WideNine

I knew this was a waste of my time, but I like to try to throw a bone to new folks just joining the Wall conversations. You seemed confused by Hyde's play as you stated "once again the defense bailed us out" after mentioning the Special Teams play. I was concerned that you did not know what Special Teams was vs Defense. That, and as this was probably the only game where the Defense was crapping the bed most of the game and had to have some help from the offense and Special Teams to seal the deal - hence, complimentary football. And now buh-bye you special-minded waste of my time.

We get NE twice every year, we deserve the kind of break most teams in other divisions enjoy. Not feeling guilty at all

You are spot on. Folks are so quick to crown these kids, or throw them into the trash heap. I prefer listening to the former QBs and coaches who usually have a more nuanced expectation around these young signal callers.

I am going to have to go with probably not. Same crowd yammering for Barkley to start, then mysteriously lost their voice after watching him against NE. Same crowd that forgot what every journeyman QB looked like behind center for this team last year (the short time they were upright) before the coaches turned to Allen in desparation and he gave this team a spark. Is what it is, I concede that Allen needs to get better in areas, but he is this teams best option behind center.

This. They were just out of sync, and I put that on Allen. I am begining to think that Allen needs Prozac or s stiff drink at the start of games. He is just too amped, but settles down into a rhythm later.

I have been concerned since they drafted him, but he was green, I don't think we have seen his ceiling yet and at game 17 he is actually further along than I thought he would be. I expected disaster with him behind center last year, and if they did start him, I expected a run heavy, ball control offense that shielded him while he was training on the job. On this team (if he can protect the ball and move the chains), we usually have a shot at winning. Give it time, I wanted to see the turnovers go down, they have, completions go up, they have, but now it's the deep shots and being in sync with his speedsters. We will keep moving the goal posts and if he is making progress I would expect that to happen.

So using that rational Miami had only 5 pts on the scoreboard not 24. That, and it was a Special Teams play. Team game dude and the offense and special teams had to put up some points for us to win. Complimentary football.

I think you are right, but I can't see them getting up for Landry. First he is no longer on the team, and 2nd he is a tool that gets into fights everywhere. I think they just cannot stomach the fact that Buffalo is and has been better than Miami for a while. It's a theory, but yeah they do get fired up usually for our games. There was that run for the bus game last year with us to end their season and coach, perhaps the new coaching staff made them watch that....

I think when they do that milling around business on D you have to think out of the box, who cares whose rushing or who isn't - you just direct snap to your running back, tell your o-line to blast anyone standing, and let those guys milling around become the confused ones. That's my simple solution - may not work, but I cannot help but picture defensive players getting knocked around like bowling pins because they are not in any kind of stance with leverage.

I will settle for an emoji of an ostrich with its head in the sand, or someone pooping on a party cake. We won, we are 5 and 1 so "Ef" the style points and take the win and stop all the complaining jeez, I swear some folks here were happier when we were losing every other game with no light at the end of the freaking tunnel. Losing is a habit, and I am starting to think that bitching may be too. I'll take the win, Miami will have to get its one win this season somewhere else. Maybe someone kicks our team in the nuts next week and we lose, but for the rest of this week we are still winners.

Usually right with you on those stats, but I would add TOP to that as well. Our defense was letting Miami have the ball for far too long today - I am sure if they were asked they would tell you that this was not a good game by them. Any defense that lets Fitzpatrick run a TD in from 15-20 yards out is not going to come out of that game flexing nuts A bit of rust, perhaps they thought Miami would roll over, they missed having Milano back there, Wallace is a smaller DB who can be man-handled and Preston on him was a good match-up for Miami. They could not stop Gesecki, and both of their RBs were finding success early in the game, and Fitz was escaping and extending plays. Was a tough day for them even with the heroics from White that kept them out of the end zone in the second half.

I guess I do kind of want to see that monster game, but also do not care that much if we are winning. If we do have a good lead, I don't see this staff putting the petal to the metal. It will be run, run, screen (or another play behind the line of scrimmage that cannot be an incomplete pass that stops the clock) and punt to assure good field position for our defense. Milking everything they can out of the clock. That is the way they coach the game and likely what fans are going to see if we get a lead. The only time Allen will have a game like that is if our defense completely craps the bed and he has to ball like crazy to try to play catch up. That is an "iffy" proposition at this stage of his development. Folks may not want to hear it, but I think you start to see those games next year, but only if our defense is getting schooled and Allen takes the steps he needs to take. A lot of "ifs"

"Brown" has gradually evolved into hunter safety-orange.

Saw Gore on another stretch play that went for maybe a yard - not going to say that will never work, but it is like hammering the square peg into a round hole all day. He is usually money off tackle - he may get stopped for a yard, but usually he plows ahead for a bit more and if a guy misses and he gets any steam he's gonna pick up your 1st. Gore has also caught a few lobs on the wheel that have really surprised me, his soft hands and his ability to usually make at least one guy miss. I was pretty skeptical of the Gore signing - I was wrong and glad he is a Bill.

There was a bit of a screen pass to McKenzie late that worked. Will have to watch it again as I was not sure if it was a screen or a twist on a wheel route that usually goes to running backs. I think they got some blockers in front of him. Daboll likes to bring guys like McKenzie in motion for all those jet sweeps and such because defenses have to respect the motion and sets them up for counter plays. There was nice touch on that pass and he took it in stride down to the one.

Sometimes you just got to let it out....

We can disagree on where Knox would have been tackled - I think he would have gotten in, but you could very well be right as there was a safety lurking. Either way, he catches the ball at the Miami 13 and I think we score more than a field goal and have a bit of a different narrative for the entire first half. That first possession I thought he was inconsistent as he had some pressure and had two incomplete passes (I think one was tipped) and a throw away. Toss in a penalty that took away 10 yards and a scramble for zero gain and we settled for a field goal. That second possession they did drive down the field again, but I did not like the screen play call to McKenzie on 3rd and 11 which went for 0 yards. That play was called after Allen completed a 9 yard pass on 2nd and 10 that was called back with a 10 yard penalty. To me, the screen was a play that had little chance of success with how the Phins defense was playing in the box and a play that said that the Bills coaches were more than happy to settle for a field goal which we did. I also have a hard time laying the fault for that drive faltering all on Allen. That 3rd possession was the possession with the back to back drops by Knox where we settled for a field goal. There was some inconsistency and I saw the passes that were off the mark, but I think things went better in the second half because the refs stopped calling as many penalties and the rest of the offense along with Allen started making the plays they should have been making earlier when they were settling for field goals. Edit here - Also our defense started finally making stops after that long drive they gave up in the 3rd.

Well, we do have 2 weeks of pent up over-reaction to get out of our collective systems. We are 5-1 and Singletary played and Josh did not turn the ball over. All good things.

Agree with some of this Gunner, but didn't Allen drive them down field and then throw a perfect pass to Knox for the go ahead TD that was dropped? Gotta be balanced with these. Not sure it is all rhythm, but as a team they usually hit their stride in the 2nd halves of games.

I don't think he was capable of those passes last year - that is how raw I thought he was at the position. Gonna take some time and some set backs, but the investment may well be worth it if Allen can bring his game in line with his physical talents.

I get a bit....intense during the games. I do give my wife fair warning and she knows that when my Bills are playing she should just take the family and go shopping or something.

I keep wondering how many times we will give up the corner blitz, on Dawkins side. Seems like every game.

They did finally run that come-back route with Brown - speed to drive off the defender and get him to turn then come back. Josh with that ability to get the ball there in a hurry. It worked. Those deep outs will too. I honestly think that the conservative underneath play calling is a very deliberate thing by Daboll to force Allen to read defenses and develop his anticipation and touch. Allen is making progress, still needs to throw more away, and had a unnecessary laser he threw at Beasley with a flick of his wrist, but a work in progress. The good news is when they take the shackles off later in games when they need a spark or have fallen behind Allen seems to play his best. We can also see that touch developing on that great pass to Duke, and that touch pass to Beasley, and that perfect pass to Knox that he dropped. It is getting there folks, but developing players seems to be a thing of the past. Some of us older folks remember a different league where there was no free agency and teams could stash players for years as they developed. It is truly a thing of the past, but in the case of Allen being patient may well be worth it. I think it will come together with patience. We basically drafted a high school QB with some incredible raw skills, that is about where I felt his game was at in regards to situational awareness, reading defenses, and throwing guys open. Allen was not that guy groomed since grade school to play QB at a college or pro level. He has off-the-chart physical talent, but he has been drinking from the fire hose trying to marry that talent up with being capable of playing the game at a pro level. I will take the progress I see as moving in the right direction.

I am with MDH here. Sorry, but Knox has had too many drive-killing drops and he needs to clean that **** up. I was a bit nervous about his hands and juggled balls when he was drafted although he checks all the other boxes. REALLY hoping he finds more consistency there because if he can't there is not a lot of reason to try to scheme him open for those plays. Regarding the penalty - meh, hands were inside and the defender was flailing about like a rag doll so of course there has to be a flag. I think many underestimate how damn hard it is for TEs in regards to seal blocking assignments. Trying to execute a reach-block on edge guys with NFL talent is crazy hard and refs always seem to call those whether they are real holds or phantom. Give the kid a pass all day long on that penalty

I think Peko and Phillips have been earning more playing time. Time will tell if Star stays on , but he has to do more than just absorb blockers as this D relies on the interior guys penetrating at least a bit to make it hard to step into a pocket. Maybe he is dinged, maybe they are looking to light a fire under him. Competition for reps is a good thing.