The '21 Bills are sleepwalking to the playoffs

[K-9]

2 hours ago, Nextmanup said:

I wish!  We won the AFC East in 1989.

 

That ain't happening this year, I don't think.

 

 

Point being that they played under the weight of highly raised expectations after reaching the AFCC the previous year and limped into the AFC East title and playoffs in ‘89. I see similarities. 

1 hour ago, JaCrispy said:

Except we still don’t have our Thurman Thomas yet...😉

We can sit here all day and pick out the differences between the teams. I happen to think the mental strain of raised expectations is very much alike. 

Edited December 9, 2021 by K-9

[Mr. WEO]

23 hours ago, Hermes said:

This iteration of the Bills cares not for the accolades of the regular season!

 

They know the only games that matter are played in January and February. After the loss to the Chiefs in AFCCG with a hobbled WR room and feeling the effects of going all out for an entire season, the Bills aren't going to let that happen again! It's a long season and they know it. They know what it takes to win playoff football games. They're not going in blind and flying high like last year.  They're grounded and focused on the ultimate goal.

 

Many fans and pundits are down on the bills because of the 'disappointing' record and the inconsistency of play, however, the Bills don't give a crap what you or anyone else thinks. It took everything the Patriots had to win that game Monday night, and if the Bills connect on a small handful of plays it's a rout in the Bills favor, it's really that simple. The Patriots had to play an almost perfect game and they still had to scrape by with last minute defensive heroics to come out on top.  Milano might've purposely 'gotten injured' at the end of the game because the Bills aren't going to embarrass themselves with some trash play to win on a punt return in week 13, in week 19 and beyond if they're in that position, they're going to have something special prepared for the occasion.

 

Yeah they lost to the Pats.

 

Who cares!?

 

They're still in prime position to make a run in the playoffs. It doesn't matter where they play, they know they can beat the pants off of any team in the league, in their own stadium, Bills fans travel well and they'd love to see Blue and Red confetti all over Arrowhead, or anywhere else.

 

It took the best efforts of the Steelers, the fully loaded Titans, the Jags, and now the 'white hot' AFC leading Patriots to get the better of the Bills on days where the bills were 'off'. These weren't a couple bad plays and the game was out of hand, these games were close the whole way through, with the opponents feeling great about themselves for a having a slim lead, even knowing the Bills could end it in a play.  These teams hold this win against the Bills as a highlight of their season (or decade, in the case of the Pats) and the Bills don't care about the loss for one second, they only care about the one that ended the season last year. The Colts game was over at halftime after the Mckittrick fumble and the Bills were ok with that. Something in common with these teams is that they all had this game circled as a big one. The Bills only have one game circled on the schedule. THE big one.

 

That's not to say that the Bills are a team who isn't trying to win.  Quite the contrary.

 

They're a team that is working out the kinks now instead of later.  A team who doesn't get too amped up about a week 13 game.  A team in the process of getting better. A team with quiet confidence even with their backs against the wall. A team who knows their best football is ahead of them.

 

A team with Superbowl aspirations.

 

 

 

 

The Colts game was "over at halftime" because the team quit.  They scored 8 points and got walked over in the second half.  They simply laid down and accepted the beating against an inferior team.  

 

Anyway... they are working out the kinks in week 14 (not 13)?  TheyThey started 4 and 1 and  have lost 3 of their last 5....and now they are working out the kinks?

 

Many blame "execution" on the recent struggles.  But well-coached teams execute.  They don't panic or lay down on the turf at halftime.

 

 

[Hermes]

36 minutes ago, Mr. WEO said:

 

 

The Colts game was "over at halftime" because the team quit.  They scored 8 points and got walked over in the second half.  They simply laid down and accepted the beating against an inferior team.  

 

Anyway... they are working out the kinks in week 14 (not 13)?  TheyThey started 4 and 1 and  have lost 3 of their last 5....and now they are working out the kinks?

 

Many blame "execution" on the recent struggles.  But well-coached teams execute.  They don't panic or lay down on the turf at halftime.

 

 

Fair enough. I just don't see the reasoning in running full bore the entire season to run out of gas in the playoffs.  If you knew you could get to a certain point in the season running out of your vanilla playbook why wouldn't you? When it comes time for the games that truly matter its a bigger benefit to not have all of your good plays on tape. 

1 hour ago, K-9 said:

Point being that they played under the weight of highly raised expectations after reaching the AFCC the previous year and limped into the AFC East title and playoffs in ‘89. I see similarities. 

We can sit here all day and pick out the differences between the teams. I happen to think the mental strain of raised expectations is very much alike. 

Interesting perspective. I wasn't around yet for the late 80s Bills. You may very well be right and they're still growing and developing as a team on a longer term basis than most of the fans are patient enough for

[Mr. WEO]

24 minutes ago, Hermes said:

Fair enough. I just don't see the reasoning in running full bore the entire season to run out of gas in the playoffs.  If you knew you could get to a certain point in the season running out of your vanilla playbook why wouldn't you? When it comes time for the games that truly matter its a bigger benefit to not have all of your good plays on tape. 

Interesting perspective. I wasn't around yet for the late 80s Bills. You may very well be right and they're still growing and developing as a team on a longer term basis than most of the fans are patient enough for

lol you think the Bills are holding back the good stuff?? Sandbagging the rest of the league?

 

well that’s a hot take.  
 

[TheBrownBear]

2 hours ago, K-9 said:

Point being that they played under the weight of highly raised expectations after reaching the AFCC the previous year and limped into the AFC East title and playoffs in ‘89. I see similarities. 

We can sit here all day and pick out the differences between the teams. I happen to think the mental strain of raised expectations is very much alike. 

As soon as I saw this thread title I ran here to post the similarities to the '89 Bills.  Very similar vibe to this team - both teams were less than the sum of their parts - lots of turnovers and sloppiness from both teams in their losses.  Started off dominating for the most part before mid-to-late season slides with some headscratching losses.

[Hermes]

10 hours ago, Mr. WEO said:

lol you think the Bills are holding back the good stuff?? Sandbagging the rest of the league?

 

well that’s a hot take.  
 

Possibly. It's obviously not the entire reason for the inconsistencies this season and lack of execution from the offense, it just seems to me that they haven't been running as many of the wrinkles in the offensive packages as we saw last year. Occasionally in games you'll see them mix things up but from my undereducated perspective they seem to be running a mostly vanilla playbook

[uticaclub]

10 hours ago, Hermes said:

Fair enough. I just don't see the reasoning in running full bore the entire season to run out of gas in the playoffs.  If you knew you could get to a certain point in the season running out of your vanilla playbook why wouldn't you? When it comes time for the games that truly matter its a bigger benefit to not have all of your good plays on tape. 

Interesting perspective. I wasn't around yet for the late 80s Bills. You may very well be right and they're still growing and developing as a team on a longer term basis than most of the fans are patient enough for

Pretty sure the Pats game truly mattered

[Hermes]

27 minutes ago, uticaclub said:

Pretty sure the Pats game truly mattered

Correct me if I'm wrong.

 

The Bills win the division when they win out

 

So tell me again. How much that game truly mattered?

 

The Bills are still in control of their own destiny regardless of what You or anyone else thinks. They're a good team, deal with it. Accept the fact that the Bills are a good team. It will help you sleep at night.

 

Pats fans are here cause they're jumping on the bandwagon. They want a piece of Allen and the Bills. Good for them; they know what a great team looks like, no?

[uticaclub]

42 minutes ago, Hermes said:

Correct me if I'm wrong.

 

The Bills win the division when they win out

 

So tell me again. How much that game truly mattered?

 

The Bills are still in control of their own destiny regardless of what You or anyone else thinks. They're a good team, deal with it. Accept the fact that the Bills are a good team. It will help you sleep at night.

 

Pats fans are here cause they're jumping on the bandwagon. They want a piece of Allen and the Bills. Good for them; they know what a great team looks like, no?

I'm sure absolutely having to win at defending Super Bowl Champion and at New England we're all part of the plan. 10-7 is a good record for a good team, I want to be a GREAT team

Edited December 10, 2021 by uticaclub

[Hermes]

2 hours ago, uticaclub said:

I'm sure absolutely having to win at defending Super Bowl Champion and at New England we're all part of the plan. 10-7 is a good record for a good team, I want to be a GREAT team

I get it. Just don't confuse being a good team with being a bad team or terrible team like so many of you do. 

 

Greatness is a form of success measured over a sustained period of time. Not just a splash in the pan for a season. The greatest teams of all time are those who've had the most sustained success.  So who's to say how great any team is at this present time. There isn't a dynasty or anything close to one to rise from the shadows of the Pats dynasty.

 

The Bills make the playoffs this year, nobody would be surprised if they won the Superbowl. They aren't some scrappy team pulling off a miraculous season. They're a good team looking to build a legacy

Edited December 10, 2021 by Hermes

[Buffalo03]

Don't worry, it's a repeat of 89

 

88' We make the Championship game and lose to the Bengals after a 12-4 season

89' We take a big step and have a disappointing season at 9-7 but we made the playoffs and lost our first game to the Browns

 

We obviously know what happened the next 4 years. This is just a repeat.

 

Last year we make the Championship game and lose to the Chiefs after a 13-3 season

 

This year we will squeak into the playoffs and lose in the first round

 

But......but......starting next season we will dominate all the way to the next 4 Super Bowls but won't lose them all, baby. Everything is gonna be alright 

Edited December 10, 2021 by Buffalo03

[Mat68]

They remind be of a basketball team.  Played great on Christmas than coasted to the playoffs getting the 5th or 6th seed.  Football that usually doesnt work.  Teams that win it have good Decembers.  Buffalo needs to stack wins.  

[Success]

We tried the whole "rolling into the playoffs on a huge winning streak and looking like a top team" thing.

 

Maybe this is by design.  Get everyone to write the Bills off & talk about all of the other teams, then eat some spinach before the playoffs and shock the world.

 

[BillsVet]

18 hours ago, BADOLBILZ said:

I'm not one for the false bravado like the OP has produced here.

 

But the reality is that McDermott's consistently said that his primary message is that it's the teams that stick together thru the long season that play well at the end.

 

McD sounds like someone who took 1 too many classes an MBA student would on leadership and human psychology.