corta765

Be prepared by the end of the decade that the "17th" game will be international for every team. As is if they get up to 8 international games next year they can start rotating a 1/4 of the league abroad yearly and in 4 years have all 32 teams abroad in that time. The Jags being over twice a year doesn't matter because they can just be the away team. Correct Miami is the rumor.

Welp a month later things have certainly changed here as our beloved Bills are in stride and have maybe their most complete roster since the 90s while the rest of AFC is settling fast. Here is where I see things standing as we approach the final stretch: The Two Towers Buffalo Kansas City -Manning vs Brady, Colts v Pats, Yankees v Red Soxs, Peanut Butter v Jelly.. (wait haha) all classic battles that were the Shakespearian rising to take on the mountain and falling before finally breaking through. Bills fans have their gripes with McD and rightfully, but against KC he finally showed the killer instinct you need to beat them and was rewarded on Josh's 26 yarder game ender. January is when it really matters, but this change is the final piece if Buffalo is to slay the dragon who will be waiting come January. Great Offense Or Great Defense Baltimore Pittsburgh -The Ravens at their best they are brutally hard to stop across the board... they also now have four losses and Lamars performance yesterday did nothing to quiet his big game critics. They now are looking at going on the road to start the playoffs and the remaining schedule has just one freebee vs NYG. The biggest issue is the defense is soft and not the unit fielded last year which means if the Ravens are down early it is an issue. The offense can cruise most of the time but if it is not things get dicey quickly -The Steelers defense is truly impressive to watch as their physicality and group attack mentality wears down so many teams. The offense is far more competent then in prior year versions as Tomlin has them getting every ounce of talent out he can. Still todays NFL favors offense over defense big time, no doubt this Steeler team can win the division and has some real legs to it, BUT against Buffalo KC or even HOU can they hang in if it becomes a shoot out? Your AFC West Wildcard Teams LA Chargers Denver Broncos -Jim Harbaugh should be used as a case point example of making sure your roster is using everything it has properly and to the best of its ability. The Chargers have had pieces including most importantly at QB yet spun their tires. Competent coaching and development all the sudden has the Chargers being a very fiesty team and the offense is jelling to the point they will upset someone this January. -As a person who was skeptical of Bo Nix I throw my flowers to him the kid can ball. We have seen many rookies flame out after a good 1st year where they make the playoffs and the skies seemingly the limit, regardless for a talent poor offense he has them going. The defense is superb and as a Bills fan I feel way better seeing them this year crush it on the backend knowing it was not just fully our own ineptitude but their good haha. They will still have a bad game or two and the finale vs KC is going to probably dictate the playoffs, but I would expect to see the Broncos back in the playoffs for the first time in forever. The Texans -They are basically winning the division by default as even though some injuries have hurt the max potential of this team. Stroud will be fine long term but this is the danger of hyping a young QB when they still need to learn and grow. Regardless if they can get going with Nico back this offense can still be a real issue and the defense can keep them with anyone. Probably Too Late & Major What Ifs Are Coming Miami Cincy -The Dolphins offense is back with Tua back and look more diversified than ever before under McDaniel. At 4-6 they are not out of it, but realistically they have to go 6-1 the remainder of the year which is a tall order for even the best teams. It is fair to ask what could have been had Tua been healthy as Hill finally looks to be aging and they need to transition this roster talent wise. Years of draft picks feel wasted as they went win now too fast. Cincy on the other hand has wasted Burrows best season as the defense has regressed with talent jettison over years and they have had some awful luck going 1-5 now in one score games. The Bengals should do everything in their power to keep Higgins, but it feels like he is gone and they may have wasted one of the best triplet groups ever and never got a ring. Ownership here always being cheap shows up again as Burrow sees his window tighten no fault of his own. Outside of miracle 7-0 run its over for this core of players. Intriguing Youth Indianapolis New England -Both teams have young QBs who are taking their chops head on. Maye started slow but has looked quite good the last few starts and will be fun to watch the remainder of the year even though they will not be close to a playoff team. Richardson and the Colts on the other hand have had ups and downs as the youngster is very raw and had to learn some real lessons on leadership which he has taken to heart and then put on a good performance taking down the Jets. Colts faithful would love to see their boys claw into the post season, but truthfully if Richardson can keep showing some real strides that would be far more important then a token playoff berth. 2026 Draft Vegas Tennesee New York Jets All three of these teams are just playing for next year and their directions are all very different. Vegas was using this as a "rebuilding year" maybe kind of? but will be needing a new QB regardless. The Jets have imploded spectacularly and wasted a good young core for Aaron Rodgers friends from the 2010s and now are looking like the 4th worst team in the AFC East long term. The Titans at least tried a young talented QB and while it failed have probably the most stable long term foundation. Regardless the 2026 draft is paramount for all of these teams if they really want to reset their rosters and get back into the playoff race for 2026. The Jaguars -People have finally realized Trent Baalke is an atrocious GM, but more importantly a full house cleaning is needed from top to bottom. If there is a team that could desperately use Bill Belichick the Jags might be #1 for what he could do to that roster and org. The problem is he will have his pick this offseason and not sure where the Jags rate compared to spots like DAL or maybe NYG. The Browns -They need to bottom out but this is a rocky QB crop and they still don't seem fully sit to start moving on from Watson. No love is lost for this org, but for the fans it is beyond hopeless and the team itself may even drive out the coach who has done wonders with that team.

It is why untouchable really doesn't make sense and I went with who is my core for the next 4-5 years that I need an incredible trade for to consider. Truthfully the only untouchable is Josh, your nuts to not say yes to two 1sts for any player on this roster given the way the cap works and how valuable rookie contracts/contributors are

The question is a bit odd but I get where your coming from so I will answer it like this in terms of who my core is for the next 4-5 years that it would take an absolute insanely big yes trade for: Offense Allen Shakir Coleman S. Brown Defense Rousseau Bernard Benford Johnson I am sure some people would say why not Dawkins or Oliver, to me the size of their contracts with their age I would absolutely entertain a deal for the right price. I remember we traded Cordy Glenn who was very solid at the time of trade; if a good deal finds you which can happen with lineman you don't say no. Kincaid right now I am underwhelmed with honestly. He showed a ton of promise last year, but this year has been inconsistent and hurt. Right now I think he is very hard to project contract wise and would not be worth the money when you can honestly spend it elsewhere. This can change though as he has time, but for my core its a no right now. By comparison Coleman is at a position where a good WR on a cheap contract is so valuable in todays NFL. As of right now with the growth shown I am 100% willing to let him play out 5 years, but again that can change.

Bills 31 Chiefs 20 Honestly a true toss up but I think the Bills are strangely healthier then the Chiefs even with our injuries and luck goes the other way finally for KC. Allen and the offense get the Bills up 14-10 at half courtesy of TDs to Shakir and Cook running one in from 8 yards out before half. KC gets the ball out of half and gets a Kelce TD on a long drive scaring the locals, but Allen and the Bills answer with a TD of their own as Josh runs it in on 3rd and goal to make it 21-17. KC gets a drive down to the Bills 20 but have to settle for a FG with 9 minutes left. Buffalo go on a long drive but a holding penalty forces a FG inside the KC 20 to make it 24-20 with 3:30 left. KC drives to midfield before Rosseau forces a sack fumble which Bernard runs in for a TD creating bedlam at the Highmark. KC gets some yards but no points as the game ends 31-20 hiding how close it actually was. Allen 24-34 312 yds 1 TD 22 yds rush 1 TD Cook 43 yds 9 atts 1 TD Shakir 143 yds 1 TD 9 rec Bernard 7 tckls 1 TD 1 fmb rec PS: Hopefully like the 2006 Colts this forces an AFC title rematch in Buffalo and the Bills finally slay the dragon. One can hope.

Agreed, never have I believed we need a loss more lol

The Chiefs are awarded the SB title right then and the season is announced over

The Jets have always been a mess but the Giants are interesting because from Parcells until Coughlin was basically shown the door they were a very strong model type franchise. Not sure why ownership got so nutty later on with Coughlin as it has been instability central since and they seemingly keep getting more involved which historically is a very bad thing. I have always kind of thought ownership tied its horse to Manning over the team, Coughlin knew Manning was phasing out and they should move on and ownership said no which dominoed big time.

They have scored 27-26-26-28-27-30 in 6 of their 9 games played which still has them at a clip of 27 ppg and overall on the year their still top 10 for ypg and ppg. They have also had some truly serious injuries on offense to the way the Bills have had recently at WR. Their defense certainly is carrying more of the water this year and truthfully they should probably be 7-2.... which would still make them the top seed in the AFC. KC is like the Pats of the past its a 60 minute game and to beat them you gotta be really clean across the board.

Haha appreciate the shoutout I usually don't jump on the horn until seasons end. One thing then NFL is being very coy on is the 17th game as the first 4 year rotation is over and now they want 8 international games next year. There are growing rumors that the 17th game will be a "home international game" and if the NFL can get to 8 international games they can basically get half of the conference over in 2025 and the other half in 2027 (vise versa for NFC). We are def playing at HOU home KC at this point in 2025, the interesting thing is the AFC North as even though BAL is rolling PIT is somehow right there and could easily take the division although we play the AFC North regardless as a division next year.

Bills 23 Colts 17 The Colts defense allows a lot of yards but isn't bad in the red zone and Buffalo I feel is probably out too many WRs to really push it the way they want so it becomes a ground game like the Jets. I think the Colts get an early 3-0 lead but the Bills head into the half up 13-3 courtesy of an Allen rushing TD. The Bills get a FG after getting the ball out of half as the drive stalls in the redzone and the Colts get a TD as Taylor runs a 16 yarder in to tighten the game quickly to 16-10. Both teams trade possessions before Allen and the offense convert a drive on 3rd and 10 to a Kincaid 35 yard TD. The Colts answer quickly and get it to within 6 with 3 mins left but the Bills run out the clock. Allen 224 yds 20-28 1 TD 36 yds rush Cook 103 yds 14 carries Kincaid 6 rec 89 yds

AFC EAST Bills North Steelers South Texans West KC WC Ravens, Chargers, Broncos NFC East Washington North Lions South Atlanta West Rams WC Minn, Philly, Green Bay AFC Title Bills over KC NFC Title GB over DET (I am sorry Lion fans life isn't fair) SB Bills over GB

reminds me of the Bills mid 2000s who were far further away but constantly thought they were close

The roster itself was decent and owners convince themselves they are ready to win far more then reality

I think this is fascinating question because of the circumstances surrounding each team. It breaks down like this: Saints They will be 77 million over the cap in 2025 before any increase or change is made Carr's contract cannot be touched as the dead cap is 50 mil, it drops to 28 mil in 2026 Carr is a very meh as a QB, but he can be gone in a year and hold fort for a season They have an aging roster, but some pieces do exist like Olave for a rebuild to go with Market pressure is not crazy so patience exists Ownership is more stable then Cleveland and it seems like maybe they are ready to take their medicine with a bad cap and team in 2025 Browns They will be 43 mil over the cap in 2025 before any increase or change is made Watson's contract is untouchable in 2025 as it would be a dead cap of 172 million lol. They could maybe try in 2026 but the cap hit is still 99 mil which they can massage out over two years but still a lot. Watson is basically the worst QB in football before you even get into the issues off the field. Yet your on the hook $ wise for 2 years minimum The roster is pretty good though and the current head coach is a pretty good one The market is a tough and they know they are wasting a good roster Ownership is bottom 3 in the league and very untrusting My Pick: I think the Browns are a far harder fix because of Watson's contract and the fact the roster will basically age out by the time the cap opens. Outside of lucking into a QB in the draft your basically stuck at the most important spot. Even though they can open some cap space to fix some holes on offense it is tough sledding to reshape the roster too much without a full on rebuild. By comparison the Saints can basically take one very bad cap year and team and then hit the ground running in 2026 with a new QB and space to start improving the roster both draft and FA wise.