Getting 1st place in 2025 will be huge…and we have the schedule to do it

[BADOLBILZ]

1 minute ago, LabattBlue said:

Be more specific?  Let me get out my crystal ball and see how the draft, FA and training camp goes for all AFC teams.  😂

 

 

 

 

Is someone making you come to TBD and open threads about getting the #1 seed?

 

See my message to Beast.  

 

Your speculation the day before the opener would have no more validity than making it does today.   The preseason favorite the day before regular season kickoff has gone on to win like 2 of the last 20 SB's or something.    

 

It's all just entertainment.  

 

 

[LabattBlue]

1 minute ago, BADOLBILZ said:

 

 

Is someone making you come to TBD and open threads about getting the #1 seed?

 

See my message to Beast.  

 

Your speculation the day before the opener would have no more validity than making it does today.   The preseason favorite the day before regular season kickoff has gone on to win like 2 of the last 20 SB's or something.    

 

It's all just entertainment.  

 

 

nvm

[BADOLBILZ]

Just now, BarleyNY said:

Yeah. That’s all in line with my point. You can’t know how it’ll all shake out for your team or anyone else. No harm in some fans making some optimistic projections, but we will see dozens of things to change those projections leading up to the season and then again during the season. 

 

Do you think you will know more about how it will shake out later in the offseason?   Or in the preseason?  

 

Other than some additional knowledge key injury issues.......which can still happen at ANY time....you probably won't.  

 

Remember when the Ravens were the #1 seed and then added Derrick Henry?   They subsequently had a worse record and didn't advance as far.  

 

The teams that appear to make more moves or bigger moves won't necessarily come out on top either so you have to take the offseason with a grain like anything else.   The Chiefs won a SB after subtracting their best offensive skill player.   You could argue that the Bills got better doing the same after subtracting Diggs and like 5 of their captains.   Chiefs and Bills made far lesser moves in the offseason than Baltimore and Houston and still sent those teams packing in the divisional round.

 

 

[YoloinOhio]

RIP the Senator

 

20-0 baby 

Edited Saturday at 07:34 PM by YoloinOhio

[FireChans]

7 minutes ago, YoloinOhio said:

RIP the Senator

 

20-0 baby 

What

[BarleyNY]

25 minutes ago, BADOLBILZ said:

 

Do you think you will know more about how it will shake out later in the offseason?   Or in the preseason?  

 

Other than some additional knowledge key injury issues.......which can still happen at ANY time....you probably won't.  

 

Remember when the Ravens were the #1 seed and then added Derrick Henry?   They subsequently had a worse record and didn't advance as far.  

 

The teams that appear to make more moves or bigger moves won't necessarily come out on top either so you have to take the offseason with a grain like anything else.   The Chiefs won a SB after subtracting their best offensive skill player.   You could argue that the Bills got better doing the same after subtracting Diggs and like 5 of their captains.   Chiefs and Bills made far lesser moves in the offseason than Baltimore and Houston and still sent those teams packing in the divisional round.

 

 

 

Yes, we will all know more and be able to make better predictions as time passes. FA will bring things into better focus, then the draft, then cuts, then every week. Anyone skilled at projecting anything should know that our ability to project the season’s outcome today is very, very poor. I’m not sure what you’re even arguing. You seem to be disagreeing with me, but then you write paragraphs supporting what I’ve said. 

Edited Saturday at 07:52 PM by BarleyNY

[Augie]

1 hour ago, Beast said:

Predicting strength of schedule 7 months before kickoff is a foolish task.

 

I think that’s why we do it. We like to be consistent.  😊

 

Actually, even after week one it’s hard to say exactly what each team will be, and they could look like different teams over the course of the season. 

 

Fingers crossed for next year. If the Steeler’s “home game” in Dublin happens to be against the Bills, I’d have to give that serious consideration! 

 

.

Edited Saturday at 08:06 PM by Augie

[BADOLBILZ]

34 minutes ago, BarleyNY said:

 

Yes, we will all know more and be able to make better predictions as time passes. FA will bring things into better focus, then the draft, then cuts, then every week. Anyone skilled at projecting anything should know that our ability to project the season’s outcome today is very, very poor. I’m not sure what you’re even arguing. You seem to be disagreeing with me, but then you write paragraphs supporting what I’ve said. 

 

 

Yeah, that's the fallacy.   You think you will know better but in reality you won't.  You wouldn't know that a Zack Baun will become an NFLDPOY after signing for peanuts.   You won't know that a rag tag looking bunch of acquisitions and a rookie QB will lead the Commanches to the NFCCG.   The Vikings win 14 games?  C'mon even in the preseason people thought they'd have a losing record.   You won't know that the Niners will fall apart early and the Lions fall apart late.   Most observers didn't think the Bills would be anywhere near as good as they were.  

 

The reality is that a bunch of the really good, consistently good, elite QB'd teams are going to finish near the top.  The Bills are one of those.  So as futile as the exercise is........I like where they start the offseason and doubt that will change much for the worse given their track record and the variables we know of.

[BBills]

It’s like a vicious cycle every year. 

[BarleyNY]

38 minutes ago, BADOLBILZ said:

 

 

Yeah, that's the fallacy.   You think you will know better but in reality you won't.  You wouldn't know that a Zack Baun will become an NFLDPOY after signing for peanuts.   You won't know that a rag tag looking bunch of acquisitions and a rookie QB will lead the Commanches to the NFCCG.   The Vikings win 14 games?  C'mon even in the preseason people thought they'd have a losing record.   You won't know that the Niners will fall apart early and the Lions fall apart late.   Most observers didn't think the Bills would be anywhere near as good as they were.  

 

The reality is that a bunch of the really good, consistently good, elite QB'd teams are going to finish near the top.  The Bills are one of those.  So as futile as the exercise is........I like where they start the offseason and doubt that will change much for the worse given their track record and the variables we know of.

Were you able to adjust your expectations of the Bills’ final regular season record after they beat KC to get to 9-2? Were you able to adjust your expect of the Vikings regular season record after seeing how Darnold performed in that offense? I was. 

 

Another example is the Lions. I thought they were a strong contender to make the NFCCG and SB. Then just about their whole defense went down with injuries. That made me think they’d get bounced early in the playoffs, which they did. 

Edited Saturday at 09:09 PM by BarleyNY

[BADOLBILZ]

23 minutes ago, BarleyNY said:

Were you able to adjust your expectations of the Bills’ final regular season record after they beat KC to get to 9-2? Were you able to adjust your expect of the Vikings regular season record after seeing how Darnold performed in that offense? I was. 

 

Another example is the Lions. I thought they were a strong contender to make the NFCCG and SB. Then just about their whole defense went down with injuries. That made me think they’d get bounced early in the playoffs, which they did. 

 

 

You are just undermining your attempted point when talking about your year-long fluctuations of opinion.   You aren't likely to know much better after free agency and the draft.......it just feels that way.   I mean MOST free agency signings fail and 1st rounders typically hit at just under a 50% rate.......but you think knowing which teams get which player then is really going to clarify things?

 

Again, if you have one of the truly elite, durable QB's and consistently win and aren't aging out and consistently rank among the less injured teams(contrary to some Bills fans feels) and don't have to do a lot of business in "fail agency" then you are probably one of the best bets.    Those are things we know right now.   

[BearNorth]

2 hours ago, BADOLBILZ said:

Their [Bills] QB is not only coming off his best year but is the most durable in the NFL. 

 

Toughest might be a better adjective than durable, he was on the injury report pretty much the entire season, and I suspect some of his issues being able to stretch the field were injury-related.  Fortunately our O-line and trio of RB's mean't he didn't have to play as much "hero ball".

[BarleyNY]

40 minutes ago, BADOLBILZ said:

 

 

You are just undermining your attempted point when talking about your year-long fluctuations of opinion.   You aren't likely to know much better after free agency and the draft.......it just feels that way.   I mean MOST free agency signings fail and 1st rounders typically hit at just under a 50% rate.......but you think knowing which teams get which player then is really going to clarify things?

 

Again, if you have one of the truly elite, durable QB's and consistently win and aren't aging out and consistently rank among the less injured teams(contrary to some Bills fans feels) and don't have to do a lot of business in "fail agency" then you are probably one of the best bets.    Those are things we know right now.   

 

I’m not undermining my point that as more useful information is attained, better predictions can be made. 

 

You’re assuming a lot (incorrectly) in the rest of your post. 

Edited Saturday at 10:23 PM by BarleyNY

[Jerome007]

5 hours ago, RochesterLifer said:

I can see it now, December 2025, the Bills are 15-0 and have already clinched home field advantage. The TBD naysayers are in an uproar. "We haven't beaten anybody! The Bills are awful! Fire Beane! Fire McDermott!

Nah. Not if 15-0. But imagine an early exit scenario like the Lions 🥴

 

Or the Bills finally reach the Superbowl, to get humiliated like the Chiefs just did. If Mahomes and KC hadn't won before, this would be a disaster, with fans demanding heads. Their past successes made this loss less catastrophic. 

[Mike in Horseheads]

3 hours ago, YoloinOhio said:

RIP the Senator

 

20-0 baby 

Did the Senator pass away?

[BADOLBILZ]

1 hour ago, BearNorth said:

Toughest might be a better adjective than durable, he was on the injury report pretty much the entire season, and I suspect some of his issues being able to stretch the field were injury-related.  Fortunately our O-line and trio of RB's mean't he didn't have to play as much "hero ball".

 

 

You can't really quantify "toughest".  

 

117 straight starts and 5 straight 40 TD seasons.  5 straight division titles.   Those are the kind of things you can quantify.

 

The main reason the Bills and Chiefs are always deep in the playoffs is because they can consistently reproduce their results.

 

Nobody else is anywhere near as consistent.   And a lot of that is projectable.  

 

For instance, we know right now that unless one of them gets traded one of Lamar and Joe Burrow will AT BEST be playing on the road in the WC round.

[Talley56]

It does beg the question, if we are unbeaten and clinch homefield with one (or perhaps two) games left, do we start Allen and all of the other starters to go for unbeaten knowing we could risk a serious injury to Allen that could cost us a shot at even winning the SB?  Keeping in mind when Brady and all of NE's starters played in the last game to go unbeaten back in the day after clinching HF they had at least won multiple SBs by that point so they had already experienced multiple championships.

[YoloinOhio]

6 hours ago, Mike in Horseheads said:

Did the Senator pass away?

Yes 😔

[Mike in Horseheads]

Just now, YoloinOhio said:

Yes 😔

Thx, I didn't know 😒

[YoloinOhio]

1 minute ago, Mike in Horseheads said:

Thx, I didn't know 😒

I was trying to find the thread just now but can’t find it. It was maybe within the last couple of years