Week 8 Bills (-1.5) vs Eagles

[auburnbillsbacker]

I read recently that most betting on the game picked Philly to win.  By the end of the week the Bill's will be underdogs by a point or two.

[BigDingus]

13 hours ago, r00tabaga said:

So, on an even playing field, a hobbled 3-4 team that just got destroyed is a point & a half favorite over a healthy 5-1 team.

Okayyyyyyy-

 

Healthy(ish) and being 5-1 do matter, but the talent is still comparable, and they have the advantage at the most important position, plus they've beaten a good team this year, we haven't.

 

We should still win (thus being the favorite still), but if they can beat the Packers in Green Bay, they can put up a good fight against this Bills team... I mean EVERY team we've faced thus far has put up a good fight, so why wouldn't the Eagles?

We just saw what Miami did against us, how could you not think the Eagles could do the same, if not better? 

[eball]

5 minutes ago, BigDingus said:

 

Healthy(ish) and being 5-1 do matter, but the talent is still comparable, and they have the advantage at the most important position, plus they've beaten a good team this year, we haven't.

 

We should still win (thus being the favorite still), but if they can beat the Packers in Green Bay, they can put up a good fight against this Bills team... I mean EVERY team we've faced thus far has put up a good fight, so why wouldn't the Eagles?

We just saw what Miami did against us, how could you not think the Eagles could do the same, if not better? 

If only we had Bortles!

[LSHMEAB]

I'm gonna be that negative guy here and say that I HATE this matchup. If you give Wentz time, he's still a very good QB. Pass rush hasn't been great. We also play the cover 2 which leaves middle deep open on occasion and Ertz and Goedert can be lethal.

 

If the Eagles are able to score as I suspect(hope not) they will, it puts the onus on the offense and Allen to put up more points than they generally need for a W. 

 

While I'm pessimistic here, it's also a tremendous opportunity for some question marks to be answered. If the D line applies sufficient pressure on Wentz and Allen ups his game, the Bills have a solid chance to get the win.

 

This game is going to tell ME quite a bit about where we're at. Sky's the limit if the pass rush and Allen come through.

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

58 minutes ago, YoloinOhio said:

Oops. Didn’t notice.

 

He was injured but active because the eagles needed a full game day roster.

14 minutes ago, LSHMEAB said:

I'm gonna be that negative guy here and say that I HATE this matchup. If you give Wentz time, he's still a very good QB. Pass rush hasn't been great. We also play the cover 2 which leaves middle deep open on occasion and Ertz and Goedert can be lethal.

 

If the Eagles are able to score as I suspect(hope not) they will, it puts the onus on the offense and Allen to put up more points than they generally need for a W. 

 

While I'm pessimistic here, it's also a tremendous opportunity for some question marks to be answered. If the D line applies sufficient pressure on Wentz and Allen ups his game, the Bills have a solid chance to get the win.

 

This game is going to tell ME quite a bit about where we're at. Sky's the limit if the pass rush and Allen come through.

 

Who's gonna catch the ball? lol

[LSHMEAB]

4 minutes ago, Joe in Winslow said:

 

He was injured but active because the eagles needed a full game day roster.

 

Who's gonna catch the ball? lol

I know how you feel about the Iggle's Joe! I'm not concerned with Jeffrey and whoever else they trot out there at receiver. I'm concerned about their TE's.

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

Just now, LSHMEAB said:

I know how you feel about the Iggle's Joe! I'm not concerned with Jeffrey and whoever else they trot out there at receiver. I'm concerned about their TE's.

 

Ertz has been ineffective this year. Goedert may be a problem, but don't worry too much.

[njbuff]

38 minutes ago, Joe in Winslow said:

 

Ertz has been ineffective this year. Goedert may be a problem, but don't worry too much.

 

I always worry.

 

Even though the Bills are CLEARLY the far superior team to the Eagles, I always worry.

[947]

37 minutes ago, Joe in Winslow said:

 

Ertz has been ineffective this year. Goedert may be a problem, but don't worry too much.

Ertz is on pace for 80 catches & 900ish yards. He's well off his 2018 pace, but still a really good TE. He does only have 1 TD though.

[CaptnCoke11]

Pressure Wentz and it’s over.  Only thing is they can’t generate pressure very well.  

[Nextmanup]

3 hours ago, njbuff said:

 

It might not be there amongst some fans, but whatever player puts on the uniforms of either team, this is a blood rivalry for the players suiting up.

I guarantee you no player on any of the AFCE teams considers any other team some type of "rival".

 

The salary cap and free agency have resulted in too much player movement for rivalries to exist anymore among players.

 

Rivalries definitely exist among fans, but that's it.

 

 

 

4 hours ago, Seven-N-Nine said:

 

I think Jackson is playing well, better than I would have thought.  However, i am of the ilk who think that a running QB is simply not the way to go long term. When you look at the 2018 QB draft class it is really hard to determine right now who will still be playing at a high level in 10 years. Darnold should be one of them IMO, not sure about the rest.  

Last year I would have said the only one of them who looked proven was Mayfield.  He seems to have regressed this season and now I'm not sure any of them will pass the test. 

 

 

[Seven-N-Nine]

3 minutes ago, Nextmanup said:

I guarantee you no player on any of the AFCE teams considers any other team some type of "rival".

 

The salary cap and free agency have resulted in too much player movement for rivalries to exist anymore among players.

 

Rivalries definitely exist among fans, but that's it.

 

 

 

Last year I would have said the only one of them who looked proven was Mayfield.  He seems to have regressed this season and now I'm not sure any of them will pass the test. 

 

 

 

Mayfield's biggest problem is his idiot coach.

[Nextmanup]

1 minute ago, Seven-N-Nine said:

 

Mayfield's biggest problem is his idiot coach.

The situations almost all of them have ended up in are terrible.  Darnold, Mayfield, and poor Rosen, TWICE.

 

Josh Allen has made out the best of the bunch.

 

 

[YoloinOhio]

1 hour ago, 947 said:

Ertz is on pace for 80 catches & 900ish yards. He's well off his 2018 pace, but still a really good TE. He does only have 1 TD though.

The “anonymous source” in the Iggles locker room said Ertz was being targeted way too much 

[Bangarang]

59 minutes ago, Nextmanup said:

The situations almost all of them have ended up in are terrible.  Darnold, Mayfield, and poor Rosen, TWICE.

 

Josh Allen has made out the best of the bunch.

 

 

Lamar seems to be in a good situation.

[HappyDays]

I feel like I've had a pretty good read on every game so far but I have no clue what to expect in this one. I could see a Bills blowout, an Eagles blowout, and everything in between. The Eagles biggest weakness is the secondary but we don't really have the offense to take advantage of that. I couldn't imagine betting on this game.

[stevewin]

4 hours ago, fergie's ire said:

Isn't there pressure to lose?  Because I seem to remember that losing to an NFC increases chances of making the playoffs.

 

It's a lose-win

[SJDK]

16 hours ago, YoloinOhio said:

I think it’s fair if you look at the talent on both sides - i think it’s really a coin flip type game. My big concern is their DL. 

Fletcher cox has always been a man amongst boys

[Doc Brown]

3 hours ago, Joe in Winslow said:

 

Ertz has been ineffective this year. Goedert may be a problem, but don't worry too much.

Even in a down year Ertz is their main air threat as he has the most targets (59), catches (35), and yards (404).  Teams have been double covering him all year daring Wentz to beat them elsewhere.  Tre White will likely match up with Jeffrey so Wallace will likely see a lot of action his way.  Hopefully Jackson will miss another game and Wentz will have to rely on Agholor.  

[Billsfan77]

If the eagles played like they did against the cowturds ..we should win easily..oh wait what happen in the dead fish game ... going to be a close one

[Rocket94]

3 hours ago, njbuff said:

 

I always worry.

 

Even though the Bills are CLEARLY the far superior team to the Eagles, I always worry.

The Bills always worry the heck out of us for at least 2 quarters every week! 

[JoshAllin]

eagles D has been suprisingly bad this season, while bills O  has been suprisingly good, bills underated again

[Seven-N-Nine]

6 hours ago, Nextmanup said:

The situations almost all of them have ended up in are terrible.  Darnold, Mayfield, and poor Rosen, TWICE.

 

Josh Allen has made out the best of the bunch.

 

 

 

I feel bad for Rosen, his career never had a chance.  

[Gugny]

8 hours ago, Seven-N-Nine said:

 

Mayfield's biggest problem is his idiot coach.

 

Kitchens is horrible and in way over his head.

 

That said, Mayfield's biggest problem is his ego.

[BillsFanSD]

8 hours ago, HappyDays said:

I feel like I've had a pretty good read on every game so far but I have no clue what to expect in this one. I could see a Bills blowout, an Eagles blowout, and everything in between. The Eagles biggest weakness is the secondary but we don't really have the offense to take advantage of that. I couldn't imagine betting on this game.

This may be the game that most depends on Josh Allen, for exactly the reason you described.  I mean, obviously the play of your QB is always important, but we didn't really need Allen to "win" any of our games so far, and I think we can reasonably expect to handle most of our remaining opponents (BAL, DAL, and NE are the toughies of course) with Allen just avoiding mistakes and taking what's there.  For this game, I think the clearest path to victory is with Allen aggressively attacking the secondary, which is something we haven't done a lot of this year.  This should be a really interesting game.

[r00tabaga]

I feel this is a bad matchup for us. Their secondary is weak but we don't rack up passing yards.....you can rattle Wentz with pressure but that's not our game

 

I'll still be happy if we're 5-2. Eagles are gonna come in desperate. 

6-2 going to Cleveland is very realistic at this point. 

Edited October 22, 2019 by r00tabaga

[SCBills]

13 minutes ago, r00tabaga said:

I feel this is a bad matchup for us. Their secondary is weak but we don't rack up passing yards.....you can rattle Wentz with pressure but that's not our game

 

I'll still be happy if we're 5-2. Eagles are gonna come in desperate. 

6-2 going to Cleveland is very realistic at this point. 

 

It will be interesting.  Their weaknesses are the two things we keep wanting to see... consistent pressure on the QB and the ability for Josh to hit guys deep. 

 

We saw relentless pressure on Mariota from our defense, but Fitz seemed to do whatever he wanted Sunday behind a worse OL.

 

Edited October 22, 2019 by SCBills

[PaattMaann]

1 hour ago, SCBills said:

 

It will be interesting.  Their weaknesses are the two things we keep wanting to see... consistent pressure on the QB and the ability for Josh to hit guys deep. 

 

We saw relentless pressure on Mariota from our defense, but Fitz seemed to do whatever he wanted Sunday behind a worse OL.

 

 

Great points. Fitz is good inside the pocket and consistently avoided the outside pressure by stepping up and around. It was frustrating to see for sure, hopefully we start seeing our pressure get home on sunday. Might be the day we see some more blitzing (were not ever going to be a blitz heavy team). Might also depend on if Milano is healthy and playing or not. I like some safety blitzes here and there to try and rattle Wentz. 

 

As far as Josh goes, as mentioned before, he hasnt needed to air it out for us to win. That might not be needed Sunday either, depending on if our D keeps the Eagles in check. If its low scoring, itll be a "dont lose the game" performance from Josh, expect that all season. If the Eagles start scoring TDs and were playing from behind, I would expect to see Josh take chances, for better or worse. Thats the offensive strategy. Keep the game close and find a way to win. The team seems to be comfortable playing in those situations. 

[Dr. Who]

11 hours ago, Nextmanup said:

The situations almost all of them have ended up in are terrible.  Darnold, Mayfield, and poor Rosen, TWICE.

 

Josh Allen has made out the best of the bunch.

 

 

Mayfield has plenty of talent around him; his coach is in over his head. Allen was thrown into the fire with a terrible o-line and a very subpar wr corps. This year, he's got a decent supporting cast, but last year his critics were not stressing his "terrible situation." Jackson fell into a nearly perfect situation.

[The Wiz]

A lot is going to depend on whether Milano is back in or not.  Lorax took 95% of the snaps against the dolphins and was averaging ~40% the first 5 weeks along with M. Alexander averaging about 2% of the snaps the first 5 weeks going up to 64% last week.

 

Not sure about Maurice but that's a lot of snaps for Lorax at his age.

[PaattMaann]

55 minutes ago, The Wiz said:

A lot is going to depend on whether Milano is back in or not.  Lorax took 95% of the snaps against the dolphins and was averaging ~40% the first 5 weeks along with M. Alexander averaging about 2% of the snaps the first 5 weeks going up to 64% last week.

 

Not sure about Maurice but that's a lot of snaps for Lorax at his age.

 

from my untrained eye, Maurice sucked and id prefer to never see him play anywhere near that amount of snaps again 

[aristocrat]

If we can get pressure with the front four especially oliver up the middle.  This is the best defense the eagles have faced all year.  The eagles have gotten behind early in all games except for the jets game and that was without darnold.  They have had to come from behind in all games so lets get on them early and shut them down.   I want to see this team play with a lead and play a complete game

[DaBillsFanSince1973]

 

 

Edited October 22, 2019 by DaBillsFanSince1973

[DaBillsFanSince1973]

 

[Blank Stare]

Outside of NE, this is the hardest game we’ve had to date. I know Philly’s record isn’t the greatest, but they’ve got a ton of talent and are desperate for a win. We need Milano back and have to get back to our pre-bye defense. I almost wish they’d bring in Milano insurance like a Deone Bucannon or Zach Brown. Although, Brown probably isn’t process enough for them. 

[r00tabaga]

13 minutes ago, TheProcess said:

Outside of NE, this is the hardest game we’ve had to date. I know Philly’s record isn’t the greatest, but they’ve got a ton of talent and are desperate for a win. We need Milano back and have to get back to our pre-bye defense. I almost wish they’d bring in Milano insurance like a Deone Bucannon or Zach Brown. Although, Brown probably isn’t process enough for them. 

Almost word for word Joe Marino.

[buffaloaggie]

2 hours ago, PaattMaann said:

 

Great points. Fitz is good inside the pocket and consistently avoided the outside pressure by stepping up and around. It was frustrating to see for sure, hopefully we start seeing our pressure get home on sunday. Might be the day we see some more blitzing (were not ever going to be a blitz heavy team). Might also depend on if Milano is healthy and playing or not. I like some safety blitzes here and there to try and rattle Wentz. 

 

As far as Josh goes, as mentioned before, he hasnt needed to air it out for us to win. That might not be needed Sunday either, depending on if our D keeps the Eagles in check. If its low scoring, itll be a "dont lose the game" performance from Josh, expect that all season. If the Eagles start scoring TDs and were playing from behind, I would expect to see Josh take chances, for better or worse. Thats the offensive strategy. Keep the game close and find a way to win. The team seems to be comfortable playing in those situations. 

Speaking of blitz heavy, you know Allen will see plenty of blitzes from Schwartz. Schwartz typically holds a grudge against former teams. As far as our blitzing goes, if we blitz, we need a spy. Fitz made us pay with that last TD, and that was just normal pressure. Wentz will still take off running, despite his injury history. Can't ever let an NFL QB get comfortable. Eagles are lower to middle of the pack in sacks allowed.

[GG]

16 minutes ago, TheProcess said:

Outside of NE, this is the hardest game we’ve had to date. I know Philly’s record isn’t the greatest, but they’ve got a ton of talent and are desperate for a win. We need Milano back and have to get back to our pre-bye defense. I almost wish they’d bring in Milano insurance like a Deone Bucannon or Zach Brown. Although, Brown probably isn’t process enough for them. 

 

Tuesdays are the days for roster moves.

[YoloinOhio]

 

[Juice_32]

2 minutes ago, YoloinOhio said:

 

 

Those completion % stats are pretty amazing.