A few thoughts about the Bengals Game in no particular order

[Virgil]

This was another week where I needed to take some time to let the emotions run their course from another disheartening loss. I wish I could say I am surprised by all the threads after the game with people jumping ship, even though we are still tied for 1st place heading into the bye, but those with an agenda just can't wait for their negative reinforcement.

 

1 - Running Game - There was talk pre-game about Buffalo running a lot of stacked, 2 TE formations and rushing to that side and that's what we saw. The problem is, once Clay went down, we don't have great blocking tight ends and the running game got blown up at the line. I do not understand how Miller goes from being our starter to inactive, the same as Decasse goes from inactive to starter. Also, while we have a new offensive coordinator and you can't expect the same plays to carry over from the previous year, but it's frustrating to see what's happened to our run game. Unlike the previous few weeks, the Bengals didn't really stack the box and simply got penetration with their front 4. I saw quite a few comments at BillsDaily.com regarding Shady looking slow, but I can't agree with that. Shady just doesn't have the space to make his cuts and doesn't get much momentum going. On a positive note, Tolbert made the best of his carries in probably his best game.

 

2 - Penalties - This is one of the two biggest contributors to our loss, in my humble opinion. Whether they were justified or not, we had crucial penalties like the Bills of 2016 that either killed our drives or extended theirs. Hughes had a roughing the passer for old times sake and a few rookies just got outmatched and did what they had to in order to survice the play. Either way, this wasn't the same clean team we saw in the first four weeks and it hurt us.

 

3 - Defensive Line - I was happy to see Dareus get some more playing time and disrupt a few plays. His first sack was all him. However, against a banged up offensive line, I am concerned about the lack of pressure generated by our front 4. On the Bengals last touchdown drive, we were very close to bringing down Dalton in the backfield, but just couldn't complete the play. Positive notes around their ability to shut down the running game, until the last touchdown, where they broke contain. Overall, good, not great game by them, just needed a little bit more.

 

4 - I have learned to live with livin' with

Every choice we made
But I would love to live with giving this
Shaky voice some shade

 

5 - Tyrod - This was easily his worst game of the season. I'm not going to talk about missed players, because I don't know his read progression. However, he missed quite a few passes today, which was abnormal for him. The Bengals did a good job of keeping him in the pocket, which probably led to him holding the ball longer than we are used to seeing. In the first half, replays showed a lot of players covered down field, so props to the Bengals again. But as the game went on. Tyrod was as Miss as he was Hit. I don't know what happened on that last INT, but my confidence level in him driving us to a game winning TD after his showing all day was minimal.

 

As for the multiple anti-Tyrod posters that came out today; We are 3-2 and tied for first in our division. He played great last week and good the week before. Tyrod is still the same QB he was last week as he is this week, but minus his top 2 targets and less of a running game. I would hate to have some of you as a Coach, because the confidence from job security would be rattling. Big Ben threw 5 int's today and I'm sure many of you would take him as your started in a heartbeat. He has Bell, Brown, and Bryant btw.

 

6 - Front Office - Someone made a post that I agree with about our roster today. Yes, we've had injuries that can't be controlled. However, this team made trades, cuts, and decisions that led to our lack of depth at the WR position. I understand that we are trying to find a balance of re-build, culture change, and competitive play; but that bit us hard today. The drop off in talent when certain guys went down today, which is alarming on an NFL field. I'm not saying that Sammy wins this game for us or anyone in particular and I'm excited to see how we use our 6 picks in the first 3 rounds next year. But today was hard to stomach knowing that we could have made other choices this offseason to maybe prevent today's result.

 

7 - Secondary - Our safeties keep being the MVP's of this season. What more can you say about Hyde and Poyer? They keep creating big turnovers and putting our offense in a position to win. I would love to know more about the coverage on the first AJ touchdown, as I don't believe we weren't supposed to have anyone helping over the top. Outside of that, besides them returning their turnovers for touchdowns, I don't know what more we can ask of them.

 

8 - Offensive Scheme/Wide Receivers - I put these two together because I don't know where to focus our attention. Are the WR's in capable of getting open or are they running uninspired routes due to the scheme? Holmes had pretty good production in Oakland, but is non-existent here. Zay clearly has some mental blocks affecting him, but still isn't exactly demanding passes out there. Like I said earlier, replay showed these guys covered a lot downfield, but we've seen other teams do more with less talent. I personally think our offensive production is the combination of talent, scheme, lack of rushing game, and a quarterback that just isn't built to throw is over 30 times a game. Unfortunately, I don't see this getting fixed over our bye week and requiring us to continue to lean on our defense.

 

9 - AJ Green/Julio Jones - While I recognize that these are elite receivers, I am still concerned with how easily they are hurting our defense. It's no secret that the opposing offenses run through them, yet they both had great games against us. I'm convinced that we lose last week if Julio doesn't get hurt. Between the way these guys found success against us, as well as other gaps in our zone, and running the ball while spreading us out, I'm worried that our defense is going to break more and more, while our offense doesn't adapt to offset it.

 

10 - McDermott - We saw some things stay the same from previous weeks and we saw some changes. We saw the same slow start on offense and overall lack of identity and rhythm. On defense, we saw a lot more man coverage that left players on an island. We also saw more penalties. McDermott was great so far with his halftime adjustments, but today we actually got worse. I'm not sure what happened today, but this bye week needs to get us healthy and fix some scheme issues.

 

Unimportant, but I don't believe coaches owe the media anything in post game pressers. However, I do believe the support of the media and subsequently the fans, can make like easier for a coach. His post-game didn't really answer any questions and you could feel the frustration of the reporters.

 

 

At the end of the day, we are still 3-2 and tied for 1st in the division. Many good teams lost today and we are heading into a much needed bye week. Tampa and Oakland are beatable coming up at home and we were in this one the entire game. The sky is not falling. Tyrod isn't getting benched. We have issues yes, but we are still in better shape than anyone thought going into the season.

 

Go Bills

[Livinginthepast]

I think its great we are 3-2 but losing today and even the Panther's game are why we havent made the playoffs in 17 years. Both games were there for the taking if we had a QB and Offense that could rise to the occasion. I can understand the conditions were poor but Tyrod taking that sack and making that terrible INT pass were completely inexcusable. In Tyrod's defense , He must have been banged up having been hit and shoved and pounded on the entire game AFTER the play was over. The Bengals knew what they were doing following through after the play and it was dirty. The clueless morons in the stripes finally called a late hit after about the 4th or 5th time the Bengals did that and by that stage the damage was done. Also with Clay gone, the offense became very limited. Shady just couldn't get it done. I really hope this loss is not the difference between making the playoffs and missing out.

[Bill from NYC]

The Bills are much better this year than I ever thought they would be. Actually, it isn't so painful watching games this season.

 

What is THE worst thing that can happen wrt the Bills? That they suck? Obviously they would get a better draft pick. If they are good and make the playoffs? This would be an obvious delight. We even have other teams to root for and against in terms of our draft selections.

 

The Bills are in position to build a good football team if they don't shoot themselves in the foot.

Edited October 9, 2017 by Bill from NYC

[jrober38]

Our Wide Receivers are utterly horrendous.

 

Zay Jones doesn't look like he should have been drafted. He's slow, can't separate, and doesn't appear to be able to catch the football when it is thrown his way.

 

Holmes is a fringe NFL player. No one else belongs on the field when we're on offense.

 

The Bills have no one to throw to. No one who can get open.

Edited October 9, 2017 by jrober38

[HappyDays]

This was a great recap, thanks. I'll be interested to see how much WR separation appears on the all-22.

[jrober38]

This was a great recap, thanks. I'll be interested to see how much WR separation appears on the all-22.

 

Our WRs can't separate.

 

Linebackers get to play downhill against our run game knowing our WRs aren't a threat to do anything on the outside.

 

This offense desperately needs an NFL caliber WR. Right now we don't have one who belongs on the field.

Edited October 9, 2017 by jrober38

[Dr. K]

I just watched the game on delay, and I have to say that the whole thing was depressingly familiar. In this game, anyway, they looked exactly like the team we have been watching for seventeen years. I don't see a dime's worth of difference between this team and some of Jauron's teams, with different players, except for poor Kyle, who was playing back then, too.

 

Maybe it was just one game. But I would warn you not to get your hopes up too much right now, at the very least.

Edited October 9, 2017 by Dr. K

[JM2009]

 

Our WRs can't separate.

 

Linebackers get to play downhill against our run game knowing our WRs aren't a threat to do anything on the outside.

 

This offense desperately needs an NFL caliber WR. Right now we don't have one who belongs on the field.

I agree.

[Mark Vader]

2 - Penalties - This is one of the two biggest contributors to our loss, in my humble opinion. Whether they were justified or not, we had crucial penalties like the Bills of 2016 that either killed our drives or extended theirs. Hughes had a roughing the passer for old times sake and a few rookies just got outmatched and did what they had to in order to survice the play. Either way, this wasn't the same clean team we saw in the first four weeks and it hurt us.

Penalties today were so bad, because they came at the worst of times.

 

Mabin's pass interference kept a Bengals scoring drive alive, and Logan Thomas' holding penalty after Shady's big run was an absolute killer.

 

Two other crucial penalties that were absolutely bogus, also killed us.

 

Hughes' personal foul for running into Dalton was a terrible call, and that led to a Bengals touchdown.

 

The holding call on Dawkins was another bad call which wiped out a big first down run by Tyrod.

[MAJBobby]

 

Our WRs can't separate.

 

Linebackers get to play downhill against our run game knowing our WRs aren't a threat to do anything on the outside.

 

This offense desperately needs an NFL caliber WR. Right now we don't have one who belongs on the field.

College Open or NFL Open

 

AJ Green couldnt gain seperation most of the game Dalton kept throwing to him.

[jrober38]

College Open or NFL Open

 

AJ Green couldnt gain seperation most of the game Dalton kept throwing to him.

 

AJ Green is one of the 5-6 best receivers in the NFL.

 

Zay Jones has yet to justify being drafted. He looks like a UDFA who should be on the PS.

[Mark Vader]

Our Wide Receivers are utterly horrendous.

 

Zay Jones doesn't look like he should have been drafted. He's slow, can't separate, and doesn't appear to be able to catch the football when it is thrown his way.

 

Holmes is a fringe NFL player. No one else belongs on the field when we're on offense.

 

The Bills have no one to throw to. No one who can get open.

I'm not condemning Zay Jones after only 5 games in his NFL career.

[26CornerBlitz]

College Open or NFL Open

 

AJ Green couldnt gain seperation most of the game Dalton kept throwing to him.

 

What Bills' receiver who played today is worthy of the trust that Dalton has in AJ Green?

Edited October 9, 2017 by 26CornerBlitz

[MAJBobby]

 

AJ Green is one of the 5-6 best receivers in the NFL.

 

Zay Jones has yet to justify being drafted. He looks like a UDFA who should be on the PS.

So its a name thing then. Or is it a seperation thing.

 

Or is it just are WR gain no seperation an excuse thing?

 

What Bills' receiver who played today is worthy of the trust that Dalton has in AJ Green?

Sorry our QB needs college open to release the football a majority of the time.

[HappyDays]

College Open or NFL Open

 

AJ Green couldnt gain seperation most of the game Dalton kept throwing to him.

Come on Bobby. You'll notice Dalton doesn't make those same throws to Brandon Lafell. And throwing to a covered AJ Green directly led to 2 picks. The biggest play of the game happened when he got wide open.

[MAJBobby]

Come on Bobby. You'll notice Dalton doesn't make those same throws to Brandon Lafell. And throwing to a covered AJ Green directly led to 2 picks. The biggest play of the game happened when he got wide open.

Sure he did. Lafell wasnt college open on his throws either.

 

But again then what is it.

 

Real seperation issues? Nah

Trust Issues? Very well could be some of that.

 

There are plays that are on the field to be made but are left there because of the Ultra Conservative QB play. That is NOT seperation issues.

 

When the Ball comes out on time and in the windows this offense looks decent.

 

I really would love to see this WR core and this Offense run by a QB that has anticipation and timing and proper ball placement. I think people would see that it is not the easy excuse of WRs dont get seperation

Edited October 9, 2017 by MAJBobby

[billsfanmiami(oh)]

Our Wide Receivers are utterly horrendous.

 

Zay Jones doesn't look like he should have been drafted. He's slow, can't separate, and doesn't appear to be able to catch the football when it is thrown his way.

 

Holmes is a fringe NFL player. No one else belongs on the field when we're on offense.

 

The Bills have no one to throw to. No one who can get open.

I'm a pretty big optimist, and am happy overall with the team so far this year (aside from today). However, this has to be one of the worse WR groupings in the history of the league, if not the worst.

[sullim4]

 

What is THE worst thing that can happen wrt the Bills? That they suck? Obviously they would get a better draft pick. If they are good and make the playoffs, this would be an obvious delight. We even have other teams to root for and against in terms of our draft selections.

 

Sadly, the worst thing that could happen to the Bills is finish with 6-8 wins, end up with a draft pick right above the teams that qualify for the playoffs, and we don't end up getting an elite player that can contribute immediately. It's the same story of the last 17 years.

[jrober38]

I'm a pretty big optimist, and am happy overall with the team so far this year (aside from today). However, this has to be one of the worse WR groupings in the history of the league, if not the worst.

 

I agree.

 

This is as bad as I've ever seen. We have a bunch of practice squad guys who can't get open against man coverage.

 

Taylor has no where to throw the ball without Clay and Matthews on the field.

[MAJBobby]

 

I agree.

 

This is as bad as I've ever seen. We have a bunch of practice squad guys who can't get open against man coverage.

 

Taylor has no where to throw the ball without Clay and Matthews on the field.

Sure and once again an All 22 will show that take as inaccurate again.