Virgil

My apologies for the lateness of this, but work and a late night game really has taken it out of me lately. However, it's been good to sit back and listen to the post games and media reactions. The questions about what type of team we are seem to be answered and the optimism is contagious. Welcome aboard the Bills bandwagon 1 - Pele - Playing soccer in high school, I had a coach who idolized the soccer great Pele. He told me about people would go to a game and be incredibly disappointed with how he played up until halftime, but then he would absolutely take over and dominate the second half. My coaches point was, Pele used the first half to keep the game close and study the opponents tendencies. Once he figured them out, he would absolutely dismantle them. I thought about this after the Steelers game a lot in addition to all of the naysayers about the Bills inability to make half time adjustments. If ever there were a game where we did just that, it was this one. The Bills offense was night and day different coming out of the tunnel and completely imposed their will against one of the top rated defenses in the league. The pressure, the coverage, the gaps were all exposed and Daboll deserves a ton of credit. 2 - Momentum - The shifting of a games momentum is something you typically gradually feel. For this game, if you weren't lulled asleep by the punt-fest yet as the thoughts of depression creeped in about another poor Prime Time showing, you could see the entire game turn on the pick six by Taron Johnson. Of all the plays fans have been clamoring for, this was it. The Steelers had established their offense all season on their short passing attack. Our offense couldn't score. Our defense had yet to score a defensive touchdown all season. Johnson's anticipation, cut on the ball, and break away speed from JuJu was the most perfect moment that could happen for this game and defense. Within a few moments, all of your doubts and questions about this game and contender talk went away. There was no looking back. 3 - 7:11 - If there were one sticking point fans had beyond prime time games and defensive turnovers, it was the Bills inability to fully put teams away. The Bills controlled the clock for over the last seven minutes of the game and did it mainly rushing the ball. The Steelers knew what was coming and they still couldn't stop our rushing attack. A top tier defense couldn't stop the Bills rushing game down the stretch. Let that really sink in for a moment. Moss showed great cuts and acceleration again. Motor broke multiple arm tackles and Josh needs to learn to delay that slide another yard 🙂. Of all the impressive things that occurred in this game, this might stand out as the biggest win to me. Our ability to control the clock and open up the passing game with the run is something that will go a long way in our playoff run. 4 - Crazy cat peekin' through a lace bandanna, Like a one-eyed Cheshire, like a diamond-eye jack. A leaf of all colors plays a golden-string fiddle, To a double-E waterfall over my back. 5 - Disrespect - Mentioned in the post game, was the Bills being aware of Juju making a video of him dancing on our logo before the game. There were images of Ralph's statue with Steelers gear on him. The broadcast even showed highlights of the Patriots blowing us out on Sunday night a few years back. These are all things that Bills fans might previously look for small victories within the game for, but know there wasn't much we could do about it. Then, it was shown as Josh brought the team out of the tunnel, that he even mentioned how the Steelers could do the talking, but we'd be doing the dancing. And dance we did. There's just something to the fact that we can take the hits and back it up. I love that the team is tracking on all of these things and save their responses for the field and after the game. This team gets it, has a lot of pride, and is showing the world one game at a time. 6 - Records - While not earth shattering, the fact that Diggs was the first to 100 catches and Allen broke the single season total touchdown record in this game, while we still have 3 left to play is outstanding to me. Normally, I would give both of these guys their own spot, but they've been talked about so much at this point, that any doubters are comical at this point. Diggs and Allen are arguably the top 3 at their positions and it was on full display for this game. Diggs ability to get open and draw defensive attention while Allen calmly maneuvers within the pocket and not letting turnovers and pressure slow him down, is making for an epic combination. It may have been taboo to mention Kelly and Reed compared to Diggs and Allen, but not anymore. 7 - Defensive Backs - Short passing game, weak armed Ben or not; our defensive backs played an amazing game tonight. Yes, Wallace got turned around on his touchdown, but he made up for it on the last interception (I don't think anyone was more surprised by this pick than Levi. He didn't know what to do after). On multiple replays, you could see Tre and the other defenders eyes looking back to Ben while in coverage. They were locked in on the Steelers offense and dominated the passing attack most of the game. They also adjusted to playing more press after the first few series, which really paid off. The only real big plays came on offensive pick plays were our guys ran into each other. While it helps that Ben doesn't have the arm he used to, the confidence and swagger this gives our guys is immeasurable and you could see it on the sidelines. 8 - Pass Rush - The Steelers and Bills send pressure in very different ways. The Steelers adjust their defensive lineman to bunch on a certain side, and then send half-second delayed blitzes from the box. This makes it really hard for Josh to see where the pressure is coming from and where the coverage will be. It was very well executed and I have to tip my cap to them. The Bills typically put everyone in the box and either sent them all, or pulled some back. While both quarterbacks were under duress, once the game was said and done, the Bills hit home more than the Steelers. As said before, the Bills seemed to figure out that pressure at half time and Josh made them pay. My favorite blitz of the night was when Milano came in and physically pushed the Steelers halfback off his feet and into Bed. It wasn't a sack, but my god. Sorry for the shortened thoughts this week, but a lot of this has already been said over the past few days. It's great to be 10-3 and know this team has fully and finally arrived. We should expect to win every game going forward and a deep run through the playoffs shouldn't shock anyone. It's great to feel respected by the league and know that no game or time slot is above our head. Great game and good luck to everyone. Go Bills!!!

Late night and busy work day. It’ll be out soon

Maybe, but I don’t want to. I love me some Milano

With 3 games left. Wow

Edited Confirmed that Allen now holds the record for most single season touchdowns. With 3 games left is just incredible

Yeah, we need to bring him back. It sucks the cap is possibly going down. I want Milano and Williams back and then write the blank check to Allen the following year

Think more about why teams need to keep trying for them 😀

Daboll’s halftime adjustments was one of the most impressive things about this farm and why I believe this team can make a run.

Even if they were healthy, I think our defense would have still hit. The game just may have been closer. We didn’t run it a lot until the end

You assume he will play in week 17 Stop it. I can only get so erect

I was hoping this was where this thread was going. Well done

Allen loves Knox and never loses faith in him. While I agree with where you are coming from, it’s just not going to happen. With that being said, I hope they go TE in the draft and put someone out there that can stretch the field a little and make Allen give in

About it being safe. We want a home playoff game for the fans. We jump through burning tables and get blow jobs from strangers in car for jerseys. I think Covid is the least of fans concerns for a January game

I really don’t think any of us care

The Bills drought was historically bad. A large part of the Pats future depends on two things: 1 - How good will the Dolphins and Bills be over the next decade? The Pats benefited from beating up on a weak AFC East. If the Bills and Dolphins keep them down, that's a big difference. Even in our drought, we had many good years against everyone else in the East 2 - How will the Patriots draft picks pan out? The Pats are not attracting FA's like they used to because they can't promise Super Bowl contention anymore. The hoodie's draft results have been less than stellar. They need a new QB and offensive weapons. As we Bills fans know, that's not an easy thing to find. If Billy can't get the right guy, they will be in trouble for a while. If they strike gold on a QB soon and the Dolphins are a fluke, then the drought won't be that bad My wish? The Hoodie gets "retired" because he won't retire on his own and the culture/losing becomes too much

I think he’s appropriately rated. He’s kept that team as a contender almost his entire tenure with multiple roster changes. I personally still think his “accidental” trip was cheap and I lost a lot of respect for him.

If the defense continues to play like this for the rest of the season and they need to get cap space, I think he's gone. Nothing against him, but they would prove he's not needed. Happy to be wrong though

If Brown is healthy in the off-season, his contract is a bargain. I don't see why he would re-structure for less. Whether we keep him depends on the cap. If it goes down, we have tough decisions to make. I don't think Brown is at the top of the cut list though. That list starts with Star and Murphy

They can get *****

Easily the quickest post to 50+ likes. It’s amazing what a win can do

I actually had it as a note but forgot to put it in. His awareness on the field is just fantastic

I heard on the radio his big money extension doesn’t kick in until after this season. Is that relevant? Can they get out from that contract? I thought, whether it’s deemed an extension or not, it’s a new deal on day 1 of signing so they are already on the hook.

Fixed it for you

Here's the link to the amazing Diggs route https://www.nfl.com/videos/stefon-diggs-best-plays-from-92-yard-game-week-13 You're absolutely right, it was Bates lined up beside Dawkins. I'm going to update it now. Thank you

I honestly must have missed that. Link?