mjt328

I'm having a hard time pinning this one on Sean McDermott. The Bills had multiple chances to put the game away, and failed at each step. But not sure those failures can fall on the coach. - Two terrible holding penalties on punt returns, which cost us great field position. Three more points and the game is over. I know people like to blame penalties on the coaches, but how is it not the fault of the player? - Multiple punts from mid-field. Yes, they were extremely conservative calls. Yes, they were frustrating. But considering the score and how the defense was playing, were they really the wrong decisions? - Missed intentional grounding against Baker Mayfield, when Von Miller was holding his leg. Refs fault. Had potential to kill that scoring drive. - Illegal contact on Taron Johnson. It wasn't flagrant, but it was the right call. See above. This is the player's fault. No penalty and the Bills win by 14. - Facemask on Jordan Phillips. Same thing. This is the player's fault. Sack would have ended the game and the Bills win by 14. - Ball bounces off Christian Benford's helmet into the arms of Mike Evans for a touchdown, after the receiver pushed off. They held the guy in check all day, and once again had decent coverage. Fluke play, plus another miss by the refs. - Two-point conversion was a tipped pass that fell in the arms of the Bucs. Consider our tipped pass earlier in the game also fell in the arms of the Bucs.

The shotgun snaps on 3rd/4th and short need to stop. Too many NFL teams (not just the Bills/Dorsey) try getting creative in these situations. It's stupid and ridiculous. They know the defense is expecting a quick run or sneak up the middle, so they try to do ANYTHING but that. The most successful short-yardage team in the NFL is the Eagles. Every time they face 3rd or 4th and 1... they line up in a bunched formation, and have the guys behind Jalen Hurts push him forward. The defense knows it's coming. But it works 99-100% of the time. And if other teams in the NFL spent the time to practice that play and do it right, they would have just as much success. Especially a team with a QB the size of Josh Allen.

The 49ers won with a QB like Joe Montana. Then they switched it up, and won with a QB like Steve Young. I think the Bills regime (former Panthers as we all know) is scared of watching their star QB have a shortened career like Cam Newton, and have decided to buckle-down on the unnecessary hits at all costs -- and we are seeing the early results. The problem is... instead of seeing a Cam Newton career arc, they are going to turn Allen into Russell Wilson. An elite NFL quarterback until he stopped using his legs, and tried to become an immobile pocket passer.

My feeling is that Buffalo's coaching staff came into the season telling him to run less. Again, it's not JUST the yardage he picks up with his legs. It's how the THREAT of running forces defenses to play against the Bills. It wasn't until the Jaguars game that defenses began realizing... "Hey, Allen isn't running much anymore. Let's adjust how we are doing things." Now everyone is picking up on it.

Listen to the people doing All-22 breakdowns. More and more, they are starting to criticize Josh Allen for missing open receivers and mental errors. Fans don't realize how much the THREAT of a running QB changes things for a defense. They force you to utilize secondary players as spies. They cause pass rushers to play more contain. Defensive backs are worried about things happening behind them, instead of just coverage. It helps open up things for the passing game. Without his mobility, Allen is still a good quarterback. He's just not elite. And without an elite quarterback, our offense is average (at best).

Some fans are living in a fantasy world, and are going to be really disappointed in the coming weeks/months. This isn't just a case of the Bills playing down to an opponent. They haven't just hit a rough patch, and need to flip a switch. The injuries on defense are a MAJOR issue. You can't just replace Matt Milano with Dorian Williams and hope to keep playing at an elite level. We've seen over the years how this run defense operates without a good 1-Tech, and we no longer have DaQuan Jones. Our performance against the Patriots wasn't a fluke. Teams are figuring out how to attack us, and I think it's going to get worse in the coming weeks. The offense hasn't been consistently good since the middle of last year. And now they are trying to turn Josh Allen into a check-down pocket passer. Defenses can just double Stefon Diggs, and dare someone else on the Bills to do something. Most of the time they can't. Everything about this team is screaming 9-8 right now.

Josh Allen is not going to be hugely successful as a pocket passer, who breaks down defenses quickly with his mind. He's not Peyton Manning or Tom Brady. If the coaches are going to take away his legs, we no longer have an edge at the QB position.

Josh Allen is a good pocket passer. But he just doesn't read defenses good/quick enough to be great. The thing that has always made him special is his mobility, and the threat of him breaking off big runs. It's pretty clear the coaching staff is purposely taking away this aspect of his game, in hopes they can extend his career with less hits. The smarter play would be to keep letting him run... but drill it into his head to slide and/or get to the sidelines. Not completely neuter him. Without the threat of Allen running, this offense is extremely one-dimensional. It took a few games of film, but defenses have figured this out. Stefon Diggs is the only legitimate threat on the offense. All the other receivers and running backs are complimentary pieces, and nothing to be concerned about. Focus on stopping Diggs, and the Bills have nobody else that can stress a defense. Nor do they have a coordinator capable of scheming people open regularly. Opponents are also starting to figure out the Bills weaknesses on the other side of the ball, and learning where to attack our injury-depleted defense. Letting up nearly 30 to a pathetic offense like the Patriots is unfortunately only the beginning. Things are really going to get ugly once we start playing real offenses again in a couple weeks. Without Milano, White and Jones, we just can't count on the defense to bail us out. They are now a liability too, and will be so for the rest of the 2023 season. If the Bills are going to have a prayer at making a postseason run, this offense now needs to consistently put up 35-40 points weekly. I'm not convinced the coaching staff is smart enough to figure out the problem until it's too late.

One of the following is true: A) The Bills have good weapons on offense, but Ken Dorsey is unable to properly utilize anyone except for Stefon Diggs. B) The Bills have good weapons on offense, but Josh Allen doesn't trust throwing to anyone except for Stefon Diggs. C) The Bills don't have good enough weapons on offense.

Until the Buffalo Bills finally win a Super Bowl, many fans are going to have a really hard time just enjoying week-to-week success. This is just reality. I'm 44 years old, and grew up with the 90s Bills...watching us totally dominate the AFC. It was a fun time, and I have many great memories from that era. But the fact that we never managed to win the Lombardi trophy STILL stings really bad. It's almost like PTSD. I still get sick to my stomach when highlights pop-up from any of those four Super Bowl games. For some fans, it's enough to just know the Bills are no longer an embarrassment to the NFL. It's enough to enjoy most Sunday afternoons on the winning end, and be proud that we have one of the best QBs in the league. Sure, those fans want a Super Bowl too. But they can still appreciate the rest of the season, even if it doesn't happen. I just can't do it. I've had too many Wide Rights, Music City Miracles, 13 Seconds to truly appreciate anything short of a championship trophy. It doesn't matter what happened in the previous 17-18 games. The only thing that matters from the 2022 season was their awful game against the Bengals. Same with the two seasons before in Arrowhead. And it will be the same this season, if we can't finish the job. Everything else the Bills accomplish to that point will just be hollow, and overshadowed by that season's crushing playoff loss.

They almost lost at home to one of the worst teams in football, with a backup QB. Does it really matter where they play the Eagles, Chiefs and Bengals?

I don't want to hear about DVOA stats or where the Bills "rank" this year. The fact is, they have played 6 games this season and the offense has been bad in half of them. It has resulted in two losses, and what really should have been a third loss on Sunday night. The Bills will have a stretch of games where they roll and everything seems easy. Then suddenly, the same problems start creeping up again: - Relying too much on Stefon Diggs, and nobody else stepping up in the passing game. - Getting away from the running game and becoming too one-dimensional. It's either the coaches, or the players, or a little bit of both. I'm not 100% sure where the problem lies. But I'm getting tired of the fans who want to pretend there is no problem. That tell us teams just go through funks and everything will be sorted out. They ignored the warning signs last year, yelled at everyone else for being "negative" and were legitimately shocked when the Bills got an early exit from the playoffs. If things don't get fixed ASAP, this team won't be fighting Miami for the AFC East title in December. They will be fighting for 2nd Place against the Jets, hoping Aaron Rodgers doesn't somehow comeback in Week 15, and crossing our fingers for a Wild Card spot.

They need to be more consistent, game to game. The Bills are the type to be unstoppable one week, and easily score 45-50. Then a week later, they seem asleep for the first 2-3 quarters and barely manager 10-14 points. That's the type of nonsense that makes you Top 5 in NFL rankings, but earns an early playoff exit. It's better to be a team that will consistently score 25-30 pretty much every single game.

I thought the idea was to be BETTER than last year. Last year saw another early playoff exit. I'm seeing the same inconsistent offense that puts up 40/50 points one week, and then looks totally lost a week later. I'm seeing a group that has already cost us two games, and almost landed us a third loss last night. This close to being .500 and third place in the AFC East, but we are supposed to feel good, because the unit still averages out in the Top 3-5 of the NFL. We added new receiving talent, including trading up for a rookie tight end in the first round. The drops aren't happening as much this year. Yet we STILL can't seem to get anyone going on a consistent basis besides Stefon Diggs. Double and triple covered, yet we are forcing him the ball. We upgraded the interior O-Line and have a strong group of RBs, who are producing a very nice YPC. But for some reason, our offensive coordinator REFUSES to lean on the running game. There is no point loading the box, because we aren't going to stick with it.

Losses like yesterday happen to every team. The real problem long-term is the injuries. We can hide 1-2 starters out for a couple weeks. Having 3 gone for the season already is really bad news. Once opponents start figuring out the weaker spots on our defense, they will attack those areas relentlessly. On offense, I just can't figure out what Ken Dorsey is doing. He doesn't focus on the strengths of his players. He doesn't focus on attacking the weak points of his opponents. He can't seem to adjust in-game, and will spend multiple drives running head-first into a brick wall, hoping for different results.

Yeah. I'm starting to come to the conclusion that Ken Dorsey is the biggest problem with this offense. Sure. The Bills once again have really great offensive numbers. Overall, they are fantastic in almost every statistical category known to the NFL. But just like last season, it seems totally hollow and fake. The Bills are to offensive stats, what Kirk Cousins is to quarterbacks. Despite being Top 5 on paper, they have somehow cost us two games already. I can somewhat understand the Jets, because they are universally considered a good defense. But the Jaguars? Nobody can claim the Bills are outmatched talent-wise against Jacksonville's defensive unit. Which then tells me the problem is most likely in gameplan...how we are attempting to attack, and how we are adjusting in-game to the looks the defense is giving. All week, we heard the media outlets PRAISING the Bills/Josh Allen and how great they are doing when running play-action. Literally every football website was talking about how much better Allen is under-center than when he's in shotgun. But then Dorsey proceeds to put the QB in shotgun for 90% of the day and barely runs play-action at all. Even when the offense continues to struggle. It's absolutely baffling to me. For the second year in a row, places like Cover 1 continue to show videos of these bunched-up routes being run by our receivers. How has this not been fixed yet?

It's amazing how the head coach is always the biggest scapegoat. Every single loss is somehow due to coaching or guys being unprepared. I've been watching football for 30+ years and it's always the same with the fans. It was the same thing when I lived in Philadelphia. And here in St. Louis when we had the Rams. Always the freaking coaches. HOW. IN. THE. WORLD. is it Sean McDermott's fault that Tre White tore his achilles on a non-contact play, Matt Milano got bent over sideways in a pile, or any other injury? If anything, McDermott should be getting TONS of credit for this DEFENSE keeping us in the game for 4 Quarters...despite half the team being in the medical tent or street clothes.

A lot of people claimed there is no such thing as a "trap" game. Maybe that's the not the best wording. But going in, this one had all the makings of a let-down. Three straight blow-outs, capped by a huge divisional win against the NFL's hottest team. Suddenly, we are the talk of the league again. Meanwhile the Jags haven't played their best yet, and are flying under the radar. Then you have the short overseas trip, against a team that's had a week longer to get acclimated. Throw in the deflating injuries (both pre-game and during the 1st Quarter). There were plenty of reasons the Bills came out flat. The results of today honestly didn't surprise me. I was half expecting a loss, and vowed I wasn't going to get down if it happened. Of course the Bills still found a way to completely ruin my Sunday football experience...thanks to two major injuries to Matt Milano and DaQuan Jones that will likely kill the season. I can already see an early playoff exit coming, 3 months away. On offense, I feel like Ken Dorsey needs to do a better job adapting during the game. The Jets focused on taking away the explosive downfield passing game. We failed to adjust until Week 2. Once we started working underneath, the offense went on a nice run. The Jags seemed to focus today on loading the box to take away the run, and then rallying to tackle the short passes. We should have been running tons of play-action and downfield shots. But it took us around 3 quarters to do so, and by then our defense was gassed and it was too late.

It's always so easy to blame the Head Coach. Not sure it's that simple. It's amazing that the two comparisons given were Jim Kelly and Dan Marino. Both of them had Hall of Fame coaches (Marv Levy and Don Shula). Kelly had a handful of other Hall of Fame players around him, including Thurman Thomas, Andre Reed and Bruce Smith on defense. Sean McDermott has played his part in the Bills falling short the last 3 seasons. But he's certainly not alone.

There are only so many balls to go around. No matter what, fans are going to find someone getting "disappointing" levels of production. - The standard has been set with Stefon Diggs to get around 10 targets per game. If that number were to go down, people would be using it as ammo to say there really is a rift between him and Josh Allen. - Gabe Davis is in a contract year trying to prove he's our long-term answer as the #2. Especially after a disappointing 2022. If he doesn't have enough production, the talk will continue about trading for Mike Evans or how we failed to sign DeAndre Hopkins. - Dawson Knox is getting paid like a Top 10 Tight End in the NFL. Not just to be a blocker. If he's not getting enough targets and production, people are going to criticize Beane giving him an extension. - Our shiny new 1st Round Pick in Dalton Kincaid was supposed to become our version of Travis Kelce. Why isn't he on-pace for a 1,000 yard rookie season. He must be a bust, or Dorsey doesn't know how to use him. - Not to mention a renewed focus on the running game, which itself has three guys worthy of getting the ball.

Gabe Davis is a good #2. He's had some drop problems. He's made some very impressive catches. Overall, not on the same level is Tee Higgins, Jaylen Waddle, Devonte Smith, etc. But when healthy, he's better than what most teams have in that spot. The key for our offense is... if teams put the extra focus on Stefon Diggs, do we have other options that are capable of stepping up and producing? A couple years ago, the answer was mostly yes (with Cole Beasley working the slot). Last year, the answer was mostly no. That's one of the main reasons we struggled in the second half of the season. So far this season, we have a strong running game. We have several short options in Dawson Knox, Dalton Kincaid, etc. The times we've called on Davis, he's done well. We've gotten a few nice plays from the #3-5 guys too. Outside of Week 1, Josh Allen is spreading the ball around and taking what the defense gives him. It's working pretty well. Right now, I'm satisfied with Davis as #2. Now if Diggs gets hurt, it may be a completely different story. But right now, I think we have enough weapons to continue playing well on offense. As far as signing an extension, I think Beane would be able to find similar production at a cheaper price.

Sunday night Chiefs games were already unwatchable with Chris Collinsworth's endless Patrick Mahomes love-fest. This whole Taylor Swift thing is going to ruin all of their games.

I don't think the problem is Vic Fangio himself. It's how his scheme fits the Dolphins roster (or should I say doesn't fit). Very possible that we are witnessing a lose-lose situation. Yes, the Broncos miss what Fangio brought to their defense. But at the same time, his system is a poor fit for Miami's player skills.

I never understood the hype about Vic Fangio this offseason. It really reminded me of us years ago, bringing in Rex Ryan to an extremely talented defense. He was supposed to take us to the next level. But his system never fit with the players on the roster, and it never meshed on the field.

We know how this team develops Cornerbacks. There will probably be some drop-off in secondary play. But if we keep getting the same kind of pass rush we've gotten the first 4 games, this defense will be totally fine without Tre White. Dane Jackson steps back into the starting lineup. Kaiir Elam becomes the first off the bench. JaMarcus Ingram gets called up to the main roster. A veteran gets signed off the streets. More than worried about the team, I'm more heartbroken for White as a person. All that work to get himself back. The last few weeks, he's been looking like himself again. It just doesn't seem fair.