Week 12: Bills Playoff Outlook
By Dennis Amo
Oct 20, 2013; Miami Gardens, FL, USA; Detail shot of a Buffalo Bills helmet and gatorade towel in the second quarter of a game at Sun Life Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Mayer-USA TODAY Sports
Coming into week 12 there are actually 4 games that the Bills need to keep an eye on. The biggest game that will be on the table for the Bills is the New York Jets and the Miami Dolphins. This is the first meeting for both teams and they play again on week 17. The best possible outcome for the Bills would be a tie as it would leave both teams a game short somewhere along the way and we would only need both teams to come with 7 losses at that point. The possibilities for that are not that great but it is the Jets and Dolphins. Geno Smith is projected to start for the Jets. Buffalo split with the Jets and still has to play the Dolphins later on at week 16.
Schedule-wise, the Dolphins play the Steelers and the Patriots in the next two weeks. The Jets are looking at the the Raiders and Carolina. At week 16 the Bills have the Dolphins and the Jets will face off against the Browns. The Dolphins have a tougher schedule and plus they face the Bills in a couple of weeks. The best outcome besides a tie would be for the Dolphins to win on Sunday. This would move the Dolphins to a 6-6 record but put the Jets in a position to win out to have ad with Geno Smith at the helm its not going to happen.
The next games to look at would be the Jax/Cle game, the Ten/Ind game, and the SD/Cin game. Of these games, the same effect on the Bills. The Bills would need Indy to beat Ten and move Ten to a 5-7 record. In the Jax/Cle game it would be great to see Jax beat the Browns and move them to a 4-8 record and out of the playoffs but the Browns do have to face the Patriots, Bears, Jets and Steelers after this week so a Browns win is not the concerning at this point. The final game to look at is the SD/Cin game. The Bills need to SD to lose this one. This would move the Chargers to a 5-7 record with them face the Giants, Broncos, Raiders and Chiefs in the last 4.
Ultimately, this is all speculation and wont matter unless the Bills take care of what they need to take care of on their end. They need to beat the Falcons and take everything 1 game at a time.