A Few Thoughts About The Game, in no particular order.....

[Observer]

Gannon said it about 20 times: Aren't there 20 plays centered around getting Watkins the ball? Couldn't he be put in motion just once? Set up a WR screen. Run a pick play. At half time I was thinking that all they had to do was just keep letting him get chances and he would make plays.

 

Then comes the second half and time and again, I'd see Watkins on one side and Taylor not even look to Sammy. I blame Taylor some but I've got to blame Roman more. There need to be "Get Sammy the ball" plays.

 

Lucy is holding the football for Charlie Brown right now. Bills will win next 3 and get our hopes up only to screw us. It's coming Bills fans. Brace for the rise of hope followed by it getting dashed on the rocks.

[Jerry Jabber]

It seems Wrecks does not have a coach in the booth to tell him to challenge a play as Wrecks was relying on the replay inside the stadium. That is absolutely pathetic and inexcusable!!!

 

Not throwing to Sammy in the 2nd half is also absolutely pathetic and inexcusable!!! Roman needs to dial up some crossing routes, slants, screens etc to get more use out of Watkins instead of always doing the "go-route."

 

Robert Woods, what a disappointment he's been. While he is a great blocker, he's no #2 WR. Woods constantly drops passes, seems to run the wrong routes and is always diving back for the ball and is not in sync with Taylor.

 

The defense was a major letdown after MNF. I blame that on Wrecks & Thurman's game plan.

 

I had a new sense of optimism for this team as the old guard is gone and new owners took over and invested a ton of money in the team with a lot of new players and coaches, but it's just the same old Bills. 16 years and counting, when will it end...

[Gavin in Va Beach]

8) Make no mistake, I will NEVER turn my back on the Bills or especially Bills fans. I will go to the grave as a loyal fan. Period. That said, it really is taxing sometimes, wouldn't you say folks?

 

 

 

 

Yes, really taxing.

[CodeMonkey]

Gannon said it about 20 times: Aren't there 20 plays centered around getting Watkins the ball? Couldn't he be put in motion just once? Set up a WR screen. Run a pick play. At half time I was thinking that all they had to do was just keep letting him get chances and he would make plays.

 

Then comes the second half and time and again, I'd see Watkins on one side and Taylor not even look to Sammy. I blame Taylor some but I've got to blame Roman more. There need to be "Get Sammy the ball" plays.

 

Lucy is holding the football for Charlie Brown right now. Bills will win next 3 and get our hopes up only to screw us. It's coming Bills fans. Brace for the rise of hope followed by it getting dashed on the rocks.

Almost no hope now. KC plays no one over .500 for the remainder of the season, they are 6-5 now, and hold the tiebreaker over the Bills. The Bills are not mathematically eliminated at this point, but that loss yesterday got the fat lady ready to sing.

[D. L. Hot-Flamethrower]

It seems Wrecks does not have a coach in the booth to tell him to challenge a play as Wrecks was relying on the replay inside the stadium. That is absolutely pathetic and inexcusable!!!

 

Not throwing to Sammy in the 2nd half is also absolutely pathetic and inexcusable!!! Roman needs to dial up some crossing routes, slants, screens etc to get more use out of Watkins instead of always doing the "go-route."

 

Robert Woods, what a disappointment he's been. While he is a great blocker, he's no #2 WR. Woods constantly drops passes, seems to run the wrong routes and is always diving back for the ball and is not in sync with Taylor.

 

The defense was a major letdown after MNF. I blame that on Wrecks & Thurman's game plan.

 

I had a new sense of optimism for this team as the old guard is gone and new owners took over and invested a ton of money in the team with a lot of new players and coaches, but it's just the same old Bills. 16 years and counting, when will it end...

We are following the Chip Kelly plan with Riley Cooper. Blocking WRs to complement the running game in a passing era.

[thebandit27]

I don't agree with the above one bit.

 

This defense is passive up front, enough to remind one of the Levy/Jauron days. If I was an opposing OC, I would be laughing at Rex and The Bills as I watch their linemen run away from scrimmage. The Bills defense became a good one under Pettine. It got even better with Schwartz. This is because we had a pass rush. Under Pettine we had admittedly issues against the run, but this is a passing league, no?

 

I think that Rex is trying to show the world how smart he is. The problem is that in doing so, he is looking less like a genius and more like a buffoon. Sadly, he is causing the team to lose games.

 

I don't disagree that the overall philosophy is hurting their effectiveness.

 

What I'm saying is that, for this particular game, the game plan of don't blitz/play coverage was the correct one because Alex Smith shouldn't be able to beat you from the pocket. That the front 4 didn't create the pressure their capable of, and haven't all season, is most certainly a coaching issue.

[Observer]

Almost no hope now. KC plays no one over .500 for the remainder of the season, they are 6-5 now, and hold the tiebreaker over the Bills. The Bills are not mathematically eliminated at this point, but that loss yesterday got the fat lady ready to sing.

 

Oh ye of little faith. If you don't think the Bills will figure out a way to hurt us worse than yesterday, you must be a young fan.

 

KC will lose next 3. Bills will win next 3. Then there will be a catastrphic bad ref moment/dropped sure TD/kick off an upright/etc to send us to a 16th season of oblivion and pick #17 (a defensive back) in the draft.

Edited November 30, 2015 by Observer

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

 

I don't disagree that the overall philosophy is hurting their effectiveness.

 

What I'm saying is that, for this particular game, the game plan of don't blitz/play coverage was the correct one because Alex Smith shouldn't be able to beat you from the pocket. That the front 4 didn't create the pressure their capable of, and haven't all season, is most certainly a coaching issue.

 

Sounded like the smart scheme. You don't blitz an andy reid team. Unless you want to give up 40 yard screens all game.

 

We didn't get any pressure and smith broke contain multiple times. They also gashed us in the run game. That comes down to the LBs and depth linemen. IK, Carrington, Bryant all had miserable games.

[hondo in seattle]

1) No challenge on the catch by Hogan in the 4th quarter? I must admit, Rex is consistent. He is consistently idiotic, whereas he pulled the same stunt in the 2nd quarter. Not to be denied, he DID challenge plays that were clearly against us.

....

 

8) Make no mistake, I will NEVER turn my back on the Bills or especially Bills fans. I will go to the grave as a loyal fan. Period. That said, it really is taxing sometimes, wouldn't you say folks?

 

 

 

I agree wholeheartedly.

 

The lack of challenges on the Maclin catch and the Hogan catch really killed me.

 

The players who worked so hard to win this game, and all the fans who were so invested in the game, were screwed by the refs. But Rex was an unwitting accomplice.

[thebandit27]

 

Sounded like the smart scheme. You don't blitz an andy reid team. Unless you want to give up 40 yard screens all game.

 

We didn't get any pressure and smith broke contain multiple times. They also gashed us in the run game. That comes down to the LBs and depth linemen. IK, Carrington, Bryant all had miserable games.

 

Completely agree. I also think the safeties in particular were poor. Rambo surrendered the Kelce TD when he decided to double the RB out of the backfield instead of dropping to the short zone (Darby had the outside leverage in what looked like a bracket coverage there--he'd have no reason to play outside leverage if he wasn't supposed to have help inside).

 

Doesn't help that both Darby and Gilmore had relatively poor outings for guys that we're used to playing at a fantastic level.

[D. L. Hot-Flamethrower]

 

Completely agree. I also think the safeties in particular were poor. Rambo surrendered the Kelce TD when he decided to double the RB out of the backfield instead of dropping to the short zone (Darby had the outside leverage in what looked like a bracket coverage there--he'd have no reason to play outside leverage if he wasn't supposed to have help inside).

 

Doesn't help that both Darby and Gilmore had relatively poor outings for guys that we're used to playing at a fantastic level.

Hard to figure out why D&G were so bad. Going in I thought we shutdown their receivers. Instead we get toasted deep the whole game. Go figure.

[Bill from NYC]

Hard to figure out why D&G were so bad. Going in I thought we shutdown their receivers. Instead we get toasted deep the whole game. Go figure.

Give any qb all day to throw and he will find someone open. These guys are professionals.

 

The Bills are pros as well, but Rex is not allowing one of the best front fours of the decade to rush the quarterbacks of opposing teams.

 

It is SO unimaginable that it feels almost surreal.

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

Give any qb all day to throw and he will find someone open. These guys are professionals.

 

The Bills are pros as well, but Rex is not allowing one of the best front fours of the decade to rush the quarterbacks of opposing teams.

 

It is SO unimaginable that it feels almost surreal.

 

They were rushing 3 or 4 all game...? What am i missing here? They even did some wide 9 stuff everyone seems to like so much. Everyone on the defense played poorly. Rex didn't call a great game, and the players did not execute what was called. They lost... as a team.

[Tyrod's Tailor]

I am posting for the first time in awhile to say just how bad Rex's coaching was. i thought he would be a great fit for us and was so excited when the Bills hired him. Well that was pretty freaking stupid of me. UGH.

[Bocephuz]

Advice for Rex

- " Don't waste your breath to save your face when you have done your best, and if even more is asked of you.. fate will decide the rest"

 

Also.. let's hope this team is "Built To Last" and not just "Built to Try"

 

5) There are times that you can beckon,
There are times when you must call.
You can shake a ton of reckoning,
But you can't shake it all.
There are times when I can help you out,
And times that you must fall.
There are times when you must live in doubt,
And I can't help at all.


Three blue stars / Rise on the hill.
Say no more, now / Just be still.
All these trials / Soon be past.
Look for something / Built to last.

[CodeMonkey]

 

Oh ye of little faith. If you don't think the Bills will figure out a way to hurt us worse than yesterday, you must be a young fan.

 

KC will lose next 3. Bills will win next 3. Then there will be a catastrphic bad ref moment/dropped sure TD/kick off an upright/etc to send us to a 16th season of oblivion and pick #17 (a defensive back) in the draft.

Oh man, and I thought I was jaded! hehe

[JohnC]

 

I don't disagree that the overall philosophy is hurting their effectiveness.

 

What I'm saying is that, for this particular game, the game plan of don't blitz/play coverage was the correct one because Alex Smith shouldn't be able to beat you from the pocket. That the front 4 didn't create the pressure their capable of, and haven't all season, is most certainly a coaching issue.

In this game Alex Smith did what he rarely does i.e. throw deep down the field. Usually his first inclination is too dump the ball off at the first sign of pressure. His usual mind-set is a copy of the Trent Edwards dump off approach to passing. The reason why Smith broke out of his rigid small ball approach to the passing game is that he faced little pressure from our DL and had more time with minimal sack risk to throw it down field, which he did to much success.

 

The bottom line is that KC and the qb adjusted to what our defense did better than how we adjusted to what their offense did. Or another way of looking at this game is that their coaching staff out-coached our coaching staff from a number of standpoints.

 

As I stated in a prior post the better team and the better coached team won this game. It wasn't a fluke.

There are times even when a team has an excellent game plan that changes have to be made during the game to reflect how the game is flowing. Rex wasn't up to the task where Reid was.

[DE Bills Fan]

How true and how sad. Up 10 to zip, D shutting them down, Sammy making nice grabs. Everything going our way! You cheer, you can't believe what you're seeing. But deep down inside you're waiting for the bubble to burst, wondering when and how it will all go sour. So sad our conditioning has brought us to this.

It's funny that you said this as I was thinking the same exact thing....Really!!!! Sad that it has come to this as a Bills fan!!!

[Reed83HOF]

In this game Alex Smith did what he rarely does i.e. throw deep down the field. Usually his first inclination is too dump the ball off at the first sign of pressure. His usual mind-set is a copy of the Trent Edwards dump off approach to passing. The reason why Smith broke out of his rigid small ball approach to the passing game is that he faced little pressure from our DL and had more time with minimal sack risk to throw it down field, which he did to much success.

 

The bottom line is that KC and the qb adjusted to what our defense did better than how we adjusted to what their offense did. Or another way of looking at this game is that their coaching staff out-coached our coaching staff from a number of standpoints.

 

As I stated in a prior post the better team and the better coached team won this game. It wasn't a fluke.

There are times even when a team has an excellent game plan that changes have to be made during the game to reflect how the game is flowing. Rex wasn't up to the task where Reid was.

 

Well said

[Koufax]

I'm not confident the Bills beat the Texans, but assuming the Bills run the table from here. KC is likely to as well. Even if KC loses one game, they STILL finish above the Bills. What makes you think even 10-6 is a lock for the playoffs?

 

KC and Buf as the wild cards.

 

http://espn.go.com/nfl/playoffs/machine

 

Five loss Jets get sixth loss against us. Would have to beat Pats and Giants to get to 10-6 and then lose head to head with us.

Five loss Steelers have Colts, Bengals, Broncos. If they lose any two or lose to the Broncos we win the tie breaker.

Five loss Texans get sixth loss against us, lose to Colts or leapfrog them for division and we win tie breaker against Colts

 

There are a couple scenarios where we could be eliminated by the Steelers at 10-6, but involves very specific combinations of things.

 

And even though there are a couple 9-7 paths, that isn't something I want to attach any hopes to, so right now we have to get to 6-6 on Sunday no matter what.

 

#WeAreOnToHouston