BarleyNY

Houston/Indy are obviously in the mix, but the Bills have the h2h on both and they play each other in two weeks. I just don't see a WC team coming out of the AFCS. The Bills have plenty to do and plenty to worry about, but AFCS teams aren't on the first pages of those lists.

I modifyied my post to include this situation after I read your previous one. Yes, the Bills would pull ahead in the Conf tiebreaker if they go 3-1, including beating the Jets, and Pitt goes 2-2. Edit: I'm not worrying about common opponents yet. In the WC tiebreaker it is applicable only after the division record tiebreaker.

The Steelers finish with the Bengals, Broncos, Ravens and Browns. Two tough games - including at the Bengals on a short week - and two easy ones. We should know if the Bills have a shot to pass them by the 20th. If they go 3-1 their Conf record will be the same as the Bills if the Bills win out. The Bills would pull ahead in that tiebreaker if the Steelers go 2-2 and the Bills 3-1 including a win over the Jets. No h2h obviously.

The Jets have a tougher road with the Titians, Cowbois, Pats and Bills. Obviously if the Bills win out they'd have no worse than the same record and same conf record. They'd obviously also have the h2h tiebreaker.

KC is pretty much in. Their schedule is about as easy as it gets: Chargers, Ravens, Browns and Raiders. I can't realistically imagine them going worse than 3-1 over that stretch, They will have the head-to-he and and conference tiebreakers over the Bills.

Here's what went down a year and a half ago: McDaniels was Mike Lombardi's choice for Browns HC to the point where he was told that interviews were a formality. Haslam was just getting wise to who Lombardi is and decided to make his own decision. He nixed the McDaniels hire, fired Lombardi (GM) and Banner (Pres), retained Farmer and hired Pettine. Lombardi now works for the Patriots and has sniped at the Browns through intermediaries pretty much constantly since his dismissal. There is no way Haslam is considering McDaniels. This is just Lombardi stirring the pot again. Lmao. That's hilarious.

I know what the situation was. Don't confuse the price Bills paid with what the minimum cost would have been or what Clay's true value was/is.

Clay is a good, multifaceted TE that the Bills somewhat overpaid for. It is what it is. Happy to see that he didn't hang his head after the big drop. He stepped up. It sure isn't the worst situation in the world. I truly hate this rationalization. In cases where your options are to either overpay for a guy or not get him, most of the time you have to say no. If you run your team that way you wind up being the Redskins.

I'm on delay and just finished the 1st qtr. Nice job by Bills overall thus far. Solomon Wilcox is effing unbearable though. He's beyond bad. Nice run for TD by Taylor! Hope things are still good in real time.

When given the choice it's the rare coache that wouldn't pick the team with the best QB situation.

Very nice thing to do, BNiH. I hope the giveaway goes well and that you and yours are doing well too.

There was a fake Chris Mortensen account that started the rumor. But I'll play "what if?" If Haslam thinks that Cleveland fans hate him now, luring Meyer from tOSU and taking away the only football joy they have might put them over the edge.

To be fair, Fred Trump was the self-made man who became a billionaire. Donald is just his arrogant son who acts like he did more than win the offspring lottery. Oh, crap! That might be a better analogy than I thought!

Yup. Consider what that would look like if Taylor doesn't make the right reads quickly enough. If I thought he could do it well, then I'd be all for it. Execute such an offense poorly and the game could be out of hand quickly. The Bills will need to mix it up to keep a defense like Houston's on their heels. Look for them to run the whole playbook because if they get in a rut it'll look like the second half of the KC game.

That's a quality list. I have a few thoughts: If Peyton Manning retires and directly heads to a team's FO in any capacity (even as a part time consultant) look for him to make a big push to bring Gase there. I'm sure Haslam will make a push for him (they know each other well through the Tennessee Vols program). I don't know that he wants to be a part of that dumpster fire though. The Oiltans are another spot he might eventually land. Sean Payton might be a bit tainted at this point. While he has quite the offensive mind, the issues in NO are bad. Not only has he had scandals, but much worse, his team has collapsed under him. And I wouldn't consider any HC candidate that would hire Rob Ryan. Brian Kelly has been a quality coach for a long time. If he lands with a team that has a good structure he should do well in the NFL. Likewise David Shaw. In fact he probably tops my list. I've heard a friend in the scouting world refer to him as "a true leader of men". I don't know that either get pried away from their current gigs, especially Shaw. His situation at Stanford is just a tremendous fit for him.

Pretty much what I've been saying. Except I don't stop looking for an upgrade or quality competition for him.

You'd think that the focus on Watkins would have helped the rest of the receiving corps. When Watkins has two on him, then other players - especially highly paid players like Clay - need to make plays. 5 for 31 isn't getting it done. Neither is Hogan's 3 for 34. Those were the two most productive ball catchers after Watkins. That was frustrating.

No wishing here. Just trying to be realistic about the situation. Obviously losing Mario would leave a very big hole to fill. I don't think doubling down on him at this point in his career is the answer though. He may very well be on the team next season, but I think a new contract would be a mistake.

That seemed a legitimate point so I rewatched the KC highlights. There wasn't dedicated double coverage on Watkins on a single one of his big plays. The safety was in zone on all of them and was late on help on all but the catch with 3:30 left in the half when he was shielded by the KC CB. Watkins' speed is sure a factor in that coverage being late and he made some very, very nice plays. But once the safety was rolled to his side - and thus in position on time - Watkins was taken out of the game. http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-game-highlights/0ap3000000590657/Bills-vs-Chiefs-highlights

You get your QB whenever, however you can. The only exception is when you have a reasonably young, proven franchise QB entrenched on your roster. In that case if one falls in your lap, you either still take him or you ransom him off.

I suspect that Mario will be a cap casualty. Maybe this offseason, maybe next. Restructuring his contact in the usual way makes very little sense. Restructuring is generally something a team does to free up cap space in the near-term at the expense of future year cap hits. Converting salary into a signing bonus and extending the contract, for example. That usually makes it more difficult to cut such a player for a few years however. It makes very little sense to do that on the contract of a player whose play is falling off and who isn't living up to his current cap hit. Restructuring can also mean a pay cut, but I don't see Mario accepting that. I'm sure he'd rather be cut and possibly overpaid somewhere else. Gilmore is a prime candidate for a new contract. Next season is his option year so the Bills can lower his hit for next season by giving him a new, long-term deal. That also prevents any free agency or tag issues next season.

I think what's most concerning about the situation is that they went out and spent so much on new acquisitions (as well as retaining players), yet will have no additional wins to show for it. I am not a fan of building a team by spending big in free agency, but I worry that the recent spending will mean that Bills will actually lose some talent in the offseason. The offensive line is a giant, flashing, red light. Glenn and Incognito are free agents and they're the best two offensive linemen the Bills have. Imagine trying to fix this line if they both walk.

Exactly. Every team is beat up. Many fans, whose teams are not doing as well as they'd hoped, focus on factors like injuries. Fans of teams at the top of the heap focus on things like what players stepped up when others went down.

The Pornstache has made an admirable living off of one close Super Bowl loss early in his head coaching career. He's basically a poor man's Andy Reid.

Wow. With all of the rule changes you absolutely cannot compare quarterback ratings of the last few years with those from any other time. Taylor has done well overall and he deserves a chance to continue to improve and show that he can become a franchise quarterback. But that doesn't mean the Bills should be done looking. It's up to the front office to find the absolute best competition for him possible because he hasn't proven to be a franchise guy yet. He has not proven that the team can lean on him when they need him to carry the load and he hasn't shown that he can stay healthy. He's earned the starting spot moving forward, but he's not where he needs to be yet.