Welcome back to the Buffalo Bread podcast.
Here we are on week 18 and I apologize to everybody
that we did not record last week.
Happy New Year, we're in the New Year.
And 2024 was the year of general,
deathly ill sickness for the entire family under my roof.
And this is the struck again.
You know, I was counting it up and my young son
has had four double ear infections, RSV, COVID,
the flu and several colds just from August 5th to present.
And so we were down low again on the injured reserve list
for the last couple of weeks.
So thank you all for your patience.
And we're glad to be with you here this week to preview
what can only be described as a preseason game
for the Buffalo Bills and then look forward
into the wildcard weekend and what that might
spell for our beloved bills.
Dan, tell me you're healthy
because I need some good...
I mean, I'm not sick.
I don't know if my doctor would say I'm healthy
but I'm definitely not sick.
Man, shout out to Theo, little guy toughen it out.
So he's in daycare, right?
Yeah, dude.
It's an incubator.
I sent both of my kids to daycare, right?
But by kindergarten, germs are gonna bounce off the kid,
right?
Unfortunately, you and your wife, given your age,
like me and my wife experience,
your immune systems won't benefit
from that type of exposure.
You're just gonna get sicker as you get older
because of the kid.
But the kid is gonna be impervious to germs pretty soon.
Yeah, he's gonna be a walking antibody.
It's gonna be great.
I'll take all of it as long as he's good.
He will be.
He's definitely gonna be good.
I wouldn't sweat it.
Yeah, man, we got some catching up to do though.
So I'm happy to report very briefly
that one Brandon Bennett, friend of the pod,
not friend of the bills,
loved his time with Bill's mafia.
Awesome.
Dude, we hit Hammerslot.
We hit a bunch of different tailgate spots.
I've never seen anyone,
and I've brought fans from opposing teams
to those games before.
I've never seen Bill's mafia embrace
an opponent's fan in the way I saw them embrace Brandon.
He just, we were carrying around a bunch of blue lights
and we were shotgunning beers as a way to like,
ingratiate ourselves to whatever crowd we were with.
So I mean, we went through,
must have gone through like a 30 rack or something like that.
It was absolutely incredible.
He loved it.
He also found some of his people,
not a lot of Pats fans out for this particular game,
but he did find some of his people.
And dude, it was a nail biter.
It was a nail biting game.
And I don't, it was a surprisingly good game
for what was thought to have been a blowout,
even by Brandon, the Pats fan, the resident Pats fan.
40 to six, they weren't gonna score a touchdown,
that's what I'm saying.
I know, and then when he,
we were texting while you guys are in the stadium
about the, at the midpoint of being 14 nothing Patriots.
And I was like, this is icky.
Hang on, you and Brandon have your own text chain?
No, you're replacing me?
On ours, you're on the chain, man.
You just weren't paying attention.
Oh, I probably wasn't just paying attention.
I mean, let's go back to the part
where I said we shotgun 30 beers.
Right.
I probably wasn't paying attention.
You may not have been in the state of mind
to read at that point.
Definitely not.
That's fine, no worries.
But yeah, I love that for him to be,
and also, yes, Bill's mafia is wonderful.
We both know this.
Brandon is also, I can say this,
a relatively likable guy from anybody's outgoing
and charismatic, so I think that helps for sure.
Oh, absolutely, yeah.
He was in his element, let me tell you.
If Bill's mafia could have adopted Brandon
as like a spirit animal that day, they would have.
So yeah.
It's a great time though.
Token Patriots.
It was a great time of the game, that's for sure.
And to your point about the Patriots fans
not being present at the game,
they all, a vast majority of Pat's Nation,
not Brandon, but others,
they hung up their Brady jerseys
and then put on their Mahomes jerseys in like 2019.
Are you calling Patriots fans, fair weather fans?
Oh yes, absolutely.
The same as the magnificent proliferation
of Chiefs fans on both coasts of the United States.
Of this nation and all over the world.
It's just how it goes.
Like every generation has had a team that gets super hot
and people come out of the woodwork,
oh yeah, I'm totally a Patriots fan.
Oh yeah, I'm totally a Chief fan.
Even now, I'm totally a Bill's fan.
There are Bill's mafia wagoners for sure.
Oh, absolutely.
But for those of you in Patriots Nation,
I'm happy to report there is no one more Boston than Brandon
and he is for sure never straying
from the path of the New England Patriots.
And he's not, dude, he saw a lot to like with Drake May,
the guys the Bill's are gonna be facing this week.
But before we talk about the future of one franchise,
shall we talk about the past of another?
Shout out to the New Jersey Jets,
oh and two against the Bill's this year.
And Aaron Rodgers just looking worse
with every subsequent game.
Listen, I don't wanna spend a whole lot of time
on this Jets game.
I don't know that there's a lot to take away
other than that is a franchise that needs to tear it down
and rebuild it.
And I don't think Rex Ryan is the guy.
Do you?
He's lobbying hard for that job, man.
I don't think Rex Ryan is the guy.
And it may be worthwhile for Woody Johnson's teenage son
to rebuild it in Roblox or something
and then see how that looks.
God, that's awesome.
Because of the news that came out
that they snubbed a Cortland Sutton trade
because Woody Johnson's son said his Madden rating
wasn't very high.
Which is just like.
It was the Judy trade.
It was the Jared Judy trade.
Oh, it was Jared Judy.
I thought it was Cortland's.
I got the wrong Denver receiver.
But it's just like, everything I hear about that franchise
just makes me feel worse and worse for all
of the Jets fans out there,
the long suffering Jets fans and longer every day.
There was a lot of quitting that team.
I was watching that game and like the first couple
of drives kind of went as we had predicted
on our social medias, which is listen,
Rogers is going to dink and dunk.
He's going to find soft spots in the zone.
Despite his like decrepit age and ability,
he's still good enough to do that
against an average NFL defense,
which is what the bills are purely average
and defense at this point.
But the bills have a D did what it always does,
get got turnovers.
And after those first two drives,
end of the way they did for the Jets,
you could tell that team was ready to leave.
Sauce Gardner said as much, he's like,
listen, we're not going to the playoffs
and there's definitely guys not giving it their all.
I'm like, am I right?
Yeah.
Honesty.
Honesty out of sauce.
All right.
All right, condiment.
Well, so the thing that I'll say is like watching that game
and I noticed watching the Jets game,
there are two reasons that teams get chippy.
And like one is like sincere hatred.
I do think that there's some animosity
between the Jets and the bills just because
their confidence opponents to see each other,
if Deondock and Squawkin and talking crap,
which we all love.
And so there is a little bit of that,
but the two base reasons that teams will get chippy,
one is that they're highly competitive
and dislike each other.
The second is that one team is so outmatched
that it hates itself.
And I think that's what we saw.
The Jets players squawking after plays
and getting in people's faces was their frustration
at how abysmally their season went.
A season of destiny where national pundits
were saying that they were gonna take the East from the bills
and go to the playoffs and break their playoff drought.
And here they sit at three and 13,
are they three and 13, four and 12?
They're four and 12.
I think they're four and 12, yeah.
So yeah, to have three times as many losses
as wins on a season where they were supposed
to be contending for a Super Bowl is,
they were fighting because they were mad at themselves
just as much as they were mad at the bills.
Yeah, I mean, what is attractive about this job?
Like I really do wonder.
It feels like Garrett Wilson is gonna be
the next wide receiver to ask for a trade this off season.
He just seems really discontent with that franchise
and how things are going.
You've got Quentin Williams,
you've got Will MacDonald,
who has shown out this year as a really good edge.
You've got Jermaine Johnson,
depending on how healthy he comes back.
DJ Reed is already like, yep, I'm testing free agency.
I mean, you don't have a quarterback, right?
You may not have a wide receiver one,
depending on what the team does with Wilson and Adams.
What's attractive about this job
other than it is one of 32, right?
Like you could have said that
about the Panthers job last year,
but I would argue the Panthers at least at the time,
they had a young QB, a pretty young defensive core,
some stuff to build around, right?
And then adequate draft capital and cap space.
I mean, what are the Jets really have?
Christian Gonzalez, I don't know.
The Jets don't have anything.
So the problem is, I think the biggest problem
when you're a head coach looking for a position
is you want to know that the front office is unified
to let you do what you need to do to build a winner.
And this team doesn't have that.
They don't have strong leadership.
They don't, I mean, I don't know
that their owners even care about football really,
like, because they don't seem to understand
how to pick the right people to do the thing.
And it even shows in their like weird, you know,
getting a former GM to lead a search to find a new GM
seems like a very strange approach.
There's a reason that, yeah.
Well, that's what I'm saying is there's a reason he's no,
it's the reason it'd be like,
oh, somebody even said this on X, you know,
it's like having your ex-wife pick your new wife.
Like that's, there's a reason that person
might not have your best interest in it at heart.
And it just seems, they're just silly.
They just do Jetsian things all the time
and poor, poor, long suffering Jared.
I feel bad for him every time I see anything
in the news about them.
Oh God, thoughts and prayers for Jared, man.
Like this season.
But it went exactly the way he predicted it.
I think of our friends of the pod,
Brandon pretty much nailed the Pat season at this point.
And as much as he enjoyed watching Drake May play,
he's still like Drake May got the hell beat out of him
this year, please leave him alone in week 18.
Please don't play him.
Jared nailed the Jets.
Steve was the only one that was way, way off
on his prediction.
He screamed from the mountain tops, dolphin super bowl.
Now in fairness, they still have a chance to squeak in,
which we'll talk about here as we talk about
potential bills opponents and the scenarios
that they need in order to get a seven seed.
But yeah, man, out of all of the coaching vacancies,
this feels like the most full rebuild right now.
Even if Jared Mayo gets canned in New England,
you've got Christian Gonzalez on the defensive side.
You've got Drake May on the offensive side.
You've got a trio of young receivers
that you can kind of do some stuff with.
If you sign like a T Higgins, you've got cap space.
You really just got to fix the offensive line
in the pass rush.
And that's a competitive team right away.
The Jets, again, other than being one of 32,
I mean, they seem very, very unattractive,
particularly for a lot of the top candidates
that are out there in Ben Johnson and Mike Rable.
So I don't know, man.
And now I realize that I said Christian Gonzalez
when we were talking about the Jets, he's on the Patriot.
Yeah.
That's okay.
You said at the very beginning of this,
you have been illness addled.
So it's so difficult for sure.
Definitely have the flu right now.
Let's be honest, other than the bills this season,
all these AFC East teams kind of blend together
with the same problems.
Yeah, they do.
They do.
And, you know, we can roast Steve for his dolphins
in the Super Bowl take if they get eliminated this weekend.
But I think they're the only team
that even looks differently.
You know, they look competitive,
but definitely the Jets and Patriots look,
basically you just change the logos and I'm like, oh, okay.
But I do think that there's so much more to see
from the Patriots going forward than the Jets.
The Jets are a mess.
And I do think that talking about this weekend's
upcoming matchup with the Patriots,
should the bills win, bills backups win against the Patriots,
the Patriots have locked in the number one
overall pick in the draft,
which if they trade even down to the second overall pick,
could be worth like three number second round picks.
Actually.
Yeah, absolutely.
That's the kind of ammunition you could use
to rebuild an entire franchise in one draft.
Oh yeah, for sure.
If you feel like you got the right player personnel
manager in there, which again,
I don't think the Patriots know that they have.
I mean, honestly, if I'm the Pats,
what is stopping you from going out
and hiring like a Lewis Riddick,
who's had a really good run in this league?
And then, or, you know, back up the Brinks truck
for Mike Vrable, hope that he can,
with his vast experience, hire the right offensive mind
to work with Drake May,
and then let him pick his GM of choice.
I mean, at least be aligned, right?
Like Kyle Shanahan.
Oh God, now I'm gonna blank on it.
Who's the, is it John Lynch?
Who's the GM?
John Lynch for the Broncos?
Yeah.
No, the GM for the 49ers.
I think it's Lynch.
Oh, is John Lynch the 49ers GM?
Yeah, I'm almost positive it is, yeah.
Former DB and big hit master, John Lynch?
Yeah, that guy, yeah.
So I don't know, we'll see, we'll see.
But enough about talking about what's gonna happen
in the off season with these teams that have been eliminated.
We're gonna have plenty of time to do that.
JJ, the bills do have a week 18 game,
which they are more or less looking like
they're going to treat as a buy.
Josh Ailin will start in a very, very limited capacity
to continue his consecutive start streak.
And then I would imagine after the first series,
we're gonna see a lot of the starters pulled
and get some rest as they gear up for whoever
their wild card matchup is gonna be.
JJ, I don't know that there's a lot of value
in talking about keys to victory
because I think both teams are probably in a place
where they're gonna rest some of their injured starters.
Bills with a look on the playoffs,
Patriots with a look on next season.
What are you expecting out of this game?
I do expect Josh Ailin, there's three things
that I think they were talking about pre-pod
when we're getting ready to record
that I think the bills are mindful of.
They say that this week is we're trying to go one and O.
We don't care about this, we don't care about that.
But I do think they of course care about the start streak
because McDermott has said as much,
Josh Ailin has said as much.
Currently Josh Ailin is 13th on the NFL
all-time quarterback start streak list.
And he's behind three Tom Brady seasons,
three streaks that Tom Brady accomplished.
Tom Brady holds the 10th, 11th, and 12th positions
on the list with streaks of 110,
Josh Ailin's current streak 111,
and 112.
The thing that I think will be most funny
is with this being the last regular season,
because that's only talking about regular season,
games in a row, with this being the last regular season
game of the year, Josh Ailin will move up
to tie Tom Brady at 11 with 111 with a start this weekend,
and split up that block.
So Tom Brady will be like 10th,
tied with Josh Ailin for 11th, and then 12th and 13th.
And so it's going to be an interesting thing,
but that's gonna put Josh Ailin next season,
could get all the way up to on the list with Joe Flacco
being holding the streak of 122 games.
And so it's an exciting time, I think they're gonna do that.
That's one of the stats I think they're gonna be mindful
of the second one is that James Cook is 19 yards away
from two consecutive thousand yard rushing seasons.
And so I think they're going to be thoughtful of that
potentially, depending, I mean, if James Cook has anything
going on medically, they'll sacrifice that particular
statistical output for making sure he's healthy
for the playoffs, but if he's good to go,
I think that you might see Josh Ailin and the starters
on offense get the first couple series with three, four,
five, six handoffs to James Cook to try to get him
those last 20 yards.
Absolutely.
And I would the third, just that third one is most different
or most unique players on a team to catch a touchdown
in a season, the bills are tied with a bunch of other teams
for 13, if they get a 14th player, a passing touchdown
in this game, which is likely given that all backups
will be playing that they would set an NFL record
for a season.
So let's do prediction sure to go wrong.
Who is number 14?
Has Reggie Gilliam caught one yet this year
because he's my guy?
He has not.
I would put money that he has number 14 for sure.
Okay.
I say it's gonna be like a dark horse, like a KJ Hamler.
Oh yeah, I could see that happening for sure.
Cause he could be a call up for sure.
Cause I think he also plays defensive,
or he plays special teams.
So.
Yeah, so he's got some added value there.
I mean, based on what I've been reading
from reports around the team, they're very cognizant
of this record and wanting to own this record
to really validate the everybody eats mantra.
I just like, to me, Reggie Gilliam is the perfect guy
that you want breaking that record.
Some sort of little leak out of the backfield
in the red zone, right?
Gilliam time, I just let the dude do it.
Let the dude do it and let him live on in the history books
for the NFL and the Buffalo Bills forever.
Well, one thing I love about the whole 13 different players
that have a touchdown reception right now is that,
well, two things I love.
One is that Mack Hollins is number one on the list
with five total TDs.
And two is that Josh Allen is one of the players
that has a receiving TD.
Which is incredibly incredible.
From the San Francisco game, yeah,
like that's a really fun thing.
It's just absolutely incredible.
I freaking love it.
Oh my God, unreal.
But yeah, go ahead.
Oh, I was just gonna say,
my pick for that 14th touchdown is a fat guy touchdown.
I think they have not,
yeah, they have not done a tackle eligible leak
in the red zone.
And I could see that being a play,
especially with somebody like Mitch Trubisky in,
you could maybe an Alec Anderson or Ryan Van Damark
who I think is six, seven, right?
Like somebody like that who has some length
could be sneaking out.
We could see it.
We could absolutely see it, that's for sure.
All right, dude.
I think we've, I think that satiates me
for talking about this week 18 game.
Cause in the regular season, we can button it up.
We can absolutely button it up.
It is 110% done for me.
Wait, is Gilliam on the roster?
Yes.
Yeah, I'm looking at,
I'm just looking at their active roster right now.
I don't see him listed.
He's listed, fullback is broken out from running backs.
So it's probably a different line.
I don't see him on there,
but I know he's not the 53 man.
Yeah, all right.
I'm looking at the ESPN depth chart
and he's definitely listed as a fullback.
And he played, he's played way more snaps
in the past three weeks
than he did the rest of the season.
I'm telling you, dude, they're lining it up for Reggie.
Give it to Reggie.
Let Reggie be the one.
We, what do we want?
Do we want to bet something on this?
I feel like we should bet something on this.
Yeah.
Oh my gosh.
See, this is tough because I don't know.
I think I would only,
I would only be betting either that it is
or is not Reggie Gilliam.
I wouldn't be able to put my money
on any player of my own.
I'll give that to you.
I'll give you Reggie Gilliam or the field.
I'll give that to you.
I really do think it's going to be Gilliam.
I like it.
What are we betting?
Is it bourbon?
I think I'm right now, I owe you two
and you owe me one.
Bottle super.
Yes.
We still haven't settled that up yet.
So it's a net gain of plus one for me
and you owe me a wood chopping sword as well.
Oh yeah.
For, oh my gosh.
Which I think is held up with customs right now
for the last like six months.
Cause they only make them in Siberia.
There's like an old guy named Vlad
who hand smiths them.
It only cost me $100,000.
Exactly.
Thank you for that.
You're welcome.
So, all right.
I'll give you Gilliam or the field,
bottle of bourbon, done and done.
All right.
Book it.
All right, dude.
So let's move on because we are not in a position
where we can do a full wild card round preview
cause we have yet to know who the bill's opponent
is going to be.
But there are options, JJ.
There are options and going from least likely
to most likely, this is what they are.
We've got the Miami Dolphins.
Which with a chief's win and a Bengal loss
would find themselves in.
So that's the-
The Bengals are the least likely though.
Oh, I thought the Dolphins were the least likely.
No, cause the Dolphins get in if they win
and Denver wins as long as the Bengals,
no, they get in if Denver loses and they win.
Denver's gotta lose.
Even if the Bengals win.
Right.
Oh, interesting.
So the Bengals need to win
and have Denver and Miami lose.
Yeah.
Because of those, they have a strength of schedule,
tiebreaker I believe.
That's right, you are correct.
Because the Bengal or the Dolphins had the privilege
of playing the bills twice
which boosts their strength of schedule quite a bit.
That's correct.
Even though they played the Patriots
and Jets twice as well.
Oh, and the Bengals got the Ravens
and the Steelers and there as well.
That's weird.
Okay, anyway.
Yeah, so all right, cool.
So the Bengals, which seems to be the one
Bill's mafia is most skittish about,
they're not the one I want the most.
But I wouldn't be afraid to play these Bengals.
Just a different situation
from what it was a couple of years ago.
Then we have the Dolphins, familiar foe,
which I wouldn't sleep on because,
I mean, you know, Tua's not healthy
but it is hard to beat a divisional opponent
three times in one year.
We have seen this happen in the playoffs before
where an unlikely upset has occurred
under these circumstances.
Then we've got the Chargers
and the only reason the Chargers are in,
but they're a less likely seven seed
based on their win scenario
where they could go as high as the fifth seed.
And then we've got the Denver Broncos.
Am I missing anybody at this point?
No, that's it.
That's really it, right?
So JJ, out of that foursome, that fearsome foursome,
what's the team you would want to see the Bills face the most
and what is the team you'd want to see
the Bills face the least?
So I would want to see
probably, this is tough.
I would want to see the Broncos the most, rookie QB.
I would want to see the Dolphin the least,
but that's very, it's a very close tie with the Bengals.
Because, and here's the reason.
So the Bengals have a terrible defense.
They can't stop anybody,
but they've been playing quite a bit better
just the past few weeks,
and I'll take the recency trends
over the rest of the season,
because seasons are long, a lot of things can change.
I think that the Bengals offense
is playing better than any of those four teams,
and their defense is just doing enough to give them wins,
because they're on a streak right now,
and Joe Burrow is playing out of his freaking mind,
and I'm most afraid in the playoffs
of elite passing attacks,
of which the Bengals have the most elite in the league right now.
Okay, okay, I can go.
Plus, for those who might be most afraid of a third matchup
with the Dolphins who the Bills played tight
in their most recent meeting,
it would be in Buffalo, cold weather game,
Tua is not good.
Against a winning team, yeah.
Tua's not good against a winning team
in a very cold weather game.
Right, absolutely.
All right, interesting, interesting.
Okay, so it's interesting,
because the team you most want to play
is the team I least want to play.
Is it because Denver has an elite defense?
So their pass rush is elite.
I think they do have some, despite having Pat Sartan,
I do think they got some holes in the secondary,
but that pass rush is pretty elite.
Their time to pressure, their getoff,
and their sack percentage with organic,
four down organic pressure
is like somewhere between top five and top eight
in the league in most of those categories.
Their success rate on defense
is also higher than you would expect,
but dude, it's the offensive matchup.
To me, that really scares me.
This is not an efficient run team in Denver,
but when it comes to the pass game,
here's a couple of things I think we need to note
about this squad.
Their wide receivers are all big, fast, and tall,
and our DBs for the most part,
while they can play physical,
they're a little bit undersized,
and there's not a lot of difference
between the two teams,
but they're a little bit undersized,
and there's not a ton of team speed in our secondary,
outside of, I would say, Cole Bishop,
who has really flashed the past couple of weeks.
This is also, the Denver Broncos
are the number three team in the league
when it comes to getting wide receiver separation.
Their wide receivers know how to separate
and run crisp routes,
which is another problem for us, right?
And then finally, that offensive line pass protects, man.
A percent of pressure allowed,
a four bone necks is number four in the league.
So they've got wide receivers
that present individual matchup problems for us.
They have a QB who's gonna have time
to pick apart the zone when we lean on zone.
He's got big targets to throw to,
and listen, outside of Greg or so,
our pass rush has been a problem all year.
I don't care if it's a rookie or not,
you give anybody three, three and a half seconds
with those wide receivers that are gonna find targets.
I think the Bills win that game,
but I think it's like a 27, 24,
and we're all like, Jesus, the season is over next week
with whoever we play in the divisional rounds I became.
So I don't wanna play Denver for those reasons.
Counselor, I'd like to counterarguments
with the Ed Oliver defense.
He proved in the-
This is a shaky defense, Counselor, but I'll allow it.
I'll allow it. Thank you.
He proved in the Lions game
that he can make a fool of an elite interior offensive
linemen when properly motivated,
and I feel like this might be a game for that.
Ragnar I think is as good or better a center
than Denver has, and Ed Oliver was eating his lunch
all day long.
Plus the Denver Broncos have had great protection.
They are good against organic foreman pressure,
which is a problem for the Bills,
but I think also the Bills playing seven in coverage better.
They play seven in coverage better than a lot of defenses.
Even though they're middle of the pack statistically,
I think when they have their preferred outside corners
and all the starters that they expect to play at safety
and linebacker, this team can hold up against
a rookie quarterback, particularly because he has not,
he's probably not seen a defense as multiple
as Buffalo Bills can put on the field.
And I like the Babbage and McDermott kind of approach
to rookie quarterbacks.
They blitzed the hell out of Drake May,
and he handled it incredibly well.
So I could see them learning maybe,
you win or you learn, and they thankfully won the game,
but also probably learned that potentially blitzing
the hell out of bow nicks might not be the answer,
and that instead cycling and confusing coverage
might be a better solution with more things
muddying the passing windows.
I do think the disguised coverage looks that the Bills do,
and they're one of the best teams in the league,
regardless of who's in there.
I do think it'll matter,
and I do think it'll have an impact,
but at the end of the day, you've got to win matchups, right?
And those are some big, fast, strong targets
that he has to throw to their in space.
I was watching some Broncos film,
and the wide receiver trio,
they were rolling out there, led by one court,
and suddenly I'm like, they just look bigger
than everybody else, what's going on?
So I pulled their step, there's not a single person
who's under six, three in their top four wide receivers.
It's a huge wide receiver core,
and they're not just possession guys,
they got some speed guys there too.
So listen, I hear all of that.
On the Ed Oliver point, I think if Dan Campbell
had to do it again, he would not put Ragnar on Oliver
one on one as much as he did.
So I mean, listen, Ed's been double teamed
at a career high rate this year,
which is why he's disappeared a lot.
And because he is a lighter defensive tackle,
he really does have a hard time
if he doesn't have a really good get off,
busting through a double team.
I think Sean Payton is the experienced head coaches
he is, is going to see that.
He's going to be like, if Dequan Jones beats us
on the inside, I can live with that.
But if we allow Ed Oliver to do that,
I would resign tomorrow.
So I think Ed is just going to see a ton of double teams.
But I want to get too far into a pregame analysis
because we don't know if it's going to be the Broncos,
though all they got to do is beat Carson Wentz
and the backups for the Kansas City Chiefs and they're in.
So they are the most likely seven seed for the bills to play.
Let's talk a little bit about the Bengals.
I put a comp out there on social media.
The Bengals game would be a revisiting
of the Rams game for me,
where you've got two very vulnerable defenses,
two elite QBs, and on the opposing side
to all pro wide receivers and and Jamar Chase and T Higgins.
Maybe for the last time is that dynamic duo
in Cincinnati for Joe Borough to throw to.
I feel that that game is a shootout,
regardless of conditions, unless it's 70 mile an hour winds,
that game becomes becomes the Rams game to me on steroids.
And I worry about the bills in games like that
in the playoffs, because we just haven't seen,
we haven't seen them win a shootout
against a really good team in the postseason
in the McDermott era.
Well, I think to, you know, the other thing that,
and that's why that's my number one most worrying matchup
is because Joe Borough is playing better than any
of the other quarterbacks on the potential list
and their outside weapons are the exact kind
that have hurt the bills over and over throughout the season.
Even if the bills haven't, you know, lost a lot of games,
they have definitely given up a lot of yards
and they've relied on turnovers and kind of fluky plays,
penalties, different things to like give them,
to either shut down drives, give them extra possessions.
And that's the kind of thing in the playoffs
we know you cannot count on.
Teams play as clean as they possibly can.
Refs tend to keep their flags in their pockets
and, you know, the bills can't count on some randomness
to save them.
And so I'm most afraid of Borough and that offense
coming into Buffalo and putting out a clinic
because again, it's, you know, scar tissue,
but the bills pass rush disappearing in big games
and their coverage being too leaky, too soft
in big games in the zone are,
that's been every playoff exit to this point.
So, yeah, that's why I'm really hopeful
that Denver just takes care of business
against the chief's backups
and then they're walking into Buffalo next week.
Yeah, yeah.
I've got the bangles.
I've got the bangles is number two
that I wouldn't want to see on my list.
I go Broncos, bangles.
I'm not really rating the Chargers in here
because I think the Chargers are gonna,
I mean, again, they've got a chance to be a six or a five seed.
There'd have to be some weird stuff happened in their game
and the Broncos game for them to end up in the seven seed.
I do it, I just don't want to play the dolphins, right?
I don't want to play the dolphins.
And it's not because they scare me for any particular reason.
It is simply that they don't deserve to be there.
They have shown all season they can't beat winning teams.
I am sick of this team constantly chewing up media space.
And because I have said all of those things,
Karma will come to kill us.
And the one win that the dolphins get this year
will be in Buffalo in the playoffs.
That's it.
I'm just worried about my own negativity
I've put into the universe and I want to play the dolphins.
It is from a serious standpoint,
two is not healthy, which is an advantage to the bills.
Snoop Huntley, I don't care who he's playing on the bills team,
probably not beating that bill's defense
in Josh Allen in Buffalo in the playoffs.
And dude, the rush game,
the big vulnerability of this bill's defense,
the dolphins have just not been able to get it going this year.
Now, Isaiah Wayne did make a recent return to that lineup.
And while he is,
while I think he's overrated a bit in past protection,
he's a great run blocker.
So he does make that that Miami Dolphins run game
go a little bit better.
I just I worry that divisional familiarity,
those games are always weird.
The dolphins have played, including the playoffs,
several close games in recent memory in Buffalo,
in adverse elements.
And it's taken, I think, last second field goals
the last two times to put that team away.
I just I don't want that, man.
I don't want that drama.
I don't want divisional weirdness
leaking into my wild card weekend.
I hear you and I remember the bills playing
against Skyler Huntley two years ago in the playoffs.
Skyler Thompson.
Yeah. Oh, Snoop Huntley is the current backup.
Yeah.
I see who they played when Jackson got hurt
a couple years ago in that COVID season in the playoffs.
Yeah.
But yeah, I remember them playing against Skyler Thompson
when I was on vacation.
I'm actually, you know, if God willing,
everybody is healthy enough to travel.
I'll be flying out on Monday.
And so we'll be doing I'll be all of a different backdrop
for the next pod.
But but to the same vacation destination
that we were at the last time the bills played
the dolphins in the playoffs, which I hope doesn't happen again.
That's that the strong hope because I again
don't want to see the dolphins.
My my list is number one least the least desirable team
is Cincinnati to Miami.
I don't really count the chargers because I think
like you said, a lot of stuff has to go really wonky
this weekend for them to end up being the seven.
And so it's really Bengals, number one, dolphins, two,
and then Broncos three.
I'd most like to see the Broncos in the playoffs.
Put the chargers between the Broncos and the dolphins
if you have to.
But yeah.
But yeah, I do remember that game and remember thinking,
wow, this team looked pretty terrible against a backup
QB in at a home game that they should be just absolutely
walking over.
Dude, oh, God, that whole game was a mess.
That whole game was a mess.
But again, it's the curse of Planet
Divisional opponent three times in a single season.
It's tough.
It's tough to go three and oh, man.
Even Belichick's to come to it a couple of times
in the postseason.
So yeah, man.
For me, it is least likely Denver.
Bonix is not a traditional rookie QB to me.
He's had some games where he has looked terrible this season.
But great offensive line, great pass protection, wide receivers
that are a matchup problem for our secondary, especially
given what our health situation is right now.
I just I don't want to see that team.
Number two, the Bengals.
I think it's a shootout.
I'm hesitant to think the Bills can win a shootout
in the postseason because I haven't before.
But if there is a squad bill for it, it is this squad.
And then the team I least want to see the Dolphins
because I've talked so much crap about it.
It is what Steve needs for his moment of redemption.
Like all the Karmic forces are just
coming into a really bad focus for us if that happens.
I just really need Denver to take care of business,
even though I don't.
I just really need Denver to take care of business
at this point.
So yeah.
Same.
That's what I choose.
Yep.
All right.
Cool, man.
All right.
Do we want to do we care about scores for week 18?
I don't.
It doesn't matter.
No, I don't.
It's not.
This game is a chance.
The only thing that matters for Bill for the Bills
is to get because they have to dress some of their starters,
get those guys out of that game healthy.
And then quickly as possible.
Yeah, as quickly as possible.
I expect to see the Bills running the ball and punting a lot.
And so, you know, yeah, we'll see what happens.
So then the only thing we really have
a prediction sure to go wrong about is who, if anyone scores
touchdown number 14, I've got Gilliam.
You've got the field more specifically.
Six, you got a you got an offensive lineman,
maybe Alok Anderson.
Yeah, Asterix, my field to say potential, you know,
tackle eligible play in the red zone.
Sounds good.
Well, we will see how it goes, sir.
And then after this week, it is on to the postseason.
So for all of you listening at home,
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And as always, go Bills.
Go Bills.