Why Not The Buffalo Bills In The Playoffs?

I know, I know...the thought of the Buffalo Bills making the National Football League playoffs in 2010 are basically a pipe dream for many fans.

But with training camp just a mere month away at St. John Fisher College in Rochester, the eternal optimist has come out in me again and the thoughts of the playoffs for the Bills are for real.

Here's a few reasons why I think the Buffalo Bills might have a chance.

Every year the National Football League has one team that is a surprise. Miami comes to mind in 2008. A bottom feeder to the playoffs. The Dolphins didn't have a good quarterback in 2008 unless you thought Chad Pennington was.

But Miami had a new head coach in Tony Sparano and he caught many a team off guard with the "Wildcat" offense.

Sound familiar?

The new Bills' head coach, Chan Gailey, is an offensive guru and truthfully, I'd take Trent Edwards over Chad Pennington today and even over Chad Henne. He can catch teams by surprise with a new offense.

Buffalo also has some serious weapons in the backfield with Mashawn Lynch (if he's still around), Fred Jackson and rookie C.J. Spiller. Gailey also has Lee Evans at his disposal and he also said that Roscoe Parrish will have a role in the offense.

I expect a wide open offense and if Trent Edwards can ever return to hos form he had in 2008, who knows. Maturity and pressure to perform may do wonders for this Stanford grad.

The offensive line is still young, but getting healthy and with a year experience under their belt, they could jell into a good, solid unit.

The defense isn't all that bad. Switching to a 3-4 scheme will be a new look for Buffalo. It tends to bend but not break.

Can anyone complain about our secondary?

Also, has anyone been hit by the injury bug the past two seasons like Buffalo? By staying healthy and hopefully the injury bug moves somewhere else in the division, there's hope.

I like the Bills schedule as well. Not overpowering but not easy. Buffalo could pull a surprise win here and there, the Bills could be looking at 9-7, a record that could be enough to get into the dance in the NFL which has been a league of parity the past few years.

I like to dream but last time I looked and everyone sported a 0-0 record so my optimism still remains alive.