Calling it now: Bills are going to at least reach the AFCCG

[Bob Jones]

1 minute ago, balln said:

They all fly home. Show me an nfl team that practices during bye like that 

This was debated heavily in another thread in here last week, and you’re right, most teams give the players the whole week off…..but, when you’re a team who needs to go 5-0 to get into the dance, maybe you go above and beyond?

[balln]

Just now, Bob Jones said:

This was debated heavily in another thread in here last week, and you’re right, most teams give the players the whole week off…..but, when you’re a team who needs to go 5-0 to get into the dance, maybe you go above and beyond?

Fans / hard working ppl would think so. But I think the coaches probably also encourage them. Especially the bunch of over thinkers we have (Allen). Disconnect. Get away from football. They all have some sort of iPad video access of film at their home they can check out 

[Royale with Cheese]

Just now, Bob Jones said:

This was debated heavily in another thread in here last week, and you’re right, most teams give the players the whole week off…..but, when you’re a team who needs to go 5-0 to get into the dance, maybe you go above and beyond?

Not most, all. 
 

You’re not a sports guy Bob.  You watch it but that’s it.

 

 

6 minutes ago, balln said:

Fans / hard working ppl would think so. But I think the coaches probably also encourage them. Especially the bunch of over thinkers we have (Allen). Disconnect. Get away from football. They all have some sort of iPad video access of film at their home they can check out 

Exactly.  
 

Especially for the rookies who hit the rookie wall or the older vets who need more rest time.  Its week 13 and we just now got a rest and Bob wants to take that away.

 

I played college baseball and the physical grind is not anywhere near an NFL players and I was exhausted.

If you have nagging injury that you are playing through, you need that rest badly.  Its the only time you can do it.

Mentally, its am incredible grind.

[Jauronimo]

3 hours ago, MJS said:

That can be said by all of the losses this year, though. They were all winnable games. Just too many mistakes and bad breaks.

They were playing poorly earlier in the year.  Thats the only way you lose to New England, Jets, and Broncos and squeak by the Giants.  They would have lost by 40 points had they brought that effort to Philly.

[BigDingus]

I feel like I need to remind everyone again - this is NOT the same Bills team from the last 3 years.

 

Your faith in them is nice and all, but what have they done THIS SEASON that has earned this kind of trust? 6-6 record, 2-6 in one-score games, long stretches of pitiful offense, defense collapsing at the worst times, turnovers & penalties everywhere, and overall undisciplined football...

 

Might as well predict the Colts or Browns are going to the Super Bowl. At least they're 7-5.

 

This is not the 2020, 2021 or 2022 Bills. To suddenly think they'll magically make it to the AFC Championship Game (MINIMUM at that) suggests either severe mental health decline (understandable given how the Bills have wreaked havoc upon the fans this year) or heavy drug use 😉

Edited December 6, 2023 by BigDingus

[TampaBillsJunkie]

Everyone on this board really, really hopes that you are right. Not just right, but right with flying colors, rainbows and Christmas cookie right.  We want you to be right so bad. But Sean McDermott is still coaching and calling the defense. Until this team can make a stop when they need it, winning it is a tough chore. Especially since the refs love to keep games tight and swing the momentum so it's a close finish.  Can't trust the refs or McD for a clean sweep into the playoffs.

Edited December 6, 2023 by TampaBillsJunkie

[Paup 1995MVP]

7 hours ago, Alphadawg7 said:

 

Don't disagree with any of this, I am just in the belief they will beat the Chiefs coming off a bye this week, Dallas is not the tough opponent being made out to be, LAC and NE are lower level teams than us, and Miami is a team we have proven to beat and also has a good chance to be resting their starters week 17.  

 

So, I don't see our schedule as daunting as others do right now and believe that in all 5 games, the Bills are entering that game as the better team.  

You are one positive MF Alpha.  I will give you that.  I am excited for the KC game.  We need to play aggressive on offense and not dink and dunk all over the field.  I like us putting up in the 30's against KC, who certainly does not have the magic this year, as in years past.  I worry about the defense especially our safeties.  They look old slow and tentative at this point.  Hopefully we can get a strong pass rush on Mahomes, and don't let him out the back door for too many scrambling first downs.  That takes the starch out of the defense.  Especially one with the age that we have.  Lets keep Kincaid involved all game too.  Get him running down the field on his routes.  No reason he can't be at least what Sam LaPorta is for the Lions.  

 

We win this week, then we can think about the Cowboys.  Their offense is good.  Not sure who we have that can cover Lamb and Ferguson.  But Dak won't play as well in the cold as he will in Big D.  But their defense is marginal at best.  Keep track of Parsons, and noone else is going to dominate on their D.  We can score a lot of points on the Boys. 

 

We win a big game at Arrowhead, that can change the entire trajectory of the season.  McDermott needs to bring a solid defensive game plan this week.  And then just stay out of the way during the game.  The guy is just not a smart gameday coach.    

[MJS]

4 hours ago, Jauronimo said:

They were playing poorly earlier in the year.  Thats the only way you lose to New England, Jets, and Broncos and squeak by the Giants.  They would have lost by 40 points had they brought that effort to Philly.

I can see that, but I still think it is a poor trend of shooting yourself in the foot with all these execution issues. But there isn't much you can do with the bad calls or the unlucky breaks.

[Bob Jones]

9 hours ago, Royale with Cheese said:

Not most, all. 
 

You’re not a sports guy Bob.  You watch it but that’s it.
 

Especially for the rookies who hit the rookie wall or the older vets who need more rest time.  Its week 13 and we just now got a rest and Bob wants to take that away.

 

I played college baseball and the physical grind is not anywhere near an NFL players and I was exhausted.

If you have nagging injury that you are playing through, you need that rest badly.  Its the only time you can do it.

Mentally, its am incredible grind.

Actually, I played HS football, baseball, and hockey. And then some league hockey later on, and of course, softball. LOL

These guys have ONE physically taxing day A WEEK. Practices are a joke, with virtually no contact. I guarantee you we had more contact in HS practice, EVERY DAY OF THE WEEK, than these guys do.

And I’m old enough to remember when the NFL did NOT have a bye week. How on earth did players even make it through the season!? 🤔😂

[SoonerBillsFan]

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

7 hours ago, TampaBillsJunkie said:

Everyone on this board really, really hopes that you are right. Not just right, but right with flying colors, rainbows and Christmas cookie right.  

[Gregg]

13 hours ago, HappyDays said:

Man we are a 6-6 team. I appreciate the optimism but it's too late in the season for the team to fix its myriad of problems. Dorsey WAS a big problem and I'm happy to see him gone but the other issues are not fixable at this point in the season.

 

Just going off of pure math, it's incredibly unlikely we'll run the table. Here's how I see the odds of us winning each remaining game (you can bicker on the individual percentages, but I think most will find this fairly accurate):

 

Chiefs 50%

Cowboys 40%

Chargers 70%

Patriots 95%

Dolphins 50%

 

Statistically that means we are 6.65% likely to run the table... Even 4 wins against only our AFC opponents is just 16.625% likely.

 

I'll keep the hope alive until they're mathematically eliminated but realistically this is not our year.

 

The only one I disagree with you on is the Cowboys. Dallas isn't the same team on the road that they are at home. I would say the Bills chances of winning that one is around 55%. I give the Bills a slight edge being they are home. Otherwise, I agree with your odds.

13 hours ago, LABILLBACKER said:

I will say this, if we beat KC & Dallas, we're not only going to the playoffs but likely advancing very deep.

 

McDermott has never won a road playoff game. 0-4. Jags, Texans, Chiefs (2). I wouldn't call for a playoff run with this coach and the fact that if the Bills do get in, they won't get any home games.

[machine gun kelly]

17 hours ago, Gregg said:

I mentioned this in the can the Bills go 5-0 thread. The next 2 weeks will tell the story. I do think the Bills will beat the Chargers, Pats, and Dolphins. It's these next 2 weeks where I see a potential loss. Win these next 2 and you might be right. At the very least I think they make the playoffs if they beat the Chiefs and Cowboys. I don't know about a playoff run as the Bills are winless on the road in the playoffs with McDermott. 

I like your post, and the next two matter. If we win against the Chiefs and Dallas, the Fish could potentially lose their last three.  They have an easy win with the Titans, but they have to face Dallas and Baltimore before finishing with us.  How sweet would it be for us to be 10-6, and the Fish 11-5, and then we destroy them.  The Fish would die a miserable death and they are the wildcard, and we are the AFCE champs again for the fourth year in a row.

 

Im going to hold out hope until there is none.

[colin]

the main reason i think we can do this is that we have an actual O line and production from our RB and TE positions.

 

our D isn't what we'd like it to be, but the jets and philly have sick Ds and they both got walked on by our o, so keeping the ball away from fools which we can now do will bolster our efforts on D bigly.

 

Allen with blocking and a run game is not stoppable, the opponent just hold on and hope attrition (and the refs) go their way.

 

our chance to win every game more or less comes down to the offense executing well enough to take the game out of the refs and our own ds hands, with brady showing some cahones i'll ride with that.

 

lastly, we have perhaps the streakiest team and qb in the nfl.  we've gone on a winning streak of one kind or another every one of the past 3 seasons, and the game after the bye has often been our greatest catalyst.  

 

josh allen in the playoffs on a 5 game win streak with some running and blocking is a scary scary sight, he does things every team in the nfl can see that lets them know when he's on you need your lotto numbers to come in to even have a chance.

[C.Biscuit97]

Did you bet it? It was +500 to make the playoffs. 
 

And you’re a good dude Alpha. You definitely have an extremely positive outlook. I bet a parlay the bills to win the division and the Sabres to make the playoffs. 😬 probably going to throw down a few beans on the bills to make the playoffs now. 

 

And of course if they get in, they easily could make the SB. I just can’t shake the Mac Jones griddy, the Zach Wilson loss, and their AFC record. They dug them a completely unnecessary hole. And it stinks because the AFC is hot poo.

[Royale with Cheese]

4 hours ago, Bob Jones said:

Actually, I played HS football, baseball, and hockey. And then some league hockey later on, and of course, softball. LOL

These guys have ONE physically taxing day A WEEK. Practices are a joke, with virtually no contact. I guarantee you we had more contact in HS practice, EVERY DAY OF THE WEEK, than these guys do.

And I’m old enough to remember when the NFL did NOT have a bye week. How on earth did players even make it through the season!? 🤔😂

 

Come on Bob.  The impact a HS kid takes isn't anywhere near what an NFL player takes.

Players today are bigger, faster and stronger.  When bigger and stronger players move faster, the impact is much greater.

Not just impact, a body that moves faster and cuts is a much, much greater chance of injury,

 

https://vault.si.com/vault/2001/05/07/the-wrecking-yard-as-they-limp-into-the-sunset-retired-nfl-players-struggle-with-the-games-grim-legacy-a-lifetime-of-disability-and-pain

 

"The incidence of serious, noncontact knee injuries is much
higher than it used to be," he says. Artificial turf is only part
of the problem. "These athletes are bigger, stronger and running
faster, and they're tearing up knees from cutting, changing
direction on a dime," Andrews says. "In fact, the incidence of
anterior cruciate ligament injuries is higher from noncontact
than contact. I've seen guys get significant injuries just
falling on the football. It's like a big tree falling."

 

Great Bob, you remember when the NFL didn't have a bye week?  I remember in the early 90's when they had 2 bye weeks.  In the 60's, they also implemented the bye week.

 

https://www.cincyjungle.com/2015/10/22/9573783/history-of-bye-weeks-in-nfl-and-how-bengals-perform-following-bye

 

 

The first appearance of a "bye week" took place during the 1960 season. The NFL had 13 teams, and due to an odd number of teams, one team had a "bye" each week. Again in 1966 the NFL had an odd number of teams with 15 total franchises. So in 1966 the league again had a "bye week" on the schedule for each team. In 1966 and 1967 the AFL (forerunner of the current AFC) had an uneven number of teams, with nine. And so each week, one team had a "bye week".

The NFL introduced the "bye week" for the 1990 season and extended the sixteen game regular season to seventeen weeks. The league has featured a "bye week" every year since then.

 

How did they get by?  They really didn't as half the league admitted they retired early from the injuries and paying for it later.  

 

A 1990 Ball State study, commissioned by the NFLPA and covering the previous 50 years of league history, revealed that among 870 former players responding to a survey, 65% had suffered a "major injury" while playing--that is, an injury that either required surgery or forced them to miss at least eight games. The study also reported that the percentage of players incurring such injuries had increased alarmingly: from 42% before 1959 to 72% in the 1980s, after many stadiums had switched from grass to artificial turf. Two of every three former players disclosed that their football injuries had limited their ability to participate in sports and other recreation in retirement, and more than half of them also had a curtailed ability to do physical labor. Of those who played during the '70s and '80s, nearly half (50% and 48%, respectively) reported that they had retired because of injury—up from 30% in the years before 1959.

 

Players like Billy Shaw and Art Donovan could do this right?

Tristan Wirf - 6'5 and 320 lbs.

Billy Shaw - 6'2 and 260 lbs

Art Donovan - 6'2 and 260 lbs

 

 

Edited December 6, 2023 by Royale with Cheese

[zow2]

Even today as I flip on National TV and radio sports shows it’s blah blah, is Josh Allen good enough, how many turnovers?…blah blah, is McDermott on the way out?... etc.   There’s no such thing as the Buffalo Bills, it’s the Allen’s and McDermott’s.

 

So the new AFC East standings (since I’m bored on a Wednesday) are:

 

Miami Dolphins 9 - 3

New York Jets  4 - 8

Josh Allen  3 - 1.5

McDermott 3 - 4.5

New England Pats 2 - 10

 

***There are a few games where Allen and McD should share the win or loss so they each get half.

[Teddy KGB]

They lost to Mac Jones are you all high ? 

[Fleezoid]

[RiotAct]

16 minutes ago, Teddy KGB said:

They lost to Mac Jones are you all high ? 

hey, even most Super Bowl champions have at least one game on their regular season slate where you go “how the hell did they lose THAT one???”

 

Unfortunately, we have two so far   (not counting the Broncos game where you could make the argument for that one as well given the situation late in the game)