Boatdrinks

This team is really not built for playing in the snow in January. Weather hasn’t been any advantage at all for the Bills in decades. The game plans on both sides of the ball for the playoff game vs CIN were awful given the conditions . The Bills seemed like they’d never seen snow. One main point of deferring is to possibly get “ free” back to back possessions - at the end of the first half and start of the 2nd. Otherwise you’d need to “ earn it” with a turnover. This way you have a chance just by winning the coin toss. Doesn’t always work out that way, but the possibility is there.

Bengals in a close one , 31-27

Funny how the well worn , accepted as truth narratives don’t always match reality .

I’d prefer if the game @ CIN was next week rather than just days after the deadline but it is what it is. These moves are for the stretch run. Not expecting to see both these guys out there Sunday night but will be pleasantly surprised if they are.

Numbers say ok, but I just don’t love the look. If they win, I’d say wear ‘em for the rest of the road games.

Yep, this is a stash for a later move.

Exactly . This is a close, tough matchup. The old any given Sunday maxim is more fitting for bottom feeder teams.

Eh, he’s a 1 tech. A tad easier to be thrown into the fire there.

He’s not contributing and wasn’t going to be any time soon. Meanwhile , the team needs reinforcements for the stretch run. So Kaiir goes to IR to make room for a player at a position of need. Great job of filling holes resulting from injury by BB.

I disagree. While their recent play cannot be overlooked , they’ve played better , a LOT better this season. Not in 2021 or 2020, but this season. Even Vs better teams than they’ve played recently. If you assume that recent trends will continue on indefinitely, the same should have held true for good trends, no ? It did not. Truth is none of us know when or if the Bills will find their earlier rhythm. Or if the Bengals recent stretch of better play will continue. I’m nowhere near certain of a win : it’s a game the Bills could easily lose. I also don’t think the Bengals are the best team in the NFL, or even the AFC for that matter. The balanced opinion - that the Bills can absolutely win this game - is not the extreme opinion here. That would be the one that says since they lost an earlier matchup , and played very poorly in doing so they are doomed to get a similar effort and result on Sunday night.

Pretty sure Josh Allen ( and subsequently the Bills ) has a pretty good record in prime time games. Maybe I’m wrong but I’m sure someone will chime in . The Bengals are in their heads after essentially a single game ? Seems silly but the legend grows seemingly by the day around here.

It’s a bummer that he hasn’t panned out. He should go to IR as it’s pretty clear he’s not going to contribute to the 2023 campaign.

Sounds like Elam to IR.. makes sense as Douglas gets on board

If Douglas is a quality starter and good scheme fit, then CB is not a glaring need entering 2024. Probably going to need a WR2 as I don’t believe their going to ( or should) pay Davis what WRs get on second contracts these days. They’ll almost certainly add a CB somewhere , but it won’t be first on the list imo

Not so sure on the MNF either. It was 7-3 pretty quick- Bills could probably have gone for it too. Even if you spot CIN 14-3 for a bit, it could very quickly have been 14-10. Not quite a drubbing after say a quarter or so of football. This matchup thing is a bit overblown yet it’s accepted as gospel after basically a single meeting between two teams.

White probably wasn’t coming back to the Bills after the Achilles regardless of them acquiring Douglas. It would have been job 1 for Beane in the draft or FA. It’s too bad , but not a ton of track record for CBs coming back from those .

Okay, no homer take here - I’ve not said the Bills will definitely win the game. The Bengals are not exactly the ‘80s Niners and ‘85 Bears rolled into one though. The playoff game was a lackluster performance as you’ll see. It was also a classic case of getting outsmarted. The Bengals did exactly what you should do in the cold and snow that day. Run, get short throws in the hands of the WRs and let the skill guys run for the easy first downs the Bills scheme was ridiculously handing them. The Bills looked like they had zero idea how to play in snow - on both sides of the ball. They deserved the lumps they took that day. I don’t think it’s necessarily any indication of what to expect on Sunday night. Again, there’s not a lot of history between these teams / QBs to go on.

Lol that’s a bit strong on the CIN defense. SF got plenty of yards and moved the ball well, even without Deebo and their All world OT. Their QB puked on his shoes and gave the game away late. We get it though; you’re a Bengals fan and that’s fine.

There weren’t many deals overall- just 6 teams added a player yesterday and only one involved a WR. The Bills are pretty healthy on O while suffering many major injuries on D as we well know. The most critical to the D is probably the CB position. It would be a major flaw vs the better teams in the league that occupy a good chunk of the Bills remaining schedule. While we’d all love to see an Adams, Hopkins etc added to the offense, they’re pretty capable as assembled. It’s on the coaching to unleash Josh Allen and continue utilizing Kincaid in an expanded role.

Douglas wasnt a name I’d heard or seen following the trade rumors etc the last few days. I think this was a sneaky good get by Beane at probably the Bills biggest need position on D. I felt they needed two things to compete down the stretch -1. figure out the offense and include a lot more Josh Allen. 2. Acquire a reliable CB to replace T White. This seems to fit the bill.

The Bills probably need to get 10 wins to make it, maybe 11. Hardly out of the realm, even with their schedule. They’ve got to win their remaining home games almost without question. They also have a very good home record in the Allen era - behind only KC and Denver the past 5 seasons. A road game at SoFi is a De facto home game for the visitors. They need to pick up at least one win vs CIN, PHL, or KC. It’s not an easy schedule, but not unrealistic at all.

I’ll take the boring over the constant Mahomes ballwashing. Even in games that don’t involve Mahomes. Collinsworth is unbearably awful.

Yep. NY market driving a lot of these ratings , not surprisingly.

The Bills are capable of playing much better. They were hardly at their best that day. The game at CIN was 7-3 , no? The Bills moved the ball well on their one possession and just missed a first down that would have put them in prime position to score. Lots of folks act like you could pencil in the entire remainder of that game , which is a fools errand. Are most NFL rematch games between two opponents exactly the same as the last meeting ? Of course not. The Bills were outclassed and outcoached in every way in the playoff game - there’s no denying that. Maybe the Bills are doomed to replicate that awful performance, but I doubt it. The Bills and Bengals ( current versions) hardly have a long history or track record of this. It was literally one very bad game. Not that I need to offer up any reason why one single game would be a referendum on an entire franchise and coaching staff - it’s not. I know we didn’t see the best from the Bills that day - we’ve seen them perform much better vs good NFL teams. They showed some good things in their last game as far as getting their offensive concept together. I’m not guaranteeing they win the game; far from it actually. However I don’t see any reason why they would have virtually no chance , as so many on this board seem to believe. You’d think it was the 70’s Dolphins vs the 70’s Bills or something. With a long way to go , I would add. This isn’t week fifteen. There’s a LOT of football to be played.

First mistake : listening to anyone on ESPN. It’s hot take city these days , not reasoned football talk. I suppose their bad start - of which they’ve made a habit - can be excused away ? It’s funny , any time possible reasons are given for the Bills issues they are called excuses. The negativity and fatalism on this board is something to behold. Must be some sort of defense mechanism. Anyway, the line is not .. well, out of line . It sounds about right for two NFL teams in their current situations. Folks need to put their BBFS aside for a moment when looking at these things.