CincyBillsFan

When voters looked at the schedule the Lions game was huge becasue it was on the road against the #1 seed (at the time) in the NFC. If the Bills won and Allen dominated then the MVP was his. The voters understand that the last 3 games were not going to be showcase opportunities like the last 4 have been.

That's fine but for the Bills to finish at 12 - 5 we would have to go 1 - 2 against two teams with a combined w/l record of 7 - 21 and with 2 of the games played at home. That ain't happening in this or any other universe.

BTW Bishop was quite good tonight. A couple of nice tackles at the LOS.

He draws their #1 cover guy and they probably rotate a safety his way which creates a cascade freeing up Shakir, Kincaid and others. The implications here are fantastic for the Bills. At some point defenses are going to have to key on stopping these other guys and then Cooper is going to go off.

He was putting those numbers up in the playoffs in 2021 and........................................

And this would be wrong headed IMO. In this scenario you tell the O to score as many points as possible not caring if it takes 1 play or 10 plays. Ypu don't play field position but adopt the Lions approach when they had all their injuries - put the metal to the offensive peddle.

Actually this quote represents a lot of what's wrong with McD. The purpose of having an elite, generational talent at QB isn't to protect your defense.

Not to mention as we have seen with our returning players those coming off an injury are not at peak performance their first game back.

Allen wants nothing more then to win a Super Bowl for Buffalo. He clearly loves Western NY and is loyal by nature. But at some point he will see the end of his days as an elite QB talent and long for that championship. If the Bills continue to flounder in the playoffs it would only make sense for him to move on.

Pitt has a much tougher schedule then Buffalo over their last 4 games and IMO is more likely then the Bills to lose 2 more games. I predict the Bills finish at 13 - 4 and he Steelers at 12 - 5.

It would strike me as out of character for Allen to a change the call in that situation. This wasn't in the middle of the field where he has the freedom and personnel to change the play in response to what he's seeing from the D. They were on the goal line in a jumbo package about to execute the tush push. I don't see an option to change the call in the huddle at that point without his having to call a time out to make his case. In the 1st half you could do this but not at the end of the game.

To me this is the most damaging line of attack on the limitations of McD as head coach. IMO the rest of this season and next season are a Super Bowl appearance or bust for McD. If we continue to exit in the divisional round then there is no choice but to change the head coach. For me it's a SB appearance either this season or next. If they make it and lose I'm still all in on McD as my assumption would be that we would be going back multiple times over the coming years. But if after this season and next season they don't make the SB and Allen now approaching 30 a change at the top is the only rational move to make.

The one thing the Bengals don't have that the Bills do is a reliably healthy Allen. Burrow's injuries have messed up a couple of seasons. But your point is valid and may reflect the fact that the NFL is again undergoing a transformation and is rediscovering the importance of a running game and a bend but not break D. Which makes yesterday's result all the more frustrating as McD's supposed strength is on the defensive side of the ball and that is what failed spectacularly on Sunday. So now the question is whether or not it was a one off disaster or a sign of things to come.

Funny you should say this. Did you notice how in the post game interview McVay was over the top in his praising of Allen? My first thought was that when Stafford retires in 2 - 3 years McVay is setting up a situation where he could entice a 30/31 year old Allen to come play football for him. Yea I know there's a contract in place but by that time if the Bills haven't gotten over the hump and we're still having this same discussion.............................

I don't get this. They are bunched up to do the tush push how is he going to roll out and why would a TE be running a pattern? Aren't the TE's driving their heads into D linemen belly's? Allen just can't change the play that the O Coordinator calls in that situation with the tush push personnel. Are you trying to insinuate that Allen screwed up here?

And as you note even as bad as they played the chance our D stops the Rams from getting that 1st down was always going to be much better then the chances of recovering an onside kick.

It's hard to take what the ***** TV refs say seriously anymore. There is a real problem with NFL officiating and it's going to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs if they don't get a handle on it.

Did all the worry warts about having to play the Bengal's in the 1st round of the playoffs not just watch that game? A BAD Dallas team playing with a bad back up QB was about to get the ball on the Cincy 45 yard line with the best FG kicker in the league and under 2 minutes to play. But a remarkable bit of bad luck and bad play by the Cowboys special teams hands the Bengal's the win. And don't forget that Dallas has been absolutely horrible at home. IF and it's a huge IF, the Bengals make the playoffs and have to visit Orchard Park wild card weekend the Bills will win by 2 - 3 TD's.

Aikman is a world class dork.

Interesting post for a "Bills" fan but I'll bite. My point was that the Lions had to worry about Buffalo's high powered offense which has scored 30 or more points the last 7 games. Throw in the Lions injuries and I'm surprised you don't thin the Lions would be worrying about the Bills offense and Allen. BTW, I wasn't even talking about the Bills D or McD in my post.

As Burrow and his WR's have shown in two games. Nice summary but I would point out that Rogers was way past his prime and no longer elite by any measure; Jackson has a unique style that McD's D does a good job against and the 4 wins against KC have been more the result of Allen playing great.

I've come to the conclusion that it is almost entirely due to Allen. The QB is so critical to NFL success and he is the best playing. He elevates those around him as even a casual glance at the numbers put up by Brown, Beasley, Foster, Sanders, Diggs, Davis, Hollins, Shakir, and others reveal. I don't know whether McD is wasting Allen's best years or is creating a foundation that will see multiple Super Bowl wins in the next 5 - 7 years. I go back and forth on this topic. IMO this is a big year one way or the other as the Bills appear to be set to greatly exceed preseason expectations (13 - 4; division title). But if the playoff exit happens in the Divional round following a similar pattern as past years then next season should be the make or break one for McD. Either an AFC Championship appearance or McD is gone and a new coach put in his place.

These are also the places where we do miss Kincaid.

Agree. Go 13 - 4 and we lock up the #2 seed. Sure beating Detroit is great for bragging rights on the national stage but beating the Jets and NE twice is mich more important.

Correct in the long run this should not exert a big negative impact on the season. Even with a loss at Detroit the Bills are still in a great position to go 13 - 4 and lock up the 2nd seed. But in the short run it is concerning to see some of the same old problems manifest themselves in another ugly loss.