Brand J

The Chiefs in their losses have never looked outclassed. They haven’t been thoroughly beaten, the Ls they took against the Eagles, Chargers, and Jaguars were close. They’ve thoroughly smacked two supposed contenders in Baltimore and Detroit. Contrast that with the Bills… The Bills looked outclassed and bullied for 3.5 quarters against the Ravens. The Falcons smacked them in a prime time game; won by 10, but could’ve easily been 17+. The Bills have also played down to their competition, the Saints and Dolphins both had chances to take a lead late. When you throw all of these ingredients into a pot and analyze them, it’s no wonder the Chiefs are favored, they’ve been playing better ball despite having one more loss. This could be the perfect “get right” game for the Bills. Or an ugly loss.

Fixed it for you. They easily could’ve beaten the Bills by 3 or more scores if not for some unfortunate miscues.

Man, if T’Vondre Sweat and Deonte Walker were on the field at the same time, no running game would scare me, including Baltimore’s. I’d try to pitch them a 3rd in 2026 and maybe a conditional 2027.

So of course we won’t run PA that often or throw out of heavy sets.

That and the short game. After all the failed short yardage plays against the Chiefs, I expected him to pore over film, analyzing different teams go to plays for 3rd/4th and 1/2 to grow his bag of tricks. We might be worse than last year.

The one common scenario in 3/4 Bills losses is that the Chiefs were pretty much in control until the Bills made a big play to get back into it. You’ve got the Mack Hollins TD just before halftime last year, the goal line fumble for a touchback the year before, and of course the 70 yard TD to Gabe Davis when that one was starting to get away. The Bills have been hard to stomp, these games are always close.

I’d love to see injury statistics in the 90s (where two-a-days were common) versus now. It does seem like the less a player practices and plays, the more prone to injury he’ll be when he does get on the field. I think those 80s and 90s guys were so calloused up that soft tissue injuries really didn’t have a chance. Maybe they protected themselves better too, knowing vicious hits were part of the game. Would be an interesting study.

Yahoo sports is stoking the fire with this headline: “Despite missing a month, Lamar Jackson still has more passing TDs this season than Josh Allen” Of course the comments have been aplenty. Lamar has 14 passing TDs in 5 games, Allen has 12 in 7.

Scary slow. The only way he can get away with playing safety at that speed is to be extremely instinctual, very well studied, and a master of angles to the ball carrier. Last year he took great angles, this year has been a completely different story.

I for one will miss his hesitancy, poor angles, missed tackles, and 4.7 speed in the secondary.

Lamar’s accuracy both stationary and on the move has always been underrated.

Ravens starting to come out of their funk. They’ll get in as the division winning 4th seed, or a wildcard 6th seed, book it.

Yeah, it’s not easy to throw even 50 yards with a regulation ball. Those who can were either pitchers or outfielders, or at least collegiate QBs.

I get the same ick from Joe Marino continuously mispronouncing “Ogunjobi.”

I’m not saying they’re super talented, I’m saying they’re not as bad as they’re being portrayed. Are there times when the defense wins and covers them up? Of course! But there are opportunities there that have been missed. Whether that’s Allen or the OL not giving him enough time and not directly the receivers. Opposing teams’ secondaries aren’t filled with Ed Reeds and Deion Sanders week after week.

I suspect once Allen starts playing better and hitting the receivers that have been open, the perception of just how bad our WR corps is will change. It’s also on Brady as well, don’t like his passing designs.

Even when Mahomes went against our #1 top DVOA defense he shredded them.

I’ll be surprised if he doesn’t play much better against KC. He’s always been a gamer that way against the more marquee matchups, the Baltimore game at M&T last year the exception.

Yeah, I think he would’ve got his $15M/yr had he waited until the 2026 offseason. If not here, then elsewhere.

Now will his lackadaisical and aloof attitude continue? Or will we see a player who uses that criticism to get that dawg in him and prove everyone wrong? Seeing as how he’s been disciplined twice by McD, my money is on the former, unfortunately.

The long ball to Gabe Davis in the playoffs against the Chiefs, the long ball to Robert Foster against the Jags, and the other long ball to Davis against the Steelers were things of beauty. Perfect downfield shots, like extended handoffs. I get that downfield passes are low percentage in general, but I do wonder why someone with an arm as strong as Josh’s couldn’t be more accurate. Remember last year when Kincaid was wide open and got injured going after a badly thrown pass? The pass to Josh Palmer against the Falcons to start the game would’ve been an easy TD too if thrown better, but we were all just so happy it managed to get there. I wonder if Allen works on this particular pass in the offseason. At least Mahomes kinda sucks with it too.

Addressing both you and Cincy at the same time… we don’t need Allen to be elite every single game. That’s not even realistic. Above average QB play, combined with the running game, will get it done against the likes of the Falcons, Saints, Dolphins, etc. I think it’s enough to get it done against upstarts like the Patriots (provided we’re not losing the turnover battle). But to your question… To whom much is given, much is expected in return. It’s not a criticism of Allen, Mahomes, Hurts, Jackson, or [insert prominent QB’s name here] to want (or expect) the guy to elevate his play enough to score one more point than the opponent. Yes, Allen is human, he will have off games, but what does his offense do when given the ball and a chance to win the game? With that said… Allen has been repeatedly let down by his teammates in the playoffs. Its not fair to criticize his heroics there, including the much maligned Shakir vs Diggs pass against KC. In these regular season losses its been a combination of his play and others, including his offensive coordinator. NONE of them are above reproach and that’s the point of it all. To criticize his play - along with the others - isn’t throwing shade, it’s calling a spade a spade. We’ll see how it all plays out when it matters most - the 2026 playoffs. I hope at that time the offense and Allen especially are running like a finely tuned engine. The QB who performs the best will most likely see his team with a Lombardi trophy at the end of it all.

I think there’s a difference between throwing shade at Allen and acknowledging he’s not playing at the level the Bills need if we’re going to go far this year. Right now I’m not overly concerned, but this team will go as far as Josh Allen takes it. Not James Cook, not any other player but Josh. We all want him to be better, but it’s annoying reading posts that go to great lengths to blame everything and everyone else but the QB. Multiple things can be wrong with the passing game, I still think Joe Brady and his passing designs is most at fault followed by Allen. Joe Marino actually has Allen at the top of the list and says “receivers are open throughout the game and I've got the video to prove it,” but for many here Allen is almost without blame entirely. That is a weird fetish, a mother hen type of protection that no other player enjoys. Guess “Bills Mafia” is an apt name 😅

You wouldn’t get that admission from some of these posters if Josh barely passed for 100 yards a game and air mailed footballs to wide open receivers.

This is absolutely how I’d play the Bills if I was Spagnuolo. Right now the best player on offense is James Cook, he’s the one who makes it go. If I was Spags I’d take Cook away, along with the horizontal/close to the LoS passes and force the Bills to hit on explosive plays. Something they haven’t shown they can do in quite some time.