Rex Ryan: The Buffalo Bills will end their playoff drought this year

The new Buffalo Bills head coach believes that the team will break the NFL’s longest current postseason drought of 15 years and make the NFL playoffs in 2016.

The Buffalo Bills have not made the playoffs since 1999, when they lost to the Tennessee Titans on the Music City Miracle.

As painful as that is to watch, Rex Ryan remains confident about the Bills’ chances in 2016, enough so to claim that the team’s 15-season drought will end this year.

From Pro Football Focus:

"“I think we’ll be in [the playoffs] this year,” Ryan said. “So we’ll see.”More from Buffalo BillsNFL rumors: Division rival could steal Dalvin Cook from DolphinsBills RB to miss entire season after freak jet ski accidentBills fan hitched the luckiest ride home from Atlanta with Sean McDermott3 best QB-receiver combinations in the NFL for the 2023 season3 Bills who won’t be on the roster after training camp“I can guarantee you one thing: Teams aren’t going to want to play us, I can tell you that much,” he said. “You’ll see. Hey, come watch practice and you’ll probably come away with the same feeling I have. We’re loaded on defense and we’re loaded at the skill positions. So we’ll see.”"

Yeah, we’ll see.

It’s practically Ryan’s job to say that the Bills are making the playoffs this year. Many current and former Bills players have claimed that this year will be the one where the Bills break through from the NFL’s middle class just outside of playoff contention and into the postseason. Just a couple of days ago, former Bills running back and Hall of Famer Thurman Thomas guaranteed a Bills playoff appearance. Ryan wasn’t being outrageous, just confident. It would be a bigger issue if he said that the Bills will miss the playoffs

What kind of chance do the Bills actually have?

Well, the Bills do have fantastic talent on defense, particularly with defending the pass. They ranked fourth overall in both yards and points allowed, and forced 30 turnovers on the year. The core of the defensive line – Mario Williams, Kyle Williams, Marcel Dareus and Jerry Hughes – remains intact (although a switch to a 3-4 defense may muck up how personnel is used), so the team’s floor is not as low as other non-playoff teams with similar aspirations. The Bills won’t be atrocious.

But Ryan’s assessment that the Bills are “loaded” at the skill positions is pretty inaccurate. Sure, the Bills were able to swing LeSean McCoy in a trade, and Sammy Watkins looks like he’ll be a legitimate No. 1 receiver. But Watkins will have to actually make that next step, and McCoy’s success was aided greatly by the Eagles offensive line. The Bills line isn’t exactly crap, but it’s also not going to create the space McCoy enjoyed in Philadelphia.

Beyond those two, the Bills don’t have any consistent offensive weapons, and they don’t have a proven quarterback to compete in an increasingly competitive AFC East. Maybe Rex Ryan is totally invested in Matt Cassel, but observers on the outside can be forgiven for having their doubts.

After the top tier of New England, Denver and Indianapolis, the AFC has enough parity for someone to grab an opportunity at a playoff spot. Until they prove otherwise, it probably won’t be the Buffalo Bills.

(H/T: Pro Football Focus)

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