D. L. Hot-Flamethrower Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 Just like I give Marrone credit for having the team ready to play in week 17 last year, I give Rex credit for keeping them focused this year. There are plenty of teams that just play out their string of games, that didn't happen. Give credit where it's due. That being said, you also should place blame where it's due too and much of that is on Rex for this disappointing season. The Bills were winning before any of those turnovers. Those turnover definitely helped win the game but they aren't the only stat that matters. Without a solid, ball control offense and a D that limited 3rd down conversions those turnovers don't mean much. Good call here. That is 100% correct. A bit over simplified to say nothing else matters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lofton80 Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 I saw the Bills were into right from the first series. Maybe less weapons made for less complications. The Jets were pretty good the last 2 months and the Bills led all day. Clearly something was different. Look at the Dareus effort on the Lawson interception. He discarded 2 blockers and disrupted the throw. The naysayers will blame Fitz but Dareus tossed a solid pro in Ferguson to the ground. We have not seen Marcel play like that all year. A light went on somewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snafu Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 The Bills were one crazy bouncing ball on a late breakup of a Thompkins catch from losing that game with 24 seconds left. Not only that, did you notice how wide open Marshall was on Fitz's second pick? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atlbillsfan1975 Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 We played more of a Rex defense (which was Rex's fault earlier when he decided not to play it). We insisted on getting the ball to our best player. That extremely complex formula could have been the difference in a couple other games, too. I just don't understand why Rex didn't run the D he ran in the second NE game more often. That D worked great and would have surely confounded the likes of Alex Smith, Kirk Cousins, and Bradford. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris heff Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 The Bills were one crazy bouncing ball on a late breakup of a Thompkins catch from losing that game with 24 seconds left. Except he didn't catch it and the Bills won. Most games are decided by a couple of plays. McKelvin interception was a thing of beauty. Dareus drilled Fitz to cause that interception. Sammy made Revis look like he was lost on an island. I don't understand denigrating them. The Bills showed up with a bunch of guys off the street and beat a Jet team, whose offense had set a team record and has a very good D. The Bills had nothing to play for and the Jets had everything and yet they got beat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly the Dog Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 I just don't understand why Rex didn't run the D he ran in the second NE game more often. That D worked great and would have surely confounded the likes of Alex Smith, Kirk Cousins, and Bradford. I asked that exact question a dozen times. Didn't make any sense. It's the defense we expected. It worked when he used it. Then he put it away again. He used it again this last week and it worked again. The times we were getting killed he was not using any semblance of it and wasn't blitzing, pressuring or pressing, and it made no sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Webster Guy Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 There's really nothing to "dig deeper" into here. The Bills were +2 in turnovers. Historically teams that are +2 in turnovers win their games about 95% of the time. All the other stats that anyone wants to look at are just gravy stats. They really don't matter all that much by comparison. This is true. Plus throw in the 29 yard punt from your own endzone and you can't win a road game against Cleveland that way. I will say, we had some impressive 3rd down conversions in that game that seemed to deflate the Jets D, which is normally a stout bunch. The funniest part of it all is I saw a bunch of Jets fans on their site saying Chan and Fitz had to go, that they sucked etc. When will people get it straight that Chan is one of the best offensive minds in the NFL and an excellent game caller (you CAN have one without the other). They were one INT away from 11 wins and the playoffs and now the fans think it's time to fire everyone. Hilarious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeF Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 (edited) Why does a team that has a thousand yard rusher give him the ball less than 10 times in bad weather? Why does that same team continually throw down the field instead of going short and underneath when they have a huge size advantage at the receiver position? How does one of the best defenses in the league allow a 45% conversion rate on 3rd down and a 100% conversion rate on 4th down? The Jets played and coached "tight" -- reminded me of this game -- when the Steelers played back ups.... but the Steelers were 14-1 coming into the game.. http://espn.go.com/nfl/recap?gameId=250102002 I give credit to the Bills playing a disciplined game -- but the Jets choked.....choked in strategy, choked in execution and made very few plays on D when it counted. It came down to Fitz being able to be a difference maker and Fitz is not Brady or Rodgers in the clutch...not even close. Edited January 5, 2016 by JoeF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly the Dog Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 Why does a team that has a thousand yard rusher give him the ball less than 10 times in bad weather? Why does that same team continually throw down the field instead of going short and underneath when they have a huge size advantage at the receiver position? How does one of the best defenses in the league allow a 45% conversion rate on 3rd down and a 100% conversion rate on 4th down? The Jets played and coached "tight" -- reminded me of this game -- when the Steelers played back ups.... but the Steelers were 14-1 coming into the game.. http://espn.go.com/nfl/recap?gameId=250102002 I give credit to the Bills playing a disciplined game -- but the Jets choked.....choked in strategy, choked in execution and made very few plays on D when it counted. It came down to Fitz being able to be a difference maker and Fitz is not Brady or Rodgers in the clutch...not even close. And yet if Thompkins comes down with the ball, on a perfect pass, which he was an inch or two from doing, Fitz leads one of the most heroic comebacks in history and throws three late TDs to vault his team into the playoffs and is no longer a choker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeF Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 And yet if Thompkins comes down with the ball, on a perfect pass, which he was an inch or two from doing, Fitz leads one of the most heroic comebacks in history and throws three late TDs to vault his team into the playoffs and is no longer a choker. You are right Kelly -- but honestly with 10 back ups on the field -- some of whom weren't even street free agents/practice squaders at the beginning of the year (Dizzy and Reddick) -- it shouldn't have come down to this. The Jets let a team without its starting TE, #2 WR, #1 and #2 RB convert half of their 3rd and 4th downs???? Hold the ball for 40 minutes....that's tight playing...that's giving too much cushion and not filing gaps aggressively....that's not playing playoff football. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rubes Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 I asked that exact question a dozen times. Didn't make any sense. It's the defense we expected. It worked when he used it. Then he put it away again. He used it again this last week and it worked again. The times we were getting killed he was not using any semblance of it and wasn't blitzing, pressuring or pressing, and it made no sense. True, but at the same time, Fitz was killing us when we did blitz. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly the Dog Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 True, but at the same time, Fitz was killing us when we did blitz. He did. The TD to Marshall was easy although Butler barely covered him. I was talking about the overall game plan, the overall play and playcalls, and the end result. The way they lined up before the play and the overall look. That was the defense we expected all year and we only saw it IMO in two full games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. WEO Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 - We were missing 10 starters - The jets had EVERYTHING to play for - We really had NOTHING to play for and yet....the team came out and was as focused as I have seen it all season and they won the game. I am wondering.....WHY I dont really credit Rex for this.....but the fact is we were not a penalty machine....and guys who you wonder would even be on the team next year were making contributions..... I feel that for this team to take its next step....we need PLAYERS to step up into leadership positions on this team (and get players who wont do it out) because Rex just runs too loose of a ship for him to the be the guy that keeps it all together Thoughts? 10 more starters than the game against the Redskins? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fansince88 Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 Something Ive not heard anyone mention is we only had 4 flags against us this week.... Dig into that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YoloinOhio Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 Something Ive not heard anyone mention is we only had 4 flags against us this week.... Dig into that!blame Rex something somehow oh wait Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RevWarRifleman Posted January 6, 2016 Share Posted January 6, 2016 - We were missing 10 starters - The jets had EVERYTHING to play for - We really had NOTHING to play for and yet....the team came out and was as focused as I have seen it all season and they won the game. I am wondering.....WHY I dont really credit Rex for this.....but the fact is we were not a penalty machine....and guys who you wonder would even be on the team next year were making contributions..... I feel that for this team to take its next step....we need PLAYERS to step up into leadership positions on this team (and get players who wont do it out) because Rex just runs too loose of a ship for him to the be the guy that keeps it all together Thoughts? +1 on that, John. Time for some team leadership with all 3 squads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billsfan_34 Posted January 6, 2016 Share Posted January 6, 2016 - We were missing 10 starters - The jets had EVERYTHING to play for - We really had NOTHING to play for and yet....the team came out and was as focused as I have seen it all season and they won the game. I am wondering.....WHY I dont really credit Rex for this.....but the fact is we were not a penalty machine....and guys who you wonder would even be on the team next year were making contributions..... I feel that for this team to take its next step....we need PLAYERS to step up into leadership positions on this team (and get players who wont do it out) because Rex just runs too loose of a ship for him to the be the guy that keeps it all together Thoughts? Fitz pick Fitz pick Fitz pick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dulles Posted January 6, 2016 Share Posted January 6, 2016 Exactly - that game was a microcosm of Fitz in Bflo. Teases you with gritty play and comes up short in the games you really gotta have. He's Mr. 8-8 and got lucky 2 more times this year to tease Jets fans. I love Fitz and he is the only reason I feel bad for the Jets missing the playoffs - but not at our expense! Without the turnovers, the Jets score once or twice - enough to win. What's incredible about Fitz is that MR.8-8 is Mr. 28 - That's how much he's been paid over the last 4 years - $28.25million. Not bad for Mr.8-8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KD in CA Posted January 6, 2016 Share Posted January 6, 2016 Why not? Obviously because Ryan only contributes to the result when bad things happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExWNYer Posted January 6, 2016 Share Posted January 6, 2016 The Bills were one crazy bouncing ball on a late breakup of a Thompkins catch from losing that game with 24 seconds left. Or one easy pick six drop early in the game that would've made a Thompkins TD catch irrelevant. Stuff happens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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