Boatdrinks

The Bills defense can keep them in every game, but the offense is just severely limiting to their chances. That includes the coordinator and his lack of creativity and feel for the game. In my estimation , the Saints with Bridgewater would still be significantly superior to the Bills in their ability to go deep in the playoffs. The Bills need to get a lead and hold on, as their ability to score late in a tight game is just fair to average at best.

Agreed. A deep run would be a surprise, as some ingredients are lacking. A Bills win in the WC round is a strong possibility as road teams win every year in that round. It’s a lot harder to do once you advance to the divisional. This roster truly is a year away, but I’m going to sit back and enjoy the playoff ride.

They lost to the Browns before as well. Matchups have something to do with it, though I agree the intensity can trail off when things are sewn up. No way the Ravens lose to the Steelers in week 17 though.

I disagree. A team still has to have the necessary ingredients to make that run, even if their regular season didn’t reflect it. Sometimes a team will just get hot in the playoffs and it carries them through. Thinking that every team in the playoffs has the same chance to win the championship is folly. Being realistic about what the Bills have and don’t have isn’t stupid. They’re in a rebuild and having success while covering up major flaws. That’s a result of good coaching , but they’ll need to take it to another level in the playoffs. You really can’t compare the Bills with a developing QB to a team with a future HOF QB that was in the NFC title game last season. You could , but some might call that “ plain stupid”.

He should. And I don’t mean that awful QB sweep that Daboll can’t get out of his head. They need to spread things out and have Allen take off if the throw isn’t there. A few options as well. This team isn’t good enough running the ball to not use Allen’s mobility and use it a lot. It’s win or go home, so they need to coach with that mindset.

I think the Bills can win in HOU and it looks like TEN can win a road game at Arrowhead. PIT ? I don’t think so. Anyway, it’s the NFL and the first round always has upsets. If you’re trying to compare the Saints current team / roster to the Bills you are way off base. They have a future HOF QB, studs all over the place and are absolutely in a “ win a championship now” mode and have been for a few seasons.

He wears a silver helmet with an eagle wing decal on it. Same reason that the OL can hold, Brady can ground the football and Gilmore can clutch and grab without consequence.

Well facts are facts. Expecting this year’s edition of the Bills to be championship caliber could be considered delusional. The OP wasn’t wrong.

Pretty sure Daboll is calling the plays, though. Not sure how much McD has his hands in that, but it should be very little. If McD is not trusting his OC enough to delegate the responsibility to him, then he’s unlikely to get a high caliber OC in Buffalo. Anyway, the lack of aggression on offense is not good. They don’t have a running attack that can take control when the opposing D knows what’s coming.

You answered your own question. On to the playoffs.

And perhaps it was. It’s just the well deserved but uncalled penalties committed by the Pats that stoke everyone’s ire.

Can’t disagree, but we already knew this. The Bills roster overhaul is not yet complete. While most of last seasons putrid offense has been replaced, they are still missing a couple of key pieces. They’re better on that side of the ball, but not good enough to carry the team deep into the playoffs. Still, they have a good chance at a WC round win even with a suspect offense. The Patriots have major issues, and one game hardly means they’ve gotten into gear. They hung on to win at home Vs a questionable Bills offense. These are clearly not the same Patriots.

I stand corrected. Just no scheduled SNF final week, lol.

They’ll dial it up in the playoffs as they have since the 2nd Miami game. It was under wraps today

It’s entirely expected by any who follow the game at this point. It’s considered an entitlement by Pats* fans.

What a boring way to watch the game

No Sunday night game in week 17

Tom Landry dressed very conservatively.

I think Daboll can draw up some plays, but has little feel for when to call them. I’m not a huge fan of criticizing playcalling in general, but Daboll seems to just throw things out there. Far too many first down runs, no emphasis on screens to slow the pass rush and too many low percentage passes in the red zone. However, if he departs they should consider bumping up Ken Dorsey and keeping the basis of the offense. No need to start over, and Josh doesn’t seem to have any rapport with Daboll. He apparently speaks highly of Ken Dorsey, and that may be what the offense needs. Hated that sweep call, and hoped he had scrapped it weeks ago. In that goal to go situation it was a wasted down.

Their records going in were not the same. If the Bills had won in Cleveland ( as they should have) today’s game would have essentially been for the division title. As it stood, a Bills win today would not have given them the division title. It more than likely would have just delayed NE clinching until next week. Pretty simple stuff, really.

I agree, and mentioned it in a few threads. It was quite clear they weren’t going to put any new stuff on film for the upcoming playoff game. They also likely think they could see NE again at some point. They still gave themselves a chance to win with a basic gameplan, but fundamentals were lacking on defense today. They made life miserable for Brady in the first meeting, but not even an attempt to do so this afternoon. A microscopic shot at the division title wasn’t worth sacrificing a possible win in the playoffs, where your first game could be your last. I think if we went into today with tied records, the gameplan would have reflected it. He showed improvement from the first meeting , and we had a legitimate chance to send it to OT with a bit better job by Daboll imo. Back of the end zone fades are too low percentage for my liking in that game situation. The Bills have no receivers that can make a play on the ball there. It has to be perfect, as there isn’t a George Kittle or Kyle Rudolph to snare it on this roster. Anyway, Allen’s game today leaves me more confident than not that this team can get a WC round win in 2 weeks.

The division was lost when the Bills didn’t beat Cleveland. A win today wouldn’t have given the Bills the division title, no matter how much we’d like to believe Miami could win in NE next week. I’ll concur that no player in the locker room felt this game was meaningless. I also would venture their confidence wasn’t shaken one iota by the result.

I think they considered it a reasonable risk vs the chance to get a block vs a suspect STs unit. The Bills need to shore up their performance in that area.

Dill holes

They’re not yet great. Today’s result shouldn’t be that surprising. Doesn’t mean they can’t win a game or two in the playoffs , even if they see NE again.