Shaw66

Oh, so that's what happened. I was there and confused like you. That play was obvious miscommunication between receiver and quarterback, and calling that intentional grounding is ridiculous. There was nothing intentionally about that ball falling incomplete. Its absurd to call that and not to call the 5-yard line drives thrown at the feet of screen receivers. That's pitiful.

I came on here to just throw a few thoughts out there. I was at the game. These are the first two points, and as you suggest, they may the only two things that really matter. It's basic football - if you have evenly matched teams, turnovers will play a big role in the outcome. Kincaid fumble was a real killer. Allen badly underthrew the INT. He had Davis, and it's a throw he's made many times. The defense actually did okay, holding a really good offense to 24 points. But the defense wasn't good enough to make enough stops. On the last Bengal drive, Boyd burned Johnson bad, but that's what I mean by a really good offense. When a team comes at you with three wideouts like they have, and with a QB who is one of the most accurate throwers I've even seen, you're going to give up plays. Holding them to 24 was good, especially because the Bills were playing with guys I didn't even recognize. Dodson or Williams made a really dumb play by coming on a late blitz and leaving their tight end open for the TD that was the game winner. Bernard and Milano likely would have played that right. Pass protection was weak. Allen needs to be part of the attack - his runs in the second half opened things up for the offense. Bengals fans are very nice, and they were all orange and black, but they don't make noise like Bills fans. They're pretty noisy, but not as loud or as consistently as we are. They're kind of too busy singing Sweet Caroline. And they have a stupid touchdown song. But they do have a good football team. McDermott's got a lot of work to do, patching that defense together. And to say what I've said so often for so long, I think offensively the season is on Dorsey. His quarterback should not be standing back there looking around wondering where he can find an open receiver. I thought Allen looked much better running the offense when they went no huddle last week. He seemed more engaged, he was studying the field pre-snap. Maybe they can't go no huddle in a noisy environment. Whatever it is, Allen's receivers should be getting open on schedule, and either they aren't or Allen doesn't know where to find them.

Not a lot of blue outside Paycor. It's all black and orange.

Yes. Can't thank Yolo enough. His service was fabulous.

Where's the centerfold?

Wow. Didn't occur to me that others might be having the same experience. One reason is that we traveled with family for two weeks after the game, so I didn't have time ti watch games and study posts here. I discovered I didn't miss it.

Hey, thanks for the concern. I'm fine. I seem to have turned a corner on my Bills fandom. I've been intending to do a post about it, but it's a bit of a project, and I'm travelling to Cincinnati this weekend. Since London, I missed the Bills the following week, I watched the last two games, and I watched no other pro football. I'm reading nothing about the Bills. I come here just to see if there's any news, like acquiring a corner back or a 1 Tech, but I seem to have lost interest in talking about the Bills. I just watch the games, am pleased, not so pleased, or not pleased with what I see. Then I just spend my week thinking about other things, until the next game. My one substantive thought: I think the NFL is all about building to a team that can win the playoffs. The Bills are working on building that winner. I have no idea whether they'll succeed, but the fact that they don't look dominant right now isn't something that I worry about. I did worry about before, but not since London. Either some players will step up, or they won't. If the Bills win it all, there will be great praise for all the guys who stepped up. If they get close and fail, well, someone didn't quite do what is incredibly difficult to do. Josh, Von, Diggs, Bernard, Cook, the oline, Floyd, and unnamed people all could step up. Taron Johnson had a career play in the playoffs before we understood how good he was. Maybe Benford will be that guy this season. I don't know. Every pro football team is trying to do something that is incredibly difficult - to win the Super Bowl. Every team works incredibly hard at it. Maybe the Bills will succeed, maybe they won't. I've stopped trying to figure it out. I'm just watching to see what happens.

I didn't mean that he is fearful. I just meant that before he was running too much and taking too many risks. Now he's not running when he should.

Well, I don't know about night games, but I'd say planning tailgating for a few hours is a good idea. The earlier you get there the better. After a few games it'll get sorted out, but probably not yet.

Yes, after Johnson was injured, but then he came back and was playing regularly. They were going with three lbs for tactical reasons, I think, not to save Johnson. And yes, in plays I noticed Williams more than Dotson. Flies around is right. But Dotson as quick, too. Just less instinctive, I think.

McDermott said he was on a pitch count. He was in a baseball cap on the sideline for the whole second half. I think they just wanted him to have a few live-action reps. He played like it was preseason.

I believe you're correct. Dodson was paired with with Bernard most of the second half. But they seemed to be in 4-3 more often than usual, with Williams in and Taron Johnson on the sideline. I wasn't disappointed in either. Generally seemed to know what they were doing, and the sorry and quickness was impressive. Give them a few weeks on the field and they'll be fine.

Disagree about Davis. But agree that Dorsey abandoned the run. They need effective game planning every week for the run, and they don't do it. And I agree about running offense from under center It looks better to me, and I'm sure running out of it is better.

I agree. Fly on Monday, relax on Tuesday, then get into the regular routine on Wednesday. I'm sure the travel had something to do with the way they played.

No one produced for 85% of the game, so laying that on Davis isn't right. Plus, production never is spread equally through games. I think it's on Allen and Dorsey. Dorsey need schemes that get people open and Allen needs to know where those guys are. Lawrence is leading the league in getting the ball out quickly because he knows where the open man will be when the ball is snapped. We saw it all day yesterday.

I agree. It was ugly, injuries, penalties. I agree with a lot of what's being said. I don't like Josh's decision making. Now he's afraid to run, and he passes up 10 yard runs for first fowns and throws prayers. Two incomplete to Knox and one great catch by Davis, for example. He had easy runs on all three. For me, it was all about Lawrence. He was great. Always knew where to go with the ball, and incredibly accurate. Deep ball up the right sideline on the last drive was incredible. Also, I wouldn't have done the onside kick. You're not going to get the ball there, and the lost field position was going to hurt. It did. It was all round ugly.

Wow. Great stadium. Just copy it for Orchard Paek.

No. I. Sure I would have noticed.

Spotted a Fromm jersey.

We're in a club on the third level. Free food, DJ, sax player, and lots of Bills fans. It's an NFL party. Fans wearing jerseys from all teams. Half Bills, the other 31 are the other half. Lots of excitement.

We're just coming into town from Heathrow. Will crash for a while and be out later.

You're right. All season ticket holders got was a chance to participate in an online sale a couple days before sales began to general public. A limited number of tickets. When I went online, there over 100,000 people ahead of me, so it obviously wasnt just season ticket holders. Somehow, I still got a chance, but they have some weird credit card rules and I timed out without getting anything. It was awful. There were NO tickets reserved strictly for season ticket holders.

We're about to leave for the airport, arrive Heatrow tomorrow morning. Are you and Gunner both meeting us there and taking us to our hotel? Or just one of you? 🤣 Thanks to you both for all your contributions to this thread. BritBill posted this a few days ago. He told it was all he knew but there may other info. Hey guys, a little info for you: Hi everyone! Welcome to both our British and American Bills families as they arrive in London for the game! This is an event for any Bills fans who didn't / couldn't purchase tickets to the Fitzrovia Belle for the Saturday and Sunday Bills parties. Feel free to share this event with family and friends. We're looking forward to turning Tottenham Court Road blue! The plan: Please arrive OUTSIDE of the Fitzerovia Belle Pub in Central London at 6PM on SATURDAY, OCT. 7TH and between 7-9PM SUNDAY, OCT. 8TH. On both dates, the PRIMARY sponsored pub for Bills Stragglers will be TCR BAR (183 Tottenham Ct Rd., W1T 7PE). The OVERFLOW bars will be THE COURT (108a Tottenham Ct Rd., W1T 5AA), and THE CARPENTERS ARMS (SAT ONLY) (68-70 Whitfield St., W1T 4EY). All three bars have outdoor terraces. On SUNDAY, we are setting up a pub for the stragglers to meet up before the game. Please keep your eyes peeled here, in Stragglers WhatsApp, and on FB for updates on this. Speaking of WhatsApp - if you wish to join the Stragglers WhatsApp group, follow: https://chat.whatsapp.com/LsDQkstGpIl8hgm5pafNSV It goes without saying, but please be respectful of London, its local pubs, and of each other. We are a reflection of Bills fans in the UK and abroad, so violence and other forms of mental, physical, or emotional abuse will result in the individual being asked to leave. Keep each other safe and have fun! GO BILLS!

I don't think so. They'll stick to their plan, and I doubt this week was the plan.

Butkus was amazing. The Bears drafted Dick Butkus and Gale Sayers in the first round of the same draft! Hard to imagine any team having a better first round, ever. Butkus was quoted in Sports Illustrated as saying, "If I was smart, I'd be a doctor. But I ain't, so I'm a football player." After football, he had a semi-successful career as a celebrity, doing ads and personal appearances. I think it was another Sports Illustrated story about him that said he did an appearance one time, and the promoter didn't pay him at the appearance. After a little time, Butkus called him, and the guy said, "Yeah, I'll get it to you." Another call, another brush off. One day Butkus walked into the guy's office, unannounced, walked behind his desk, grabbed the guy by the neck, stood him up, and walked him outside. Butkus made him get into a car, and they drove to the guy's bank, where Butkus made the guy take the money out of the bank that Butkus owned. He was his own collection agency, and when Butkus said it was time to get paid, you knew it was time!