CincyBillsFan

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.

And on any of those three passes from the one Allen could run it if he sees an opening.

I remain agnostic towards McD. You can't deny the winning culture he has built in Buffalo: * 6 straight 10 win seasons * 5 straight 11 win seasons (I'm assuming we win at least 1 more game) * 5 straight division titles * 4 straight seasons winning at least 1 playoff game and likely soon to be 5. These are not small things particularly with respect to the 18 lost years before McD showed up. BUT............................. To many times McD has messed up the end of a game at a critical moment; and his expertise is the defense and it's been repeated defensive collapses which have prevented the Bills from advancing to the Super Bowl. So I remain in a wait & see mind set. McD has done a great job this year and if this loss was a one off I can live with it.

And if they got Baby Jesus at QB they would B word that he didn't walk on the water fast enough.

Yes

He enhanced his chances with that performance. And he would trade it all away for just one more defensive stop.

Allen was as close to perfect for a QB as you can be. Didn't he have a record setting EPA & Fantasy score? Allen had a 117 QB rating and an amazing 90 QBR.

I just can't believe you are saying this after what we just watched. The expectation of perfection from Allen is flat out crazy. It's insane and is not seen at any level of football by any other QB. As good as Stafford played today, and he was magnificent, he also missed some passes and left some plays out there.

Sorry but I can't utter a single bad word about the Bills Offense today. They scored TD's on 2 of their 4 first half possessions which is solid. In the 2nd half they scored TD's on 4 out of 5 possessions. The Bills D was terrible and the special teams not much better and that's were the discussion ends IMO.

And the Bills scored TD's on 6 out of 9 possessions with only one three and out. The defense was beyond bad today.

And the Detroit defense has to be very concerned about what they're about to face in the Bills offense - it works both ways.

The answer is absolutely it will show up as it has in every year the Bills have been in the playoffs in the Allen era. By my count there has only been ONE elite defensive playoff performance by the Bills since 2019 and that was against Baltimore.

I will say this having clinched the division I'm not taking this loss all that hard. It's a non conference game and our chances to lock up the 2nd seed are still very good even if we lose to Detroit nest week. The offense showed that they can be lethal and we'll be getting 2 more key pieces back soon. I also trust that McD will fix the issues with the D and they will play better going forward. For now I'm viewing this defensive performance as a one off resembling the inexplicable offensive melt down we had against Jacksonville a few years ago.

When those 2 WR's are healthy and Stafford is on his game the Rams O is as good as the lions.

While not officially classified as a giveaway a blocked punt for a TD is worse then a couple of TO's.

On the positive side: * Allen * Shakir * Cooper * Hollins Who would have thought with both Diggs & Davis gone the Bills could execute an old fashioned shoot out at such a highly productive level.

Football 101 is you try to take away the opponents best weapon. On that play the Bills almost ignored the best WR on the field today.

On the Rams last TD we had an all out blitz and they threw the ball outside to their best WR who had two blockers versus our two safeties/CB's. That's on coaching.

We all noticed at my house. When they lined up for the tush push we ALL said "don't use a TO if you don't make it. Line up and run it again". We also were all screaming at the TV for them to line up in the shot gun and not do the tush push. Again we make excuses for another coaching melt down at a critical point in a game.

No but the questions linger.

Have you seen the Steeler's remaining schedule? KC, Baltimore and the Eagles. They are losing at least one of those.

The Bills and McD are looking at the long term of the season and not individual, non conference games. It's frustrating but in the end it's the right thing to do.