JohnNord

The one that scares me is Taron Johnson in CP. It’s the second time this season. IIRC, he exited protocol fairly early. Hopefully that happens again.

This is why I don’t understand the experts here saying that Elam was burned. He gave up one catch in coverage and had 1 holding penalty that he later negated with an INT.

Wow!

He called timeouts at the end of the half because he wanted to get the ball back for his offense. This was obvious. As far as his other uses, in the Dunne articles the said that it’s a called a “kodak.” It gives the defense a look at the personnel and the potential the play the offense is running and an opportunity to match it best on defense. This is common among defenses, though sometimes I feel it gives the offense a chance to rest

I think this a change is definitely possible, and has been for weeks, but things aren’t as bleak as you make them out to be. Special Teams essentially changed the game against Miami and Sam Martin had been doing an excellent job pinning teams deep in their own territory. Then there was the fumble caused by Reggie Gilliam on a kick return that started a rout of the Jets. As far as the block last night, it did change the game. It seemed to me that it was more of a function of Bass kicking the ball differently resulting in a low kick that got blocked. It wasn’t related to coaching. The missed XP looked like a holding issue possibly related to the Martin injury. So it seems like your gripe is mostly with Bass who has not been great this year. Like I said, I can see the Bills replacing Smiley because of the moments you mentioned but ST’s have had their moments too.

How could you say he’s mentally screwed? His kick was blocked and he missed an extra point on what appears what a bad hold.

I went back and watched every Pittsburgh possession. You are right he played off a lot but I couldn’t find many opportunities where he was beat. I think overall he did a good enough where he can fill in if necessary

I just pulled up YouTube TV and went back and watched after the INT. He doesn’t play man so it’s hard to know exactly what his responsibilities in zone are as opposed to other players. But he didn’t really many plays where he straight up got beat. Pittsburgh seemed to target Dane Jackson more often. So everyone saying he gives up easy catch is basing that on his past and not what we saw last night.

To be fair, after the INT when was he beat?

This is the problem with officiating and the NFL rules overall especially when it comes to incompletions of fumbles. They over complicated things so badly that no one knows what a catch or fumble is anymore

IMO much like Miami, Dallas was always a very flawed football team that beat up on bad teams. Their recipe for success was to score early and then let the defense close out the game by wreaking havoc on the DL. This was never a script that would work against good teams as we saw vs Philly, San Francisco, Buffalo and now GB. The defense has Parsons who helped mask a lot of flaws but there really wasn’t anyone else to be concerned with. I like Dak Prescott a lot but don’t feel he was ever as good as his hype and that he took advantage of beating up bad teams too. Same with DaRon Bland, who set a record for pix 6 INT’s but is hardly a lock down corner. So outside of Lamb and Parsons you have a team of pretenders. After watching the Bills mop the floor with them and then Miami take it to them, I knew they were cooked and watched in amazement as some “experts” picked them to win the SB. I have a theory that all Bills fans knew the team Dallas was after the 31-10 blowout.

What happened to Philadelphia just boggles my freaking mind. I guess injuries played into it but they just seemed to slam right into a wall at 110 MPH. The team I saw last night, resembled nothing of the 10-1 SB contender. I watched them absolutely bully the crap out of Miami on a Sunday night game and thought how tough of a matchup that they would be for teams It’s just staggering a team went from looking that good to THAT bad in a span of a few weeks.

I didn’t love that…but to be fair we don’t know whether Josh was the one to get out of the run and audible to a passing play.

Look at Pickens stats, he caught 5 passes for 50 yards. Diante Johnson had 4 passes for 48 yards. If they went at Elam, they weren’t all that successful.

I mean - it sure seemed that way to us nervous fans but the Bills really never lost control of the game. Even when Pittsburgh scored to cut the lead to 7, the Bills scored a TD and got the ball right back I don’t think Bass ever should have attempted that FG in the conditions. Everyone hates punting but had the Bills ran the ball instead of throwing incomplete passes they could have pinned Pittsburgh inside the 20 with 90 seconds to go. It’s all hindsight now though

Not really. You are thinking of Cam Lewis

I’ll agree. I think it’s a small step to giving him some confidence. He almost had a 2nd one as well. And while he did give up a TD, I think he played better in the 2nd half

Yeah I agree. He’s kind of worthless but Harlan is awesome

I think there’s a chance we get Dodson and Douglas back. Hopefully we Taron and maybe Rapp as well. I would plan on Bernard and Benford being out - which sucks and will hurt. The Bills won’t be able to win 20-17 again. Offense is going to have to put up points on a good, physical Chiefs defense known for holding WR’s

I noticed that the NFL on CBS twitter account shared a clip where Romo said “The Bills just might still win the AFC East.” They promoted it as though he predicted them winning it, so he’s probably just routing for his take

The combo of Romo and Nantz are my top commentary team. I guess people just got annoyed listening to Romo but I’d much rather hear him over that tool Chris Collingsworth any day. I’m also a big fan of Kevin Harlan and Trent Green. I remember Harlan was one of the lower ranking teams and he always drew Bills games during the end of the drought. He made those game fun.

I doubt this. This is the answer from Bills fans as to why any player struggles - Josh, Diggs, Bass etc. If they aren’t on the injury report, they probably don’t have a significant injury

IDK… Romo was saying the side of the field where Bass kicked in the 2nd Q was windy and the kickers were struggling to connect from 40+. The block was likely his attempt to over correct and drive the ball lower so it didn’t get caught in the wind. I don’t put that entirely on him. It probably wasn’t an attempt he should’ve tried. But the missed chip shot defies logic. He was not ever close. When this happens you tend to worry about the mindset of kickers. I’ll say this though - when we’ve needed him, he’s been money

Can someone please explain how that Freiermuth catch was not called a fumble? Even the analysts on CBS at halftime had no idea what Gene Steratore was talking about with the ball grazing his helmet. I’m completely dumbfounded with some of the bizarre rules in the NFL that appear to defy what our eyes tell us. I’m just glad the Pickens incompletion was turned to a fumble because I was getting ready for a dumb explanation from Geno to tell me why that wasn’t a catch.

I think that we’ve seen his ceiling. It’s funny how some Miami fans and even some Bills fans will advocate to “build around him.” What? He already has arguably the best WR in the NFL, the best WR2, a fast group of running backs, 2 high priced FA’s on the OL, along with 3 other premium picks at OL. Not to mention one of the best play callers in the NFL. How much more does he really need?