WhiskyBreath

Pats have played well and their coaches have done a terrific job -- they deserve credit for that. However, they have played a pretty soft schedule and have not been plagued by crippling injuries to key players. At present, the Bills have Ed Oliver, Michael Hoecht, Landon Jackson, Damar Hamlin, Taylor Rapp, and Curtis Samuel on IR, among others. They have also lost folks like Matt Milano, Terrell Bernard, and Dalton Kincaid for significant stretches. We certainly have had issues getting the team prepared for games against "weak" opponents, but in a long season every team has a few games where they under-perform. So, it is not just coaching, injuries have been pretty devastating for the Bills. All that said, it is time to buckle down, beginning with the Bengals, who are suddenly looking rather good. We better not sleepwalk this one!

Not that I want to overlook a rising Bengals team, but I could not help notice that the Patriots get a bye week before playing us on their home turf. Plenty of time to prepare for the Bills. Nothing comes easy fo us. Just hope our guys do the job against the Bengals and then circle the biggest game of the season the week after as an absolute must-win.

Correct. However, we did manage to beat teams with good defenses by game-planning around a fierce pass rush with extra folks on the OL, throwing the ball early with short passes, screens, well-executed running plays with more folks blocking, etc. Waiting for an open receiever for the long ball results in 8 sacks against a good defense like Houston. Bottom-line, we got complacent and simply were not prepared for this game. Then, we failed to make adjustments as the sacks kept climbing. If we had made those adjustments, we may still have overcome the INT's, sloppy play, missed extra point, penalties, etc. The fact that we were even close is a testament to Allen and that incredible 4th and 27 play at the end.

Bingo! I was surprised by the complete lack of adjustments to Houston's defense, as amazing as that defense is. I kept thinkiing they will adjust with quick throws, as opposed to the long ball when you have no time in the pocket, perhaps, a few well-executed screens. etc. But, we got zilch in terms of adjustments even after half-time. The coaches messed up big time first in terms of: (a) complacency; (b) preparing for a super, but somewhat predictable defense; and (c) making appropriate adjustments based on what they were seeing on the field.

It is complacency that leads to some of the players not practicing, making mistakes, and sleep-walking during the game. The caoching staff needs to get players pumped up for all games, not just games against good teams.

Despite turnovers, sloppy tackling, and a lack of teeth in our DL aside, I think what really killed us was the missed extra point (no longer an automatic for us) and the holding calls on kick-off returns that routinely gave us poor field possession on most drives (other than that spectacular run back by Davis). Barring these goofs, we should have at least been able to tie the game at the end with a FG, instead of having to go for the TD. Oh, forgot the 8 sacks, albeit against a super defense. What happened to our league-leading OL?

Two reasons: These teams circle games against the Bills on their calendars. They prepare well and play their best game of the season against the Bills. Look at the overall performance of Miami, Atlanta, and Houston in the Bills game compared to other games on their schedule. The Patriots are simply a better team and they deserved to win. The Bills do the reverse. They take the outcome for granted and play sloppy with penalties, turnovers, poor tacking, etc, etc.. Their wost performances are against lower-ranked teams. This is both a player and a coaching issue.

With the focus on the 'All White" hoopla, even our champions forgot about playing football. Exactly what I was afraid of. We assumed we would just roll over the Patriots with an easy win. 12 penalties and 3 turnovers in a self-inflicted loss! A humble suggestion: stop the gimmicks and focus on business, maybe?

How about forgetting the 'White" hoopla and folcusing on the Patriots who were humming on offense last week? Oh, and all white somehow would be more appropriate in a blizzard as opposed to a balmy day.

Our GM has generated quite a bit of ammunition: A late pick in round 1. 2 picks in round 2 2 picks in round 4 3 picks in round 5 2 picks in round 6 We do not have picks in rounds 3 and 7. I would be inclined to consider giving up our pick in round 1, and one of our picks in round 2, in exchange for moving up in round 1 and getting a pick in round 3. Could offer a pick in rounds 4, 5 or 6 as well, provided we get the right guy in round 1. Question is how much higher can we pick in round 1 with this ammunition. We also could tade down in round 1 in exchange for another round 2 pick and a round 3 pick. I have faith in Beane and a lot depends on who is available as the draft progresses. But, if you were the GM, what would you consider doing?

With Milano and Terrell Bernard, we may have done as well as the Chiefs in slowing down the Eagles run game. But, our front four would have been outmatched by their O-line plus we lack both quality and depth at the CB and safety positions. That should be the top priority this off season, along with depth in the D-line.

I think the reasons for this under achieving performance vs. the Patriots were: Under-estimating the opponent. The coaches rested folks in preparation for the playoffs only because they were super confident that the Patriots are simply not up to the task. Luckily, we dodged a bullet. Lack of preparation, sloppy play, i.e. sleepwalking; and Support from the refs. Opponents put up their best performance against us because they do not under-estimate us and come fully prepared with their A-game. We should do the same, particularly, against teams in our Division. I can see the logic to resting key players so that we are fully healthy before the playoffs. However, if we decide to do that, we need to focus even more on preparation.

Agree with both, but the first was a head-scratcher because we were not able to stop them throughout the game, so why would you trust our defense to discover what they have been doing wrong for the first 57 minutes and suddenly fix it in the last few minutes? What insight did we have to make that decision? Conversely, they had not been able to stop us either. So, take the 3 point and the ball. In a game like this, the last person with the ball wins, just about every time.

Is the 'Babe' coming? It would be sweet if she watched Travis Kelce get whooped.

What about the Ravens game? Could not stop the run when we knew it was coming. Sleepwalking plus outplayed in every phase of the game.