BLeonard

Has nothing to do with being a "fandom competition." As far as age goes, I'm guessing you're older than me, but that really doesn't matter, either. At the end of the day, we all want the same thing. We just have differing opinions on what we consider "successful." Some are happy with having "great seasons," even if none of them result in a Championship and that's fine. I'm just not one of them.

Maybe stop setting expectations based on what "analysts" and "experts" say? How many times have they picked Miami and/or the Jets in recent years to win the East? This certainly isn't the first year the "analysts" and "experts" were comically wrong. No one? Betcha the players would disagree. I'll bet Dan Marino thought that too, when he lost his first (and only) Super Bowl. Nobody can predict the future. You can say "next season we'll be able to build an even better team" all you want, doesn't mean it'll happen. I'm not "ignoring any possibility" of anything. I'm just not gonna sit here and say I'm content with this season at this point in time. As far as "And telling yourself "if not now, WHEN?" doesn't make it happening in the future any more or less likely," that's true, but having more draft picks and salary cap money next year doesn't guarantee anything, either. They may win this year, they may not. They may be better next year, they may not. Again, there's no way to tell if "this isn't going to be our last shot" or not. Hopefully, it isn't, but it could be.

I mean, I can only speak for myself, but I go into every season feeling that the Bills should win the Super Bowl. Unrealistic? Sure, but I have no control over it, so why not shoot for the top? Obviously, they never have and I've been disappointed at the end of every season. Doesn't mean I didn't look back later and say "hey, they had a good year." But, during the season, especially while in the playoffs? Nah, can't bring myself to be saying "it's OK if we lose." I didn't even like losing during the drought years, when it would help our draft position. One thing that really bothers me, though is this "we weren't supposed to be this good this season" junk. Says who? Many teams weren't "supposed to be good" ended up winning a Championship. The Chiefs haven't been favored in the last two Super Bowls, but ended up winning. They were favored against Tampa and got crushed. Denver was 11 point dogs when they finally broke through and beat Green Bay for their first Championship. The Patriots started their dynasty by beating a Rams team that was favored by two touchdowns in Super Bowl XXXVI. The point is, you never know which teams are going to finally break through, regardless of what the "experts" on TV say, or what the odds in Vegas are. Sometimes, those stars align and as I type, they may just be aligning for the Bills, yet some seem to be falling back on "it's OK if we lose, cause we weren't supposed to be here anyway." To me and I'm guessing others, that IS a bit of a defeatist attitude. If not this year, then WHEN? When will "having a good season" no longer be acceptable for those who seem to be OK with it this year? Some say Ralph was cheap and didn't care about winning, especially in the later years. Well, why should he have, if some fans don't seem to care and are OK with just having a "great season"? Next year, draft picks and salary cap relief are all well and good, but they hold no guarantees. Again, I can only speak for myself, but I don't wanna look back on this like others do on "13 seconds" and say "Damn... What if..?" Even if we ultimately have no control over the end result.

I mean, I'm guessing at least 99% of what's posted on these boards "changes nothing" when it comes to the Bills. With that line of thinking, why should anyone post anything at all? After all, none of it is going to change anything, right? There are still posters here who think "13 seconds" was the Bills' best chance at winning a Championship. Yet, here we are, one round closer than they were then, one win away from playing for a Championship. I'm curious - How many that have said "13 seconds" was our best shot are OK with a loss on Sunday, because the Bills had a "good season"?

This guy gets it. In baseball, I'm a Cubs fan. It took them until I was 38 years old to FINALLY win a Championship. When it happened, you know what? I wasn't really so much happy for "me," per se. I was happy for the city of Chicago and other fans of the Cubs, many who never got the opportunity to see what I did. I'd like to see a moment like that for the city of Buffalo and fellow Bills fans, too. If they can't pull it off, I certainly won't be happy about it. I'll be just as heartbroken as I'm sure many other fans will be.

My happiness as a person? Regardless of what happens over the next few weeks in the NFL, I'll still wake up and go about living my life. There's plenty of things that are "out of our control" that can still make us happy or sad. Hell, had the Bills been bought by someone in 2014 who then decided to move the team, while "out of my control," I wouldn't have been happy about it. I'm not happy about the Oakland A's being moved, even though I have no control over it and they aren't even a favorite team of mine. I can still be unhappy and empathize with those who are taking it far worse than I am, even though it's not in their control either. As far as "great team, no mater what," we've had great teams before. For once, I'd like a Championship winning team. Go Bills.

May come as a surprise, but here in 2025, we have the technology to calculate how many days are between two specific dates. As for "devoting my life to a game where you can't control the outcome," I never said I could control the outcome. But, I also don't have to be happy or complacent with the outcome, just because some talking heads didn't think the Bills would get this far. As for "enjoying the ride," never said I wasn't. But, I can also not be happy with the end of the ride when it happens if I choose to be. If you're "just happy to be here," again, that's your prerogative. I sure hope the players in the locker room don't feel the same as you do, though. Hopefully, their bar is higher than yours is.

I'm guessing many were saying this after each of the four Super Bowl losses, too. How's that worked out? Here's a number for you - 11,320 That's how many days on Sunday it will have been since Super Bowl XXVIII. It took the Bills 25 Super Bowls to get to the game and since losing their last one, 31 more have been played, without the Bills making it back a single time. On Sunday, it will have been 1464 days since the Bills have been this close. I'm guessing, for the majority of that time, many fans were saying "Can only get better" after each season. There's no guarantees from year to year in the NFL and any Bills fan that's been paying attention should have learned that in spades by now. It's very hard to make a Championship run and there is no promise that, if you fail, another chance will present itself. If some of you are content with being second best to the Chiefs year after year, I guess that's your prerogative. I'm sure there are fans of the Washington Generals basketball team out there, too. I remember the 4 Super Bowl losses in the 90s and I've waited 30+ years to see them have a shot at another. Sorry, but I won't be content with being second best yet again.

Too big of a file to upload here, but hopefully, the link works: https://jmp.sh/s/DCCXNrVzKjxgFWVpWfOP Should be able to right click and save.

Last year's game against JAX was a "Home" game. Pretty sure they won't have to give up another home game for a while.

Don't necessarily disagree, but if the Bengals beat Pittsburgh, then Baltimore would have nothing to play for and could rest their starters. At least Pittsburgh has something to play for either way, even if it is just seeding.

I mean, if I were Pittsburgh, I'd care. Baltimore just beat them pretty good a couple weeks back. That and eliminating Cincinnati with a win? I don't see the Steelers benching anyone, TBH. We'll see.

Eh, if the Broncos or Dolphins win the 7, they're both playing later in the day Sunday, so no real disadvantage there.

Steelers will still be playing for seeding. They lose and the Chargers win, they'd fall to the 6 and have to play Baltimore. Winning locks them into the 5, where they'd play Houston.

Not necessarily. They could schedule the Bills WC game on Saturday, Jan 11, with the Ravens game on Sunday, Jan 12