UKBillFan

Wilson protected the ball better than Josh. That’s all the Bills needed. ETA - Fair point above. The Bills would have won if they had Josh in the first half and Wilson in the second.

So were the Bengals.

You would have been if the Bills had someone just making average plays at quarterback. Heck, if the Bills had Wilson the result would have been different tonight.

Correction - from the second half of the Packers onwards last season. Before then he was elite.

Emotionless stares usually suggest not being in the headspace to think clearly and logically. That would tie in with the way he played in the second half up to the final drive. I don’t get what switched though. The first half was fine from him.

I’m in two minds about this. Quarterbacks can have awful performances in the regular season but win the Super Bowl, so this could be taken as a potential outlier. I recall Brady absolutely stinking the place out against the Saints the year the Bucs won it. Except… except… nothing new happened tonight. We had seen it all before. Every weakness Josh has was exposed and most of them are mental. The signs were there last year yet, despite the post and pre season, where he even said he knows what he has to do, he did not do it when he takes to the field. If he starts against the Raiders in the same fashion I’d be tempted to pull him for a series and put Kyle Allen out there. A warning shot to get himself in order or else. He has the physical attributes to be the best quarterback in the league but the mental side lets him down.

He seemed to wake up in that drive, but then made a mess of the one in OT, though the 2 and 15 call was baffling, to put it politely.

My big hope is this ultimate humiliation will be the making of him. The trouble is it means someone - probably McDermott, Dorsey or maybe even Diggs - sitting down and pointing out for one final time of he doesn’t take what is given then he’s going to be embarrassed time and time again. Defenses have sniffed out his impatience. Yes, he had bad games in his rookie year, but he should be at his peak now. And a very basic stance will get him there. Take what is given.

It could be the Jets are to Josh what Miami was to Brady, or Cleveland is to Burrow.

Dorsey seemingly cannot, or will not, control or calm Josh, and that is a huge problem.

Dorsey maybe needs to attempt tough love now. Forget if Josh doesn't want to watch the film - force him to. Forget it if he has dinner plans - get him to do extra training. I maintain he is the best Quarterback in the league when it comes to physical ability. But he makes too many stupid decisions.

In all likelihood Dorsey will go. But something isn't right with Josh and hasn't been for a while.

Sorry but Josh hasn't played to his standard since the first half of Green Bay last year. If this was a one off, fine. It isn't. Though it was particularly bad tonight.

I prefer Josh to look like this now and sort it out as the season goes on - as long as he sorts it out - but that was miserable. We hear Josh saying he takes responsibility; now to put words finally into action.

Every team has warts. The best coaches cover them up as much as they can. To win the division, let alone the Super Bowl, that's what the Bills need to do.

Agreed. In some ways, the Bengals defeat in the Divisional Round was easier to deal with that the close regular season losses as it was obviously over with at half time. Could come to terms with it. In the great scheme of things, a close defeat is preferable to a blowout, though!

The sooner Kirksey knows the playbook, the better.

But we'd probably be slightly more confident with the MLB position if he was still here. And I say this as no fan of Edmunds.

The Bengals lost 32-13 away to the Browns last year and made the AFC Championship game. In 2021, they were defeated 41-16 and got to the Super Bowl. In 2020 they only lost by three but didn't make the post season. So I'm definitely not judging much from yesterday's result when it comes to Cincinnati.

I was at high school (would be middle school age in US terms), and we were studying the press. We had a lesson on the morning of the 11th - being five hours ahead of New York - where she said, "I wish something big would happen so we can compare front pages of the papers." The next day, she came in with the papers and simply said, "I didn't mean that."

At some point either the cap will be increased to take into account the quarterback contractual situation, or quarterbacks will have to decide if they want cash or the chance at a Superbowl ring, because an increase in money means less to spend on the roster as a whole.

Agreed, though similar signs against the Steelers - albeit pre season games should have zero effect tonight too - perhaps increases the nervousness somewhat.

Good luck! I can't really stand watching highlights of games won by the likes of the Chiefs, Dolphin, Pats or Jets. Mainly the first three as they irritate me; the Jets just bug me as they had the termerity of becoming good too soon; they could have given the Bills the time at the top which the Pats had.

I think there's a nervousness - are the Bills refreshed? Have they learned from the issues from last season? Will they be able to respond to setbacks? Things feel fragile because the Bills were fragile against the Bengals whilst the first teamer performance against the Steelers, albeit in a pre-season affair, would not have increased confidence or hope. Turn up as they did on August 19th and tonight could be an unpleasant blowout. Play to their best, and it'll be 1-0.

Not focusing but the strength of a running game is clear. If the offense can keep the oppositing defenses geussing if it's a pass or a run, it'll open the field up. As it is, the offense maybe felt slightly predictable and easy to read, especially at the end of last year. It was down to Josh that the Bills scored so many, considering the approach was pretty easy to read. I suppose that shows, with the changes to the position from Jones and Singletary to Harris and Murray.