Buffalo is the 2nd best team in the AFC

[VW82]

Too early for this. It took a Herculean Josh Allen game (best ind performance of the year?) at home in the snow to overcome a team with a putrid defense, and even then we got a little lucky in the 4th with unexpected turnovers, pick six, etc. 

 

This team is very likely fraudulent. That doesn’t mean we can’t come out of the AFC but we could also very easily get bounced in WC.

[atlbillsfan1975]

7 minutes ago, HaldimandBills said:

You have beaten the Giants, Saints, Jets, Titans, and Falcons.

 

You beat Miami Week 2 when they were an utter mess. 

 

You beat the Bengals when they were missing not just Joe Burrow but Jamar Chase as well. 

 

You beat Tampa who was missing their entire offense minus Baker and he was on one leg.

 

You got a quality beat down of the Panthers early in the season  when they were a disaster. 

 

You have a quality last second field goal win against Buffalo who was missing half their defense and spotted you three turnovers. 

 

You have losses against the Raiders and Steelers like all teams have terrible losses this year. The difference between New England and all other contenders? 

 

You haven't played the Chargers, Broncos, Chiefs, Texans, healthy Bengals squad, Ravens, Jaguars, healthy Colts team, Packers, Bears, Lions, Eagles, Cowboys, Niners, Rams, and seahawks. 

 

Right now your schedule outside the Bills Buccaneers, Panthers, and Dolphins is all teams picking in the bottom 10 of the draft. 

 

Buccaneers and Panthers are one and done playoff teams. Dolphins are going to fire their coach in the offseason and Bills lead the league in man games lost on defense and you were the biggest benefactor of those injuries along with the Falcons. 

 

Congrats New England. Playoffs don't lie. 

Well said. 
I challenge this NE fan to ask any neutral fan which scenario they would prefer:

play NE in NE or host the Bills? See what the answer is to that question. 

[DaVinci]

I say we pool our talents and execute a Bills Mafia denial of service attack on the Patriots message board

[BillytheKid]

You have the easiest strength of schedule and the 2nd worst strength of victories compared to every other team in playoff contention. 
 

We will see how you do this weekend playing a focused Bills team who has your game circled. Won’t be like the last game where the Bills played like they just got out of bed. 

[BuffaloBillyG]

25 minutes ago, VW82 said:

Too early for this. It took a Herculean Josh Allen game (best ind performance of the year?) at home in the snow to overcome a team with a putrid defense, and even then we got a little lucky in the 4th with unexpected turnovers, pick six, etc. 

 

This team is very likely fraudulent. That doesn’t mean we can’t come out of the AFC but we could also very easily get bounced in WC.

Yeah, sorry, that's just flat out wrong. 

 

Neither turnover was a turnover. An unforced error. A mistake by a Bengal.

 

Both plays were TAKE AWAYS. on both occasions the Bills defender may a play on the ball and forced the mistake. This was done by....ready for it....GOOD PLAY. There was no "luck" in it. They won the down with solid fundamentals and took the ball away. 

 

But keep making more excuses to down play the victory. 

[HaldimandBills]

27 minutes ago, VW82 said:

Too early for this. It took a Herculean Josh Allen game (best ind performance of the year?) at home in the snow to overcome a team with a putrid defense, and even then we got a little lucky in the 4th with unexpected turnovers, pick six, etc. 

 

This team is very likely fraudulent. That doesn’t mean we can’t come out of the AFC but we could also very easily get bounced in WC.

That Bengals team when they have Chase, Higgins, and Burrow is the best offense in the NFL. 

 

True their defense is awful but im not gonna roast a Bills defense team for struggling against this Bengals offense when they were missing Bernard, Bosa, and ed Oliver. All players will have back in the playoffs. Bills are a MASH unit every week on defense. Maybe it will continue to be so. If the Bills do get healthy on defense though....

[Billsatlastin2018]

THOSE 4 teams- Bills, Patsies, Broncos, Texans are the only quality teams left in the AFC. The old guard (Chiefs, Bungles, Ravens) have fallen on their swords!
 

I absolutely fear the Texans- not the other 3. They whipped the Bills’ arse with that ferocious, best in the NFL D! Their QB and O talent are so so, but that D?

At least- formidable.

 

Do you know the record of Kermit & Josh v.s. that D this year?

 

0 TDs

SIX TURNOVERS!

 

Fierce.

 

Putting that aside, I heard Capaccio this morning, talking about how neutral he is from game to game as some callers were complaining that Bills fans (like me) are negative even in cool comeback victories like yesterday.

 

Thought about that.

 

Perhaps, it is because all the bad twists and turns of bad Bills fortune going back to ‘Ronnie ***** Harmon’ are rolled into one. 
Perhaps, it is the record of non SB success or even getting there under McD goes back to ‘13 seconds’.
 

I think it is more about Allen and the supreme annoyance we find with time slipping through the hourglass for the greatest athlete in Buffalo sports history, one of the greatest players in NFL history and ditto for QBs. A total freak of nature, with soooo many weird, freakish records involving the highly unusual combo of throwing the ball AND running the ball at a super elite level.

 

A commenter during the game yesterday, said that 17 must put on his cape every freaking time,to overcome the deficiencies of McDs woeful D, Brady’s average OC calls and Beanbrain’s inexcusable intransigence to help him in the Draft! 
 

It absolutely is that!

 

I like to think back to the GOAT- Brady. Sure, his unbelievable success was based on tremendous ability to think and do the right things at the right times. But, Brady was no Josh Allen. 17s talent is at least generational, maybe half century.

 

BUT, BUT, BUT… when Brady scored, he NEVER, EVER had to worry whether his D was going to allow the opposition to race down the ***** field and score in 30 seconds… immediately thereafter.

 

AS HAPPENED YESTERDAY!

And many other yesterdays, including most of the critical playoff game losses.

 

Those Patsies Ds were miles better than ANY of these Bills Ds. They actually tackled, blitzed successfully and were closer than 5 yards away from WRs.

 

Brady never worried about that.

Allen MUST worry about that, every time!

 

That is the fundamental difference here.

 

There is great opportunity here, because the AFC opposition stalwarts are all likely to be out. But, until that pathetic D gets better, Allen needs 5 TDs many games to secure a W.

[Doc Brown]

5 hours ago, BearNorth said:

Vegas biased - Never!!!!

It's the most accurate measurement of public sentiment of a team.

[folz]

7 hours ago, Instincts said:

Despite the record that Denver has.. as a Pats fan I feel like Buffalo is better.  I got 1. Patriots, 2. Buffalo, 3. Broncos, and then not sure where everyone else falls.. maybe Texans? 

 

I'll give the Pats some props. They are having a great season and are far exceeding most people's expectations for them this year. It looks like they may indeed take the AFC East crown from Buffalo (even if the Bills win on Sunday) and Maye looks like the real deal. Vrabel has created a disciplined and motivated team. 👍

 

At this point, the AFC is wide open. You could make a case for a handful of teams being the best, it is all opinion at the moment because there is no obviously dominant team(s). 

Team                  Rec    Conf Rec     PF      PA

New England     11-2       6-2           351     241     Quality Wins: Bills, Bucs, Panthers---can't give you Cincy (no Burrow, no Chase)

Denver               11-2       7-2           308    235     Quality Wins: Eagles, Cowboys, Texans, Chiefs

Jacksonville      9-4        6-2          328    272      Quality Wins: Texans, Panthers, Niners, Chiefs, Chargers, Colts

Buffalo               9-4        6-3          376    293      Quality Wins: Ravens, Panthers, Chiefs, Bucs, Steelers, Cincy

Houston             8-5        7-2          283    208      Quality Wins: Niners, Jags, Bills, Colts, Chiefs

 

Chargers           8-4        7-2           277    252      Quality Wins: Chiefs, Broncos, Steelers, Lions

 

Colts                  8-5        6-4          376    285       Quality Wins: Broncos, Chargers

 

Despite being tied for the most points of the bunch (that will probably soon change), the Colts currently have the worst record of the bunch, have given up the second most points of the bunch, have the fewest quality wins, and are now without Daniel Jones. I think we can safely eliminate them. And I didn't include Pittsburgh or Baltimore, as I don't think anyone would claim they were the best team in the AFC.

 

So, of the top six teams:

1. The Pats and Broncos have the best records.

2. Denver, Houston, and LA have the best conference records.

3. The Bills have scored the most points (Pats #2---then a good drop off to Jax at #3)

4. Houston has allowed the fewest points (Denver #2, Pats #3)

5. New England has the most Net points (Bills are #2).

6. I think quality wins has to go to Jacksonville (with maybe Buffalo and Houston as 2 and 3)

 

So, I think you can make a pretty good case for NE currently being the #1 team by stats/metrics at least. The only knock on them would be a soft schedule. But as Bill Parcells said, "You are what your record says you are."

 

However, as others have noted, who is currently #1 is a different question than who is actually the best team, or who do you think can/will win come playoff time. The Pats are a young team with a young QB who has not been in a playoff game yet. It is kind of like when the Bills faced KC for the first time in the AFC Championship game. We were a good team, but we were young, Josh was young, and KC was already so playoff seasoned and experienced at the time that they kind of rolled over us (with a little help from the refs). Not saying the Pats will get rolled by anyone (or that being young means you can't win), but when it comes down to winning in the playoffs, experience often matters and Buffalo is by far the most seasoned team of the bunch (with the best QB---no knock against Maye, he's just not at Josh's level yet as a 2nd year guy, regardless of stats, just due to experience alone). And I mean, if the Chiefs were to sneak in as the #7 seed, despite being a mediocre team this year, would they not make you a bit nervous because it's the Chiefs, with all of their playoff experience and a dangerous QB? 

 

Now, on the other, other hand, it is also said that defense wins championships (so that could mean Houston, Denver, NE having an upper-hand).

 

Like I said, you could argue for a few teams at least being the best in the AFC currently. It will just have to be settled in the post-season (and to a lesser extent, this weekend in Foxboro). Should make for a fun playoffs though. Every game anyone could win and anyone could lose (except for maybe the North winner and/or maybe the Colts, if they still squeak in).

 

 

7 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

If none of Cincy, Baltimore or KC make it the ONLY and I mean ONLY team in the playoffs with a chance to beat the Bills best punch is the Texans and that is because those two pass rushers are an elite level strength and two years in a row we have had no answers for them. 

 

 

Can't say I totally disagree with you, but I would just note that vs. Houston was a Thursday Night game on the road. A short week after a good (hard fought) win against the Bucs. And Houston was playing for their playoff lives. Kincaid, Samuel, and Hardman were out for the game. Taron Johnson, Joey Bosa, Terrell Bernard, Christian Benford, Jordan Poyer, Conor McGovern, Josh Palmer, Jordan Phillips, Shaq Thompson, and Dorian Williams were all playing through/with injuries (from the Bucs game, on a short week). We lost Hairston, Spencer Brown, and Bernard in the 3rd quarter for the rest of the game. And Shakir, Dawkins, Epenesa, McGovern, Gilliam, Benford, and Josh were all also injured during the game...but played through it (after some time on the sidelines). We were a MASH unit. We had three injured O-linemen going up against that pass rush---as good as they are (pass rush and overall defense), we also weren't at our best. So, not sure how much we should judge things based off of that game. But I do agree it's probably our worst matchup.

[ChronicAndKnuckles]

8 hours ago, BillytheKid said:

If you had those 4 teams in the playoffs right now and each team needs to win a game against one of the other teams, the Patriots would be the least likely to win out of the 4 in my opinion. 
 

Guess we will see. Doesn’t matter what any of us think though as they will play the games and it will show. 

We have yet to see Maye with the bright lights focused on him and the playoff intensity ramped up. I think the Pats will have an early exit much like the Bills did versus the Texans early in Josh’s career. Will be a learning experience for him and I expect them to contend for the next decade, but i don’t think it’s their year. just a hunch 

[nosejob]

9 hours ago, Instincts said:

Despite the record that Denver has.. as a Pats fan I feel like Buffalo is better.  I got 1. Patriots, 2. Buffalo, 3. Broncos, and then not sure where everyone else falls.. maybe Texans? 

I got the Bills No. 1. fixin to give the Pats a hot, steaming serving of NO.2 soon.

[zow2]

1 hour ago, VW82 said:

Too early for this. It took a Herculean Josh Allen game (best ind performance of the year?) at home in the snow to overcome a team with a putrid defense, and even then we got a little lucky in the 4th with unexpected turnovers, pick six, etc. 

 

This team is very likely fraudulent. That doesn’t mean we can’t come out of the AFC but we could also very easily get bounced in WC.

 

That's the bottom line.  They can make the Super Bowl or get bounced in the Wild Card.  It's impossible to project where this team will end up.  The AFC is wide open.  The problem will be winning 3 on the road vs good teams.  Even winning at Jacksonville or Denver and certainly Houston would be a huge chore.  I don't think they are fraudulent,, i just think winning multiple road games is not realistic for this club.  Not from what we've seen this year.  

[nosejob]

6 hours ago, transient said:

New England is the second best chowder in the chowder world. I got 1) Manhattan 2) New England 3) Rhode Island. I’m from NY, am lactose intolerant and otherwise have never even had Rhode Island chowder but I am clearly an expert nonetheless. What y’all got?

If you can't eat NE chowder hang it up, I'll gladly take the cramps and crap before I bow to any other chowder. There is no other. Kinda like Bleau cheese with wings yo.