5 Thoughts About the Bills and This Game

[The Plunge]

Hey Everyone,

 

I don't normally start posts, but there are some things really concerning me. Curious to hear if others agree, or if I am out to lunch:

 

1. They say that most football games come down to a few plays. You could definitely say that about this one. In my opinion, if any 2 of the following 5 plays go differently, we win: 2 TD's called back by very questionable penalties, Carpenter's missed FG (If he makes that, we don't go for it on 4th and 1), Missing on 4th and 1, and Bradham's missed tackle on the long TD.

 

My concern here is this...is this the kind of team who is going to give games away by making 3 or 4 big key mistakes? Or can they figure out how to get on the right side of these plays? Time will tell.

 

2. Our inability to be in the good books with the refs is starting to really scare me. I don't know who, or what pissed off the head official today, but it became very apparent that he was trying to send a message to the team. Other than an umpire lighting up a batter after an argument, I have a hard time remembering an example that was quite as extreme as this one today. If you watch Kyle Williams interview after the game, he eludes to his thought there is more than meets the eye here. The Bills are starting to remind me of a kid I went to high school with. This kid earned a reputation with the teachers. And after a while, it didn't matter if he was at fault or not. He got in trouble for a lot of stuff he wasn't even involved in. That's what this felt like today. This really scares me. I almost think Terry Pegula needs to have a conversation with the league's head of officiating, not to pick a fight, but rather, to reset things. This team is not good enough to overcome refs who are looking for any excuse possible to penalize us. I'm not saying our team is a bunch of angels, far from it. But they need to figure out this part of the "game" and learn to get better treatment from the men in stripes.

 

3. Greg Roman. I'm really torn on him. I'm blown away at certain things he's able to do. I'm extremely concerned with others. What is the point of having all these weapons if we are going to be so inflexible on choosing the one(s) to use? Today, the Giants had a legit 8 man box on first and second down, almost all day. That should be an automatic green light to throw it downfield to any of our talented WR's. Tyrod can throw. Yet, we call plays that play RIGHT into the hands of the Giants. If the Giants had 11 men at the line of scrimmage, I'm convinced they'd still call that same bloody first down running play where Williams runs right up the a$$ of Urbik or Incognito. I hate to do this, but what would BB or Brady do? If a team decided to take away the run, they let them. And they throw it down their throats until the adjust. Or, if they decide to take away the pass, they'll be happy to put up 200 yards on the ground until an adjustment is made there! We need to do the same. Let them pick their poison, and then kill them with it.

 

The whole purpose of having so many weapons is to keep the other team honest! You shouldn't be able to key in on any one guy/strategy without getting burnt by another. Yet, we keep playing into the strength of the defense, week after week. This offense should be damn near impossible to stop. And in 2 of our 4 games, we've started by playing directly into hands of the other team. There is absolutely no excuse for this. If Roman wasn't going to use all of the weapons at his disposal, on a consistent basis, why spend all of the money they did? Seems like a waste of money, and a waste of talent.

 

I get that Sammy is hurt, but are any of you happy with the way he was used in the first 3 weeks? I'm not. I actually disagree with Sammy's comment after the Indy game where he said he's happy to have quiet games, as long as they are winning. I want the other team to double team him every play, of every game as a result of us KILLING them if they don't. And when they leave Robert Woods in single coverage against the other teams 3rd or 4th best DB, we'll kill them that way. And so on. And so on. And when their D-coordinator is terrified of our WR's, watch what happens to our running game.

 

Last one on this topic - regardless of the holding call that wiped it out, but Tyrod needs to run more often. Adding that to things the D needs to worry about will only open things up for everyone else.

 

Right now, our opponents don't respect our offensive weapons nearly as much as they should. This has to change.

 

4. I'm a big fan of Karlos Williams, but we need another back while Shady recovers. Karlos is a lot more effective when he's working in tandem with a shiftier, faster back. I think with the news about Shady being out for a few more weeks, we need to sign another back. Bryce Brown anyone? I bet he's signed on Monday.

 

5. The sub-par results from our d-line so far is very disappointing. I'm not one to pile on these guys too quickly. I get that Brady and Manning are holding the ball for 2 seconds or less. Difficult to deal with that. But we have played 4 games against what were supposed to be the worst offensive lines in the league. We should be DOMINATING the line of scrimmage. Is it scheme? Is it the fact that 99 and 55 just got HUGE paydays, and might not be quite as hungry as they were last year? Are they hurt? I don't know what the problem is, but this is supposed to be the strength of the team, and so far this year, it doesn't look like Terry Pegula is getting his money's worth.

 

That's it for me. I'm far from losing faith in this team. But they haven't done enough to remove these concerns yet.

 

I'd love to hear from some rational Bills fans with some thoughtful insight on these points.

Go Bills!

[PearlHowardman]

The Bottom Line: The Buffalo Bills need a new Head Coach.