Looking ahead to the Falcons…A must win?

[Since1981]

8 hours ago, mannc said:

We are finally faced with another coach in our division who isn’t a joke…(Belichick was bad his last three years in NE).  Gonna be a problem.

BillB needed to walk earlier, same as McD. Pats have their quality HC and QB1. Pats are for real. Our HC isn’t a top 10 by any means. Do you think 17 is learning anything from HC, other than snow angels?

[dorquemada]

1 minute ago, henry jones said:

I just don't understand why so many on this board see only rainbows and unicorns with this current team.  We legit could/should be 1-4 against bottom feeder teams.  I get that it's the NFL and "Any Given Sunday", but blah blah blah...  These people think we're panicking... It's not panic, it just taking an honest look at what this team is and it ain't good right now.  Can it be fixed, sure, maybe.  But nothing is pointing in that direction.

 

To fix it, one would have to recognize that something isn't working. McDermott cannot fail, he can only be failed, so dial up more of the same and hope it works better this time

[Psautcsk]

1 hour ago, Gigs said:

Lmao OP thinks the Pats are winning more than maybe 7 games? Im pissed because that was an easy win we let slip away for no reason. We played like absolute ass and barely lost the game lol. We gifted them so many points they left on the field because they're just not good...we just played way worse than they did like we played down to them or just didn't show up. 

I think you might be wrong. An easy win? The Patriots were well prepared and executed better. We certainly did not play down to them and we did show up. The Pats were just better last night.

[zow2]

It's definitely NOT a must-win.  But if the Bills don't want to see the division lead slip they may want to win this.  The only team with an easier schedule than Buffalo is New England.  They will be favored in their next 3 games and probably 8 more games total.  Plus they don't have to play KC or Philly. 

[Gregg]

2 minutes ago, henry jones said:

I just don't understand why so many on this board see only rainbows and unicorns with this current team.  We legit could/should be 1-4 against bottom feeder teams.  I get that it's the NFL and "Any Given Sunday", but blah blah blah...  These people think we're panicking... It's not panic, it just taking an honest look at what this team is and it ain't good right now.  Can it be fixed, sure, maybe.  But nothing is pointing in that direction.

 

I don't know about 1-4. You want to say 3-2 that is fair as they should have lost the Ravens game. The wins over the Dolphins and Saints were by 10 and 12 points. Sure, the games were close throughout, but most NFL games are. The Bills have issues, but they are a good team.

[buffblue]

1 hour ago, kkim0904 said:

We are fine.  Patriots will be 9 win team at their best.

I think the Bills win the division, but there is significantly less margin for error with the loss last night. Had the Bills won the East would've been essentially clinched already. Now it's going to be a dog fight and Buffalo has no one to blame but themselves. 

 

Here is the Pats remaining schedule, which is the easiest in the entire NFL. It's difficult to see too many losses. 9 wins would be a bad result for them. 

 

@NO

@TEN

CLE

ATL

@TB

NYJ

@CIN

NYG

BUF

@BAL

@NYJ

MIA

 

I think they get to 11 wins fairly easily

Edited 2 hours ago by buffblue

[henry jones]

1 minute ago, Gregg said:

 

I don't know about 1-4. You want to say 3-2 that is fair as they should have lost the Ravens game. The wins over the Dolphins and Saints were by 10 and 12 points. Sure, the games were close throughout, but most NFL games are. The Bills have issues, but they are a good team.

In all honesty, they won by 10 and 12 pts as a result of 4th quarter roughing the kicker penalties in back to back games.  Stupid penalties by the Phins and Saints but a huge breaks for us.  I think we can and should be a good/great football team based on the core of this roster but we are definitely not playing like a good football team right now.  

[mjt328]

The Patriots probably aren't good enough to take the AFC East this year.  We just made them look that way.

They will drop some games throughout the year, and probably finish around the 10-7 mark.  I really hope we don't lose that many games, but the way we've looked the last 3 games... you never know.

 

Next year could be another story if Drake Maye continues to develop into a good QB.  Combine that with a good coaching staff, and you have a team that can compete.  

Very good chance we've already blown our golden opportunity at the #1 Seed though. 

[henry jones]

1 minute ago, buffblue said:

I think the Bills win the division, but there is significantly less margin for error with the loss last night. Had the Bills win the East would've been essentially clinched already. Now it's going to be a dog fight and Buffalo has no one to blame but themselves. 

 

Here is the Pats remaining schedule, which is the easiest in the entire NFL. It's difficult to see too many losses. 9 wins would be a bad result for them. 

 

@NO

@TEN

CLE

ATL

@TB

NYJ

@CIN

NYG

BUF

@BAL

@NYJ

MIA

 

I think they get to 11 wins fairly easily

That's what I was getting at with this thread.  We win, division race is basically over.  Looking at their schedule, the only games they likely won't be favored in are Tampa and us.  By the time they get to Cincy and Baltimore, both teams could potentially be dumpster fires.  Obviously, this is NFL and anything can happen, but with Vrabel as the HC I don't see him letting too many of those winnable games get away from them.  We cannot afford anymore losses to "inferior" opponents.

[Captain Hindsight]

1 hour ago, dorquemada said:

 

Nah, I've been a fan for 50 years.  No panic, just the deadening realization that the current regime probably peaked in the 2020 season.  Is there something you saw from the team last night to make you think they're going to win clutch games against top teams?  Because I saw them getting manhandled by a .500 team, and the guy that walked out the door here shredded our vaunted D.  I don't know, maybe if we invest some more draft capital in the D line they'll be able to get off the field on 3rd and long at a critical juncture.  Or, maybe one of these scrap heap WRs will turn out to be a diamond in the rough that can get open regardless of coverage because right now, all the motion and gimmicky BS is costing us more than it's getting us, but Brady is doing it because we have a bunch of C+ guys that cant get open otherwise

Last night sucked. I’m not denying that and my response was more a joke than anything

 

I I do remember having this same conversation a year ago about WRs and then playing in the title game. 
 

They have a lot to clean up a lot.  The penalties are a serious issue and their sloppily play last night was insane. I also know this team has won more regular season games in the last 5 years than most so I have some faith they will figure it out. If they have their 3rd straight sloppy game going into the bye, I’ll be concerned. But for now, I’m gonna chalk this up to a really bad night and move on
 

[mannc]

Anyone seen the rest of the Pats’ schedule?  Next 3 are Saints, Titans Browns…it’s easier than ours.  They could easily win 12 games.

[Johnnycage46]

1 hour ago, buffblue said:

I think the Bills win the division, but there is significantly less margin for error with the loss last night. Had the Bills won the East would've been essentially clinched already. Now it's going to be a dog fight and Buffalo has no one to blame but themselves. 

 

Here is the Pats remaining schedule, which is the easiest in the entire NFL. It's difficult to see too many losses. 9 wins would be a bad result for them. 

 

@NO - W

@TEN - W

CLE - W

ATL - W

@TB - L

NYJ - W

@CIN - L

NYG - W

BUF - W

@BAL - L (assuming Lamar is back and they are "surging" late in the year)

@NYJ - W

MIA - W

 

I think they get to 11 wins fairly easily

 

I got them at 12 wins. In this scenario, the Bills need to go 9 and 3 (assuming the loss at NE) to finish 13-4. With KC, TB, Atl, Philly on the schedule. And no more clunker games that the Bills "should win". The AFC East is very much in jeopardy, even if people are in denial about it.