A day before Election Day here in the US and the Buffalo Bills are about to face off with the Seattle Seahawks on Monday Night Football. At 4-4, the Bills have an opportunity to climb out of the grave they’ve dug themselves after losses to the Jets, Ravens and most recently the Dolphins. Can they do it? See the staff picks below.
@2ITB_Buffalo 2-6 – The injury bug the Bills are dealing with chose some pretty significant players to affect. Playing the hindsight game doesn’t help as the decision to play Shady in Miami could wind up affecting Monday’s game in which you’d assume the Bills will want to really commit to the run. Seattle’s offense has been fairly tame this season as Russell Wilson’s various afflictions have kept him in check, making him a more one-dimensional passer. This isn’t something I’ve thought about until just this week, but Monday night might be the game the Bills need Tyrod to go out and win. You’d assume both defenses will have similar success keeping their opponents in check – the Bills are in desperate need of a bounce back effort – and it will be up to each team’s respective playmakers to change the shape of the game. So that’s what leads me to Tyrod. Whether it’s via his legs or his arms, I think Taylor needs to be the difference maker this week. If he isn’t it could be a long evening in Seattle. I’ll take the Seahawks 19-10.
Michael (@manecci) Seattle 23 Buffalo 14 – This game will be really close until Seattle’s defense locks it down in the fourth quarter. Okay, enough of the Bills. I have opinions and possible solutions. If you haven’t heard the NFL TV ratings are down, down ratings to the NFL are still pretty good ratings. There a litany of reasons and excuses as to why, and Anthem protests shouldn’t be one of them. Over saturation of the NFL is what is slowly killing the brand. I love football, I love Sunday Football, but man the NFL needs gear down and reset itself. I think I have solutions. Super Bowl in February is good, The Combine at the end of February is good. The Draft format is where we start: The NFL Draft Rounds 1 and 2 should be on Friday Night. Saturday the draft starts at Noon and goes to conclusion. We don’t need Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. The NFL should rid itself NOW of the Thursday Night schedule. The games are bad, the players hate them, it takes a toll on the coaches, and I think the majority of the fans detest these games also.
The only Thursday Night games that should be played is during Week 1, when the Super Bowl Champions get the showcase at home, and on Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving you get the 3 games, with Dallas, Detroit, and whatever game NBC wants in prime time. Monday Night Football is now a double header. The Monday Night Football game should kick off at 7:30 pm and the 2nd game will kick off at 10:30 pm on the NFL Network. The 10:30 pm Monday Night game will be teams that play in the AFC and NFC West. So every Monday Night, Weeks 1-16 the West Coast will get their own 7:30 pm Monday Night game that will feature divisional games. And you know the east coast will watch some of that double header due to gambling and fantasy implications. In December, when College Football is over, NFL Saturday afternoon football! One of the 3 networks will have a 3:30 pm Saturday Game, and the NFL Network will have the 8:00 pm game. Those games will be in Weeks 14, 15, and 16. That’s my opinion on how we the NFL can gear down a bit but still dominate your weekends. These solutions are just off the top of my head, but I don’t see why these solutions can’t work.
Brett Ludwiczak (@BLeez17, 3-5) Seattle 20 Buffalo 10 – It isn’t like Seattle has been lighting the world on fire this year, but I knew when the schedule was released this was going to be an ugly game. The Bills never really travel well and it’s so tough to go into Seattle and win. With everybody injured right now the Bills suffer their third straight loss.
Mike Migliore (@mmigliore 5-3) – It’s a shame the Bills don’t play in the NFC because recent history shows the Bills are capable of holding their own against the National Football Conference, but are easy pushovers against the AFC.
The Bills are 3-0 against the NFC this season heading into Monday night’s almost certain loss in Seattle. A 3-1 record against the NFC this season would add to some pretty good showings by the Bills against the NFC in recent years. Last year wasn’t so good (1-3), but the Bills went 4-0 against the NFC North in 2014 on their way to a rare winning season. In fact, the last two times the Bills posted a winning record (2004, 2014), they swept their games against the NFC.
Alas, the Bills play in the AFC, where they own just a 23-30 record in the past five seasons. They are 1-4 against the AFC this season. There are many reasons why the Bills can’t ever make the playoffs, but their record in AFC games is one of the biggest reasons.
Anyways, I don’t know how the Bills can score against the Legion of Boom at CenturyLink Field. This is going to be an ugly, mean game. Expect lots of three-and-outs from the Bills’ offense. This will probably be close because Seattle can’t score either, but who here honestly sees the Bills being able to win a game like this? Prediction: Seahawks 17, Bills 7
Tyler Hyp (@tyhyp, 6-1) – The Bills are at a fork in the road here. Win, and they go into the bye week with a winning record and in good position to make a playoff push. Lose, and they drop below .500, putting them in a tough spot where they will likely have to win 6 of their next 7 to secure a wild card spot. Being a prime time game, I fully expect the Bills to play sloppy as they generally do when the whole nation is watching. Buffalo hasn’t won a MNF game in 17 years! Add that it’s a West Coast game, the Bills are injury ravaged, and they play a pretty good team in the Seahawks, and the odds are certainly against the Bills in this one. That said, I’m going to go against my better judgement and pick Buffalo. In a game that will be maddening for Seattle fans much like the Miami game was maddening for Buffalo fans, I think the defense has a monster game and they keep Wilson and co. in check. Maybe even a defensive TD. Let’s say Bills 17, Seahawks 13.
Evan, @evancdent, (4-4). Seahawks 10 – Bills 6 – Vegas has this as a 7 point spread (Bills coming off a bad loss, traveling across the country to play at Seattle, one of the better home stadiums of recent years), but I’m not seeing this as being a blowout. In fact, I think it will be very, very boring, low-scoring game that the Bills won’t quite be able to pull out. Both teams don’t have good enough offensive lines to withstand the other team’s defensive lines (hell, the Seahawks made the Saints D look half competent last week) and I think we’ll see a lot of stalled drives for both teams. If the Bills had a fully healthy LeSean McCoy (I’m not convinced) and Sammy Watkins, or even one good receiver, they might have the edge, but for now I’ll take the more experienced and successful team to win at home.
Mike McKenzie (@mack10zie 4-4) – The line opened at Buffalo +5.5 and has moved to +7 due to heavy action on Seattle. Seattle’s offense is not good, or fun to watch. Buffalo’s offense is not good or fun to watch. Seattle’s D is better though and it likely is the difference in the game. Wilson is everything the Bills hope Taylor can become (he can’t), but his ability to move likely makes the difference in the game. I hope you got it at 5.5, as I’d be all over Seattle at that spread. At 7, I probably don’t touch this game. SEA 23 BUF 15.
Sean @SeanPBB (0-?) – This is my first prediction submission since Week 4 (I think) when I incorrectly picked the Bills to lose at Gillette Stadium. I’m sure you all missed the takes. I’m almost positive I have yet to correctly predict a game this year. I had the Bills winning their first 2, and after the 0-2 start, I was almost positive they were destined for an 0-4 beginning to what was about to be a very long season.
Heading into this Monday, the Bills now stand at 4-4 and face a must win scenario as they head to Seattle to take on the Seahawks. A win on national television will make everyone feel a little bit better about dropping their last two games, but it’s not going to be easy, especially with the absences of Marcell Dareus and Corbin Bryant.
Additionally, the Bills have been stagnant on offense for the most part, and pretty much go into this game limping as their receiving corp has been decimated. Perhaps Percy will help matters, but the run game will likely need to be the saving grace if they expect to win a tough one on the road.
If I were getting the 7 points I would take the Bills along with the 43.5 point under, but I normally pick my games straight up. I think the Bills will be respectable Monday, but I think when it’s all said and done, Seattle will take this one. Final score prediction, Seahawks 21 Bills 17.
What do you think? Hit us up @Buffalowins and let us know how you think the game is gonna go!
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