HappyDays

We all have our senior moments 😁

I mean that the only away playoff games we have played were against KC (since Allen became elite so I'm not counting the Houston wildcard loss). Cincy is the only other team that has beaten us at all and that was at home in any case.

Since Allen became an elite QB we've only played away games against KC. It just doesn't matter to me nearly as much as avoiding KC entirely. Of course I'd prefer homefield advantage if we can get it but there's no opponent where I think that is going to be the difference in the outcome.

I don't love the matchup and it sucks that it feels more and more likely we'll get them in the wildcard round. But there is proof of concept that we can beat them in the playoffs. Home or away doesn't really matter to me. There is no mental block that exists with the Ravens. With the Chiefs it is 100% mental from the coaches to the players. If anything the Ravens are the ones with the mental block because we've beaten them twice and Lamar has his own mental issues in ths playoffs.

I don't think it's tough at all. KC has knocked us out of the playoffs four times, including two where just about everything went our way... Get them out and we immediately have our best chance at a Super Bowl appearance even if we enter as a wildcard. I know we can beat the other AFC contenders. I don't know if we can beat KC.

No one will claim him because they'd pick up his $6M base salary in 2026, at least I think that's how it works? Cooks doesn't move the needle. He played 70% of snaps for Dallas last year and turned that into a whopping 259 yards. I think he is just done.

I think we match up well in this game. So they have Stingley and Lassiter... Whatever, we can't throw outside against the likes of JuJu Brents and Jack Jones, so it's not like that was ever going to matter. They have the best EDGE duo in the league, well we have great pass protection on both ends. This is a game our offense is built to win - punish them with the run and throw over the middle. The defensive game plan is easy. Bracket Nico Collins and expose Davis Mills' complete lack of mobility in the pocket. It's a matchup league and I don't think Houston's strengths matter with how our team is built, while their weaknesses play right into our preferred game script.

Plenty of backup QBs come in and look decent for a couple games because there's no tape on them. It is usually around their 3rd game that the wheels fall off. We're getting them at the perfect time. I really do expect a dominant defensive performance in this one. Say what you will about McDermott's scheme, he has always made bottom tier QBs look about as bad as they can look.

I'm interested to see where the league values Bosa. He's had a very strong impact at times as a pass rusher but he occasionally disappears and he can't really play the run, and now the nagging injuries are starting to show up. I could see him signing for exactly the same one year deal next offseason and I think I'd take him back at that number, especially because like you said we're on the hook for $7.2M regardless. Would he accept 2 years $22M? I don't want to start over at the spot opposite Rousseau next year if we can avoid it.

I think our only chance at the division is to win out. If we end 14-3 beating New England along the way they would only need to lose 1 more game which is almost certain to happen. If we slip up and tie with them at 13-4 they get the division based on division record. We likely get the #1 seed as well if we win out. Very tough needle to thread but it's doable.

I could be wrong but I believe he wants #8 and #21 to cross before he throws the sit route. The timing gets messed up primarily because Palmer gets chucked to the ground which causes #21 to slow down right in the throwing window to Knox. This is the moment where he ideally wants to be releasing the ball: Like I said I could be wrong but I believe #21's positioning is why he has to throw it a half second late.

I didn't have any problem with this read from Allen. It's 4th down and the 1st read appears like it will be open, you take it every time. Palmer getting knocked down and Latu getting slowed up disrupted the timing because Allen is waiting for the short crossers to pass so he can throw the ball. I'd like to see Knox show some awareness here... He's just standing watching the ball come to him and somehow doesn't realize a defender is on his way to the ball. Step up and sn*tch that thing out of the air.

Bills 30 Texans 13 An underrated quality of Allen is he does well in revenge games. Played like crap against New England in 2019, beat them twice in 2020 including one blowout win. Wasn't ready for the big lights in the 2020 AFCCG, the next year was the 13 seconds game. Lost to Jacksonville in London in 2023, destroyed them in 2024. Allen remembers how he played in Houston last year and I expect him to have a little extra motivation as a result. Houston's defense is still insanely good and TNF games are weird to begin with so I'm not expecting a fireworks show from start to finish but he'll make some plays. The Texans offense is exactly the type of offense McDermott tends to do well against. Backup QB, no run game, one WR to worry about. I expect this to be one of those games where Houston has a good drive early and we all start feeling frustrated, and then for the final 50 minutes or so their offense looks totally hapless and we end up with like 3 turnovers. So I'm predicting a slow constricting victory where Allen keeps making enough plays to put us on the scoreboard while Houston's offense slowly falls apart.

That was a terrible route. Allen was waiting for him to get open along the backline but he got bullied all through the route and took way too long to get to his spot. Against cover 0 he needed to win and flash open within 2.5 seconds. Let's not get too carried away about the WR room from one game. Tampa called a lot of cover 3 and Brady had the right calls in to beat them. I put this week's turnaround on his improvement much more than the WRs. Shavers' biggest completion (other than the 1 of a 1 throw on a scramble drill) came on seemingly a busted coverage. Samuel still has trouble reading the field and making route adjustments in real time. Hardman is too tiny to be a legit downfield threat. Palmer and Kincaid should be our top 2 targets, the rest of these guys are JAGs.

We've tried ball control the last two KC playoff matchups. The strategy fails because KC's offense has their way with us and then our offense inevitably has to open it up anyways, and it's hard to change up your whole offense like that in the middle of a game. Might as well just open it up from the start so they're ready to score on every possession in the 2nd half... Yesterday wasn't always pretty especially early on but Allen got loosened up and was throwing rockets and dimes the entire 2nd half. Score 40 and you'll win almost every game.