Utah John

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.

Well how would that be any different for that O line? The thing is, no one knows how good Zach Wilson would be, playing with a good O line, a good OC, and better receivers. Some QBs in his situation would do better than he has, but they're bigger and stronger and better capable of compensating for a bad O line. I do not think his career is over, not with the NFL so desperate for QBs. Someone will give him another chance, and if he's lucky that situation will enable us to see what he's actually capable of.

So this could have been (still could but probably won't be) the year when the Bills are greased to make it to the SB. The Bengals are out, the Chiefs a slipping, the Ravens and Dolphins are unproven. But on the flip side, facing the 49ers in the SB is a ticket to 0-5 on the big stage. Of course just making it to the big stage would be a big step forward.

The Bills are the NFL's version of Casey at the Bat.

All the news I've seen, not the uninformed speculation, is that Hines was acting in a responsible manner and was injured accidentally by someone crashing into him. He sounds like a good guy, a person who fits into the Bills' culture. As for going forward, the questions are whether he will have had time to heal by the start of next season, and whether he wants to play for the Bills. There was a dispute between Hines and the team about his pay level, but that appears to have been resolved amicably. So I hope he's fully healed and at full speed by next summer. It will be a big shame for him and for the team if he never gets back to full speed after the accident.

We aren't really just one game back. Because we lost so many games in the AFC and the AFCE, we lose every tiebreaker. The unforgiveable loss to the Patriots, and the 12 men on the field against Denver, are what will keep the Bills out of the playoffs.

The BILLS are 0-6 in games with Josh as QB. A QB could almost always do more during the game to get the win, but usually in Josh's case the BILLS lose (he doesn't lose) because the defense can't hold a lead.

Kool-Aid would be poison on the roster, at least when they play Jonestown.

That's right, in that case it was a first down somewhere in the middle of the field. But, the Eagles would have gotten the first down anyway, so it was a few more yards for the chance to ding one of their players and maybe make them think twice about doing it again (which didn't work of course, but was worth a shot). The league would have to announce ahead of time that interfering with the tush push play would be a penalty. Which would be ridiculous of course. They would have to announce that a false start by the Eagles is supposed to be ignored. And no team would be foolish enough to tell its players out loud that they were trying to injure the other team. (But they wouldn't have to tell them, would they?)

There probably is a penalty for not kicking off in a certain amount of time, but there's never a tactical advantage in delaying the kickoff.

I don't know who Brad Riter is but I've been advocating this starting during the Bills-Eagles game, as soon as Phillips jumped offside.

So when he rocks back, THAT'S when the D line attacks. After all, he moved first.

Yeah, it's hard, but it's THEIR JOB.

One possible outcome of the defensive approach I'm suggesting is that one of the Eagles gets called for moving early to brace for the incoming attack. Half the distance against the defense vs five yards against the offense. Pretty good deal for the defense. The best defense is a good offense. Or in this case, being as offensive as possible.