The Bengals, Broncos, and Dolphins all have a chance at the seven seed. Who do you want the Bills to play?
Welcome back to our weekend chat, Buffalo Bills fans. Head to the comments to share your thoughts.
There are three possible teams the Bills could play in the opening round of the playoffs. Which team would you prefer? I’ll lay out the paths and my rationale for each, and want you to weigh in below!
Denver Broncos
Playoff Path
- Win and they’re the seven seed OR Bengals and Dolphins both lose
The Broncos can clinch the seven seed with a win over the Kansas City Chiefs backups on Sunday. If you’re a Bills fan of a certain age, you know that’s not a guarantee, but they have a pretty easy way forward regardless.
What scares the Bills about the Broncos?
The Broncos boast an excellent defense under Vance Joseph. They are fifth in points allowed and sixth in turnovers. They’ve given up a lot of yards but are very stout on a play-in, play-out basis. They rank third in net yards per passing attempt and second in rushing yards per attempt, fourth in points per drive allowed.
What shouldn’t scare the Bills about the Broncos?
Like Buffalo, their defense has caused turnovers giving their offense a shorter field. (They are second in average drive start.) The Broncos are 22nd in total yards. They have a rookie quarterback and they just aren’t consistent enough to sustain drives.
Miami Dolphins
Playoff Path
- Broncos loss PLUS Dolphins win or Bengals loss
The Dolphins face the Jets on Sunday, and a win puts them ahead of the Bengals for good. They still need help from the Chiefs.
What scares the Bills about the Dolphins?
Familiarity always is a bit scary and no team knows the Bills better than the Dolphins at this point. Miami almost beat Buffalo in early November, but a franchise-record field goal from Tyler Bass as time expired won the Bills the game. Five of the last seven have been one-score games between the two.
What shouldn’t scare the Bills about the Dolphins?
First, the game will be in Buffalo and Miami has not proven they can win in cold weather. The Dolphins have also been very suspect against teams with winning records. Including the playoffs, the Bills have won six straight against the Dolphins and 13 of 14. (It took a 100-degree day and a bunch of the Bills players falling victim to heat-related illness for that lone blip.)
Cincinnati Bengals
Playoff Path
- Win AND Broncos loss AND Dolphins loss
Of the three teams, the Bengals have the most difficult path to the postseason. They need help from the New York Jets, but if this is really the end of the road for Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams, I guess anything is possible.
What scares the Bills about the Bengals?
This is the team I least want to play. Their offense is on fire since everyone is healthy. They’ve scored more than 30 points in eight games this season and the game could turn into a track meet really easily with Buffalo’s defensive struggles. Joe Burrow and his receivers are All-Pro level, and I do not want them in the dance. The Bengals also have one of the best pass rushers in the NFL.
What shouldn’t scare the Bills about the Bengals?
Outside of Trey Hendrickson, the Bengals defense is bad-bad. It’s why they’ve lost so many games. The defense is 29th in points allowed, 27th in yards allowed, and 30th in first downs allowed. Buffalo has shown they can win track meets this season.
My favorite team to face would be the upstart Broncos. They are very green and while Sean Payton is an experienced coach, their rookie quarterback makes mistakes. Then I’d lean toward the paper-tiger Dolphins who can’t beat good teams and can’t win in the cold. Least of all do I want to see the Bengals. They could be bad news.
What do you think? Share your thoughts below!
Welcome to the weekend, Buffalo Bills fans. After a long week, it’s time to blow off a little steam. Use this thread to talk about… well, whatever it is you’d like to talk about. Maybe you’d like to share a cool story from your week.