Burrow NOT playing Sunday - per Burrow

[RalphWilson'sNewWar]

Burrow is such a assassin.

 

”if I NEED to.”

 

Translation … they don’t need me to beat that Browns bunch.

 

And the bravado of the Bengals to not care about where they finish.

 

First team to set the tone for these playoffs.

[2020 Our Year For Sure]

This is weird, the 1 seed and a bye week is still in play for them.

[TheFunPolice]

Agree with the move. 

 

Burrow and his WRs should sit and rest up for the playoffs. Nothing to gain of any real importance by playing. 

[Nextmanup]

7 minutes ago, Johnnycage46 said:

This could be huge.  If the Bengals lose to the Browns and the Bills win...we could be hosting the Raiders on Wild Card weekend if they win their game against the Chargers.  If all that happens, except the Chargers win, we host the Colts. 

I've been supporting a New England round 1 matchup, but if we could land Raiders, I'd take that in a heart beat.

 

It will be a fun final week, keeping an eye on all the out-of-town scores!
 

And we won't be so distracted in the 1pm slot, as we don't play until later.

 

 

 

 

5 minutes ago, HamptonBillsfan said:

Sounds like Joe's knee is not a small thing. It makes playing Indy a likelihood. That is a better matchup for us. Stephenson, now playing makes NE much tougher to defend.

I just think the Bengals have done a cost benefit analysis, and concluded a rested Burrow with a solid knee heading into the playoffs is worth more than a shot at a higher seed.

 

It probably is! 

 

 

[Franco_92]

16 minutes ago, Hebert19 said:

That's interesting.  Opens up cheifs and colts part of the playoffs which I'm not crazy about.  

 

We would be rooting for phins hard then I think 

But if Cleveland wins, a NE and raiders win gives us the raiders in round 1.

[BuffaloBillyG]

Mayfield is out too. Cleveland looked like they were loading the U-Hauls against the Steelers at the end. I don't think this mayters as much as we hope.

[Big Blitz]

If we can't beat ANY of these teams at home we aren't good enough anyway.

 

 

Build a dome - you all know if whoever we were playing was coming here to a dome in 2 weeks we would curb stomp them.  

[Motorin']

Just now, Johnnycage46 said:

 

Yeah, I started doing the playoff machine and it's crazy how many variables there are.  We could be the 2, 3, or 4 and host the Raiders, Chiefs, Colts, or Pats (I'm not even going down the road of the non-division winning scenarios...can't bring myself to do it).

 

Not counting ties, there's 128 different combinations of W's and L's that could happen in the 7 games that matter (the 7th game being Pitt vs Bal in the event of a Indy L)... Counting ties, there's 2,187 different combinations... 

[bigK14094]

Initial reports were Burrow hurt his ankle....I wonder if this comment is "disinformation".  The knee was surgically repaired since last season, but, might not be the real reason for sitting.  AND, Mayfield is not playing for the Brownies, so, we will see two unknown (to me) backups in the last game of the season.  I feel sorry for the fans that paid for tickets to this game.  Preseason in tone.

[Johnnycage46]

Just now, Motorin' said:

 

Not counting ties, there's 128 different combinations of W's and L's that could happen in the 7 games that matter (the 7th game being Pitt vs Bal in the event of a Indy L)... Counting ties, there's 2,187 different combinations... 

Yikes...I'm glad I quite while I was behind then lol.  Definitely going to make for an interesting weekend!

[Motorin']

Just now, No Place To Hyde said:

Mayfield is out too. Cleveland looked like they were loading the U-Hauls against the Steelers at the end. I don't think this mayters as much as we hope.

 

Case Keenum > Baker Mayfield  

[ngbills]

CIN still beats this CLE team most likely. They have already packed it in.

 

I think I prefer 4 over 3 anyway. Do we want to play NE and then @TEN, or IND and then @KC? The NE and TEN route seems like the preferred road to me. 

 

[colin]

9 minutes ago, Estro said:

I think the #4 seed is more sought after than the #3 spot due to the higher likelihood of facing the Titans in round 2.

 

I know upsets happen, so it's not guaranteed but the % chance if playing the Titans in round 2 is much higher if you finish in the 4 spot rather than the 3 spot.

 

If your goal is the SB, then it makes complete sense to prefer a trip to Nashville over KC in the Divisional Round.

 

The Bengals sitting all of their guys makes it very likely the Bills will be facing the Colts or Raiders (if they beat the Chargers). I think most Bills fans are going to be big Raiders fans on Sunday night

 

 

This is a really good point, but if we are gonna get to the chip this year, we most likely have to win in kc and tenn, which we almost did this year in the regular season.

 

facing indy, then tenn, then kc, then GB in the chip would be the most insane gauntlet.  

[BuffaloBillyG]

1 minute ago, Motorin' said:

 

Case Keenum > Baker Mayfield  

Neither were good this year.

 

But Cleveland is just ready to end a miserable letdown of a season. Pretty sure they will just be going through the motions.

[RoyBatty is alive]

10 minutes ago, Big Blitz said:

 

 

Who said anything about wanting to play in a dome?

 

The weather in Buffalo has almost one constant thing and it's the biggest thing and it's not like it almost anywhere else - WIND

 

Of ALL the playoffs teams that impacts us negatively the most.  

 

Not necessarily.

 

If there is a brutally windy day like we had against the Pats game 1, then we can make a weak armed QB team one dimensional which we effectively did, Allen can cut throw the wind as good or better than any QB.  We had the QB advantage and didnt use it till it was too late.  We were outcoached against the Pats in game number 1, we should not have lost that game,

[Nextmanup]

4 minutes ago, Big Blitz said:

If we can't beat ANY of these teams at home we aren't good enough anyway.

 

 

Build a dome - you all know if whoever we were playing was coming here to a dome in 2 weeks we would curb stomp them.  

Fans clamoring ad nauseam for a dome isn't going to make it happen!

 

No one is building a dome in WNY and the owner of the team doesn't want one.

 

I wish people would stop talking about this.

 

 

[colin]

9 minutes ago, Estro said:

I think the #4 seed is more sought after than the #3 spot due to the higher likelihood of facing the Titans in round 2.

 

I know upsets happen, so it's not guaranteed but the % chance if playing the Titans in round 2 is much higher if you finish in the 4 spot rather than the 3 spot.

 

If your goal is the SB, then it makes complete sense to prefer a trip to Nashville over KC in the Divisional Round.

 

The Bengals sitting all of their guys makes it very likely the Bills will be facing the Colts or Raiders (if they beat the Chargers). I think most Bills fans are going to be big Raiders fans on Sunday night

 

 

This is a really good point, but if we are gonna get to the chip this year, we most likely have to win in kc and tenn, which we almost did this year in the regular season.

 

facing indy, then tenn, then kc, then GB in the chip would be the most insane gauntlet.  

9 minutes ago, Estro said:

I think the #4 seed is more sought after than the #3 spot due to the higher likelihood of facing the Titans in round 2.

 

I know upsets happen, so it's not guaranteed but the % chance if playing the Titans in round 2 is much higher if you finish in the 4 spot rather than the 3 spot.

 

If your goal is the SB, then it makes complete sense to prefer a trip to Nashville over KC in the Divisional Round.

 

The Bengals sitting all of their guys makes it very likely the Bills will be facing the Colts or Raiders (if they beat the Chargers). I think most Bills fans are going to be big Raiders fans on Sunday night

 

 

This is a really good point, but if we are gonna get to the chip this year, we most likely have to win in kc and tenn, which we almost did this year in the regular season.

 

facing indy, then tenn, then kc, then GB in the chip would be the most insane gauntlet.  

[Chicken Boo]

If you were to go by the "team that gets hot at the right time" logic, it's the Bengals.

[Nextmanup]

"QB of out of division team rests" turns into "Let's argue about a dome."
 

😂

[BuffaloBillyG]

1 minute ago, ngbills said:

CIN still beats this CLE team most likely. They have already packed it in.

 

I think I prefer 4 over 3 anyway. Do we want to play NE and then @TEN, or IND and then @KC? The NE and TEN route seems like the preferred road to me. 

 

My opinion: If you have to hem and haw about what teams we face where and when...we aren't as good as we think.

 

Set em up and knock em down. Not a team in the playoffs to fear.