Typically, the section of the football calendar through which we're currently slogging is reserved for NFL pundits far and wide to take tired, unfunny jabs at the Buffalo Bills while predicting yet another last-place finish. Not this year. This year, Peter King is spouting Bills optimism and predicting a third-place finish - and even though the same tired jokes remain elsewhere, King's not alone.

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, for instance, wouldn't be surprised if the Bills made the playoffs. You have our permission to read that sentence as many times as it takes to fully comprehend the sentiment. It's been 11 years, after all.

"I could see the Bills finish number two (in the AFC East). I really could," Florio said on Tuesday's PFT Live. "I could see the Bills steal a playoff berth this year. It's possible - who knows? Maybe both wild cards are going to come from the AFC East."

Like King, Florio predicted a third-place finish for the Bills. (He has the Jets winning the division, with the Patriots second - and conceivably the team that Buffalo could leap-frog - with the Dolphins bringing up the rear.) Even though he admitted to not going out on a limb like that one, the growing grassroots mentality around the Bills is worth noting.