Bills’ long road to glory, NFL power rankings, playoff picture and more

The Buffalo Bills won the AFC East on Saturday night in Denver. Now, a long-tortured city and its team embarks on a journey to write a new history.

Twenty-five years is a long time to wait. Bills Mafia, live it up.

On Saturday evening, the Buffalo Bills delivered a 48-19 win over the Denver Broncos, moving to 11-3 and clinching the franchise’s first AFC East crown since 1995.

Unlike so many NFL cities, Buffalo is a small metropolis. This isn’t Los Angeles, where the sports page is shared by a half-dozen pro teams and a few prominent college ones. This isn’t Houston or Dallas, where high school ball means as much as the Cowboys.

In Buffalo, the Bills are one of two major franchises — the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres being the other. They’ve been around since 1960, with fans filling the Rock Pile (War Memorial Stadium) before relocating to their current venue. The connection is strong and binding.

The bond runs generations, and so does the pain.

And in Buffalo, it’s not only the fans who feel it. It’s those who played for the Bills and then, in so many cases, stayed in the city. Those who were adored during their glory days and then helped through their tougher ones, such as former linebacker Darryl Talley.

In 2014, Talley’s struggles since retirement became public. Within hours, Bills fans raised more than $100,000 to help.

When the clock ran out in Denver, and the hats adorned the heads of champions, the exult on Twitter was a shared experience for all the aforementioned.

https://twitter.com/JimKelly1212/status/1340461835238125570

If there’s a fanbase which deserves such a moment, it’s the infamous Bills Mafia.

Buffalo was put through four years of ecstasy only to be met by the ultimate misery from 1990-93, losing four straight Super Bowls. After the final disappointment, the Bills won the AFC East in ’95 and beat the Miami Dolphins in the Wild Card round.

The year after, Buffalo reached the postseason as a wild card team and hosted the Jacksonville Jaguars, losing 30-27. Since then, the Bills haven’t hosted a playoff game.

Next month, that changes.

With two weeks remaining in the regular season, Buffalo might be the biggest challenger to the Kansas City Chiefs. They’re strong offensively behind a superstar quarterback in Josh Allen, elite receiver Stefon Diggs and a smooth slot man in Cole Beasley. The defense is also coming around, allowing an average of 18.75 points over the past four games.

And really, that’s what this season is about. For Buffalo, reaching the postseason has become old hat. It was supposed to win the division. The Bills are making their third appearance in the last four years, the previous two showings being one-and-done road trips.

This is about winning a playoff game, another 25-year streak Buffalonians want snapped and buried forever.

With this roster, coaching staff and front office, the expectation of success becoming an annual event is both fair and correct.

Twenty-five years of pain, washed away by a win and, certainty, a flood of tears from those who believed through the lean times, and even those who played in the best of them.

Power rankings

Top 10 home-field advantages in the playoffs in Super Bowl era

1. Washington Football Team – RFK Stadium 12-1 (.923)
2. Seattle Seahawks – Lumen Field 10-1 (.909)
3. Buffalo Bills – Bills Stadium 9-1 (.900)
4. Denver Broncos – Mile High Stadium 11-2 (.846)
5. New England Patriots – Gillette Stadium 19-4 (.826)
6. Las Vegas Raiders – Oakland Coliseum 14-3 (.824)
7. Miami Dolphins – Orange Bowl 10-3 (.769)
8. San Francisco 49ers – Candlestick Park 20-7 (.741)
9. Green Bay Packers – Lambeau Field 14-5 (.737)
10. Dallas Cowboys – Texas Stadium 16-6 (.727)

Quotable

"“We have a standard we want to play to. I personally have a standard I want to play to. You have to find a way to get it done.”"

– Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts on the team’s loss in Arizona

Hurts can be disappointed, but he’s emerging as the future in Philadelphia. The rookie made his second NFL start and accounted for 401 total yards including 338 passing yards and three touchdowns.

Yes, the cap ramifications of Carson Wentz’s deal are significant. And with the story coming out about Wentz’s displeasure — no doubt leaked from his camp — this isn’t going to be a pretty exit. However, with Hurts playing like this, the Eagles have to move Wentz, even if it means going the Brock Osweiler route and attaching a draft pick to do it.

Hurts is the future, whether Wentz likes it or not.

Podcast

Random stat

After Week 15, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce is second in the league with 1,318 receiving yards. Kelce is six yards behind Arizona Cardinals receiver DeAndre Hopkins for the league lead. If he can reclaim the lead, he’ll be the first at his position to ever pace the circuit.

The closest call in NFL history was in 1980, when Kellen Winslow Sr. of the San Diego Chargers finished second to teammate John Jefferson, racking up 1,290 yards.

Info learned this week

1. Rams-Seahawks play poor before huge tilt, but one has embarrassing loss

Aaron the world, both Los Angeles Rams and New York Jets fans were sobbing at the result.

Shockingly, the Jets beat the Rams 23-20 at SoFi Stadium — so much more on this below — earning their first win of an impossibly ugly season. Meanwhile, the loss dropped Los Angeles out of the NFC West lead. While they maintain control of their own divisional destiny, it’s a devastating loss from an emotional standpoint. Sorry, but Super Bowl teams don’t lose to the Jets.

Hours earlier, the Seahawks staved off a comeback bid against Dwayne Haskins and the Football Team. Russell Wilson threw for 121 yards with a touchdown and interception in a hideous victory that counts the same as a beaut. Seattle now leads the West by a game over Los Angeles, but the two play in an all-important Week 16 game in Seattle.

The Rams still win the West with victories over Seattle and the Arizona Cardinals. Yet a victory at Lumen Field for the home team means a division title and, at worst, the No. 3 seed for the Seahawks. It’s the most important game of next weekend, despite the unimaginable defeat sustained by Sean McVay’s group on Sunday evening.

2. Drew Brees struggles badly in Saints’ loss to Chiefs

For fans in the Bayou, they need to hope Drew Brees was simply rusty.

The 41-year-old threw for 234 yards with three touchdowns and an interception on 15-of-34 passing. Frankly, those numbers were considerably padded in the fourth quarter. Throughout the night, Brees was missed badly, throwing long and soft, but always without much velocity.

At 10-4, getting to the No. 1 seed is a pipe dream after consecutive losses. The Saints are now fighting to stay in the second slot, something they are currently ding via tiebreaker over the Seattle Seahawks. Wins over the Minnesota Vikings and Carolina Panthers to finish the year would be huge, keeping New Orleans in the confines of the Superdome until the NFC Championship Game.

For now, though, the concern is clearly about Brees. In his return from 11 rib fractures and a collapsed lung, the future Hall-of-Famer was poor. He must improve for the Saints to have any true title hopes.

3. AFC playoff picture sees one win after the next in Week 15

We saw a week of action in late December. And in the AFC playoff picture… nothing changed.

The Cleveland Browns, Indianapolis Colts, Miami Dolphins and Baltimore Ravens all won their games. If the postseason game today, the teams would be the above order, with Baltimore missing out on the playoff proceedings.

According to 538, it’s the Browns who have the best playoff odds at 92 percent, followed by the Colts (90 percent), Ravens (89 percent) and Dolphins (31 percent).

Why so low for Miami? The Dolphins have nine wins compared to the 10 of Cleveland and Indianapolis, and the Dolphins play the Las Vegas Raiders and Buffalo Bills on the road, while the Ravens draw the New York Giants at home before a visit with the two-win Cincinnati Bengals.

If Miami can beat the Raiders on Saturday, things become more interesting, especially if the Bills have nothing to play for come Week 17.

For the record, if all these teams tie, the Colts are the ones who miss the postseason. Of course, that’s incredibly unlikely, but worth noting.

4. Bears, Cardinals in bitter fight for final NFC wild card spot

And then there were two.

At U.S. Bank Stadium, it was Mitchell Trubisky outplaying Kirk Cousins, with the Chicago Bears winning 33-27 to unofficially eliminate the Vikings. At 7-7, Chicago is one game behind the Cardinals for the final NFC wild card, who beat the Eagles, 33-26.

After 15 weeks, the Packers, Saints and Seahawks are all in. Los Angeles and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers need one more win each to clinch, while the NFC East remains a four-horse race with 16 broken legs.

So what needs to happen for the Bears and Cards? Obviously, Arizona wins out and gets in. For the Bears, it’s about pulling even. If Chicago wins out and Arizona splits against the San Francisco 49ers and Rams, the Bears are in. The Bears are in good position to reach 9-7, with tilts against the one-win Jacksonville Jaguars and the Packers in Week 17, who may be resting starters.

5. Titans, Colts face major road tests in Week 16 en route to playoffs

The AFC South is the only division with two teams tied atop the standings.

With two weeks remaining, it’s the Indianapolis Colts and Tennessee Titans fighting it out, each at 10-4. While the teams split their head-to-head matchups, the Titans hold the tiebreaker based on divisional record.

This upcoming weekend, the division may be decided based on who can pull off the road upset. Indianapolis is traveling to play the two-loss Pittsburgh Steelers, while the Titans take on the Packers, who are looking to clinch the No. 1 seed. The latter is on Sunday Night Football at frigid Lambeau Field.

There’s also a chance these teams could see each other in the Wild Card round, depending on how seeding shakes out. It’s probably more important for the Colts to win the division, considering Philip Rivers doesn’t drive the ball as he once did. Being indoors would be a boon. For Tennessee, Derrick Henry is an all-weather wrecking crew.

Gambler’s game

The Houston Texans and Cincinnati Bengals are both well out of contention, but they can still fatten some wallets. The early line has Houston favored by 8.5 points, and while that’s a healthy amount for a bad team, Cincinnati has no offense to counter with.

Take Deshaun Watson, lay the points and hopefully give yourself a nice holiday gift.

Two cents

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have the talent to be a problem, but not the cohesion.

After beating the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday in comeback fashion — and having only the Detroit Lions and Falcons again in the regular season — Tampa Bay looks a great bet for 11-5. The Bucs could wind up the fifth seed and play an NFC East team, getting something akin to a bye week.

It’s not the worst setup, and the roster is arguably a top-five group. How many teams have the start power of Tom Brady, Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Antonio Brown, Leonard Fournette, Lavonte David, Rob Gronkowski, Ndamukong Suh, Shaquil Barrett, Jason Pierre-Paul, Antoine Winfield Jr. and Ronald Jones? It’s absurd.

And yet, therein lies the problem. Tampa Bay is more collection of talent than team, even 15 weeks in.

Early on, it was expected for the Buccaneers to be finding their identity. New coach-quarterback combination, tons of moving parts around them, etc. We’re almost to 2021, and it feels as disjointed as Week 1 at times. The offense should be geared towards Brady but isn’t. The defense began the year very aggressive but is now less so for reasons unclear.

If the Buccaneers lined up and had a uniform scheme and concept each week, they’d be tough to stop. As it stands, the Seahawks, Packers and Saints are all better bets to reach the Super Bowl, which by the way, is in Raymond James Stadium.

It’s foolhardy to bet against Brady in January, but unless something changes both quickly and substantially, it’s more foolhardy not to.

Inside the league

In recent years, the increased importance of the passing game has created a predictable problem in the NFL Draft. General managers without quarterbacks talk themselves into middling prospects, turning mid-round signal-callers into Day 1 picks.

This year, Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence is deservedly seen universally as the top choice. After him, Justin Fields of Ohio State is ranked No. 2 in most eyes.

This week, FanSided spoke to a high-ranking scout who believes in their potential, echoing what much of the league believes. He called them “legit players, totally different but legit NFL quarterbacks.”

After Lawrence and Fields, there has been talk of a litany of quarterbacks including Florida’s Kyle Trask, North Dakota State’s Trey Lance and BYU’s Zach Wilson. The opinions on them range from top-10 choices to Day 3 in some cases. Of course, with good quarterback play keeping general managers from the unemployment line, chances will be taken, and so will the aforementioned names.

Talking at length with the long-time personnel man, here’s his quick-hitting reports on each:

Lance: Will be a first-round pick based off toughness. He’s a borderline choice but he’ll go early. Only played one game this year and was underwhelming. Body of work doesn’t necessarily dictate going off the board quickly.

Trask: Has legit tape, numbers and SEC background. However, no arm strength. Can’t drive the ball in bad weather or wind. Average athlete. He’s Mason Rudolph. He’s going to interview great, has great size and the numbers this year, so he’ll get drafted high.

Wilson: I think he’s goes in the first. Is he a product of a terrific line and great running game? If you watch his pressure throws, you’d be like “why do you want this guy?” Not only in the first round, but in the seventh round. Go back and watch his third-down plays. Reminds me of Josh Rosen.

There you have it from one of the best talent evaluators in football over the last decade-plus.

History lesson

In 1980, the Saints began their season at 0-14. They’re the only team to go so deep into a campaign winless, and then avoid the donut in their win column.

Parting shot

This isn’t the first time a team has won and lost simultaneously.

In 1997, the Cardinals were 3-12. A loss and they would’ve gotten the first pick in the ’98 NFL Draft. Against the Atlanta Falcons, Arizona pulled out a 29-26 victory. The win bumped the Cardinals to the No. 3 overall slot.

It may have saved them from drafting Ryan Leaf. It also kept them from selecting Peyton Manning.

For the Jets, avoiding 0-16 is great for the players and coaches. Nobody tanks in the NFL despite what people love to believe. Unquestionably, the flight back from Los Angeles was a jubilant one.

However, for the franchise’s long-term outlook and the fans who invest themselves in it, Sunday may turn out to be a catastrophe.

For openers, the Jets are no longer in line for Lawrence. If the Jaguars lose their next two games, they’ll nab the youngster. New York has been a miserable, bumbling failure all year, and now gets second choice.

Additionally, the head-coaching vacancy will be far less attractive. It was already going to be a tough sell getting a candidate with options to sign up for the Jets, considering how ownership is perceived around the league. Now, without Lawrence? All the more difficult.

The Jets won on Sunday. But in reality, they may have really, really lost.