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Saturday Walkthrough: Believing in Buffalo

Yahoo Sports

They are stuffed in lockers, hanging in shops and stretched across midriffs – each T-shirt teasing possibility: "Billieve."

As in, Billieve in Buffalo. A statement that, a few months ago, seemed about as sensible as donning a grass skirt on a January day in Ralph Wilson Stadium.

Yet, here are the Buffalo Bills, seemingly far removed from that smoldering wreck of September and October and a fruitless 1-5 start. When they meet Pittsburgh on Sunday, a win could propel them into the playoffs. Such a tale is good fare for the apparel market.

"This is brand new," said Bills quarterback Drew Bledsoe, donning a pristine white shirt with the "Billieve" script across the front.

The shirt's not the only thing that is brand new for these Bills. The team's playoff hopes still seem freshly unwrapped, thanks to eight wins in their last nine games. It's a span that has seen Buffalo simultaneously reap the benefits of strong performances and/or leadership from coach Mike Mularkey, running back Willis McGahee, wide receiver Lee Evans and a defense finally living up to its talent level.

All this after an atrocious start that saw Bledsoe struggle and get hammered behind a porous offensive line, and Mularkey come under fire from owner Ralph Wilson, who criticized the offense as too conservative. As Bledsoe put it, "When the guy whose name is on the checks says he's not happy, you're going to stand up and take notice."

Now, these Bills might be the hottest thing going in the NFL, winning their last six games by an average score of 38-16 and vaulting themselves back into the AFC playoff picture. And while a few of those victories have come against cream puffs like Cleveland, Miami and San Francisco, it hasn't been all fluff. Buffalo also has managed wins against the New York Jets and Seattle.

Some give the credit to McGahee, who has brought a balance to the offense, grinding for 1,049 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns in 15 games (but only 10 starts). Others suggest the difference has been the protection of Bledsoe and emergence of Evans, who has seven touchdown catches in his last five games.

Yet Bledsoe points to Mularkey, who stuck with an offense that has finally caught up to the team's stingy defense.

"[Mularkey] was and has been all year, very steadfast about how we were going to play," Bledsoe said. "When we were struggling, everybody wanted it to change and everybody was looking for whatever we could do to make a change. But Mike was very strong in the way he approached it."

Now the rookie coach is on the verge of the playoffs. With a win Sunday, combined with a loss by the Jets or Denver Broncos, they are in. But the Bills must beat Pittsburgh, a team Mularkey coached for as an offensive coordinator (2001-2003) and tight ends assistant (1996-2000).

"You saw this game on the schedule and you wondered, what would be the implications of this game?" Mularkey said this week. "I don't know if you could write a script for the way it's unfolding."

UnBillievable.

WIND SPRINTS

  • An NFC executive who handles his team's salary cap and contract negotiations had an interesting thought on Seattle coach Mike Holmgren's future. While updating availability lists for this offseason, he remarked that Seattle had basically set itself up for a purge, with several key contributors up for free agency.

Among the group heading for the open market are quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, running back Shaun Alexander, offensive linemen Walter Jones, Floyd Womack and Robbie Tobeck, defensive end Chike Okeafor and cornerback Ken Lucas. The executive thought it was a telling predicament.

"Logically, they will lose four or five of those guys to someone paying [bigger contracts] for needs," he said. "That's a big dip at the top of [next season's roster]. There's two ways to look at it. Either their plan is changing the look [of the team] or they are holding off on laying out money for a coach that's not going to be there."

  • Even with his extended playing time, the rift between Kansas City running back Larry Johnson and coach Dick Vermeil hasn't healed. We're told Johnson still resents all of criticism he got early this season, and believes – correctly, we might add – he would still be on the bench had Priest Holmes not suffered a season-ending injury.

Depending on the progress of Holmes, the belief is that Johnson will once again be on the trading block this offseason, but with an asking price a little steeper than the second-round pick the Chiefs were seeking at the trade deadline. Now the Chiefs will be looking for at least a first-round pick and maybe more.

  • The early favorite for the Miami Dolphins' No. 1 pick is Auburn's Carnell "Cadillac" Williams. Rather than chasing after Cincinnati's Rudi Johnson, Indianapolis' Edgerrin James or Seattle's Shaun Alexander, we're told Nick Saban's free-agent priority list this offseason is heavy on the offensive line, at the expense of a high-priced running back. We also know that Saban loves Williams, who played a big part in controlling the tempo in Auburn's win over LSU this season.

  • In other draft-related nuggets, scouts say there won't be any argument over who is better should Cal's Aaron Rodgers and USC's Matt Leinart both enter the draft. Rodgers is easily the top quarterback based on arm strength, intangibles and the "it" factor that has made him a winner for the Bears. One interesting development: There seems to be a great amount of interest over how Michigan's Braylon Edwards and former USC receiver Mike Williams grade out against each other at the February combine. Edwards has more speed but Williams has slightly more size, and there is some disagreement over who is the more polished player.

  • The Baltimore Ravens would once again like to pursue a veteran receiver this offseason, and two names that could appear at the top of the list are Carolina's Muhsin Muhammad and Tennessee's Derrick Mason. Both players could be released this offseason if they can't rework their current deals. Muhammad is due a $10 million bonus from the Panthers, while Mason will count nearly $6.6 million against the Titans' cap next year.

Whether Baltimore can find the cap room to make a pitch for either player is another matter. The Ravens are in the middle of trying to rework and extend the contract of linebacker Ray Lewis, and a healthy deal for Muhammad or Mason would fiddle with future contracts of players such as Ed Reed, who is expecting to be approached about an extension next season.

UPON FURTHER REVIEW

We spoke prematurely about Jacksonville coach Jack Del Rio interviewing for the LSU job, but we're still told there's no way owner Wayne Weaver will allow him to leave without a fight. Del Rio came up flimsy this week when offered an opportunity to say outright that he was not interested in Saban's old gig. Rather than flatly stating he didn't want the LSU job, Del Rio told reporters he had "nothing new" to add to speculation, and then said, "I told you, I'm continuing to work on preparing this football team to play the Raiders."

It's apparently some financial posturing, with Del Rio being one of the lowest-paid coaches in the NFL at an average of about $1.3 million a season. A cheap hire after only one season as a defensive coordinator at Carolina, Del Rio has turned Jacksonville back in the right direction only two years into his five-year contract. With young elements of the team maturing, and Jacksonville staring at more than $20 million in cap space this offseason, the Jaguars are on the verge of what should be a healthy window for success. Suddenly, Del Rio looks underpaid by league standards.