Utah John

Diggs had one, Cook had one (would have been a TD), and Kincaid had two. OTOH Diggs had an amazing catch, in the rain, with one hand.

Look at it this way. Gabe Davis is an offensive lineman who gets to run downfield and make blocks. He is REALLY good at it. Do you think James Cook made all those yards on his own? Someone was making blocks down the field. At this point, any catches he makes are gravy.

Wait till Hurts gets hurt. That'll be the end of that.

If he couldn't play effectively with that injury why didn't the Bills put him on IR and let him have the surgery he needs, so he'll be back and ready to go next year? Why let him linger when he couldn't play effectively?

Jalen Ramsey is a great CB. Xavien Howard is very good but he gets a lot of action because teams avoid Ramsey. The Fins offense had a HUGE dropoff in all areas when Hill was on the sidelines. It was amazing how much easier it was for the Titans to cover receivers and defend the run. (Do the Fins even have a tight end? They let Gesicki go and now they never seem to throw to whoever replaced him.) The Fins offense had a HUGE dropoff when Hill was on the sidelines. The Titans suddenly were able to cover all the receivers and defend against the run.

You're probably right that the complete collapse is going to weigh more on their minds, but both those losses were gut punches to the favored team. The Bills have had more time to recover.

The Pats D is decent, and the Chiefs offense will probably try that Kelce throw back play two or three times, fumbling each time. So there's hope. Plus I'd like to see the Pats hurt their draft position.

He's still a good coach but he's been a terrible GM for years. Can't draft, picks the wrong FAs. The Pats need an actual GM more than they need a new coach. The problem is it's going to take a new GM a few years to clean up the roster, and it's asking a lot for the Krafts, who are used to success, to keep BB around that long. But the mess is still going to be there, BB or no BB, and if they go with a new coach that poor guy will suffer and be fired, putting the Pats into the hire/fail/fire rinse and repeat we all saw with the Bills. That makes perfect sense. The fans are demanding a coaching change, which is a couple years late since Staley screwed himself out of a playoff spot by not settling for a tie in the last game of the season.

The Dolphins have a great CB and a very good one too. Beyond that, not much on defense.

Seems to me DK1 has caught a few of those the past couple of years. And DK2 is an even better receiver. Sounds like some illegal formations and motions on the 50, and definitely holding. Maybe even a naked bootleg if your Mom changed her mind. But who knows, if the Bills start losing a lot, maybe that'll bring the fans back.

The Dolphins loss to the Titans was the equivalent of ours to the Pats. Hard to believe either one happened. I think the Bills as a team lost a lot of mojo with that Pats loss, and haven't really gotten it back yet. Who knows what will happen to the Fins this week and going forward.

Miller is playing better. It's Rousseau who's gone radio silent. Almost never hear his name called. I think the Bills are playing Rousseau more on the interior which shows the team's need at DT now that Jones is out and Settle and Ford aren't doing much, and Joseph has also evaporated after an encouraging start. Anyway this might explain why we don't hear about Rousseau. But we need AJE and Miller back, badly.

Well, it's looking like there's a shot at a playoff game which will very likely be on the road. At least the first one, and maybe the second one. The third one could be back in Orchard Park depending on seeding. Then the SB of course will be at a neutral site.

I haven't read all the pages of this thread, but I wonder if anyone has pointed out to Mahomes and Reid that Toney actually committed a blatant OPI on that play, which is how Kelce got so wide open. The Offside call was correct but not calling the OPI was a huge mistake by the refs, that could have cost the Bills the game and possibly the playoffs.

I have been expecting this to happen. Opponents have been game planning to stop Dorsey's offense. Brady has different tendencies and favorite plays, and DCs figure those things out. Big test this Sunday against a good Dallas defense.

I'm so glad someone else noticed this. The refs blew it by not making that call. OPI would have pushed the Chiefs back 10 yards instead of the 5 the got hit for the Offside. And there would have been no controversy. Toney ran straight at one of the Bills' DBs, then straight into another one, and the second one was the guy marking Kelce. Kelce popped clear not by skill but because the Chiefs were cheating. It was a clearly deliberate illegal play, and Toney got away with it. If good things come in threes, it's definitely time to buy a lottery ticket.

The Kelce meltdown, I didn't see, but there could have been one on his magic play near the end. Maybe he was just so delighted with his own creativity (well-deserved) that he could tolerate the Offside call against Toney. About Toney -- The refs actually did the Chiefs a favor on that play, just calling the Offside. Toney ran straight into one of the Bills DB, and then ran straight into another one. The second one was the pick that got Kelce so wide open. Go back and watch the replay. It was blatant OPI. If the refs had called that, which they should have, it would have backed the Chiefs up by 10, and not by 5. Fortunately Mahomes' next three passes all fell incomplete, and the Bills won. But, maybe this is better in the long run. The Chiefs will have a week to stew about the Offside call, telling each other the refs somehow were to blame or that the refs somehow screwed up. Any distraction is a good thing. Here's why. The Chiefs, whom the Bills beat and would have the tiebreaker over, are only one game ahead of the Broncos, who beat the Bills. If it comes down to playoff tiebreakers, I want every edge the Bills can get, so I'm hoping Denver wins the AFCW. (Also if the Chiefs don't make the playoffs, Mahomes will keep alive his streak of never playing a playoff game on the road.)

The Bills pass rush was extremely focused on not giving Mahomes lanes to escape the pocket downfield. I've seen this in several games this year, and it's a very good thing against QBs who are good at running. It also means the D line is working as a unit, and not having anyone freelance. They're still getting their sacks (maybe not quite as many) and applying good pressure while not letting excellent runners like Mahomes hurt them, at least with his legs. The flip side is that Mahomes ends up with a little more time to find receivers, but his receivers are worse than ours, except for Kelce. This approach wouldn't work against Tyreek Hill AND Kelce, but that we don't have to worry about that anymore. Here's hoping Spagnuolo gets a HC job next year, in the NFC. He gives the Bills a tough time every time as the Chief's DC.

Either way if teams start teaching their players to be aware of opportunities like that, particularly throwing it back to a guy who's not covered, it could really open up the game. Defenses would not be able to collapse on the receiver after he catches the ball. Kinda ironic this play happened on the day Frank Wychek passed away.

The two earlier one-score wins were gifted to the Bills, more or less. We beat the Giants despite not being penalized for a blatant DPI in the end zone at the end fo the game, and we beat the Bucs but could have lost if the Bucs WR had turned to see where their Hail Mary was going. Today's win was a big deal for many reasons, not least because it will maybe get the monkey off the Bills back about losing close games.

That throwback pass from Kelce to the Offside guy was certainly innovative. Thank heaven it didn't count (quite correctly too despite what Mahomes thinks). But that play would work a lot if teams would prepare to run it.

Cook is the first Bill since Thurman Thomas to be that dual threat. Of course Thurman was also great in every other aspect of the game as well. He could maybe give Cook a few pointers on pass pro.

The Chiefs will be without Pacheco and their starting left tackle. And three others. But Mahomes, Kelce and Jones will still be on the field. Cross your fingers. I think the Bills are keeping Elam off the field to maximize his trade value. We can get a sixth if we don't let anyone see him play, otherwise a seventh.

The thing that bothers me the most about McD is his absolute unwillingness to take ownership of any failure. The closest he ever comes is saying we have to play better and coach better. I'm not impressed with trotting out a stale line like that. Time and again, he's screwed up in close games and cost the Bills a win, particularly in the playoffs. The players won't respect the man as a coach, if they don't respect the coach as a man. And it's pretty clear the fire's gone out at One Bills Drive.

So the lesson McDermott learned from that Colts game is that he made the right call by punting on 4th and 1. After all, the Bills got the ball back and scored to win the game. The problem with that lesson is that most games aren't snow games, and usually defenses are a lot more tired than offenses are. So usually if you get the ball late in the game your chances of scoring are much better than at other times. Usually, in the situation with the Colts game, the opponent will take your punt and keep the ball the rest of the game.