Win or else.
No, the season wouldn’t have been over. No, the playoff hopes wouldn’t have evaporated.
Still, the situation facing the Buffalo Bills on Sunday at Ralph Wilson Stadium was about as dire as it could be before Thanksgiving.
You can’t lose three games in a row, hitting the midpoint of the schedule two games below .500, and expect to go anywhere but home when the regular season ends. You can’t lose four straight in your own house before embarking on a six-game stretch with five on the road. You can’t squander an excellent chance to boost your AFC East record to 2-1 with another crack at a Dolphins team that you embarrassed in Miami in September and had beaten five times in the previous seven outings.