Bills/Skins Staff Predictions

Scott Michalak (@ScottyMCSS) (9-4) I need a hobby. Maybe I’ll go down to Canalside and do some gongoozling. Meanwhile, I think the Bills will probably get a lot of penalties and do other random dumb stuff. Washington Football Team twentyish, Bills whateverteen.

Chris@2ITB_Buffalo: Pass.

Michael Necci @manecci – Last time the Bills played in Washington was after Sean Taylor had died, and the Redskins opened the game with 10 men on defense and Buffalo didn’t take advantage. I was at that game. The Bills won and I left that game thinking, “Man, Trent Edwards is going to be good” Bills 30 Redskins 24

Brad Gelber, @BradleyGelber (7-6): 3 more games stand between the Bills and the offseason. I’ll pretend like I don’t care, but yet I’ll watch and over-analyze every second of every game. It’s just in my blood. In terms of a prediction, I don’t know what to even stink. We’ve seen two different teams all season long. Which one will show up? It’s a guessing game at this point. Tyrod is home in front of family and friends so maybe he puts on a show for them. 27-23 Bills

Mike McKenzie (@mack10zie) The football team from Washington DC vs the Buffalo Bills (-1) We’ve reached the point in the season where I wonder yet again why I subscribe to the Sunday Ticket to watch this awful franchise. 16 years and counting. Think about that. There are people driving cars right now that have not had the Bills even make the playoffs in their lifetime. Oh, but the Jags, Titans, Raiders (insert crappy team here) suck worse! Yet they’ve also managed to make the playoffs in the last 16 years. This team is just a special level of inept, and I’m the sucker that gets drawn in every year. This is when I start rooting for loses because if there are no playoffs, I want the shiniest draft picks possible. Buffalo finishing between 7-9 and 9-7 every damn year doesn’t help either. Please, be good, or be terrible. Anyway, the team is starting to put any guy with a paper cut on IR, letting me know they’ve quit on the season. Other than the Jets game that Rex will be fired up for and probably win costing us 5 draft spots, how can you pick this team? Redskins 24 Bills 13. Happy Holidays to all the readers out there!

Rich, (@RDotDeuce, 6-6) – The Bills no longer have the burden of playing for a real playoff spot, instead they have the hint of the hope of one. As such, I anticipate they will win this game and talk about how it all “came together too late. Yawn. Bills 20-Washington 16.

Mike Migliore (@mmigliore) Record: 7-6
“The defense will be really good, but it would be really hard for them to be better than the 2014 Bills defense. Injuries, bad luck, and the adjustment to Ryan’s new scheme could lead to a bit of a regression from last season. With questions on offense, this looks like an 8-8 team unless this defense is just lights out awesome. And they could be, but it’s tough for me to predict that happening.”

The above is what I wrote about the Bills in our season predictions column back on Sept. 4. I hate being right.

The Bills will miss the playoffs for an astounding 16th season in a row, now the longest playoff drought in North American professional sports. The stink of one losing season after another permeates over this franchise like the smell of raw chicken in a garbage can. At some point, it has become a self-fulfilling prophecy that each Bills season will unravel before Christmas.

This season was derailed by the defense taking a major step back and the fact that E.J. Manuel had to make two starts. It’s easy to say in hindsight, but we all should have seen the defensive regression coming. How much better could we reasonably have expected them to be in 2015? They were no. 2 overall in 2014 and there really wasn’t any place for them to go besides down. The injuries to Mario Williams, Aaron Williams, Kyle Williams, Stephon Gilmore and others helped accelerate the fall, but Rex Ryan didn’t do much to rescue this defense, continuing to be stubborn about how he wanted the D to be run and continuing a transition to a true 3-4 with talent much better suited for a hybrid 4-3.

With Rex here for the long haul, there’s no other solution really but to change the personnel on defense and acquire guys more suited to play the 3-4 and move out guys who were a better fit for a 4-3. In general, the Bills need to take another step up in overall talent to be the team that finally makes the playoffs. Tyrod Taylor was impressive, but needs to do a few things better in 2016. The Bills also need better players and more depth at OL, DL, LB, S, and KR. I have no feel at all for Sunday’s game against the Washington Snyders, so I’ll just go ahead and pick the Bills. Prediction: Bills 24, Washington 17

Brett Ludwiczak – @BLeez17 – 7-6 When the Bills crap the bed, they really crap the bed. I had just got done drying my tears from the 30 for 30 on Saturday night when the Bills got whistled for 174 penalties in the loss to the Eagles. I sort of wish there was a way I didn’t have to watch the game but I’ll be with family on Sunday in Western New York so I’ll pretty much have to. Of course because they’re the Bills, they’ll show up and win this game. Buffalo 27 Washington 20

Joe@Buffalowins (8-5) How this game will go down through the hubris views of Rex Ryan:

1st quarter: