Logic

So much this!

Fair. I think they play the Pats similarly to how they played the Titans: Sell out to stop the run and dare Cam to beat you. The Bills effectively limited Henry in that game. Obviously, Tannehill was able to beat them through the air. Cam, however, is not even in Tannehill's universe currently in the passing game, nor are the Patriots receivers anywhere near as good as Tennessee's. Having Milano in the lineup and having Ed Oliver apparently back at full health will help. So will Pats guard Thuney missing the game.

Only if you eat pot gummies before we submerge.

Only two things worry me in this game: 1.) Belichick flustering and stifling Allen. He has done this more often than not throughout Allen's career thus far. 2.) Stopping the Pats offense on third down. Buffalo's 3rd down defense is atrocious this year. These points bring me back to my original statement: Run the ball and take care of the ball. When on defense, find a way to get off the field on 3rd down. As Marv Levy would say: "It's simple, but it isn't easy".

I've always known you were pretty open when it comes to eating nuts, but it's good to hear you re-iterate it.

I really hope the Bills watched and learned from the 49ers-Pats game. I know the Bills are the second most pass happy team in the league this year, and that's fine. But this is the week to practice what we preach with regard to Daboll's "each gameplan is a unique snowflake" statement. I want to see the Bills come out with a diverse, multi-faceted run game, and I want them to lean on that run game and really get it going. The Pats have big, slow, thumping linebackers, who can absolutely be beat to the edges. I know our running backs aren't the fastest, but we saw a couple of times against the Jets that Moss can get the edge, and I know Singletary can. Heavy diet of sweeps and orbit actions from McKenzie and, for the first time this season, get other guys involved in that, too. In my mind, Josh Allen throwing the ball 40 times is not going to win this game. This is an old school special: Run the ball, protect the ball, play smashmouth defense, force their offense to make mistakes. If we take care of the ball and run it with success, we win. If it has to be 100% the Josh Allen Show, I think we lose. Until proven otherwise, Josh has a hard time beating Belichick defenses through the air with consistency.

On pace for 90 catches and over 1,000 yards currently. Beast. Edit: Every time I think of the Josh Allen "mustache" video where Cole Beasley shouts "Dad?!" in that high-pitched, goofy voice, I crack up. 🤣

Wrong. The correct answer is “cashews”. We also would have accepted “filberts”.

There just legitimately aren't any improvements out there on the open market. The Bills will have to ride with Bass this year, and then see what a full, legitimate offseason (hopefully) can do for his game. I can't believe I'm sitting here having to defend a kicker that just set a Bills record for field goals made in a game, but here we are.

Let's just get ALL the over-30 DEs. All of them.

This ^ When teams faced the Bills last season, it was “stop the run and force Allen to play quarterback”. The first four opponents we faced this year did the same thing, only Allen responsed by playing quarterback at a high level and whipping their defenses. Now teams are taking the opposite approach: play soft zones and force the run game and short passing game to beat you. Don’t let Allen beat you long. That’s how teams are playing Mahomes now. Teams are defending Allen and the Bills offense the same way they defend Mahomes and the Chiefs. The easiest way to force defenses out of this approach and open the passing game back up is to run the ball well and for Allen to continue to be patient and smart.

Theoretically, that’s true. You’ll have to excuse me if I don’t see Brandon Beane trading for a $10million player when the Bills have only $3.5million in space and are going into a 2021 needing to re-sign Matt Milano and seeing a shrunken salary cap league-wide. I don’t think it’s realistic that a responsible and cap-conscious guy like Beane is gonna trade for a guy the Bills can’t rightly afford, let alone an over-30 D-lineman or TE — nor do I think those guys would be the saviors fans are hoping for. The most realistic trade scenario continues to be young guys on rookie deals. The Dalvin Tomlinsons and Josh Jackson’s. Even then, I don’t see it. I’m not saying I wouldn’t LIKE it, just that I don’t think it will happen.

Winning at Heinz Field on a Sunday Night to clinch the playoffs was a signature win. I don't care that it was Duck Hodges. The Steelers had a winning record and were favored to win that game. All of the experts picked them. It wasn't even close. The Bills went into hostile territory in prime time, and with the pressure on, they won. That was a signature win, and I will adamantly disagree with anyone who says otherwise.

I'm not really sure why, but I'm getting a "we think we're fine with the guys we have" vibe from the Bills. I don't expect them to make a trade. Part of the problem, it should be mentioned, is that they don't have the cap space to take on any big contracts. Anyone they trade for would have to be pretty cheap. Speaking specifically of some of the guys mentioned in the OP: We can't afford Atkins, Dunlap, or Rudolph. Maybe if we got someone to take Murphy's bad contract, but that seems like a long shot.

I have to admit I missed the origins of this "I have a crush on all the good white players in the NFL" schtick. I'm not sure how it started or what its deal is.

I don't know whether it was legal or not. It certainly didn't seem malicious or intentional. It's pretty hard to play DB in the league right now with the way the rules are written. All that being said, it may well have stopped the Jets from scoring a TD in the waning moments. Instead of a 20+ yard gain and some momentum, it went down as a 15 yard play (which the Bills got 10 of back on an ensuing holding call) and Perriman leaving the game.

Thanks Shaw. When I looked at yesterday's win, I actually thought of the Patriots dynasty. The sheer amount of "ugly" games they won. The amount of games lacking in style points. Heck, a bunch of those came against the Bills. How many times, during the years that we were awful, did we as Bills fans feel like Buffalo came THIS CLOSE to beating the Pats, but couldn't do it. From their point of view, I doubt they were bemoaning lack of style points against the woeful Bills. From there, I think of the drought era Bills. How many times did I console myself after another Bills loss by thinking about the moral victories? The style points? I don't believe in moral victories OR style points any more. I believe in wins and losses, and the Bills won yesterday. It's not that things can't be gleaned from such ugly wins, or that it's not fair to point out areas of needed improvement. It's just that each game, as McDermott says, is a unique entity unto itself, and there are only 16 of them per season. The Bills have won 5 of 7, and as Bill Parcells said, "You ARE what your record says you are".

To not see this as a big game is to ignore the past 20 years of Bills football. It IS a big game. There can be no denying it.

Most of the replies in this thread are reminding me why I don’t come to the forums as much during the season as during the offseason. The negativity, even after wins, is just over the top and a total buzzkill.

Most replies and the whining in this thread and others are pathetic. The Bills are 5-2 and leading the division and people are crying because the win didn’t include enough style points. Toughen up. Quit being such fairweather negative Nancies. Root for your team and accept that they lead the AFC East and be happy. “But they didn’t beat the Jets by ENOUGH points!”. Wahhhhhhh. Bunch of garbage and misery and pessimism. Shameful.

The Bills never punted today. Yes, they needed to do a better job in the red zone, clearly. But when your punter never enters the game, it means your offense did a good job moving the ball. It's simple: Defenses are playing soft deep zones and daring the Bills to beat them underneath and through the running game. That's what defenses do against good QBs and good passing offenses. It's what teams do to Patrick Mahomes. Think about that: Teams are now defending the Bills offense the same way that they defend Mahomes and the Chiefs offense. In order to defeat that and force teams out of their zones, the Bills need to be able to run the ball and complete underneath passes. They haven't been able to do so with any consistency until this week. The ONLY bone of contention I have with Daboll is that he's too quick to abandon the run at times. Then again, seeing how poorly the Bills ran the ball when they DID try to do so the first six weeks, I sort of can't blame him. Teams used to blitz Allen and play man. He learned to beat that and did so with regularity the first four weeks. Now teams are taking a different path, and little by little, Allen is adapting. It's hard, though, without a run game. Even Mahomes still struggles at times when teams drop eight against him.

If Folks who think the Bills will win 11 games are in a fantasy land of optimism, you're just as equally in a fantasy land of negativity saying they're a .500 team. I'd rather be optimistic and enjoy the season than be pessimistic and miserable all the time. But hey, you do you.

I find fans like you to be the most miserable kind to be around. Life is short. There's a worldwide pandemic. Sports are supposed to be fun. 5-2. Get a grip.

I disagree vehemently. Not a playoff team? Maybe. Time will tell. They're comfortably leading their division right now, though. McDermott's "days being numbered"? Just outright silliness.

People will pick nits about the Bills not being more dominant against a bad team, but... 5-2 approaching the half-way point of the season -- including 3-0 in the division -- is an excellent start, no matter HOW the Bills got here. They've had to deal with injuries and COVID-related delays and adversity, they haven't looked like themselves on defense, and they're still 5-2 and comfortably leading the AFC East. Good game, good outcome, on to New England.