I AM SO PROUD OF THE BUFFALO BILLS! I expect them to and know they will play to win. The Bills are ready to win as are their fans and Buffalo, NY. Get ready Jacksonville, a Bills stampede is coming to town!!!
What they're saying: Bills at Jaguars wild card game predictions
The Bills are playing their first playoff game in 17 seasons. National media make their predictions on this week's AFC Wild Card game between Buffalo and Jacksonville.
Ohhhh yeahhhh. I'm all in! The fates wouldn't go through all that trouble getting the Bills into the playoffs just to have them flop out in one game, would they? No way. THE BILLS RUN BEGINS.
Buffalo Bills (9-7) over JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS (10-6)
Excited to watch this game. Excited to see if Tyrod Taylor
can take over. With LeSean McCoy 's uncertain status, Taylor will need to channel his inner Russell Wilson against the league's top secondary and pass rush. Remember that officiating fiasco in Seattle last year, which overshadowed Taylor and Robert Woods ballin' out for the Bills? Taylor used his legs effectively, while pushing the ball downfield in a manner at odds with the Bills' stock dink-and-dunkage. Of course, Buffalo can throw all the none-yard outs the world has to offer if Blake Bortles serves up a pick-six, or a couple of short fields on errant throws. Yeesh. So, on that note, Leonard Fournette will be quite important for the Jags. Unfortunately, his performance has been middling -- at best -- of late. Over his last five games, Fournette's rushing totals have read 25, 57, 101, 48 and 69 yards -- at a lowly 3.23 yards per tote over that span. Jacksonville's defense, which has allowed the second-fewest points in the NFL this season, might have to carry these Jags to a win. (Something the suffocating unit's certainly capable of.)
Jaguars 20, Bills 17
Jaguars 20, Bills 17
The Bills have been able to cover up their 29th-ranked run defense this season when they have been able to force turnovers, and Blake Bortles presents the best opportunity for Buffalo to pull off an upset. Bortles is 8-0 this season when he does not throw an interception but 2-6 when he does. The Bills are 8-3 when they force at least one interception and 5-1 when they force at least two. The Bills have three defenders -- safeties Jordan Poyer (5) and Micah Hyde (5), as well as cornerback Tre'Davious White (4) -- in the top 12 in interceptions this season, and if those players come up big, the Bills can steal a possession and win a low-scoring game.
Bills 16, Jaguars 13
MDS’s take: The Bills and Jaguars were the only two teams in the league that didn’t pass the ball more than they ran it in 2017. (Buffalo had 487 runs and 476 passes, Jacksonville had 527 runs and 527 passes.) So I expect a run-heavy ballgame, probably low scoring and possibly determined by a defensive or special teams touchdown. The Jaguars’ defense should be able to hold the Bills in check, especially with LeSean McCoy injured, and Jacksonville should take this one.
MDS’s pick: Jaguars 16, Bills 7.
Florio’s take: If the “good” Jaguars show up, this should be a laugher. If the “bad” Jaguars arrive at EverBank Field, the Bills could be securing a third game against the Patriots. But Jacksonville has one thing Buffalo doesn’t — Tom Coughlin. And Coughlin will make sure that everyone knows what it takes to have success in January.
Florio’s pick: Jaguars 24, Bills 14.
The Jacksonville Jaguars are clearly the more talented team in this matchup.
LeSean McCoy's status in this game is critical because the Buffalo Bills don't have many playmakers on either side of the ball. McCoy is Buffalo's premier playmaker. He helps out the defense by controlling the clock, and he helps out quarterback Tyrod Taylor by opening up bootlegs and play action.
Even if McCoy is 100 percent healthy, I have a hard time believing Buffalo will consistently move the ball on the Jaguars defense. Jacksonville has two elite cornerbacks, and that means the Jaguars won't feel bad about letting either go one-on-one all game. This, in turn, allows the defense to do more creative things in coverage and with the front seven.
Ultimately, the Jaguars should be able to contain the run game and shut down those bootlegs and play-action passes.
The Bills defense is sound, and the secondary doesn't screw up assignments often. Coach Sean McDermott always has his guys prepared for the schemes they're facing, and Buffalo makes it difficult for opposing teams to get chunk plays.
This could make things dangerous for Jacksonville because the Jaguars passing attack is predictable. If Blake Bortles sees one-on-one coverage, he's going to throw a fade down the sideline. If he doesn't have one-on-one, Buffalo can expect the shallow cross. Those are Jacksonville's biggest pass plays, and if the Bills can take those away, they'll make life hell for Bortles.
Barring an unbelievable game from McCoy or a bevy of turnovers from Bortles, I have a hard time seeing Jacksonville losing this game. The Bills run defense is suspect. Leonard Fournette and the Jaguars offensive line are going to have stretches of dominance—at least enough of them to get the win.
Jaguars 23, Bills 13
The Bills haven't been in the playoffs since 1999 and the Jaguars haven't been involved since 2007. This is the Drought Bowl
Jaguars 20, Bills 7
The Bills end the NFL's longest postseason drought, making the playoffs for the first time since 1999. The Jaguars, who limp into the playoffs as losers of their last two games, haven't been in the postseason since 2007.
Both teams have been wildly inconsistent, but the most reliable unit has been the Jaguars defense. The Jags were second in total defense and had the NFL's top pass defense in 2017. Though Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor has been careful with the ball, he might have a tough time against the "Sacksonville" pass rush.
The Jaguars have won five straight at home while the Bills were just 3-5 on the road. Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles, despite being terrible on the road, has seven touchdowns without an interception in his last three home games.
Jaguars 20, Bills 17
Bills beat Dolphins; advance to playoffs
Buffalo pulled off a big win in Miami and with a Ravens loss have advanced to the playoffs.
Location: Hard Rock Stadium, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida
Regular season records: Buffalo (9-7), Miami (6-10)
In a nutshell: In their first meeting with the Dolphins two weeks ago, a fast start on offense helped carry the Bills to victory. Buffalo chose a similar approach in Week 17 and it proved just as fruitful. The Bills put 10 points on the board on their first two possessions and maintained control of the game in what wound up being a 22-16 win over Miami.
Buffalo then got the help they needed with a dramatic comeback victory by the Cincinnati Bengals over the Baltimore Ravens, allowing the Bills to qualify for their first postseason in 17 seasons.
The other potential way into the playoffs was wiped out with the Chargers beating the Raiders and the Titans beating the Jaguars.
The victory gave the Bills their first winning season since 2014, when they had an identical 9-7 record, but at the game’s conclusion they still did not know their playoff fate because the Baltimore-Cincinnati game was not yet complete.
The Dolphins made the game look closer than it was with a pair of late touchdown drives. Miami made it interesting recovering an onsides kick with under two minutes to play, but Jordan Poyer ended the threat with his fifth interception of the season to seal the win.
Head coach Sean McDermott became only the fourth head coach in team history to post a winning record in his first full season as head coach.
Buffalo also lost LeSean McCoy to an ankle injury in the second half and he was carted off the field.
How it went down:-For the second time this season the Bills posted a touchdown on their opening drive. Tyrod Taylor found a wide-open Nick O’Leary in the back, right side of the end zone with a 26-yard touchdown pass (7-0) just five minutes into the game.
-The Bills would push their lead to 10-0 after Stephen Hauschka put a 23-yard attempt up and through to cap an 11-play, 80-yard drive just 14 seconds into the fourth quarter.
-Buffalo put a field goal on the board on their first drive of the second half. Hauschka hit from 49 yards away to give the Bills a 13-0 advantage with 10 minutes left in the third quarter.
-Kyle Williams scored his first career touchdown, when while lined up as a fullback on first-and-goal from the one, took the hand-off for a one-yard plunge into the end zone to make it 19-0 midway through the third quarter. Buffalo’s two-point conversion failed.
--The Dolphins finally got on the board with 2:30 left in the third quarter when Cody Parkey hit from 36 yards out to make it a 19-3 game.
-A 10-play, 60-yard drive by the Bills culminated in a 33-yard field goal by Hauschka to push Buffalo’s lead to 22-3 with just over 11 minutes remaining.
-Miami reached the end zone on a one-yard touchdown pass from David Fales to Jarvis Landry, but the two-point conversion failed with six minutes remaining to make it a 22-9 ball game.
-Miami scored a second touchdown late on a keeper by David Fales for one yard score to make it 22-16 with 1:56 left in regulation.
Subplots:-After the Bills went up 7-0, the Dolphins chose to pull Jay Cutler at quarterback and insert third-year player David Fales to get an evaluation on him for the future.
-LeSean McCoy suffered an ankle injury early in the third quarter and was carted off the field. He did not return to the game. He had 11 carries for 10 yards and a pair of receptions for 22 yards.
-Jordan Mills suffered a left ankle injury in the first half. He left the game and returned briefly, but was ultimately replaced by Seantrel Henderson .
-Preston Brown had what looked to be a 99-yard fumble return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter, but it was called back as officials said Jarvis Landry was out of bounds with the ball at the half-yard line before the fumble.
-Jarvis Landry, Kenyan Drake were thrown out of the game after Landry went after Jordan Poyer following a touchdown by the Dolphins. Landry threw a punch. Poyer did not. Drake was thrown out of the game for ripping Ryan Davis ’ helmet off and throwing it across the field.
-Tyrod Taylor went 19-27 for 204 yards and a touchdown. He also rushed for 36 yards on four carries.
-Marcus Murphy in his first action for the Bills had seven carries for 41 yards
-Buffalo’s offense on their first two drives ratcheted up the tempo running plays quickly after the ball was spotted from the previous play and were rewarded for it. The Bills got a pair of plays that moved the sticks on their second drive and a touchdown on their opening drive when they increased the pace of running plays.
-The Bills scored a touchdown on their opening drive for just the second time this season. The first time came against this same Dolphins team two weeks ago.
-Inactive for Buffalo on Sunday were WR Malachi Dupre , CB Shareece Wright , CB Breon Borders , OT Conor McDermott , G John Miller , TE Logan Thomas and WR Brandon Reilly .
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Bills vs Dolphins - Week 17
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