The Buffalo Bills have not made the playoffs since 1999, giving them the longest drought in the NFL. Frankly, it is almost impossible to miss the postseason for 15 consecutive seasons, considering the way the schedule, draft and waiver wire are set up to make bad teams significantly better.
Still, Buffalo has defied all of those advantages, mostly by drafting EJ Manuel, Trent Edwards and J.P. Losman. This year, the Bills have hope of making the playoffs, at least on the surface. At 7-5, Buffalo is tied for the sixth seed and final AFC wild card, technically sitting eighth behind the Miami Dolphins and Kansas City Chiefs due to tiebreakers.
However, Bills fans are going to be very disappointed soon.
Buffalo faces a brutal schedule which starts this Sunday on the road against the Denver Broncos. After that, the Bills host the Green Bay Packers, visit the Oakland Raiders and then finish at Gillette Stadium versus the New England Patriots.
The Bills are going to be challenged to finish with a winning record, let alone the 10 wins it will take to make the postseason. Buffalo shot itself in the foot earlier this season, losing to the Houston Texans when Manuel was still at the helm. Under head coach Doug Marrone, the Bills have developed a nasty defense behind a front wall of Marcell Dareus, Kyle Williams, Jerry Hughes and Mario Williams. The unit has kept them in plenty of games, but isn’t enough to win a division or be a real force in the AFC.
The offense is also very limited with C.J Spiller out. Kyle Orton has been Kyle Orton, which is to say highly mediocre and not good enough. The receivers are solid with Sammy Watkins and Robert Woods, but the line is shaky and Marrone’s playcalling leaves many scratches their heads. Considering Marrone is a disciple of Sean Payton, it is surprising he struggles coming up with a good gameplan.
Even if the Bills were magically to reach 10 wins, they would need help. Kansas City owns the tiebreaker on them, and Miami likely will factoring in divisional record. Buffalo also might need to break ties against Pittsburgh and Baltimore, something which is unlikely because of conference record.
Buffalo has enjoyed a very nice season, one that should make the people of New York proud. Unfortunately, with no first-round pick in 2015 and a lack of quarterback talent, the Bills are stuck in no man’s land.
