‘None of them was trying for an interception. Hyde and Poyer were both reaching for the ball with one hand, hardly the way one tries to make a pick, while the 5-foot-11 White, in front, was trying to force his hands between those of the 6-1 Hopkins.’
Archives for November 17, 2020
Upon Further Review: Bills have to sit with bitter taste of defeat through bye week
‘“It hurt. It was a Mike Tyson haymaker. It hurt,” Dawkins said after the Cardinals’ shocking, 32-30 victory at State Farm Stadium. “But the good thing is that I know what it feels like and my teammates do too, so it’s the feeling that we never want to feel again. So, I guarantee you with the guys that we have here, we’ll never allow this feeling to occur again.”’
What we learned from snap counts in Bills’ Week 10 loss, game ball and more
‘A.J. Klein was close to an every-down player. The Bills’ linebacker played 67 of 73 defensive snaps – 92% of the team total.’
Position grades: Tremaine Edmunds, A.J. Klein shine for Bills’ defense
‘Running backs (2.0): The running backs rushed 11 times for 35 yards, just a 3.2-yard average. If you count Allen going 4 for 25 on designed QB runs, which is fair, the average goes up to 4.0. On three run stuffs, the Bills ran into run dogs. Running against lighter boxes remains an area in which the Bills need to improve. The return of center Mitch Morse should help. Morse was having a strong season before missing the past three games due to the concussion. Zack Moss showed his power by running through 290-pound Josh Mauro for an 8-yard gain. Singletary dropped a screen pass that would have been a big gainer.’
Mitch Morse not playing a coaching decision and four more Bills observations
‘McDermott insisted that Morse not playing was strictly a “football decision,” and had nothing to do with anything the center did – or didn’t do – off the field. When asked if Morse was benched, McDermott said, “No, he was not benched.”’
Analysis: Cardinals didn’t really find a formula for Bills’ Josh Allen
‘The bigger problem for the Bills’ offense was a handful of big miscues.’
Jim Kubiak: How Cardinals’ amoeba and tandem Cover 1 strategy impacted Josh Allen
‘Despite a fourth quarter that was riddled with Buffalo penalties and a damaging interception, Allen had one final opportunity to set things on the right course, and he did. Allen completed 7 of 10 passes on the Bills’ final drive as he ripped a perfect corner route to Stefon Diggs with 34 seconds to play for a touchdown. This appeared to be the game-clinching play of a hard fought victory, or so we thought.’
Column: CBS’ Eagle has a ‘terrific’ day with great final call, ‘SNL’ humor, chess talk
‘Eagle and Davis were up to the task. Eagle was the star of the show, providing excitement on the big plays and adding some analysis and some “Saturday Night Live” and National Hockey League humor.’
The focus is on the Hail Murray, but it is far from the only reason the Bills lost
‘Not that the Bills aren’t used to this. If there’s one thing the Bills might lead the league in during their 61-year history, its inexplicable losses that wind up with forever nicknames. Wide Right, Music City Miracle, now the Hail Murray. I’m probably missing a couple others.’
Bills center Mitch Morse was healthy, but Sean McDermott decided not to play him
‘“He was healthy, coach’s decision right there,” McDermott said. “We know Mitch is a good player and just felt like for that week, meaning last week, we felt like we had at least some momentum with the group we had had in when Mitch went down and wanted to take a look at it one more week there.”’
‘Hail Murray’ Loss Will Linger Through Bills’ Bye Week Off
‘“It (stinks) going into the bye week, because it’s gonna be the only thing on our mind for the next week and a half,” quarterback Josh Allen said. “But I think it’s also a good thing. It makes us hungry.”’
Sean McDermott, Bills react to DeAndre Hopkins Hail Mary heroics in Week 10 loss
‘”Me personally, I know I could’ve timed it up better,” Hyde said, via the Bills website. “I was trapped behind him. I was too worried about him getting over top of the defense. So I stayed back and tried to force everything to be in front of me. And at the same time, when the ball was in the air, I was stuck behind him. I wasn’t able to get in front.’
Loss to Cards stings, but Bills still have everything they want in front of them
‘I didn’t really feel like that in this one as the game was unfolding. I’ve actually been asking myself, “who was the better team in that game?” Did the Bills outplay the Cardinals? In some ways. They also got outplayed in other ways. This was back-and-forth. Either team’s game. One just made one more play. And a miraculous one.’
Tyler Bass one of two kickers to show off big legs with field goal feats in Week 10
‘Though he struggled to start his first season in the pros, entering Week 10 with 72.7% accuracy, he shook off any signs of inconsistency as he drilled not one, not two, but three 50-yard field goals against the Arizona Cardinals… all in one quarter of action. Bass became the first kicker in franchise history to covert three kicks of 50-plus yards in one game, and also only the second kicker in NFL history to make three field goals of 54-plus yards in one game.’
Opinion: Sometimes you just get beat
‘We all know what happened after that, and there’s plenty to digest there. Should the Bills have called a timeout before the Hail Mary play? Did they make it too easy for the Cardinals receivers to run freely off the line of scrimmage? Should they have sent one more pass rusher to try and take away Kyler Murray’s time and space?’
Opinion: R-E-L-A-X, Bills fans
‘As opposed to the previous week against the Seattle Seahawks in Orchard Park, the Bills did not play a great game. The offense went into a deep freeze for much of the second half. The Bills run game, at least rushers not named Josh Allen, produced next to nothing. There were some ill-timed and ill-advised penalties. The defense was shredded by the Cardinals’ run game and the punter had a 12-yard punt, giving Arizona a drive start at the Bills’ 30-yard line.’
McDermott: Mitch Morse’s absence a “coaches decision”
‘“Just felt like for that week, that week being last week, we felt like we had some momentum with the group we had had in when Mitch went down and wanted to take a look at it one more week there,” McDermott said.’
Poyer, Hyde and Hopkins react to the ‘Hail Murray’
‘It’s a play that will be talked about for AT LEAST two weeks in Buffalo, as the Bills head to their bye, and for years around the rest of the NFL.’
McDermott says the Bills running game is a ‘legitimate concern’
‘”We’ve got to do a deep dive this week and figure that part of our game out,” said Sean McDermott. “It certainly hasn’t been good enough.”‘
Brian Daboll’s plan for the Bills offensive adjustments during their week off
‘It’s no secret the Bills run game has been struggling. Sunday against Arizona was no exception.’
11 numbers to know about the Bills from Week 10
’22 >> Buffalo’s 22 total first downs on Sunday made it their 10th consecutive game with at least 20 first downs tying the longest streak in team history (first 10 games, 1992). The Bills current 10-game streak from the start of the season is the third longest active span in the league (Atlanta 18, Arizona 12).’
Eric Wood | 5 opinions on the Bills following Week 10
‘You never want this game to end the way it did, period. You especially don’t want it to happen out west because it’s a long way back on the plane, and then you really don’t want it on a bye week because you just have to keep reliving it. This is not a normal bye week; guys will not be going back to their hometowns, they will be getting COVID tested all week here in Buffalo. So, they are truly just going to be working and wallowing on this loss, but I think it’ll fuel them. Kyler Murray made a great play at the end and it is what it is. That’s a low percentage play, and the Bills are still 5-1 this season in games decided by one score, and that’s the one loss. If the Bills made a winning play that could easily be 6-0 in that stat column. So I still love the direction on the team.’
Bills Today | Cole Beasley earns national recognition for his Week 10 performance
‘”He’s competitive, he’s smart, he gets open and he’s a great teammate,” Daboll stated. “He sees the game and when you ask him a question on what’s happening, he’s right on with it. Usually, guys who give you information throughout the game that you can trust really helps you. He’s been a tremendous asset to our offense, to me, to the receiving room, and he’s a heck of a player.”