A Few Thoughts about the Texans game, in no particular order

[Virgil]

If ever there were a Bills game.....

 

1 - Peterman - With a great fake out move to the inside, Zay breaks deep and catches a perfectly thrown pass from Peterman for the go ahead touchdown.  And in that moment you may have thought "Is this real life?"  Yes, yes it was.  Because just like real life, it was followed up by two terrible interceptions that sealed the game for the Houston Texans.  I'm not going to dump on the kid as I'm sure it's coming at him from all angles.  But Peterman needs to be a free agent come Monday.  He's just not long for the NFL.  You could see it in his face after the first interception and it would all almost be funny if it weren't so damn sad.

 

2 - Allen - How fitting is it that Allen gets knocked out of the game after one of his better scripted throws of the season.  Why do I say scripted?  Because I'm starting to realize more and more that if Allen doesn't deliver the ball quickly, it turns into street ball out there where he looks to run too often.  His stat line isn't the end-all, be-all, but how many times is the kid going to be sub-100 yards?  He's gotten the quick, short passes down, but has a really hard time letting plays develop and I'm wondering more with each passing game if he's going to turn the corner.  I'm not making decisions on him for the season, but I'm seeing maybe one or two plays that give me a glimpse of hope marred by countless other plays that take it away

 

 3 - Refs - The PI call was real. However, I can't remember a game under McDermott where we got hammered with ticky tack calls all game.  I was really worried that Tre would get rattled and loosen his coverage after the first quarter.  But the amount of calls, and more importantly the non-calls on the Bills were ridiculous.  I don't know if these guys aren't getting enough love at home, but this isn't the place to get attention.

 

4 - You're no daisy! You're no daisy at all. Poor soul, you were just too high strung.

 

5 - Zay - If there were one big positive takeaway on offense from this game, it might be the performance of Zay Jones.  That's right, the kid finally showed up.  He had a great move on the TD catch.  He should've had close to first down on the first drive, if not for a missed penalty.  He had a great catch at the end of the game for a first down.  Overall, I think it's time to scheme for him a bit and see what we can get.

 

6 -  Defensive Line - Where do I start here?  All of them played amazing ball.  Kyle was quick to Watson.  Hughes was all over the place.  Yarbrough was a tackling machine.  Phillips got his first NFL turnover.  Watson was under pressure all game.  Frazier did a good job of sending an extra guy here and there, but they were a menace all game.  The batted ball turned INT was also a thing of beauty.

 

7 - Offensive Line - This is now two games in a row where these guys have more than held their own.  We had rushing lanes, time to throw for the most part.  I'm very happy to see this unit come along and it definitely is not the cause for our offensive struggles

 

8 - Milano - I've called him out a few times so far this season and thought about leaving him out, but I don't know how.  He's just a monster to the ball . He's absolutely everywhere on the field and is in contention for our Defensive player of the year vs Hughes and White.  It's amazing to see him come along and I can't wait to see his progression continue.

 

9 - Tre - Yes, Hopkins Mossed him for a TD but I don't know a DB that would have stopped that.  For all the penalties called on him in the beginning and clear frustration in his face, he held Hopkins to one catch in the entire second half.  Tre shadowed him all over the field and took him out of the game.  Amazing play by him.  Just amazing.

 

10 -  Coaching - Outside of the timeout used on 4th and short at the end of the game, I thought all the coaches did a great job.  I can' t find an area of play calling to blame for this loss.  We absolutely could have won this game and probably should have.  QB play killed us here, plain and simple.  This was a rough environment and these guys came to play.  We should probably be 3-3 right now, and that says a lot.

 

 

Tough loss that has the Bills written all over it.  There were a ton of positives to come from this game, but still a lot of questions at quarterback.  I wish I could say that I see hope at the position and I recognize that we are only 6 games in, but it's tough right now.  Other than that, solid play by the rest of the team.

 

Go Bills!

[Coach Tuesday]

Not all the coaches - not Crossman or the receivers coach, those two were firable today.

[Roundybout]

Just now, Coach Tuesday said:

Not all the coaches - not Crossman or the receivers coach, those two were firable today.

 

Agreed

 

Also why did more WRs seem to come open when Pete was throwing it? I don't remember those cross routes open like that like on that 3rd and 15

[Virgil]

1 minute ago, Coach Tuesday said:

Not all the coaches - not Crossman or the receivers coach, those two were firable today.

 

It’s hard for me to dump on Special Teams coaches when the talent simply fails. It wasn’t like there were bad calls. 

[Big Turk]

Can't disagree with any of this other than the ST coach...his unit puked all over itself all game long.

 

Bills D has turned into one of the best units in the NFL.

 

I mean the Texans came in averaging 440 yards of offense, Watson had 375+ yards passing in the last 3 games and if he did it again it would have broke an NFL record ror most consecurive games with 375+ yards passing. He didn't even come close.

 

Bills held Texans to fewer yards than the 223 the Titans had last week, Watson was under duress all afternoon, and should have probably gotten sacked 2 or 3 more times. That goalline stand after the DPI call in the endzone was a thing of beauty.  If this team even had the offense from last year they would likely be 5-1.

Edited October 14, 2018 by matter2003

[BringBackOrton]

4 minutes ago, Coach Tuesday said:

Not all the coaches - not Crossman or the receivers coach, those two were firable today.

I believe that Crossman has told Ray Ray to catch the football on PR.  

[SWATeam]

I feel sick for our D, they were nasty.  Refs !@#$ed us all day.  Complete BS

[HappyDays]

I guess I have a higher opinion of Allen today than most other fans. He only had I think 2 bad passes. I didn't see him stare down receivers for the most part. I never know if he's missing open receivers until the all 22 comes out but on the broadcast at least I didn't see anything egregious. We need to get him some receivers next year.

[Roundybout]

1 minute ago, HappyDays said:

I guess I have a higher opinion of Allen today than most other fans. He only had I think 2 bad passes. I didn't see him stare down receivers for the most part. I never know if he's missing open receivers until the all 22 comes out but on the broadcast at least I didn't see anything egregious. We need to get him some receivers next year.

 

I agree. Like I said, I thought his actual throws were really nice today. Very crisp, except for those early throws at the feet. I think that his pocket awareness is killing him, and I hope that Anderson can help him out. 

[swnybillsfan]

1 minute ago, SWATeam said:

I feel sick for our D, they were nasty.  Refs !@#$ed us all day.  Complete BS

i thik the offense !@#$ed us all day. defense was great. offense...do they even know what the NFL is like in 2018?

[Buffaloflash]

You seem to hit most points very well,I'm still in shock in that our offense gave the opposing team all their points!

I will admit, that the redeeming factor of the Outstanding game our defense played, give me great hope that we will be on the path to competitiveness in the near future. 

[qwksilver]

Someone needs to straighten out all the illegal formation calls. Always happened at the wrong time. That's coaching as well.

[HappyDays]

Just now, BillsEnthusiast said:

I think that his pocket awareness is killing him, and I hope that Anderson can help him out. 

 

Yeah if there's one major thing I'd criticize him for it's that he sees ghosts in the pocket sometimes. I did not want Allen before the draft but I always said the team that drafts him will need to be patient so I'm keeping my word on that. I saw progress today and that's all I'm looking for.

[BringBackOrton]

3 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

 

Yeah if there's one major thing I'd criticize him for it's that he sees ghosts in the pocket sometimes. I did not want Allen before the draft but I always said the team that drafts him will need to be patient so I'm keeping my word on that. I saw progress today and that's all I'm looking for.

Each week, Allen leaves evidence on the field about why he was drafted high, and why he shouldn't have been.

[DuckyBoys]

1 minute ago, HappyDays said:

 

Yeah if there's one major thing I'd criticize him for it's that he sees ghosts in the pocket sometimes. I did not want Allen before the draft but I always said the team that drafts him will need to be patient so I'm keeping my word on that. I saw progress today and that's all I'm looking for.

I though he hung in a little better each game.  The one sack he took from Watt he moved to the side the double team was on and Watt split it. Play calling stunk  I know he is a rookie and struggling but you have to let him throw downfield on 1st down.   Again Bills had a chance to win with their game plan but wonder if its not hindering Allen's development long term to continue to run run pass on third and long

[LEBills]

17 minutes ago, Virgil said:

10 -  Coaching - Outside of the timeout used on 4th and short at the end of the game, I thought all the coaches did a great job.  I can' t find an area of play calling to blame for this loss.  We absolutely could have won this game and probably should have.  QB play killed us here, plain and simple.  This was a rough environment and these guys came to play.  We should probably be 3-3 right now, and that says a lot.

 

 

Really...?

 

You don’t think Crossman is responsible for putting McCloud on punts...especially after he muffed the kickoff.

 

or how about the poor punt protection that led to a block? All the Texans points came off of our turnovers.

 

How about damn illegal formation penalties negating all of our successful offensive plays? We are the team with the second most pre snap penalties going into today. That’s all on coaching.

 

our defensive coaching was good today. We sucked at everything else and we still may have been able to keep it a game and take it to OT if we didn’t dial up a peterman sideline throw on our two minute drive. 

 

I think your your observations are usually very good, I think you are off base on this point.

 

 

[stevewin]

- That 1st quarter was among the most frustrating I can ever remember.  There was no way I thought they were going to come back after that

- This game brought back that familiar Bills fan feeling where literally after every positive play you wait and expect a flag to bring it back (and most times it actually did)

- Another game where we needed multiple + turnovers from the D to have a chance to win

- The pre-snap penalties are just inexcusable

- Maybe we should get Brandon Tate back in here (half serious)  - when he was back there returning you never worried about him mis-paying a ball  

- Can't believe we had a chance to win, and then once we did, can't believe we didn't.  Just make that 3rd and 2.  Just stop them on that last drive (don't give up a 23 yd pass to Hopkins - just recover that fumble).  Just at least do something on that drive when tied at the end even if you run out the clock (and don't throw a pick six) .....  Just unbelievable another incredible game loss to put among so many other classic ones.  So frustrating

Edited October 14, 2018 by stevewin

[Virgil]

2 minutes ago, LEBills said:

 

Really...?

 

You don’t think Crossman is responsible for putting McCloud on punts...especially after he muffed the kickoff.

 

or how about the poor punt protection that led to a block? All the Texans points came off of our turnovers.

 

How about damn illegal formation penalties negating all of our successful offensive plays? We are the team with the second most pre snap penalties going into today. That’s all on coaching.

 

our defensive coaching was good today. We sucked at everything else and we still may have been able to keep it a game and take it to OT if we didn’t dial up a peterman sideline throw on our two minute drive. 

 

I think your your observations are usually very good, I think you are off base on this point.

 

 

 

I think McCloud probably earned it in practice.  They gave him a second chance today and that was all she wrote for him. 

 

The formations?  I addressed that with the Ref’s

[DuckyBoys]

Yep too many penalties for sure  Sad a great defensive effort was wasted.  Far as a special teams think it goes to lack of receiver talent.  We have crap at returner just like at WR  Guys cant even field a kick clean  How is Crossman still here?

[billsfan_34]

Crossman’s a lousy special teams coach. I cant really judge Daboll as he doesnt have much to work with. 

[Repulsif]

11. Penalty, penalty, penalty !

[GunnerBill]

25 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

I guess I have a higher opinion of Allen today than most other fans. He only had I think 2 bad passes. I didn't see him stare down receivers for the most part. I never know if he's missing open receivers until the all 22 comes out but on the broadcast at least I didn't see anything egregious. We need to get him some receivers next year.

 

I thought he was about a zero, neutral today. He didn't make a single play that I thought really helped us and he didn't make a single play that really hurt us. His biggest problem is he is definitely abandoning plays too early and looking to escape. The announcers were speculating that he is dropping his eyes to the rush - that may be true - and if it is that would be a worry because the one way I think it is possible to ruin a rookie QB is if he starts seeing pressure where there isn't and when he has time to throw. 

[Big Turk]

25 minutes ago, qwksilver said:

Someone needs to straighten out all the illegal formation calls. Always happened at the wrong time. That's coaching as well.

This is the most unacceptable penalty you could possibly get on offense...there is no reason for it, ever.

14 minutes ago, stevewin said:

- That 1st quarter was among the most frustrating I can ever remember.  There was no way I thought they were going to come back after that

- This game brought back that familiar Bills fan feeling where literally after every positive play you wait and expect a flag to bring it back (and most times it actually did)

- Another game where we needed multiple + turnovers from the D to have a chance to win

- The pre-snap penalties are just inexcusable

- Maybe we should get Brandon Tate back in here (half serious)  - when he was back there returning you never worried about him mis-paying a ball  

- Can't believe we had a chance to win, and then once we did, can't believe we didn't.  Just make that 3rd and 2.  Just stop them on that last drive (don't give up a 23 yd pass to Hopkins - just recover that fumble).  Just at least do something on that drive when tied at the end even if you run out the clock (and don't throw a pick six) .....  Just unbelievable another incredible game loss to put among so many other classic ones.  So frustrating

 

Yeah these are the type of games we usually win under this staff...very few times when they have chances to finish teams or win close games in the end do we end up losing.

[folz]

That's two really bad games in a row for the special teams units (outside of Haush, a couple of good punts by Bo, and Taiwan Jones, who is all over the place on teams). 

 

The refs definitely gave the Texans an edge today, but the Bills have to stop the pre-snap penalties. We seem to get 2-3 illegal formation plays a game. And that is on the coaching, imo. The false starts are on the players.

 

Gotta give it to the Defense...they won that game...the offense and Peterman lost it.

 

Poor Nate...every time you think he might turn it around, he blows up again. He really should not see the field again this year (maybe ever). I feel bad for him, but he is just too much of a liability.

 

 

[LABILLBACKER]

Nobody rooted for this kid more than me and I really wanted to see him succeed but we have to be realistic here. He's absolutely horrible. If he's in Buffalo pads on Tuesday then he's got something on his organization dirty pictures, something?

[HappyDays]

4 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

 

I thought he was about a zero, neutral today. He didn't make a single play that I thought really helped us and he didn't make a single play that really hurt us. His biggest problem is he is definitely abandoning plays too early and looking to escape. The announcers were speculating that he is dropping his eyes to the rush - that may be true - and if it is that would be a worry because the one way I think it is possible to ruin a rookie QB is if he starts seeing pressure where there isn't and when he has time to throw. 

 

Right that is the biggest thing he needs to work on, moving in the pocket and not bailing at the first sign of pressure. No doubt he is still a work in progress. He made a couple great throws downfield at the end, of course one was called back on a pointless illegal formation penalty but it still counts as a positive. It really sucks he had to leave the game because he was getting into a rhythm. In my mine I'm still grading him on a curve because the receivers just aren't good.

[B Fan in LA]

 

I'm not real happy about the O play calling.

First down is often used by other teams to throw a pass.

We don't ever do that. Why ?

 

As far as Allen dropping his eyes earlier to the rush, I think he maybe took a couple hits that hurt him

and decided to keep his eyes on his escape route.

He's gonna get smarter eventually from not wanting to take those hits, but right now he's got a little bit of "deer in the headlights" going on.

[GunnerBill]

2 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

 

Right that is the biggest thing he needs to work on, moving in the pocket and not bailing at the first sign of pressure. No doubt he is still a work in progress. He made a couple great throws downfield at the end, of course one was called back on a pointless illegal formation penalty but it still counts as a positive. It really sucks he had to leave the game because he was getting into a rhythm. In my mine I'm still grading him on a curve because the receivers just aren't good.

 

I am worried that we aren't seeing a lot of progress. But I agree the rest of the O is so bad it is hard to know how much of that is on Josh. I feel the same about Daboll. I particularly want to see the 3rd down in the redzone again... it looked like a mess of a route combination and I'd like to shout and swear about the playcaller.... but it is more than likely one of our useless skill players not executing something pretty simple. How do you judge the OC and the QB fairly with such ineptitude around them? 

[Nihilarian]

Allen played better then Watson and Peterman! As usual half his throws the receivers drop. The one big play gets called back because of a penalty. I see signs that Allen is getting better... it's that he has a bad team around him. Bad coaching, bad line, bad receivers.

 

When the RB gets tackled 3 yards behind the line it isn't the RBs fault either. 

 

special teams put the team in the hole 2x. way, way too many penalties. 

 

 

*I was actually hoping that Peterman would do okay so Josh could sit and learn like he was supposed to do from the start. Now again Peterman proved he shouldn't* even be on the roster. 

Edited October 14, 2018 by Nihilarian

[TFBillsfan]

34 minutes ago, LEBills said:

 

Really...?

 

You don’t think Crossman is responsible for putting McCloud on punts...especially after he muffed the kickoff.

 

or how about the poor punt protection that led to a block? All the Texans points came off of our turnovers.

 

How about damn illegal formation penalties negating all of our successful offensive plays? We are the team with the second most pre snap penalties going into today. That’s all on coaching.

 

our defensive coaching was good today. We sucked at everything else and we still may have been able to keep it a game and take it to OT if we didn’t dial up a peterman sideline throw on our two minute drive. 

 

I think your your observations are usually very good, I think you are off base on this point.

 

 

Spot on! It’s the little things and attention to details that always bite the Bills! Punt blocking, lining up correctly, fielding a punt, etc..

 

Most of that is on the coaches!

[Bing Bong]

Needs to be an "I love you for doing this" emoji. Look forward to these posts more than anything on TBD

[DC Tom]

20 minutes ago, LABILLBACKER said:

Nobody rooted for this kid more than me and I really wanted to see him succeed but we have to be realistic here. He's absolutely horrible. If he's in Buffalo pads on Tuesday then he's got something on his organization dirty pictures, something?

 

He'll still be on the team...but it should be as a disaster quarterback.

 

Which position description he fits perfectly.

[Bing Bong]

1 hour ago, Virgil said:

Tre - Yes, Hopkins Mossed him for a TD but I don't know a DB that would have stopped that.  For all the penalties called on him in the beginning and clear frustration in his face, he held Hopkins to one catch in the entire second half.  Tre shadowed him all over the field and took him out of the game.  Amazing play by him.  Just amazing.

Don't you want a DeAndre Hopkins? Makes a major impact on an offense.

 

I do like Zay these last few games too.

[Kelly the Dog]

12 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

 

I am worried that we aren't seeing a lot of progress. But I agree the rest of the O is so bad it is hard to know how much of that is on Josh. I feel the same about Daboll. I particularly want to see the 3rd down in the redzone again... it looked like a mess of a route combination and I'd like to shout and swear about the playcaller.... but it is more than likely one of our useless skill players not executing something pretty simple. How do you judge the OC and the QB fairly with such ineptitude around them? 

This is where I am at. He gets zero help. It's impossible to accurately evaluate him. Plus we knew he was raw and we knew he didn't get great experience in college at a small school with crappy blocking. He does some things very well and others awful. I don't mind some of the other things that a lot of fans mind. But there is no way of telling whether he is going to be lousy, fair, average, good, great or Hall of Fame. 

[Bing Bong]

1 minute ago, DC Tom said:

 

He'll still be on the team...but it should be as a disaster quarterback.

 

Which position description he fits perfectly.

The positive is that my screenname will be relevant for at least another 6 weeks. Was about the change it to something more relevant.. like TreWhiteForHOF

[GimmeSomeProcess]

15 minutes ago, Nihilarian said:

Allen played better then Watson and Peterman! As usual half his throws the receivers drop. The one big play gets called back because of a penalty. I see signs that Allen is getting better... it's that he has a bad team around him. Bad coaching, bad line, bad receivers.

 

When the RB gets tackled 3 yards behind the line it isn't the RBs fault either. 

 

special teams put the team in the hole 2x. way, way too many penalties. 

 

 

*I was actually hoping that Peterman would do okay so Josh could sit and learn like he was supposed to do from the start. Now again Peterman proved he shouldn't* even be on the roster. 

I agree, he’s getting better slowly but surely, which makes sense since he was the rawest qb to come out this year. He set peterman up for the td, after that peterman literally throw the game away. 

[Steptide]

As bad as allen is right now, I think we win that game if he didn't get hurt. Peterman needs to go play for Canadien football. I'm willing to cut Peterman and sign Ej manuel as a backup if Allen is hurt next week. It's seriously come to that. Side note, Ej actually threw for 300 yards and 3 tds in his last start. Just pointing out that he's a more viable backup than Peterman 

Edited October 14, 2018 by Steptide

[Bing Bong]

3 minutes ago, Kelly the Dog said:

This is where I am at. He gets zero help. It's impossible to accurately evaluate him. Plus we knew he was raw and we knew he didn't get great experience in college at a small school with crappy blocking. He does some things very well and others awful. I don't mind some of the other things that a lot of fans mind. But there is no way of telling whether he is going to be lousy, fair, average, good, great or Hall of Fame. 

He needs a Hopkins! Does a ton for a quarterback to have an ounce of trust in SOMEONE to make a fantastic play for him.

Just now, Steptide said:

As bad as allen is right now, I think we win that game if he didn't get hurt. Peterman needs to go play for Canadien football. I'm willing to cut Peterman and sign Ej manuel as a backup if Allen is hurt next week. It's seriously come to that. Side note, Ej actually threw for 300 yards and 3 tds in his last start. Just pointing out that he's a more viable backup than Peterman 

I want to call Thad out of retirement! (or whatever he's doing)

[stony]

I just saw a stat that said today was Allen's 3rd game this season where he average more yards per rush than per pass attempt.  I nodded and thought, well, the Bills want to build a run first team.   

[DC Tom]

5 minutes ago, PetermanThrew5Picks said:

The positive is that my screenname will be relevant for at least another 6 weeks. Was about the change it to something more relevant.. like TreWhiteForHOF

 

The negative is that it ceased being relevant five weeks ago.  I'm surprised you haven't yet changed it to "PetermanThrewALLThePicks."