Are the Bills in danger of finishing in fourth place in the AFC East?
I've reached a point in my professional and personal life where I no longer enjoy making predictions. I no longer enjoy it because I've grown tired of watching games and rooting for my own predictions to come to fruition. I would rather just sit back and enjoy the games for what they are.
It's like going to a movie and making a list of five things that you think will happen during the movie. Instead of simply enjoying the movie, you've got an eye on your bingo card, hoping to nail one or more of the guesses. It undermines the overall enjoyment of the film.
Some might say I'm paid to make these predictions. If that's the case, NBC might want to re-think my employment. (Actually, please don't.)
We make predictions because, well, when in Rome. On today's PFT Live, I reluctantly engaged in the exercise of predicting the final placement of each team in the AFC East. And I was very tempted to relegate the team that has finished first for three straight seasons to worst.
The Bills currently feel like a Jenga tower. With each move, things get a little more wobbly. There's a vague sense it could all come crashing down. There's a palpable notion that, in any given year, it could.
What have the Bills done to get better? What have they done to address their flaws? Does anyone really think everything is fine between the coaching staff and receiver Stefon Diggs? Does anyone think he'll sit on the sideline and floss his teeth if they're losing games they should be winning?
The problem for the Bills is that both the Dolphins and the Jets have jumped them during the 2023 offseason. Also, because the Bills won the division, they play the defending AFC North champions (Bengals) and the defending AFC South champions (Jaguars). The Dolphins and Jets don't. (All four teams will play the Chiefs, Eagles, Cowboys, Giants, and Chargers. Oof.)
On paper, the Bills are currently the third-best team in the division.
While the Bills remain superior, on paper, to the Patriots, there's a non-zero chance that coach Bill Belichick will manage to get his team to overachieve, and possibly to pick off the Bills.
The Patriots haven't finished in last place in the AFC East since Belichick's first season, in 2000. A last-place finish this year could end up being his last season with the Patriots, too.
Bills coach Sean McDermott, who has taken over responsibility for the defense, could be facing the same fate. If Buffalo misses the playoffs, owner Terry Pegula could decide to find a different coach to reopen the window during the remaining useful years of Josh Allen's career.
Between the Jets, Dolphins, Patriots, and Bills, someone will be finishing in last place. Someone will be regarded as having a massively disappointing season. And, as we know based on the aftermath of every NFL season, someone will be fired when it's all said and done.
