By CHUCK POLLOCK, Wellsville Sun Senior Sports Columnist
There are certain rules — albeit unwritten — when betting on pro football games and two of them never change.
They’re tied together … don’t wager on the season opening or campaign-ending games because the odds are decidedly unreliable.
For instance, Sunday afternoon’s game between the Bills (11-5) and Jets (3-13) ostensibly will be the finale at Highmark Stadium (4:25, CBS-TV, Bills Radio Network) before Buffalo moves across Abbott Rd. to the new facility next season.
THE BILLS have already qualified for the NFL playoffs, albeit as the No. 7, and final, AFC seed. And the odds are long but it’s possible Buffalo could finish as the sixth or seventh seed and incredibly still earn a home game,
And, playing at 4:25, the Bills will know their fate before the Jets game where they’re favored by seven.
But then there’s the injury report.
“Obviously a lengthy list, and we’ve got to start with that to begin with as we go through the week,” coach Sean McDermott said.
For those types of walk-through workouts, players’ participation on the injury report is an estimate of their status, but those listed as “did not participate” is significant – starting with quarterback Josh Allen, dealing with a foot injury. Also not practicing Wednesday were defensive end Joey Bosa (hamstring), middle linebacker Terrel Bernard (calf), defensive tackle DaQuan Jones (calf), safety Jordan Poyer (hamstring) and fullback Reggie Gilliam (illness).That’s four starters on defense.
Bernard has already been declared out – while Allen should take the first snap against the Jets to continue his streak of consecutive games started, then head to the sideline and watch Mitchell Trubisky take over the QB role.
The Bills seventh-seeded could move up as high as No. 5 with losses by Houston and the L.A. Chargers.The Texans play at 1 p.m., so the Bills will know by their 4:25 p.m. kickoff whether the No. 5 seed is still a possibility.
Still, McDermott faces a decision whether to try to improve seeding or proitect his roster from injury.
McDermott should still prioritize rest over seeding. The Bills could face any of six teams in the wild-card round – Denver, New England, Jacksonville, Houston, Baltimore and Pittsburgh are all possibilities.
“HAVING TO factor in a lot of different variables into the situation this week, but at the end of the day, when you boil it down and simplify it, it’s how do we improve as a football team?,” McDermott said.
He admitted “you’ve got to get egos and pride out of the way, have the right approach and the right mindset to improve, and that’s really where it starts, and that’s what I’m most interested in.”
The closing of the stadium after 53 years is not without significance but more to the fans than the players who filed through the building over the course of five-plus decades.
The fifth or sixth seed opens up the possibility of a home playoff game, even if the chance of that happening is slim.
There is also the matter of some individual achievements that could be achieved against the Jets.
- Allen needs one more touchdown to give him 40 total this season, continuing his NFL-record streak of at least 40 to six straight seasons. If the Bills get down to the goal line, would they consider putting Allen back in?
- James Cook has a 47-yard advantage on the Colts’ Jonathan Taylor for the NFL rushing title, something McDermott admitted is part of his thought process. With Taylor playing at 1 p.m., the Bills will know where Cook stands at kickoff.
- The other factor to consider is that the offense did not perform well at all last week in their 13-12 loss against the Eagles. Teams want to be peak at the right time, and the Bills’ last six quarters on offense, dating to the second half of that 23-20 win against Cleveland, have not been that.
- “I think it’s still treating it as the most important week, and making sure that we’re not just going through the motions and we’re taking everything extremely seriously,” Allen said. “Holding ourselves to the standards that we like to hold ourselves to, which is the playoff-caliber standard. … Having a good week of practice, game planning as well as we can, and still trying to become the best versions of ourselves throughout this week that we can.”
POLLOCK’S PICK: Bills 20, Jets 13
(Chuck Pollock, a Wellsville Sun senior sports columnist, can be reached at cpollock@wnynet.net.)
