Belgium_Bill

There is no perfect solution for this situation, at least not given the Bengals game won't be resumed. I think that overall the league did a very good job here. The neutral site solution is IMO a good solution, somewhat thinking out of the box . I cannot recall this being suggested in the hundreds of pages of thread on this earlier in the week (though I admit I didn't read every single comment), so kudos to the league for that. The only part I don't like is the potential coin toss between Ravens and Bengals, I basically totally agree with Zac Taylor's view on that. Admittedly, I don't like the Ravens and I think they don't even deserve a play-off spot this season 😏 Hopefully week 18 results will imply a situation where little of this matters. We should - in a weird way - also be glad that the Hamlin incident happened in the first quarter. Just imagine this had happened say in the 3rd quarter with either the Bills or the Bengals having a 14-point lead, it would have caused a much bigger cry about injustice.

Respect

Absolutely, thought this straight after the missed XP. The way Detroit was converting 4th downs I would have expected them to score a TD on that last drive had they been 4 points behind.

We miss Beasley. Well, let me rephrase that: we miss the plays that Beasley made.

So the Bills are the most popular team in Belgium, which implies that : (a) I am the only NFL fan here (b) Somewhere out there another Belgian Bills fan exists - I really should try to find that chap (or girl) !

Love Fitz, but you know what karma he brings as a back-up, that's Josh blowing his ACL by week 4 of next season 😉

Hats off to the Bengals coaching staff in-game adapting of their defense...

Karma

Better than listening to those 5 IMO

Is there any team so far in this "best football weekend of the year" that is just playing well ???

Thousands of permutations, yet for me it's fairly simple: if you can't beat the Falcons and Jets you have no business in the play-offs anyway so it boils down to this: beat the Pats and we're in, lose to the Pats and it will depend on the second placed team in the AFC North getting to 10-7 or not. There's a lot of interdivision games left in the AFCN and no gimme games whatsoever so I actually think that it is likely 10-7 will get us in, albeit as 7th seed. No panic yet across the Atlantic here 😉

Sound victory, but this was not a top 10 opposing team, and we know already that we beat those easily. So very few conclusions to be drawn from this IMO. Games vs the Pats will decide our season. About time we win a close one for a change... One note of warning: a blocked punt is a disaster waiting to happen.

Looking very rusty there coming out of the bye... Mid season W that won't be remembered for long. Fortunately a very mediocre opponent. Beasley, White and Bass saved the day.

The advantage of living over here is that after the game you just go straight to bed as it is 4am and you need to get up for work 2 hours later... So having slept on it, a little bit, I’m surprisingly calm about the loss. We were just beaten by a better team, that played probably its best game of the year, while we didn’t bring our A-game. I thought that, just like in week 6, they played KC with too much respect. Going for a 4th down on the very first drive gave me hope, but once playing from behind it was too calculated and respectful. I was actually OK with going for a field goal at the end of the second quarter, as blowing that would have taken the soul out of the team. But in the second half, when behind two scores, it was inexcusable. Many positives though this season, the main one is perhaps that this team has proven it can learn and grow, call it the process if you want. JA was overall great but yesterday he didn’t play with his usual confidence early on, throwing it off target a few times and getting away with one or two near interceptions. And he needs to run sideways when tackled or toss the ball away earlier, you can get sacked, but not with a 15 yard loss, that happens too often with him. As for the rest of the offense, our running game is obviously mediocre at best, but I happen to think that, with the weapons we have, we lack a top quality Tight End. We have done for years in fact. A bit lost in all the post-match doom and gloom is our kicking game, after a shaky season start Bass really came through, he just hasn’t had the opportunity yet to win us a game with a last second pressure kick, that’s a psychological test he still needs to go through. I am curious about the off season, will they stick to the nucleus of this team or make some surprising cuts and replacements? The one I have most on my radar is Tremaine Edmunds. He’s got all the physical skills but doesn’t always take the right decisions, and in the games when Milano was out injured he just looked lost. Not a bad player, but making him captain of the defence is not the right decision IMO. Anyway, in hibernation now until we embark upon next season, hopefully in a Covid-free world… Go Bills !

Although I post virtually never on this board, I read it almost daily as it is basically the only real form of connection I can have with fellow Bills fans, as I don’t believe there are any other Bills fans living in a 100 mile radius of me 😉. I always look forward to reading Virgil’s game report, probably because unlike the many gut reactions during and just after the games, he takes his time to mull over things and then gives a balanced observation, one that I usually tend to agree with on nearly all fronts. I have the same tendency to highlight and appreciate the unexpected match heroes. The way Harrison Phillips came from the bench and stepped in was big, Smoke taking over from Gabriel Davis as the toe tapping receiver, and good old Jerry Hughes of course. Not being mentioned is Diggs, probably because we have collectively almost taken his brilliance for granted now and see an 8 catch +100 yards game for him as a normal day at the office. He kind of reminds me more and more of the role Anquan Boldin played when the Ravens had their miraculous Superbowl run with Flacco.

Not a good sign if the punter is your team's best player on the night...

27-14 SF

I for one was amazed at how little attention this got on the official NFL channels i.e. Gamepass and all. As it was a play-off game it was shown live on a national (Belgian) channel over here and the local commentator was straight away adament it was totally incomprehensible how a 100% valid touchdown was ruled away by assistent referees. He was still going on about it in the fourth quarter, and obviously at the end when we lost, how the Bills got outright robbed in a manner he hadn't seen in his 30 years of NFL reporting. Seems there was a lot more sugarcoating on the official NFL channels going on, with the "common sense prevailed" crap... Anyway, best to get the old cardboard box from the attic with the Music Ciry Miracle in and add this one to it...

Haha nice graph, always great to get a good visual ! Well, I suppose you can spin it by saying that Buffalo is the ultimate "sum being greater than its parts" team. Coach would probably like this, team first ! Anyway, this whole pro bowl thing is a bit of a joke really, the selections are as much on reputation and star power than on performance IMO...

Good grief, this Collinsworth chap is really getting on your guys nerves apparently. I am not entirely sure but I think this was the first time I heard him commentating on a game. Reason being simply that the previous time our beloved Bills played a Sunday night game we were still in the pre-NFL Gamepass era, and I am not really too keen on starting my working week by going to bed at 5:30am on Monday morning (that is the time these games end in my Brussels time zone...) because Cowboys v Giants is on... So, Collinsworth from a neutral unbiased perspective: well, I thought he was a bit of a pompous prat, who commentated on the game with a demeanor of not being really that interested as it was only the Bills. For the rest, I got more annoyed with the overall way that this broadcast seemed to be wanting to make it entertainment instead of real football commentary. Probably I am more accustomed to the more business-like approach of the 1pm kick-off games we always play ! Particularly the interventions of that third person, the woman apparently running along the sideline, I didn't really see the point of that. At one point she was still jabbing on while a play was unfolding, an important one and all, think a second down in the red zone. Wish they would just comment on the plays instead of telling me what Mike Tomlin had for breakfast... Anyway, that's my 5 cents of opinion, never mind, play-offs baby. Go Bills !

Can't believe how some of you here complain about this, after the years of "no respect" vibes I often read here... For me this means a 2:20am kick-off guaranteeing a zombie-like start to the work week, and I love it. Better than staring at a meaningless December game as I have been doing for nearly all of the past 20 years...

Though I don't particularly like that attitude this actually had me cracking up, some great acting

Even 8000 miles further east over here on the Belgian TV the local commentators thought the refs were shocking... Thank God it wasn't enough to change the result... Best W of the year, well, of the decade perhaps ! Josh Allen, I must admit I was on the sceptical side for a long time, have to say, he was absolutely outstanding today. Go Bills !

Hey Yorkshire man, I live in Ghent, so not that far at all from where you were on your soccer tour. Brave call on the mayo, if it is any consolation, I had to go through the same cultural experience in reverse when I lived in the UK for a few years in the nineties, having salt and vinegar on them !

It was that or chocolate...