TheBrownBear

Buffalo isn't home for Mack. I don't understand why people keep thinking of him that way. He loves LA. If he signs anywhere, it will be with the Chargers or another West Coast team.

I think memories of 13 seconds and 2022-23 (loss to Vikings and the free releases we kept granting Cincy's receivers in the playoff game) are doing a lot of heavy lifting in this regard. And our third down defense absolutely sucks, so it does bring into question whether it's scheme/strategy or just poor talent.

I think we can, but the betting man in me (granted, I don't bet...lol) says no. I think the Chiefs are a slightly better team now that they have Brown and Pacheco back, and they are playing at home and always seem to have the refs in their pocket. I think we need to remain mistake free AND Josh has to open it back up and play a bit of the Superman role to make it happen. Both are doable., but it's going to be tough.

No offense, but does anyone actually say that anymore? I can't recall reading that here or seeing it anywhere in the national media in years. I think the only place where the "conservative" label comes into play with McDermott is in regards to his defensive philosophy (base nickel) and lack of going man-to-man and jamming receivers on third downs or when attempting to stop late game comeback attempts.

Oh, I don't think you were in the minority at all. The funny thing is when we kicked the field goal to go up 8, I texted my parents that "at least we can't lose in regulation now." As soon as Andrews dropped that pass I'm thinking, "oh no, I totally jinxed us." Those two minutes between the dropped pass and the onsides kick felt like so many classic Bills nightmare moments of the past.

Similar to if Bass makes the kick last year. Though I will say we were really struggling to move the ball in the second half, so I do see a scenario where we get stuffed and it goes to overtime. But yes, all an Andrews catch does there is keep the Ravens alive. It doesn't guarantee anything beyond that.

It is what it is at this point. We just aren't a very good defense. We will either need to continue to turn the ball over a ton or our offense will need to be elite. There's no more cupcakes (like Denver) left to feast on.

They scored on every possession outside of the Andrews fumble (which was actually a big gainer for them). If you mean they abandoned the run in the first half for a time, then you might have a point. Keep in mind that we didn't force a single punt all game. Their offense went through us like a knife through butter the entire game. The only thing that stopped them was the uncharacteristic turnovers (granted, our defenders made great individual plays to force them).

I agree 100% and think we've largely followed your suggested approach all season (as recently as the Broncos game). For whatever reason, we remained in turtle mode during the entirety of the second half last night. I'm watching at home and can't see the entire field, so maybe our WRs were completely locked down all night and Josh and the coaches had zero faith in our ability to challenge the Ravens' secondary? That's the best I can come up with.

As others have said elsewhere, it was prime "Patriots football". You watch and think, "that team isn't any better than us, how do they keep winning?". It's the little things.

I think Josh is very aware of the narrative that he turns the ball over and has been extra protective of the football this season. It's hard to argue with the results to this point, even if it hasn't provided the same type of visual fireworks as past seasons. It also doesn't help that he has subpar separators at the WR spots. There's only so much "throwing guys open" you can do before you start turning the ball over. Having said that, yes, last night felt an awful lot like watching Trent Edwards' brain in Josh Allen's body.

Same boat. I listen everyday at work during the football season out of habit and to maintain some connection with Bills/Buffalo football culture from 3000 miles away. Schopp and Bulldog are terrible 90% of the time with the occasional good take, but I neither care nor want to hear about your gambling habits (this and fantasy have largely ruined the sports commentary industry in general). J and J sound like a couple of dumb kids who stumbled upon a mike in their parents' basement. "Brownie" and Tasker are annoying homers, but at least their show attracts the odd listenable/knowledgeable guest. IMO, Sal's the best of the bunch. Just comes across as a normal, knowledgeable guy, who exasperatingly struggles to rein in the inanity of WGR's mouth-breathing callers. One bonus to WGR and its callers - I grew up in Buffalo (moved away in late teens) and would sometimes make fun of the Buffalo accent with my kids. They're like, "What does the Buffalo accent even sound like?". I tell them it's hard to explain, but you can pick it up in the way people pronounce their "A's", not everyone has it, and some are worse than others. Finally, the other day I made some comment about it again and my boys asked me to do it for them and then I said, "Hold up. Listen to this", and I pulled out my phone, pulled up Extra Point on Spotify and played a random caller into Sal's show. The kids laughed and said, "that's the voice that you and Grandpa use when telling jokes and pretending to be morons." So there you go.

Yes, but what does that mean? The Bills were running the ball effectively the entire first half. It would have been moronic to abandon it to start the second half. So, they hand the ball to Cook who's stuffed, then Kincaid drops a catchable pass and you're behind the sticks and punting. The Ravens get back to doing what they do best and the script gets flipped. The Ravens are a good team and they started executing.

I think you're right. The first drive of the 2nd half was killed by Kincaid's drop. I don't have an issue with the play-calling. I thought the second drive was a poor one, and after that I think they were trying to bleed clock and limit the Ravens' possessions. It was clear we couldn't stop them straight up in the second half, so the strategy is shorten the game, squeak out a couple additional points and hold on for dear life.

Yes. They aren't what they were in the past and we have had enough success against them to know we can do it. I think it's a real toss up game, maybe slight edge to Buffalo. Now, we just have to go out and get it done.