Rational Thoughts After The Patriots

[corta765]

 Welp that was a bummer haha. As always here are my thoughts after the game Saturday, were getting the 48 hour later version!

 

1. It was a loss. Moral victories are over, I don't care that they pushed the Pats to the brink, had the lead in the 4th, etc.. they didn't close. It's great that against NE and BAL they have lost each game by 7 pts or less, but at some point you gotta cross the bridge if you want to take the next step. I believe that the 2020 Bills should be the division favorite BUT that comes with the Bills winning a few of these games not just making you say well they almost had it. All of this said its not the end of the world, were in the playoffs, I love watching this team, and the game was a ton of fun regardless.

 

2. The biggest positive I saw out of this game was Allen. He sucked as did the offense for most of the first half and then it happened. Every Bills fan had to have that pit of "uh boy Same Ol Bills" as the defense held NE at bay but the offense couldn't do anything. AND then Josh bombs his best pass to date to Knox. After that he was locked in and I was thoroughly impressed was his game. He was not perfect, but he was great and did just about everything he could to will the team to victory. On the final drive I felt like we were gonna score I didn't even doubt it. Talk about such a 180 as a Bills fan for how many years I never believed we would do it, but Allen has been soo good late in games finding ways to win its a cool feeling. I really wish we could've seen what the game would've finished if Morse wasn't injured. It never felt like Allen had a real chance as the line turned into an EZ-Pass.

 

3. I do not think I have seen the Patriots that motivated and pumped up for a game against the Bills. The entire thing felt like a playoff game throughout and you could tell they were throwing every punch they could to try and win. I think New England did a good job making the Bills defense over-pursue at points as the last bunch of weeks Buffalo's defense has been quite successful being aggressive. It also looked like NE had more blockers in then they usually do to give Brady more time.

 

4. Speaking of our Defense YIKES. It's one game and overall they have been great. BUT dear god was their tackling and lane coverage garbage. By the second half I honestly think they were exhausted given how much they were on the field and running on fumes. Additionally I think for the weeks worth of big games finally caught up to them at little bit as they never looked completely sharp minus the 4th down stop which setup Buffalo's first touchdown. The best thing for this unit will be a week off to rest everyone and let them get healed for the playoffs. Milano had an awful game and in general I think he has been a touch off this year. I have to believe coming back in less then a year from a bad leg break is not easy and the Milano from 2018 we won't see completely return until 2020. That's not a shot at him as much of a reality considering how good he is like 95% of the time.

 

5. The powers that be around the league saw Josh and the narrative has changed. PFF which has notoriously not liked Allen even credited him for his improvement and the work the Bills have done. When my twitter feed of national analysts is saying he’s the second best of the draft and one of the better young QB’s the change has happened. Good for Josh and Good for the Bills.

 

6. I 100% figured Edelman was faking. The replay showed as much and you could see his face look and see if they bought it. I love that Poyer jacked him up when he tried to go dirty, I only wish he was injured for real. The guy is scum like Landry.

 

7. Ed Oliver was the one defender I thought had a great day. He seemed to make a quite few good stops at the line and even chased Brady down from scoring. He really has turned it on in the 2^nd half of the season and I am soo excited to see him Edmunds Milano and White keep growing as a core on defense.

 

8. The biggest disappointment to me of the game was the fact the Bills broke for the TD NE scored to go back up 24-17. All season in the 4^th quarter they were able to lock it down and at least only allow a FG. Had they allowed a FG Buffalo probably wins 20-19 (AH scary score memory!). The only time this year I saw the defense finally get broken was against PHI, the Burkhead TD was the second.

 

9. John Brown has had a career year and his TD was one of beauty. Cole Beasley is 55 yds and 8 catches from a career year if they play him against the Jets. While the offense is not other worldly, I do think credit is still due to Beane and the coaches for getting the offense to a decent level and a passing game that is competent for the most part.  They absolutely need to find a true #1 WR to add one more playmaker to the offense, but I think its cool Cole and Brown are having great years. I think most of us only figured one of them would not both.

 

10. Buffalo’s defense is going to give whoever their Wildcard opponent is one hell of a day. The Defense has responded quite nicely to any failure they’ve had and with some needed rest they will be ready to go like an F-14 Tomcat off a carrier. That said if the team wants to make a run in the playoffs the offense will have to get that TD and finish in one of these games.

 

Happy Holidays everyone and Go Bills!

[Big Turk]

I think what I saw and what many others including the national media saw is that the Bills are a team on the rise and the Pats while a team on the decline still had enough in the tank to put one of their best efforts of the season together to squeak out a victory against us at home.  

 

But, I think the bigger picture that people are seeing is that Buffalo is poised to take the division crown from New England possibly as early as next year with another good off-season and draft class under our belts. Buffalo is coming for New England and they won't be able to hold us off for much longer, especially if Brady stays there and continues his slow descent which will begin picking up steam as he gets older.

Edited December 23, 2019 by matter2003

[Johnny Hammersticks]

That’s all good stuff, but what did you think about Reid Ferguson?  

[whatdrought]

4 minutes ago, matter2003 said:

I think what I saw and what many others including the national media saw is that the Bills are a team on the rise and the Pats while a team on the decline still had enough in the tank to put one of their best efforts of the season together to squeak out a victory against us at home.  

 

The Patriots best offensive performance versus our worst defensive and it ended at the wire... 

[Big Turk]

3 minutes ago, whatdrought said:

 

The Patriots best offensive performance versus our worst defensive and it ended at the wire... 

 

Yes exactly.  2nd time this year we had the ball inside the 10 yard line late in the game and could have taken the lead or tied it with a TD.  We failed to score both times but the gap has become as narrow as it ever has been during this time. We are no longer outclassed by them, we should go into the game expecting to win and maybe next year realistically expecting to sweep them.

 

I'd also like to add that Allen is a 4th quarter assassin.  

Edited December 23, 2019 by matter2003

[Chuck Wagon]

Two drives killed us.  We hit the long pass to go up 17-13.  Next drive we hold New England to 3 and out.  We get the ball back at the 27.  Run Singletary up the middle twice and a designed run for Josh on 3rd and 4.  Punt.  NE gets the ball back, moves down the field, ends up with a FG.  Bills ball, 1st down run Singletary up the middle, 2nd down Josh gets crushed by a blitz, 3rd down Gilmore gets away with a PI on Brown.  NE gets the ball and marches down the field on a long drive for a TD.

 

We had them on the mat, up 4, every bit of momentum on our side, crowd quieted and we went 3 and out twice with pretty conservative play calling.

[Big Turk]

1 minute ago, Chuck Wagon said:

Two drives killed us.  We hit the long pass to go up 17-13.  Next drive we hold New England to 3 and out.  We get the ball back at the 27.  Run Singletary up the middle twice and a designed run for Josh on 3rd and 4.  Punt.  NE gets the ball back, moves down the field, ends up with a FG.  Bills ball, 1st down run Singletary up the middle, 2nd down Josh gets crushed by a blitz, 3rd down Gilmore gets away with a PI on Brown.  NE gets the ball and marches down the field on a long drive for a TD.

 

We had them on the mat, up 4, every bit of momentum on our side, crowd quieted and we went 3 and out twice with pretty conservative play calling.

 

Those continuous runs to Singletary on first down were driving me crazy, especially since they appeared to be the exact same run most of the time.  It's like WTF are you doing??  They already have shown repeatedly that they are going to stop this run why don't you try something else?

[loveorhatembillsfan4life]

Nice Summary,

As rough as the first half went, much media and even a few of my pats friends came away with positive praise for Allen. Unlike some of our own fan base lol He played a solid

game against a top defense. I am excited that we finally  have a Quarterback who is a playmaker.  The first Touchdown was a beautiful throw. The throw to Smoke basically moving backwards with a flick of the wrist-50 yards on a dime. That was just crazy and such a nice change from our QB's of the past 20 years.  I am glad he's ours!

 

NE has an advantage in coaching. They did some great stuff like bringing in a LB to lead the way for Sony. I think some of the Bills players themselves mentioned how hard it was to recognize whether it was a pass or run.

 

I am still not sure what our game plan was? We seemed happy to sit back and let Brady throw into our zone all day. Tre should have been shadowing Edleman all day. I really thought our D was going to head into this and lay a physical beating. Your right about no moral victories and we will always be in the shadows to NE until we go out and win of these games. 

 

Maybe however we were due for a bit of a letdown-not in the sense that we were not up for the game or prepared. But we have had a pretty tough stretch of games starting with Baltimore. All physical games. A bit of relief that no matter what we were in. 

 

I think we have a good thing with Dawson, enough so that I wouldn't make a TE a priority in the offseason. Another  solid WR in draft, free agency is a must. I think Cole and Beasley would flourish with one more. If we want to play a lot of 3 wr sets, I am not sure Mackenzie, Foster, Roberts are really cutting it. 

 

We our going to need our best gameplans for WC weekend. No need to hold anything back and let our guys loose. Hopefully we get a lot of rest and be ready to go!

 

 

 

 

Edited December 23, 2019 by loveorhatembillsfan4life

[Do The Reich Thing]

Games are won in the trenches... and by the refs lol

[Chuck Wagon]

12 minutes ago, matter2003 said:

 

Those continuous runs to Singletary on first down were driving me crazy, especially since they appeared to be the exact same run most of the time.  It's like WTF are you doing??  They already have shown repeatedly that they are going to stop this run why don't you try something else?

 

It just feels like we run two completely different offenses.  If we are down at all we'll take the reigns off and let JA rip it and play with some freedom.  But the moment we go back on top it's like we put the muzzle right back on.

[RiotAct]

21 minutes ago, whatdrought said:

 

The Patriots best offensive performance versus our worst defensive and it ended at the wire... 

IMO it’a kind of a chicken and egg situation.  Did our defense look bad because New England finally got their s*** together on offense, or did NE just look good because our defense played like they were in reverent awe of the almighty Patriots (peace be unto them)?

[Phil The Thrill]

35 minutes ago, corta765 said:

 Welp that was a bummer haha. As always here are my thoughts after the game Saturday, were getting the 48 hour later version!

 

1. It was a loss. Moral victories are over, I don't care that they pushed the Pats to the brink, had the lead in the 4th, etc.. they didn't close. It's great that against NE and BAL they have lost each game by 7 pts or less, but at some point you gotta cross the bridge if you want to take the next step. I believe that the 2020 Bills should be the division favorite BUT that comes with the Bills winning a few of these games not just making you say well they almost had it. All of this said its not the end of the world, were in the playoffs, I love watching this team, and the game was a ton of fun regardless.

 

2. The biggest positive I saw out of this game was Allen. He sucked as did the offense for most of the first half and then it happened. Every Bills fan had to have that pit of "uh boy Same Ol Bills" as the defense held NE at bay but the offense couldn't do anything. AND then Josh bombs his best pass to date to Knox. After that he was locked in and I was thoroughly impressed was his game. He was not perfect, but he was great and did just about everything he could to will the team to victory. On the final drive I felt like we were gonna score I didn't even doubt it. Talk about such a 180 as a Bills fan for how many years I never believed we would do it, but Allen has been soo good late in games finding ways to win its a cool feeling. I really wish we could've seen what the game would've finished if Morse wasn't injured. It never felt like Allen had a real chance as the line turned into an EZ-Pass.

 

3. I do not think I have seen the Patriots that motivated and pumped up for a game against the Bills. The entire thing felt like a playoff game throughout and you could tell they were throwing every punch they could to try and win. I think New England did a good job making the Bills defense over-pursue at points as the last bunch of weeks Buffalo's defense has been quite successful being aggressive. It also looked like NE had more blockers in then they usually do to give Brady more time.

 

4. Speaking of our Defense YIKES. It's one game and overall they have been great. BUT dear god was their tackling and lane coverage garbage. By the second half I honestly think they were exhausted given how much they were on the field and running on fumes. Additionally I think for the weeks worth of big games finally caught up to them at little bit as they never looked completely sharp minus the 4th down stop which setup Buffalo's first touchdown. The best thing for this unit will be a week off to rest everyone and let them get healed for the playoffs. Milano had an awful game and in general I think he has been a touch off this year. I have to believe coming back in less then a year from a bad leg break is not easy and the Milano from 2018 we won't see completely return until 2020. That's not a shot at him as much of a reality considering how good he is like 95% of the time.

 

5. The powers that be around the league saw Josh and the narrative has changed. PFF which has notoriously not liked Allen even credited him for his improvement and the work the Bills have done. When my twitter feed of national analysts is saying he’s the second best of the draft and one of the better young QB’s the change has happened. Good for Josh and Good for the Bills.

 

6. I 100% figured Edelman was faking. The replay showed as much and you could see his face look and see if they bought it. I love that Poyer jacked him up when he tried to go dirty, I only wish he was injured for real. The guy is scum like Landry.

 

7. Ed Oliver was the one defender I thought had a great day. He seemed to make a quite few good stops at the line and even chased Brady down from scoring. He really has turned it on in the 2^nd half of the season and I am soo excited to see him Edmunds Milano and White keep growing as a core on defense.

 

8. The biggest disappointment to me of the game was the fact the Bills broke for the TD NE scored to go back up 24-17. All season in the 4^th quarter they were able to lock it down and at least only allow a FG. Had they allowed a FG Buffalo probably wins 20-19 (AH scary score memory!). The only time this year I saw the defense finally get broken was against PHI, the Burkhead TD was the second.

 

9. John Brown has had a career year and his TD was one of beauty. Cole Beasley is 55 yds and 8 catches from a career year if they play him against the Jets. While the offense is not other worldly, I do think credit is still due to Beane and the coaches for getting the offense to a decent level and a passing game that is competent for the most part.  They absolutely need to find a true #1 WR to add one more playmaker to the offense, but I think its cool Cole and Brown are having great years. I think most of us only figured one of them would not both.

 

10. Buffalo’s defense is going to give whoever their Wildcard opponent is one hell of a day. The Defense has responded quite nicely to any failure they’ve had and with some needed rest they will be ready to go like an F-14 Tomcat off a carrier. That said if the team wants to make a run in the playoffs the offense will have to get that TD and finish in one of these games.

 

Happy Holidays everyone and Go Bills!

So yeah the defense did give up 2 scoring drives of 3 and 8 points after going up 17-13.  But the problem was that the offense failed to move the ball after going up 17-13.  They went 3 and out for 2 straight drives.  
 

Again, this is why you can’t pin the entire game on the defense.  It was not their best performance.  But the offense should have done their part too

[Steptide]

Had the radio most of the day, and all people are saying is the refs this, the refs that. Yes there were missed calls, but people need to stop with this ref stuff. That is not why the bills lost. The bills lost to the better team, it's just that simple 

[row_33]

43 minutes ago, whatdrought said:

 

The Patriots best offensive performance versus our worst defensive and it ended at the wire... 

 

punching it into the end zone in clutch last minutes is a massive learning step

 

not there yet....

 

 

[Big Turk]

1 hour ago, loveorhatembillsfan4life said:

Nice Summary,

As rough as the first half went, much media and even a few of my pats friends came away with positive praise for Allen. Unlike some of our own fan base lol He played a solid

game against a top defense. I am excited that we finally  have a Quarterback who is a playmaker.  The first Touchdown was a beautiful throw. The throw to Smoke basically moving backwards with a flick of the wrist-50 yards on a dime. That was just crazy and such a nice change from our QB's of the past 20 years.  I am glad he's ours!

 

NE has an advantage in coaching. They did some great stuff like bringing in a LB to lead the way for Sony. I think some of the Bills players themselves mentioned how hard it was to recognize whether it was a pass or run.

 

I am still not sure what our game plan was? We seemed happy to sit back and let Brady throw into our zone all day. Tre should have been shadowing Edleman all day. I really thought our D was going to head into this and lay a physical beating. Your right about no moral victories and we will always be in the shadows to NE until we go out and win of these games. 

 

Maybe however we were due for a bit of a letdown-not in the sense that we were not up for the game or prepared. But we have had a pretty tough stretch of games starting with Baltimore. All physical games. A bit of relief that no matter what we were in. 

 

I think we have a good thing with Dawson, enough so that I wouldn't make a TE a priority in the offseason. Another  solid WR in draft, free agency is a must. I think Cole and Beasley would flourish with one more. If we want to play a lot of 3 wr sets, I am not sure Mackenzie, Foster, Roberts are really cutting it. 

 

We our going to need our best gameplans for WC weekend. No need to hold anything back and let our guys loose. Hopefully we get a lot of rest and be ready to go!

 

 

 

 

 

Rookie WR's are really tough to count on producing, even if they are high draft picks.

[corta765]

43 minutes ago, Phil The Thrill said:

So yeah the defense did give up 2 scoring drives of 3 and 8 points after going up 17-13.  But the problem was that the offense failed to move the ball after going up 17-13.  They went 3 and out for 2 straight drives.  
 

Again, this is why you can’t pin the entire game on the defense.  It was not their best performance.  But the offense should have done their part too

 

I do not pin the entire game on the defense. They allowed 24 pts which if that is considered a bad day should be a great sign. My point is more in a season where they held when it was tight they finally broke. And I think they were just on fumes and tired by that point. The offense did not help with TOP. It was a team loss overall.

34 minutes ago, Steptide said:

Had the radio most of the day, and all people are saying is the refs this, the refs that. Yes there were missed calls, but people need to stop with this ref stuff. That is not why the bills lost. The bills lost to the better team, it's just that simple 

 

Yep. Note I did not even mention it. There are times the refs in the NFL have made game altering calls we all know too well. But this game came down to the offense not being able to finish/keep the ball for running the clock and the defense having a bad day/gasing out.

1 hour ago, Chuck Wagon said:

Two drives killed us.  We hit the long pass to go up 17-13.  Next drive we hold New England to 3 and out.  We get the ball back at the 27.  Run Singletary up the middle twice and a designed run for Josh on 3rd and 4.  Punt.  NE gets the ball back, moves down the field, ends up with a FG.  Bills ball, 1st down run Singletary up the middle, 2nd down Josh gets crushed by a blitz, 3rd down Gilmore gets away with a PI on Brown.  NE gets the ball and marches down the field on a long drive for a TD.

 

We had them on the mat, up 4, every bit of momentum on our side, crowd quieted and we went 3 and out twice with pretty conservative play calling.

 

Agreed. Given how well Allen was passing especially in 4 and 5 wide sets and how NE had bottled up Singletary, they went to the run well too many times.

[SoCal Deek]

36 minutes ago, Steptide said:

Had the radio most of the day, and all people are saying is the refs this, the refs that. Yes there were missed calls, but people need to stop with this ref stuff. That is not why the bills lost. The bills lost to the better team, it's just that simple 

I'm not convinced that the Patriots are the better team.  They do however have a way better coaching staff. The Bills, like is often the case, out-thought themselves on Saturday.

[row_33]

1 minute ago, SoCal Deek said:

I'm not convinced that the Patriots are the better team.  They do however have a way better coaching staff. The Bills, like is often the case, out-thought themselves on Saturday.

 

till they beat the Pats.... 

 

it will be worth the wait, maybe in a few weeks time

 

 

[SoCal Deek]

Just now, row_33 said:

 

till they beat the Pats.... 

 

it will be worth the wait, maybe in a few weeks time

 

 

That's the spirit!

[corta765]

1 hour ago, loveorhatembillsfan4life said:

NE has an advantage in coaching. They did some great stuff like bringing in a LB to lead the way for Sony. I think some of the Bills players themselves mentioned how hard it was to recognize whether it was a pass or run.

 

I saw that with the LB and the Bills had issue with it. Def a nice wrinkle by NE and by the time Buffalo figured it out they looked pretty tired. It seemed like NE had an extra RB or LB or TE at all points to try and protect Brady more. Like you said that extra person/LB did seem to catch the D.