TheCockSportif Posted December 22, 2020 Posted December 22, 2020 I somewhat expect the Pats game to be a chippy affair, in the sense that pulling the starters might be a good idea -- to ensure that star players aren't maimed before the playoffs. I would be fine if the Bills roll limited personnel against the Dolphins. However, given what this team has done over the past 4-6 weeks, intentionally losing a game would seem to be counterproductive and against the very foundations of which this team has been rebuilt.
SCBills Posted December 22, 2020 Posted December 22, 2020 1 hour ago, Hampton Josh fan said: A decision to rest all crucial starters in the scenario where keeping the Ravens out of the playoffs, is the right move. We will be locked into the 2 seed and facing the 11 and 5 Steelers or Dolphins is a preferred path. . Now all we need is the Packers and Colts to win the games they will be favored in and Miami to take care of Vegas while we crush NE. That's a lot of outcomes to depend on. Probably won't happen. It certainly seems unlikely that 4/4 scenarios will come to fruition, but who will be favored in all those games? Bills/Pats - Bills Dolphins/Raiders - Dolphins Packer/Titans - Packers Colts/Steelers - Colts Add in a Browns victory over the Jets and this is also the nightmare scenario for the Ravens.
jjmac Posted December 22, 2020 Posted December 22, 2020 I guess I just don’t understand why any of you are afraid of any other team. If that is your mindset then it is a really good idea to not be a coach or a GM. Did you not watch the Bengals beat the Steelers?
SCBills Posted December 22, 2020 Posted December 22, 2020 Kind of wild... just played with the playoff simulator and if everything breaks they way I think it will in the last 2 weeks, the Bills play the Dolphins with the #2 spot locked up and rematch with the Dolphins if the Fins win against our backups. Also, Browns/Steelers is for the division, where Browns either win the division or miss the playoffs, in which case, we would then play the Ravens.
HappyDays Posted December 22, 2020 Author Posted December 22, 2020 (edited) 46 minutes ago, jjmac said: I guess I just don’t understand why any of you are afraid of any other team. If that is your mindset then it is a really good idea to not be a coach or a GM. Did you not watch the Bengals beat the Steelers? I don't understand the opposite mindset where some posters wouldn't be satisfied unless we beat the 4 most dominant teams in the league at full health one after the other. One of the benefits of being the #2 seed is you get the chance to play weaker teams first. It doesn't make a possible Super Bowl appearance less meaningful. 3 hours ago, Scott7975 said: This team would never intentionally lose anything. Come on man. All I'm saying is bench the starters in week 17 and there's a very good chance it leads to us playing the Dolphins in the wildcard round which is by far our most favorable matchup. 6 hours ago, TPS said: If you're afraid to play the Ravens (or Titans) in R1 The only scenario I can find where we are the #2 seed and play the Titans in R1 is if they beat the Packers but lose to the Texans in week 17. I find that scenario very unlikely. If they lose to the Packers we're in really good shape. If they then beat the Texans we will most likely play the Dolphins in R1. If they lose to the Texans after losing to the Packers we would likely play the Ravens in R1 but the Titans would drop out of the playoffs entirely and we wouldn't have to face them at all. Titans are the last team I want to face besides the Chiefs so I'd accept that trade off. Edited December 22, 2020 by HappyDays
Hampton Josh fan Posted December 22, 2020 Posted December 22, 2020 44 minutes ago, SCBills said: It certainly seems unlikely that 4/4 scenarios will come to fruition, but who will be favored in all those games? Bills/Pats - Bills Dolphins/Raiders - Dolphins Packer/Titans - Packers Colts/Steelers - Colts Add in a Browns victory over the Jets and this is also the nightmare scenario for the Ravens. We can always hope. Who ever expected that Andy Dalton miracle that backed us into the playoffs in 17.
Jay_Fixit Posted December 22, 2020 Posted December 22, 2020 12 hours ago, BillsVet said: "Hear me out" to lead a thread off? The TBD kiss of death. McD and this franchise aren't willingly losing anything. No need to worry about anything. Hear me out is the equivalent of someone saying they sell some really great face cream that they want you to be a part of.
D. L. Hot-Flamethrower Posted December 22, 2020 Posted December 22, 2020 (edited) It's not like you can BENCH all the starters anyway. I could see either not dressing some key guys; or pulling them after they establish a rythmn in the first half. We need to maintain our mojo and avoid unnecessarily exposing guys to injury. If the game is completely meaningless to seeding it would be negligence to expose Josh to injury other than trying to get some work in to maintain momentum. Also, Diggs, Tre, Dawkins, Milano and perhaps a couple others deserve the "special" treatment Edited December 22, 2020 by D. L. Hot-Flamethrower
DrDawkinstein Posted December 22, 2020 Posted December 22, 2020 3 hours ago, nucci said: How do you tell the players to lose on purpose? It'll never happen Play Barkley. Simple. I'm not afraid of ANY team. Not the Chiefs, not the Titans, no one. That said, I'd much rather play the Dolphins in the first round than the Ravens. So I get it. Other than that, I dont care.
njbuff Posted December 22, 2020 Posted December 22, 2020 Yeah, because resting the starters in week 17 last year worked out so well. Nope, full balls to the wall from here on out. If the Bills are as good as we think they are, it shouldn’t matter who they play and you are playing with fate when you rest your starters that aren’t injured.
DrDawkinstein Posted December 22, 2020 Posted December 22, 2020 2 minutes ago, njbuff said: Yeah, because resting the starters in week 17 last year worked out so well. Nope, full balls to the wall from here on out. If the Bills are as good as we think they are, it shouldn’t matter who they play and you are playing with fate when you rest your starters that aren’t injured. Should the Chiefs try to lose the last 2 games so they get the #2 seed and get rid of the Bye, since resting players is bad? 1 1
Albany,n.y. Posted December 22, 2020 Posted December 22, 2020 13 hours ago, jjmac said: The Hermanator disagrees. https://youtu.be/b5-iJUuPWis Herm was always wrong, you play to win the Super Bowl.
billsfan89 Posted December 22, 2020 Posted December 22, 2020 Just hope that the Steelers and Titans lose and the Bills can take care of the Pats*. That locks the two seed up and makes week 17 meaningless. Which is kind of where the Bills want to be, they can sit Josh, Tre, Dawkins, D.Williams and a few other key players giving the team a defacto bye week (in a year where there is no bye week for the two seed sadly.) The NFL is as much an act of attrition (which is why the Bills depth is so critical) as it is a contest of talent. Getting to avoid KC until the AFCCG, having all your games be at home for the first two round and possibly all rounds if KC gets knocked off, and getting to rest a lot of players the last week of the regular season is setting your team up about as good as you can possibly get without being the one seed.
njbuff Posted December 22, 2020 Posted December 22, 2020 3 minutes ago, DrDawkinstein said: Should the Chiefs try to lose the last 2 games so they get the #2 seed and get rid of the Bye, since resting players is bad? There is no foolproof plan, but the plan the Bills tried last year failed miserably. Keep the momentum rolling by playing full balls to the wall and taking on ALL comers.
billsfan89 Posted December 22, 2020 Posted December 22, 2020 5 minutes ago, DrDawkinstein said: Should the Chiefs try to lose the last 2 games so they get the #2 seed and get rid of the Bye, since resting players is bad? I really hate that the 7 team playoff format. I always envied the teams that got a bye week and for the first two seed to not get a bye week to possibly be the Bills is just so frustrating. 1
SCBills Posted December 22, 2020 Posted December 22, 2020 (edited) 3 minutes ago, njbuff said: There is no foolproof plan, but the plan the Bills tried last year failed miserably. Keep the momentum rolling by playing full balls to the wall and taking on ALL comers. We didn't come into that game flat though. We played great in the first half. We were simply a year away in terms of being ready to take that next step. Edited December 22, 2020 by SCBills 1
D. L. Hot-Flamethrower Posted December 22, 2020 Posted December 22, 2020 2 minutes ago, njbuff said: There is no foolproof plan, but the plan the Bills tried last year failed miserably. Keep the momentum rolling by playing full balls to the wall and taking on ALL comers. Just so long as you put yours on the anvil if it doesn't work out
njbuff Posted December 22, 2020 Posted December 22, 2020 1 minute ago, billsfan89 said: Just hope that the Steelers and Titans lose and the Bills can take care of the Pats*. That locks the two seed up and makes week 17 meaningless. Which is kind of where the Bills want to be, they can sit Josh, Tre, Dawkins, D.Williams and a few other key players giving the team a defacto bye week (in a year where there is no bye week for the two seed sadly.) The NFL is as much an act of attrition (which is why the Bills depth is so critical) as it is a contest of talent. Getting to avoid KC until the AFCCG, having all your games be at home for the first two round and possibly all rounds if KC gets knocked off, and getting to rest a lot of players the last week of the regular season is setting your team up about as good as you can possibly get without being the one seed. The Bills tried this last year and they lost to Houston anyways.
billsfan89 Posted December 22, 2020 Posted December 22, 2020 Just now, njbuff said: The Bills tried this last year and they lost to Houston anyways. Doesn't mean that it wasn't the right thing to do. They lost to Houston because Josh and the offense stalled out in the second half. In a year where only one team has a bye week getting a lot of your starters rested for a week can give you an advantage over 5 other teams who might not have that luxury.
njbuff Posted December 22, 2020 Posted December 22, 2020 It’s a good thing that none of us are McDermott. He might see last years result as a total failure for resting his starters in week 17 and he might go all out no matter what we think even if the Bills are locked into the #2. 4 minutes ago, billsfan89 said: Doesn't mean that it wasn't the right thing to do. They lost to Houston because Josh and the offense stalled out in the second half. In a year where only one team has a bye week getting a lot of your starters rested for a week can give you an advantage over 5 other teams who might not have that luxury. You can easily risk losing your edge in this scenario too. Look at the Ravens last year. They rested their starters in their season finale and this is what basically cost them against Tennessee. 1
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