mjt328

Not nonsense. Those three games are significant. - Bills get AFC champion Chiefs. Patriots get Raiders, arguably the worst team in the league. - Bills get Texans, best defense in NFL. Patriots get Titans, only team probably worse than above. - Bills get Super Bowl champion Eagles. Patriots get 2-win Giants with rookie QB and interim HC. Also: - Bills got the Ravens at full strength. Patriots will get version with Lamar Jackson on one-leg. - Bills get Bengals at full strength. Patriots got them without Joe Burrow or Jamar Chase. The Patriots best win of the season was against us... probably the most lopsided penalty fest in the NFL this year. And they barely escaped with a 3-point victory. We will see about the rematch. It may be a longshot for us to come back and win the division. But if we win that game, the margin will be pretty close. Yes, the Bills blew a cake schedule this season. No excuses. But the Patriots have a HISTORICALLY weak slate of opponents. If the AFC East comes down to Week 18 or a tiebreaker, nobody can say these differences didn't play a factor.

This is somewhat true. The Bills-Patriots have exactly three games different on their schedules. Bills got Texans, Chiefs, Eagles. Patriots got Titans, Raiders, Giants. That's a pretty significant difference in opponent quality. Not to mention, they got the Bengals with both Joe Burrow and Jamar Chase out. We get to play them with both on the field. We also got the Ravens before all the injuries hit. At the end of the day, there are no excuses. The Patriots are going to win the AFC East, because (as you said) we blew it against some very inferior teams. Not because we had a more difficult schedule. Take care of business against the Falcons and Dolphins, and things look a lot different for the division. The Bills seem to be sleepwalking through the season, while the Patriots are focused and playing hard against every single opponent. The real question is... what happens in a month when the real bullets start flying? Everybody knows there is a different intensity that level when the postseason hits.

The Patriots schedule has been ridiculously easy. Raiders, Dolphins, Panthers, Saints, Titans, Browns, Falcons, Jets, Giants. They also got the Bengals the week they were without Jamar Chase, and before Joe Burrow came back. We have struggled against teams we should have beaten, so no excuses... they deserve to win the AFC East. But it's hard not to believe the Patriots are headed for a big wakeup call in January. It will be interesting to see how our second game goes, along with the Ravens (if they get healthy down the stretch).

Both conferences are a total mess. But mostly the AFC. I have no idea what team would be considered the true favorite. The Broncos are currently sitting at the top. They have a good coach, a decent young QB and strong defense. No glaring weaknesses. But also nothing that would strike fear into your heart if forced to play them in the playoffs. They have barely scraped out wins against the worst of the worst teams in the NFL, and appear very beatable. Then you have the Patriots, Jaguars and Colts. All seem like well-coached, young teams with solid rosters who improved in the offseason. But it's hard not to get Vikings vibes. I can't help but see these teams as Wild Card contenders with extremely favorable schedules. Not teams who should be pushing for the #1 Seed. The Colts collapse already looks like it started around Week 9-10. The Chargers are middle of the pack everywhere, with a QB just outside of the elite group. Not scary at all. Houston has a tremendous defense and is just now making a late push. But the offense is very mediocre, and doesn't look like a unit that can string together a deep postseason run. Then of course you have the Bills, Chiefs, Ravens and Bengals. Huge favorites back in August. And even now, it's usually the elite QBs that find a way to rise above the pack in the postseason. But all three teams have severely flawed rosters outside of quarterback, have really bad injury issues to overcome, or are in a huge hole and may not make the playoffs at all.

Brady's ability to gameplan and adjust are very very very bad. He went into the Houston game with no plan to neutralize their pass rush, and then refused to make changes when they were clearly smoking us. Ironically, it was very bad luck for Pittsburgh to face us after such a poor showing with our pass blocking. Brady had more than a week to hear the relentless criticism about his blocking schemes. And without both starting OTs, he was left with no choice but to run James Cook into the ground yesterday. In other words, our spectacular failure on Thursday Night forced Brady into a strategy for success. My guess is that Brady will attempt to run the same exact gameplan against Cincinnati next week... for no other reason than it appears to be working. Will he tailor our offensive attack to target the Bengals weak points? Obviously he won't, because he never does. Will the Bengals (even as pathetic as their defense is) be prepared after seeing us run the same play 50 times on film? Probably.

The identity is pretty obvious. They are primarily a running team. Passing is mostly screens and check-downs. When that doesn't work, hope Josh Allen can save their behinds.

Using the eye-test, I'm still very skeptical about how this offense operates. They were struggling badly until the sack/fumble/touchdown completely changed the trajectory of the game. Still have zero evidence this team can pass the ball downfield when needed. And it's been that way almost the entire season. Joe Brady looks great when he can just call the same play 40+ times and the other team can't stop it. Not so great when his favorite 5 plays aren't working, and he actually needs to adjust mid-game. There are going to be teams upcoming who do a good job shutting down James Cook, and in those games we are going to struggle badly to score. Has the defense turned the corner? I'm a little more optimistic that we accidentally stumbled into a better run defense when Terrell Bernard got injured. My fear is that Sean McDermott is too stubborn to keep his captain on the bench, even though Shaq Thompson is clearly the better option.

Brady was criticized all week for his pathetic adjustments to Houston’s pass rush. The gameplan had to be what we saw, or he might have been the scapegoat firing tomorrow. The pass offense was still pretty bad all game, and I still question his ability to adjust mid-game or find solutions when the rushing attack isn’t working.

Most of us are worried about this season more than the future, and Thompson is the better option at MLB. I agree that next year we should look at moving Bernard outside to replace Milano. Probably his best fit all along.

Been saying for years, this defense is too undersized. And with NFL offenses evolving, it’s only getting worse. Two players that have become a huge liability for us are Terrell Bernard and Taron Johnson. It should not be surprising that our best defensive game of the season came with a lot of 4-3, and Shaq Thompson at MLB.

Lamar is clearly still hurt. But they are going to win that division anyway. And there is a good chance he will be mostly healthy by playoff time. Ravens could be dangerous in January. The Chiefs big problem is the tie-breakers. The teams in front have all beaten them, which is like being an extra game behind. One more loss and I can’t see them making it. Winning Sunday puts us in a good place for a wild card slot. But the Steelers need it bad too.

It did in the past.

With the criticism for his protection schemes last week, plus us probably playing without both tackles... it's very likely that Joe Brady makes some adjustments for this week's game (2-3 quarters too late). Expect the RBs and TEs to help chip, and a lot of quick passes to get called. The question is, what happens downfield when the RBs and TEs are stuck blocking? Less options for the QB to throw to. Plus the Steelers will probably be ready for those quick screens we love to call. It's probably a given the offense will struggle badly again. Just hope that Josh isn't taking a physical beating as bad as last week.

My guess is that he's mostly talking about field position. When the offense turns the ball over or fails to move, it makes it harder for the defense to stop a scoring drive. When the defense gets turnovers and stops the opponent deep, the offense doesn't have to go as far to score. The fear amongst many fans is that he's also talking about time of possession, and limiting possessions. In other words, the offense shouldn't score too quick, because it puts the defense back on the field without much rest. Which if course is asinine and foolish when you have a Hall of Fame QB, and your plan is to play ball-control.

Previous seasons, our biggest problems seemed to be sloppy/undisciplined play. We went through long stretches with lots of turnovers, penalties, dropped passes, etc. But at the end of the day, we were still a fairly talented roster. And there were plenty of times throughout the season where our potential was shining through the rough patches. This year seems different. The issues seem much deeper. Outside of the Chiefs game, the Bills have looked really rough all season long. Even back when the team was 4-0, everything looked ugly. Tackling hasn't improved in the slightest. Even games we are scoring 30-40 points, it just isn't smooth or synced up. My fear that it's not a good team in a slump... but rather a team that just isn't very good anymore.

I'm not sure what Brandin Cooks has left in the tank. But at least we are trying to do something... which is better than the nothing we did at the trade deadline.

Exactly why I focus more on what I'm watching (the eye test), than stats and metrics. The passing offense is clearly struggling.

Watching other teams has given me the opposite thought. To me, this entire season is a HUGE missed opportunity. Seeing teams like the Indianapolis Colts (with Daniel Jones of all people) and the New England Patriots (with two former WRs on our team) feature passing offenses that are WAY more consistent than ours (with MVP Josh Allen)... it's just sad and depressing. For the last 5 years, we've been struggling to get past the other elite QBs of the AFC. Mahomes, Jackson and Burrow. And now that injuries/age have finally taken down our top competition in the conference, we completely fell off as well. Not only are we not going to get the #1 seed, but we will be lucky to get a Wild Card spot. I keep hearing that we still have a team capable of going on a run, since no other teams are dominant. But I'm just not seeing it. The Bills aren't flawed in one area. They have probably the worst rushing defense in the entire NFL, and a below average secondary. Their passing game has been an absolute mess most of the season, and even Josh Allen looks like a deer in the headlights. And none of their coaches have the ability to outsmart the guy on the other sideline. In fact, the only part of the team we can usually count on is the run game.

I'm thinking the Bills need a #1 WR, two edge rushers, two linebackers, a free safety, and new coordinators/schemes on both sides of the ball. And that's just to get back into the conversation for the AFC East title. This team needs a rebuild, and needs new people in charge of doing it. If the Pegulas stand pat (which most expect them to do), the list of opponents is going to be irrelevant.

The goal for every GM should be a relentless pursuit of TALENT, regardless of how it's done. Draft, Free Agency, Trades, etc. Les Snead succeeded in thinking outside the box, realizing that high draft picks were significantly overvalued around the league. Rookies are hit/miss, and take time to develop. Vets cost more, but it's easier to tell what they will bring. Of course, the other piece was excellent drafting in the middle/late rounds. You can easily trade away early picks IF you are hitting strong on Day 3. He was able to get a superstar WR (Puka Nacua) in the 5th Round, while Beane is totally lost at the position 20-25 picks in.

This may be the case, but he's also having trouble because of the way defenses are playing against us. The things that make Josh Allen special are his ability to escape pressure, his ability to scramble, and his ability to make throws other QBs simply can't. Instead of being 11 on 11, it's almost like giving the offense an extra player. Now since defenses don't need to respect our WRs, they only need to play Cover 1 with a single-high safety. That gives the defense an extra man to play around with, instead of dedicating him into a deep zone. And since we don't have anyone who threatens downfield, defenses can also press closer on routes and crowd more guys into the box. In other words, our lack of talent at WR is giving coordinators an extra guy that can blitz or spy, and giving Allen less space to scramble around.

Dion Dawkins apparently doesn't care anymore, and Spencer Brown finished the last game with his arm in a sling. Our O-Line has always struggled with TJ Watt and the Steelers pass rushers, even when we were good. Joe Brady is always slow to adjust, so he's probably just now figuring out now that he should have kept in an extra blocker or two against the Texans. Maybe he will make that change for this game. But then we have less options in the pass game, and we know how awesome our receivers are at getting open. Not sure who is still standing on the defense. One-handed Joey Bosa. The other starting DE who never gets any pressure anyway. I think Cole Bishop and Deone Walker haven't gotten hurt yet. I had to look up who the Steelers starting RB is, so I could get a heads-up on the next guy to get 100+ yards and 2 touchdowns rushing against us.

They could play their entire backup O-Line, and our pass rush won't sniff Drake Maye. I can't believe anyone would still be holding out hope for the AFC East title. It's not going to happen. I'm not even sure a Wild Card is realistic the way this team has been playing.

It's definitely both. Sean McDermott has never been a gameday coach, who outsmarts the guy on the other sideline. He's a player-friendly guy, who emphasizes high character, organization and fundamentals as the primary keys to winning. Both of these elements were key in laying the foundation of a winning franchise in the early years. The problem is that his scheme has gotten outdated over the years, and the talent level has dropped off a cliff. He's got no ideas on how to adjust or adapt. Bobby Babich was an internal hire, who brings nothing to the table other than to echo what McDermott already gives us. Joe Brady had some success when he was new, because his style was 180 degrees different from our previous OC Ken Dorsey. Now that defensive coordinators have figured out his tendencies and our talent limitations, he also has no idea how to adapt. He doesn't change gameplans for opponents, and doesn't recognize what is happening in-game in order to make adjustments. Talent-wise, this team was built mostly on Josh Allen, Doug Whaley's pre-firing additions (Poyer, Hyde, White, Dawkins, Milano) and the trade for Diggs. What Beane has added in actual rookie talent since drafting Allen is actually ridiculously pathetic. His free agent classes have been equally bad, and gotten us into terrible cap trouble. When the team has a mid-season hole, he's like a deer in the headlights. It used to be grab an old Panther. Now it's grab an old Bill that nobody else in the NFL wants to sign. The Bills are a stale coaching staff combined with an aging low-talent roster.

Very good chance Week 18 we are playing for the postseason, and I'm not sure they make it. I can think of really good reasons they could lose any of their upcoming games: With the way they struggled with the Texans pass rush, how do you think they are going to perform against the Eagles? I could see them also struggling badly with the Steelers and Browns rushers. Bengals get back Joe Burrow, so their record is irrelevant. The Jets also pose a much bigger threat with Tyrod Taylor, and Aaron Glenn might be coaching for his job in the final game. I've also finally accepted the Patriots are a better team than us this season, and will probably sweep.