VW82

Part of the issue with these injuries is our secondary was already arguably underperforming. Here were Joe B's grades from the Ravens game. FWIW Cole Bishop graded out as a B but his inexperience adds some questions as well. Somehow we need to get home on some blitzes.

I think this game will come down to our injuries on D and our in/ability to cover for them. Josh will figure out how to score points even if we can't run it. But if Benford can't go or isn't 100% and Milano is a step slow with the hammy, we're in trouble. People thinking Mahomes won't shred our back ups because he hasn't done that as much this year are fooling themselves. Chiefs are dangerous on O. We can win another Rams or Lions game but our best bet is with a healthyish D finally standing up to these guys in the playoffs. Fingers crossed for Benford, Milano, Bishop, and Taron. That's a lot of question marks.

Not going to lie, these are scary af injuries. Rest up, boys.

I'm fine with looking to solve some of this in the draft with one of our top 3 picks, but DL has to be our focus. Also, it's probably time for the "Josh doesn't have enough weapons" "need to spread the field" group to take the L. Brady is our OC and it's working. We're a balanced offense now with the run game. WRs need to be dual threats blocking as well as receiving. Sometimes you sacrifice with separation for that. Any new higher value draft capital used toward WR needs to done with that in mind, so it could just be another Coleman (which is ok btw).

He's still useful as a mismatch receiving TE but as others have said he isn't the best fit as an every down player in our run packages that we love so much. It'll be interesting to see what we do as far as extension when the time comes. In the meantime, I doubt we cut Knox, cap savings or not.

Have we discussed whether this current stretch by Brown is the best by a Bills RT in franchise history? I think it needs to be considered. Other candidates: Ballard (pick your year) Peters (that first year before he moved to LT) Big Mike (lol) Anyone I'm forgetting?

Or maybe he watched tape of Hamlin not being able to cover all year and knew he had a better than average chance and made a great throw...who can say?...but according to some you'd be the only one on the internet making that kind of argument. Bad Lamar. Bad.

I don't know about unanimous MVP but Josh probably should've been MVP. Of course the turnovers are part of it. But to the same point that Bills didn't win games in 2023 despite Josh's turnovers, the Ravens didn't lose or wouldn't have won or whatever despite Lamar's turnovers. At some point, a guy makes enough briliant plays over the course of a game that he renders said turnovers to be a minor point in consideration of his overall brilliance. No one should understand that better than Bills fans!

Ok well I disagree. I'm quite certain posters are trashing Lamar to prop up Allen. Having Henry definitely helped the Ravens. I'd argue Lamar improved as a passer for some of the same reasons Josh improved as a passer; mainly, he's a little older, a little more experienced, and is in the prime of his career. Once again, we're taking credit away from a great player. Why is that? See first point.

I still have issue with the framing here. If it had been all Henry or great catches on poorly placed balls or trick plays or, or...that helped Ravens get back in it and won then sure. But it was Lamar's brilliance before and after those turnovers that kept them in it. He was EASILY the best player in the game outside of his two turnovers .

If this is directed at me I'm not pretending that. Implicit in the scenario described above is that we wouldn't have scored with the 80+ seconds or so left after kickoff return.

No one is trashing Lamar? Have you read this thread? Your second paragraph is a strawman argument. 2x MVP Lamar Jackson needed Henry to improve his level of play?? C'mon. Had Andrews caught the conversion and Ravens beaten us in OT, we could just as easily point to our inability to punch it in from the 2 which cost us the game. See how easy that is?

Again, it was 7-7 when Lamar fumbled, and he did it on our 28 yard line. It was somewhat unlucky for them that a) they didn't recover, and b) Von returned it 40 yards. Even still, that happened at the top of the 2nd quarter. It was hardly what cost them the game.

You're living in a bad dream of your own making. There are few, if any, media that would call Josh a choker. If anything, media are discounting Bills because they think Josh is carrying a weak roster year after year. Any naysayers were drowned out long ago.

I disagree with most of this. I can't say that about most QBs (more like very few). Lamar was good early outside of the turnovers and it wasn't because of Henry who had drops. The two turnovers weren't what ultimately cost them the game - they were part of what cost them but there were many mistakes made by Ravens and it was still 7-7 after the second TOV with 70+ yards to go. Josh would've been given the same treatment by media if the roles were reversed because ultimately it wasn't Lamar's fault. This entire thread outside of OP is overcompensation for the fact there was an MVP debate. People are too caught up in looking for any excuse to trash Lamar as a way to prop up Josh.

It just dawned on me that we might get a chance to avenge XXVI. Perhaps not as meaningful as beating the Chiefs but I certainly haven't forgot.

Turning it over twice was tough, but outside of those plays he was excellent. He finished with a higher QB rating and QBR than Josh despite the turnovers. He overcame numerous mistakes from his teammates, the likes of which would have been castigated if it had been Josh's teammates to the point where most of the responsibility for the loss would've been placed at their feet instead of Josh's if the roles were reversed. Lamar bears some responsibility for the loss, yes. Mostly he was fantastic though and the main reason they had a chance.

I liked OP and so I responded favourably to Lamar. He was good yesterday! It is not his fault Ravens lost. He had two turnovers yes, one of which was his fault and the other was tough with the bad snap and extreme cold. Outside of those two plays, he was outstanding, responsible for way more drive extending plays than Josh, way more explosive plays than Josh, and he did it even though his teammates kept dropping and fumbling the ball. Tip your hat to a worthy adversary. That's what this thread should have been. Instead, it's all insecurity and bad faith arguments and downvoting people complimenting Lamar. Fo shame.

Not after yesterday

I think if the roles were reversed we'd have legions of fans in here swearing on their first born's life that Josh outplayed Lamar and was just unlucky with all the drops and a fluky bad snap fumble. Go back and read post after post during the 2023 season.

I just think it’s funny people around these parts who in the past hand waved Bills turnovers and pointed to drops and the occasional bad play calling as a way to what if their way through convos about who was the better team/QB are now steadfast that Bills were the better team despite getting badly outplayed on both sides except for the turnovers. Bills played mistake free and we won. Ultimately, we were lucky to win, and we’ll need to be much better if we want to win next week.

Ravens outplayed us but we won the turnover battle, and in the end that's what matters. Andrews is a fraud.

Give him his flowers. He outplayed Josh in the biggest game of the season and lost.

Disagree. We could win or lose this game and unless it's one-sided against in terms of coaching, it won't make a difference. Ravens are favoured on the road for a reason. McD needs to outcoach Reid in a playoff W. That will put him on a level that's harder to (harshly) criticize (as many have done here).

We're not even going to try to run the ball vs. Ravens like we did vs. Broncos. This game will look more like the Titans, Chiefs, and Dolphins games where we spread them out and play pitch and catch. Good luck covering us now that we have healthy receivers. All we have to do is not play 6 in the box vs. Lamar and Henry again and we should be good.