Rew

Offense has felt a bit of a lull in Q2 and sometimes Q3, but has pretty consistently been strong in Q4 (particularly the last 5 minutes). However, as a team we have consistently (for many years) been having better 2nd halves than first halves. Our 2nd half scoring differential was breaking records a couple years ago. Our defensive adjustments this year have followed this trend. I think you're having flashbacks to the pre-McD years, when it never seemed to matter how close we came we always lost games.

I don't think Peyton has any broadcast limitations that would prevent him from playing.

it's funny watching the scenario's that have the chiefs getting into the playoffs at 10-7. Just 2 weeks ago there was some dude here that insisted the bills would miss on tie breakers at 11-6 due to 6 AFC teams having an 11-6 record (somehow the chiefs made it in over us in over us in the 1/10,000 simulation). Also, having flashbacks to a decade ago. Stop guys, fortunately we don't need to talk ourselves into the "we're still in the hunt". No need to cause yourself stress doing it for the chiefs.

Same thing he said last week. This version of the bills is what should scare people. Allen opening up his game may result in a few more turnovers, but the ceiling is through the roof.

So you think $8M per is an overvalue? For me the 5th year is a no brainer. I wouldn't sign him until at least after year 4 though, and possibly let him play out year 5 as well.

We have the best run offense in the league, a top 5 overall offense, and the best pass defense in the league. We're an 8-4 team playing against a 4-8 team at home. We have a QB that has played at MVP level far more recently than the opposing QB that hasn't been healthy in 3 years. The bengals have like the worst defense in the league. We should be favored, and the only reason we're not favored by double digits is due to our injuries and lack of consistency. I wish we were better this year, but we are still a good team.

Sure, you can call it blaming others or call it accountability. It's a team game, and players need to both have talent and perform in their job. Isn't it literally McD's job to evaluate and call out when others aren't doing their job? Saying "we didn't play complementary football" might be somewhat a McD thing, but many coaches, including Superbowl winning ones, have put a similar emphasis on "do your job", "do your 1/11th", or many other variants of the phrase. It's not hard to understand, but every team struggles with getting all players to embody this on every play. If you want to turn this into a McD critique, start a thread discussing why (or if) we have consistent gap discipline problems spanning multiple seasons. While in the short term (single game evaluations) it is problems with players, a macro problem like this would be either a talent (gm) or coaching (DC/HC) problem.

When McD has used this I think it is quite a bit broader than defense help offense and vice versa. Everyone interpreted this to be a comment on high level game strategy, and while I agree that is a component I think McD usually means it more in the tactical execution. Complementary is about play calling philosophy and our expectations of players on each play. You can see our team building as a carry over from the tactical expectations that we have for players in complementary football. We want players who do their 1/11th. We don't want high risk taking by players, or guys that take penalties and put their team in a bad spot. Every player, on every play, with solid technique and high effort within play design. This also goes to play design and play calling. We want to run high probability plays most times that have a high floor when properly executed. In defense we want to take away explosive plays and force the other team to out execute us every play for a long drive. This will always give us a high floor if we can fill the team with people capable of doing the 1/11th. This is not always going to be explosive, but when you combine this strategy with higher end talent the ceiling becomes high. How does all this tie in to complementary? Every player on every play should not be trying to individually win that play. They should be doing their job to complement the other 10 guys doing their job. Good examples of complementary on defense are about gap discipline, zone discipline, and tackling discipline. Good examples on offense are following through on blocks, chipping when you don't have to, blocking as a receiver, and "selling" every route you run. When McD says "didn't play complementary football" he means that players weren't doing their job in system or that play calling got tunnel visioned and lost sight of game strategy, or both.

Prepare to be shocked

This was a pretty normal game until 5 minutes ago

Bills currently have the best odds in the AFC of going to the Superbowl. Not because this is our best team in the last several years, but because nobody else is that good either and we have the highest ceiling of the teams likely to make the playoffs. While we can all see an early out as possible, all the other teams look at what we are capable of and just hope that we don't put together a complete game against them. This is the same reason that the chiefs would also be a Superbowl contender if they squeak in. Good teams have bad games, bad stretches, and bad seasons. All that matters is what happens in week 19, and the Bills have as good a shot as anyone.

No, it's not even the worst this year

Enjoyable game. Team is playing decent, if Allen had 1-2 different decisions we're up by 10 instead of 1

What was the "blunder"

2 weeks? He looked terrific against KC