Playoff record, rule changes and the Bills

[billsfan89]

5 minutes ago, Paup 1995MVP said:

The Bills coaching has been marginal in the big playoff games w Josh and McDermott.  We all know the 13 seconds game.  The play calling last year against Baltimore was very conservative in the second half.  Brady packed it in, and it almost cost us the game.  The play calling in short yardage against KC last year in the AFCCG was predictable redundant and easy to stop.  That was the biggest reason for the loss IMO. 

 

By that point in the season after playing 18 or 19 games, the opposition knows your tendencies on both sides of the ball.  You have to change some things up, because your opponent is always going to be just as good as you.  And you are not going to dominate another well coached team deep in the playoffs.  It just doesn't happen very often.  And the Bills just do not change anything about their scheme in big playoff games.  And give the opposition different looks that they were not expecting.  That little edge is usually the difference.  McDermott is good at culture and keeping players happy and focused.  He is nothing special as a tactician.  That is the difference between an Andy Reid and Sean McVay coached team, and a Sean McDermott coached team.

I actually think the Ravens game was a well coached game. I think the Bills kind of knew the Ravens tendency to shrink in big moments so they wanted to play a tight game and trust themselves to come up in bigger moments. 
 

I do think defensively the KC playoff games McD has to come up with something because it’s just clearly not working

[90sBills]

3 hours ago, Buffalo Boy said:

I go to a restaurant because I want to eat a meal

I go to a bar for a drink and entertainment 

If I went to a whorehouse, I’d expect to get some 

I watch my football team because I want to see them win it all.

Is it possible to watch and enjoy regular season games and still be disappointed at losing in playoffs? Yes

Is it ignorant to call such people ignorant? No. It is stupid and small minded😘

In other words, the Bills give you blue balls? lol 

[ChronicAndKnuckles]

17 hours ago, Lionel Hutz said:

I don't know why this is so hard for so many Bills fans to understand. McD just beats mediocre teams in the playoffs. Really the only impressive win was last year against the Ravens and that was a home game with terrible weather conditions and we just squeaked by with a few major blunders by the Ravens. 

Mediocre teams don’t generally make the playoffs. Every team the Bills have beaten has double digit wins and more often than not earned their spot in the post-season. Why take that away from them? They play who they are supposed to play.  

[Albany,n.y.]

It took Peyton Manning 9 seasons to get to & win his 1st Super Bowl.  He had a similar problem that Josh has now.  There was a guy named Brady & a coach named Belichick that kept him from getting there earlier in his career, just like Mahomes & Reid today.   

[Doc Brown]

15 minutes ago, Albany,n.y. said:

It took Peyton Manning 9 seasons to get to & win his 1st Super Bowl.  He had a similar problem that Josh has now.  There was a guy named Brady & a coach named Belichick that kept him from getting there earlier in his career, just like Mahomes & Reid today.   

Not a great comparison.  Patriots only beat them in two playoff games before he got his Super Bowl.  Chiefs have beat us in four.  I'm not sure there's ever been one team  that beat another team in four of five years in the playoffs..

[DabillsDaBillsDaBills]

9 minutes ago, ChronicAndKnuckles said:

Mediocre teams don’t generally make the playoffs. Every team the Bills have beaten has double digit wins and more often than not earned their spot in the post-season. Why take that away from them? They play who they are supposed to play.  

 

The 2020 Colts might be the best 7 seed to make the playoffs in this new format. 11-5 with a top 10 offense and defense. 

2022 Dolphins were bad. 9-8 with a 3rd string QB and depleted O-line 

2023 Steelers were mediocre. 10-7 but no TJ Watt 

2024 Broncos were mediocre. 10-7 with a rookie QB

[Buffalo Boy]

2 hours ago, 90sBills said:

In other words, the Bills give you blue balls? lol 

CLASSIC 😂😂😂

[Lionel Hutz]

26 minutes ago, ChronicAndKnuckles said:

Mediocre teams don’t generally make the playoffs. Every team the Bills have beaten has double digit wins and more often than not earned their spot in the post-season. Why take that away from them? They play who they are supposed to play.  

2021 they beat an 11-5 Colts team that had a 40-year old at QB 

2022 they beat a 10-7 Patriots team with a rookie QB

2023 they beat (barely) an 9-8 Dolphins team with rookie backup Skylar Thompson at QB

2024 they beat a 10-7 Steelers team with backup Mason Rudolph at QB

2025 they beat a 10-7 Broncos with a rookie QB

 

Are you telling me that any of those teams were legit SB contenders?

 

The good wins were in 2021 against a 11-5 Ravens and 2025 against a 12-5 Ravens team (both at home)

 

Meanwhile McD is 0-5 on the road in the playoffs. 

 

[Fan boy '92]

The rule change to 7 playoff teams, resulting in no byes, is in the top couple of reasons Josh hasn't been to a sb yet.

[WNYFAN1]

18 hours ago, Lionel Hutz said:

I don't know why this is so hard for so many Bills fans to understand. McD just beats mediocre teams in the playoffs. Really the only impressive win was last year against the Ravens and that was a home game with terrible weather conditions and we just squeaked by with a few major blunders by the Ravens. 

Agreed. Look at some of the QBs he's beat in the playoffs...

[Billl]

6 hours ago, DabillsDaBillsDaBills said:

 

The team was pretty flat in the first KC loss, outscored 38-6 from the start of the 2nd Q until garbage time. 

 

I have to disagree with the idea that we haven't gotten lucky breaks in these games. 

 

1st KC loss they muffed a punt that we recovered at the 3 yard line and scored a TD on the next play.

 

Bengals loss had a couple plays where Josh was somewhere between an incomplete forward pass and losing a fumble. Refs called both an incomplete pass after reviews. Think we caught a break with the Chase TD being overturned as well. 

 

3rd KC loss the first play of the game Diggs fumbled, but Kincaid managed to bat the ball out of bounds. After the Damar Hamlin make-a-wish fake punt KC was inches away from scoring a TD, but we forced a fumble inside the 1 yard line that went out the endzone. 

 

4th KC loss the Chiefs dropped multiple easy INTs. Mahomes gifted us with a turnover after he fumbled a good snap. Bills fumbled 4 times and we recovered all 4 of them. 

 

If anything we've been extremely lucky with the fluky bounces in these games. 

 

 

The past two times the Bills and Chiefs have met in the playoffs, there have been a total of 9 fumbles.  Buffalo got possession all 9 times.

[ChronicAndKnuckles]

1 hour ago, DabillsDaBillsDaBills said:

 

The 2020 Colts might be the best 7 seed to make the playoffs in this new format. 11-5 with a top 10 offense and defense. 

2022 Dolphins were bad. 9-8 with a 3rd string QB and depleted O-line 

2023 Steelers were mediocre. 10-7 but no TJ Watt 

2024 Broncos were mediocre. 10-7 with a rookie QB

Why do people like you cherry pick your stats ? So you conveniently leave off the 2 time MVP the Bills beat TWICE ? Lmfao 

[uticaclub]

1 hour ago, Albany,n.y. said:

It took Peyton Manning 9 seasons to get to & win his 1st Super Bowl.  He had a similar problem that Josh has now.  There was a guy named Brady & a coach named Belichick that kept him from getting there earlier in his career, just like Mahomes & Reid today.   

Mannings play in the playoffs doesn't compare to Allen. Also, Dungy lead that team to as many Super Bowls as Caldwell.

[DabillsDaBillsDaBills]

23 minutes ago, ChronicAndKnuckles said:

Why do people like you cherry pick your stats ? So you conveniently leave off the 2 time MVP the Bills beat TWICE ? Lmfao 

 

The whole point of this thread is looking at how we've done as a 2 seed vs a 7 seed when under the old playoff format a 2 seed would've gotten a bye. 

 

That was the list of games that wouldn't have occurred under the old format.