The Red King

As I revel in the afterglow of this most wonderful beatdown I'm left to wonder...was that painful loss to Arizona actually beneficial? Up to that point, the Bills would roll up an early lead, then go flat dropping into conservative mode. They let their opponents back into games and then we all held our breath as they turned it back on and clawed out a win. They almost did it again against the Cardinals. Forget the painful ending a moment, the Bills had and blew a decent lead. Once again Allen had to fight back near the end to take what looked like a game winning score, only to have their hearts ripped out. Things changed after that. Buffalo stopped trying to protect a lead, and started stepping on throats, and it was glorious. The Bills started leaving a trail of broken bodies, dreams and playoff chances in their wake. So, what do you all think? Was the Hail Murray actually a much needed wake-up call to rouse the meat grinder we saw on display today?

I will openly admit I was wrong. I cut him slack at first, between bad refs on first FG, laces not turned the next one or such, but as the misses kept happening I thought he needed to go. Bills were more patient then I was and it's paid off quite well for them.

If your loss column has more digits then your win column maybe you shouldn't be a playoff team? 😁 On the other hand, I think I would pay money to see Brady lose a wild card game to a 6-10 Giants team. I mean, they played them tight in the regular season.

My daughter and I were stunned at the post-game. Never saw the hoodie seem that lost. His soul was crushed. You could hear it in his voice. He may not have expected to win, but he did *not* expect his team to get chewed up and spit out in their own house by the Bills like that. Rome is burning, chaps. The empire is crumbling.

After the early games the AFC wild card situation is an absolute mess with four teams tied at 10-5. It's not only a toss up as to who makes it in, but also where. Week 17 just got a lot more fun to watch.

Beats not getting to rest our starters a week and playing the Ravens.

Thanks to all of you that pointed out the Cleveland angle. This now seems like a highly likely possibility. So, to revise... *Buf def NE *Ind def Pit ...and one of the following two... *GB def Ten or *Cle def NYJ

I will never write off NE with Beli at the helm. The upside is, with it being Monday Night, they will already know the outcome of the Pitt and Titan games, and know if they can lock in #2 prior to the game.

Exactly. Why I said they need to lose to GB next week.

And now to update, three things need to happen for Buffalo to be locked in at #2 with week #17 being meaningless. And all of a sudden this looks far more likely after the Cincy win... Buffalo beats NE Indy beats Pitt GB beats Titans

Not true. Titans are a game back with tie-breaker on us. If they win next week they will remain so and week 17 will matter as we could still fall to the fourth seed.

The #1 seed is not out of reach. KC has to lose both remaining games, Buf wins out and Pitt loses one and only one. That would force a three-way tie that I *think* Buf can win.

"All packed for Arrowhead."

To several replies, yeah I agree the odds are quite low Cincy wins. Why I used the title I did. Barring a miracle, week 17's game will matter to us.

We're just a game behind Pitt and own the tie-breaker. We just need to gain one game on them. Pitt ends with Indy and Cleveland. #2 is well within reach. Titans face the Pack and could find themselves two back of us by week 17.

Yup, but honestly that's the only longshot of the four. The Steelers play the Colts next week and the Titans play the Packers. If Cinci somehow pulls off the upset the rest of the scenario becomes far more likely.

So, I took a look at the standings to see where we could be week 17 and everything from the 1 to 4 seed are in play. I wondered, is there any way we could be locked in by week 17 and rest our starters? There's only one, and it's a longshot to say the least. Buffalo will be locked in as the second seed by week 17 *if*... *Buffalo beats New England *Pitt loses tonight and next week. *The Titans lose next week If all that happens, Buffalo goes into week 17 a game ahead of Pitt and at least a game ahead of Indy and holds tie-breakers with both. The Titans have the tie-breaker, but would be two games back. Even if Cleveland wins to move into a tie for the division, they would also be a game behind the Bills and the Bills also hold the tie-breaker over them. They would be assured no worse then #2, but Pitt's two losses would lock Buffalo out of #1. So there ya go, only one path to Buffalo's week 17 matchup being meaningless to them, and that relies on four games playing out a certain way. I don't see us getting to rest our starters.

Winning the division is one thing, but the way they did it made a statement. These guys are putting it together and are getting dangerous. Congrats to the Bills!

Except last season's wild card loss falls into your 1%. While there were other things the Bills could have done better, failing to stop either of the Texans 2-point attempts quite literally lost them the game. Being a lil under the average would be one thing, but as it stands right now opposing teams are finding 2-point conversions to be a near automatic against us.

One, out of six attempts. And I can't believe some of the other comments. I need mental help? Because we're still terrible at something that cost us a playoff game last year and could do so again? I mean seriously, I loved the game, and I love how the Bills looked. But dear lord, some of you seem to think the Bills played perfectly and anyone who points out what is now a multi-season problem area must be some kind of dysfunctional freak. I mean, again, the inability to defend the two-point conversion quite literally cost us the playoff game against Houston. Stop even one of the two and Buffalo's last second field goal wins the game rather then sending it to OT. But yeah, keep telling yourself one thing that bounced us from the playoffs couldn't possibly do it a second season in a row. 🙄

Yes, we screwed up in other ways, but the fact remains had we stopped even one of the two conversions the last-second field goal would have been for the win, not the tie.

I was amazed, to be honest. Third quarter used to be our kryptonite and we'd pray that we'd survive until the start of the fourth. These last two games however, they've seemed to turn the corner. I loved every minute of it.

I'm worried about the conversions. You wanna watch Buffalo blow an eight point lead to KC in the Championship Game? The Super Bowl? It cost us last year, and it's not fixed. Yes, Buffalo is a better team then last year. This was a big win and I feel like the Bills are real contenders. That doesn't mean I can't point out the one concern I have left with this team.

Not a problem so far? Did...you miss the playoff game last season, where Houston converted two of them to push the game to OT? Yeah, not a problem... 🙄

You don't care at all that Buffalo is only 1/5 defending against 2-pt conversions? You don't see Buffalo potentially blowing an eight point lead in the playoffs because they can't defend it?