billsfan89

The Bills at least have a very good track at sealing up the two seed. A win in either remaining game or a Baltimore and Steelers loss puts the Bills in the two seed. There's still an outside shot at the one seed. Bills have to win out which shouldn't be an issue although back to back division games is never an easy task. Then of course KC has to lose out and while KC plays a very good Steelers team and a Broncos team that's decent and possibly playing to play in the playoffs the Chiefs most likely will at least split those games. Still the win against the Pats keeps the 1 seed a possibility while also putting the Bills in a very strong position to be the two seed which is very important.

Division games are more likely to be closer even at home. The game was also not as close as the final score indicated. The Bills were up 10 with less than 2 minutes left in the game. I get that the Bills did get socked in the mouth early on to be down 14-0. But the Bills got the lead cut back down to 7 fairly quickly and reset themselves to start the second half with the ball and the game was tied by the time the first drive of the second half was completed. The Bills took a lead with 6 minutes left in the 3rd quarter. The Bills took a two possession lead with 10 minutes left in the game. Let's not pretend it was some sort of escape act either. Yes was it a bit sloppy and a more talented team likely could/would have come up with a win. But every team comes out flat once in awhile and credit the Pats they played hard esp on defense and made it a game for awhile. Also credit the Bills defense for making plays too.

Honestly, it wasn't that bad. Yes the Bills got punched in the mouth to start the game down 14-0 but after the Bills cut the lead to 14-7 at the half (with the ball to start the second half) it never felt like the Bills weren't gonna come away with the game. Bills were up two possessions until the final minutes of the game and all they needed to do was recover an onsides kick and get a first down to end the game both of which they did and neither was a tall task.

Division games are always hard to win even at home. The Bills gutted out a win after they came out flat and that's a positive thing. It wasn't pretty but the Bills took the punch down 14-0 and then settled down the game cutting the lead down to 7 with the ball to start the half. The Bills then took the fight to the Pats in the second half scoring 10 points on back to back drives before the defense scored that TD to give the Bills the two possession lead which the Bills were able to nurse. The Bills were simply the more talented team and won but the Bills also can't consistently win with flat efforts even against lesser teams. But the Bills got away with one so take it and move onto the Jets.

Team chemistry has always been strong in the McD era (or at least that's how it seems) got a little shaky in 2023 with Diggs but even then it still looked like the team had good chemistry despite the elephant in the room maybe making is less good. I think even in 2017 prior to Josh McD really installed a good culture so it isn't all Josh although Josh is the center point now.

Bills gotta hope KC loses against the Texans and that the Bills can hold serve and win out. If KC sits Mahomes against the Texans and they drop that game and the Bills hold serve and beat the Pats that's gonna put the Bills just 1 game back with the tie breaker and the Chiefs have the Steelers and Broncos.

I think the turf toe injury really got him off to a slow start and then with the addition of Cooper and the emergence of Coleman on the outside and Shakir in the slot Samuel is now WR4 despite now being a lot healthier. And as you saw in the KC game when they do need him he's now healthy and has produced a lot better. You can play through turf toe but in order to be 100% you need several weeks worth of true rest in most cases. I think Samuel getting a week off in week 7 plus a bye week has led to him finally getting a lot closer to 100%. He had a really nice game against KC when Kincaid/Coleman were out and Cooper was hurt. He's a good luxury and depth player to have as a WR4. He can be a true supped up gadget player which is pretty big.

D-line played well through about 3 quarters in the Lions game. Oliver was dominating the game with a lot of pressures, Groot was active and getting pressure as well, and the run defense held up which I think meant that the DT group played well. I also noticed some good play from Smoot off the edge particularly against the run. Overall I think the D-line was not a major issue against the Lions until the last 20 minutes of the game, in fact the unit played really well for a majority of the game.

I wouldn't mind seeing these guys "take their lumps" if any of the starters are injured. But if everyone is healthy who is ever playing the best plays.

Bills are not in a bad spot at all. Of course the division is secured ensuring a top 4 seed and a home game. The Bills have a 2 game lead on the Texans but no tie breaker, the Bills have a 1 game lead on the Steelers not sure about the tie breaker scenario, and the Bills have a 2 game lead on the Ravens. Bills simply need to win 2 out of 3 to secure the 2 seed. That's a pretty comfortable margin of error. One win most likely secures the 3 seed. As far as the 1 seed the Bills will only have a shot at it if they win out. Certainly plausible to win out three division games against lackluster opponents two at home but division games are always tricky. KC needs to lose 2 out of 3 which under most circumstances would not be likely. But with a tough schedule Texans, Steelers, and Broncos and Mahomes with an ankle injury that may have him missing a game that's a possibility maybe 40%. TLDR: Win out secure the 2 seed and give yourself a shot at the 1 seed.

The defense was abysmal against the Rams. I think the defense while not good against the Lions was actually not that bad against the Lions. The Bills gave up 42 points but 7 of those points came on a TD when there was 12 seconds left. The Bills also started both halves with back to back stops including a turnover on the second possession of the second half. The Bills were also constantly nursing 2-3 possession leads late in the game and the defense was down 3 starters in the secondary. They gave up a lot of points late in the game and it made the game closer than it needed to be but it was able to make enough stops early in the game to give the Bills a 3 possession lead. I still think the Bills have a top 10 defense in the league (on the lower end of the top 10 to be fair) when reasonably healthy.

Bills in good position to get the two seed, I think all the Bills need to do is win 2 out of 3? With the bad divisional opponents 2 out of 3 is a good margin for error.

Honestly the Bills have so many different weapons they don't always need Cooper to have big games. Cooper's presence on the outside makes teams less willing to constantly do coverages geared to constantly having 1 on 1 WR matchups. There's a reason why the offense has played so much better when he's been in there even when he doesn't put up a big number.

Johnson is one of the best play callers in the NFL but there was a pundit (I forgot which one) that mentioned that calling great plays doesn't make you a great head coach. There's so much more to coaching than having great play calls on offense and developing players on offense. The Lions have built a good system under Johnson and have gotten him great personnel to do so. On the Bills side of things I was pleased to see the defensive line play well. The defense made enough plays to start the game and the second half to allow the Bills to build a huge lead and the defensive line was a big reason why the Lions were not able to run the ball and forced into a lot of 3rd and 4th and long situations.

Josh Allen on offense has an amazing complement of weapons and one of the top offensive lines in football. Defensively the team has had some bad games but they have also been more than competent in most games. Josh Allen has the tools he needs on offense. The defense will need to play better but I also think that this game the defense was not as bad as the final score made them out to be. The Lions scored a TD with 12 seconds left in the game. The Bills were constantly protecting 2-3 score leads. The defense allowed the Bills to build up huge leads by starting the game with back to back defensive stops and ending the first half forcing a long field goal. The Bills defense also started the second half with a stop and a turnover. So while the let up a lot of points to end the game they made some plays when they were needed.

I thought he was decent in this game. I think he played OK against the 49ers but the snow maybe made his game seem less bad? Against the Rams he was among the worst defenders in a game where nearly the entire defense was terrible. But until he got taken out of this game I thought he was decent. Seemed to be doing his role and he got a fumble recovery. Seems like he's a bit slower but I hope that with some more games under his belt he can get his feel for the game back.

Bills currently have 5 picks in the first 4 rounds and 3 picks in round 6. The Bills are also projected to get 2 additional comp picks one in the 4th round range the other a late rounder. The Bills also only have 3 significant free agents in Douglas, Hamlin, and Cooper. The Bills also have cap space so they can resign 2-3 of those players or go out in the mid-level market to replace them. So going into the draft the Bills aren't likely to have many glaring needs and what glaring needs they do have they can address with 3 picks in rounds 1-2. So with the volume of late round picks they are likely to have (they already have 3 picks in round 6 and projected to get a comp pick in either round 6 or 7) I think adding a developmental QB behind Mitch in round 6-7 is not the worst idea. TLDR: The team has a ton of picks, is not likely to have many glaring needs they can't address higher up or in free agency, and can afford to spend a 6th or 7th on a developmental QB prospect.

In close to 25 years of being a Bills fan I have never felt as good about an offensive line short and longer term as I do about this team. All 5 starters are locked in for 2025, SVPG and Grabel also locked in for 3 more years on a rookie deal while Anderson and Van Denmark are ERFA's who should be able to be brought back on 1-3 year deals. That's 9 players on a good unit coming back and only one player (Dawkins) is over 30. Kromer and McBeane have recovered from the 2022 offensive line disaster and they have done so without having to invest drastically in the position group (the highest draft pick was pick 59 a late second in Torrence and the highest free agency contract was McGovern who was a mid-level at best signing, the rest of the group were relatively cheap acquisitions or reclamations of players on the roster like Brown). Now with the utilization of the 6th offensive linemen the Bills have a developmental process that might give them an edge in developing players at the position.

With Hyde back and Hamlin/Rapp playing well I don't think unless there's an unreasonable rash of injuries Cine is not likely to see the field. But I think they will look to bring him back next season and have him fully compete for job with a year in the system and an off-season under his belt.

Never considered the added benfit of developing offensive line chemistry and development. David Edwards in 2023 played 121 snaps last season which was 12.5% of the teams offensive snaps that year. I am sure that helped him develop chemistry with the other offensive linemen and made plugging him in the next season a lot easier. Now Anderson is getting that chance while Van Denmark got a games worth of snaps in.

I think AJE/Groot/Von are a top 5-7 DE combination and Smoot as a rotational role player has been solid and he will be back for a stretch run. I also think Solomon when given some snaps has shown he can be a back end of the rotation player. The DE group is not a concern for me. The DT group needs Ed and Jones to play better while i also think that Carter returning would be a big help to solidify the rotation there.

DT is probably the shakiest group on the team. Ed's been good but he's had some games where he disappeared and he's not as dominant as he was at times last season. D.Jones has looked like he's lost half a step, he's not bad but he's not the at times dominant player he was the past couple of seasons. Austin Johnson has been decent as a rotational player but he's not great either. Jefferson/Phillips are JAG rotational depth players too nice options if there's an injury but not exactly players at this stage of their careers you want to rely on heavily. Carter however was starting to look like he was starting to catch on before he got hurt. If he can add some quality play to that position group it would sure up a unit that while not bad has been a bit inconsistent at times.

New England is in my opinion the teams biggest threat in 2025. Miami is going to be in cap hell which is going to result in them having to errode talent on both sides of the ball and Tua as good as he can run that system is fragile and the team falls apart without him. The Jets are a mess and going to be doing a complete tear down or at least a major retooling. The Pats have the QB or at least a very good prospect at QB and the cap space and picks to invest around a QB. Not saying the Pats are going to be world beaters but they are likely the best of a bad bunch.

That's truly an immensely impressive stat and goes to show you how hard it is to be a consistent winner in the regular season in the NFL. 11-5/6 is a very good record but not that lofty of an achievement. Yet for all the great coaches in the league's history only 4 have been able to do it. I know McD had 2 of the seasons because of the extra game as after 16 games he was 10-6 in both 2021 and 2023 but if you extrapolate to how many coaches have had 5 (let alone 6 for McD as he had 10 wins in 2019) 10 win seasons in a row that list only add Don Shula and Chuck Noll two Hall of Fame coaches. All 4 of those other coaches won at least one Super Bowl so that's also a good sign!

The poor run defense seems less like a talent issue and more a product of the scheme which is having positive results.