On today’s 1st and 5 episode, Dave and Greg predicted the AFC playoff field, dug into whether Joe Brady can win a Super Bowl in year one, kickoff philosophy, and more, including:
- Their dueling AFC playoff seeding predictions
- Whether a first-time head coach can win it all
- How much of the winning culture was really Sean McDermott?
- The case for taking the ball first instead of deferring
- The end-zone color poll splitting Bills Mafia
Should the Bills Have Red or Blue End Zones?
The show opened light on a Bills’ poll about what the end zones should look like for the home opener. The votes leaned red in a landslide, and a WGR poll landed the same way, all of it riding on nostalgia for the red-helmet days at the Ralph.
Greg feels the pull of red but talked himself into dark blue, arguing it pops better under the lights against the grass and the crowd. Dave, on the other hand, tied it to a tension the franchise keeps wrestling with as to how much to lean on the history versus selling the new Josh Allen era and the new stadium. Red also gives him a little Kansas City PTSD, which felt fair.
»» What is your vote? Comment below and on YouTube?
AFC Playoff Predictions: Who Will Be the #1 Seed?
The two built their AFC playoff seedings cold, without comparing notes first, and the lists came out completely different. Here’s how they shook out.
Greg / Dave
- Bengals / Bills
- Jaguars / Ravens
- Bills / Broncos
- Chiefs / Texans
- Ravens / Chargers
- Patriots / Jaguars
- Broncos / Patriots
What do you think? Comment and let us know.
Their biggest split was the Bills themselves. Greg isn’t down on the roster. He just thinks the schedule is brutal enough to cost Buffalo a couple of games that easier-slate teams like Jacksonville won’t lose. His #1 seed (Bengals) came with a shrug, since he trusts Joe Burrow and their soft schedule more than he trusts their defense or their coaching staff.
Dave’s case for the Bills at one is that the restrictor plates are off now that Sean McDermott is gone. A top-three offense on a team that hosts its playoff games is his idea of a one seed.
Can Joe Brady Win It All in Year 1?
Both Dave and Greg believe Brady can win a Super Bowl in year one because he inherited a good roster and the best quarterback in the league. Where they spent their time was on the pressure and the unknowns. Greg’s read is that the real pressure this season is simply making the playoffs, given how many AFC teams can win ten games. He’d give Brady a one-year pass on going further, since the defense has a new coordinator, new players, and a different roster build, but he thinks next season becomes Super Bowl or bust.
Dave went further on the ceiling, pointing to Josh Allen’s dominant 2021 postseason and arguing Josh alone is worth seven or eight wins even with a bad defense, which turns a middle-of-the-road defense into a twelve-win team.
How Much of the Bills’ Winning Culture Leaves With McDermott?
Dave wondered aloud how much of the winning culture was Sean McDermott holding the little things together, the stuff fans never see. He still likes the new feel around the team, more captains and more personality showing up in interviews, but he isn’t sure how much of the old culture walks out the door with the coach.
Greg flagged the other risk. If the defense struggles, the heat lands on Brady for the Jim Leonhard hire and the staff he built. Leonhard is respected and viewed as a future head coach, but if IGB doesn’t progress, Maxwell Hairston gets picked on, and the linebackers stay banged up, those questions come fast. Dave’s counter was that John Fox is on staff as a steady defensive voice, and that Leonhard himself said months ago this is a year-one build he isn’t sure is fully stocked yet.
Should the Bills Take the Ball First?
Dave noticed the Bills took the ball first in all three preseason games, a break from McDermott’s habit of deferring to play the possession game around halftime. Greg loved it. He is a maximize-your-possessions, basically-never-punt guy, and his logic is that you expect to stop the other team whether you defer or not, so you may as well take the guaranteed possession and let your offense set the tone.
Both saw it as another sign that Brady is doing things his own way, and both were fine with that.
Nine days from kickoff, both Dave and Greg agree the ceiling is a Super Bowl, and the floor is still a playoff team. So where do you land? Is Greg right that the schedule drops the Bills to third, or is Dave right that they are your one seed?
Follow Dave on X: @DaveMyersBIB
Follow Greg on X: @ZonSports
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