BADOLBILZ

Losing focus when it appears a task that is keeping your mind off your problem is seemingly in hand? Yeah, that remains consistent with someone having a burden on their mind.

I saw you posted something yesterday about McDermott becoming too aggressive.......but I think you discount what being hyper aggressive has helped this team overcome this season. The Bills have had a lot of injuries on defense.......and some on offense........and their offensive personnel is not nearly as good as it was in 2020. The aggression has paid off, IMO. It's easy to be critical of the few times it doesn't work but maybe this is a .500 team at the bye while playing this quality of schedule but pulling in the reins more often. There was a chart yesterday that the Bills have been the best decision making team on 3rd and 4th down by analytics, in the league. I don't think that part should change. They just need to execute better.

The quest for the most ping pong balls is on again. https://www.tankathon.com/nhl

It's not the same as it was for the Ravens and 49ers. They lost their QB. But yes, the injuries have been a significant contributing factor in reducing the margin for error. But even with the injuries all 3 losses were largely avoidable. Took a comedy of errors to lose each one, really.

I think they thought they had really gotten one over on the league by getting Crowder for cheap. The odds that he was washed were significant and that's basically how it has turned out. When you are a team that throws the ball 60% of the time like Buffalo you can't let your receiving corps decline and expect not to feel it. It's not nearly as explosive as it was in 2020 and less reliable than 2021.

I don't know if it could be heard on TV...........but when McKenzie nearly ran back to the middle of the field on the second to last play or regulation against Minnesota the crowd reaction was priceless.

He misses 2020 Beasley terribly and 2021 Beasley at least tangibly.....but that ship had sailed. He was in considerable decline. What the team needed to do was address the boundary WR position so that they had the option of moving Diggs to the slot against good opponents and super charging the passing attack. There was a lot of mocking done on this board about the need for receiver help but I think it's abundantly clear to everyone now that the only receiver Josh trusts implicitly is Diggs. The rest aren't trash but everyone else is playing a notch above their fit. I mean, when they have to run Kumerow on the field they might as well be sending a fullback wide.......he's just a body, not a threat.

He has had a very good year. The hopes that he would become a Brian Urlacher or an NFL DOPY candidate are long gone.........expectations have been lowered........just not instinctive enough to make a lot of big plays. But he has been excellent. The days of being able to replace him with a Julian Stanford or Tyrell Dodson and not miss a beat in the short term are finally over.

Poyer is the toughest guy on the team and sorely missed when not playing this season........but I think the Bills have accurately guaged that he was wearing down physically and would be more prone to injury and that's why they didn't make extending him a priority. There might be some tension between some players over those that are playing thru injury and those that are not but I don't think it accounts for the overall malaise the team is in. It happens every year regardless of health or circumstance, it seems.

Like I said.........I don't know what the common denominator that causes this each season is..........but that's as reasonable of a guess as any IMO. As for Allen recently.........he's been looking like a guy whose head has been elsewhere since the bye so the barstool speculation has included perhaps Allen got some unwanted or bad news during the bye. I will do my best JW and leave it at that.

That's the reason not to panic but those teams aren't really apples to apples comparisons to the Bills in some key regards. KC has hosted the AFCCG 4 straight years now......including the season prior to winning the SB.........they have proven to be more consistent than Buffalo. Tom Brady had already won 6 SB's and reached the SB by winning on the road before. The Rams HC had lead his team to a SB appearance on the road before last year as well. The Bills HC nor QB have even won a road game in the playoffs let alone reached a Super Bowl.

There is a weak link in "The Process". I'm not anti-McDermott but there has to be a solution to this and it's crazy that this is year 6 of the regime and it still happens every time. What's the common denominator? I don't know but maybe run defense is the surest sign of a lack of focus. Run defense is probably the job that requires the most effort and technique to execute properly. Winning and losing isn't about run defense anymore but if the team isn't in the right frame of mind that's probably where you will see it first.

That was the story LAST season. 7-6 in December but with the league's best defense and by far the largest point differential........and they looked like the best team in football after a couple months and then again after the WC weekend. Maybe this team is just an updated version of the Schottenheimer/Norv Turner Chargers? In 2010 under Turner the Chargers had the top statistical offense AND defense in football..........and somehow missed the playoffs at 9-7. Multiple 12-14 win seasons......loaded rosters.......excellent stats........no rings. True story. Let's hope not but it's easy to forget that there have been teams who have astonishingly underperformed realistic championship expectations for seasons on end like that and never even reached a SB. It's not just going to work out for these Bills.........they gotta' make it happen.

With the exception of 2018 when the Bills fielded one of the worst offenses in the NFL's SB era in the first half of the season.........they have had a midseason slump every year under McDermott. Not sure how you determined that the vax issue contributed "heavily" to poor play on the field. Seems hard to quantify that. The game Beasley and Davis actually missed because they weren't vaxed the team eviscerated the Patriots in Foxboro. A month+ lack of focus/intensity every season has been the norm. That should be the story.

Being a Bills fan is about being passionate. It cuts both ways. That's why the fanbase was tabbed Bills "Mafia" not Bills "family". It's a billion dollar business that's all about performance.....many of us put many thousands of dollars directly into the pockets of ownership annually...........it's not just like your kids junior high team. If you are ashamed of people caring why a player is months behind his anticpated return date then maybe find a "nice", no-cost activity to invest yourself into.

So you want it to be 2019 again?

I understand that. We all feel that it wasn't a fumble. But the replay angles weren't conclusive and they didn't need to have evidence that the ball WAS moving. They ruled that it was on the field and it was treated to the letter of the law and that's all you can ask for. @What a Tuel can't grasp that this is how replay works. If the situation were reversed and they overturned a Minnesota fumble without conclusive evidence people would be complaining about THAT. The best thing you can do is not dedicate any energy toward criticizing officiating. That's a sucker's game. The NFL wants you to do that though........perceived injustice strengthens the bonds between fans and the teams they root for. Pro Wrestling business 101. And like most things the NFL does........the less they do about an issue the more money they make. So don't bother expecting them to perfect officiating. No drama is bad for business.

No, you clearly don't know how replay works. They weren't reviewing to "affirm that he lost possession". The video replay needs to prove that he DID NOT lose possession........because the call on the field was that he did. See above. The video needed to provide conclusive evidence that the ball wasn't moving........it failed to do so, unfortunately. Did it seem likely that he had possession? Sure, but that's not how replay works.

Yes everyone saw the same replays........it was inconclusive as to whether the ball had moved prior to him being down. It looked like he was down and the ball was stripped out afterward but it wasn't CONCLUSIVE. How many years does this system have to be in place for some of you ref blamers to understand how it works? The refs are taught to let fumbles play out because review can usually overturn a wrong fumble call........but if they incorrectly blow the ball dead it can negate not only a turnover but a significant gain of yardage or even a TD.

Johnson is a more physical inside runner.......as evidenced to Bills fans in preseason. Perhaps they wanted to give the impression that they *might* run the ball and Hines and Cook wouldn't seem like options to run the ball there? But as I've said in this thread.........Duke Johnson has had a tremendous pass catching career. His yards per reception is higher than guys like McCaffrey and Kamara. And it's not a tiny sample size.

Motor "appeared" to be down upon further review but there was no way to tell for sure. Refs handled that by the book.

The Bills/Vikes game was a great showing for lightly represented glove brands like Jordan (Diggs) and Under Armor(Jefferson). About 2/3 of NFL receivers wear the regular Nike brand. Those grabs and the Sutton grab were all pretty much impossible without those sticky mitts. If you've ever worn them they really grab moving objects but are much less tacky on stationary objects.

So you think you're smart? Do you believe the odds are greater that a decently delivered short pass to a kick returning RB with a career yp reception over 9 yards is more likely to be tackled short by a single offset defender or that he totally eludes that tackle and scores a TD there? It's the latter. When you can get an elusive ball carrier in space against a single defender in 2022 that is winning football. You are presuming an absolutely GREAT solo tackle by a defense that gave up well over 400 yards. It perplexes me how nonsensical people can be in the face of facts/numbers. If the argument is that Josh Allen can't be expected to recognize coverage and throw a short pass accurately...........then WTF is the point? Just say the QB can't execute simple football plays and live with the results.

I am a Singletary fan as a runner but if they aren't going to line him up behind the QB.......then you want the quicker option on the field. Cook and Hines are a bit better suited for the finesse running attack they want to employ, IMO.

Yeah you have to be able to run against that box if you are playing downhill. This RPO style with the RB parallel with the QB and OL not being allowed to get upfield is not ideal for taking advantage of a light box. Call a run or pass........get in the "I" and execute.........let the OL either block for the run or the pass.........not in-between.