Raf

http://www.winnipegsun.com/sports/football...2/10721171.html Get 'er done, Russ?

It was about 25% Bills, 25% Dolphins and 50% Didn't give a crap. It was the definition a neutral game. The reason you heard the Dolphins fans more is because they had a lot more to cheer about. The hardcore Bills fans up here, that go down to the games in Buffalo didn't want to spend the money for this and stayed home. The place was filled with casual fans that didn't care either way. Toronto sports fans are bandwagoners. They are going to cheer for a winner (except when it comes to the Leafs). If this was a Toronto-based team, the crowd would be crazy for the NFL, but an underachieving Bills team versus their AFC East rivals wasn't a draw for the city. The rivalry with Miami is largely dead outside of Buffalo as well. MNF used to feature this game every year and now it's nowhere to be found in primetime.

It will be a bit better than the preseason game. No matter where you play a preseason game, nobody really cares that much.

I live in Toronto and think this is a load of crap. Canadians go to Florida and watch the Jays in spring training or the Maple Leafs against the Panthers or Lightning. Nobody visits there and comes back a Dolphins fan. They are well behind Dallas and Pittsburgh and even New England for Toronto's second most popular team.

I'm from Toronto. Buffalo definitely has the most fans followed by Dallas and Pittsburgh. There are a smattering of Cleveland, Oakland, Miami, and Green Bay fans as well. Of course, you always see a lot of jerseys for the "hot" teams. For instance, a few years ago, you would have seen a lot of Ravens, Colts, Patriots and Falcons jerseys. There will be a small contingent of Miami fans. I suspect it will be 40% Bills, 15% Fins, and 45% casual fans who won't make any noise or care either way.

The first step in the Jets demise would be a loss to the Broncos this week. The Broncos have been in the thick of the wild card race for the last five or six years and by this point, I'm usually rooting against them. They should be deperate for a win to really solidify their lead over San Diego and give the Jets a tough game.

Sadly, it's obvious the NFL cares little about WNY, so I'm always expecting the worst.

Or at New York Jets -- which would be an easy win.

If the game is sold out in Buffalo, then it's sold out in Toronto. Toronto is subject to the same blackout rules as Buffalo.

As the week is going on, I'm getting more sure of a Bills blowout this week. 31-14 is my prediction. The Miami game will come down to the wire. Both teams will likely be 7-5, so it's going to be a matter of who wants it more.

If PTS is right, then there is nothing to worry about. But if the game still needs to be sold out to lift the blackout in Toronto, the same rules would apply to Buffalo. It would be blacked out. The game is carried on CBS. There really isn't nothing to worry about in any scenario because they will just buy the tickets at the last minute and give them away.

We don't get to see the games here in Toronto when Bills games are blacked out, so the rule stands across international boarders.

Rogers will most likely purchase the remaining tickets at the last minute to avoid the blackout. If it was blacked out, however, you would not see the game in Buffalo.

Everything would be easy if they win out, but at 10-6 you can't say we'll lose tiebreakers automatically. Especially if they lose the 49ers or the Broncos game. I agree that the three divisional games are must win, because the team we are most likely going to be competing with for the last wild card spot is New England.

I'd consider this weekend to be a good one if we take care of business versus the Niners and the Steelers beat the Patriots. Bonus points if the Broncos and Bengals win. Yesterday's results didn't help us one bit unfortunately. The only thing it did was allow us to pretty much cross off Miami from this race. Assuming we beat them in 2 weeks, of course. With that said, a Dolphins win would have helped us yesterday, because it would have moved New England (definitely the better team) down to 5 losses. Miami is going to lose a few more this year. Even though their schedule looks easy, they are on the road 4 of the 5 games.

Scroll three posts up. 5-4

I really believe we'll beat up on the Niners and the Fins in the next two weeks. We'll be sitting at 8-5 and know a lot more about what we need then. The Steelers have to either dominate or completely tank it. They play key games against New England and Baltimore. Hopefully they either win both or lose both. If we lose to either SF or DEN, we can catch New England if they lose one of the following games (PIT, at Oak). If we want to catch the Jets at 10-6, they'd probably need to lose to DEN and MIA. Not very likely. First place is really only an option if we run the table. Otherwise it's battling out with Pit/Balt and NE for the wild card spot (Indy would have to really choke to miss).

Here's the sheet I made earlier today. Pittsburgh could very easily tank it down the stretch and go 2-3. Indy looks like they are a lock, but they end off the year with two tough games. It's also not out of the realm of possiblity for either Cleveland, Cincy or Detriot to surprise them. If we win out, we're going to make it. A loss to SF could still get us in, but would kill our momentum. The second option would be a loss to Denver, but things wouldn't look good in those scenarios. Tennessee 10-1 .... at Det, CLE, at Hou, PIT, at Indy ... Conf: 7-1 Div: 4-0 Pittsburgh 8-3 ...... at Ne, DAL, at Balt, at Ten, CLE .... Conf: 7-1 Div: 4-0 New York 8-3 ....... DEN, at Sf, BUF, at Sea, MIA......... Conf: 6-3 Div: 3-1 Denver 6-5 ......... at Ny, KC, at Car, BUF, at Sd ......... Conf: 3-5 Div: 2-2 Indianapolis 7-4 .... at Cle, CIN, DET, at Jax, TEN ........ Conf: 6-2 Div: 2-2 New England 7-4 ... PIT, SEA, at Oak, ARI, at Buf ....... Conf: 5-4 Div: 3-2 Baltimore 7-4 ....... at Cin, WSH, PIT, at Dal, JAX ....... Conf: 6-3 Div: 3-1 Miami 6-5 ............ at Stl, at Buf, SF, at Kc, at Ny ..... Conf: 5-4 Div: 2-2 Buffalo 6-5 .......... SF, MIA, at Ny, at Den, NE .......... Conf: 4-4 Div: 0-3 Week 13 (in order of importance) Buffalo over San Francisco Denver over New York Pittsburgh over New England Cincinnati over Baltimore Cleveland over Indianapolis St. Louis over Miami Detroit over Tennessee