Buffalo Bills: 2020-2021

[Randall Flagg]

Andy Dalton came real close to beating the Bills with THAT Bengal team. Way closer than Prescott, Elliott, and Cooper did. 

He has the same characteristics that made Fitz so prickly down the stretch for the Dolphins. 

The Bills still would have lost the first Pats game last year had Dalton played it. That's because Brady was awful, but Bill, his defense, and his special teams were a nightmare.

Watch Hoyer's game with Indy last year. Watch Stidham throw from his hip like Tebow. There's a 100% chance that Dalton is worth 2 or more wins above a Hoyer replacement on that Pats team, and a pretty good chance he's a lot better than Stidham. Considering that we play NE twice, I want them going with the worse QBs, because they will give us a fit no matter what

[spndnchz]

Schedule in 2 seconds 

[Eleven]

3 minutes ago, spndnchz said:

Schedule in 2 seconds 

It's out.

 

https://www.buffalobills.com/news/nfl-schedule-2020-buffalo-bills-information

[shrader]

I'm a few too many beers in to figure it out myself, but how different is this from the original schedule?

[Eleven]

6 minutes ago, shrader said:

I'm a few too many beers in to figure it out myself, but how different is this from the original schedule?

Was it changed?

[shrader]

26 minutes ago, Eleven said:

Was it changed?

I thought it was already out, but maybe that was just the list of home and road opponents.  See, these are the problems you run into when you no longer have any clue what day it is.  It might be friday or tuesday, may or march, the 18th or the 75th... I don't have any clue anymore.

[Eleven]

5 minutes ago, shrader said:

I thought it was already out, but maybe that was just the list of home and road opponents.  See, these are the problems you run into when you no longer have any clue what day it is.  It might be friday or tuesday, may or march, the 18th or the 75th... I don't have any clue anymore.

The day ends in a Y.  I have no idea of the month.

[Eleven]

So a zoom conversation with two friends resulted in the following predictions:  8-8, 11-5, 10-6.

I'm the 10-6.

This is not an easy schedule.

[darksabre]

4 minutes ago, Eleven said:

So a zoom conversation with two friends resulted in the following predictions:  8-8, 11-5, 10-6.

I'm the 10-6.

This is not an easy schedule.

The nice part is that winning the division might finally be easier than getting a wild card slot.

[Eleven]

1 minute ago, darksabre said:

The nice part is that winning the division might finally be easier than getting a wild card slot.

The 11-5 friend predicted that calls would still go NE's way.  So maybe not.

[darksabre]

5 minutes ago, Eleven said:

The 11-5 friend predicted that calls would still go NE's way.  So maybe not.

Man, I dunno. I thought NE was beatable last year. I think we got em this year. 

[Eleven]

Just now, darksabre said:

Man, I dunno. I thought NE was beatable last year. I think we got em this year. 

New England WAS beatable last year, except for those pesky referees.

[Taro T]

1 hour ago, shrader said:

I'm a few too many beers in to figure it out myself, but how different is this from the original schedule?

Pretty sure the one you're talking about is the schedule that had been released as the "contingency" schedule that would've front loaded non-playoff tie-breaking games at the front of the schedule.  The thought being, that if games had to get lost early then the divisional games and the full division in-conference games would still get played and inter conference games would be the 1st 4 games lost & then the 2 in-conference floater games would be lost next.  So then they'd play 3 games in-division over 4 weeks (all byes were in that window) followed by 4 games against an in-conference division, then end rolling through their own division's teams to end the regular season.

Hadn't seen any other full schedules, though the guesses that the Bills would play KC & SF in prime time were correct.

20 minutes ago, Eleven said:

New England WAS beatable last year, except for those pesky referees.

So was Houston.  

[darksabre]

I still think they should have won the Baltimore game last year. It was one of their best games all season. 

[ubkev]

7-9

[That Aud Smell]

7 hours ago, ubkev said:

7-9

I look at that schedule, and see a losing record. The margins of error in the NFL are razor thin and most teams are very close in terms of overall quality. The Bills are being hyped up. It’s a scenario that screams out for falling short of overdone expectations.

[tom webster]

9 hours ago, Eleven said:

So a zoom conversation with two friends resulted in the following predictions:  8-8, 11-5, 10-6.

I'm the 10-6.

This is not an easy schedule.

Besides the competition, it’s the travel.  Playing in Vegas, then Nashville and then coming home to play on Thursday against the Super Bowl champs is quite the gauntlet. That doesn’t even include three more trips out west, one of them a MNF game against the NFC champs.

That being said, I’m with you at 10-6.

Edited May 8, 2020 by tom webster

[Taro T]

46 minutes ago, That Aud Smell said:

I look at that schedule, and see a losing record. The margins of error in the NFL are razor thin and most teams are very close in terms of overall quality. The Bills are being hyped up. It’s a scenario that screams out for falling short of overdone expectations.

It might be that they do end up at or below 0.500, but if it does happen the division's winning %age is going to be ~0.333 outside of intradivision games.  The Cheats are the competition until they aren't and they are lacking a QB, WRs, & their O-line is questionable.  The other 2 are hot garbage until they aren't.

On paper, the AFCE has the toughest schedule of all.  But in the NFL, the teams that are predicted to be good in the preseason aren't when the bullets fly & vice versa.  Still expect the Bills to be the top team, or at worst 2nd team in the East, so 8-8 or 9-7 could win the division if the slog is as tough as expected.

10-6 is my guess.

[That Aud Smell]

I will say: If Josh Allen can better manage the hero ball urges and just (consistently) be more consistent, I’d feel good about predicting 10 wins.

Here’s hoping!

[dudacek]

2 hours ago, That Aud Smell said:

I look at that schedule, and see a losing record. The margins of error in the NFL are razor thin and most teams are very close in terms of overall quality. The Bills are being hyped up. It’s a scenario that screams out for falling short of overdone expectations.

This is the proper Buffalo response.

[GASabresIUFAN]

6 hours ago, dudacek said:

This is the proper Buffalo response.

Couldn’t agree more.  The Bills went 10-6 last year but only 4-4 at home.  Other then the terrible Philly game, they 5 other losses were by 7 pts or less.  

The D will be solid or better again and therefore thus team will be in every game.  This means 8-8 at the worst. However we have added Diggs, a solid compliment to Singletary at RB in Moss and the OL should be improved with another season of stability.  Simply put this team is better then last year and the schedule is reasonable. Baring a ton of injuries, this team is going to 10-6 at the worst with 12-4 a real possibility.

[Eleven]

4 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

8-8 at the worst

 

4 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

10-6 at the worst

Ok.  What's going on here?

[GASabresIUFAN]

3 minutes ago, Eleven said:

 

Ok.  What's going on here?

I should have phrased it better, but the D is worth 8-8 as a starting point.  The improved O puts a floor at 10-6 with a bigger improvement in record very very possible.

[JujuFish]

1 hour ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

I should have phrased it better, but the D is worth 8-8 as a starting point.  The improved O puts a floor at 10-6 with a bigger improvement in record very very possible.

I see 8-8 for the record, with it going up only if the offense improves over last year. 

[Randall Flagg]

What a brilliant schedule. I love everything about it. The AFCE teams have a tough road. 

I'm not sure when it happened, but I like football a lot more than hockey now