ChasBB

Have to win AFC Championship and then have to win Super Bowl. There is no consolation prize for being close and nothing to feel good about short of a Lombardi trophy.

It's pretty simple really - make fewer mistakes than your opponent. McDermott's done a nice job of guiding the team this to this point. He doesn't need to do anything different or magical Sunday - he just needs to coach a good game and avoid any clock blunders and continue to rely on the fine coaching of Brady & Babich - both will need to implement adjustments as quickly as feasible throughout the game, when necessary. And special teams will need to perform well, too. I expect the Bills to win a hard-fought battle.

Wow, 18 or 19 different players referenced in this thread so far. That says a lot about this roster that so many players fit the description of underrated.

Fantasy football already messes with my rooting interests enough, as it is (e.g. wanting Bills win over Lions, but hoping that Amon-Ra St Brown has a good fantasy outing - which happened, btw ). But, no, I could not place a wager on a Bills loss - just couldn't do it.

Brief summary of Josh Rosen's NFL career: 2018: Arizona Cardinals 2019: Miami Dolphins (backup to Ryan Fitzpatrick) 2020: Tampa Bay Buccaneers (practice squad) 2020: San Francisco 49ers (practice squad) 2021: Atlanta Falcons (backup to Matt Ryan) 2022: Cleveland Browns (practice squad) 2022: Minnesota Vikings (practice squad) Vikings contract expired January 15th, 2023 and he hasn’t been on a roster since then.

Yes, defense really showed up at a very important time in the game with the outcome still in the balance. Hats off to their performance. They'll need to continue to play this way the rest of the way on their run for the Lombardi trophy. Defense wins championships, as the saying goes.

Ultimately, this special teams mishap cost the Bills about 18 yards in field position and about 2:12 of possession time depending on how accurately you measure it: * Fake punt took place with 10:49 remaining in the 2nd Qtr from the Denver 43-yd line * Real punt took place with 8:37 remaining in the 2nd Qtr from the Buffalo 39-yd line. Bills did well to dig themselves out from their own 1-yd line, but the psychological effect (loss of momentum) of the fake punt's success could have been magnified even more had the defense not stepped up to force the 2nd punt to begin with. Every little detail is crucial in games like this. Fortunately, the Bills were good enough to not let it impact them too badly, but just can't make these sorts of mistakes. The "doink" didn't hurt, either!

It seemed well-disguised. Anyhow, I think it just comes down to fundamentals. As Tony Romo stated, the Bills guy (Ja'Marcus Ingram) turned his back and ran instead of keeping one eye on what the guy he was covering was doing.

Referring to the Broncos playoff run, I presume?

Looks like LA residents got the Bungle Rooski plan instead of the Bundle Rooski plan.

Agree, pay what it takes to keep him. It's not like there is a salary cap when it comes to coaches.

To OP - this is a BS post heading into playoffs. This is what I'm thinking of right now ... Go Bills! ...

He's presently on Bills practice squad - scroll to bottom of link ... https://www.buffalobills.com/team/players-roster/

Absolutely they can run this gauntlet. Provided Bills take care of business vs. Jets, they can rest starters in week 18, essentially giving themselves their own bye week, in a sense. Also, defense should be healthier when playoffs begin. And, for cryin' out loud, we have Josh Allen. And first two games will be home provided #2 seed locked in. Allen has already walked off the Chiefs' field essentially a winner save for the 13-sec debacle. He performs well there. Defense will need to be healthy and really step-up, but I believe they can deliver.

7 hours ago, K-9 said: If either getting the #1 seed or the threat of losing the #2 seed is a possibility in week 18, the starters need to play. Otherwise, they get the week off. and Haha, agree - my verbose post boiled down to either of the sentences above, save for maybe scenario 6. I'd like to see Bills go starters all the way vs. the Jets just because I want to see at least one more game between Josh Allen & Aaron Rogers, no-holds-barred.