Believeland’s a Blizzard as Browns Host Bills

Blogging the National Football League, Blogging the NFL

If you had told me when the season started that today’s Buffalo Bills/Cleveland Browns game would have serious playoff implications … well, you know how the saying goes. But it’s true. With three games to play, the Browns hold a one game lead over the Bills for the final AFC Wild Card playoff spot and neither team can afford a loss at this point. For the Bills, I mean that literally. A loss means their playoff chances are finished. A Cleveland win and a Tennessee loss, however, means the Browns are in the playoffs for the first time in five years.

As you can see from this pregame photo of Cleveland Stadium grounds crew staffers trying to keep the yard lines clear, both teams will probably need to run the football. That’s no surprise in December and January in the NFL. The Cleveland area got snow overnight and in looking at the weather forecast, they’re expecting four to six inches of new snow today with near gale force winds. The entire game could be played in blizzard conditions. Throwing the ball might be next to impossible. I believe that favors the Bills. As a rushing offense, Buffalo is smack in the middle of the NFL pack, but they’ve been steadily improving, including last week’s win over Miami when both Fred Jackson and Marshawn Lynch gained over 100 yards each. Cleveland can run the ball, too. They wouldn’t hesitate to hand the ball to Jamal Lewis 35 times, but their wide-open offensive attack, which finds them in the league’s top 10, depends largely on Derek Anderson throwing the ball to WR Braylon Edwards and TE Kellen Winslow Jr.

This game might be a lot of fun for the fans to watch, but if the snow continues, you won’t get a true test of each team’s “normal” abilities. Both teams are playing in the same conditions, though, and it will boil down to which one can weather the storm better. I don’t think it gets any better than this in mid-December with a chance to go to the playoffs as a reward. It’s exactly the kind of game you hope for the chance to be a part of.

Note: If you’re wondering what I mean by Believeland in the headline, just click here to find out.