Virgil

I had notes to write about it and Allen’s comment about “how many times do we need to score?” was perfect. I just didn’t want to kill the mood. Even Mahomes had a tweet about it, which also shows he’s paying attention to the Bills....

In writing these, I've always tried to respect the original author, Bill From NYC, by giving myself enough time after the game to gain some rationale perspective. One never wants to write a review when they are too happy after a win, or angry from a loss. When you do, you lose the bias for your team or get carried away in the moments; and in my opinion, lose credibility. As the hour passes from the final whistle, I realize that emotion has to be part of these thoughts. You don't break a 25 year drought without reminiscing about all the "almost" moments, all the players who got so close and all those who stayed very far away. With that, these thoughts are going to be a little bit different, as I believe this milestone deserves it. 1 - Allen - Besides Lamar Jackson, there wasn't a quarterback I wanted least in the draft than Josh Allen. No part of me believed you could teach a small school quarterback how to both win and be accurate. When the Bills announced they were trading up in the draft and I heard the word Josh, I got excited at the prospect of Josh Rosen leading us to the playoffs in a few short years. When the last name of Allen was said, I was in a full blown meltdown for roughly 48 hours. One thing I will give myself credit for is my ability to embrace any player on our team. Once that grace period passed, Allen was my quarterback and I've supported him since. Allen joined the 4,000 yard club today and has multiple single season franchise records in his sights. Allen hasn't only been good these past few games, he's shown the poise, command, skill set, and leadership we've waited 25 years for. It would be easy to talk about a number of plays in this game, but I'm only going to talk about one. The Broncos showed a defensive back blitz from the guy covering Beasley in the slot. Allen had 20+ seconds on the play clock to fake some snaps and see what the defense was looking to do. Josh recognized the blitz, audibled the play, and snapped the ball. On the play, he faked the throw to Beasley, waited for the middle zone linebacker to jump inside, then he actually threw the ball a half second later to the outside of the linebacker for a 20 yards gain over the middle. This one play shows just how much the game has slowed down for Allen and how far he's come. Yes, the 55 yard bomb to Diggs was nice too. Same with the Kumerow touchdown. Oh yeah, don't forget the first down pass to Diggs while he was getting sacked. There's a lot to choose from. Anyone who wants to pick on Josh Allen's game can no longer be listened to or taken seriously. Allen has shown high level performance against multiple top defensive talent and hasn't slowe down at all. He's a franchise quarterback who deserves to be discussed as not only MVP, but as a top quarterback in the league. His stats and performance on the field tonight should be an expectation now, not a hope. 2 - Diggs - Honest question, do teams know they are allowed to cover him? When we traded for Diggs, I knew we were getting an elite receiver and I did have concerns about his public dissatisfaction with the Vikings. And as I've watched other elite receivers like Michael Thomas, I couldn't figure out how teams let them go uncovered. Now that Diggs has been here all season, broken our single season receptions record with two games left, and continues to get wide open, I realize that I didn't truly know what an elite receiver was until now. Previously, I believed the other teams were just trash or didn't want to abandon their scheme. In these past few weeks of watching Diggs get wide open time after time, when everyone on the field knows he's the primary target, has just blown me away. Diggs was a monster again tonight, making catches all over the field, finding the first down marker time after time, and even breaking one deep. From Evans, Moulds, to Stevie, we've had a lot of good receivers play for the Bills over the division drought, and Diggs has outperformed all of them in only one season. 3 - Tre - For the second time in as many games, the opposing teams inexplicably made comments about our team team that added just a little bit of extra motivation. Now, why Drew Lock of all people would make those comments about Tre is beyond me. While I want to talk focus on the play where Tre played a shallow zone, saw the pass going just behind him, and adjusted back enough to get a hand on the pass; that wasn't his most impressive play. In taking a play out of Poyer's book, Tre played up on the line a few times and was able to make some backfield stops. None, more important than the strip sack of Lock which led to the Hughes defensive touchdown. Tre had to run around the entire offensive line and chase Lock down from behind and never took his eyes off the ball. It was a truly beautiful revenge moment that you only see in movies and allowed us to score out second touchdown in under two minutes. 4 - You who have found it please help me along. I'm a man, I'm a man, - I'm not made out of stone. My needs they are simple, I don't want anything, but I surely want to fly on those wings, on the run, one more time. 5 - Daboll - Like Josh, I remember exactly where I was when Daboll got hired. I couldn't put my phone down to stop trashing the hire. Why would we hire a guy who hasn't proven anything at an NFL level who seemed to make his career by being friends with well regarded coaches. Josh was going to be doomed and the offense was going to take a step back. Have I mentioned how wrong a lot I am? While I don't want to hate on any player from this game, Ike got a penalty called on one of the best executed Statue of Liberty plays I've seen. Allen sold the crap out of it and Singletary walked right into the end zone. Seriously, if you missed the game, try to find it on Youtube, as it was that well done. Daboll deserves as much credit for this offensive output, the careers bests for Allen, Beasley, and Diggs as anyone. He's created a scheme that's so powerful that you are almost surprised if we don't get 3rd or 4th down conversions. Even when we were 1st and goal from the 30, you couldn't completely dismiss that we weren't going to get six. Then, combined with Josh's arm and Daboll's play calling, Allen found Kumerow over the middle for a beautiful touchdown pass. Even better, Daboll's found a way to make our rushing attack relevant to close out games. Like Allen, getting 30 points out of this offense should be the expectation going forward. 6 - Gilliam the Unsung - High profile players get you to the playoffs, but depth and rotation is where teams become next level. Gilliam is a prime example of a guy making the most of his opportunity. On the long Allen touchdown scramble, Gilliam had not one, but two key blocks that allowed Allen to score untouched. If there's a second play to Youtube, this is it. Gilliam's field awareness was superb and made all the difference. While this was one of many scoring plays, this one really shows how this team plays as a unit on the field. 7 - Defensive line - While Frazier is still dialing up the extra pressure blitzes, the front 4 has done a great job recently getting pressure on their own. Hughes may get the glory this week after the fumble recovery touchdown, but Oliver and Addison were monsters out there today. Oliver blew up quite a few plays and have a dominating sack. Addison continues to impress me with his speed as he chased down a surprisingly fast Lock from behind a few times. Maybe it's the fear of additional blitzers coming in, but the front 4 is showing the pressure we haven't seen since the Cold Front a few years back. 8 - The Swing - How many times over the past 25 years have you seen the Bills dominate a game, look to be in control, then one turnover and score causes it all to come crashing down? Over the past few games, we've seen moments like this where the Bills bounced right back, and today was no different. The Bills were up 14-0, just forces a 3 and out, then Roberts muffed the punt, bringing the defense right back out and allowing a touchdown. Previous Bills teams would have collapsed in those moments. This Bills team walks right back out on the field and imposes their will that much more. In fact, until garbage time, the Broncos didn't score again. Mistakes by the Bills don't shut the team down like before, and I would challenge it only motivates them even more. Roberts even brought one back into Broncos territory for his own personal redemption. The point is, this is a very different, very resilient team, that I believe would have handled that 16-0 Texans collapse very differently. 9 - Comradely - My favorite pre-game ritual is hearing Beasley screech "I love you Josh Allen" after each pre-game huddle. As much as Fitz was, and still is, loved by this community, I can't remember a Bills team as close as this one. And yes, I'm including the early 90's team. When Kumerow scored, he may have been the least excited player out there. The entire offense was in the endzone to congratulate him. After the Hughes touchdown, it was dance party on the sidelines. We've seen this for weeks, but this team genuinely loves and supports each other. These guys play for each other more than themselves. It's infectious, it's leading to wins, and it's all in credit to.... 10 - McD - If a team comes out flat, it's on the coach. When a team, wraps up the division with 2 games left by absolutely dominating another NFL team, and has built a roster that can compete with ANY team in the league, then the coach gets that credit too. McD won't take any credit, and was quick to thank the Pegula's and everyone else for the win, but his process has built a team that should have all teams scared to play us. When McD was hired, I didn't know what to think. He wasn't a flashy hire. The clapping seemed hollow and the ex-Panthers signings became comical at times. Like Allen and Diggs, McD should be a top candidate for coach of the year and I have zero doubt that McD is going to keep this team a top the NFL for years to come. Of the personal foul call against Allen, where he was shoved out of bounds, you could see him run up to Allen before Josh could say anything back to the defender. McD knew exactly what Josh was about to do and tried everything he could to prevent his star QB from getting a retaliatory flag. That's a coach who knows his team and keeps his eyes on the big prize. Listen, I know I didn't go deep into a lot of specifics about the game. In a blowout game where the offense goes off, the defense shuts down the opposing team, and everything was all Buffalo, there's a lot to talk about. For me, and I apologize if I missed the mark, but the biggest take away was the entire team personality and performance. We dominated the Broncos. This game was never in doubt. In a season where people were trying to predict total wins and wonder how important the Pats and Dolphins games would be, the Bills removed all the suspense. I don't think anyone saw this season coming from Allen, Diggs, and our overall record. The Bills did exactly what an elite team is supposed to do in this game and that's put away a weaker opponent. Am I predicting a Super Bowl run? No. Would anyone be surprised if it happened? No. And to be able to say that is the greatest victory of all. Go Bills!

They have 3 weeks to heal

Hey, no porn on the site!!!

I’ll be honest, this meant more to me than I realized. No tears, but a lot of memories. Beyond that, just knowing we have a real team that can beat anyone. Knowing we have a defense again. Knowing we have our Franchise QB and Receiver. To absolutely know we’ve arrived and it’s real....

This game is like an anger bang. Just getting it all out

This might come off like a bit of a dick, but no. I think that’s a losers mentality and we are past that. Making the playoffs was a huge moment and I wouldn’t begrudge anyone for that. A lot of things had to happen in that moment and there were so many deserving players on that team, like Kyle. Winning the division was an expectation this year and it means nothing without a playoff win. Anything less than a playoff win would be a disappointment of a season. I’d rather make it in as the 7 seed and get a win or two than just win the division. The issue for is, we’ve surpassed expectations almost too fast. Josh wasn’t supposed to be this good already. The defense wasn’t supposed to bounce back like this. Diggs wasn’t supposed to lead the league in receptions. If we made baby step improvement, or if Brady was still owning our division, it would be a different story. But we could have locked it up last Monday. The fact that we could win the division with two weeks left makes it almost anticlimactic. Expectations have changed very fast and winning the division is nice, but it’s the price of admission going forward

Why don't the goal posts have that camera on them anymore that looked straight up? Seems like an easy solve

I haven’t looked it up, but I heard differently on a other game. They said it could be directly over and part of the post and be considered good.

soon my love I think that sometimes you have to see how your guys hold up. You may know what’s coming, but that doesn’t mean your guys can handle it. They saw what worked and didn’t , then adjusted. I can tell you how hot the flame is, but you won’t know exactly how it will burn until your hand gets near it

I really thought that XP was good.

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