Start of the season really could not have gone better for the Bills…

[GoBills808]

18 minutes ago, NewEra said:

 Those are the best comments-  “message board police”-  

 

people give their opinions and people give their opinions on other peoples opinions.  I give my opinion on peoples positive takes…..but it’s being the message board police when I give my opinion of those who post 90% negativity.  
 

This team is great and you hate reading people talking about how great they are. You must hate watching/reading the media too.  Thats pretty much all anyone says….because we have one of the best teams in the league.  When we sucked, I could understand why people would post 90% negativity.  It’s warranted. In 2025- I don’t see why anyone would do such a thing.

 

i never said you weren’t anything other a negative poster.  I’m fairly sure I’ve complimented you several times and consider you to be one of my favorite posters.  

thanks

 

imo if you're offering evidence to the contrary, or have some kind of semirational or nuanced take on a subject, yes by all means throw it out there. im talking about the people whose only contribution is to immediately disregard the opposing view. thats a bad environment for discussion

[ganesh]

7 hours ago, BigAl2526 said:

It is true that overall, the Bills schedule is pretty easy, but their schedule does include Baltimore, Kansas City, Tampa Bay, (They are 3-0 like Buffalo and some pundits like their Super Bowl odds) Cincinnati (week 14 - so there is a slight chance Burrows could be back) and Philadelphia.  Of course, we already beat Baltimore, but there are four more teams that won't be a cakewalk.

Division games are always tough. I can see NE playing close in the two games. We also play the Steelers on the road.  

[BigAl2526]

9 minutes ago, ganesh said:

Division games are always tough. I can see NE playing close in the two games. We also play the Steelers on the road.  

You still have to play the game, and any time, against anybody, Buffalo can lose if they don't focus and play the way they are capable of playing.  If Buffalo plays their best, I don't see anyone in the division beating them, or Pittsburgh.

[strive_for_five_guy]

Add Baltimore now 1-2

[eball]

2-game lead over KC and 2.5-game lead over BAL after three weeks?

 

Pinch me.

 

[ChronicAndKnuckles]

23 hours ago, BuffaloBaumer said:

I think Chargers will end up 14-3, that is the record Buffalo will need to beat for the #1 seed. 

Still not sold on Herbert. He beat a declining Chiefs team averaging less than 20 points a game in unpredictable week 1. And the Broncos who are a lower tier playoff contender. I don’t think the Chargers would stand a chance against the Lions, Bills, or Rams. I think they would get smoked. 

 

[Paup 1995MVP]

On 9/22/2025 at 10:04 AM, billsfan89 said:

 

Also I would argue that even if KC's offensive issues are alleviated by Rice coming back and Worthy being healthy the larger issue for KC is that their defense while good might not be as elite as it once was thanks to Chris Jones declining slightly and an erosion of talent elsewhere. KC's offense can improve but if they are not gonna have an elite defense it's gonna be an issue.

Kansas City has great coaching.  

 

And their defense still looks pretty darn solid to me.  I sure wish our defense was in the same conversation as theirs.  Speaking of defense, I sure like the Lions defense.  They have some talent there.  

 

Not sure what's wrong with our defense.  Is it the lack of talent, or the scheme is just too difficult to play where guys can just fly around and make plays?  Maybe both?  Because the way the Lions went at the Ravens last night was completely different then the way we played the Ravens.

[billsfan89]

1 hour ago, Paup 1995MVP said:

Kansas City has great coaching.  

 

And their defense still looks pretty darn solid to me.  I sure wish our defense was in the same conversation as theirs.  Speaking of defense, I sure like the Lions defense.  They have some talent there.  

 

Not sure what's wrong with our defense.  Is it the lack of talent, or the scheme is just too difficult to play where guys can just fly around and make plays?  Maybe both?  Because the way the Lions went at the Ravens last night was completely different then the way we played the Ravens.

 

I don't think there's anything "wrong" with the Bills defense just yet. KC's defense is still very good and as you mentioned they have great coaching and their ST unit is solid. Their issue is that if their offense is above average like it has been the last couple of years they will need to be an elite defense and with their talent level being eroded a bit the past couple of off-seasons and Chris Jones possibly losing a third of a step it could be that they are just very good but not elite which could be an issue. 

 

As far as the Bills the talent level to me is good it should be a lower top 10 defense if reasonably healthy. There's been 5 key players missing. The PED Twins are still suspended both should provide some depth and in particular Hoecht should provide some versatility to the D-line. Mad Max the teams first round pick should help at corner when he gets back from injury. And you have Ed Oliver and Milano dealing with week to week injuries. If some combination of those guys comes back there's a lot there to help. 

 

I also think the rookies are making various contributions and will get stronger once they get some film and work out the kinks. Even Cole seems to be playing better. Right now I think the defense for the Bills just needs to keep gaining experience and get all of its guys back and it should at the very least be a good unit.

[Gregg]

7 hours ago, eball said:

2-game lead over KC and 2.5-game lead over BAL after three weeks?

 

Pinch me.

 

 

Not really worried about them (yet) but we need a few losses for the Chargers and Colts. 

[The Frankish Reich]

1 hour ago, ChronicAndKnuckles said:

Still not sold on Herbert. He beat a declining Chiefs team averaging less than 20 points a game in unpredictable week 1. And the Broncos who are a lower tier playoff contender. I don’t think the Chargers would stand a chance against the Lions, Bills, or Rams. I think they would get smoked. 

 

I'm sold on Herbert, but I'm still not sold on the Chargers in general.

But I do think they are now our #1 threat in the AFC. They improved in all key areas, Harbaugh's culture (like it or not, we can all agree that the Chargers needed a change in culture) is taking, and even the loss of Najee Harris may not be so bad as it allows them to shift more carries to a really good rookie back from a declining back. Our ace in the hole: their division is way better than ours.

[Paup 1995MVP]

22 hours ago, billsfan89 said:

 

I don't think there's anything "wrong" with the Bills defense just yet. KC's defense is still very good and as you mentioned they have great coaching and their ST unit is solid. Their issue is that if their offense is above average like it has been the last couple of years they will need to be an elite defense and with their talent level being eroded a bit the past couple of off-seasons and Chris Jones possibly losing a third of a step it could be that they are just very good but not elite which could be an issue. 

 

As far as the Bills the talent level to me is good it should be a lower top 10 defense if reasonably healthy. There's been 5 key players missing. The PED Twins are still suspended both should provide some depth and in particular Hoecht should provide some versatility to the D-line. Mad Max the teams first round pick should help at corner when he gets back from injury. And you have Ed Oliver and Milano dealing with week to week injuries. If some combination of those guys comes back there's a lot there to help. 

 

I also think the rookies are making various contributions and will get stronger once they get some film and work out the kinks. Even Cole seems to be playing better. Right now I think the defense for the Bills just needs to keep gaining experience and get all of its guys back and it should at the very least be a good unit.

I appreciate your reasonable optimism about the defense.  I am excited to add Hairston and Hoecht to the mix.  I think they both will add a good bit.  As for Ogunjobi, I hope he is better than Daquan Jones at this point in their careers, and can provide a spark in the middle of the line, if and when he gets a chance.  And we are better with Oliver and Milano on the field.  

 

I think the big problems is the secondary compared to some of the other top teams.  Benford is a good, but not a great cover corner.  He holds up real well against the run.  But does not have especially twitchy athletic traits that make him elite covering real good receivers.  The rest of the secondary seems problematic to me.  Tre needs to sit.  I personally would cut him because he has no upside left to cover NFL receivers. (I know a lot of people on this message board worship the man.  But this is not pre injury Tre White)  And I think our starting safeties suck.  No team gives more room in the secondary then us.  I wish Damar Hamlin could move some.  Because from a technique standpoint he is probably the best we have back there.  But he can't run.  Lets hope Hancock gets a shot sooner than later.  He at least  looked to have a nice amount of upside when he was on the field in the preseason.  (I think he has more potential than Cole Bishop-has Bishop even made one important stop since we drafted him?)

[billsfan89]

1 hour ago, Paup 1995MVP said:

I appreciate your reasonable optimism about the defense.  I am excited to add Hairston and Hoecht to the mix.  I think they both will add a good bit.  As for Ogunjobi, I hope he is better than Daquan Jones at this point in their careers, and can provide a spark in the middle of the line, if and when he gets a chance.  And we are better with Oliver and Milano on the field.  

 

I think the big problems is the secondary compared to some of the other top teams.  Benford is a good, but not a great cover corner.  He holds up real well against the run.  But does not have especially twitchy athletic traits that make him elite covering real good receivers.  The rest of the secondary seems problematic to me.  Tre needs to sit.  I personally would cut him because he has no upside left to cover NFL receivers. (I know a lot of people on this message board worship the man.  But this is not pre injury Tre White)  And I think our starting safeties suck.  No team gives more room in the secondary then us.  I wish Damar Hamlin could move some.  Because from a technique standpoint he is probably the best we have back there.  But he can't run.  Lets hope Hancock gets a shot sooner than later.  He at least  looked to have a nice amount of upside when he was on the field in the preseason.  (I think he has more potential than Cole Bishop-has Bishop even made one important stop since we drafted him?)

 

There's a reasonable case to be made that the defense should be significantly improved. This team threw their first four draft picks plus most of their available free agency dollars on the defense (the only major offensive investment cap or draft wise was Palmer). This team should be able to take a defense ranked 17th last year and push it into the 9-12 range at a minimum. 

 

I think Mad Max is the best chance this team has to try and help with speedy WR's but the positive upside of that is that most of the AFC teams that have super elite fast WR's are looking like garbage this season. The Bengals and Dolphins have elite speedy WR tandems but one team's QB has a longer term injury and the other is 0-3 and dropped a game against this team. There's not a lot of other teams that boast super fast dynamic WR combos. DK on the Steelers, Worthy on KC, and a few others here or there but it is a lot easier to game plan around 1 WR who has a lot of speed. It's teams with 2 dynamic speedy WR's that can cause issues. 

 

Luckily there is a chance that the Bills also have a speedy corner that can help in that situation coming off IR hopefully in the coming weeks. 

[DCofNC]

On 9/22/2025 at 8:24 AM, GunnerBill said:

 

The schedule is what it is. Everyone knows the formula years in advance, some years you get a break, some years you don't. Most of the time I have been an NFL fan it is a good think to have either the AFCS or the NFCS on your schedule that year. Cos those divisions are often rough. And now the Dolphins have taken a step back the AFCE is a pretty good division to live in as a starting point too. 

 

EDIT: as an aside our 2026 schedule could be brutal. AFC West and NFC North. That is Chiefs, Chargers, Broncos, Vikings, Packers, Lions at a minimum who are all I'd say top half of the NFL teams right now. And there are signs of life for the Bears too. Our other out of conference game is NFC West as well which looks right now like being the 9ers. Plus division winners of the AFCS (maybe Colts?) and AFCN (Ravens). There isn't gonna be a lot of chaff other than the division games on that schedule. Of course the Bills can beat all of those teams but that is probably shaping up as the hardest schedule of the McDermott - Allen era. 

Not to mention all the pressure of a new stadium and being the defending SB champs, 2026 looks tough.

[Sierra Foothills]

On 9/23/2025 at 1:07 PM, The Frankish Reich said:

I'm sold on Herbert, but I'm still not sold on the Chargers in general.

But I do think they are now our #1 threat in the AFC... Our ace in the hole: their division is way better than ours.

 

To the bolded, it's an interesting discussion... does a divisional leader benefit from playing weak divisional foes or from playing strong divisional foes (the "steel sharpens steel" argument).

 

Based on the New England dynasty, I'm inclined to agree with you but there might be something to be said for the benefits of playing a tougher schedule too.

 

Edited September 25 by Sierra Foothills

[Gregg]

Who do you think wins first the Jets or Giants? Football season as far as meaningful games go is already over in the NYC area and hockey hasn't even started yet.

[The Frankish Reich]

2 hours ago, Sierra Foothills said:

 

To the bolded, it's an interesting discussion... does a divisional leader benefit from playing weak divisional foes or from playing strong divisional foes (the "steel sharpens steel" argument).

 

Based on the New England dynasty, I'm inclined to agree with you but there might be something to be said for the benefits of playing a tougher schedule too.

 

I get that, but if you're in a division where you can go 6-0 or 5-1 against your divisional opponents, that goes a long way toward getting a bye and having home field.