finn
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Posts posted by finn
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11 minutes ago, Rockinon said:
Also, if Cincy plays Buffalo like they do KC, they are in trouble. Mahomes is one squirrely QB. That's not Josh. Josh will lower his shoulder and run through a defender. Or stiff arm a defender. Or hurdle a defender. Completely different animal.
I don't think they will. Their defensive coordinator sounds like he fully appreciates what he's up against in Allen. I expect him to play Allen like the Bills played Fields: Keep him in the pocket, assign a spy, and take away the deep ball. Force him to be patient while giving him less time than he usually gets when he extends plays on the run. It's not a perfect plan, because Allen is perfectly capable of picking a team apart from the pocket. But, as we've all seen, he can also get impatient and start forcing balls into tight coverage, ignoring the check-down.
What I wonder is how this plan (assuming they use it) impacts the Bills run game. Any thoughts?
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1 hour ago, Goin Breakdown said:
I've been reading that it's better to rush 3. Idk though we have a hard enough time getting to the passer with 4. We know there won't be many blitzes at all with the style D that the Bills play. I think it'll actually be much of the same we've seen all year. Bills will get gashed for the first quarter until they adjust. I'm just hoping that the offense is at its peak to play in a shoot out. That's just how I feel. I'm not saying I'm right. Go Bills
That does seem to be the pattern. Early in the season, the Bills were so confident of scoring and stopping the other team from scoring that they would opt to take the ball first when they could. Now, the offense seems to stall early, and the defense, as you say, gets gashed before they figure things out. Still gets the job done, but it's not nearly as gratifying to watch.
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1 hour ago, mjt328 said:
There are two different beliefs about this Bills team:
One side saw this team as the dominant Super Bowl favorite before the season. But since the bye, their many flaws have been exposed. An overmatched offensive coordinator. A below-average O-Line. Not enough weapons around the quarterback. Sloppy with penalties, drops and tackling. A paper tiger defense that flops in big moments, and can't stop elite quarterbacks.
The other side also saw this team as elite before the season. But nothing over the last two months has shaken their confidence. They see a team persevering through massive injuries and terrible weather. Battle tested, and finding ways to win close games. All of the problems are self-inflicted, and they will surely get everything cleaned up for the home-stretch.
Fans have been arguing non-stop over which narrative is true for the last two months. I have a feeling that Monday night will give us a really strong indication which side is correct.
I see truth in both views. The line is in fact below average, all units are sloppy with penalties, tackling and drops, and Allen doesn't have enough weapons, which has led him to hero ball, for better and worse. But they are also battle-tested against tough opponents and bad weather and have dealt with a lot of injuries (how many teams have lost two all-pro players?). The idea that the defense is a paper tiger that can't handle elite QBs ignores the facts.
I see a flawed but formidable team. If Allen is on, it takes a meltdown on the part of the coaches or the other units to beat the Bills. Even if he's off, they can still win with defense and coaching.
I'm just glad they're my team. If I'm a Chiefs fan, I'm secretly terrified.
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Those who rank the Chiefs above the Bills and Bengals should be reminded that these two teams beat the Chiefs four out of the last five meetings (four of the five in Arrowhead), with the one Chiefs victory in overtime at home when they won the coin flip and the Bills weren't allowed to respond.
The evidence is clear: The Chiefs are at best only the third-best team in the AFC. Monday's game is a preview of what should be (and should have been last year) the AFC Championship game.
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42 minutes ago, Thurman#1 said:
If you don't count Davis' one-handed TD grab against Pittsburgh as great I'd say that's on you and not him. His contested catch 30 seconds before the half in the Vikes game was also really sweet. Shakir's contested 31 yarder against Pittsburgh was really nice.
And counting Knox, Singletary, Davis and Cook, he absolutely is surrounded by weapons. Elite weapons? No, but weapons, yes. And that's the way a lot of teams look. Where are Mahomes' elite WRs. Kelce's elite. Otherwise he's got some good guys but nothing deeply special.
And that is absolutely not a "bottom-tier offensive line," though they certainly took a step back with Morse out.
There's a tendency to get frustrated if there's not someone special at every position. But that's not a reasonable possibility. You're always making compromises, that's the world GMs deal with.
I get it that we can't expect greatness at every position. My point is that the meh-ness of the Bills offense is disguised by Allen's brilliance, and that many of his mistakes are due to his trying to work with average or below average talent. I remember that Gabe Davis catch, but I also remember his many drops and general invisibility.
Cincinnati, Philadelphia, San Francisco, maybe even Miami could thrive with a competent backup QB. The Bills could not.
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10 minutes ago, mjt328 said:
We have talent at the position. Not Cincinnati Bengals talent. But enough that we shouldn't be shut-down so easily by defenses. Week after week (for the past two months), we get short spurts of rhythm and success. Maybe 1-2 quarters, and then it goes right back to being a grind. Something has just felt off.
But are those short bursts of success because of WR talent or Allen making things happen? I see a superstar surrounded by mediocrity players (except for Diggs) and making them look special. Put it this way: can you think of a WR besides Diggs bailing out Allen this season with a great catch? And how many drops can you remember from MacKenzie alone?
No, this is a team with a bottom-tier offensive line and a truly mediocre set of WRs aside from Diggs. Allen by himself makes commentators gush that "this offense is loaded" and "Allen is surrounded by weapons."
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4 hours ago, Beast said:
I’d rather see Beasley or McKenzie, especially at this point of the season. I don’t want Allen trying to find chemistry with any receiver come playoff time.
I don't know about that--I'm no fan of McKenzie, and Beasley may be done--but whenever I think of Crowder, I remember that slightly high pass from Allen bouncing off his tiny hands for an interception. That might have been a chemistry problem on the part of Crowder, who may not have been accustomed to Allen's high velocity.
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3 minutes ago, Nitro said:
Goes without saying the importance of this game. Potential rain and moderate temperatures. That adds to the drama. If the Bills play smart, disciplined and mistake free football, IMO, they will win. I expect it to be close but the Bills hang defensively with the Bengals. Allen and the offense can dominate that Bengal defense. Patience Josh!
If I'm the Bengals, I take away the deep pass, keep Allen contained in the pocket, and give him short- and mid-range passes all day. That takes away the Bills' best weapons (Allen running and throwing deep) and invites Allen to be patient, which is not his long suit.
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16 hours ago, arcane said:
This stat is a bit misleading, Mahomes would own the record handily if they didn't count 2018 as one full year for him because he got some mop up duty in the last week of the season
2017*
Yet when commentators point to Mahomes better percentages--completion, yards per game, etc.--to argue he's better than Allen, they rarely note that he sat on the bench is rookie year instead of learning on the job, which is what Allen was doing his rookie year. No, Allen's accomplishment is impressive. Funny it's not getting any attention.
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2 hours ago, YoloinOhio said:
We went through this with Von. Everyone dealing with this stuff. Extra bad for bengals since burrow isn’t that mobile.
How good is the rest of the line? I lost track after "Joe Burrow is getting hammered behind an inferior line."
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30 minutes ago, HappyDays said:
The worst part is he hasn't even really done this lately. The last tough play he made was in week 5 against the Steelers. Since then every play he's made has been an easy catch delivered right into his hands without a defender contesting him. His rookie year he was making amazing sideline catches in critical moments in a playoff game. Yesterday he flubbed his one opportunity to make a difficult sideline catch. In a year when we needed him to step up in a bigger role he has instead regressed. It's the biggest disappointment of the season IMO.
It's funny, because he came into the year looking like he was ready for his new role. He had added ten pounds of muscle and was understandably pumped after his extraordinary playoff game against KC. But that game looks like an outlier event for a guy who is just pretty good. Give Allen a second receiver like Burrows and Tua have and look out.
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6 hours ago, Straight Hucklebuck said:
He’s always had that gimpy waddle kind of run.
I just can’t buy a twisted ankle in Week 2 walkthrough is still plaguing him in Week 15/16.
It may be time to acknowledge that Davis is just not an very good WR. Patrick Peterson claims he runs just three routes, and, watching him, I think that's right. He also has a very high drop rate, mediocre speed, and doesn't seem to try very hard, like when he didn't try for the TD throw with the CB in front of him; if he had, he might have drawn a PI call. With his size and ability to make sideline catches and the occasional fly route, he's valuable as a third WR, but he's nothing better than that, leaving the Bills with only one WR that scares opponents. Not a good situation heading into the playoffs, especially with Mackenzie falling short as a slot receiver.
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1 hour ago, Ya Digg? said:
Cam Lewis for finding a way to not try and cost the Bills a win
In that case, MacKenzie also gets a game ball.
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Yes, definitely keep throwing to Mackenzie, that well-known game-breaking receiver with sure hands and amazing ability to get open. Keep Shakir on the bench by all means.
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Are they really going to lose this game?
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Some bad Allen throws today. High, in the dirt, in double coverage (twice), and now this one right to the defender.
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Sigh. Sure would be nice to see a blowout one of these days. Seems like a long time.
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No panic. Bills are moving the ball on offense and stopping them on defense. Special teams not doing well, again, but otherwise they look fine. Just can't let them hang around is all.
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Maybe Benford should play safety. Can't be worse than Hamlin.
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Just don't turn the ball over and it should work out. The Bills are better across the board.
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9 minutes ago, BearNorth said:
They are paying Knox a lot of money to chip block on the right side.
Good point. Brown's incompetence is essentially costing us a tight end. It takes two players to do the job Brown should be doing alone. Could Quessenberry, Hart, or even Daryl Williams be worse?
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9 hours ago, FrenchConnection said:
You probably think that you're exaggerating, but the Chiefs have played in perfect weather all year. They have an open air stadium and they haven't even had to play in rain all year. It has never been even windy for them all year. It's going to be cold but clear with little wind for them on Sunday at home while the Bills play in a hurricane in Chicago just a bit to the east of them. Some a**hat in KC clearly sold their soul for this.
Any yet from all the evidence, MVP voters never take weather conditions into account. Remarkable, isn't it, how Mahomes is able to throw more TDs for a higher percentage in perfect conditions than Allen playing in the worst conditions in the NFL? SOS schedule also a non-factor, so Hurts playing so well with the softest schedule in the league doesn't figure in an iota. The voters are among the most seasoned beat reporters, too; you'd think they'd know better.
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No Mac Jones? Outrageous!
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Creed Humphrey was sitting there in the second round when Beane went for Boogie. Could have played guard for the Bills and saved the team a lot of grief and money.
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Week 17: Bills at Bengals on MNF
in The Stadium Wall
Posted
(I think you mean "sleight," from Middle English, meaning "cunning" or "skill.")