Sisyphean Bills

Team loss. The offense was dominant on the ground much of the game, which was without question the right game plan. But then our passing game caught Chiefs-itis and couldn't catch the ball when the Chiefs put 9 in the box. We had 0 big plays. Just couldn't execute a full 60. Couldn't score enough. The defense was decimated. Just not enough talent left with all the injuries. Holding Mahomes to 27 was actually a heroic effort considering. Special teams is obvious. Blown field goal to tie it. Blown fake punt that was a nearly fatal error. I'd like to blame the coaches for this one, but the game plan was good. They made adjustments. They kept us in a game against a great team led by possibly the greatest playoff QB of all time. This one is on the players and the execution.

Well, the change of pace micro-back was the game plan apparently. Raw speed is great ... in space ... which he didn't really have, because Murray only came in at the end of the game. 😬

Yes. But rarely. He has crazy speed, but has all the shifty moves of a cinder block. Throw in that he rarely breaks an arm tackle, and I'm hoping there is a plan B.

Most importantly the Titans don't get anything. 😆

Looking at some mocks and they seem to think we're taking another DL this year. Weird. I wonder why they'd assume that? 😬

Yet, fewer downs means RBs are not as great of a factor on offense in the CFL ... unless they can catch passes. 18 NFL backs had more carries last year than the top workhorse of the CFL (equal 17 game comparison).

Saw Russ Brandon being interviewed about the XFL. Makes one wonder if the XFL can make it. 😎 (Side note: This seemed like a good thread since Brandon's inability to put competitive teams on the field helped Brady's career in a small way. 😁)

No love for Josh Johnson? 😃

Average points hovered around 18 to 21 per game for 70 years or so. The last 13 years it's over 22 with only 2 outliers. This year and 2017. Investing most of your resources on defense when the rules and game continue to evolve to favor scoring and offense seems like focusing on the anachronistic. And let's not even get started in how those resources are spent or schemed... 🙂

Let me add some context. I was here for the "glory years" of the early 90s. We had an awesome team. It was built to beat Dan Marino. It was improved and it beat Boomer Esiason. It stood up to and beat Elway and the Broncos. The AFC was loaded with Hall of Fame QBs and innovative offenses, and we beat them all to 4 straight Super Bowls. But we were NOT built to beat anybody in the NFC East. 4 straight trips and the beat downs in the Super Bowl got worse and worse. The NFC East was just flat out bigger, stronger, and meaner than any team in the AFC. We failed to hoist a Lombardi because we failed to see who it was we had to beat to win it all. The Bengals went to the Super Bowl last year and I think they were written off as a sort of fluke. It was the Bills and Chiefs as the favorites this year. We're built in much the same way (not surprising given the coaching tree), and when we play it's an exciting edge-of-your-seat experience. Meanwhile, somewhat under the radar, the Bengals have gotten really, really good. Their identity is to beat down the bullies in their division. That makes them a very, very tough out for us. If our destiny is not to completely waste this era with Josh Allen in futility, we're going to have to figure out how to beat the new bullies that stand in the way. Quickly.

I dunno. It's hard to feel like any RB is a "must" in today's NFL. There's plenty of evidence that after a handful of productive seasons, the best move is to trade the one you have in and drive a new one off the draft lot.

Bengals. Lessen the confusion about who's the lead dog out front.

This reminds me a bit of the Seahawks the last few years. They let Russell Wilson run for his life and platoons of RBs get carted off the field behind an abysmal OL for several years. Then they trade away Wilson and his contract and immediately invest in ... the OL. 🙃

Hey, bro. Been a long time indeed. What I meant was if the design is "small and quick" then there isn't a lot you can do in the moment adjusting scheme wise when the field is a skating rink. Whether that is a good design and whether its good coaching to not have an answer to that in Orchard Park, NY is completely wide open for debate. (Add that the design is trouble with AFC North teams anyway, since they are built to play smashmouth on both sides of the ball; to compete with the Ravens and Steelers, it's what you have to do.) Josh hides and compensates for a lot of flaws, like an OL that periodically can't pass pro or run block and a defense that can be pushed around.

The investment is huge. The return when it counts, the playoffs, is miniscule.

Not really coaching. We're just not good enough in the trenches and the defensive secondary was decimated. Both the OL and DL were underwhelming and got overwhelmed far too often. I don't think this team was built to play in snow and slush, which is odd, but there it is.

Jason Peters. Hall of Famer playing for the Cowboys... And to think our numb nuts GM at the time traded him away because it was "Lee Evans turn." Evans played exactly 1 more full season. Russ Brandon was an idiot. Go Bills! 🙂

That sucks. Mark was a good guy, just a class ahead at Tech.

After the playoff loss, it was clear the Bills pass rush was anemic and had to be addressed. Did they make the right moves? Do enough? That's a debate. But the Patriots just whipped McD at his own game: toughness. With the exception of a few series, the Patriots were able to ground and pound the defense at will. It wasn't deceptive in the least. Anybody and everybody could see what was coming. Yet, the Bills coaches unrelentingly played a base defense, defenders kept getting caught out of position, and we were outnumbered at the point of attack play after play, down after down. That game proclaimed to the world that the AFC East still goes through New England. If McD really wants to establish himself as the new thug in the division, he needs to look in the mirror, figure out what is needed to win a trench war, and realize some adjustments in "the process" are needed.

Roster needs some variety. All the RB are tiny by NFL standards. Bug meet windshield sort of running game. We typically don't even try to use a running game, but the Patriots just showed the Bills how to win in the elements in Buffalo with jumbo sets, a fullback, ends that can seal, and a rotation of different backs with different dimensions to their games. Outside Kumerow, the WR group looks like clones to me. Also the DL is undersized and wasn't able to stand up against a power running game. Some of those big plays the Patriots got were about lack of execution by Frazier's group though. That was a much different game if the long TD run in the 1st quarter had been stopped. PS: The Patriots rebound and return to anointed status is bad for the NFL. Not everyone wants to see the Patriots win the next 10 Lombardi trophies.

You're right. Of course, we both know that the way NFL officials call the game, a defender has to make at least some token effort to whip his head around or they'll help out the offense. Whoever is playing opposite White is simply going to get the majority of the load and any flaws to their game will be under the opposition offensive guru's microscope at length. It's a tough business.

Wallace has to be much better at getting his head around. It really isn't great play to be unaware of the where the ball is. Although the Steelers receivers did good work in not tipping off that the pass was coming. Still, he's going to see a ton of work this year, and he has to be better on the small details. There were a couple of plays that Ben threw the ball directly into "great coverage" (I think at least one of those was Wallace) because Ben knew the refs were going to call defensive holding. Throwing the ball there was meant to force the refs to call the holding. Again, the coverage can be otherwise magnificent, but if you get caught clutching the receiver at some point, that negates all the good work on the play.

The title of this thread left me with five words: London Hall of Fame Fletcher. 😉 https://www.news-herald.com/sports/london-fletcher-on-making-pro-football-hall-of-fame-it-s-gonna-happen/article_86e1bac2-dfb8-11e9-8ab6-ff818fe039d7.html

He did. And Chan stuck a fork in him.

Where's the dog leash? Time to enjoy the fall colors.