Bills get massive win on their day off from football, and the fan base has to be thrilled with latest development
An exciting update for the Bills Mafia.
The Buffalo Bills are fighting for their playoff lives right now, with some monster games still on the schedule. Quarterback Josh Allen always talks about how the next one is the most important because it’s the next game, something the team will have to lean on in the final weeks of the season.
As it sits, the Bills got a huge win on their day off from football, as FanDuel Canada released their playoff odds for the AFC, and the Bills Mafia has to be thrilled with the latest league development.
FanDuel has Buffalo at an 89 percent implied probability to make the playoffs, while DVOA has Buffalo at a 92.3 percent chance.
The New York Times Playoff Machine gives hope
With five games remaining, the New York Times playoff machine should once again give the fan base a reason to be excited. The team still needs to play these games, and with some issues in the passing game, it’s not a foregone conclusion that Buffalo will squeak into the playoffs, but it’s looking good.
Buffalo doesn’t even have to win out to make the postseason. Using the interactive tool, we filtered several games to give you a better idea of what Buffalo needs to do to make the postseason, and it’s a lot easier than some may think.
With five games remaining, the calculator has Buffalo with a 91 percent chance to make the playoffs.
First and foremost, if the Bills win out, they’ll have a 99 percent chance of making the postseason, with a 24 percent chance of claiming the No. 1 seed, 14 percent chance of hosting a wild-card game, and a 61 percent chance of making it as a wild-card team. With the New England Patriots dominating the division, it would take Buffalo winning out and New England collapsing down the stretch for that to happen.
Next, let’s imagine that the Bills go 3-2 in the final five games. Using the interactive tool, we predicted losses against the Patriots and the Philadelphia Eagles. With that, Buffalo still has a 99 percent chance to make the playoffs, this time solely as a wild-card team with a less than one percent chance of missing the postseason entirely.
If the Bills lose three games out of five, that’s when things start to get dicey in terms of playoff implications. Again, with losses to the Eagles and Patriots and the Bengals game counted as a loss, the team would have a 76 percent chance of making the wild card and a 24 percent chance of missing the playoffs.
Even if Buffalo went 1-4 in the remaining five games, there would still be the smallest possible chance that it could make it into the postseason. The New York Times calculator gives Buffalo an 11 percent chance to make the postseason if it loses four of their last five, with an 89 percent chance of missing the playoffs.
Buffalo controls its own destiny — win, and you’re in. If Buffalo falters in the last five games of the season, it could be one of the biggest disappointments in the McDermott and Brandon Beane era. Either win out the remaining games, or find a way to win three out of five, and then they’re in the dance. At the end of the day, with all the injuries and issues with the passing game, that’s some good news for the team heading into a crucial stretch of the season.
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