Boatdrinks

It’s kind of an oddity for a team with a 9-4 record. Some of it might be just bad luck, and some is the style of defense they’ve played most of the year. Generating lots of takeaways is usually not sustainable, so in a way it’s good. The bad side is the Bills have a technically sound defense , but are lacking in guys that force turnovers. It would certainly help matters, as the offense continues to struggle.

Yes

If the Bills finish the season with 10 wins, they will qualify for the playoffs over other teams that could have 10 wins also. That means they deserve the playoffs. Playoff berths aren’t awarded based on when the wins occurred. Some teams just match up better with certain teams than others. The Texans might win their division , but they lost to the Broncos ( a team the Bills beat). The Steelers defense happens to be a bad matchup for the Bills offense. Now, if the Bills can’t beat the Jets ? Then I’d have to agree that they aren’t very good. They still might qualify for the NFL playoffs due to that pesky NFL tiebreaker system, though.

I remember watching the game, but went to bed before it was announced ( I was in 5th grade). Mom told me in AM when she found out and I was stunned and devastated. Was already a huge Beatles fan. Didn’t go to school that day. Amazing that it was 39 years ago.

If it continues the heat will get turned up by fans for sure. Hopefully he spends extra time with the Juggs machine.

I’m not sure I’d want many TEs blocking a DE one on one, but I see it around the league. Usually doesn’t end well , but it continues. That was Knox’s guy, but he didn’t have much chance.

Well, Knox is a pretty good run blocker not a suspect one. He was also the 96th player selected in 2019 and didn’t catch many passes in college as he wasn’t featured that way. Zay Jones caught a ton of passes in college and was the 44th player selected in the 2017 draft. 52 slots lower of draft position will buy you a little bit of “ rope” with the fans. Essentially , Jones had already proven he had good hands in college but forgot how to catch when he got to Buffalo. He was pretty much a head case.

Knox was drafted to be the future, where Kroft was signed to be the current starter. Kroft missed a ton of time and has basically been invisible, pressing Knox into service. He might develop, but he’s a couple years away. A playmaking vet TE should be on the FA shopping list, as well as a WR. The defense is championship caliber now, so they need plug and play weapons for the offense. There isn’t time for a drafted WR to develop. They should still draft offense to keep the cupboard stocked , but FA dollars need to be allocated to vets while Allen is still cheap.

When facing a top defense with talented secondaries, the Bills skill position guys fail to scare anyone. Brown is fast, but not physical. The TE is a rookie that has shown flashes at times, but drops the ball regularly. They still don’t know how to set up / run a screen effectively. Allen will struggle vs this type of defense ( not all teams have the skill to run it effectively though) without improved offensive players. If the problems continue with better players, then I’ll be worried.

They should have been preparing for it for weeks now, as it’s the one thing they’ve consistently struggled against. I’d expect them to be well versed in screens, cover zero blitz beaters by this point.

I noticed that Lamar was leaving his mouth guard out when he was going to hand the ball off , at least a few times. Players probably noticed this; haven’t rewatched to see if it was consistent .

THIS BELONGS IN THE Vs. PIT THREAD

Not surprising, it’s a bad matchup for the Bills. If the Bills beat the blitz a few times yesterday and come out with a win, they’re favored by at least 3 over PIT.

Yes, they do.

The point is that other coaches are now challenging them , as they are now being overturned. You have to discount earlier in the season when it was obvious that the league did not want these calls overturned regardless of the obvious video evidence. That 5% rate is artificially low. It’s worthy of debate in a game where yards were extremely hard to come by.

Okay. Not sure why the overreaction, but I’m not offended by your response . Knowledge is power, though.

Nope, there have been others. Two yesterday in the early games. Ex NFL official John Parry alluded to this happening in the NY post a few weeks ago. That very weekend, it started. Not a coincidence and if a fan knows this , the Bills HC certainly should.

Of course the narrative is that Peters made a great play on the ball to win the game. The eye in the sky doesn’t lie. Looks like a drop by Brown and a very accurate throw by Allen.

I wouldn’t be surprised.

Did SF run the same play that Daboll called on Thanksgiving at DAL yesterday? Sure looked like it.

I’d expect a close game, with the Bills having a pretty good chance to get out with a win. Not a bad matchup for what the Bills do.

Yes, some OCs are great at scripting the first couple of drives and Daboll is not one of them. He’s pretty mediocre overall, coming up with a gem every now and then like Vs MIN or vs DAL ( both in domes, oddly enough). Maybe that means we want to play HOU in the playoffs.

McDermott should have challenged the non call for DPI. Jets and Browns each had one overturned yesterday, with the Jets call deciding the game. It was definitely worth a possible lost timeout, as these calls have been getting overturned lately. The league was concerned about how fans would react if they suddenly started overturning them in the playoffs, so challenges have been won last few weeks. McD has to be on top of this development and throw that challenge flag. The timeout didn’t matter. Then you haven’t been paying attention the last few weeks, starting with the non call in New Orleans( ironically enough) vs CAR .

The Bills will probably need to beat the Jets to secure their spot, but that’s a team they should beat every time regardless of the Jets motivation level. If they don’t win that game, then they are frauds as far as being a playoff caliber team.

It’s the biggest because it’s the next game, that’s about it.