MJS

Great player. We need to get him involved more. Him and Beasley are as reliable as you can get. Get those two the ball. Run what works. Luckily, we have a bunch of games ahead of us to get things right and get the offense clicking for the postseason.

Still Brady. Maybe Jackson 2nd? I'm pretty sure you would lock any thread unless it is about how terrible the team is.

Did you bump your head? Or is this an attempt at sarcasm?

This is the type of game you just try to move on from. Let's hope Brown is back so they can kick Williams back inside and bench Ford for Ike. I'm done seeing anything more from Cody Ford. I get that he will probably have to play some in the future, but I hope he is a last resort from now on. Also, I'd be happy to see Bates get some snaps. I've always thought Bates was a quality olineman. I'd rather him play and develop than Ford. Looks like he had no clue the ball was snapped, maybe he had his eyes closed and didn't notice all of the defense starting to move. Or, he is playing badly on purpose because he is discontent and wants to be released? He had some really, really bad plays.

Josh Allen is having a great season despite the offensive struggles.

No matter what Allen has done, there will always be those who are quick to blame him for everything. A lot of people do that for QB's anyways, but it is compounded for Josh Allen for some reason. The QB does touch the ball on every offensive play, so he is the single biggest factor to wins and losses, in my opinion. I know everyone likes to throw around that "wins are not a QB stat" but I think that is an oversimplification. Of course QB's contribute tremendously to wins and losses. But it isn't all on them, and when your oline can't block, it makes everything infinitely more difficult for the QB to manage.

We're not going to find any upgrades at this point. I know everyone is frustrated with the oline, but with the NFL wide olineman shortage, anyone worth a shot is on a roster.

If you don't go for it on 4th down these days, you get crucified by fans, media, and everyone in-between. People spout "analytics" without even really knowing what they are talking about. I think you should kick field goals unless the circumstance requires you to go for it on 4th down or you have less than 2 yards to gain. That's a conservative mindset, but at this point I just want the points. Daboll does not call the game well in short yardage, red zone, and goal line situations, in my opinion. Plus, when you suck at running the ball and can't get a push from your oline, going for it on 4th down is incredibly risky. So yes, maybe going for it and getting it does increase the win probability versus a field goal, that doesn't take into account your team's ability to actually gain those few yards.

I mean, his brain is probably already scrambled, right? He went through the NFL RB meat grinder for more than a decade.

That's how I see it too. Looking at the sideline isn't a penalty. Looking at the sidelines to taunt them is. Standing over a player isn't a penalty. Standing over a player to taunt them is. Yelling isn't a penalty. Yelling to taunt someone is. It isn't the physical act, it is the intent of the act. We all know when we see it. What he did was taunting, however mild it was. I think they have gone way too far with it this year. A little taunting is not a big deal. But rules are rules. Players need to have disciplined minds to know that any little thing will get called. Go run towards a teammate and flex at him, if you must. Go out of your way to make sure you are not giving the appearance of taunting. Not because it is right, but because you will potentially get a flag thrown for it.

I'm really confused by all of this. I guess the optics is that he threw the flag right after the contact with the player, but he called taunting for the player staring down the Steelers bench. If the contact had to do with the flag, he would have called something besides taunting, like contacting the official or something, which you can get thrown out of the game for. But he didn't. He called taunting. It is a judgement call and he judged that there was taunting, something that is being emphasized this year (which is dumb). This seems like any other dumb taunting penalty we have seen this year. I don't see why this has everyone more angry than others in previous weeks.

I can tell you are being completely objective. Literally everyone is saying it was dirty except for some pats fans. Typical. You have blinders on.

What does running into the player have to do with taunting, though? I don't see the connection. Wasn't it taunting because he stared down the Steeler bench?

I agree somewhat and I have been critical of both attitudes. But the doomsayers are far worse.

Davis didn't even play well in the opportunities he got. He had a brutal drop.

What exactly could the defense have done more for you? They gave up 9 points. 9!! Even after the offense turned the ball over three times and continually failed to keep up their end of the bargain.

I'll do it right now. Bills fans are fair weather fans. Not that they will stop watching or going to games, but they are quick to give up on the team and extremely slow to trust the team.

You can only exploit the middle of the field in Cover 2 if you have time to let route combinations develop. Allen is having to elude free rushers, sometimes two, within two seconds or less of the ball being snapped. In order to get a receiver into the hole behind the linebackers and between the safeties, you need more time than that. By the time receivers are in position, Allen has already been forced out of the pocket and is sprinting towards the sideline and receivers have to scramble to get open on the sideline. So yes, it is undoubtedly more complicated than everyone is making it seem, but it just comes down to the oline performing (which they don't) and Allen staying patient (which he doesn't). One of those is easy to fix, though. Allen can easily decide to be patient and take the quick throws, and I suspect he will be willing to do that now after such a tough loss. As for the oline? Well, getting healthy would be a good start. Brown has shown promise. Williams seems to perform better inside. Feliciano isn't great, but he is better than what we put out there Sunday. And what you can't fix you can try to mask with good schemes and help from other players. Our TE is injured and that is a major reason why the offense is struggling. Knox has been groomed to be a major part of the offense. Sweeney just isn't good enough to execute and be that "Cover 2 Killer" that you described. In fact, I was a little surprised he made the team because he hasn't ever really shown anything.

I agree. This week convinced me that Bills fans aren't actually the best fans in the league. I think Bills fans are just too damaged from the Superbowl losses and the drought. They can't let a moment of misery escape them. They compound every negative thing and make it 10 times worse in their minds.

Great post and exactly right. Singletary is a good back and it is doubly impressive that he puts up the per carry averages he does behind such a poor run blocking oline. He doesn't have speed, but and can make guys miss and he is a surprisingly hard runner and difficult to bring down if he can get some momentum. He has good contact balance. The problem is, he is small. He isn't the type that can deal with defenders in the backfield right as he receives the handoff. In fact, I'm not sure if any running backs are good in that situation. Even the "bruiser" types need to get a few steps of momentum at least.

Let's fire him and rehire Rex Ryan! That dude had fire!

Really hope to get Brown and Knox back. That will help a lot.

There plenty of games where it was not a problem last year. The line plays decently sometimes, terribly other times. This is not an oline that will prevent you from ever winning. Yes, in some games they are really bad. But in others they do give Allen time to throw. I remember some games last year where Allen had an eternity to throw. For whatever reason, they struggled. Having two starters out was part of the problem.

That's a nice theory, but I am not actually too bothered by the loss. A loss is a loss. They suck. I move on and look for the Bills to overcome and get more wins. On to next week. This week I have been bothered by the fans more than other weeks because I believe many of their takes to be embarrassing and ridiculous.

Put together an elite oline so it doesn't matter who you put out there at RB. And many of those team with top running backs are bad teams. Maybe because they drafted a RB high instead of, say, a QB?