Best of The Ben Maller Show

Buffalo was lifeless late against Philly, then roared back, only to have Josh Allen air-mail a wide-open two-point throw to Khalil Shakir that would’ve flipped the game; the play call was fine, the miss was the story.

You can spin it a dozen ways, but the bottom line for me is the Bills keep failing in pressure moments, their rush defense is leaky, and the receiver room is a bunch of twos and threes, even if I like their tight ends and still won’t fully count them out in a shaky AFC.

As a fan that kind of decision is torture; they had juice, I’d have taken my chances in overtime, but the design worked and the throw was just awful.

Go for two all day when you get that look; that was a point-blank layup Allen clanged, and it’s not on Sean McDermott or some nebulous coaching narrative.

Hold the MVP to MVP standards, because that ball has to be completed, and spare me the idea momentum isn’t real; watch a wild swing like Rams-Seahawks and tell me those runs don’t exist.

I’m thrilled to fade Tampa in Week 18 against Carolina; they’ve dropped seven of eight, Baker looks beat up mentally and physically, and the weight of that skid is all over them.

Carolina’s erratic, sure, but they’re not lugging around the same losing baggage, so I’ve already taken Panthers plus three and the moneyline, because the Bucs feel like a dead team walking.

Brace for verbal fisticuffs, because the Patriots schedule stat—one win over a team with a winning record—gets waved around like gospel, and it’s wildly misleading.

They’ve got a real defense, a solid head coach in Mike Vrabel, an MVP-level quarterback in Drake May, and a clutch prime-time comeback at Baltimore that doesn’t vanish just because the opponent’s record sits at 500.

Would it shock you if any AFC playoff team bounced them in round one?

Not at all; styles make fights, and a defense-first team like Houston could win in Foxboro, just like Buffalo or the Chargers could, but I could also see New England handling any of them.

If I had to bet Patriots-Bills in Foxboro, I’d probably lean Bills.

The market likely makes Buffalo a tiny road favorite, but it’s close to a pick, and that earlier collapse should teach New England not to sit on a lead.

And Drake May for MVP is right there, yeah?

It’s a tight race and he’s absolutely live, which is why I keep coming back to this: don’t let a soft schedule blind you—just like in college matchups where perceived strength of schedule gets overplayed, the Patriots are being sold short.