The Bills won; where does the Bills rank in your book in terms of contending for superbowl now?

[billsbackto81]

I just don't know if Brady can call a game where he adjusts to what defenses are doing to disrupt the Bills offensive flow. His stubbornness to run the ball when it isn't working and his predictable play calling is an issue. Pair that with receivers having separation issues getting open is a tough climb to overcome. 

 

Its not just Brady. This defense still looks like a train wreck against the run and 3rd and long situations.

 

This team is capable of catching lightning in a bottle and has proven they can beat playoff caliber teams. But if they have to go on the road playing 3 games to get to the SB, oof... that's a tough task.

[NoSaint]

26 minutes ago, strive_for_five_guy said:

That’s the thing….they’re great at winning two out of three, but that doesn’t win Super Bowls….

yea, but if you can win 2 out of 3 against contenders, all it takes is a little dumb luck to get a ring. We have just had none of that luck even when we were a 3 out of 4 team

[eball]

Nice English.

 

[Don Otreply]

That Sean is in unwillingly to make changes to his failed defensive scheme as his base thought process,  is what will continue to hold this team back from the success they so dearly want, it will all be on the offense, and especially Allen if we are to make it to the promise land, jmo.

 

GO BILLS!!!

[SoonerBillsFan]

1 hour ago, PoundingDog said:

When they were 4-0, even though they did not play that well, you say to yourself that they were missing people and had not played up to their best. Full of hope as a legit Superbowl favorite in January.

 

Then the Patriots game happened, and we pushed it aside as a surprise from an upstart team. Deep down, you say we are going to get it back when we go to Foxborough.

 

The Falcons game to me is a sign that this team has serious flaws on defense and offense that we may not overcome like the Ravens game. But we had hopes for the PED guys to change the fortune on defense.

 

Then the 2nd Dolphins game, along with the out-of-season injuries on D. Everywhere I go, football fans were in shock, not just us Bills fans, in the sense that we REALLY could lose to anyone, to the worst teams. 

 

And that carried over to this game. I can honestly say I did not have confidence when the game went into the 4th quarter, that we got this.   

 

You can clearly see Josh is pressing. He's throwing into tight coverages more like he did in his earlier years in NFL. He's putting his body on the line more like he was 3 years ago.  It won't help his MVP cause and longitivity, but to me, it is necessary for this offense to succeed right now. I know Kincaid didn't dress today so we may see the offense to be able to go busting out in the air like this game, probably earlier than McDermott would've liked this season (i.e., not wait until the playoffs) when the running game is not working.

 

But defensively, I just don't think we have a championship caliber squad. Tampa is not some super lethal offense without their top running back and wide receiver. And we had trouble stopping them. It is just a bad combination of not bigger enough to stop people from running between the tackles and not fast enough to go side line to side line. It was a pain for me watching Bernard could not catchup to Mayfield on one of his 3rd conversions. I believe the LB corp is the weakest link of this D and there is no hope of improvement for guys behind them. 

 

What I'm afraid is that Josh and company will exhaust themselves to get into the playoffs and then simply burn out on a dud, like that Cincy playoff game, to someone in January.

Imo nothing has changed, major flaws and Josh still needs to he superman.  Our defense flat sucks against the run.

 

I see one and done in the playoffs,  BUT... IF, and its a big IF, we csn keep opening up the offense, we have a shot.

[Buffalo Boy]

  This defense doesn’t stand a chance against the teams, at the end of the year, that are on a role. 1% because never say never but no chance.

   

[BuffaloBillyG]

With this defense, it would be all about matchups. Like I would be fine playing Pittsburgh, the Chargers, Jags, and even the Chiefs. Those teams don't scare me on the ground. Now, Baltimore, Indianapolis or Denver (if JK Dobbins is healthy) and we will literally get run out of the playoffs IMO.

[TheFunPolice]

We've got as good a chance as anyone else 

 

 

[QCity]

I don't think anything has changed.  Josh can be superhuman and the run defense is a major liability, but we all knew this already. It's exciting to win games like this but stringing 4 of them together against playoff teams is going to take a tremendous amount of luck.

[GunnerBill]

I don't know how they improve the defense to get where it needs to be. 

 

The defensive playcalling is much better since Sean took it back off Babich who was way over his head. They 3rd down defense has got better (though Tampa did well today) and the incidents of guys not knowing the playcall are reducing. They were the two things I thought McDermott could fix and has. But we are where we are right now in terms of talent and run defense has been an issue on and off throughout McDermott's time here. In the past they have gone and found the fattest old man off the NFL street to bring in as a stop gap measure.... Corey Liguet or Linval Joseph etc... I don't know if there is anyone who fits that bill out there but if they are we need to get them on the phone. 

 

As I've said elsewhere I am ready to see a wholesale change of the 2nd level to Shaq (when healthy), Williams and Cam because Bernard, Milano and Taron are all playing really really poorly at the moment. But I don't know how realistic it is to expect that to be transformational. 

 

I do think the secondary has been playing better. Benford has rounded into a bit of form, Hairston getting some run has helped and Bishop has taken off since Poyer came in alongside him. Poyer himself looks every day of his 34 and a half years old when he has to play in space but I get the sense his leadership is helping and we might just have to suffer his lack of athleticism at this stage.

 

But in terms of being able to win a Superbowl? They are going to have to win shootouts IMO. And I don't know how manageable that is.

[dgrochester55]

I would put them somewhere between fifth and tenth overall for likelihood of winning the Super Bowl. The only thing that makes me have some optimism is that most of the other teams in the AFC also have flaws and have looked flat at times.  Barring no more injuries, they may be able to get by at WR with the additions of Davis and Hardman, but I feel like not adding defensive help at the trade deadline could come back to bite us. The defense was not good enough today and was lucky thate Allen had one of the better games in his career. 

Edited 1 hour ago by dgrochester55

[Success]

I think we have at least a 50% shot of getting the 1 seed now.

 

That will probably determine if we can get a title this year. The league is pretty mid, but it would obviously be much harder to make a run as a WC.

 

[djp14150]

2 hours ago, PoundingDog said:

When they were 4-0, even though they did not play that well, you say to yourself that they were missing people and had not played up to their best. Full of hope as a legit Superbowl favorite in January.

 

Then the Patriots game happened, and we pushed it aside as a surprise from an upstart team. Deep down, you say we are going to get it back when we go to Foxborough.

 

The Falcons game to me is a sign that this team has serious flaws on defense and offense that we may not overcome like the Ravens game. But we had hopes for the PED guys to change the fortune on defense.

 

Then the 2nd Dolphins game, along with the out-of-season injuries on D. Everywhere I go, football fans were in shock, not just us Bills fans, in the sense that we REALLY could lose to anyone, to the worst teams. 

 

And that carried over to this game. I can honestly say I did not have confidence when the game went into the 4th quarter, that we got this.   

 

You can clearly see Josh is pressing. He's throwing into tight coverages more like he did in his earlier years in NFL. He's putting his body on the line more like he was 3 years ago.  It won't help his MVP cause and longitivity, but to me, it is necessary for this offense to succeed right now. I know Kincaid didn't dress today so we may see the offense to be able to go busting out in the air like this game, probably earlier than McDermott would've liked this season (i.e., not wait until the playoffs) when the running game is not working.

 

But defensively, I just don't think we have a championship caliber squad. Tampa is not some super lethal offense without their top running back and wide receiver. And we had trouble stopping them. It is just a bad combination of not bigger enough to stop people from running between the tackles and not fast enough to go side line to side line. It was a pain for me watching Bernard could not catchup to Mayfield on one of his 3rd conversions. I believe the LB corp is the weakest link of this D and there is no hope of improvement for guys behind them. 

 

What I'm afraid is that Josh and company will exhaust themselves to get into the playoffs and then simply burn out on a dud, like that Cincy playoff game, to someone in January.

I disagree innthe premise they will run out of gas

 

the Cincinnati situation was much more emotional because of Hamlin situation that drained the team emotionally.

 

thry are good enough to make the Super Bowl. They can beat any team in the league.

 

2 of the 3 loses were directly related to turnovers and where they occurred.

[Paup 1995MVP]

There is no one on defense who can consistently rush the passer.  We didn’t get a sack on Baker til the end of the game.  The run defense is awful.  
 

That being said if Brady will continue to open up the offense we can beat every team in the league.  Josh is not a dink and dunk QB. 
 

He is best making plays, running and passing-whatever it takes.  That is why he is making a ***** ton of money.  He has to be the man. 

 

We have our best chance of winning playing wide open football.  And getting Kincaid back.  Having Gabe and maybe Hardman, and throwing to our backs, and to Shavers and Palmer, the offense is pretty dynamic.  And let Josh run.  He is still great at that. 

 

But the defense still needs to bump it up a couple notches.  Can it really be this bad at times?

[Mango]

They have Allen and just enough play makers. They'll have to get hot at the right time.

[Shortchaz]

I keep waiting for this team to game-plan  to attack a teams weakness the way the Brady patriots would. it hasn’t happened and I’m losing faith it ever will. 

[Doc Brown]

If you can't stop the run then it's very unlikely you make a Super Bowl run.  Unless Ed Oliver miraculously comes back from the injury and plays exactly like he was.  I just don't see it.

[BigAl2526]

I think they are a long shot to make it to the Super Bowl.  They have a steep climb to get back into the division lead as New England has the easier schedule.  That means they likely need to take the wild card route.  Then they need to hope that Ed Oliver and one or two others on IR can make a miraculous recovery.  

[GoBills!]

If Josh has to put up 32-38 points to win in the playoffs we should just pack it up. Everyone knows playoff ball is much different. This defense can’t stop Tua and company id rather tear it down than live in playoff purgatory. 
 

Andy Reid lived in it with the eagles they moved on and won. Also Andy won a few after as well. 

[Herc11]

If they can get some Kincaid back and keep people healthy going forward, they have a chance at developing some rhythm. Most teams that are real contenders hit their stride late in the season and carry that through the playoffs. There's still a lot of football left before the playoffs and they absolutely have it in them to get hot and become real contenders. If KC misses and possibly Baltimore, the Bills will be the only AFC team with significant playoff experience and that goes a long way.