title, and then we don't have to worry about Wild Card scenarios. 

I do wish there were better scenarios for us winning the next 2 games and at least having a wildcard berth already clinched before Miami. Guess we cooked our own goose tho 😕 

[Einstein]

8 minutes ago, DBilz2500 said:

I do wish there were better scenarios for us winning the next 2 games and at least having a wildcard berth already clinched before Miami. Guess we cooked our own goose tho 😕 

 

Would need any 2 of these teams to lose their next two games.

 

JAX, CIN, HOU, IND

[Success]

We have used up our mulligans.  

 

The bottom line is that if we can't beat the Chargers & then the Pats - we do NOT deserve to get in.  We've lost to too many bad teams this year.  Allowing the Pats to sweep us, at home, w/ Zappe?  Losing to an interim coach and a backup QB whose name I hadn't heard until last week?

 

It's just not allowed.  Not for the team who could be the "most dangerous" if they get in the playoffs.

 

Obviously, the Miami game is tougher.  But get there without another loss, and I really like our chances.

 

Edited December 18, 2023 by Success

[RobbRiddick]

4 minutes ago, Einstein said:

 

Would need any 2 of these teams to lose their next two games.

 

JAX, CIN, HOU, IND

Just checking the schedules...

 

Cincy has Steelers and Chiefs (no way they lose to the steelers)

Jax - Bucs and Panthers (erm, nope)

Houston - Titans and Browns (okay, I can see this possibly happening)

Indy - Falcons and Raiders (nope)

 

The main hope there, and it's clutching at straws, is the Steelers playing great defensive game against Cincy and doing just enough offensively to beat them on a FG at the end or in OT. Although the way things are in the league, even if that happened they'd probably beat the Chiefs. Then the Texans having a late season collapse to the Titans who can play anyone tough but also get blown out just as easily, then going down to the Browns.

 

Meh, it's really just easier for the Bills the win all their games and hope Miami lose one of their next 2

[RichRiderBills]

30 minutes ago, RobbRiddick said:

Just checking the schedules...

 

Cincy has Steelers and Chiefs (no way they lose to the steelers)

Jax - Bucs and Panthers (erm, nope)

Houston - Titans and Browns (okay, I can see this possibly happening)

Indy - Falcons and Raiders (nope)

 

The main hope there, and it's clutching at straws, is the Steelers playing great defensive game against Cincy and doing just enough offensively to beat them on a FG at the end or in OT. Although the way things are in the league, even if that happened they'd probably beat the Chiefs. Then the Texans having a late season collapse to the Titans who can play anyone tough but also get blown out just as easily, then going down to the Browns.

 

Meh, it's really just easier for the Bills the win all their games and hope Miami lose one of their next 2

 

Keep in mind that's to have it clinched going into final week.  The reality is we need 2 of those teams to go 1-2 down stretch. I don't think it's accurate w south division winner included, so one of those south teams won't factor. 

 

A few games of note: 

 

Week 16

 

Jags @ Bucs

Indy @ Hotlanta 

 

Atlanta is 4-3 at home and still playing for playoffs. Bucs very tough at home in FL grudge match still shooting for division. Lawrence in Protocol. 

 

Week 17 

 

Raiders @ Colts

 

Gotta think this Raider team is going to be a rough out. Playing for coach. 

 

Week 18

 

Broncos @ Raiders 

 

Same. Love Raiders here in New black hole. 

 

Also ...rooting for Titans, Jets, and likely conceded a spot to Browns. So rooting for them too. 

Edited December 18, 2023 by RichRiderBills

[Einstein]

31 minutes ago, RobbRiddick said:

Just checking the schedules...

 

Cincy has Steelers and Chiefs (no way they lose to the steelers)

Jax - Bucs and Panthers (erm, nope)

Houston - Titans and Browns (okay, I can see this possibly happening)

Indy - Falcons and Raiders (nope)

 

The main hope there, and it's clutching at straws, is the Steelers playing great defensive game against Cincy and doing just enough offensively to beat them on a FG at the end or in OT. Although the way things are in the league, even if that happened they'd probably beat the Chiefs. Then the Texans having a late season collapse to the Titans who can play anyone tough but also get blown out just as easily, then going down to the Browns.

 

Meh, it's really just easier for the Bills the win all their games and hope Miami lose one of their next 2

 

That situation is only to have playoffs clinched before Miami game.

 

In order yo get into the playoffs at all, Bills just need to win their last three games and have any ONE of these teams lose ONE game.

 

IND, CIN, HOU, JAX, MIA.

 

If any of those teams lose 1 game, Bills get in by winning out.

[Big Turk]

42 minutes ago, RobbRiddick said:

Just checking the schedules...

 

Cincy has Steelers and Chiefs (no way they lose to the steelers)

Jax - Bucs and Panthers (erm, nope)

Houston - Titans and Browns (okay, I can see this possibly happening)

Indy - Falcons and Raiders (nope)

 

The main hope there, and it's clutching at straws, is the Steelers playing great defensive game against Cincy and doing just enough offensively to beat them on a FG at the end or in OT. Although the way things are in the league, even if that happened they'd probably beat the Chiefs. Then the Texans having a late season collapse to the Titans who can play anyone tough but also get blown out just as easily, then going down to the Browns.

 

Meh, it's really just easier for the Bills the win all their games and hope Miami lose one of their next 2

 

Oh there is definitely a chance they lose to the Steelers...even with Burrow, the Steelers beat the Bengals regularly.  At this time of year there is never a case where you say "they won't lose to THAT team".  Assuredly, there are myriad times over the years in the last month of the season that it's happened.

 

These are all middling teams at this point, they could lose to anyone on any given week.

 

Over the past 2 weeks here are the things I heard from National Know it All's that would "Never Happen":

 

-Packers were going to run the table and be a sure bet for the playoffs because they would "never lose to the Giants and then the Bucs at home".  They in fact, lost both of those games.

 

-Falcons would win the division because there is "no way they would lose to the Panthers."  They just lost to the Panthers

 

-Dolphins would wrap up the AFC East because "there was no way they were losing to the Titans".  They lost to the Titans.

 

-Texans would challenge for the division because there was "no way they would lose to the Jets".  They got blown out by the Jets and scored 6 points. They still might challenge for the division since they are in a 3 way tie since the Jaguars are fading fast and Indy has been stubborn.

 

 

The point is...just in the past 2 weeks a multitude of things that "would never happen, happened".  Trying to say with any certainty that something is a guarantee is futile.  It's a week to week league. Matchups are a thing.

 

 

Edited December 18, 2023 by Big Turk

[RichRiderBills]

9 minutes ago, Einstein said:

 

That situation is only to have playoffs clinched before Miami game.

 

In order yo get into the playoffs at all, Bills just need to win their last three games and have any ONE of these teams lose ONE game.

 

IND, CIN, HOU, JAX, MIA.

 

If any of those teams lose 1 game, Bills get in by winning out.

 

That's great but I'll bet my life Miami drops at least one and Bills get in by winning out by means of division so that is kind of a null scenario in my planning. 

 

I'm kind of obsessed with looking at the clinch while we lose to Miami scenario. 

 

To be honest, I think we will win there. We travel well to South Beach and can't see that oline stopping us. 

Edited December 18, 2023 by RichRiderBills

[chongli]

 

[Warcodered]

 

[strive_for_five_guy]

3 hours ago, Big Turk said:

 

Oh there is definitely a chance they lose to the Steelers...even with Burrow, the Steelers beat the Bengals regularly.  At this time of year there is never a case where you say "they won't lose to THAT team".  Assuredly, there are myriad times over the years in the last month of the season that it's happened.

 

These are all middling teams at this point, they could lose to anyone on any given week.

 

Over the past 2 weeks here are the things I heard from National Know it All's that would "Never Happen":

 

-Packers were going to run the table and be a sure bet for the playoffs because they would "never lose to the Giants and then the Bucs at home".  They in fact, lost both of those games.

 

-Falcons would win the division because there is "no way they would lose to the Panthers."  They just lost to the Panthers

 

-Dolphins would wrap up the AFC East because "there was no way they were losing to the Titans".  They lost to the Titans.

 

-Texans would challenge for the division because there was "no way they would lose to the Jets".  They got blown out by the Jets and scored 6 points. They still might challenge for the division since they are in a 3 way tie since the Jaguars are fading fast and Indy has been stubborn.

 

 

The point is...just in the past 2 weeks a multitude of things that "would never happen, happened".  Trying to say with any certainty that something is a guarantee is futile.  It's a week to week league. Matchups are a thing.

 

 

Hearing that Chase likely to “miss some time”, which won’t help Browning and the Bengals when visiting Pit this weekend.  Pit’s been pretty bad of late, but Browning without one of his top weapons is definitely helpful to the Steelers.

[DrBob806]

3 minutes ago, strive_for_five_guy said:

Hearing that Chase likely to “miss some time”, which won’t help Browning and the Bengals when visiting Pit this weekend.  Pit’s been pretty bad of late, but Browning without one of his top weapons is definitely helpful to the Steelers.

Probably, but the Steelers are in full quit mode. Never thought I'd ever say that.

[Big Turk]

50 minutes ago, strive_for_five_guy said:

Hearing that Chase likely to “miss some time”, which won’t help Browning and the Bengals when visiting Pit this weekend.  Pit’s been pretty bad of late, but Browning without one of his top weapons is definitely helpful to the Steelers.

 

That defense is still nasty and can get after the QB and the clock strikes midnight at some point on all these Cinderella stories at QB.

[Punch]

5 hours ago, RobbRiddick said:

Indy - Falcons and Raiders (nope)

This is very doable.

[SCBills]

From Dallas Board:

 

If both win out - PHI

Miami game only matters for Dallas for seeding and if Philly loses to Arizona.

 

If Dallas loses to Miami and Philly loses one of the Giants games, Dallas wins division. 

[Big Blitz]

16 minutes ago, Big Turk said:

 

That defense is still nasty and can get after the QB and the clock strikes midnight at some point on all these Cinderella stories at QB.

They are not laying a second consecutive egg in primetime - the Bengals just lost Chase.  
 

I think the Steelers find a way to shut up Jake Browning.   

[Buffalo03]

1 hour ago, strive_for_five_guy said:

Hearing that Chase likely to “miss some time”, which won’t help Browning and the Bengals when visiting Pit this weekend.  Pit’s been pretty bad of late, but Browning without one of his top weapons is definitely helpful to the Steelers.

I think there's a chance we see Mason Rudolph this week for the Steelers also. He could be better than Trubisky if so

31 minutes ago, Big Blitz said:

They are not laying a second consecutive egg in primetime - the Bengals just lost Chase.  
 

I think the Steelers find a way to shut up Jake Browning.   

The Bengals continue to be a thorn in our side. We need 2 teams to just end their season

Edited December 19, 2023 by Buffalo03

[CircleTheWagons99]

6 hours ago, Logic said:

Wild Card: Win out. Likely enter as the 7th or maybe even the 6th seed in that case.
AFC East title: Win out. Phins lose to either the Cowboys or Ravens and lose to us. 

It's that simple. Win out and the Bills are extremely likely to make the playoffs. Lose one game the rest of the way and they'll need a lot of help.

Good news is that the next two games are against Easton Stick and Bailey Zappe. So long as the Cowboys or Ravens can notch a win against the Phins, week 18 is hopefully for the AFC East title, and then we don't have to worry about Wild Card scenarios. 

Phins at Ravens is loss for the phins in my book. Ravens too physical. But, stranger things have happend. 

[Punch]

1 minute ago, CircleTheWagons99 said:

Phins at Ravens is loss for the phins in my book. Ravens too physical. But, stranger things have happend. 

I agree, I think the Ravens are a bad matchup for Miami similar to how they don't match up well with the Bills.

[Generic_Bills_Fan]

10 minutes ago, Punch said:

I agree, I think the Ravens are a bad matchup for Miami similar to how they don't match up well with the Bills.

I agree on paper but Miami has beat them twice in a row (the last one felt like dumb luck)

[Donuts and Doritos]

Hardest schedules on paper remaining appear to be:

Dolphins

Bengals

Texans (especially w/o Stroud)

 

Bills could win the East (Phins loose 1 of next 2 & Bills win out)

or

possibly sneak in as 7 seed (Bengals & Texans stumble & Bills win out)

[Jrb1979]

2 hours ago, Donuts and Doritos said:

Hardest schedules on paper remaining appear to be:

Dolphins

Bengals

Texans (especially w/o Stroud)

 

Bills could win the East (Phins loose 1 of next 2 & Bills win out)

or

possibly sneak in as 7 seed (Bengals & Texans stumble & Bills win out)

You're forgetting about Denver as team fighting for the last spot. They have the easiest schedule left and can win their last 3 games. 

[Punch]

12 minutes ago, Jrb1979 said:

You're forgetting about Denver as team fighting for the last spot. They have the easiest schedule left and can win their last 3 games. 

Denver is 7-7, if the Bills win out, the Broncos don't matter.

[Jrb1979]

5 minutes ago, Punch said:

Denver is 7-7, if the Bills win out, the Broncos don't matter.

That's true. I'm not so sure they win out. I know their schedule looks easy. I have this feeling they are due for a letdown game. They just had 2 emotional wins. 

[TrentEdwardsCheckDownOn4th]

Unless we are talking about the division,  all of these wild card scenario talks should be centered around assuming the bills lose one game.  If the bills win out we know they're almost certainly in.  The interesting scenarios involve a bills loss to Miami.  

 

If we go 10-7 our odds are 52% according to NYT. And Our biggest rooting interests this week would be:

 

Steelers over Bengals, and our odds improve to 64% if the steelers win, and drops to 42% if bengals win .

 

Falcons over the colts (64% vs 43%)

 

Browns over Texans (61% vs 47%)

 

Bucs over Jags (61% vs. 43%)

 

Patriots over Broncos (64% vs. 50%)

 

If all of the above teams lose this week, and assuming we finish 10-7, our odds would skyrocket to 95%.

 

 

Edited December 19, 2023 by TrentEdwardsCheckDownOn4th

[strive_for_five_guy]

49 minutes ago, TrentEdwardsCheckDownOn4th said:

Unless we are talking about the division,  all of these wild card scenario talks should be centered around assuming the bills lose one game.  If the bills win out we know they're almost certainly in.  The interesting scenarios involve a bills loss to Miami.  

 

If we go 10-7 our odds are 52% according to NYT. And Our biggest rooting interests this week would be:

 

Steelers over Bengals, and our odds improve to 64% if the steelers win, and drops to 42% if bengals win .

 

Falcons over the colts (64% vs 43%)

 

Browns over Texans (61% vs 47%)

 

Bucs over Jags (61% vs. 43%)

 

Patriots over Broncos (64% vs. 50%)

 

If all of the above teams lose this week, and assuming we finish 10-7, our odds would skyrocket to 95%.

 

 

Awesome breakdown, thanks man.  I’d like to see at least three of these outcomes go our way, but all of them, I’d be ecstatic.

[Kaenon]

Man, still lamenting Cincys comeback, Texans comeback, and Mooney's dropped hail Mary.

[Eastport bills]

On 11/29/2023 at 1:42 PM, Beast said:

I see no way the Bills get in unless they run the table and that isn’t going to happen.

 

All other teams have pretty cake schedules.

Naturally you don’t see it, because you can’t stand the Bills. Keep rooting against them and when they stick it in your ear by running the table, become invisible. Why can’t they beat LA, featuring a practice squad QB,who just joined the team this week, NE at home who threw in the towel weeks ago and Miami, who can’t win a meaningful game against a quality team. Your act is getting tiresome.

[gonzo1105]

I think if you look at it on paper you would say no way the Bills get in at 10-7 but like I said last week a lot of these teams ahead of the Bills are very mediocre and they are playing other slightly worse mediocre teams and some of these scenarios that look like sure fire W's will def be losses and vice versa. 

 

On paper your like no way Cincinnati loses to Mason Rudolph and the struggling Steelers but I actually think this is the type of game where Cincinnati gets absolutely stifled especially without Jamar Chase and the Steelers win a 19-10 type game. 

[Donuts and Doritos]

2 hours ago, Jrb1979 said:

You're forgetting about Denver as team fighting for the last spot. They have the easiest schedule left and can win their last 3 games. 

Since we're ahead of them currently it won't matter as long as we win out. None of this works unless we win out. I'm talking about where we need the help, bc even winning out we don't get in without the help.

We'd be done long before Denver passes us.

[SoCal Deek]

43 minutes ago, Eastport bills said:

Naturally you don’t see it, because you can’t stand the Bills. Keep rooting against them and when they stick it in your ear by running the table, become invisible. Why can’t they beat LA, featuring a practice squad QB,who just joined the team this week, NE at home who threw in the towel weeks ago and Miami, who can’t win a meaningful game against a quality team. Your act is getting tiresome.

I’ve mentioned it before….i look at it as if the Miami game will actually be the start of the playoffs for Buffalo this year. So with the glass half full, we get an additional week of playoff football! 😁

[Beast]

49 minutes ago, Eastport bills said:

Naturally you don’t see it, because you can’t stand the Bills. Keep rooting against them and when they stick it in your ear by running the table, become invisible. Why can’t they beat LA, featuring a practice squad QB,who just joined the team this week, NE at home who threw in the towel weeks ago and Miami, who can’t win a meaningful game against a quality team. Your act is getting tiresome.

Did you see when I posted what I did? My act is getting tiresome? Know what you are talking about before you run your lips.

 

And I’ll stand by what I said when I said it. I saw no way for the Bills to win out. That doesn’t make me less of a fan. The Bills were playing like ***** when I said that.

Edited December 19, 2023 by Beast

[Einstein]

2 hours ago, Jrb1979 said:

That's true. I'm not so sure they win out. I know their schedule looks easy. I have this feeling they are due for a letdown game. They just had 2 emotional wins. 

 

If they lose to a Chargers team without a QB or Head Coach, or get swept by a New England team with a backup QB and lame duck Head Coach, then we don’t deserve the playoffs.

 

Its honestly that simple in my opinion.

 

A true playoff team, this deep in the season, should crush both of those squads.

5 hours ago, Donuts and Doritos said:

or

possibly sneak in as 7 seed (Bengals & Texans stumble & Bills win out)

 

Bills don’t need the Bengals & Texans to stumble.

 

Why is everyone making this so hard?

 

If ANY of these teams lose 1 of their next 3 games, and Bills win out, we are in:

 

JAX, CIN, HOU.

 

Any of them.

 

 

Edited December 19, 2023 by Einstein

[Jrb1979]

1 hour ago, Einstein said:

 

If they lose to a Chargers team without a QB or Head Coach, or get swept by a New England team with a backup QB and lame duck Head Coach, then we don’t deserve the playoffs.

 

Its honestly that simple in my opinion.

 

A true playoff team, this deep in the season, should crush both of those squads.

 

Bills don’t need the Bengals & Texans to stumble.

 

Why is everyone making this so hard?

 

If ANY of these teams lose 1 of their next 3 games, and Bills win out, we are in:

 

JAX, CIN, HOU.

 

Any of them.

 

 

There is also no guarantee they win out either. 

[Figster]

2 hours ago, Einstein said:

 

If they lose to a Chargers team without a QB or Head Coach, or get swept by a New England team with a backup QB and lame duck Head Coach, then we don’t deserve the playoffs.

 

Its honestly that simple in my opinion.

 

A true playoff team, this deep in the season, should crush both of those squads.

 

Bills don’t need the Bengals & Texans to stumble.

 

Why is everyone making this so hard?

 

If ANY of these teams lose 1 of their next 3 games, and Bills win out, we are in:

 

JAX, CIN, HOU.

 

Any of them.

 

 

Don't forget the fish

[Einstein]

3 minutes ago, Figster said:

Don't forget the fish

Fish would need to lose 2 of the 3.

[Mango]

Found this visual on reddit. Thought it was super helpful. 

 

Big Cowboys, Steelers, Texans, and Bucs fan this week.

If the Bills win the division I think there is a strong chance they come into the playoffs as the 2 seed. KC losing to the Bengals and Jacksonville losing to the Bucs make that a strong possibility.