mjt328

I never realized how pathetic Steelers fans were until the last couple days. The way they are complaining (literally everywhere on social media) about officiating, you would have thought this game had the MOST egregious referee errors in the history of pro football. Saints fans didn't even whine this much after the 2018 NFC Championship and Nickell Robey-Coleman. Yes folks. George Pickens getting barely touched on the back... with his team down 14 points with 4 minutes left... and still over 60 yards away from the endzone even with a flag. THAT was the worst no-call PI ever. Then you have the late quarterback hit. Clear proof the refs were paid off by Terry Pegula. I mean yeah it was late. And yeah the league calls that a penalty 95% of the time. But it wasn't REALLY late and it didn't give the QB a concussion. So the refs should have just let it go. I mean it's the playoffs, right? And also, the refs should have invented a brand-new rule during the game and penalized Josh Allen for executing a "fake" slide. Because it's just not fair on the defensive players. These Pittsburgh fans can't be serious.

All I want is consistency from the refs. I agree it's a ticky-tack call. But they are going to call that 95-99% of the time. Agreed. I'm perfectly OK with them changing the rule in the offseason. But until they do, it needs to be called.

Miami should have learned it's lesson with Ryan Tannehill several years ago. You don't give big extensions to mid-level quarterbacks. I'm sure lots of people will point to the stats, but those numbers are due to the system and skilled players around him. Once Tua's contract goes on the books, it will be harder and harder to keep that kind of talent there to prop him up.

The Ravens had the best record in football, even after sitting their starters in the final week. The Texans needed a win in the final game to scrape their way in. There is also a natural skepticism about the Texans, considering they were among the league's worst teams just a year ago. Not to mention they are starting a rookie QB, who is bound to hit the wall at some point (right?) With all that said, I would not be a bit surprised if Houston wins this.

The fumble by Pat Freiermuth that was not reversed was terrible. But the Steelers ended up throwing a pick in the endzone on that drive anyway, so it really made no difference in the score. It was weird to see the officials stop the game and discuss a couple flags... the hit when Josh Allen was sliding, and the PI/holding in the 4th Quarter. You don't usually see that, and it was frustrating. But they ended up getting both calls correct. The hit was late, and the ball was uncatchable. Steelers fans probably have a legit complaint about the non-called PI at the end. That does usually get called. But they were down by 2 touchdowns with about 3 minutes left. It would have given them less than 10 yards and a new set of downs. Not sure they can argue this play was the difference in a game they lost by 14. The complaint about Allen's big run and supposedly faking a slide is just weird. From my vantage point it looks like a juke move, not a fake slide. And even if it was a fake slide, there is nothing in the NFL rulebook that makes it a penalty.

Thought he looked really good on a couple third downs. His route running looked just as un-guardable as ever. Josh Allen just keeps missing on the deep throws this season, which is stopping him from making the big plays. Diggs has never been a huge YAC guy.

The Steelers were very thin at Linebacker, and it's clear we focused on attacking them with our Tight Ends. Against the Chiefs, we may need some production from the outside receivers. Getting Gabe Davis back would be very good.

The biggest problem is that almost all the injuries are going to hurt our ability to cover the middle of the field. Especially against Tight Ends. Which of course is really bad with Travis Kelce coming into town. Getting Taron Johnson back will be absolutely essential. He was reportedly in concussion protocol, but they never said whether he could have come back into the game. Hopefully the coaching staff was just being extra precautious, because we need him back. Bad. They are calling Terrel Bernard's injury a sprain. But considering they needed an air cast and brought out the cart, I think it's a longshot for us to get him back anytime soon. Definitely not this week. There were hopes that Tyrel Dodson could return this week, so I'm crossing my fingers. They haven't really said anything about Baylon Spector's injury. So I don't know if it's serious or not. Unfortunately, the remaining linebackers are all mostly run-stuffers and not great in coverage. Getting Taylor Rapp back might also be key. That would allow us to bring Jordan Poyer up to play coverage linebacker. It sounded like Rasul Douglas could have come back this week. If that happens, we should be OK on the outside with Dane Jackson and Kaiir Elam. The Chiefs don't have the greatest WRs. If we are going to win this game, it's going to require some very creative playcalling by Sean McDermott, a fantastic game by the Defensive Line, and Josh Allen to go nuclear.

It's weird. When I was a kid watching the 90's Bills, I never got nervous in the playoffs. Always extremely confident the Bills would win. I had the exact same confidence in this Bills team until about mid-way through last season. I can't really pinpoint the moment, but it was around the Vikings game that things suddenly flipped and my brain. I started getting nervous before even regular season games, and fearing the worst.

In the playoffs, you either see teams kick it into a higher gear... or their weakest points are exploited and become their downfall. You saw it this weekend. The Chiefs have struggled badly in the passing game, but were able to make the big plays Saturday night when it counted. Meanwhile the Cowboys were destroyed by their inability to stop the running game. The big weakness for this Bills team is sloppy play. It's been this way for the last 3-4 years. They beat themselves with turnovers, drops and penalties. The defense is best when playing with a lead. So when they start slow on offense, games that shouldn't be close end up coming down to the very end. If the Bills play focused and clean, I could see this postseason being like 2022 (hopefully without the 13 seconds). We struggled during the regular season during that year too, but really turned up during the playoffs. My fear is that we get a repeat of 2023, almost giving the Wild Card game away to the Dolphins and then getting blasted in the Division Round.

One thing to remember is that Miami and San Francisco run very similar offensive systems. They rely quite a bit on pre-snap motion, misdirection and eye candy. Less about the talent at the QB position, and more about scheming the weapons open. And that's not something that usually fools the McDermott/Buffalo defense. If anything, we struggle with elite QBs who are patient and know how to gradually pick down the field with underneath throws (this is why Joe Burrow seems to be our kryptonite). We've had Lamar Jackson's number in the past. The biggest threat is still Kansas City (sad to say). Never count out an elite QB. There will be A LOT of talk about Patrick Mahomes never playing on the road in the playoffs, and that will be plenty of motivation for them to bring it.

We lost to the Jets and Patriots, who are two of the absolute worst teams in the NFL. We also lost to the Jaguars, Bengals and Broncos, none of whom managed to make the playoffs over this very Steelers team. The awful Giants took us to the final wire. And with literally everything on the line only a couple weeks ago, the Chargers and Patriots (again) did the same thing. Yes. This team has the potential to be great. This team has the potential to go all the way. But this team has also shown that it cannot get out of its own way with sloppy and undisciplined football. Will that change now that we've reset and the postseason begins? We feel on top of the world after the Dolphins game, and I'd like to think so. However, recent history has proven the 2023 Buffalo Bills simply can't make things easy for themselves. And that's why many fans are nervous.

The Bills have proven over the last 4 seasons, they can beat anyone in the NFL. In the last 3 years, they have exactly TWO losses over 7 points (last year's playoff game against the Bengals, and a blowout by the Colts). Nobody...including the Ravens and 49ers...should feel extremely confident about going up against us. Our problem has always been sloppy play. Unforced turnovers. Drops. Penalties. In other words...BEATING OURSELVES. This season, we learned that if we play sloppy enough, even the worst teams in the league can defeat us. Five of our six losses were against teams that didn't even make the playoffs. The road to a Super Bowl win is there for the taking. More than anytime I can remember. The Steelers barely deserved to make the playoffs and will be without their best player. The second round will either be against the most flawed Chiefs team since Patrick Mahomes became the starter, old-man Joe Flacco or a rookie QB. The best squads in front of us are led by Lamar Jackson (who we've shut-down before) and Brock Purdy. But can the Bills play clean, disciplined football for the rest of the postseason...

Let's see how the defense looks in the playoffs. Leslie Frazier's units were very good during the regular season. But he had zero answers in the playoffs against the NFL's top quarterbacks, which is a major reason we haven't even made the Super Bowl yet. That's why I believe the change was ultimately made (despite what was said publicly). Under Sean McDermott, the defense started the season very strong. But after the Tre White, Matt Milano, Daquan Jones injuries, things got really rough. But he gradually got the ship back on course (even without those guys coming back). And since the Eagles debacle, the defense has also managed to make some big stops to finish games.

The Bills receivers run a lot of option routes. So it's likely that neither Josh Allen or Gabe Davis knew where the route was going, until after the snap of the ball and they could read the leverage of the defensive back. The problem was that Miami ran a Cover 0 blitz, and the quick pressure forced Allen to guess which way Davis was going. He ultimately guessed wrong, thinking the WR was running a comeback instead of angling his route towards the goalpost. Bottom line, it was a bad decision by Allen. Because if he was going to guess (especially in the Red Zone), it would have been wiser to throw where there was no defender. If he would have thrown to the open field, the worst result would have been an incomplete and field goal attempt. In this case, it actually would have been a touchdown pass, because that's where Davis ended up running.

That's what the sports media does with players. It creates narratives (some true, some false, some overblown), hoping to generate attention from the fans. They need something to get viewers when games aren't happening. If you recall, the narrative about Josh Allen after the Patriots Wild Card blowout and 13 seconds games was almost 100% positive. Two all-time great playoff performances by a QB, and that was the lasting memory about him for almost 7 months. The expectations for Allen and the Bills was almost too high, and ultimately they fell short. Unfortunately, Allen established a new narrative in Week 1 against the Jets. All eyes watching, and he had 3 ugly turnovers that cost us the game. That set the tone for the entire year. And every opportunity he's gotten to change opinion on a national stage (not what he does on Sunday afternoons), he's made at least one stupid turnover. If not multiple. Same thing happened against the Dolphins. The only way Allen changes the "reckless" narrative is by going through multiple BIG games without turning the ball over. Period. Even if the Bills win the Super Bowl and he's got an interception during the game, national opinions won't change. There may be a more positive slant (he's like Brett Favre), but it will still be there. Play clean during the postseason and it goes away.

T.J. Watt is the most valuable defensive player in the NFL. And in my opinion, it's not particularly close. The drop-off for the Steelers without Watt is much bigger than the Dolphins without Xavier Rhodes, Bradley Chubb, etc. The Bills absolutely SHOULD stomp them. Out of the 14 NFL teams who made the playoffs, I would rank them around 16 or 17. With that said, the Bills lost 5 games this season to teams who DID NOT MAKE THE PLAYOFFS. Just a couple weeks ago, they were barely scraping by against the Chargers and Patriots. So while I'm tremendously excited about our situation... I fully realize that anything can happen.

If the NFL is straight-up rigged, it's hard to believe we never got a Manning brothers Super Bowl.

Not a chance. Considering how terrible Buffalo weather can get in January, I don't care quite as much about the homefield advantage. Not such a huge advantage for our passing game. But the path through the playoffs opponents-wise is much, much, much easier if we can nab the #2 seed. In the Wild Card Round, the #2 Seed is going to play a home game against either the Steelers, Texans or Colts. Meanwhile, the #6 seed gets will head to Arrowhead to play the Chiefs in the first round of the playoffs. Assuming you emerge victorious, the #6 seed is pretty much guaranteed to face the Ravens in the Divisional Round. Yikes. The #2 seed could still end up playing the Chiefs (at home), but would also have a decent shot of playing the winner of the Browns/AFC South Winner. Imagine a scenario where the Bills get the Colts, Jaguars and Dolphins (all at home) on the way to the Super Bowl.

The Bills really aren't in terrible shape. The depth may take a hit in free agency. But if they draft well, the Bills should still have a pretty good roster next season. They do have some big re-signing decisions on the D-Line. Leonard Floyd, AJ Epenesa, Shaq Lawson, Daquan Jones, Jordan Phillips, Poona Ford, Tim Settle and Linval Joseph are all free agents. And Greg Rousseau will likely get his 5th Year Option extended. But we don't need to bring back every single player on this list. Figure out a way to keep 3-4 of these guys, and we should be good. After that, it's pretty clear that we need to part ways with Tre White, Jordan Poyer and Deonte Harty. That will clear some space. We probably won't be re-signing Gabe Davis or Micah Hyde. I'm sure there will be some options for restructures, just like every other offseason. That will give us some space to dabble in the later stages of free agency. The big holes that will need addressing next year are Wide Receiver and Safety. This is supposed to be another historically great WR class, where we can still get a fantastic prospect late in the 1st Round and double-up on Day 2/3. That works out great for us. Our coaching staff is very good at developing defensive backs, so they can nab a couple options to replace Poyer/Hyde.

Not feeling good about this one. The Dolphins are bound to win a big game against us at some point. It's hard to dominate anyone in the NFL, much less a talented division opponent, as much as we have over them in the past 3-4 seasons. They have been a better team this season. And they have had months to prepare for the tricks that Sean McDermott pulled out back in Week 4. If they switch things up for Round 2, I'm not confident Sean McDermott will be able to adjust on the fly. Because that is something he rarely does. With our backs pushed up against the wall, we still almost lost to the Chargers and the Patriots. The Bills don't seem like a team that rides emotional highs and lows. They stay pretty steady in that department. Motivation isn't ever really the problem. Their issues are all about execution and consistency. And neither of those have been there in forever. They are sloppy, unfocused and make way too many mistakes. This offense basically has 6 days to fix a passing game that has been crap almost all season. I've really been pulling for the Wild Card contenders to lose, because I have a hard time seeing the 2023 Buffalo Bills winning this game. I guess it's still possible we sneak in the back door with 7 losses, but Seattle really cost us today.

I think it starts with Stefon Diggs. Either he is: - Injured and doing a great job of keeping it quiet - Upset Sean McDermott wasn't the one fired and now giving half-effort - Hit the age wall right around his 30th birthday Not sure the answer, but the guy has been a complete no-show for almost 2 months now. And I'm quickly losing faith he can get it back this season. He's not getting open. He's dropping tons of passes. And the only stats he's really putting up are when we force-feed him screen passes. It's absolutely pathetic. Without Diggs, we have a rookie Tight End (only going to do so much damage) and the Drop Squad. The only WR worth bringing back next season is Khalil Shakir. Everyone else can hit the road. Totally worthless. You can only blame Josh Allen so much for the terrible O-Line blocking/protection this afternoon. And multiple drives were killed by ridiculous drops. But the boneheaded turnovers have gotten out of control. All the people who defended him this week and pushed for MVP consideration were dead-wrong. The guy absolutely has a decision-making problem. The deep throw into double-coverage was stupid. And the almost-fumble on the 4th quarter scramble was horrific and easily could have cost us the game. I'm still not sold on Joe Brady either. It takes time for defenses to catch-on to your tendencies, and now opponents are keying onto James Cook. Good offensive coordinators adapt. Ken Dorsey started hot, got figured out about mid-season last year, and never figured it out afterwards. We've now had two straight awful games on offense, and I'm still not seeing a pivot from the booth. If we can't put-up 30-35+ next week (at least), you can probably kiss the playoffs goodbye.

Totally agree with this. Coaches have the ability to watch Von Miller during practice, and see how he's progressing. I don't understand the point of putting him into live game action, when they know the man can't even turn the corner. He is a liability. Let him run around tackling dummies 30-40 extra times during the week, until you know he's ready to actually make an impact. This week he got more snaps than Leonard Floyd, Shaq Lawson and Kingsley Jonathan. I just don't understand why.

No you can't. But there are definitely red flags that make certain players riskier, such as age and previous injury history. Since Von Miller's first ACL tear was 10 years prior, it's probably not fair to count that against him. But he was 33 years old at the time of his signing. If there wasn't an increased risk of injury, there was at least some risk of him suffering from normal decline at pretty much at any point. Personally, I don't blame Brandon Beane for taking a swing. After the 13 seconds game, he felt Miller was the missing piece to our Super Bowl run. And there were points in 2022 that his move looked absolutely genius. But I also understand the critics, because it was a free agent signing that absolutely came with major risks. And at the end of the day, we ended up getting burned. Miller was unable to finish the 2022 season, and it's fair to question if he will ever regain his form.

The Von Miller thing is just ugly from a bunch of different angles. Cap-wise, it makes Brandon Beane look bad for taking a huge financial risk on a player his age. Maybe that's not fair to our GM. But a mistake is a mistake, and it will likely cost us a younger and more productive player down the line (such as Leonard Floyd, AJ Epenesa or Greg Rousseau). Coaching-wise, it makes Sean McDermott look bad for continually putting him on the field. He literally cannot move side to side or turn the corner, and just runs past the Quarterback on every single play. This is something he MUST be seeing in practice. Despite this, I think fans would have a little more patience and sympathy if it wasn't for the assault charge now hanging over his head. Many if not most fans would prefer he be cut from the team based on the current evidence. But the dead-money hit on his contract would be so detrimental to the team, it's something we almost can't even consider.