mjt328

No way. Their offense was #15 in the NFL in scoring this season. That is easily the worst they have been with Patrick Mahomes under center. After losing Tyreek Hill, they weren't as explosive. But they were still very efficient with Travis Kelce in his prime. Now they aren't explosive, they aren't efficient, and they have been suspect at both tackle positions on the O-Line. I agree the defense has stepped forward as the other side of the ball has gone backwards. Better than 2022, sure. But that group was absolutely dominant last year. This year I think they are just good. We can absolutely put 30-40 points on them.

All the scenarios were going through my head. The Ravens getting the onsides kick... Fumbling the snap on the kneel down... Being a Bills fan is hard.

It was a tough situation all around. Can't blame the coaches either way. In my opinion, it was a really bad spot by the refs. Close to a full yard short of where it should have been. But spot challenges almost never work, and we really needed to conserve those timeouts, in case we needed a game-winning drive. So I can't fault McDermott for not throwing the flag there. Good coaches think ahead. And despite how much I love aggressive play, the Field Goal always needed to be the call on 4th Down. You need a play that is going to get the touchdown on 3rd, and it was probably too far for a single QB sneak. Killing clock was a factor, and we've been more successful running the ball inside the 5 yard line this year. Which meant the smartest play was probably either a Josh Allen run or a handoff to James Cook. Both have been really good this year, but the Ravens made a great stop.

The Chiefs are playing in their 7th straight AFC Championship game. In my opinion, this is the 7th-best team they have fielded in that period of time. The Bills were built to stop the Chiefs. They were not built to stop the Ravens, and barely squeaked past them. We have taken them down in the regular season every year. Should have done it in 13 seconds. Had a chance last year, despite most of the starting defense being injured. Despite the even record overall, I think we have the edge over them. At this point, it's all about the mental hurdle.

With a night to compile my thoughts... The Bills played excellent in the first half. Couldn't have asked for more. Game script played out exactly how we needed it to. They did fantastic at stuffing Derrick Henry, and were very aggressive on defense with blitzes - which played a role in forcing those turnovers. Offense was a perfect mix of run/pass. The only time they got stopped was on the BS holding call. In the second half, the Ravens seemed to adjust. We just turtled up on offense, and just tried bleeding away the clock. Never seen the Bills play so conservative with Josh Allen under center. Refused to attempt a pass over 5 yards in the air. Defense was getting steamrolled in the last two quarters. Mark Andrews really choked away the game for them. I feel more fortunate that we escaped that game, as opposed to impressed at how awesome the team played. But how many times have we exited the postseason on the opposite end... feeling like the Bills played great, and we were the unlucky ones? The Bills are the best team remaining in the Final Four. The next step is getting over the mental hurdle of finally beating the Chiefs in the playoffs.

Just like every KC game this year. Look like a mediocre 9-8 team all game. Other team shoots itself in the foot repeatedly, and blows it at the end.

Our goal should be #1 in the NFL. Better than the Chiefs. Not proudly amongst the other franchises who took them down to the wire. To make the change, you absolutely need to acknowledge that things could get worse. But staying the same, they also may never get better. That is the dilemma. Some fans are so afraid of going back to the drought days, they would be ok if we never got over the hump. Think about the Steelers. Mike Tomlin has mastered the art of finishing above .500, making the playoffs and going no farther. At what point do you demand more?

There needs to be more balance from both sides when it comes to the Sean McDermott debate. I agree that some Bills fans go totally overboard, wanting to fire him every time he misses a replay challenge or makes a slightly questionable time management decision. But I also don't think he should just get an unlimited leash for the rest of his career, like some people seem to suggest. Is Josh Allen one of the Top 2 quarterbacks in the entire NFL? Is Brandon Beane one of the best GMs in the league? If those things are both true, then why do we keep falling short of winning the Super Bowl? Not just being the champion, but we are currently at 3 straight home losses in the Divisional Round (hopefully that breaks on Sunday evening). For all our regular season success, we can't even seem to get the AFC top seed either. It's either the talent or the coaching. Can't have it both ways. We all realize where this franchise was pre-2017. We all realize what McDermott has helped build us into. He's a great guy, the locker room clearly loves him, and I really want to see him succeed. Winning the AFC East is much nicer than going back to the drought days. But I'm not willing to just keep accepting second place forever. It doesn't make me or anyone else an "idiot" for refusing to accept falling short. The Bills absolutely MUST win a championship (and soon), or something needs to change.

Weather has the potential to have a much bigger impact that people are giving it credit for. Especially if Jackson has some trouble gripping or throwing the ball. It's easy to say that weather favors the better running team. But I'm not sure that's really the case. What makes Baltimore especially dangerous is them being a dual threat. You can't just focus on Jackson or Henry. Anything that pushes them into being more one-dimensional is a huge win for us. We already know that our QB can throw the ball fine in snow and heavy winds.

He's got a point. If we've learned anything from watching Josh Allen's career, it's that he's soft and doesn't like to get hit. 🤣

The Ravens are admittedly a bad matchup for us. I've been extremely nervous about meeting them in the playoffs since Week 4. BUT the level of overconfidence and disrespect coming from that side (fans and media) is getting absolutely ridiculous. There seemed to be more people giving the Broncos a chance to upset us last week, than giving us a chance to win this game. We aren't talking about marching into Baltimore against an unstoppable 16-1 team that steamrolled everyone during the regular season. We are talking about a team that lost 5 games this year, and was still fighting for their division in the last week. We are the higher seed and playing at home. I really hope our opponent is underestimating us this much.

Pretty much. This is exactly how it's probably going to happen. It's obviously not on purpose. But it just shows our fantastic luck. We missed the playoffs for 19 years or something ridiculous. Right after we got to the top of the AFC East, they added another Wild Card team. As soon as we became the second best team in the AFC, they took the bye from the #2 seed.

Yeah, I don't understand what the poster was saying either. Kansas City has been a playoff team since Andy Reid took over in 2013. They were in the AFC Championship during Josh Allen's rookie year, and won it his second year. We have been trying to jump them from the get-go. Not the opposite. Outside of a couple injury-plagued years, Baltimore has been one of the best AFC teams for the last 15+ years. Lamar Jackson in the same draft class and broke out a year before Josh Allen. At this point, they have the same number of AFC Championship appearances during their careers. Neither has made a Super Bowl. So hard to say they have jumped us either. So that only leaves the Bengals. Who made one Super Bowl and lost it.

The media wants everyone to see Patrick Mahomes as the king of the mountain, and then Josh Allen/Lamar Jackson/Joe Burrow as the sub-tier beneath him fighting for that #2 spot in the league. But deep inside, they know that a Super Bowl ring (or two) is the only thing keeping Allen from being the top dog in the entire NFL. He is the new Peyton Manning to Tom Brady. They don't have that kind of expectation with Jackson or Burrow.

Hate to see him suffer that injury, but the personal fuel played a huge factor in us finally blowing the game open. The definition of taking one for the team.

Sorry. But nobody can claim that having a future HOF running back with over 1900 (!!!!) yards rushing isn't affecting the coverages Lamar Jackson is facing every game. QB ratings don't account for the heavy boxes, bigger personnel, the slowed pass rush, and all the other elements that factor into having Derrick Henry in the backfield. They are just an equation that tries to compile all of his passing stats. We all know that Jackson had great stats this year. But numbers alone don't make this an all-time historically great year. Maybe you didn't notice the Wild Card game just a few days ago, where the Steelers edge rushers were crashing down to tackle the running back EVERY SINGLE TIME on read-option plays. After playing the Ravens twice earlier in the season, one of the top defenses in the league felt their best chance of success was stopping Henry first. Not Jackson. I can absolutely guarantee that Buffalo's gameplan will also be to TRY shutting down the run early, turning Baltimore into a one-dimensional passing team, and forcing Jackson to beat them solely with his arm. That is not the way NFL defenses usually approach a game against a QB who just had the "4th Best Season" in NFL history.

So how exactly do you quantify the "4th best season all-time" for a QB? I've been watching this sport for over 35 years, and I wouldn't put Jackson's season anywhere near the top I've ever seen. As with the MVP debate, the argument against Jackson keeps coming back to Derrick Henry. I've probably seen a dozen Ravens games this year. And in my opinion, Henry is clearly the primary driver of that offense. He is the guy defenses are most concerned about stopping. The games he didn't play good were the games they struggled the most in. Stats never tell the whole story. As someone who watched Peyton Manning throw 55 touchdowns in one season from the pocket (using nothing but his brain and his arm)... I just can't be that impressed watching Jackson taking advantage of 7 guys playing in the box and casually tossing the ball 25 yards downfield to guys who aren't even covered.

Not worried much about the Ravens defense. Josh Allen is pretty much matchup proof. Yes, he has bad games sometimes (just like everyone else). But it's usually more about him having an "off-day" than anything the opposing defense is actually doing to him. If he's locked-in on Sunday, the Ravens aren't going to stop us from scoring. There is a legitimate reason everyone is worried about the other side... First is history. The Bills defense has historically struggled the deeper they get into the playoffs. They have historically struggled to stop Derrick Henry. And possibly their worst performance in the last 3 years was against the Ravens earlier this year. Playing the matchup game, it's just a nightmare to try and load-up front to stop Henry...AND be prepared for Lamar Jackson to run...AND have decent coverage in the secondary. That is for any defensive coordinator in the NFL. Much less an undersized team that prefers to play light boxes and Nickel personnel. My feeling is that we MUST throw some clever wrinkles at them early with our defensive looks, make stops in the redzone, and most importantly get a lead. This is not a game for our trademark slow starts. Our best hope against the Ravens is to make them one-dimensional, turn them into a passing team and make them rely on Jackson to make plays with his arm.

Well yes. Of course. Until the Bills get past those teams and win the Super Bowl, they will be known as a strong regular season team that chokes in the playoffs. As they should.

Some coaches are good at building culture, shaping a locker room and creating year by year consistency. But they just don’t have what it takes to finish the job and win a championship. McDermott may be a good coach. He may even be a great coach. But at some point, you can’t just ignore the playoff failures. Defense is supposed to be what he brings to the table. The road to the Super Bowl goes through the same guys every season (Mahomes, Jackson, Burrow). If he can’t figure out how to slow down those guys, we are just spinning our wheels. A lot of Bills fans are so terrified of possibly going back to the old drought days… they would be content stay in this cycle the rest of Josh Allen’s career.

Let’s not take a victory lap yet. This is what a decent defense was supposed to do against a rookie QB. Right now, the Bills are in the exact place they have been the previous 4 seasons. Still a long, long, long way to go. Only once were they able to get past that point (against a much inferior version of Lamar Jackson). And they still haven’t shown they can remotely slow down playoff Patrick Mahomes. Nobody is impressed winning a Wild Card game. It’s the next three games that defines who this team really is.

Please. Quit making excuses for these pathetic voters. The MVP award is narrative driven. And if you can't see how the sports media keeps switching the criteria every season in order to prop up certain players (and downplay others), then I just don't know what to tell you. Last year, you couldn't watch a Bills game without hearing how absolutely terrible Josh Allen was at turning over the ball. You would have thought he was having a Jameis Winston year or something. He absolutely crushed little MVP Jackson in every other stat. But they needed to pull Allen down. This year, not a peep. Total turnovers were never on the stat comparison between Allen/Jackson. Because this year, our guy had less. And where was all the talk mid-season about turnovers when Patrick Mahomes was leading the NFL? It's total B.S. Suddenly nobody seems to care that Jackson had Derrick Henry either, when last year we kept hearing about lack of weapons. And I don't want to hear about "normalizing stats" out either. How many voters are factoring in how many times Allen spent the 4th Quarter sitting the bench or handing the ball off, because his offense had already run up the score? In my previous post, I was nice enough to include Allen's second season, where many in the NFL were still calling him trash or a bust. Even factoring in that year (where Jackson was winning his first MVP), Allen has still scored 54 more touchdowns and racked up over 3,000 more yards over the past six seasons. The simple truth is... Allen is a better player. It's really not close. It hasn't been close since 2020. Yet voters keep picking the other guy. Not just for MVP, but also for All-Pro, Pro-Bowl, etc. We can all theorize the reasons. But it's pretty clear the sports media keeps moving the goalposts.

The Bills get disrespected like this every year. Half the time, Josh Allen doesn't even make the Pro Bowl. I'm waiting for the year they actually do something about it.

Statistics over the last five years: Total Yards: Allen (27,871), Jackson (24,336) Total TDs: Allen (242), Jackson (188) Team Wins: Allen (71), Jackson (68) Yet somehow Jackson will likely have 3 MVP awards during that period of time, while Allen has zero. There is clearly bias... either for one player, or against one player, or both. No other explanation.

It's not hard to argue against it. People have been making rock solid arguments why it should be Josh Allen for well over a month now. When Josh Allen has the better stats, they give it to Jackson for other stuff (team record, big games, supporting cast). When Josh Allen has the other stuff, they give it to Jackson because of stats.