finn

I don't think that's right. I saw a chart--will post it if I can find it again--that shows the Pats as one of three teams whose EPA is far lower than its win-loss record indicates it should be, compared to other teams. In other words, they're not as good as their record, much like KC last year. That doesn't mean they can't continue the good play and stupid luck (e.g., playing the Bengals without Burrow or Chase, playing the Bills after their bye), but they very well fall flat on their face. If I'm walking by, I won't avoid stepping on them, either. You live in New England, you either love or despise the Patriots.

A receiver being "open" is not as simple as it appears. It's not enough to "be open" at some point; you have to be open when the quarterback is looking your way. Very often, Allen appears to be looking at Coleman, even waiting for him, then turning to his next read because Coleman is glued to the receiver or not looking back (or both). In those cases, it doesn't help if Coleman breaks free two beats later because Allen has already made his decision. That's why timing and being in synch with your quarterback is so critical. Remember all those back-shoulder throws to Diggs that were virtually impossible to defend? Allen threw half a dozen of them to Coleman early in the season, and I think he caught just one. The other times he wasn't looking back, hadn't made his break, allowed the DB to make the play, or dropped the ball. The only thing I've seen Coleman to well is climb the ladder for the ball. Throw it way above his head and he'll go get it. Route-running, slants, comeback routes, even jump balls with DBs, he's at best mediocre. Blocks ok, I'll give him that. And sometimes--not usually--he can get open on fire drills. I'm not giving up on him because who knows? But he has an awful lot of work to do.

This is why I'm at peace with this game, instead of feeling anxious or confident or resigned. If they lose, it will confirm that this just wasn't their year; even with they squeak into the playoffs, I'll know it's just a matter of time before they're beat, since a Super Bowl team does not lose to Cincinnati at home with this much at stake. Resignation, in short. If they win? Well, I go back to the twin peaks of anxiety and confidence. But for now, I'm just plain curious. Ah, the life of a fan!

You forgot wide receiver. Beane must be sleeping next to the waiver wire.

Oh, come on. Whatshisname has been here for ages! At least since that other guy (forgot his name) drafted ahead of him out of that college somewhere in the Midwest. (Or was it the Southwest?) Now that he's gone, we'll miss him every day, good old... whathisname.

Might go the way of Rapp and Bass in the end.

Forgive my ignorance on the subject, but why not turn him into a tight end or H-back? He would have to put on at least 15 pounds, and take some blocking lessons, but he's certainly not doing anything at the WR position. With Kincaid turning out to be made of bamboo sticks and glue, we could use someone who could block effectively and slip out for some RAC.

My fear is they'll rush four as usual, giving Burrow all the time he wants in the pocket waiting for one of the best WR corps in the league to get open against Poyer, White, and Taron, none of whom can cover for long anymore. My hope is that they regularly blitz Dorian or Bishop, both of who can get home, so that Burrow has to unload quickly, and use Hairston's speed to help shut down Chase, and (no choice) take their chances with Higgins. They'll adjust, but so can the Bills, maybe with a full suite of unpredictable blitzes. Whether they win or lose, I can see us all seeing the outcome a part of pattern we've seen all season.

Agreed on all counts. If ever there was a game we need inclement weather, this is it. Wind, heavy snow, freezing temperatures.... anything to stop the Burrow to Chase/Higgins pitch and catch show and allow us to grind it out. Otherwise, with no pass rush to worry about, Burrow might have a field day, even against an improving secondary. Just checked: Looks like light snow with no wind. Oh, well.

Who gave it to you? That's the key question. 😉

I was about to make the same point. If Elam > Ingram, and Ingram > Dane Jackson, we're in trouble if one of the top three CBs go down.

They might realize the Bills wide receivers mostly block because it's pretty much all they're capable of doing. You don't use a hammer as a screwdriver unless you have to.

Of all these, I'm most glad Reader is gone, along with Anarumo. Both of them had our number. Without having to face them, I don't see why the Bills wouldn't plan another Pittsburgh job. I mean, the Bengals are giving up 160 ydg rushing, the worst in the league. It's not brain science, especially with the incentive to keep an explosive offense off the field. (Imagine Allen throwing to Chase and Higgins instead of the cast of Gilligan's Island. Now THAT would be an explosive offensive.) The hard part will be to keep the run game going if Burrows quickly scores TDs on every possession. What a weird game that would be: lightning drive/plodding drive, lightning drive/plodding drive. BEANE! Couldn't you have found Allen even ONE wide receiver?

Injuries piling up for us, clean bill of health for the Bengals, a flag-happy referee crew, Ingram lost for nothing... the "little things" are adding up fast.

How about Taron? My sense is that Taron and Bernard aren't carrying their weight out there, and most everyone else is. (Not sure about Milano.)

That would be ideal to me. I don't want a Super Bowl victory tainted by "It's only because they didn't face KC." Time to exorcise those demons by finally smacking down KC at home in the AFCG. The perfect farewell to the stadium, too.

I want to know what is with the walk-throughs. By my count, they've led to injuries to Rapp, Bass, Sanders, Kincaid (twice now), Dequan, Samuel, Palmer, Milano, and Bernard. It's just practice for god's sake! What are they doing, throwing woodstoves to each other? So far. I suspect a reckoning is coming. They're a lovely football team, ripe for a smackdown.

I am thinking logically--about an illogical season that has turned expectations upside down. The Raiders beating the Ravens? The Panthers beating the Rams AND Green Bay? Miami blowing out the Bills? As you say, "Like that was ever going to happen." But it did. So, yeah, New England could easily lose three more games. A few injuries like the Bills have had, a few bad bounces, Diggs doing his diva thing, and the bottom could fall out for them. And I for one would love to see it.

I agree, but I also thought they would beat Miami easily and take care of business in Houston. It's been a roller coaster of a year, and going into the home stretch, I'm still not confident I know who this team is. I wouldn't be surprised if they won out, and I wouldn't be surprised if they lost to the Bengals and New England and then lost in the first round of the playoffs. Either way, we'll be saying, "See? I told you so!" In a way, their utter unknowability makes them more fun to watch, since I have to temper my expectations, meaning I'll be less crushed if they lose (half expecting it) and more thrilled if they win (only half expecting it). Being a fan is weird.

I admit I avoid the Patriots' games and so shouldn't comment on their performance. My animus toward all things related to the Pats* was showing there. But what gives you away in turn are your absolutes, as in your claim that the Bills' anemic passing offense is "all about" the wide receivers and nothing to do with Joe Brady, which I think is ludicrous. We see what we expect to see. That might apply to me, but it also might apply to you.

Is the division out of reach? Miami is surging. It's not out of the question that they sweep New England. We win out, and we take the division. Not too crazy a scenario.

Kincaid, Palmer, Samuel, and Bernard, wow. Given their contributions to date, it might have been better to put them all on season-long injured reserve and sign players with less talent who can actually play. Best case scenario: All of them return to full health (along with Oliver) for the playoffs. Realistic scenario: They all continue showing up as "Limited" on the injury report but never show up on the field. Or, if they do, immediately get injured again. I'm a Bills fan, so I'm hoping for the best and expecting the worst.

"All about" is pretty strong. Look at the Patriots game, when Brady benched his best skill player in crunch time, or the Houston game, when he did nothing to protect Allen against a fierce pass rush, or his failure to do anything with Moore or Samuel, who both put up much better numbers with their former teams. You could say Coleman is a bust--or you could say Brady has failed to tap his potential. You could say Samuel sucks, Shakir is limited, Shavers does nothing, and Moore was a wasted signing--or you could say all of them would thrive with a coordinator who figured out how to use them, not utterly give up on him, as Brady appears to have done. How many screens to Shakir behind the line of scrimmage will it take for you to agree that another coordinator could do better? How many back-shoulder throws to Coleman, endless mesh routes, stupid gimmick plays, and utter lack of deep shots, except for that one to Palmer--one!--in the Atlanta game? No argument that this WR corps is awful, but what would a good coordinator like McDaniels do with it, given that he didn't have much more than that to work with when he was coaching Tom Brady? Heck, look at what he's doing now with a group of receivers that, on paper, aren't much better than the Bills have: a fading Diggs, a journeyman in Mack Hollins, and a promising but often-struggling rookie in Kyle Williams? Yet they're 10-2, with a quarterback, line, and set of running backs that are not as good as what the Bills have. No, Brady is the problem. Swap receivers with New England, and I guarantee you McDaniels would do as well or better with ours and Brady would do as badly or worse with theirs.

Yikes. He really has cashed in on that thin resume, hasn't he? I'm beginning to think he may be the only impediment to this team going all the way. If he rises just to the level of "adequate," they could to the Super Bowl. I don't think I'm being unfair. The wide receiver corps is bad, but he's not doing anything at all with it, and I suspect a better coordinator could do much more.

I made a similar point in another thread, that, ironically, this could be the year the Bills go all the way. A mediocre set of receivers, an incompetent offensive coordinator, a long list of injuries, a league-worst run defense...and they end up going to the Show and even winning it. The universe just seems to work like that sometimes. And in fact if you squint, you see a Super Bowl team in this year's iteration: QB, RB, OL, and TE are all very good to excellent, while the defense just might be coming into its own with McDermott evidently taking over, with veterans like Thompson, Poyer, White, and Milano giving it one last best push and young players like Bishop, Hairston, Walker, Sanders, and Hancock adding shots of talent and energy. If Brady can do something--anything--with the passing game, and the defense we saw in Pittsburgh and the end of the Baltimore game is who they really are, this could be the year. All the other pieces are in place.