Dan

That 10min drive from the Bills did a lot to gas them.

No one knows the Bills’ offense better than Daboll. He probably knows it better than Dorsey… still. So I expected a close game and that’s what we got! A bit too close, but a win is a win. Rest up, heal up, and move one.

This is such a defeatist attitude. The Bills have to blow out each team, and even then… it doesn’t mean anything. You’re setting up an impossible task… beat every team and any team you deem not good, they should completely dominate. Otherwise, it’s all no good? Come on. The premise of this is all based in unrealistic expectations.

I finally watched the game… IMO the defense played like their hair was on fire, especially considering half the starters were out. AJ should be a defensive player of the week nominee. He was insane. 3 batted down passes, sack/fumble/recovery to end a drive. This was easily his best game. The offense was out of sync most of the game. It looked like the Jags were all over the short stuff, which allowed them to shut down the run game. Dorsey should have turned Allen loose sooner. Once he stared running and throwing deep, they looked completely different. That may be my biggest issue with Dorsey… he’s slow to make adjustments to his game plans. In general… the team looked tired. You could see clearly mid 4th quarter the Bills were gasping for oxygen, while the Jags were like no big deal. I would say the league has their answer… a rested, London home team has a big advantage over a jet lagged team flying in a day or two before the game. The refs gave us no favors! Wow… I woulda thought we were playing the chiefs or pats the way that game was called. Finally, I don’t feel as bad about the loss as I did reading all the reactions here. If not for the fatigue and numerous injuries, I think the Bills win no problem. But they didn’t and now we have significant injuries. That will be the lingering issue.. a tired team suffered huge injuries that could derail the entire season. Thank you Roger. Hopefully we can survive a few games and get through them without any more injuries.

The fact that this was a Bills home game may be the most puzzling. The Jags play in London every year, this was their second game in a row there. If anyone has a “home field” in England it’s them. How/why would you schedule a scenario like this and call the team that travels the home team - thereby removing one of their actual home games from their schedule?? It literally is the same thing as the Bills traveling to Jax to play them, but calling it a Bills home game because well…You wanted to take a home game from one team and give it to another. It’s just crazy to think they did this and didn’t realize how stupid it is.

Completely agree. I’m largely already there. I only watch non-Bills games in passing. For me it’s the referee situation and the completely inconsistent way games are called. It’s hard to watch a game with any vested interest other than Buffalo. I find free feeds most weeks because yeah… how many streaming services do you need to watch all the Bills games… 5? It’s not the money for me either, it’s the principle. Just stop with the greed. Most weeks now you need to spend 20mins just to figure out which service is carrying which game. The NFL is making money, the players are making money, the advertisers and the “networks” make money. Celebrities get box seats. Everyone is doing great.. except the average fan that has supported the league and the teams since they sucked. But that’s the world we live in.

Been saying this for years. There’s so much wrong with the “expansion” of the NFL internationally. But now, you have one team that plays there every year, and now multiple games in a row. Yet, the Bills have to consider that a home game? The travel is bad, but making a team fly that far to play a team that’s been there, and calling that a home game is just wrong. Bills fans travel well, and I’m sure people had a memorable trip. But the league basically craps on the fan bases of its franchises each year with this London series. if they want to expand internationally, then do it. Create multiple teams in each country, and recreate the World Cup series… but expecting American teams to fly all over the globe to play home games is just *****. But… they make a lot of money on it, so it’s ok. Now the Bills are tired, jet lagged, and injured. And the league just moves on and glosses over all that is wrong with this situation.

Von says he’s excited to play…. ??

I think the window may have closed back in week 1…. However… Josh and the boys kicked the door down and said.. we’re here for a while! Deal with it.

I would say extend him… but its up to Beane and his agent decide what the price should be. But he’s a good WR and I’m glad he’s on our team. But I’m a homer… Go Bills!

Gotta agree. It seems a bit ridiculous to have the Bills favored given the current situation. All I can figure is that both teams are fairly even statistically, even with the 70pt finplosion. This is easily, the early season game of the year. Huge swing in divisional standing based on who wins. Huge confidence boost either way. I think ultimately, come December, the outcome will matter less. But for momentum going into October..its a massive. I expect a dog fight, back and forth slug fest type of game. Miami wants to prove they’re the real deal… the Bills are the Bills. They don’t loose easy.

I don’t understand what is going on….is this real life?

You are overreacting. There’s one thing I’m certain of… no game, play call, or anything in September is going to win the Super Bowl in February. Enjoy the wins while we get them.

I truly don’t know what people expect anymore. I used to think people were spoiled at the end of the 2021 season, and the perfect playoff game against NE. But, now, I think people just like to complain. Or maybe people just aren’t happy unless they can drag other people down? Once again the Bills offense controlled the ball, had good balance running and passing, got everyone involved, limited mistakes, …punted once! And yet, it’s disjointed, players are under utilized, and lets just throw out entire quarters of play to prove how bad it was. I’m sorry none of this is critical discussion. This is just bitchin for the sake of bitchin. I’m sure there’s plenty of room on the Dolphin bandwagon for everyone that insists you're only good if you win by 50 or more points every week. Although I imagine there fin fans upset that they didn’t score 80.

Leave it to this place to find the cloud amongst all the silver linings. We stomped a 2-0 team in their stadium…. Maybe a lot of people are upset cause they bet on the wrong team?

I find it interesting how many people have completely dumped on Josh this week. He clearly had a bad game. Why is good question to ask. But.. for so many people to come to the conclusion that his entire career up to this point is a mirage - he cant read defenses, he cant make good decisions, he doesn't prepare, he can’t learn, he’s disobeying the coaches, he’s focused on holywood. I guess I just don’t understand the vitriol towards him. He had a bad game. Period. Was he concussed, the jets just that good, or he has been foolin us for 5 years, I don’t know. But seems we should give him some benefit of doubt. He’s not above criticism. But he should have earned a little more leeway than most people are giving him.

Thats not entirely fair. Josh had just drove the field to get a last second FG to tie the game. He wasn’t completely comatose. I agree with others, the draw play on OT on 2nd down right into the teeth of stout line is a cute play that rarely works. Hell, I woulda preferred a josh designed run over that! Any thing really. And there was nothing wrong with the FG on the first drive. The sure points, against a team that probably wont score a lot is not a bad decision. However, I will say, overall, they did seem to have a rather timid game plan. It felt like the Jets were dictating the game and the Bills were reacting. Thats not entirely fair. Josh had just drove the field to get a last second FG to tie the game. He wasn’t completely comatose. I agree with others, the draw play on OT on 2nd down right into the teeth of stout line is a cute play that rarely works. Hell, I woulda preferred a josh designed run over that! Any thing really. And there was nothing wrong with the FG on the first drive. The sure points, against a team that probably wont score a lot is not a bad decision. However, I will say, overall, they did seem to have a rather timid game plan. It felt like the Jets were dictating the game and the Bills were reacting.

I do. Week 1 does not define the entire season.

I think this post needs to be pinned for the next few weeks. You could even extend it through the first 4 or 5 weeks of last season. The Bills we’re literally unstoppable. How did all that September greatness pan out? It is a long season. What this team, and all of us need, is a win while showing some improvement. I’d love to see the coaches learn from their mistakes and actually develop a game plan to help Josh and the entire offense get into sync. Run the ball and find a way to start building confidence in the passing game. P.S. my theory on the all blues… its Kim’s favorite combo so they’re wearing it to show support during her recovery.

I have no excuse for Josh’s play on Monday night. I also haven’t read all this thread, so the conversation has probably spin off topic and by now. But just wanted to say that perhaps the most depressing thing about the Monday night blow up was ..Josh has almost always been the best player on the field in the prime time games. He always just finds that extra something to lift the team and will them to a score. But Monday, he wasn’t. He was one of the worst players on the field and the reason we lost. I thought we could lose the game, going in to it. But never, in a million years, would I have thought Josh would be the reason we lost the game. This is maybe the only game I’ve seen that, other than perhaps his rookie year? He just looked uncharacteristically…bad. So, perhaps not an excuse but an expectation… he will play better. Monday was a complete crap fest, I think his record shows that he’ll rebound and not let this one game define the season.

Just a thought… with all the gnashing about Josh and the team…. Could this just be a slow start due to lack of preseason playing time?

My contention is that Dorsey and Josh’s tendencies have been figured out and neither one is willing to adapt. I think they have tremendous success against half the league or more, which serves to convince them that they don’t need to change anything. But the better teams/coaches/players take advantage of these known flaws. Going back to last season, I’ve seen too many DBs jump a route as though they knew exactly where Gabe or whoever was gonna be. Or the middle of the field opens up… Josh takes off to run only to have someone immediately close the gap and hit him for a loss or very small gain. His roll to the right and hit a WR downfield for a big game… defenses wait for that now. Screens and half the run plays are telegraphed and the defense moves presnap to close it down. Josh needs to play within himself, but since about midway through last season… the entire offense has struggled. Yet, we see the same routes, same tendencies, same plays being run. They should have self scouted all summer. I think they just looked at the overall scoring stats and said… good enough. Thats all I got to explain it.

This is another theme going back to last year… opposing receivers make incredible, catch of the week type receptions to seal a win. Our guys ..not so much.

3 plays really stand out to me: 1. The first interception. I’m pretty sure he could have easily ran for the first down and gotten out of bounds. Last minute …throws deep to all the wrong jersey colors. 2. The toss to Cook (i think), that hit the LB In the head. If he leads Cook a bit, it’s likely an easy touchdown. 3. The last fumble. Just fall on the ball in that situation… every time!! Literally just gave the game away with that one play. The overall game plan, however, was too conservative. They played scared and Dorsey sucks at situational football. He has no feel for the game, no rhythm to the playcall, and gets too predictable. Defenses have figured out his and Allen’s tendencies. They’re breaking on a lot of the pass routes before our WRs, and shutting down Allen’s running lanes after flashing them open. Rather than adjust… Dorsey is just throwing random plays at the wall and hoping something works. Allen needs a coach, not a friend. And the offense needs someone else calling the plays.

I experienced far more on the morning of the 11th and in the weeks and months to follow than I would ever care to remember. But I have never forgotten, nor do I think its possible. This time of year always brings a certain sadness to me. The Bills have always been part of my therapy to get back to normal. I’ll be excited for the game, as well, but it will take some drinks to wear off the bitter memories of the morning. Go Bills!