Yesterday was a terrible football day and it went just the way I wanted it to...mostly

[BisonMan]

First and foremost, the Bills weren't playing so all I had was a "rooting interest" in several games. Simply, I wanted teams above the Bills in the conference standing to lose. Unfortunately, that meant I had to root for the Patriots and the Buccaneers! My ultimate fan nightmare.

 

1. I wanted to the Pats to win because the Bills have two games coming up with them and our ability to win the division is entirely in our hands. So, even a Pats win that keeps them ahead of us in the standings doesn't really matter with those two head-to-head matchups left. We really wanted the Titans to lose because they are ahead of us and hold the tiebreaker. But crap! The Patriots won. 🤮
2. I wanted Tom Brady and the Bucs to win because Indy has the tiebreaker with us and we have to have a 1 game lead over them to be seeded first. Ugh, Tom Brady had a good game the Bucs won. 🤮
3. I wanted Cleveland to beat Baltimore as they currently lead Buffalo as well. This one didn't go as we wanted and it's the game I was least conflicted about as a Bills fan. 🤮

 

As a fan, you can't "win" on some Sundays. 😧 

[BuffaloBillyG]

Just now, BisonMan said:

First and foremost, the Bills weren't playing so all I had was a "rooting interest" in several games. Simply, I wanted teams above the Bills in the conference standing to lose. Unfortunately, that meant I had to root for the Patriots and the Buccaneers! My ultimate fan nightmare.

 

1. I wanted to the Pats to win because the Bills have two games coming up with them and our ability to win the division is entirely in our hands. So, even a Pats win that keeps them ahead of us in the standings doesn't really matter with those two head-to-head matchups left. We really wanted the Titans to lose because they are ahead of us and hold the tiebreaker. But crap! The Patriots won. 🤮
2. I wanted Tom Brady and the Bucs to win because Indy has the tiebreaker with us and we have to have a 1 game lead over them to be seeded first. Ugh, Tom Brady had a good game the Bucs won. 🤮
3. I wanted Cleveland to beat Baltimore as they currently lead Buffalo as well. This one didn't go as we wanted and it's the game I was least conflicted about as a Bills fan. 🤮

 

As a fan, you can't "win" on some Sundays. 😧 

I'm 100% with you.

 

What makes me smile about the Ravens is 2 fold however. 

 

1. Their way of sloppy wins is not sustainable.

2. Their schedule for the rest of the year is as tough as it gets. They will drop a few on the back half of the season.

 

[SCBills]

Really did go well yesterday, imo.  

 

Pats/Titans was win-win or lose-lose however you viewed it.  We still play the Pats twice and the Titans loss brings them back to the pack with 4 losses... only the Ravens have 3, but they aren't exactly a juggernaut and have one of the toughest schedules in football to finish the season.  

 

Browns, Chargers, Steelers and Colts all fall further back in the WC discussion with their losses.  

 

Edited November 29, 2021 by SCBills

[Rew]

9 minutes ago, BisonMan said:

First and foremost, the Bills weren't playing so all I had was a "rooting interest" in several games. Simply, I wanted teams above the Bills in the conference standing to lose. Unfortunately, that meant I had to root for the Patriots and the Buccaneers! My ultimate fan nightmare.

 

1. I wanted to the Pats to win because the Bills have two games coming up with them and our ability to win the division is entirely in our hands. So, even a Pats win that keeps them ahead of us in the standings doesn't really matter with those two head-to-head matchups left. We really wanted the Titans to lose because they are ahead of us and hold the tiebreaker. But crap! The Patriots won. 🤮
2. I wanted Tom Brady and the Bucs to win because Indy has the tiebreaker with us and we have to have a 1 game lead over them to be seeded first. Ugh, Tom Brady had a good game the Bucs won. 🤮
3. I wanted Cleveland to beat Baltimore as they currently lead Buffalo as well. This one didn't go as we wanted and it's the game I was least conflicted about as a Bills fan. 🤮

 

As a fan, you can't "win" on some Sundays. 😧 

 

I was conflicted on point 3.  Cleveland winning would be good to try and math out a path to the #1 seed.  However, in terms of playoff probability Baltimore beating browns and bengals gives us a better overall playoff probability.  I'm not scared of us playing BAL in the playoffs, even if we have to go there, so I eventually settled on a BAL win being better to knock off CLE.

Edited November 29, 2021 by Rew

[BuffaloBillies]

AFC is WIDE OPEN. Only 4 teams with losing records.

NFC has 10 teams with losing records. Pretty crazy difference.

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

3 minutes ago, BuffaloBillies said:

AFC is WIDE OPEN. Only 4 teams with losing records.

NFC has 10 teams with losing records. Pretty crazy difference.

 

Those AFC teams all play each other the rest of the way with a few jags/texans games sprinkled in.  Even Miami with a losing record has won 4 straight, and i don't think anyone wants to play them at the moment.  

[BuffaloBillies]

29 minutes ago, dneveu said:

 

Those AFC teams all play each other the rest of the way with a few jags/texans games sprinkled in.  Even Miami with a losing record has won 4 straight, and i don't think anyone wants to play them at the moment.  

 

AFC is 31-18-1 vs NFC this year. Why so many winning records in AFC vs NFC.

But true - next 6 weeks will be lots of intra-conference battles.

Yes, glad we played Mia when we did - they are finding their groove.

I'm REALLY liking our safety cushion of ATL & NYJ at home the final 2 games if/when needed. Cannot ask for a better final 2 weeks.

Carolina is a bit of a mess right now too.

Gotta win Monday, though.

Go Bills.

[ticketssince61]

1 hour ago, No Place To Hyde said:

I'm 100% with you.

 

What makes me smile about the Ravens is 2 fold however. 

 

1. Their way of sloppy wins is not sustainable.

2. Their schedule for the rest of the year is as tough as it gets. They will drop a few on the back half of the season.

 

 

One of the "worst" 8-3 teams  - could easily be the other way around - combo of resilience, great luck, and chokes by other teams

[mannc]

2 minutes ago, ticketssince61 said:

 

One of the "worst" 8-3 teams  - could easily be the other way around - combo of resilience, great luck, and chokes by other teams

Reminds me of last year (or was it the year before?) when the Steelers got off to a 10-0 start, beating nobodies and winning a bunch of close games.  I think they finished 11-5 and made a quick playoff exit.

[MJS]

11 minutes ago, BuffaloBillies said:

 

AFC is 31-18-1 vs NFC this year. Why so many winning records in AFC vs NFC.

But true - next 6 weeks will be lots of intra-conference battles.

Yes, glad we played Mia when we did - they are finding their groove.

I'm REALLY liking our safety cushion of ATL & NYJ at home the final 2 games if/when needed. Cannot ask for a better final 2 weeks.

Carolina is a bit of a mess right now too.

Gotta win Monday, though.

Go Bills.

A lot of people are claiming that the AFC is weaker than the NFC, but as you illustrated, that's not true at all. The AFC has a lot of good teams beating each other up. The NFC is top heavy with only a handful of good teams.

[nucci]

I wanted the Pats to lose

[BuffaloBillyG]

6 minutes ago, ticketssince61 said:

 

One of the "worst" 8-3 teams  - could easily be the other way around - combo of resilience, great luck, and chokes by other teams

Well, they don't play typical football either. They have a lot of backyard football elements to their ream. It's what happens when you have an Athelete at the QB position. Don't get me wrong, Jackson is an extraordinary athlete. A weapon capable of winning games by himself. But committing to that style of player often leads to an unsustainable path.

[Success]

The AFC is bananas.  It's December and there are still teams who are last in their division who have a legit shot.

 

The Bills must keep winning.

 

[Lagoon Blues]

7 minutes ago, Success said:

The AFC is bananas.  It's December and there are still teams who are last in their division who have a legit shot.

 

The Bills must keep winning.

 

A pretty good team or 2 are going to miss the playoffs this year it appears.

[MJS]

Watching other teams play has taught me to appreciate the Bills more. The Bills are fun to watch. They are clearly one of the better teams in the NFL.

 

I remember watching other teams play during the drought and thinking "Why can't our team do that? Why can't we execute plays like that?" etc. Now I watch most other teams and think "Man, they suck. They are constantly shooting themselves in the foot."

 

There are a handful of teams that are legitimately really good and really fun to watch. Green Bay is that way, even though Rodgers is kind of a weirdo now. The Buffalo Bills are definately in that category. Even when they are struggling, you always have this sense that they could turn it on at any time. Every play could be a big play.

[SoCal Deek]

I actually thought it was a great day sitting there knowing that the Bills had taken care of their business on Thursday night, then watching as one after the other of the AFC frontrunners lost. (except for stupid Baltimore)

 

This season is right where the Bills need it to be, and now it all comes down to them.  You aren't going to back into a Super Bowl.  You have to go and get it! 

[Marv's Neighbor]

2 hours ago, BisonMan said:

First and foremost, the Bills weren't playing so all I had was a "rooting interest" in several games. Simply, I wanted teams above the Bills in the conference standing to lose. Unfortunately, that meant I had to root for the Patriots and the Buccaneers! My ultimate fan nightmare.

 

1. I wanted to the Pats to win because the Bills have two games coming up with them and our ability to win the division is entirely in our hands. So, even a Pats win that keeps them ahead of us in the standings doesn't really matter with those two head-to-head matchups left. We really wanted the Titans to lose because they are ahead of us and hold the tiebreaker. But crap! The Patriots won. 🤮
2. I wanted Tom Brady and the Bucs to win because Indy has the tiebreaker with us and we have to have a 1 game lead over them to be seeded first. Ugh, Tom Brady had a good game the Bucs won. 🤮
3. I wanted Cleveland to beat Baltimore as they currently lead Buffalo as well. This one didn't go as we wanted and it's the game I was least conflicted about as a Bills fan. 🤮

 

As a fan, you can't "win" on some Sundays. 😧 

So were there any $$$ winnings?

[bigK14094]

Glad the bills first game with the pats is a home.....need to hang one on them.

[Ed_Formerly_of_Roch]

3 hours ago, BisonMan said:

First and foremost, the Bills weren't playing so all I had was a "rooting interest" in several games. Simply, I wanted teams above the Bills in the conference standing to lose. Unfortunately, that meant I had to root for the Patriots and the Buccaneers! My ultimate fan nightmare.

 

1. I wanted to the Pats to win because the Bills have two games coming up with them and our ability to win the division is entirely in our hands. So, even a Pats win that keeps them ahead of us in the standings doesn't really matter with those two head-to-head matchups left. We really wanted the Titans to lose because they are ahead of us and hold the tiebreaker. But crap! The Patriots won. 🤮
2. I wanted Tom Brady and the Bucs to win because Indy has the tiebreaker with us and we have to have a 1 game lead over them to be seeded first. Ugh, Tom Brady had a good game the Bucs won. 🤮
3. I wanted Cleveland to beat Baltimore as they currently lead Buffalo as well. This one didn't go as we wanted and it's the game I was least conflicted about as a Bills fan. 🤮

 

As a fan, you can't "win" on some Sundays. 😧 

 

Was torn on the first one.  Agree a Tenn loss helps us to potentially get the #1 seed.  But we're still two games behind them based on the tie breaker and can't see them losing more than 3 games at most, and that's optimistic.  So not sure we can catch them. 

 

On the other hand a NE loss yesterday and a win by Buffalo next week, we'd be in the drivers seat for the division, we could lose the 2nd NE game and Tampa and still win the division as long as they beat Carolina, Atlanta, and the Jets unless NE wins out.

 

I will also say this, last year around this same time, thought there was no way we could catch the Chiefs for the #1 seed and in the end only were one game behind them, so who knows for sure.

[BisonMan]

2 hours ago, Marv's Neighbor said:

So were there any $$$ winnings?

As I tell my wife, I don't gamble...I play poker for money. 😉