FilthyBeast

He's going to have to and it goes back to the championship game last year when he decided to kick field goals on fourth and goal situations instead of realizing they need to be aggressive to have a chance. As of right now though it looks the Chiefs defense is not very good but we thought that last year as well and they seemed to play their best game of the season against the Bills when it mattered.

Agree, if Allen plays like crap again this week there are no more excuses. It will be time to accept that he's simply not good and behind closed doors in Orchard Park there will be serious buyers remorse knowing that he had a fluke year during the weird fanless covid year. Washington has a good dline and but has struggled mightily overall and is lucky to be 1-1 right now. And even if they were a top defense Allen played extremely well against many top 10 defenses last year and has to show that again given his contract. Really hope he can turn it around and come out firing.

Heineke has been fairly impressive going back to the playoff game against the Bucs last year and he very well may be the guy in Washington the rest of the season even when Fitz is cleared to play again. But overall there's not much from the next two opponents that scare me and since they are home games we need to come out and play well early.

Something just doesn't look right in Allen's overall demeanor right now. Not sure if it's the pressure of living up to his contract and/or carry this team to a championship but he really has that 'deer in headlights' look for the most part when you watch him after bad plays and on the sidelines. These next two games (against far inferior opponents/defenses IMO) are going to create a sample size that will probably dictate the trajectory of the rest of the season for Allen and the offense.

I really like what I see from this defense so far, if this play continues this season and the DL continues to wreak havoc this will be the best overall defense that McDermott/Frazier have fielded during their time here.

Unfortunately this is what happened in Carolina with Williams after his all pro season, he followed it up getting hurt and struggling with his play which is also why he was ultimately kicked back into guard. I believe Beane protected himself against a similar scenario when we resigned him and can essentially get out after this season without a major cap hit. Plus we did draft two young tackles but bigger picture for 2021 is we are going to be in trouble if Williams isn't motivated and/or regresses significantly.

I didn't realize that the Bills next two opponents will both be coming off extended time to prepare since they play the Thur night game. But both are at home and in a way I'm glad the Redskins won last night so they won't be completely desperate at 0-2 coming into Buffalo. Their defense does not look anything close to what I thought it would be though which is another good sign for this game with the Bills next week.

I think stats like this matter unfortunately and you can't ignore historical context. Had this game been on the road I don't think there would be as much concern but again, this was a home game and contenders are expected to find a way to win even if they struggle. Bigger issue is still how bad this team was throughout the game including completely collapsing in the 2nd half after having a 10 point lead and allowing 20 straight points by the Steelers. The only way this game might not look so bad in hindsight is if the Bills go on to win something like 10 straight and look on par or better than they did last year and the Steelers end up being an elite AFC team. But I don't think the latter is going to be true since their offense is still a big issue (another head scratcher as to how we lost this game).

It means nothing honestly. Can't start to truly aggregate total offense/defense and other key metrics to at least 3 or 4 games into the season.

This is why we are in a truly bad spot because we are coming off a bad loss and now facing a division rival who we embarrassed last year when they needed a win to get into the playoffs. And I honestly have worried more about this game before the season than the Steelers. No question Miami will be ready for this game but the question is can the Bills be the aggressors and force Tua to make plays to beat them. If that scenario happens the Bills should win, but if we fall behind it will play into the Dolphins hands.

I also can't shake the feeling that we aren't only going to lose again this week but look just as bad or worse as the steelers game. And if we lose and go to 0-2 this week the season isn't over per se, but getting back to the playoffs will be a long shot especially in a loaded conference where winning the division is probably the only real path for the Bills this year. Also it's hard to argue the culture of the team has truly changed because we shouldn't be in that position to begin with. As for the fan culture, why should it change? Because we've finally made the playoffs a few years after 17 miserable years? The reality is this team has accomplished nothing other than a division title and deep playoff run during a weird covid year. You have to do it over and over and over again like the 90's Bills even if you fall short of the ultimate prize. I believe even Beane and McDermott commented on how the 2015 Panthers team they were part of went 6-10 following their 15-1 season and a trip to the SB they lost to Manning and the Broncos. That was a far better team than the 2020 Bills too. Bottom line, never take anything for granted in this league and past success has nothing to do with the future unless your name is Tom Brady. Even Mahomes and the Chiefs were dominated in the SB after being odds on favorites to repeat and there's no guarantees they get back there again this season or ever despite having the best QB in the game not named Brady.

Which is why this is a major red flag in year number 4 after signing a record contract. People keep blaming the oline, playcalling, etc which was no doubt part of the problem...but Allen made many bad mistakes and missed a lot of passes that franchise QB's simply make including the wide open downfield throw to Sanders. Just really hope his head is clear and he comes out looking like 2020 Allen in Miami or I fear what things will look like especially from the fanbase on forums like this.

People laughed at critics like Nick Wright who said Allen's season last year was a fluke mostly because he didn't have to perform under real pressure in loud stadiums under normal conditions. When he finally played in a remotely close environment like that in KC in the playoffs he struggled big time. In fact of the 4 losses we had last year 3 of 4 had at least partial fan attendance (KC, Ten, AZ) Like I've said before, if this team reverts back to 2019 or worse at one point is the finger pointed at Beane and you legitimately question whether or not he should be fired. Because a lot of GM's have been dumped for much less than a $250M contract extension and still think there was zero reason to do this deal now just like Baltimore with Lamar Jackson (who all of a sudden might look like geniuses for waiting depending on what happens to the rest of their season).

IMO they pretty much looked exactly like they did in 2019 including Josh Allen. If that's the case then this teams ceiling is probably 10 or 11 wins which probably doesn't guarantee a division title because still think both the Dolphins and Pats will also be in that win total range.

It's still too early to know if the Bills are legit or are indeed frauds. The only caution I give is for everyone pointing out Green Bay is it's a bad example because: 1) It was road game for them. 2) Rogers is a proven commodity that has been in multiple playoff games and won a SB. Same deal for those pointing out how Brady and the Pats typically had these type of losses early in the season....they were typically road games and Brady already had a well documented history of winning. The big concern out of the Steelers game is not just how bad they played, but it was at home and the Steelers simply dominated and ran away from the game in the 2nd half....maybe down the road we'll look back at it as a true anomaly but for now it appears the Bills have serious flaws indicative of a team that is not certainly not a championship contender.

As good as the pass rush was in preseason it wasn't so hot against the Steelers despite their retooled oline, but as others have mentioned Big Ben is quick to release so a better gauge should be this week against the Dolphins. Even if Tua is improved I'm hoping for a 4+ sack outing and a few turnovers would be great as well.

Unfortunately this may be something that is never fixed with Allen which is hindsight is another legitimate reason that his extension may have been premature. A true elite QB is going to hit those type of passes more times than not which is why Mahomes, Rogers, Brady, etc are truly deserving of their MVP status. For whatever reason Allen is just can't do it even when a guy is wide open, still time for it to change though.

If we lose against the dolphins and look ugly again you better believe some sort of change will happen but doubt it will be as drastic as firing an assistant coach 2 games into the season like Rex Ryan did with Greg Roman in 2016.

These numbers scare me and after rewatching the game again it was amazing how easy Pitt got pressure without Blitzing. Since it's a copy cat league I imagine Miami will try to do the same despite their heavy blitz numbers last week against a rookie QB.

I rewatched the game and still don't feel any better about the coaching, oline, Allen, etc. It was just a complete mess and they truly looked like a team that believed the media hype and thought they could do whatever they wanted to without making adjustments to their game plan. I will say the defense was pretty solid but shades of years past in that they collapsed when it mattered most in crunch time, and still no real consistent pass rush with front four and not much blitzing either when their were opportunities to do so. But still waiting to see what happens this week before completely panic settles in especially in regards to Allen and the extension which at least personally I wanted to wait another year for.

Why would anyone care how the Bills got to and won a SB? However based on your scenario chances would be very slim because even though TB did it last year, very few teams have won 3 straight road games to get to a SB and then actually win it. Best bet for the Bills is still to secure one of the top 2 seeds and ensure at least one home playoff game.

Apparently hundreds of people went to vaccinated at the last minute so they could enter the Raiders game in Vegas last night since they have similar restrictions...they were certainly rewarded with probably the best game of the season so far.

This is also what I've been saying and it turns out the 'armchair GMs' look much smarter than our own GM after one week anyway. Our oline was a disaster in the AFC Championship against the Chiefs but Beane decided to bring the same group back including Feliciano (who is in the top 5 worst graded oline after week one). We are going to regret taking Basham over Creed Humphey and/or not replacing Feliciano in FA for sure. Also for all the ST investment and choosing to keep specific guys around for that reason, I believe it was Makovich who blew it on the blocked punt which essentially won the game for the Steelers. Also ironic since they decided not to keep him and we signed him a few years ago for big money for a ST guy. The more I think about it I simply don't like how this roster is built, but again it's still early and a big win in Miami alleviates all the concerns for one more week anyway.

That game was crazy but it was nice to see a bunch of former Bills making plays. Watkins had some big catches for the Ravens, Zay Jones of all people with a game winning TD and Quinten Jefferson had the first big turnover on Lamar that changed momentum for the Raiders in the 2nd half. I'm going to be very interested to see what the Raiders do this week against the Steelers.

Definitely accurate, when this team loses they are typically bad across the board which was true in 3 of the 4 losses we took last year (Titans and Chiefs x2). That's why looking back to the other day, it really does raise some alarms knowing we were essentially terrible for four quarters in a home game and allowed 23 unanswered points in the 2nd half.