Breaking Down the Buffalo Bills 2025-26 Schedule - What is the Floor and Ceiling? | UR - Under Review

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:14):
Previous play, we'll go under Review Happy Tuesday evening. Everybody,

(00:44):
Thank you so much for tuning into this week's episode
of Under Review. My name is Joe DeRosa. You can
find me on Twitter, slash x at show Underscore DeRosa
and folks. As we continue into the off season, and
the episode topic seemingly changes every week, even though I
say it's going to be something different. The week before,
the Buffalo Bills announced the newest schedule. We are very

(01:06):
excited to now know where this team is going to
be playing and work our schedules around it, get ourselves
to the games, get ourselves ready for more football and
what can hopefully be another year of success for the
Buffalo Bills and reaching the ultimate goal. But it stirred
a lot of different reactions for people, but a lot
of good ones, which I feel like is a lot
of fun, which is why I wanted to do an

(01:26):
episode on it. As we are in transition to discussing
all the different divisions in our conference and the competitiveness
of those, I kind of wanted to pivot to this
and just talk about all of these games that we
get to look forward to this upcoming season. And you know,
I had to bring a distinguished guest on, someone that
you have seen on the show before, someone that I

(01:47):
love speaking to, whose takes I always respect and have
a great time having a conversation with. And that is
the one, the only, my favorite blue ethereal floating or
mister Bruce Nolan and Bruce welcome back to the show.
Good morning to you. How are you doing?

Speaker 2 (02:05):
You know, for those of you who haven't you know,
haven't understood or been exposed to some of the behind
the scenes things. There are occasions where something that happens
off camera will bleed its way onto camera and we're
all laughing and you're all in the comment section going,
well this this feels unnecessary, Like is there an inside

(02:25):
joke I'm not familiar with. Well, I led off my
conversation with mister de Rosa saying good morning to him,
and so that's why he said, good morning back just now,
and good morning to all of you. Who are you know?
I mean, you never know, like there could be people
who are significantly ahead or behind. Maybe you're listening to

(02:45):
this live in Portugal, in which case, good morning to
you too.

Speaker 1 (02:51):
Yeah, valid, that's fair, and yes, that was the off
off the camera conversation, and I kind of got caught
off guard because I have been in the midst of
a scramble getting everything set up for tonight as the
Wi Fi in this place blew out and it was
a whole ordeal. But we are back. We are ready
to roll. Bruce, you are here, and I know I
got you for some time, and I wanted to get

(03:12):
into the weeds of this schedule and discuss it with
you because it's one of those years where I didn't
have like a crazy strong take that was negative about
the schedule. Usually when it comes out, I'm kind of
sitting here like, oh man, I can't believe they have
to go here and this span. I can't believe they
have this road trip. I can't believe they have to
go across the pond, all these different things that just

(03:33):
seemingly didn't exist. This feels like a really neutral Bear schedule.
And I know the Bills right now statistically have the
second least miles traveled on their schedule this season. So
I want to turn it back to you and just
ask you first for your initial thoughts, the whole shabang,
your thoughts on these matchups, the schedule arrangement, do you
like it? Do you hate it? I'm very curious to

(03:55):
know your thoughts.

Speaker 2 (03:57):
You know, it's funny, I've mentioned all my show before
that I don't have strong schedule takes like that's not
my thing for me. It's we already know who you're playing,
so it's just a matter of ordering at that point.
I do think miles traveled is something relevant. I think
the amount of times you have a team that has
better rest than you do coming into a game, I

(04:19):
think that matters. But overall, this is very neutral schedule.
I will say this. One of the things that I
really like is that the pillar games of the Buffaloville
schedule are spread out. So I have never been a
fan of like Murderer's Row, like where you have like
three back to back to back bangers, because I want

(04:39):
time to kind of recover from those. I want time
to plan for your next big matchup. And so if
you look at Week one being the Ravens, Week nine
being Kansas City, Week seventeen being Philadelphia, you go, okay,
like that's that's a little bit better.

Speaker 3 (04:55):
Now.

Speaker 2 (04:55):
I'm not saying that you're not play other good teams.
I mean Tampa Bay's good team Houston's a good team.
Since as a good team, these are teams the Buffalo
Bills can lose too, right, I mean, the Buffalo Bills
lost to Houston last year. They famously lost to Cincinnati
in the playoffs. But I'm not saying that those teams
aren't good. I'm saying that what I would consider to
be the absolute pinnacles of the schedule don't occur simultaneously.

(05:18):
So for me, I like that having the Pillar games
spread out. The other thing that I really like is
I like the fact that you get your games first
games against the Jets and the Patriots quickly. I want
to be able to teams that have new coaches. I
want to jump on them early. As a general rule,

(05:39):
I don't want to give them time to settle in
to the new routine. So for me, having the Jets
week two, having New England week five, I like that
better than having your first divisional games against those teams
being like week eight, week ten, and then you end
up having maybe two times in a three week span.
We've seen that before, where you have yeah, same divisional opponent,

(06:01):
you have them two times in.

Speaker 3 (06:02):
Three or four weeks.

Speaker 2 (06:04):
I didn't want that late in the year, because I
do want to have an opportunity to jump on kind
of new teams who are still feeling out their new
culture pretty early on. Both those things are things that
I like about this particular schedule. Knowing well that what
you just said, it's a neutral like schedule, right, it's
a very docile, like unoffensive, what are you going to
get mad at, you know, with this particular schedule kind

(06:26):
of thing.

Speaker 3 (06:26):
So knowing that those are my two big takeaways.

Speaker 1 (06:29):
Yeah, and I completely agree with both. I think the
fact that they are kind of spreading out the times
where you could say that they're playing the quote unquote
juggernaut is a really nice thing for this Bills team that,
you know, coming off last season and seeing them have
to deal with a really brutal gauntlet of teams at
the end of the year, it is a little refreshing

(06:51):
to see them so spread out to the point where, like,
even if you say things go well enough for the
Bills this year, that final matchup against the Eagles, I
don't want to say wouldn't matter, but there might be
a chance if things go right, that it's not going
to be as impactful or it's not going to be
something where you're fighting for seeding or division or something
where you have to deal with what's going in my opinion,

(07:13):
be a really tough team at the end of your year. Yeah,
I mean that factor, the factor that you get to
play again, you know, inexperienced coaching staffs early, or just
teams that you feel might be able to be some
kindling for the fire. Again, no team is easy in
the NFL. Anything can happen any week, but when you
look at the state of some of the rosters that
you're going to be going up against, you do have

(07:35):
to like the fact, well, at least I like the
fact that this Bills team can get what I would
believe are favorable matchups at home early on that might
help them get a nice, solidified record and get them
into a groove when they do eventually play some of
the tougher stretches. And just to even go into that,
it doesn't feel like a gauntlet truly exists. Like we

(07:55):
talked about the spacing of the teams, but even then
you would always look at it and say, well, wow,
this this three stretch is still tough. And I'm not
trying to dismiss what these teams could be at certain parts,
and I look at later on in the year where
you have things like that Pittsburgh Cincinnati run, but it
feels like even then, there's a case to be made
that it's not three or four games in a row

(08:15):
where you're like, holy crap, man, this is going to
be tough. I feel like everything is pretty dispersed, pretty even,
and therefore I'm pretty optimistic, just again with the way
this Bills team is constructed, who they match up against
the fact that their schedule objectively is one of the
easier ones in the NFL, at least right now, it
feels pretty good. And for that reason I was excited

(08:35):
to delve into it with you, Bruce, and you know,
we could just kind of break this up by month
just in the interest of time, especially because again I
had to push this pack ten minutes. But I want
to start with the first month and looking at these
matchups where you have Baltimore at home Sunday night football,
you go to MetLife on the fourteenth, then you come
back home against Miami at eight fifteenth Thursday night, then

(08:57):
you play New Orleans at home, and I'm just thinking,
this is a hell of a way to start the year.
Divisional round rematch of these matchups, Bruce, I feel like
I want to say I would know what yours is,
but you're an interesting guy. I can never get a
read on you, on the fact that you are a
blue ethereal floating orb of white who is impossible to read,
you know, multi dimensional. What matchup from this month is

(09:20):
the one that really catches your eye that you're the
most excited for.

Speaker 2 (09:23):
I mean, obviously I'm going to say the Ravens, right,
Everyone's going to say the Ravens. I will say I
don't want to belabor the Ravens point because I know
we're going to do a significant preview of the Ravens
because Week one always gets the most time because you
have like three weeks to talk about it, as opposed
to week two, where you have in this case, you know,

(09:43):
a couple of days to talk about it. So for me,
I want to point out I want to kind of shift.
I know that we're gonna talk about Alter. I want
to talk a little bit about New York. I think
one of the things that I find interesting about the
Jets this year is that this isn't the same old Jets.

(10:04):
And I don't mean that in terms of oh, we
should be really worried about them. What I'm saying is,
culturally speaking, this is a very different organization than it was.
They remade the entire organization in the image of Aaron Glenn,
who is a different cat than they're used to having
in New York. So you have a different starting quarterback,
you have a different head coach, you have a different

(10:27):
general manager. But overall this is a strange phenomenon. The
personnel for the New York Jets is not drastically different
than it was last year. One of the conversations that's
kind of hovering around the Jets right now is, hey,
they kind of redid the culture around the organization, redid
a lot of the organization itself, but there's.

Speaker 3 (10:49):
Not a huge turnover in players.

Speaker 2 (10:51):
You got a new starting quarterback, but you know it's
the same old receivers as a general rule, right, and
Alan Lazard still there is a number two. Gary Wilson's
the number one. I mean, DeVonta Adams isn't there anymore,
but he was only there for a few seconds in
the middle of the season last year anyway, So I mean,
Mason Taylor is a meaningful addition.

Speaker 3 (11:09):
I really liked.

Speaker 2 (11:10):
Mason Taylor as a tight end coming out of LSU,
and I think when you have a offensive coordinator coming
from Detroit, you think, Okay, I'm gonna get a detroit
Ish sort of system with them. But Justin Fields is
definitely not Jared Goff. So I'm really interested because everyone
seems to think that what you're gonna get is you're
gonna get the Lion's system. Listen, Jared Goff, say what

(11:34):
you will about Jared Goff. Jared Goff is an offensive
coordinator's dream. You know why, if you tell him where
the ball is supposed to go and when is supposed
to go there, he will throw it. It's like Ron Burgundy.
So this is really important. Jared Goff is Ron Burgundy.
If you put it on the teleprompter, he will read it.

Speaker 3 (11:51):
Right. I'm Jared Goff. Go bleep yourself.

Speaker 2 (11:59):
That's the way it works. So come hell or high water,
that's what he's gonna do. Justin Fields is not that guy.
Justin Fields is not the hit your back foot. The
ball is supposed to hit this inbreaker and I'm throwing it,
you know, like if it gets picked off, it gets
picked off. But it says five step drop and this
ball is supposed to go here, So this is where
I'm going. So I think that it's gonna be really,

(12:22):
really fascinating because I know what I'm gonna get from
the Ravens. Now, that doesn't necessarily mean they're gonna beat him.
The Bills could very easily lose to the Ravens. They
got the pants blown off them in the first matchup
last year, and then they won primarily because someone dropped
the two point conversion. It didn't go in overtime, so

(12:42):
we were don't a think we were all like paranoid
about that, because if Mark Andrews catches that, it goes
to overtime and they win, the entire narrative of the
offseason is different. Then it's about the defense giving up
that long drive blah blah blah blah and all.

Speaker 3 (12:56):
Stuff like that.

Speaker 2 (12:56):
So New York is fascinating to me, really fascinating because
they didn't change the overalling majority of the team, but
they change the stuff that matters, you know, the head coach,
the coaching staff, the general manager of the quarterback.

Speaker 3 (13:11):
So it almost is like this weird.

Speaker 2 (13:14):
Best subject for how much you can actually change about
the organization by changing the top ten percent, which I
think was fascinating.

Speaker 1 (13:23):
I love that point, and I think that the Jets
right now are like, listen, we can laugh them off.
We could say whatever about them based on pass it,
you know, past records and each of the past few
years where they were supposed to be good and war'
or were all this to say. I think that this
Jets team reminds me. And it's not because of the

(13:45):
way they're constructed, you know, schematically, it's not to make
any points that they're going to look the exact same
or do the exact same things. But it reminds me
a lot of that Sean McDermott entrance to Buffalo in
that first season where he inherits some players on this roster,
then rebuilds the coach staff and him and Bean are
putting this thing together for the first time and you
have a new look team with not a lot of

(14:06):
talent that many people thought were going to bottom out
in that year, right going to be a complete joke
rebuild year for the Bills. It is what it is,
and they end up making the playoffs, albeit catching a
few breaks along the way, but had the makings of
a team that could win those close games could go
toe to toe with really tough competition. You saw that
when they played New England a few times and kept
those games relatively close, you know, back in the Brady era.

(14:28):
And I think that with the Jets, I could see
a world where, even with some of the talent deficiencies
on offense, and even that it's there's still very good
players in that offense. I could see this being a
team that is a thword in the side in the division,
with room to maybe make enough noise if Justin Fields
goes well enough to become a wildcard team, become a

(14:50):
team that makes it more difficult to win your division,
become a team that is just simply building it the
right way and growing and giving themselves a umping off
point for future years. And I do think that the
fact that you got that road game in MetLife in
week two is nice because maybe they do get there,
but maybe they don't figure it out by week two.

(15:11):
As you alluded to earlier, with the potential for new
coaching staffs and taking advantage of them figuring it all out,
it could be a year where maybe the Jets started
out zho and two but end up going like nine
and eight or ten and seven even you know, a
slow start, but getting more comfortable, more acclimated, and more
momentum as the season goes on. So I like the
point about the Jets. I will agree with you that
mine is obviously Baltimore. It's just the most most like

(15:36):
clash of the Titans matchup you have to start. But
that's the easy answer for me, And I don't want
to get too into it because again we're going to
preview it. I want to talk about New England or
I'm so sorry that's the next month, so forget how
even say anything. I want to talk about Miami, and
it's just Miami is another team that I think like.
Because of the track record with Buffalo, they get written off,
but Miami still plays them extremely tough, and I think

(15:59):
we have like not a revisionist history. But a lot
of people tend to look back at the Thursday night
matchup where the Bills ended up steamrolling them towards the
end of the game, but kind of forget that that
game was actually shaping up to be quite close until
two it got hurt and then the second game that
you had against them was really close to a point
where it took a sixty one yard field goal to

(16:21):
beat them. Miami is still going to be tough. Miami
still has an incredibly dynamic, explosive backfield. They built their
offensive line further and made it a unit that on
paper could be a little bit more viable in pass protection.
Tua is going to be healthy, Tyreek Hill Jalen Wadde
are still there. And then when you look at the
defensive side of the ball, I think Anthony Weaver is

(16:43):
a good defensive coordinator who has a more talented defense
this year with good linebackers and a fortified defensive line
that added in Kenneth Grant, a player that a lot
of Bills fans wanted, a new Jordan Phillips. Maybe the
career arc is the same as the old one we'll see,
and pairing that with Zach Sieler and really talented edge rushers.
This is not a Miami team that I look at

(17:03):
and say this is easy. This is another test for
the Bills early on in the year on Thursday Night football,
so a short week turnaround, and I think it has
a lot of impact for this team. So I'm going
to be watching that one closely, and I am really
excited for that one because I think again, like just
when they're healthy, and they I think would have a
good chance of being fairly healthy. You can't predict everything,

(17:25):
but I would think in week three they should be
with Tyreek Hill and Jayalen Waddle. This is going to
be a It's going to be a boxing match. So
I'm looking forward to that matchup too, Bruce. Any final
thoughts on September, any of these other matchups you want
to acknowledge, or anything else you want to say before
we go to October where I've already spoiled my matchup.
I'm watching.

Speaker 2 (17:43):
Miami for me went through a cultural shift this offseason
because they decided they wanted to try and be more physical.
The conversation with Miami over the last couple of years
is they're soft, Right, They're a soft team. They went
into this offseason they just that they were going to
do a little something about that.

Speaker 3 (18:02):
Right.

Speaker 2 (18:02):
They added two powerbacks to their backfield, They drafted on
the offensive line, Like, this is an organization historically that
thought you could scheme around physicality, and I think they're
starting to think, okay, maybe we were wrong in that.

Speaker 3 (18:16):
So I'll be.

Speaker 2 (18:17):
Interested to see if you see a more significant commitment
to the downhill running game from Miami. I'll be interested
to see if you see different types of run schemes
from them. I'll be very interested to see if the
personality holds up when the bullets are flying.

Speaker 1 (18:35):
Yeah, one hundred percent. They are a team that was
very finesse, and in turn, that finesse style paired with
them kind of getting beat up just really was a
recipe for disaster and led to underweming results the past
few years. Now, I kind of look at it as, Oh,
they're making the decisions that I would have made to like,
And I'm no smart no smart guy like I am

(18:56):
not someone that is going to say I could be
a GM of a football team. But I look at
the Dolphins and I've always had opinions on what I
think they should do to really improve things with all
the talent that they have, especially when you look at
guys like Tyreek Hill who are getting older longer in
the tooth. How much longer do you have that dynamic
field stretching option who has been one of the best
wide receivers in the league for the past few years.

(19:17):
Even last year, despite the injuries, the talent was still there.
It's a team that I think made savvy, correct decisions
and is going to be a tough out and I
think that we just sleep on them a bit too
much because of past success. But this is one that
I'm going to be watching closely and not looking forward to.
But it's always fun matchups after they're over, and you
can always look back and just say damn. Like when

(19:38):
you're not in the stress of the game, you can
at least appreciate good football, and when things are clicking
for Miami, it is really good and really fun to watch,
although I hope the Bills win it, and I don't
think that Miami is this infallible, impenetrable team. Rather, it's
going to be fun. Now moving on to October, already
spoiled it Freebers, So I'm going to pass it back
to you and then I'll throw my thoughts on the
matchup out there. But obviously bye week. You can say

(20:02):
bye week if you'd like, if you like the rest
and relaxation of it. But you know, Sunday against October fifth,
against New England, you have Monday, October thirteenth, Monday Night
Football Atlanta Falcons, which I'm actually pumped forward that's my
other favorite. And then you end the month with a
road game one pm at Carolina. Which one of these
do you like?

Speaker 3 (20:20):
Pers Atlanta Man, show me Atlanta.

Speaker 2 (20:23):
Atlanta is a fascinating team for me because they went
into last year with the Okay, we're gonna do it,
like this is the year. We're gonna go ahead and
invest in. Kirk Cousins will hedge our bets with Michael Pennox,
hopefully he won't have to play right away, and we're
really gonna this is the year. And the defense falls apart,

(20:44):
Kirk Cousins gets hurt, he doesn't really respond. After those injuries,
they turned to Pennix, and all of a sudden, Penix
like ends the year really strong, Like he goes oh
to toe with Washington, lights up Carolina, and you're like,
would we have made the playoffs if we would have

(21:05):
switched earlier? Like that's what they're all thinking. They're all thinking,
what we would have made the playoffs if we would
have gone to Penox earlier. Because my delightful comp for
Michael Pennox is a dollc from Doctor Who, the little
cylindrical robots that run around and shoot lasers.

Speaker 3 (21:23):
Because that's all he does, just pep pew. Right.

Speaker 2 (21:26):
He looks like he's a very broad kind of guy,
and he you know this cylinder, he just gotta go
pew pew. And so for me, Michael Penox is a
dialect from Doctor Who. And the reason I'm fascinated is
because you've given them enough chance by playing them Monday,
October thirteenth. That now Penix is eight to nine games

(21:48):
into his career and not three games in his career,
which I think matters because if you're gonna start to
see like fall off from Penix, you're gonna start it
by now, like defenses are going to catch up to you.

Speaker 3 (22:02):
Like defenses don't catch up to you after two games?
Defense catch up? Do you have to like nine games?

Speaker 1 (22:07):
Right?

Speaker 2 (22:07):
And so this is right around the time where there's
gonna be a plan and Sean McDermot. If you look
at Sean McDermott against rookie quarterbacks, it's been really really,
really really good. Pennix isn't technically a rookie his second year,
even though he's only had to go. So I'm really
fascinated to see what that is because that's a good
offensive line, good skill positions, I mean, Drake London's a dude,

(22:28):
and John Robinson is a dude, and if Michael Pennix
is a dude, and that defense they invested two first
round picks in pass rushers. It feels like Atlanta has
been looking for pass rushers since I was seven years old?
But does it?

Speaker 3 (22:43):
Is it just like me or Atlanta?

Speaker 1 (22:44):
Up?

Speaker 2 (22:44):
What do you need pass rush? Like it's every single
year since what John Abraham?

Speaker 1 (22:49):
Even when they've had talented d line contributors, they still
could have used in that rusher or an interior defensive line.
There's always been a need for it.

Speaker 3 (22:56):
Always literally always.

Speaker 2 (22:58):
It's like Father Abraham did not have many right and
that's just the way it works with John Abraham, Like
there's this not the way that it happened for Atlanta
ever since him, They're like, Okay, we need a pass russure,
Oh we need a PSS rusher for like twenty years now,
all of a sudden, what if they actually get it?

Speaker 3 (23:12):
Like what if it actually hits this.

Speaker 2 (23:14):
Time and you have that offense like Atlanta could be
a good there's a reasonable chance. Look at Atlanta's schedule.
So if you pull Atlanta's schedule and you go, okay,
let's see what they're You know, their opening looks like.
First off, they play in the NFC South's which is
always crazy, but they open with Tampa Bay, Minnesota, Carolina, Washington.
They could go one in three right there before they

(23:35):
get to Buffalo. So are they desperate? Are they backed
into a corner? Are you happy that they could be
one in three coming into Buffalo or are you mad
about that? Because their schedule gets really soft there in
the middle. They go Miami, New England, Indianapolis, Carolina, New Orleans,
the Jets Seattle there for a for a stretch, and

(23:56):
they're they're gonna be like, we could just get past Buffalo,
then we're gonna have a stre So it's just a
fascinating game because there's lots of dynamics for me, and
that's why the Falcons game is on my list.

Speaker 1 (24:05):
Yeah, and I had a hard time just when I
initially looked at this kind of choosing between the two.
I think the edge I gave to New England is
simply divisional matchup. So there's a lot of implication even
though both of these are primetime games and both of
these are against up and coming teams. That was the
only difference for me I will say about Atlanta, I

(24:25):
bullish on the Falcons. I love Michael Pennick Junior and
I've been a firm Michael Pennick Junior hyper Is that
a word hypeist? I don't know. I like hyping him
up because I think he is a just phenomenal talent.
I didn't I said this. I didn't think that he
was the best quarterback in last year's class. I felt
that when you talk pure thrower of the ball, it

(24:47):
was him over ay yees. Just the prettiest release the
zippy has on the ball, the three level throwing ability,
the accuracy, the timing, Like everything about Michael Pennick Junior
just absolutely rules. He just seems like an awesome dude.
So it's easy to root for awesome dudes who can
throw the ball really good. And you pair him with
an offense that has v John Robinson, who I just

(25:08):
love as a player. I think he's as dynamic of
a back as you can get in the NFL. Drake London,
who people like you know with bad quarterback play, tend
to overlook. But now that he's got his guy in turn,
he could show his skill set there's a lot of
fun pieces. I mean, I know Kyle Pitts has become
kind of a tight end, like punching bag part of
the joke, but I think as a talented player, receiving

(25:29):
tight end Darnell Mooney like a lot to like. But
when you talk about the defense, it wasn't just the
pass rush. Like I'm pretty sure, pretty confident that every
pick they made, which wasn't many, was a defensive investment
because if I remember correctly, it was the two pass rushers,
and then they also got Xavier Watson Billy Bowman, so
not just that, but also fortifying their secondary with what

(25:50):
I would deem another deep safety pairing with Jesse Bates
and then someone you could honestly say is more of
a boxer nickel defender in Billy Bowman, which is really
really fun when you think about aj Terrell being in
that defense as well. And then if these pass rush
investments playoff. So I love the Falcons and what they're doing,
what they did, I think they're gonna be a fun team.

(26:10):
I think the NFC South is just an awesome division
to keep up with this year. I'm looking forward to
eventually doing an episode on that everybody, but they're just
fun that there's so much Carolina. You have a case
for every three of the four. Okay, New Orleans, there
is some level of a case.

Speaker 3 (26:26):
Be fun.

Speaker 2 (26:27):
It doesn't necessarily means good fun, but it's still fun, right, Yeah.

Speaker 1 (26:31):
Like maybe Tyler Shuck's cool, you know, maybe maybe there's
some cool off script, really fun dynamic plays there.

Speaker 2 (26:38):
Well, I mean, Shuck is a similar conversation if you
just if you take out some of the other stuff,
Shuck those a nice ball, like, yeah, Just the problem
with Shuck is, of course, the way he performs under pressure, right, Like,
that's and that is different. Someone in the comments said
Josh Rosen had the prettiest ball once upon a time. Yeah,
So Rosen and Pennix are very different people because of

(27:01):
the way they handle under pressure, right. Michael Penix had
a crazy low pressure sack percentage in college because he
knows what to do with the ball.

Speaker 3 (27:12):
He gets it out on time. And also if you
watched him.

Speaker 2 (27:15):
Just play at Washington, you wouldn't know he's a four
four five guy. Like you would never know that Michael
Penox runs a four four five because he does doesn't
have to. He's one of those people who goes, I
can get out of trouble with my arm and with
my brain. I don't have to get out of trouble
with my legs. But he doesn't take sacks like Michael
Penox' is. Josh Rosen takes sacks, right, Yeah, he always

(27:36):
took sacks. That was his big problem he came to
the NFL. He didn't know how to identify a mike linebacker.

Speaker 1 (27:44):
Like.

Speaker 2 (27:44):
One of the main concepts that I think we've learned
from the Caleb Williams conversation over the last week or
so was that some of the NFL teams do not
do a good job of teaching their quarterback.

Speaker 3 (27:55):
They just don't, right.

Speaker 2 (27:57):
And I think the biggest takeaway for me was not
the Caleb william you know, was a divon didn't want
to play for Chicago. My biggest takeaway was that Chicago
doesn't teach people how to play quarterback, at least they
didn't before. That was my biggest takeaway because we all
knew that was the case, but man, it's nice to
be able to see it. Like there's some NFL teams
that just don't teach quarterbacks how to be quarterbacks, and
so Shuck is a weird combination of the two of them.

(28:20):
Number One, he doesn't take sacks, but he also does
crazy crap under pressure. Like you've seen the highlights, You've
seen non highlights low lights, right, So he throws a
really pretty ball, like he throws a really nice ball
Irockically enough, there's a reason why people compared him to
Derek Carr. Derek Carr also threw a really nice ball
and was horribly pressure adverse. The reason why he had
his best season ever was when at the time Oakland

(28:43):
had that awesome offensive line. He was Derek Carr was
an MVP candidate because he wasn't getting touched. But then
you breathe on him and he freaks out and throws
a pick. That's the way it is for Shuck. So
I think it's gonna be fascinating, So say what you will,
but it's gonna be fun.

Speaker 1 (28:57):
Yeah, and it's not. You know, when you look at
a fully healthy Saints roster, Alvin Kamara is still there,
Chris o'lave is still there. I don't think Shaheed's going
to be ready by the start of the year because
I believe he got hurt midway through the season.

Speaker 3 (29:10):
But there are.

Speaker 1 (29:11):
Pieces there that Saints fans can kind of look at.
If Shuck is actually doing well as a rookie, and
mind you, Kellen Moore is at the Helm, so he's
with an offensive play caller that's had success in the past,
it could be a good result for them. I think
there were holes on the roster, but also I mean,
you never know. Some teams just play above what's on
paper and that could matter for them. The only thing
that gives me any optimism, will any gives me a

(29:32):
lot of optimism is again mcdermot's record against rookies and
the fact that it's in Buffalo and early on in
the season. So talking about my matchup, because again Atlanta's
going to be awesome. But New England for me, just
an up and coming team that I feel like this
collision course has been in the work now for a
couple of years. But now with Drake May having his
rookie season out of the way, and now the New

(29:52):
England offense, adding in Will Campbell, adding in some new receivers,
and also just having ultimately as a whole team and
insane draft, I think this New England team is going
to be a lot better this season. I think the
ceiling of this New England team is that of a
division rival, one that could actually try to give you
a run for your money. But I think probably slots
in as like one of the wildcard teams, and they're

(30:14):
not going to be a pushover. I don't even think
they were a pushover last year when the Bills won
that game, just because again they get down to an
early deficit and they have to climb out of it
and Drake May makes some really nice throws and you
saw some experience from him. I think the fact that
they have rebuilt the coaching staff, brought in a proven
coach and Mike Brabil who has matched up with McDermott
well in the past with Tennessee, bringing back McDaniels and

(30:38):
having him pair with Drake May and getting the development
in order because he's been able to do that with
young quarterbacks in the past. This is a New England
team that, frankly I worry about. I think with the
you know, the changes to their defensive front and you
talk about Barmore coming back, but also adding in players
like Milton Williams and also drafting Brayden Swinson and Joshua

(31:00):
Armor and the secondary, having Christian Gonzales, who I think
is the most underrated corner in the NFL, probably one
of the best that does not get talked about enough.
This is a tough New England team and it's in
primetime and there's going to be a lot on the
line for both teams because I know people might think
this is nothing or that it's just another divisional game.
The Bills have to prove that they're still on top

(31:20):
of the division. I know it's early, but it is
a statement game in New England wants to ruin that
and show that they're the up and coming, new, hungry,
young team that's ready to take back their asset sucsessed
and I don't want to see that happen. And it's
a matchup that I'm really excited to watch for that reason.
I think the storylines, the Drake and Josh component of it,
and Drake May's ascension and what he could look like

(31:41):
makes it for a very interesting matchup that I am
really looking forward to. And I just keep my tabs
on AFC East teams and this is one that I
think is due for a better year. Bruce. Any final
thoughts on October that point anything else we discussed before
we move on to the next month.

Speaker 3 (31:56):
Yeah, let's go all right.

Speaker 1 (31:58):
November, so it is the rematch Kansas City Chiefs for
twenty five pm. Then we take on Miami in Miami
one o'clock pm. We take on Tampa Bay on November sixteenth,
that is a home game. Then November twentieth, you have
a Thursday night game, another Thursday night game at Houston,
close out the month with a four to twenty five

(32:18):
game at Pittsburgh Bruce. Which one of these matchups tickles
your fancy?

Speaker 2 (32:23):
I mean, it's got to be Kansas City. I mean,
I don't I don't know. I feel like they're spread
out so well, like I said in the opening, that
the Pillar games are spread out that I don't really
have the option of being able to say anyone with
Kansas City and this one, for me, the story is
going to be a new look Kansas City offense.

Speaker 3 (32:43):
I think that.

Speaker 2 (32:45):
The injury to Rashie Rice and the development curve of
Xavier Worthy changed that offense a little bit last year.
And I don't mean necessarily in a good way. I
mean that wasn't an elite offense last year. They had
to kind of grind it out a little bit on
offense playball control. Now, I will say the success rate
remained really high because its testament to Andrew on to

(33:08):
Andy Reid and also to Patrick Mahomes. But now Rashie
Rice is going to be healthy. His LCL injury was
very early last year, so Rashie Rice is gonna be healthy.
Xavier Worthy moves to a different role at that point,
because Xavior Worthy is not really that guy. They kind
of used him a little bit in that yak short
a dot sort of role later on in the year,

(33:28):
but that's not really his thing. Like, that's that's what
they got Rashie Rice to do, right, the ten yard split,
the yak ability, that's his thing. And so Rashie Rice
kind of ended up phasing out Travis Kelcey. But then
Rashie Rice gets hurt and then Travis Kelsey comes back
into play, and it's it's really fascinating to see what
that offense is going to look like with another year

(33:49):
under the belt for Xavier Worthy and Rashie Rice coming
back and Travis Kelsey being a different in a different
role than he was before. I think it's going to
be a conversation that we're going to have. I think
the pass rush of the Buffalo Bills needs to have figured.

Speaker 3 (34:02):
Their crap out by November second.

Speaker 2 (34:04):
I think that's gonna be the story of the game,
because that's been a story for a significant amount of
the matchups that the Bills have had against the Kansas
City Chiefs have been you can't get the homes, you
can't get there. Yeah, So for me, you know, if
you haven't figured out your stuff by week nine now, thankfully,
if you'll notice, the suspensions will all be done by

(34:25):
that so Ogun Joebe, Michael Hoyt, they'll be back by
Kansas City and the Bills will have a bye week
to figure that out. So the pass rush had better
been hitting on all cylinders by the time you get
to November second, or it could be a less than
pleasant experience.

Speaker 1 (34:42):
Completely agree. And also, yeah, I think I said the
eighth before because I had it too small on my screen.
That is the second. I don't remember if I if
I flobbed that or not. But November second against Kansas City,
and I do agree with you. Kansas City's the one
I'm looking at. It has to be. It's just the
team that has gotten the better of you in the
playoffs consistent years and consistently, and I'm just I want
to see what it looks like again this year with

(35:03):
the Nework defense. And that's kind of a point that
I was hoping we would get to in this show,
because you are going to be returning some bets, obviously,
but a lot of I would argue, impactful pieces that
you're going to lean on this season are going to
be at the hands of rookies because when you look
at your cornerback too position, it's most likely going to
be at least slated on the deaf chart based on

(35:24):
where you draft them in the expectation. Hairstin maybe Strong
has a early showing kind of similar to another late
round cornerback, and we see him take the mantle. You
look at your interior defensive line outside of Jaiquon Jones
and at Oliver, and I think TJ. Sanders is going
to get a lot of snaps and a lot of rotation.
I think Landon Jackson early on in the season is
going to get a lot of snaps and a lot

(35:44):
of rotation. These are players that you are expecting to
kind of carry on those waves of pressure and be
able to maintain discipline, run defense, provide pressure consistently. And
for that reason, the matchup against Kansas City, as you
alluded to, I am hoping that that point there is
an established threat of pass rush because this Chiefs team,

(36:05):
it seems like the last season and a half, maybe
you can even say two seasons, while still being a
Super Bowl contender, we're also at a very vulnerable point offensively,
and now it seems like with the return of Pacheco
for them being fully healthy ideally and they're able to run.
The drafting of Richard Smith to pair with Kareem Hunt
in the room, and just a really powerful group of
running backs which they predicate on. And then the tight

(36:28):
end room which is always going to be solid. With
a receiving corps that now features if for she Rice
comes back fully healthy, him, Jalen Royals, Xavier Worthy. There
is explosiveness, There is ute running prowess. This is an
offense that I think has kind of gotten the ability
to be a juggernaut, super Bowl winning and competing team

(36:48):
while also figuring it out, which is a luxury you
rarely ever see, if ever. And this is a game
that's going to be a massive test for your new
defensive editions and any tweaks. You might be making a
huge test for Bobby Babbage in year two of full
time DC as showing how you've matured, how you've progressed.
What game plan have you and McDermott come up with

(37:09):
to kind of right the wrongs of that AFC championship
where the Chiefs just rpoed you to death and took
advantage of the vacated space and all the eye candy
they presented to you. Can you maintain discipline? Can you
maintain pressure? Those are the questions I have. It's what
I'm going to be watching out for, and it just
it kind of has to be the biggest matchup. It's
Kansas City. I mean, like, we have a divisional game here,

(37:30):
we have teams that we have lost to in the past.
In Houston. There's other really good cases for this month,
like I'm excited about the Tampa Bay game, but it's
Kansas City. It's just the team you have to get
over and you've done it in the regular season. It
almost feels hollow if they win. But it's still that
contemporary that you just have had issues with the one
you're trying to get passed and it could be still

(37:51):
a statement game even if it is in November. Tewod
clashing and not something in the playoffs which you hope
you can get back to and get your revenge on them.
Then Bruce the other thoughts on this month, anything you
want to cover before we move on.

Speaker 3 (38:03):
No, I'm good, all right.

Speaker 1 (38:05):
We are exercising our demons to the Kansas City Chiefs and
all these other points really efficiently on the show, I
do say, And we move on to December. December seventh,
four to twenty five pm. Another Demon returns to Buffalo
and the Cincinnati Bengals. Then you move on to December fourteenth,
one o'clock PM at New England. You have December twenty first,
one o'clock PM at Cleveland. So December twenty eighth, four

(38:27):
to twenty five home against Philly, and then to close
out the schedule TVD TVD versus the New York Jets,
the final game, well not in Orchard Park but at
the current stadium. Bruce, of these matchups, which one do
you like?

Speaker 2 (38:41):
I think the most interesting thing here to me, and
I know everyone's gonna say Cincinnati, it's Cleveland. And here's
the reason why it's Sunday, December twenty first. Are the
Browns trying at this point? Like are they are they
trying or are they in full tank mode at this point?
Because the Browns made a maneuver in the draft that

(39:03):
made you think that they're punting the quarterback decision until
twenty twenty six, right, They traded down and picked up
a first rounder next year, which is usually.

Speaker 3 (39:12):
A sign for we need ammunition to go get a guy.

Speaker 2 (39:16):
And so they do that, and then they draft Dylan
Gabrielle and the third and shoulder of Sanders in the
fifth and you're like.

Speaker 3 (39:23):
What what what do you what are you doing?

Speaker 2 (39:27):
Are are you trying to ensure the tank? Is that
the reason why you drafted Dylan gabriel in the third?
You're like, hey, listen, we want to make sure we
get that you know, high pick, or like, what are
you doing exactly? So it's a very confusing draft for
the Browns. But for me, I want to know if
they're trying on December twenty first, or are they hoping
to lose at that point, because I think that the

(39:49):
interesting thing early on is if the Browns don't start
Shooter Sanders and they open, you know, zero to three
or whatever. You know, the the cries are going to
get loud, right for Sugar Sanders real fast. Deon Sanders
gonna throw his weight around on social media and talk
about how they should be started, starting his son or
something like that, and it's going to be a whole thing.

(40:10):
So for me, when I think about the Browns, the
reason it's fascinating is because I don't know what stage
of life cycle they're going to be in on December
twenty first.

Speaker 3 (40:20):
That's why it's fascinating to me.

Speaker 2 (40:22):
I know that there are better teams and there are
better matchups, but I'm just fascinated to see from a
team building standpoint where the heads are.

Speaker 1 (40:30):
Yeah, in the.

Speaker 3 (40:30):
Cleveland organization by the time you get to December twenty.

Speaker 1 (40:32):
First, it's like, I want to see if you actually
are trying anymore, because also that could have great implications
for the Bills and what would ideally be not in
a dire situation, but if they are in a playoff
race or are in a seating race or something along
those lines, which you know, it seems like every other
year that seems to be the case this point in

(40:52):
the year when they have a really good season, all
of a sudden followed it up with a really inconsistent,
weird year where it's like, oh my god, they have
to win every game, and then they do and somehow
win the division. It's like the cosmos just want you
to suffer or be stressed. But this could be a
very impactful game for that reason alone. If they are
fighting to try and get the one seed, if they
are fighting to try and get the division, if Cleveland

(41:13):
is having a really rough go this season, and you
would believe with some of the holes on the roster
that is a possibility for them, then this is a
game that could be huge for Buffalo. The only thing is,
and this is the thing that freaks me out about
it prooves December twenty first, one pm at Cleveland. What
if we do get adverse weather. Now I think this
Bills team can run the ball. But I do think

(41:35):
that the Browns, at least, I would say, have a
chance to be or to have the strongest part of
their team be that defensive front with Miles Garrett, with
newly drafted Mason Graham and some of the other casts there.
I do wonder if a Jim Schwartz led defense and
a snowstorm would just be an absolute hell skate for
a Bills offense that would try to run the ball
pretty much the entire time. If you get Lake effects

(41:57):
though at this point, and that part concerns me. But
if that doesn't happen, then yeah, I think this could
be a game that, like you ask, is Cleveland even
gonna bring their a game? Are they even gonna try?
And if not, could be a win that would be
very important for the Bills and playoff hunt. But I
have to give this one to Philly, and it should.
Cincinnati is the AFC game Joe Burrow comes back to Buffalo.
That is number two for me. But for Philly it's

(42:20):
just the Super Bowl champions. And it's a very simple reason.
But I want to see what you look like when
the best, at least right now are coming to your
home stadium and maybe again you are in the midst
of a playoff run, and this might be a very
major game for you if this season has gone a
bit more inconsistent than years past, or you are fighting
for the record like you did in twenty twenty three

(42:41):
and twenty twenty one, seemingly like off years. I have
that correct. It is a It's just the best team,
you know, firing on all cylinders with so much talent,
a team that I think had another just really good
draft and added some really cool, young, explosive pieces to
their defense like Giod Campbell and then Andrew mccubaugh, who

(43:01):
was literally like my favorite safety in the classes. On
this team, it's fun. It's just it's Philly. There's a
lot to like about the individual matchups. You can remember
back to their bout in twenty twenty three where they
got beat and the overtime run by Jalen Hurts, and
you want retribution for that. You want to see this
team get a punch back on the defending Super Bowl

(43:22):
champions and ultimately a win that probably makes you feel
really good as you close your season out the following
week and kind of say, hey, we could take this
team down, assuming they're healthy, assuming it's the same status
you know Saquon Barkley, maybe they have a game plan
and defend them well. It's an opportunity for you to
go into the playoffs feeling great because you just took

(43:43):
down a great team. And on the other side of it,
there is impact if you get taken down by a
team that was the defending Super Bowl champion if they
are shaping up to be that again, because now you
kind of ask questions like, if this is the best
of the best, then you got beat at home against them,
what do you do to it just going into the playoffs?
Does it look like by then? And for that reason,
it's my favorite matchup to close the regular season slate

(44:05):
out and one I'm gonna be watching closely, Bruce, before
I ask you about the foreign ceiling the final part
of this episode, any other thoughts you want to mention
about December or anything else with the schedule that you
feel like we didn't touch upon, or you want to mention.

Speaker 3 (44:19):
Now, I was hoping you were going to hit Philly.

Speaker 2 (44:21):
I was trying to, you know this as I was
trying to kind of take a right hand so we
weren't just constantly always talking about the same games. So you,
thankfully you did the thing. I you know, I kind
of I set you and you spiked it. You know,
so really happy about that.

Speaker 1 (44:37):
I'm good, awesome, awesome, awesome, And yeah, I mean it's
these are the biggest matchups, you know what I mean.
I'm also glad you did a volleyball reference because I
haven't played volleyball in years, and just doing the spiking
motion right there just made me want to play again.
So maybe I'll find like an intermural league. I am
not good at jumping, so I don't even know why
I like the sport that much, but rest my case,
it's just gonna be awesome. It's a clash of the Titans.

(44:59):
It is a powerh matchup, and that is why I'm
really I love the fact that it's like at the
end of the year, even though it's not advantageous to them.
But besides the point, the four and the ceiling of
the Buffalo Bills. Now, this is a show I did
last year. I think I had Uber Hanson on the
show then, and that was the conversation kind of the
central focus, And it's really just taking a look at
the schedule and then a look at this Bill's offseason

(45:22):
and kind of asking yourself, what do you truly think
is the ceiling for this team record wise, output wise,
and then what do you think the floor is? And
I think last year I had their ceiling at twelve wins,
I had their flour at nine to eight. They ended
up exceeding and getting the thirteen wins and just being
absolute powerhouse. This year I feel similarly. But I will

(45:43):
turn it to you, Bruce the floor, the ceiling for
the bills, your reasons why. I'm very curious to hear
your thoughts on that topic.

Speaker 2 (45:51):
So my methodology for floor and ceiling is as follows.
I identify all the games that I consider to be
toss up games. I identify all the games that should
be are should win games, and then I if there.

Speaker 3 (46:04):
Are any should lose games. So what I do is
I block everything.

Speaker 2 (46:08):
And this has been the case forever back, even when
the Bills were really bad and a lot of games
were should lose games. I bucket them into those three categories.
Then I say, for the floor, I will say, you
lose eighty sorry, twenty percent of the games you're supposed
to win.

Speaker 3 (46:28):
Right, you go sixty forty.

Speaker 2 (46:32):
Losses on toss up games, and you lose most of
the games that you're supposed to lose, almost all the
games are supposed to lose. Like, that's the floor, right.
Then for ceiling, I do the inverse of that. For ceiling,
it's you win basically all the games you're supposed to win.
You win sixty forty or seventy thirty of your toss
ups and the games you're quote unquote is supposed to lose.

(46:55):
If there are any of those, you win a good
chunk of those. So I kind of that's kind of
how th I break it down. For me, floor is
eleven and six and ceiling is fifteen and two. The
reason why ceilings fifteen and two is because the Chiefs
were fifteen and two last year.

Speaker 3 (47:10):
And I think that.

Speaker 2 (47:13):
Technically, if you want to get technical, the ceilings always
seventeen to no. But then if you're going to do
that technically, the floor is you know, oh to seventeen, right,
I mean, if you want to play that game, then
you have to play it all the way through. So
that's the reason why I don't do it that way.
For me, it's eleven and six fifteen and two. So
I can see a scenario where the Buffalo Bills end
up pulling out a number one seat this year. I

(47:35):
can also see a scenario where they're a four seat
this year. So for me, that's the way I look
at it.

Speaker 1 (47:42):
Yeah, I I I'm close to agreeing with you, at
least on the flour. I agree with you. I could
see the floor for this team if we're just talking
how they perform and what the record indicates being similar
to again, that off your pattern, and it's not just
because of the trend, because that's it seems to me
like just kind of a season to season anomaly and
just happened to be that way, but they still won

(48:04):
the division. I view it as there is reason to
look at this roster, and while we are optimistic about
the decision making they had in the draft process, who
they took, what positions they prioritized, and how it's going
to shape out, I do worry a little bit about
the lean on inexperience and if that bites them in
some ways, Like maybe land and Jackson just isn't getting

(48:25):
it to start the year and they really like they
really counted on him to be a staple edge rusher
while that six men or six game suspension for Michael
Hoyts happening and they just aren't getting much from him,
and maybe there's some lapse that leads them to have
to turn back to aj Avanza and like it's more
of the same as last year, which epidest is a
perfectly fine player, but really like you're not getting any

(48:47):
rays to your skill level there and looking at the interior,
like if TJ. Sanders isn't getting it, if Dean Walker,
who is a literally massive project of a player, is
just getting destroyed on blocks and not looking polished, if
Dwane Carter doesn't take a year two weak like so
many ifs in the statement, but things you have to
consider when you look at how much youth they're leading

(49:07):
on defensively, that worries me, and that makes me think
that they could have some growing pains, some punches in
the mouth this season. That leads to some of these
tougher matchups that you could consider toss ups being losses,
and even some of the games that you think they
should win despite those teams being better and like growing
their talent levels now all of a sudden becoming trap

(49:28):
games or in turn fifty to fifty toss ups. That's
kind of the thing that freaks me out about it
a little bit. I'm not so much so concerned with
the offense, because I do think the format for them
is there to build off of. They ran the ball
incredibly well. If you're worried about offensive line injury luck,
I think that's a factor to consider. So all that
to say, the lean on youth, maybe injury luck for

(49:50):
the offensive line, running out teams, maybe solving the Bills offensively,
and Joe Brady not pivoting the way we would hope
to see him to. But while you still have Josh
Allen and still have a lot of talent, would make
me think that eleven and six is a realistic possibility.
Ar I'm sorry, eleven. Well, no, so I can't Bruce.
I'm losing my mind. This happens every time I do

(50:10):
a schedule show. My brain is so indoctrinated to the
original styling of schedule that I don't even say the
record predictions out loud because I know I'm going to
mess it up. So I'm not even going to say
it eleven wins when we talk about the ceiling for
this team, though, I think the youth infusion goes as
they plan. They develop these guys, right, even if you're
talking like two of their earlier picks on defense. So

(50:32):
let's just say Max Harriston and TJ. Sanders are awesome
to start the year. I think individually those two players
could provide very big boosts for the death of both
of those positions and also for the stoutness of this defense,
the deficiencies they've had in the past being cleaned up
a little bit, more more interior pressure, better coverage both
in zone and man from your CB two position, you know,

(50:55):
more turnover opportunity from a player that has a lot
of speed and the ability to jump routes effectively. I
think that if you can get the youth infusion output
to actually be meaningful, to be high caliber at an
early phase of the season, then you can successfully lean
on it. Your defense can see the vision that they've
set for themselves early. I think that can get you

(51:16):
to a really good spot earlier on in the year
where you're playing with a lot of padding and can
control your schedule and can kind of be in a
better spot where you've kindled things and gotten into rhythm
and got momentum really quickly, where now these tougher games
you feel a lot more confident going into them and
then flipping it back over to the offense. Maybe they
stay healthy. Maybe the vision of Josh Palmer and Elijah

(51:37):
Moore and year two of Keyan Coleman and year three
of Dalton Kincaid actually take that step, take that kind
of lead that you were hoping for and you get
crazy offensive output with the defense that while it's younger,
and while there is inexperience, the inexperience isn't holding you back.
You're actually getting a lot from these players. And fifteen

(51:57):
to two could be doable because I think that Bills
when you talk about just lines. I haven't looked at
the odds, but I would imagine they're going to be
favored in a majority of these games. Actually, I believe
if I remember correctly Burst right now, they're favored in
every game. If I'm not mistaken. Yes, So I mean
fifteen to two for a ceiling prediction for a team

(52:18):
that just won thirteen games, and you could argue got
better on paper, I don't think is unrealistic. Now I
want to say seventeen and no, just to appeal to
the to the seventeen to no crowd and the people
that are pumping the chest in the comments section or
saying it in the Bills tweet that I had pulled up.
But I will say fifteen to two isn't an outlandish ceiling.
I would say my personal one is probably going to

(52:39):
be the same record as last year. Like I agree,
fifteen to two could happen, but just because I don't
want to get snake bitten and think that because I
also think the Chiefs fifteen to two was like this
crazy result of so many insane one score game wins
that you just kind of look like in thought, like
this is divine intervention, this is supernatural. So I'm going

(53:00):
to say with certainty that eleven wins is by four
thirteen is my cautious ceiling fifteen is like my really
like if it all works perfectly, I could see it happening.
That was a long winded explanation, Bruce, any final thoughts
from you before we kind of put a bow on
this one and call it an episode.

Speaker 2 (53:19):
No, I'm good man, Thanks for having me. It's a
schedule releases a weird thing for me because I think
the storylines you think you're going to get from a
schedule like you kind of have an idea of the
way it's gonna happen. It never works like that because
you win a game that you don't think you're gonna win,
you lose a game you don't think you're gonna lose.
The storyline after Ravens Texans last year for the Bills

(53:41):
was very different than you thought it was going to
be so for me, I think it's a it's a
fun conversation. I always struggle with these conversations, but thankfully
you brought it so I didn't have to. So that
was a that was beneficial. Thanks for having me.

Speaker 1 (53:56):
I'm always happy to have you. Man. You're a great guest. Again,
You're a Now, this is fantastic. The work you do
is fantastic. If you guys somehow haven't gotten the opportunity
to listen to Bruce's show, you should do that, like
right now, because I think Bruce is one of the
most And I mean this in like the best way possible,
because I know sometimes like this term gets misconstrued unique

(54:19):
shows like I just don't think people are doing it
like you do. Bruce, and I appreciate the way you
present your thoughts, the structuring you have for your show
and your product, and for that reason, I think you
are a valuable member of her space, someone that I
learned from and everyone in our chat could learn from
as well should learn from as well. So check out
mister Exclusive show, the Bruce Exclusive anywhere you stream. It

(54:40):
is worth your time. Thank you again for being here, Bruce,
and my final thoughts on this, just again wrapping it up.
I do this to myself and I've been trying to
talk myself out of it, so I'm making this point
really more for me than anything else. But it's so
easy to be pessimistic about the schedule because of how
like expectations were exceeded last year and this team winning

(55:01):
thirteen games when we thought there might be a slight
drop back, like still playoffs, still competitive, but people, I
don't think we're expecting AFC championship or expecting like Super
Bowl aspirations as much as we thought. Maybe some hard
growing pains, maybe some like a lot of questions to answer,
and it doesn't work out the way you hope, And
then they just blew past that and did exactly like

(55:22):
more than I thought they would this year. I have
that like same pessimism, that same concern that it's just
going to kind of unravel because it went so good
last year, and I'm trying to get out of that mindset,
and I encourage everyone to do the same. The way
this is constructed really does benefit the Bills in a
lot of ways. And even though there are tough matchups,
you get one really tough matchup right out the gate
off your you know, off your schedule immediately you have

(55:45):
a lot of favorable traveling games that you don't have
to go very far for, and the spacing of the
contenders of the Juggernauts on your schedule has spread out
so much so that you can get rhythm before these
games and be in a great spot. And I think
that this Bills team addressed their needs out it quickly,
just at least on paper, knows what they need to
improve on, and I'm hoping those improvements can set in

(56:05):
accordingly and that the ceilings that we have set out
for this team, at least that we think they can reach,
are reached, and hopefully in Super Bowl is reached in
one too. I will end it there. Thank you all
so much again for being here. My name is Joda Rosa.
You can find me on Twitter, slash x at show
underscore to Rosa. Realizing I haven't changed my tagline in
like three weeks, so I really need to do that

(56:25):
because a lot Joe one probably doesn't make sense to
a lot.

Speaker 3 (56:29):
Of people, and it's a reference to the game.

Speaker 1 (56:33):
Yep, yeah, I got it, it is. And I have
to say this, Bruce just a little War. I've only
played it once, but I played it for two hours
and it was so much fun that I've thought about
it every day since and I just have yet to
get it. So I'm probably gonna push myself to get
it this week because I need to keep puiring it.
But this this was awesome, Bruce. Thank you again so
much to all of you in the chat. If you
are feeling kind, drop a leg, share the video with

(56:54):
your friends. Check out everything we got going on cover one.
Check out the description for the one past sign up links.
Bucks a year get you exclusive access to our discord
and your one past membership, which, again, our community has
been incredible. A lot of you are in the chat
right now, and I truly am thankful for you and
appreciate your time. Enjoy the rest of your Tuesday evening,
Stay safe, look at the schedule somewhere again, check out

(57:15):
everything else, and as always, go bills. We'll see you soon.

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Breaking Down the Buffalo Bills 2025-26 Schedule - What is the Floor and Ceiling? | UR

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Breaking Down the Buffalo Bills 2025-26 Schedule - What is the Floor and Ceiling? | UR