billsfan89

Not much bad in this game. The complaints would be the following. 1- That fake punt was a great call by the Jets but had the Bills sniffed that out they would have been close to it not in field goal range up 16. 2- Why were the Bills going for a Hail Mary? The pick could have very easily been returned for a TD. Brady will hopefully learn to play more conservative in that situation up 10 with the ball to start the next half with a defense dominating there is no need to risk a pick 6. 3- Some bad penalties. The Oliver roughing and the Dawkins silly penalty were bad. 4- Special teams in general were a bit shaky. The fake punt is the glaring example but the Jets also got a couple of big returns. Bass also missed a PAT that kept it a two score game. Not a tragic game but ST was by far the weakest of the three units. Other than that what can you complain about? They put up 32 against a top ranked defense and the defense held them to 6 points and created multiple turnovers. The offense looked a lot better.

Gabe has had some good games in his career. Miami in the playoffs last season plus he had solid games against the Bucs and Commanders this season. The issue is that Gabe disappeares for games at a time. I get that you can’t always have big games but you should find ways to have a positive impact and get a few receptions most games.

What’s insanely frustrating about the Bills offense lack of consistency is that the individual components along with the key additions are all playing better than last season or have added a lot. There also isn’t much regression if any from established players. Spencer Brown last season was one of the worst RT’s in the league. This year he has been a lot better. McGovern and Torrence have played much better than the guards last season. Dawkins is even playing slightly better. James Cook is playing better and Murray has been a productive addition. Shakir has come on strong and Kincaid has been a major positive. Diggs, Mitch and Davis are all playing similar to what they were last season. The only major injury is Knox who has been replaced by Kincaid. Yet the offense has been underperforming many times. Just really shows you that Dorsey was a big issue.

Let Gabe walk and spend a first round pick on WR would be my plan. Would rather spend cap dollars to retain other talent particularly on defense with AJE and Dane being free agents.

Been banging the drum all season for Shakir and he has shined once he gets the chance.

Shutting down Wilson and making plays all over the place. Dude is a perfect fit for the system.

Not sure why you wouldn’t go for 2

Douglas has been such a great addition especially factoring in that he is under contract next season on a reasonable deal. Punch this one in!

Jets were at home on September 11th lots of emotions there and yeah the Bills choked that game away but that’s the type of game I can understand being funky. Whereas the Pats and Broncos games were complete chokes.

Week 1 is funky especially since they cut down on pre season and off season practices. The Pats and Broncos games are the big ones that have put the Bills behind the eight ball so to speak

Defense really coming out strong. Reminds me of the Commanders game. Offense playing more conservatively due to how well the defense is playing.

The offense in that Bengals game could have been called a lot better for sure but when you can’t run and are getting beat consistently on the line the offensive coordinator can only do so much. Chan Gailey was a master of smoke and mirrors play calling and even he could only mask deficiencies so much when the offensive line was overwhelmed.

The Bills never had a good run blocking offensive line for 90% of the time he was here. 2019 and 2020 the Bills offensive line were very solid at pass blocking but average at best in run blocking. 2021 the Bills offensive line was a mess until the last few weeks of the regular season and playoffs (they didn’t get rolling until they kicked D.Williams inside and plugged in Brown and Bates). That 6ish game stretch was probably the only stretch of good run blocking play by the offensive line. Then in 2022 the offensive line was horrendous. Had Singletary been the consistent lead back and had better run blocking he easily would have been a 1100 yard or better back if healthy.

Genuine cap question, could Tre completely rework his deal into a one year deal with a modest guarantee and a lower base salary that could lower his cap and dead cap hit (lower his overall cap number to 9ish million and dead cap to 6ish million)? That type of deal would put some money in Tre’s pocket and give him a chance to come back while the Bills can lower the dead cap charge if they decide to cut him and lower his overall cap hit if he makes the roster? If that’s possible I think it would work best for both parties.

James Cook looks a lot better this season to be fair.

The Bengals loss was not only the result of a depleted team but also a team that got beat on both sides of the line of scrimmage. The Bills offensive line last year was not very good and the Bengals defensive line was a very strong unit. The Bengals defense had Josh under pressure all day and no room to run. The Bills defensive line was banged up (Von obviously out, Daquon was out, and Ed Oliver and Jordan Phillips were banged up) and got dominated by a make shift Bengals offensive line. The rest of the game was academic at that point because losing both lines of scrimmage is massively disruptive to both sides of the ball. The playcalling didn’t matter as much to be honest.

I think the Diggs frustration is very real. But I also don’t know if he is to the point where he wants out as where else would he go realistically? Diggs has just about everything he could want. He has one of the best young QB’s in the league, he leads the league in receptions and is in the top 10 in yards so his individual production is there, the Bills gave him the money he wanted and he has up until this season (in which the Bills are far from out of it) been in contention thus far in his tenure here. What other team could he go to that would be able to afford him and provide him a better situation? In 2020 when he asked out of Minny he was playing with an average QB and not getting targets and the team was not winning consistently. What team would be able to afford him and would give him a better home? KC is a team the Bills won’t trade him to and they can’t afford him cap wise, Cincy is set at WR and will be in a cap crunch, Baltimore is not a place where WR’s put up big numbers, Miami is set at WR and the Bills won’t trade in the division. Jacksonville or Houston would be at best a lateral move but neither QB is as good as Josh. NFC wise Dallas is the only appealing destination as he would maybe want to play with his brother but once again a downgrade at QB.

Seems like fair comments, Josh is the catalyst for the offense. Hopefully, Brady will spark something.

The Bills margin for error is slim but if you look at the playoffs as being possible at 10-7 the Bills are going to have to go 5-2 to achieve that. That means you have to beat the Jets, Chargers and Pats. All doable, then you have to go 2-2 between the Fins, Cowboys, Chiefs and Eagles. Doable for sure. Right now you just have to beat the Jets at home and then you only have to go 4-2. That's it just beat the Jets and go from there.

I suffered through the drought as my introduction to being a Bills fan so right now at 5-5 with Josh Allen I am still not writing off the season.

Fans working backwards from their conclusion to prove their own bias surly isn’t happening?

RIP NFL 2K as that series was a lot better in terms of actual simulation football.

The defense after a really bad first half gave the offense a chance in the second half. They forced a punt and then a turnover on downs on the Bengal's first two drives and then a field goal on the third drive they had. When you give up 24 points to a very good offense like the Bengals your offense has a chance to win. It really was the slow offensive/defensive start and the Kincaid fumble that buried the Bills. Had Kincaid not fumble the Bills would have had the ball down 11 at about the 13 of the Bengals on a first down or a 2nd and short with 13.5 minutes left enough for 1-2 more offensive possessions. A field goal cuts the lead to a one-score game a TD gets you to 3-5 points down depending on the 2pt conversion. That's not to say had the Bills not fumbled there the Bills would have won the game but rather the complexion of the game changes with a good amount of time left and gives the Bills a chance. Really what would have been critical would have been for the Bills to have at least cut the Bengals lead from 21-7 to 21-14 before the half. Down 7 with the ball to start the half is vastly different than down 14.

Possibly but the Bills defense is not the reason they lost against the Bengals and Jags and the defense was not the reason the Giants and Bucs games were closer than they needed to be. The only loss where the defense is to at least partly blame is the Pats loss. The offense has the talent it is just not designed well, not called well and the players at times not executing well. With Douglas coming in to fill for Tre and Joseph alleviating Jones run stuffing (I know Jones does more than run stuffing but Joseph at least gives you that run defense back) the defense is a good enough unit to win games if the offense plays up to its potential. So despite no Milano and DQ the defense is for the most part holding up its end of the bargain so to speak. IF (and this is a big if) the offense gets going the Bills can and will win games.

The defense is missing the key playmakers. Joseph and Douglas should help once they get integrated fully but they miss Milano, Tre and Jones. The offense is playing scared at times and not attacking combined with some bad playcalls and in the case of the Bengals game a really costly fumble by Kincaid. I think the Bills can overcome this bad stretch but the next two weeks are must wins. Get to 7-4 and see what happens.