{"id":93067,"date":"2020-08-25T23:34:07","date_gmt":"2020-08-26T03:34:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/?p=93067"},"modified":"2020-08-25T23:34:07","modified_gmt":"2020-08-26T03:34:07","slug":"nfl-win-total-buffalo-bills-go-under-in-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2020\/08\/25\/nfl-win-total-buffalo-bills-go-under-in-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"NFL Win Total: Buffalo Bills Go Under in 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>On the surface, one can clearly argue that the <a href=\"http:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/nfl-teams\/bills\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Buffalo Bills<\/a> won&#8217;t go under in 2020. The Bills look to be on the uptick <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/2020\/08\/12\/sean-mcdermott-signs-multi-year-extension-with-buffalo-bills\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">with the recent news<\/a> of signing head coach <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/M\/McDeSe20.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sean McDermott<\/a><\/strong> to a contract extension. On top of that, the Bills have hitched their wagon to third-year quarterback <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=AlleJo02,AlleJo03,AlleJo00&amp;search=Josh+Allen&amp;utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Josh Allen<\/a><\/strong>. The natural line of thought is that Allen will continue to improve the offense, as he is still young and developing. Combine this with a stellar defensive unit, and on the surface, the Bills have the look of a contender for years to come. Many have anointed the Bills as the heir to the AFC East throne with the departure of <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/B\/BradTo00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tom Brady<\/a><\/strong> this off-season. The Bills win total currently sits at 9, suggesting that they are an above-average team. Let\u2019s take a look at some reasons the Buffalo Bills will go under this 2020 season and fall back below .500.<\/p>\n<h2>Why The 2020 Buffalo Bills Will go Under Their Win Total<\/h2>\n<h3>Last Year\u2019s Schedule<\/h3>\n<p>It would be very easy to take the Bills 10-win season last year at face value. However, when trying to forecast the future sometimes it\u2019s necessary to take a deeper dive into things. The Bills strength is their defense, which finished an impressive fourth in total yardage allowed last season. The problem is these numbers were padded by a schedule filled with incompetent quarterbacks.\u00a0 Let\u2019s list the quarterbacks this vaunted stop unit defeated last year:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/D\/DarnSa00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Sam Darnold<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/M\/MannEl00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Eli Manning<\/a> <\/strong>(benched for poor performance)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/D\/DaltAn00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Andy Dalton<\/strong><\/a> (benched for poor performance)<\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/M\/MariMa01.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Marcus Mariota<\/a><\/strong> (benched for poor performance)<\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/F\/FitzRy00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ryan Fitzpatrick<\/a><\/strong>, twice<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/A\/AlleBr00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Brandon Allen<\/strong><\/a> (benched for poor performance)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/H\/HaskDw00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Dwayne Haskins<\/strong><\/a> (first career start)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/P\/PresDa01.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Dak Prescott<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/H\/HodgDe00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Devlin Hodges<\/a><\/strong> (rookie, benched for poor performance)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This isn\u2019t exactly a murderer\u2019s row of quarterbacks. The Bills 2019 schedule contained a nearly unprecedented combination of quarterbacks who were too young, too old, or just flat out bad. The Bills have the 12th hardest schedule this upcoming season based on the opponent\u2019s projected wins. This also includes dates against <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/M\/MahoPa00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Patrick Mahomes<\/a><\/strong> and <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/W\/WilsRu00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Russell Wilson<\/a><\/strong>, arguably the two best quarterbacks in the game.<\/p>\n<h3>Offensive Offense<\/h3>\n<p>Despite the defensive success last season, the Bills offense was only able to average 19.6 points per game. This average was good for only 23rd in the NFL. There is little margin for error when a team struggles to put up points like the Bills. One blown coverage on defense and your offense may never be able to catch up. Noting that low scoring inherently leads to tight games. If you think the Bills go over nine wins, then you are essentially betting on them coming out on the winning side of close games. Scoring margin matters when betting and an inability to score means an inability to create margin.<\/p>\n<p>The majority of the Bills offensive woes stem from Josh Allen\u2019s accuracy issues. Allen completed only 58.2 percent of his passes last season (32nd in the NFL). Accuracy issues have plagued Allen since college despite the fact that he played against inferior competition in the Mountain West Conference.\u00a0 In college, Allen completed only 56 percent of his attempts will at the University of Wyoming. Bills fans are hoping that the addition of <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/D\/DiggSt00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Stefon Diggs<\/a><\/strong> will propel the offense into a higher tier. The problem is that wide receiver is one of the most dependent positions in all of sports. That is to say that the performance of a wide receiver is directly correlated to the performance of his quarterback. If Allen doesn\u2019t improve his documented imprecision, Diggs could be left watching passes sail over his head all season.<\/p>\n<h3>Team\u2019s Psyche<\/h3>\n<p>Aside from scheduling and offensive concerns, one has to wonder about the Bills psyche as a team headed into the season. Heartbreaking playoff losses have proven to be incredibly difficult to recover from throughout the history of the NFL. The Bills led the Texans 16-0 in the late third quarter of a Wild Card Round game, yet managed to lose in overtime. This is in spite of the fact that the Bills had a 96.7 percent chance to win the game late in the third.\u00a0 Anybody who watched the game saw Josh Allen implode by taking inexplicable sacks and turning the ball over. The \u201cSuper Bowl Hangover\u201d is well-documented, but any kind of close postseason loss has a tendency to linger in a team\u2019s psyche. The Bills will have to show some mental fortitude to recover from last season\u2019s ending.<\/p>\n<h3>2020 Buffalo Bills Verdict<\/h3>\n<p>The Bills have major offensive concerns heading into the 2020 season. It would also be a tall task for the defense to repeat last year\u2019s performance against what will inevitably be a much better slate of signal-callers. Couple this with the Bills having to overcome a \u201changover\u201d after an excruciating playoff loss and the only way to go here is under 9 wins.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"bPwt4azvRctBfFS-2snEpg\" class=\"gie-single\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1197773933\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color:#a7a7a7;text-decoration:none;font-weight:normal !important;border:none;display:inline-block;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'bPwt4azvRctBfFS-2snEpg',sig:'rzZLUgP9atJvpaefBC5BpvMy6bUYSgbQSOttRyxeeBk=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'1197773933',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On the surface, one can clearly argue that the Buffalo Bills won&#8217;t go under in 2020. The Bills look to be on the uptick with the recent news of signing head coach Sean McDermott to a contract extension. On top of that, the Bills have hitched their wagon to third-year quarterback Josh Allen. The natural [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3600,"featured_media":93596,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,54],"tags":[682,177,61,2599,60],"class_list":["post-93067","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bills","category-editorials","tag-afc-east","tag-buffalo-bills","tag-football","tag-josh-allen","tag-stefon-diggs"],"modified_by":"John Bava","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93067","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3600"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93067"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93067\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/93596"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93067"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93067"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93067"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}