skibum

To my eyes, it looked like the majority of big mistakes were on the offense. Cook dropped a guaranteed TD pass, Davis goes the wrong way on another sure TD, and they couldn't run the ball all night. I can't remember who all of the 10 first half penalties were on, but that sure didn't help. Neither did two missed field goals. Overtime always favors offense, because the D is gassed. The Bills won the coin toss and the offense couldn't capitalize. The D was not stellar late, but you can't hang the outcome on them.

Let's face it. The Eagles have a better record against better teams. They're playing at home after beating the Chiefs at Arrowhead. The Bills have only one real quality win this season, while 3 of their 5 losses have been to garbage teams. They can be fun to watch at times, but big picture says they are just not a top-tier team. It's going to be a long day for the Bills: Iggles 31 Bills 16 (I hope I'm wrong)

Who knows, who cares - but can we please stop acting like the 12 men on the field thing was even among the top-10 reasons for this loss?

Daboll yes, Frazier no.

Yes, honestly. Maybe it would be better if he was just the DC, but I think he's clearly built a winning culture, which is huge. And I don't know where everyone gets off blaming him for dropped balls, interceptions, fumbles and missed tackles. It's not an NFL head coach's job to teach fundamentals - this isn't Pop Warner. No, McD is not the best situational strategist, but his defense has performed admirably this year in the wake of a massive wave of injuries, plus their having to spend 2/3 of every game on the field because the O can't hold onto the ball. I am fully willing to accept that the troubles on Offense are more on Dorsey and the players than McDermott. If you want to fire McDermott for hiring Dorsey and other sub-standard assistants in the first place, I guess that's one way to look at it. But I don't blame him for the poor performance on the field. And I can't believe everyone is acting like the 12 men on the field thing is the reason why the Bills lost the game last night. It's like blaming Scott Norwood for losing SB 25 to Jeff Hostetler's Giants.

I guess I don't understand all the talk that it's all McDermott's fault and Dorsey is just the scapegoat. The same players put up way more points under Daboll, and this offense is clearly not doing as well since Dorsey took over. And with McDermott running the defense, it is abundantly clear that he is counting on his OC to manage the offense. Oh, and by the way, McDermott's defense has lost half it's starters, spends 2/3 of every game on the field, and yet has managed to keep the Bills in most of their games.

This loss was all on the players. It's not McDermott's fault that the only hope left in the game was that the Donkeys would miss a field goal. Picks, drops, and fumbles are not the coach's fault, sorry. This isn't Pop Warner.

I don't even notice what color they're wearing. I looked at the picture and my first thought was, "isn't that what they wear every week?" Why is this important?

To all the folks who suggest he be traded - Traded for what??? He's a first round pick who can't get on the field, even when injuries strike. Who is press-boxed in favor of off-the-couch Josh freaking Norman! Who forced his GM to cough up a 3rd rounder to bring in yet another vet at the deadline! How do you wash that kind of stink off? I think they're stuck with him. Either the light bulb goes on, or they cut him in the off-season. Maybe they try to stash him on the practice squad, but it seems like they think he can't play pro ball at all.

I thought they played a great game for the majority of the time. Yes, they are still their own worst enemy at times, but I never thought the Bucs had a real chance at any point in that game. I don't know what all the hand-wringing is about this week. Also worth considering is that it was a Thursday game, and we all know that these games can be both unpredictable in their result, and dangerous to player health. To walk off with a solid win and no major injuries is huge, in my book. Especially going into next week vs. Cincy on the road.

It all comes down to how the competition stacks up. I haven't been paying attention to football this week; odds are there were some better angry runs than this, but maybe not?

Actually, it's hard to tell it was a win if you read all the whining and hand-wringing in here today.

SLAYERRRRRRR!!!!!

The Bills beat themselves today, plain and simple. If just half of the unforced errors didn't happen, it would have been a very different game. I expected the defense to backslide with all the injuries, and they certainly weren't great - but to my eyes, it was the drops, penalties, and missed throws (with good protection) - that ultimately made the difference.

That was a dumb call - Take 1st and goal at the two - FOUR chances to punch it in, plus burn more clock! Stupid call!!!!

I never played organized football, so I really have no idea how to break down what's going on during a game, and I refrain from criticizing players for what might look like bad football skills. But I was otherwise a pretty dedicated athlete, so I at least feel qualified to gripe about dudes being out of shape.

I never understood why teams run the ball so often on first down. A first down in football should be like a first serve in tennis. Go for broke, because you still have 2-3 more downs if the pass doesn't connect. Best time to chuck it long, that's what I say.

Next man up

Great thread, I appreciate the sentiment. I am not very optimistic about Poona Ford, however. Was supposed to be in the mix for a starting job when signed, and has not seen the field yet.

I was not able to watch the game. They should have won by 30 - not sure what happened there. I thought I did my part.

Ed has been great, but I think he is going to be a little less great without Da'Quan Jones by his side.

The Bengals effed up by not finding a solid backup QB this offseason. They should sit Burrow, but the cupboard is pretty bare. One could argue the Bills are in the same situation.

For the London game, they will be using the metric system. Josh will have a passer rating of 100.

It's a conundrum, for sure - You want to dress Elam for Miami based on his skill set, but do you really want his first regular season action to be against the likes of Tyreek Hill? Not a great way to shake off the rust.

A lot of the lack of YAC yards is because our leading receiver isn't that great at it. Diggs' first instinct is to juke and dink and dunk, instead of just committing to a line and hitting the jets. Trying to fake tacklers out when he could just be running past them.