A players-only meeting is often a sign that things aren't going well on a football team, and so Bills running back Latavius Murray's call for a players-only meeting today is a reminder that the Bills have fallen well short of expectations so far this season. Murray said that with the Bills having lost three of their last five games, he felt it was important to get all the offensive players on the same page. "Something I initiated, just wanted to bring the guys together and talk about some things and see how we as an offense can make a difference," Murray said. "So we talked about a few things so hopefully it was received and hopefully it's a step in the right direction." Murray said the Bills think they're a better team than they've shown. "We're about halfway through the year and it was on my mind, coming off a game — we've had a few games like that, but coming off a game where I just feel like, we can beat anybody. A lot of times, it's getting redundant, it's us beating ourselves," Murray said. "So how can we avoid that? What can we do possibly different during the week, whatever. How can we avoid that? How can we find something that's different amongst us so we get a different result. . . . It's the halfway point almost, coming off a loss where we feel we hurt ourselves once again." Murray is in his first year with the Bills and hasn't done a lot this season, with just 147 yards on 42 carries through nine games. It's a bit of a surprise that he'd be the one to call a players-only meeting, but Murray is the oldest player on the offense and may have felt that there were some things his younger teammates needed to hear.
Bills chance of winning the division based on way-too-early simulations (so take this with a grain of salt) is 20%. The exact percentages are obviously hard to estimate at this time, but it does show not only how their W/L record (taking into account opposition) is not impressive, but also their chances of success having the 2nd toughest remaining schedule left. Dolphins are at 71% to win the division.
I agree that the Bills are a better team than their record states. And while their season isn't over by a longshot, they'd have to be pretty spectacular down the stretch to make up the gap. Miami has three losses against three teams we were expected to lose to. And a lot people focus on that, but that's not the actual story this season. The big thing is that we're comfortably beating everyone we're supposed to beat, which makes those monster games a lot less critical in the grand scheme of things. Looking forward, there's still 3 or 4 games remaining where we may not be the favorites (including @Jets). But it feels good knowing that 10-7 or 11-6 will be enough to get us into the playoffs regardless of how those tougher games play out. Bringing this back to the Bills, they're just not doing that this year, they're not showing up every week and beating the teams that they should clearly beat. And that's the difference between our two teams.
I'm honestly thrilled with where the Bills are at this point. Coming into the year, I thought that when we got to where we are, the Bills would be 7-2 while we were 5-4. However, I thought that we would then dig ourselves out of the hole over the next five games while they stumbled and we were equal headed into the final three weeks. Now? There's a very real chance that we all but have the division locked up before Christmas!
I don't believe Allen is healthy. I think he's hiding a head injury. The guy has been slammed on his head into the turf many times this season. He doesn't look the same.
but, what is sad is the Bills are "bad" yet we lost to them and in your words we were supposed to. What does that make the Dolphins?
First, the Bills were playing well in that stretch...they were still "good" at that time, LOL. Second, we've been missing key pieces of our defense and OL all year long, but those fine folks are all returning. Third, if we are a "bad" team that holds almost every NFL offensive record halfway through the year, then I can live with that. Football really is "any given Sunday", despite what the talking heads may tell you. Winning is difficult in the NFL and every victory is earned. The fact that we're 6-3, have a healthy roster for crunch time, and leading the AFC East are the only things that matter today. The rest is just noise that will fade out based on what happens on the field.
I agree, he doesn't seem to be his normal self. Jalen Hurts is pretty beat up as well and they're not listing his injuries or letting him rest, that could really bite them in the butts come playoff time.
With the way the Dolphins have played against quality defenses this year, the Bills still have a shot at the division.
I think the Bills still have a legitimate shot at the division. We needed to win one out of those three games and we lost all three of them. Buffalo may be having a down year by the world's standards, but some teams just have your number even when they're not winning and I think they simply have us. In other words, Buffalo is still a dangerous team and as long as they have Josh Allen, they have a shot to beat anyone (especially us). Take a look at last year when we lost to the Packers. Green Bay was having a bad year, Aaron Rodgers struggled often, but he was still Aaron Rodgers and he showed up that day and beat us. You just don't bet against guys like that. I'm not going to bet against Josh Allen. They may not win another game this year and then beat us in the last week just because. So no, I don't think the division is ours. I think we need to beat the teams we're supposed to beat. Out of the upcoming games, the Friday night game against the Jets is concerning. That's going to be a short week and it just has crappy loss written all over it. We've struggled against good defenses and the Jets are stellar on defense. We lost that game and we will not be winning this division. Again, Buffalo is going to be dangerous as long as Josh Allen is coherent and they may put it together at any time and go on a run. My prediction is that whoever takes this division will be decided in the final game when we play them...And we will lose.
We haven't "smoked" them since Allen took over as QB and I highly doubt we're going to do it this time, either.
Bills are only 6.5 favorites at home against the Broncos, who lost by 50 to the Dolphins. According to some people's math here that means the Dolphins are gonna destroy the Bills Week 18.
I'm concerned with the Jets' defense stopping us. I'm concerned with us stopping the Bills' offense. Frankly, this offense is not doing well against good defenses and this defense has trouble stopping even mediocre offenses.
The defense held the Chiefs to 14 points and 60 yards in the second half last week. They haven't even come close to peaking yet.
I get it though. They lose to the Chiefs, they stink against good teams. The defense shut down Mahomes for the majority of the game, doesn't matter.
Dude, don't even try that crap. The narrative ALL SEASON has been that the Chiefs are underperforming on offense. Their WRs are dropping the ball. They've scored, in order, 20, 17, 41 (against the Bears), 23, 27, 19, 31 (against the Chargers), 9 and 21. Don't even try to tell me with a straight face that's not underperforming for the Chiefs.
Yes, KC is underperforming on offense. They're ranked 12 in points per game, which is the first time they're not top 6 since Mahomes got there. In fact that offense has been so elite since Mahomes that their average offensive ranking is 3.7! This year they have an elite defense instead: #2 in points allowed per game. So the script is flipped from previous years, and btw statistically speaking that's a bit less likely to win the SB than having a great offense and mediocre defense. And yes the Bills have had our number recently. We're 1-10 in the last 11 meetings with the Bills! However, the one win was last year when we had Tua + McDaniel and played at home. The 3 other losses since 2022 were all playing at Buffalo. So that last Buffalo game is probably going to be at worst a tossup, and will likely favor us a bit just due to home field advantage (refs will likely help us a bit). Regardless, while the Dolphins may not be elite — we're in the next tier after the elite teams (KC and Philly) — Buffalo certainly isn't either. Buffalo also has the 2nd strongest schedule left. They play at Philly, at KC, at Miami, at Chargers, and also play Dallas and the Jets. So whatever our issues, we're still a LOT more likely to win the division than they are. Don't just focus on the Dolphins. Look at Buffalo, and you'll see why there's only an estimated 20% chance they win the division.
No, he has no WRs. It's that simple. His wide receivers suck. They can't get open and they can't catch.
Yes, the Bills have a tough row to hoe but I've seen this movie before. I've seen the Dolphins snatch defeat from the jaws of victory time after time, when all they needed was one win to make the playoffs or win the division and somehow managed to blow it. They need to prove they've changed and despite what some people here believe, they haven't proven that to me.
I guess you'll have to wait 2 more months then, maybe less. In the meantime, see if you can enjoy the ride a bit more.
I tried to. I didn't let the Bills or Eagles losses get to me but this last one did. It just confirms everything everyone was saying about the team and it ticks me off.
Who cares what a team’s offense is “ranked”, unless of course they’re down at the absolute bottom of the barrel. When you defense holds the defending 3 time Super Bowl champions to only 14 points, shuts them out in the 2nd half and allows only 60 yards of offense in the 2nd half, your defense is not only doing its job, it’s playing at elite level. Everyone know if you rattle Allen, he makes DUMB throws. He has this mindset of no guts, no glory but that same mindset makes him take dumb risks. Fangio’s defense hadn’t quite gelled when we first played them, not to mention missing pieces but barring anything catastrophic between now and the final game of the season, Allen’s going to be in trouble against the Dolphins (unless our lock on the playoffs is so secure, that game won’t matter) The Jets defense? It may (or may not) be legit but I think it’s a safe bet the Jets offense is utter garbage and our defense is going to devour them.
It wouldn't surprise me if the elbow injury he suffered last year still isn't a factor. Those are slow to heal completely, and cause discomfort for a long time.
