Buffalo Bills playoff chances improved greatly with win over Minnesota

Vikings Not only did the Buffalo Bills (1-2) pull off this season’s biggest upset when they traveled to the reigning NFC North champion Minnesota Vikings and won http://www.billsfootballauthentics.com/star-lotulelei-jersey-authentic , 27-6 on Sunday, the Bills also avoided dropping their first three games, a fate that normally guarantees a non-playoff season. Since the NFL expanded to 32 teams and instituted the current playoff format in 2002, only 11 percent of teams that started the season 0-2 went on to make the playoffs. If you expand that to an 0-3 start? The odds get worse. Much worse. Had Buffalo—which entered as a 16.5-point underdog in Minnesota — done what most pundits predicted and fell to the powerhouse Vikings, the Bills would have been 0-3 and facing a tough Week 4 road trip to Lambeau Field for a date with Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers. Since the 1980 season, according to Oddsshark.com, there have been 173 teams that dropped their first three games of the season. Of those, only five rebounded to make the playoffs, which comes out to 2.8 percent! There were 52 teams that dropped their first three games between 2007 and 2017, and none of those squads managed to make the playoffs. Of course, the Bills do have experience starting a season 0-3, only to qualify for the postseason. Back in 1998 http://www.buffalobillsteamonline.com/lorenzo-alexander-jersey , under Rob Johnson, the Bills lost their first three games—with all three losses coming by six points or less. Doug Flutie relieved an injured Johnson for Week 6 and proceeded to guide Buffalo to eight wins in its next 11 games, and the Bills qualified for the playoffs as a Wild Card entrant with a 10-6 record. Last year, five teams dropped their first three games, and only one, the Los Angeles Chargers, finished above .500. The Chargers actually went one step further, falling to 0-4 before rallying for a 9-7 record. With their historic upset win on Sunday, the Bills remain alive to join the 11 percent of teams that, from 2007 to 2017 started off 0-2, make the playoffs. That list includes: the 2007 Super Bowl champion New York Giants, the 2008 Miami Dolphins http://www.buffalobillsteamonline.com/jeremy-kerley-jersey , the 2008 Vikings, the 2008 Chargers, the 2013 Carolina Panthers, the 2014 Indianapolis Colts, the 2015 Seattle Seahawks, 2015 Houston Texans, 2016 Dolphins, and 2017 New Orleans Saints. Heading into the 2019 off-season, the Buffalo Bills have 17 pending free agents and five of those were starters on either offense or defense. The list consists of players who are Unrestricted Free Agents (UFA), Restricted Free Agents (RFA), and Exclusive Rights Free Agents (ERFA). UFAs:LB Lorenzo Alexander (starter)C Ryan Groy (starter)OT Jordan Mills (starter)DT Jordan PhillipsRB Taiwan JonesTE Logan ThomasOG Jeremiah SirlesWR Deonte ThompsonOG John Miller (starter)Alexander, Groy http://www.buffalobillsteamonline.com/jerry-hughes-jersey , Mills, and Miller were all starter for the Bills for the majority of the season. Alexander is the most vital of all the Bills free agents to bring back for 2019 while the others aren't sure what their future looks like with the team. RFAsCB Lafayette PittsP Matt DarrPitts is the fourth or fifth corner on the roster when everyone is healthy and if the Bills add more experienced depth at the position this offseason I can't see much of a roster spot available for him outside of his special teams contributions. As far as Darr goes, he most likely won't be the punter to start the 2019 season. The injury to Corey Bojorquez and the lack of punting ability of Colton Schmidt are the reason that Darr was signed in the first place and his trial run with the Bills for the last month of the season didn't go well. Both Pitts and Darr were undrafted free agents, so if Buffalo tenders them at the original round figure of $2,035,000, they will get nothing in return if another team signs them. ERFAsDE Eddie YarbroughS Dean MarloweWR Victor Bolden Jr.LS Reid FergusonDE Mike LoveWR Da’Mari ScottFor those who don't know, ERFAs are unlike RFAs and UFAs. ERFAs are players with only one or two accrued seasons in the NFL. Those under this tag (which is for an NFL minimum contract) cannot negotiate with any other team because their rights are exclusively owned by the tagging team. As for the Bills players under this tag, Ferguson is the most likely to remain with the team for next season. Yarbrough’s production and snaps went down from last year with the Bills adding Trent Murphy. For the rest of the guys, they were mostly brought in as placeholders for the holes Sean McDermott and Brandon Beane needed to fill. It wouldn’t be surprising if all of them receive the tag, though.