Bills 21 Dolphins 0

Wow. Ralph Wilson Stadium in December was like Ralph Wilson Stadium in December today. We saw it all, from Bills fans burning and blowing up a huge fish to a 2 car full out brawl after the game. The atmosphere was how it should be in a game of this magnitude. Ladies and gentlemen, the Buffalo Bills are alive for post-season play in week 16. Who would have thunk it? Well, if you read my blog from November 17, 2006-the last paragraph, I know one person who would have thunk it. December 24th, Christmas Eve, Titans Bills, both teams with playoff aspirations. This is as close to a playoff game as there has been here since 1996 when Jim Kelly played his final game. Both teams need to win or they are eliminated. Does it get any bigger?

Reactions

• The 12th man brought it. They were alive big time today. On Miami's last drive when half the stadium had left, the crowd was still loud on Miami's last play. The Bills defense fed off that and preserved the shutout. What can you see about the defense? Joey Harrington, 7-17 20 yards 2 picks, a QB rating of 0.0. The Bills defense was dominant. Nate Clements was dominant. Chambers had 0 catches for 0 yards and Clements had a great interception. This felt like the Bills defense of 2004 when they shut teams down at home down the stretch.
• JP Losman is turning into not just an adequate NFL quarterback, but a good NFL quarterback and he has shown signs that he can be a great NFL quarterback. Today he was 13-19 for 200 yards and 3 tds. This is a QB rating over 140.2 and over the last 5 games he has a QB rating of over 101. He made smart decisions today and made the big plays than enabled us to win.
• Josh Reed is a beast. Apparently we all need to take back all of our negative comments about Marv Levy because he gave this guy a 10 million dollar contract. Reed can play. When he catches the football, he is as good of a slot guy as I have seen on this team in a while. His touchdown today was a thing of beauty. He plowed through 3 Dolphin defenders on his way to the endzone.
• McGahee ran hard today. He didn't average many yards per carry, but Miami has a tough D. He had 28 carries despite being injured early on top of his other injuries he had coming into the game. I am happy with Willis' play since he came back from his rib injury.
• Lee Evans is a top 5 reciever in the NFL. I really mean that. He is fast, has great hands, and runs good routs. What more can you ask for? Him and JP are developing a knack for the big play and it is exciting to watch.
• Parrish had the most exciting -20 yard punt return I ever saw. He made up for it with a 25 yard return on the next punt. We just need to get him the ball more on offense.
• Dick Jauron, Jauron, Jauron...Dick Jauron, Jauron, Jauron is growing on me. He has turned this team around and the Bills are playing as a team. They aren't a divided mess like they were last year and that is a credit to the head coach. I would just like him to have a bigger sack at the end of the first half. Running out the clock there was a pussy move and I am sure he knows it.
• BILLS BABY, MEANINGFUL GAME WEEK 16 AT HOME VERSE A TEAM THAT NEEDS TO WIN. BILLS TITANS BUY TICKETS THERE ARE SOME LEFT IF YOU AREN'T AT THE RALPH SUNDAY I HAVE NO RESPECT FOR YOU. THIS PLACE WILL BE CRAZY ON CHRISTMAS EVE. VINCE YOUNG IS ABOUT TO BE WELCOMED TO THE NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE.

Step 5 in my November 17th 7 step plan is complete. 2 more steps to go and the Bills have a shot.

One thing I need to lash out about. I FUCKING HATE THE NATIONAL NFL MEDIA. The NBC halftime show was a fucking joke. They showed highlights of all the teams in the playoff hunt EXCEPT the bills. They didn't even mention the word Buffalo or Bills in discussing the playoffs. They did however talk about the Titans and Steelers...both teams we are ahead of in the standings and have no shot of making the playoffs if we win out. They even put the Steelers ahead of us in the standings when we have a better conference record. Fuck that shit. That is bullshit.

OK, here is the long awaited playoff scenario (With help from Kippy Lexner). First of all, Buffalo owns the tiebreakers over all the 7-7 teams, so for right now I will ignore the Titans, Steelers, and Chiefs.

Step 1.

• Cincinnati loses to Indianapolis.
• This Cinci, Denver, Jets at 8-6.
• Buffalo is 7-7 and owns tiebreakers over the rest of the 7-7 teams.
  

Step 2.

• Bills beat Titans.
• New England beats Jacksonville.
• Cincinnati beats Denver.
• DOLPHINS BEAT JETS: This game is essential, the Bills essentially have no chance of making the playoffs if the Jets win. New York would have the interdivision tiebreaker over Buffalo with a 4-2 division record. The chances of the Jets and Bills making the playoffs is probably 0 and if there is a chance it is way too complicated for me to think about.
• This puts Buffalo, Jets, Jacksonville, Denver at 8-7. Cincinnati would be 9-6. Buffalo would own tiebreakers over the Jets (conference record) and Jags (head to head win), Denver would own the tiebreaker over Buffalo(conference record).
  

Step 3

• Bills over Ravens.
• San Francisco over Denver.
• Pittsburgh over Cincinnati.
• Assume Jets beat Oakland
• Assume Jacksonville beats KC
  
• This puts Buffalo, Cincinnati, Jets (possibly KC if they win their last 2 (including vs. Jacksonville and possibly Pittsburgh also) all at 9-7. Buffalo, based on a better strength of victory percentage would have a tiebreaker over the Bengals. Buffalo would own tiebreakers over the Chiefs and Jets based on a better conference record and over Jacksonville based on a head to head victory.
• This would put the Bills at the 5 seed believe it or not, and most likely would be traveling to Foxboro or staying in Baltimore for a week 17 rematch.

Playoff scenario Number 2

• I need to cut this one down a little just because I am confusing myself.
• Assume the Bills finish the season at 9-7, tied with Denver, KC, Jacksonville and the Jets (assuming the Jets lose to Miami of course). Assume the Bengals finish 10-6 and are the 5 seed.
• Buffalo would pass the Jets based on a better conference record.
• The Chiefs would beat the Broncos based on a better division record. Buffalo and KC would win the inter divisional tiebreakers.
• This would leave the Bills to not have to contend with the Broncos even if they finished 9-7 and had a better conference record because they did not win their inter divisional tiebreaker. This would leave Buffalo, Jacksonville and KC contending with the final playoff spot.
• KC and Buffalo own head to head wins over Jacksonville and Buffalo has a better conference record than KC which puts the Bills in as a 6 seed.

There are more scenarios, but here are 2 that are all contingent on the Jets losing to Miami. So we all need to be Dolphin fans for the next 8 days.

BILLS BABY